Hi Carol
Your report of the "call and response" behaviour is most interesting,
as I was struck by the fact that the Rockwarbler did not commence
mimicking the treecreeper until the treecreeper began calling. At the
time I thought that it was just as likely that this was coincidental
as significant but after your report, I'm most intruiged.
See you on the weekend.
Ricki Coughlan
http://www.redtail.net.au
On 15/08/2007, at 1:07 PM, Carol Probets wrote:
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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