Such a beauty! ! the cuckoos are the highlight of this collection for me... any signs that they were mixed with their hosts to try and encourage breeding?
Such a beauty! ! the cuckoos are the highlight of this collection for me... any signs that they were mixed with their hosts to try and encourage breeding?
no they were mostly individuals, probably just random additions amongst other wild-caught species. There was just one Malaysian hawk-cuckoo, one banded bay cuckoo, one chestnut-winged cuckoo, one chestnut-breasted malkoha, one lesser coucal, I think two (maybe three) male koels -- and a whole lot of drongo cuckoos!
Drongo cuckoos parasitise babblers, and there were none in the aviary with them.
With regard to other cuckoos, most species kept are actually non-parasitic, but I know of a few collections that have the channel-billed cuckoo in Australia. Are these kept with their currawong/magpie lark/butcherbird hosts?
With regard to other cuckoos, most species kept are actually non-parasitic, but I know of a few collections that have the channel-billed cuckoo in Australia. Are these kept with their currawong/magpie lark/butcherbird hosts?
I've never seen them mixed with currawongs in aviaries. I would imagine if they were the currawongs would kill them. I think channel-bills in Australian zoos are probably "rescue" birds.
