Pheasant Coucal

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birdie
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Pheasant Coucal

look what I found staring at me through the kitchen window today! I think he was eyeing off the pool for a quick drink. Haven't seen it in the garden for about a year or so.

Beautiful patterning from tip to tail

It sure made my day

Cheers

birdie

Tassie

Nice shot there Birdie,they are a hard to get near,looks like you have yourself a female there.

Birdgirl2009
Birdgirl2009's picture

Very nice sharp shot. The red eye came up very well

tarkineus
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Beautiful bird, beautiful shot, birdie. Reminds me a lot of the Red Wattlebird.

Regards, "Tark" - Olympus 4/3rds colour

smeedingo2
smeedingo2's picture

HI Birdie
Very hard bird to get a photo of top shots. Maybe looking for a nest site.

ed
ed's picture

Great photos Birdie, Always a welcome garden visitor, although their diet may not be that welcome as they are supposed to predate lots of things, small animals, birds and reptiles.

Ed Townsville NQ

birdie
birdie's picture

Thanks everyone . Tassie, I was thinking that this must be a female as I have seen another that is very much darker so would I be right in assuming that the male is a black/brown combination?

I have heard something scratching around in the bush over the fence, so maybe this is what I heard. There is a creek there and a lot of tall dense foliage and trees.
It is interesting that we have recently scalped the garden around the pool area as it was overgrown . Since then I have had a lot of luck eyeballing different birds over the fence.
Ed, I think they would have to get in line behind butcher birds,kookaburras, pied currawongs,cats and a variety of other birds to deplete our reptiles and small creatures. We have an abundance of water dragons, small snakes etc so I think there is always plenty for them all to survive on!!
Cheers

Birdie

Sunshine Coast Queensland

birdie
birdie's picture

Tark,
I forgot to mention that the big difference with this bird and the wattlebirds is size. This is twice the size of a wattle bird and is a heavy and clumsy bird that dwells mainly on the ground and under cover. It did fly finally today when it got sick of me following it round the garden, but only a short distance to another thickly covered shrub.
The tail is really long like a pheasants and the voice sounds like a cross between an ape and and some kind of dove!!! :'D
It Whoops up and down the valley and sounds very eery at times

Cheers
Birdie

Sunshine Coast Queensland

ed
ed's picture

I forgot to say this is a none breeding bird, the 'dark' birds are in breeding plumage, don't think you can see any difference between M & F. Young birds are generally paler.

Ed Townsville NQ

ed
ed's picture

A breeding plumage bird on the fence in my garden.

Ed Townsville NQ

birdie
birdie's picture

Thanks Ed
That's the one I saw last year. I read up on them last night on BIBY. Great shot by the way. And I went to Flickr and briefly looked through your pics. Are they all yours, snakes etc? I have to go back and revisit but I was very impressed.
I think my problem (equipment aside) is that I just don't have the time to put into it. It is obvious to me that those of us that spend the time and go to the good spots get the best shots. I am strictly an opportunist unfortunately.

Cheers

Birdie

Sunshine Coast Queensland

ed
ed's picture

Thanks Birdie
Yes all mine (except the 'other peoples'), It is sometime difficult, with work and family, but I try to get at least one outing a week with the camera.

Ed Townsville NQ

tarkineus
tarkineus's picture

Thanks for the info on the PC birdie. Now that you mention its size, by comparing its height to the fence railing I can see that it must be close to 30cm high. Eds bird also tells me that it's almost as big as poulty.

Regards, "Tark" - Olympus 4/3rds colour

DenisWilson
DenisWilson's picture

Ed's excellent photo shows us something interesting about the feet of Cuckoos (of which a Coucal is one, even if somewhat of an aberrant one).
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Ed's bird has its right foot clearly showing a rear toe pointing to the outside (right) of its foot.
The other foot, the left one, has another rear toe, (the right hand toe on the left foot), pointing to the inside of the bird's body.
Under basic principles of anatomical symmetry what that means is that the bird has two rear-pointing toes (on each foot) - one pointing in to he centre of the body and one pointing to the outside of the body. Obviously they are matched on each foot - otherwise it would fall over!!!
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That means they are totally different in structure from normal perching birds (passerines) and Eagles and even Ducks, which have a single rear toe, and three forward pointing toes (on each foot).
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Parrots have a similar foot structure to the Cuckoos. It is called a zygodactyl foot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zygodactyl#Zygodactyly
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Here is an Blog report of a deceased King Parrot (a road kill) which shows this same foot structure of Parrots.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6sYA7Iz1xgw/SZ7hUzIhBLI/AAAAAAAAI2Y/aTHnpE58Ftw/s1600-h/King+Parrot+feet+and+claws.jpg
I wrote this Blog entry some time back. It discusses this foot structure in detail (scroll down past the plumage images to the foot image)
http://peonyden.blogspot.com/2009/02/king-parrot-rip.html
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This feature is just one of the structural differences between these birds and "perching birds", which helps explain why the taxonomists put them in odd places in "checklists".
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Hope other members of this list find this to be of interest.
Cheers
Denis

birdie
birdie's picture

Read your blog Denis...... the parrot sketch was one of my favourites years ago!!!!

Actually I was very struck by the actual size of the Coucal's toes. they are so coarse and strong looking. Are you saying that they have only three toes in all? i cannot see any others.

Here is the first image I took through the window. I can only see three toes in all . You can clearly see the rear toe on each foot.

Cheers
birdie

Sunshine Coast Queensland

DenisWilson
DenisWilson's picture

Hi Birdie
You need to remember the point I made about symmetry in nature.
To get this idea, just look at your hands as you type.
Two thumbs - both pointing towards the central line of your body - but taken separately, each points the opposite way - one left and the other right.
Now look again at Ed's image. (I have taken the liberty of copying it again here, Ed).

The right foot has a rear toe facing out from the central line of the body.
The left foot has a rear toe facing IN towards the central line of the body.
Assuming symmetry, one must presume that these toes are matched on each foot. Therefore we can say that the Coucal has two rear facing toes on each foot and two forward facing toes.
The same is true of my King Parrot.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6sYA7Iz1xgw/SZ7hUzIhBLI/AAAAAAAAI2Y/aTHnpE58Ftw/s1600-h/King+Parrot+feet+and+claws.jpg
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I know it takes some getting one's head around, but once it "clicks" it is an interesting feature to notice about these birds.
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Cheers
Denis

birdie
birdie's picture

Thanks Denis,
Now I get it. So although we cannot see the other foot we can assume it is there. I hadn't thought enough about the symmetry point!

Thanks Denis it is always interesting to consider these things.

Cheers

Birdie

Sunshine Coast Queensland

ed
ed's picture

Hi all
A photo to help see what Denis's is getting at.
This bird had maybe been hit by a car or something as he allowed a very close approach, much closer than a Coucal would normally allow (it even let me touch it, but as I could see very little wrong I left it to get over his problem, hopfully it did)

the feet.....

view large here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22001271@N05/3854888045/sizes/o/in/photostream/
...I hope

Ed Townsville NQ

birdie
birdie's picture

Perfect illustration of the toe scenario Ed.
Wonderful detail on the patterning in the feather when you look at the large image too.

Sunshine Coast Queensland

DenisWilson
DenisWilson's picture

Hi Ed
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Many thanks for those images.
Its good to know there are other people out there who find this stuff interesting.
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Your large image photo has a lot of shadow. But if one downloads it, and lightens the image somewhat (more than one would normally do), you can clearly see the fourth toe of the left foot (which is otherwise hidden in the shadow).
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Four flat toes make a good way for a ground-loving bird like the Coucal to walk around.
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For everybody else, here is a link to a diagram of what Birdie and Ed and I have been discussing about the structure of the Coucal's feet (well, the positioning of the toes actually).
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The figure to look at is the top right one, marked "Zygodactylie"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bird-feets.png
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I now wish speak up for being an "opportunistic" observer.
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I have taken images of the occasional (fresh) road killed bird. Taking images like that is not a breach of any rules, but it gives one the chance to record all sorts of details which are not normally available to us. Always treat the animal with respect, though. If the point is scientific interest, it is not objectionable taking such images. Obviously, if the specimen is not fresh, that gets a bit nasty. Leave it alone.
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Ed has done much the same thing. But instead of keeping on driving, he has come up with several images which one would normally never be able to capture. His is a live bird which had presumably been stunned. I did the same with a live (stunned) Grey Shrike Thrush, which I linked to on this forum several days ago.
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I say "opportunistic", because, clearly when Ed took those images, he had no idea that some time down the track we would be rabbiting on about the structure of birds feet.
He took the images, when the opportunity presented itself, and the rest is history.
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I for one am very grateful that he had the presence of mind to take the shots when he could.
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We can all learn from those images. Great work, Ed.
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Cheers
Denis

Raoul
Raoul's picture

Hi Birdie,wow what a great capture,well done..

birdie
birdie's picture

Thanks Raoul, couldn't believe my luck when I looked up from the sink and saw this beautiful creature looking at me!!

I have seen them many times but they are usually scurrying into the bushes at the side of the road.

Cheers
Birdie

Sunshine Coast Queensland

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