Ricki and all,
I've heard a Rockwarbler engage in mimicry a couple of times. It was
a bird that was visiting my garden (in Katoomba) during Feb-March
2004. As well as softly mimicking a Brown Thornbill, this bird would
occasionally make a strange high-pitched whistle that puzzled me for
a while - until I heard it answering a nearby King-Parrot, and
realised it was copying it! It was a fairly feeble imitation but
definitely made in response to the sound it was hearing. The pitch
and rhythm were the same but the quality of sound was much weaker.
It was hilarious to see this bird poking around the garden, quietly
imitating the King-Parrot like someone singing along with the radio!
I find it interesting that both this bird and the bird Ricki heard
were mimicking a sound they were actually hearing at the time. I
can't remember whether this was also the case when it mimicked the
Brown Thornbill, but it's quite possible.
Cheers,
Carol
At 1:58 PM +1000 13/8/07, Ricki Coughlan wrote:
G'day all
I have looked Rockwarbler mimicry up on the Birding-Aus archives and
there is only one mention of it several years ago. Having found only
a small repetoire for Rockwarblers in the HANZAB, I felt that it may
be good to put another record of this event "out there". Perhaps
others will also feel inspired to keep an ear out for this behaviour.
Despite being an avid Rockwarbler observer for some decades, I had
not witnessed this so emphatically until last Friday. I was in
Sydney's Royal National Park in the company of a Canadian friend who
had come to Australia specifically to see this one bird(!) after
dipping on it in 2004. To her great joy (and a huge reduction in my
stress levels), we observed a pair of these very confiding birds at
very close quarters for some time, as they foraged amid moss on a
large boulder. On more than one occasion, one bird (presumably the
male) fed some small invertebrates to the other (also not recorded
in HANZAB).
On two occasions the bird which was providing the food to the other
stopped foraging and began to beautifully mimic a White-throated
Treecreeper's "warbling/trill" call - no, not like the occasionally
heard Rockwarbler "warble" - the Rockwarbler was perfectly
reproducing the discrete and loud warble which White-throated
Treecreepers make especially around this time of year. The
treecreeper was making the same call from a tree on the other side
of the trail and the calls and their volume of both birds were
clearly identical.
A number of Acanthizids possess mimicry skills to one degree or
another, but this event demonstrated to me that it is the
Rockwarbler which produces the best quality (if not quantity) of
mimicry skills.
Ricki Coughlan
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