Heard my first Koel of the season this morning, and I have seen quite a few Spangled drongos around too.
When do the channel bills start arriving? anyone know?
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That's cool to hear, birdie.
For me they have become one of the sounds of summer in Brissie.
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I thought I saw one the other day, but couldn't see well enough to confirm it. It was large and blackish and was causing a great disturbance amongst the local noisy miner population, which was what brought it to my attention.
It wasn't making much noise either. I'll be keeping an ear out for them soon.
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As far as Channel Bills, my Reader's Digest suggests they arrive August-October, compared with Koels September-October. I haven't seen any in my area at all in the past.
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
Last week I saw my first cuckoo of the season, a horsfield's bronze cuckoo. We don't get koels here.(bathurst)
Hey Timmo,
Where abouts in brisbane is the most reliable place to see Channel-billed Cuckoos.
I've never heard one let alone see one. Probably because last summer I wasn't such an avid birdwatcher!
Hi QldBird,
Like you, I haven't seen one either. I don't even know if they are around in Brissie. Perhaps someone else can help with suggestions?
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
Best news I've heard lately! They arrive about the middle of September, though if the season is early I have known them to arrive in August (not often) and as late as early November if the winter season is extended.
We have both the Koel and Channel-bills in the lower Hunter,our Koels take command of the weeping mulberry tree and call from the Canadian walnut and are quite chatty. Last year was the first time the Channel-bills actually visited the walnut and I was able to photograph and video them.
Lately I have been entertained by a group of Blue Wrens, also have a group of Silvereyes in the yard, as well as the ususal suspects. The Brown Goshawk has been around a few times as well on the lookout for an unwary dove.
Timmo and QldBird, one of the best places to see Channel-billed Cuckoos in Brisbane is at the Mt Gravatt campus of Griffith University. I work / study there, and during October - February there are often 6 hanging around. For weeks at a time, they will call all day.
I saw two mating last season. The male tried to give the female a grasshopper as a pre-mating gift. She didn't take it. They mated anyway, and then the male ate the grasshopper.
I see adult and juvenile CBCs at the uni. I've also seen a junvenile with its crow "parents".
I also see / hear them flying around Paddington / Red Hill, but the Mt Gravatt campus of Griffith Uni is a sure place to see them.
Andy.
Thanks Andy,
I'll make sure I visit there soon.
Hey Andy , I was reading about that today... the way they give a gift to the female beforehand.... kind of like bringing the roses home at the end of the day.... :')
I think I saw one today, it was the right size, shape and colour, but very quiet. It was flying fast across the tops of the trees and the only other thing it could have been was a topknot but when I got further down the path, they were not in their usual place.
Good to see you back again
Cheers
Birdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Hi Birdie,
Yes I was so thrilled to actually witness the gift-giving practice. I thought it was quite funny that the male ended up eating the grasshopper (as well as mating with the female). It's not supposed to happen that way! It's supposed to be a swap!
I noticed in the topknot thread that you mentioned a few great bird places on the Sunshine Coast. I will be in Noosa in October so I might check out a couple of the areas that you mentioned.
Bye,
Andy.
Woohoo..... I finally found that Koel today. I had the worst stiff neck ever after stalking him for 30 minutes when he was at the top of the tallest Gum in the park! Finally I gave up and went to sit with the dog on a park bench about 25 meters away and then .... here he was. It was a case of not seeing the bird for the trees!!! Then I went back onto the trees and I think I spotted his female hopping from branch to branch. Previously I had been wondering why the call was really loud one ,minute and then further away.... I thought he was throwing his voice! LOL
can anyone confirm whether they have the same call? I guess they do.
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Seems the koels are bit slower making it to Brissie than the Sunnie Coast - I just heard my first koel here this arvo, echoing over the suburb.
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Woohoo, that means summer is close!
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
Hey Timmo... it's a great call isn't it?
I wanted to tell you that I hear the Butchers at 4.45am singing a very different call until daybreak. You were right about that.
Did you have a chance to check out my birdsong video? I was hoping you would see it as I know you are interested in calls like me.
Cheers
Birdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Hi birdie,
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I listened/watched some of it the other day, and have just watched it right through - it's great practice for identifying calls I guess.
I could pick out the catbird, whipbirds, butcherbirds, kurrawongs and perhaps the endless chattering was from lorikeets? It's some of the others that I can't pick (on YouTube vid) -
at 1:10, 1:24 - short 'chickacher' sound
at 3:31 - sharp 'tchiew' which I think I should know.
.
Any suggestions?
.
Gotta say, waking up to that every morning sounds like a pretty tough life! (or not).
.
Cheers Tim
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
The single chew at 3.31 was a whipbird...they vary their calls. Yes to the Lorikeets and probably a few noisy miners in there too. That other little chatter sound I know I should recognise but can't say that I do. Maybe a figbird but not sure.
Glad you enjoyed it anyway.
Some days it is deafening that is for sure!!
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Hey Timmo.... I was half asleep this morning. That was a Little Wattle Bird I think. :)
Sunshine Coast Queensland
I found this Channel-billed-Cuckoo on 5th of October 2009. So hopefully- they are hitting hornsby nsw soon. They are really noisy and the first time I heard it I thought another bird was injured or being attacked.
Channel-billed-Cuckoo by grilledchickenlips, on Flickr
yes they are back,
penrith nsw 23/09/10.
Matty that is a wonderful shot of the channel Bill BTW.
George I am glad you appreciate them. While googling their mating behaviour last night to research the one I have been following ( best photos thread) I came across a sad but hilarious at the same time Forum from Aussie Stock Traders. All these morons were complaining about the Koel and coming up with various ways of getting rid of them and a few other birds that these urban dwellers just can't handle. Very cruel some of them, but their angst was really funny and they sounded so desperate! Made me smile as I was woken by the Catbird, Butcherbird, Pheasant Coucal and the rest of the gang by my window this morning!!
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Don't forget to post your sightings in the BIBY Koel and CBC surveys on the forum guys!
I am bound to get a lot of 'what is this bird that calls all night' email enquiries soon too - as well as questioning how to get rid of them. Its so sad that so many people are disconnected from nature to this extent and can't appreciate that they are here and they are facinating.
Yes the Koels are back. I heard my first one for the year on Sunday morning. I only saw one (a pair actually) for the first time ever last year. I live in Samford NW of Brisbane and have heard them for years but last year they almost lived in a Brazilian Cherry tree that was full of fruit and god help any other bird that came anywhere near!
Samford Valley Qld.
Good stuff reflex.. up here they love the Alexander Palm red berries.
Sorry Holly didn't see this post. Sure I will go on and post my sighting. can I post one for last night... hearing the channel bills at 2am !!!! Man can they squawk :D
I don't think hearing them is enough for a recording of a visit is it?
Disconnected is a good way to put it Holly .... a friend of mine described magpies as vermin that should be shot the other day !!!!! I don't photograph them very much but I am found talking to them every morning on my walks, and listening to them chortle is amazing... I would swear I was listening to 2-3 birds at times.
I have never felt so connected back to nature as I have since getting into birdwatching... Love it !!
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Both the Common Koel and Channel-bills are here! Channel-bills arrived just over a week ago and Koels arrived in the area about 23rd September, heard them calling close by on the 25th and both male and female were in the garden this morning calling out while inspecting the still green fruit on the weeping mulberry which is theirs and no-one elses! They will hang around all summer eating their share of the figs then fill up on Japanese persimmons before flying north for winter.
Maybe we should publicise that they are an important element in maintaining the diversity of our bush through the spread of native species via seeds of fruit eaten and should be treated with respect. Yes, they do lay their eggs in other birds' nests, however, that is nature's way of preserving the species as they travel such long distances, moreover, from observation, they only use the foster parent once in a season leaving plenty of time for them to raise their own chicks.
Both the Common Koel and Channel-bills are here! Channel-bills arrived just over a week ago and Koels arrived in the area about 23rd September, heard them calling close by on the 25th and both male and female were in the garden this morning calling out while inspecting the still green fruit on the weeping mulberry which is theirs and no-one elses! They will hang around all summer eating their share of the figs then fill up on Japanese persimmons before flying north for winter.
Maybe we should publicise that they are an important element in maintaining the diversity of our bush through the spread of native species via seeds of fruit eaten and should be treated with respect. Yes, they do lay their eggs in other birds' nests, however, that is nature's way of preserving the species as they travel such long distances, moreover, from observation, they only use the foster parent once in a season leaving plenty of time for them to raise their own chicks.
Just heard the first Koel call here. So they are back.
Regards, Wanda
Well put Birdsong. I was up near the lakes at Noosa yesterday and the bush was full of their call too. I have been listening to channel bills this morning. I so wish I could get a glimpse of them, but they are too high up in the gun trees etc that are further up the valley from us.
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Spent the day up on the Blackall ranges and around Maleny the Koels were in full swing in every clump of bush! Love to listen to them.
Channel Bills were going heaps through the night here at home too last night. Still haven't spotted one though :(
Sunshine Coast Queensland
I was pretty excited today...after leaving the Ospreys.. to come across a family of very agitated fig birds up in some kind of fig tree presumably!!
Finally I got to see the method the Koels employ to hijack a nest by stealth!
Here he is just sitting quietly up in the branches while every fig bird in creation is flying around him in a panic.
Hopefully you can see my notations of where all the birds are in this shot
I watched for about 20 minutes and this was the only glimpse I got of her as she stealthily hopped from branch to branch looking for a nest while her mate acted as decoy below.
you can just see the stripes of her tail.
Those figbirds didn't have a chance for all their carry on. Interesting too that they looked twice their normal size... I think they puffed themselves out as a defence mechanism to look more scary!
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Birdie, The birds you refer to as Fig Birds, is there another name for them? Australian Thrush perhaps?
The reason I ask is because if you enter Fig Bird in the search option it comes back with, "Sorry, no records matched your query on Fig Bird".
I've come across three birds in the last month or so that I can't identify. One of which I think is a female Bellbird, just going of the song. (Must work out how to post a photograph).
Regards Reflex.
Samford Valley Qld.
HI Reflex
Sometimes it is just a matter of entering it as one name when it should be separate. They are Australasian Fig Birds actually. try just putting fig in and that might work. I can post some pics if you want . the female is a lot like a european thrush in the breast especially. They are notable ion the male especially with its red eye skin. Female looks quite different.
Pics aren;t really that hard there is a help section that details it on here. Or I can help if you need it
cheers
Birdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Figbird is all one word :)
http://birdsinbackyards.net/species/Sphecotheres-viridis
Ah! Ah! I was putting in Fig Bird when it should have been Figbird, that makes a huge difference. Thankyou Holly and Birdie, with your help I have just identified two of the three birds I was struggling to identify.
I wouldn't have thought for a minute they were male and female of the same species. They are even different in size as well.
Thanks again!
Samford Valley Qld.
Holly, with regards to the Koel surveys... do you ant each sighting if it is in a different place or is it just at the beginning of the season when they arrive? ie should I report the ones I saw yesterday? It wasn't at my house obviously .
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Any sighting is helpful Birdie :)
OK then. it was great to see the Koels in action, instead of just hearing them. typical male though.... he didn't do much , just sat there and tried to look natural LOL
After the Osprey experience it was so different but very interesting to observe. I guess this is biodiversity in action ... within the space of 500m there were totally different species and that treed area is also a regeneration area for the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly
Sunshine Coast Queensland
oh joy.... the Channel Bills were at full volume at 3.00am this morning and they set off the Koels too!!!
Again at 5.30 I think the Channel Bill must have been making a direct hit overhead! Very loud, so I rushed out to see but it was already gone....damn!
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Koels have been coming to Goulburn (NSW Southern Tablelands) for some years now. And back again this year.
A couple of years ago a pair of blackbirds were in my garden desperately feeding their huge baby (koel).
In my area an explosion in currawong numbers has led to the demise of small birds. Wish the koels would use currawongs as foster parents.
Ha Ha funny name MrsTiggywinkle!! Yes, like you I often wonder why they don't pick on someone their own size..... but I guess they wouldn't be able to as they would fight back! I was examining the construction of the fig bird's nest, which they love to parasite up here, and I wonder if they choose them because they look very strong and are always in a fruiting type tree or near one? We have heaps of pied currawongs around here too.
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Blackbirds generally nest in dense shrubs, rather than trees, and quite close to the ground. But I've also had them nest on an upper paling fence horizontal behind a shrub and on a windowsill (when I was a bit slack about pruning).
If koels go back to their 'birth' area, wonder if they target a similar nest?
[Mrs Tiggywinkle was/is Beatrix Potter's very prickly (hedgehog) ironing lady. Suits me to a T.]
This morning I saw (for the first time ever) a channel bill flyover ( closely followed by a very angry crow/raven). I heard them coming before I saw them ( sounded like someone was murdering someone :') ) and was surprised as I was in an light industrial area and next to a usually busy road. this was at 6am so it wasn't busy though. But It seems that the channel bills must lead them on a merry chase to distract them as There were no sizeable trees around and the forest was quite a few hundred meters away still.
AT least the crow and the channel bill are an even match I reckon .
Sunshine Coast Queensland