Calling cuckoo experts
I was out around the backroads of Geraldton WA yesterday and came across a
couple of Horsfield's bronze-cuckoos walking across a paddock. They were
energetically hunting for bugs and clearly visible in the short grass. As I
walked closer to photograph them I was amazed to see they didn't fly away
but simply sunk down into the grass and froze. Since the grass is only a few
centimetres high, they were still quite visible and easily identified. They
kept still in that position for a good five minutes while I stood some
distance away, then, maybe deciding I didn't pose much of a threat, one by
one they got up and continued on their way.
My question is, is this normal behaviour? I don't know too much about
cuckoos, usually only seeing them sitting on a fence somewhere. By the look
of them they were adult birds and quite capable of flying away in the face
of a threat but they didn't. I'm intrigued - can anyone tell me whether this
is their usual reaction.
FYI - also saw a couple of gorgeous very dark wedgies and what looked very
much like a crimson chat about halfway through getting his breeding plumage,
the first I've seen in this part of WA since 2008, and several white winged
trillers who consistently refused to co-operate for a photo-shoot.
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