Special Visitors to Glenfern...
Local twitchers are very excited over recent sightings of two special visitors, the Fan-tailed Cuckoo and especially the Olive-backed Oriole. This species is not listed on our bird list, which means it hasn’t been sighted at Glenfern since records have been kept from 2001.
To the trained ear, its call gives it away … orri oriole. To the un-trained ear, you may think it is a Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike.
The Fan-tailed Cuckoo is a regular seasonal visitor and no doubt takes advantage of our local birds that build and raise their young in dome shaped nets, such as the White-browed Scrub Wren and Superb Wren. Cuckoos are renown for laying their eggs in other species nests and where the hosts do all the parenting.
These cuckoos were often seen in the area above Echidna Track, pouncing from over hanging branches onto caterpillars that were amongst the long native grass.
We are not 100% sure, but these caterpillars may be the larvae of the Common Brown Butterfly.
Turn up the volume, to enjoy the oriole.
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Words & Video by Mike Sverns
Local twitchers are very excited over recent sightings of two special visitors, the Fan-tailed Cuckoo and especially the Olive-backed Oriole. This species is not listed on our bird list, which means it hasn’t been sighted at Glenfern since records have been kept from 2001.
To the trained ear, its call gives it away … orri oriole. To the un-trained ear, you may think it is a Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike.
The Fan-tailed Cuckoo is a regular seasonal visitor and no doubt takes advantage of our local birds that build and raise their young in dome shaped nets, such as the White-browed Scrub Wren and Superb Wren. Cuckoos are renown for laying their eggs in other species nests and where the hosts do all the parenting.
These cuckoos were often seen in the area above Echidna Track, pouncing from over hanging branches onto caterpillars that were amongst the long native grass.
We are not 100% sure, but these caterpillars may be the larvae of the Common Brown Butterfly.
Turn up the volume, to enjoy the oriole.
-
Words & Video by Mike Sverns
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