THE Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority (GBCMA) is celebrating birds and bats in 2024 with the ‘Year of the Wing’ community awareness campaign.
This month, the Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoo and the Common Bronzewing are featured.
Goulburn Broken CMA project officer, Janice Mentiplay-Smith, said the Goulburn Broken catchment was home to two, fairly commonly seen ‘bronze’ birds.
“The Horsfield’s Bronze-cuckoo is a species of cuckoo that inhabits Goulburn Broken catchment woodlands, rural and urban areas where it shimmers and shines in the sunlight as it takes to the air in search of a caterpillar dinner,” Ms Mentiplay-Smith said.
“Interestingly, the Bronze-cuckoo is known as a ‘brood parasite’ meaning when it comes to nest construction, it opts to take advantage of the hard work of others.
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“When the coast is clear, the female darts to her chosen nest - often that of a Superb Fairy-wren or Thornbill - and in a few, fast seconds lays her single egg".
She departs just as quickly, before the guileless homeowners return.
Before leaving she may even eject one of the other birds eggs to maintain the status quo.
“The unsuspecting host parents incubate the imposter egg which hatches within 12 days, usually before the other eggs, ensuring the ‘imposter’ chick receives its unsuspecting host parents undivided attention," Ms Mentiplay-Smith said.
“Like its biological parents, the newly hatched Horsfield’s Bronze-cuckoo chick is hard-wired for survival and may eject other eggs or chicks from the nest to eliminate the competition.”
Ms Mentiplay-Smith said the other bronze bird in the catchment was the Common Bronzewing, a member of the pigeon family. It lives in a variety of habitats across Australia and has successfully adapted to life in the agricultural landscape.
“Known for its mournful, repetitive whooo-whoo call, the ‘Bronzie’ is a beautiful bird; its gleaming metallic wing patches catch the light as it scours the ground for seeds and small pieces of vegetation.
“This ever watchful, easily startled bird primarily eats wattle seeds, which highlights the importance of a healthy, shrubby understorey," she said.
Due to its ‘dry’ diet that is not supplemented by moisture-laden insects, it is never too far from a water source.
“Both Bronzewing parents incubate the eggs and care for the chicks. Interestingly, they produce ‘crop milk,’ a milky substance regurgitated from the ‘crop’ (an enlarged part of the oesophagus) to feed their young.
Crop milk, also known as pigeon milk, is produced by both sexes of all species of pigeon," said Ms Mentiplay-Smith.
If you are keen to venture into the Goulburn Broken catchment environment to see birds such as the Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoo and the Common Bronzewing in their natural habitat, the Murray Goulburn BirdLife group will visit Winton Wetlands for a bird survey on Wednesday August 7 and Mount Piper at Broadford on Saturday August 17.
For more information contact Pat Feehan on 0437 354 088/patfeehan1@gmail.com or Bill Brown on 0409 869 150/ thebrowns1@bigpond.com
