This morning as I sat enjoying a coffee and gazing at the blue sky mottled with soft clouds after the previous day’s rain, I heard a Spangled Drongo.
Spangled Drongos disappear here in the warmer months, heading South only to return in Autumn to enjoy our balmy tropical “winter”. Shiny metallic feathers, red eyes and a fishtail make them easy to recognise, but their call is also distinctive. It sounds like a metal twanging.
They are also accomplished mimics and in that sense, the visual observation is a far more reliable indicator of their presence. They are so good that it’s almost impossible to record the mimicry unless it is punctuated by their “true voice” which in my experience is unlikely.
It’s so lovely to sit and identify birds by call. Which birds can you identify by call?
This morning it was quiet enough on our street to get a recording. Would you like to hear it?
I’ve also recorded some other bird calls in the past. You can find them in this YouTube playlist. (Laughing Kookaburra, Powerful Owl, Olive-backed Sunbird, Bush Stone Curlew, Pee Wee or Magpie Lark, Australian Magpie)
Jane Grows Garden Rooms 