Grey Teal

GREY TEAL  Anas gracilis

 

  

 

A pair of grey ducks on the Hospital reservoir this morning. 

 

 

I assume they were a pair but I was not able to see any difference between them.  

 

They are Grey Teal. I am told they are quite common, but I have never oticed them around Kilmore before. 

There have been plenty of Wood Ducks, Black Ducks, Chestnut Teal, Shelducks,even Musk Ducks, but  no GreyTeal. 

How exciting!

Another Cuckoo

 FAN-TAILED CUCKOO Cacomantis flabelliformis

Spring is the time to catch sight of cuckoos and this one is a Fan-tailed Cuckoo.

 

 

It is quite similar to a Brush Cuckoo but the difference can be seen in the broader white barring on the underside of the tail with white spots on the upper parts of the tail.

The Fan-tail also has a vivid yellow eyering.

This bird is a female. The male is more highly coloured on from the chin to the belly. The female's belly is more rufous in clouring.

Cuckoos

 PALLID CUCKOO

 

Spring has finally arrived.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several days ago, I could hear cuckoos calling from the tops of trees along the Dry Creek, just south of Broadford. The call is very distinctive, notes rising semitone by semitone.Hence the common name 'semitone bird'. Its call is repetitive and monotonous, going on and on and on. It is sometimes called the 'brain fever' bird after this constant calling. 

 

 

All Australian cuckoos, except the Pheasant Coucal, which is not found in Victoria, are brood parasites. They lay their eggs in the nests others, leaving these smaller step parents to brood and raise the usually much larger young.

 

I have watched a Yellow Robin, feeding a young, but much larger than itself, cuckoo hatchling. How hard must it be to keep up with an ever hungry youngster of a huge size?

The semitone bird is a Pallid Cuckoo Cacomantis pallidus. Whist it is  reasonably common, it is much more visible in the Spring, during mating time, when its call,from the top of trees or posts,lets us all know to another perch and continue with its song.