Hi Geoff
Great photos! I witnessed a similar altercation between two Channel-billed Cuckoos this time last year in my local patch, on the Prince Henry Drive circuit in Toowoomba, Qld, and was equally amazed. In that instance there were three birds in a fig tree on the edge of the escarpment, two fighting, and another apparently unperturbed by the commotion (the object of the other birds’ desire perhaps?). Two birds duelled dramatically with their bills until one fell, and just as you describe, was left hanging vertically off the bill of the other! Several moments later they crashed heavily through branches to the ground approximately 10m below. The fighting continued briefly out of sight until they flew noisily back to the top of the fig, where one proceeded to chase the other, hopping alternately from branch to branch. And during the whole affair the third Channel-billed Cuckoo remained unmoved…well, visibly at least!
Cheers, Plaxy
Toowoomba, Qld
