G’day all
Whilst visiting the Georgetown district this past weekend with Alan Morris & Steven Edwards, we observed some interesting behaviour between a single adult Striated Pardalote with a pair of courting adult Red-browed Pardalotes.
A single Striated approached the Red-broweds with a wing spread display, but more surprising was that it was making the typical Red-browed call notes, but with the pitch a couple of octaves lower. The Red-broweds were actively calling to one another in what seemed to be some courtship (see my pic attached on Birdline Nth Qld – this may not be published onto the site until 25/08 am) with the brighter of the pair (adult male??) raising it’s his crest with each call note. The other Red-brow was following this bird around the tree & responded with similar call notes, but of a slightly different pitch. The Striated seemed to be trying to get some interaction from this pair, but whether it was a territorial dispute or something more related to courtship, we wonder…??
In all my years of experience with these species, I have never heard a Striated make such a call – identical to a Red-browed song, just of a lower pitch. I was absolutely gob-smacked that this song was being uttered by a Striated, being certain at the time that it was coming from another Red-brow, but that’s how good the Striated’s rendition was !!
Has anyone else ever seen such interaction between these birds, or heard a Striated make a Red-browed call??
Cheers
Martin Cachard Cairns 04285 782 808
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