Juvenile Eastern Koel

[casper]

I commenced a thread around this time in 2016 regarding the annual migration of Eastern Koels (sorry, haven’t worked out how to link yet) from Asia to Australia, including a few shots of an adult male and female that holidayed in my neighbourhood. We have some in the area again this year, although I have not actually seen them.
Koels are a type of cuckoo, with an interesting approach to rearing their young. They locate an inhabited nest and the female adds an extra egg to the clutch. They then disappear to enjoy the Australian summer (possibly working on their tan on Bondi Beach with the other backpackers) while the unsuspecting surrogates look after the nest. When hatched, the parasite evicts all the other eggs and hatchlings and the foster parents find themselves spending the next few months tirelessly gathering food for the enormous chick with the insatiable appetite. Once fully fledged, mum and dad reappear and the chick follows them home to the subcontinent.

So, yesterday I followed the incessant chirping of a demanding infant to a tree in the garden and found this juvenile deep in the foliage, being fed almost continuously by a pair of host red wattle birds about half the size of the chick.



Olympus OM-D E-M10, Lumix G Vario 100-300 II f4-f5.6 OIS (FL 234mm, f5.2, 1/250, ISO 400)

I don’t rate myself that highly on bird shots and don’t have the best gear for it but I would have liked (but did not get) a decent shot of the feeding. I found focussing difficult with all the twigs and leaves competing for the AF point, and not near fast enough shutter speed to overcome the excited activity. Tips for next time greatly appreciated.
Thanks for looking, comments always welcome.

[Shadowman]

Nice effort.

[Stagecoach]

Good capture and whilst you may have preferred a higher shutter speed you have managed to capture a sharp image with the focus spot on the eye.

[casper]

Thank you, John.
- regards, Noel

[casper]

hi Grahame,
Thank you for viewing and commenting, appreciate your feedback.
- regards, Noel

[zen]

I agree with all the positive comments, and especially like the composition. Nicely framed by the branches, good illustration of color patterns on wing and breast, etc. Really- a shot worthy of Audubon himself.

Thanks for sharing.

Zen

[casper]

Thank you for the critique Zen, and the compliment.
They were around again for a short time today, and I had another attempt at capturing them feeding. I managed to get one pretty close, but missed the "beak down the throat" moment.
- regards, Noel
1. baby Koel


2. Koel and Red Wattlebird

[JohnRostron]

Once fully fledged, mum and dad reappear and the chick follows them home to the subcontinent..

I don't know about Australian Cuckoos, but as far as I am aware, no other species of Cuckoo does this. None of the sources I have looked at mention this behaviour either.

Btw, nice pictures of the bird!

John

[FootLoose]

They are not the most popular bird, with their monotonous call that goes on for hours without end, day and night. Apparently the male takes up a position and then calls for any females in the area to come and mate with him. If he hears the call of another male then he will move elsewhere. So some people try to move them on by imitating their call - which can be just as annoying to everyone else. :-))

I have seen peewees run ragged trying to feed the enormous chicks. I wonder why they don't recognise them as not one of their own and abandon them. The host birds must have very strong parental instincts.

https://australianmuseum.net.au/lear.../eastern-koel/

[casper]

hello John, thank you for your comments.
The chick may return "home" with its parents, or sometimes follows at a later date.

The nest hijacking behaviour ("brood parasitism") is apparently quite prevalent with cuckoos including coucals and even road runners , as well as "honey guides" and "cowbirds". The Eastern (or Common, or Asian) Koel comes to Australia to breed, mainly from Indonesia and Asia, but there are other cuckoos that could be designated as Australian that behave the same. The most notable is the channel billed cuckoo, which is the largest cuckoo (and largest brood parasite) in the world, with an in flight wingspan up to one metre (these things scream like a banshee!). However, the channel bill does not eject the hosts other eggs and chicks like the Koel does. Thanks again for commenting.
- Noel

[casper]

I have seen peewees run ragged trying to feed the enormous chicks. I wonder why they don't recognise them as not one of their own and abandon them. The host birds must have very strong parental instincts.
https://australianmuseum.net.au/lear.../eastern-koel/

hi Greg.
The trick is to ensure the host does not recognise them as an imposter. The brood parasites appear to be very good at keeping the hosts unaware of what they are up to. In some cases the male will attack or distract the host from the best while the female lays her egg. They select host species that they "know" are prone to falling for their ruse, and/or those that have eggs with a strong resemblance to the parasites - in some cases, they are even capable of mimicking the egg colouring of the host. Where the egg laying is more random, the host will often dispose of the intruding egg or abandon the nest.
Thanks for commenting, and for providing the link.
- regards, Noel