Hello members,
During a recent trip to the NE goldfields (Leonora area) we woke as usual at picaninny dawn and lay in our van listening to the bush come alive to the sound of music, birds.
We almost jumped from our bed when there was a very loud cat screetch next to the van. Immediately investigated but no cat could be found. In a nearby tree sat a speckled bower bird which had a bright crimson patch on its head. Was difficult to get a good sighting because of the lighting and the density of the tree.
We have since been told these Bower Birds are also known as Mimic Birds?
Could this be the explanation for the cat call?
Regards
Peter
Bowerbirds do mimic other birds and inanimate things. At Taronga Zoo, in the 90s, there was a Satin Bowerbird that imitated the click of a camera when you got close to its cage. Your Western Bowerbird may have just been doing part of its everyday repertoire rather than mimicking a cat. I don't know enough about the species to say for sure. Lorne
Let's hope for its own sake it wasn't imitating a cat!