Unusual sightings of devil birds in Melbourne raise migration mysteries for researchers

Increased reports of the koel, known as the devil’s bird and their high mating call south of their normal range could be attributed to climate change, scientists say.

Climate change may be one reason why the so-called devilbird, known for its incessant nocturnal mating song, has become more common in Melbourne’s suburbs, according to the researchers.

The koel, whose scientific name Eudynamys scolopaceusit is a migratory bird, it usually arrives in Australia from Papua New Guinea and Indonesia to breed in late September and early October, when the male sings day and night to attract a female.

Jacinta Humphrey, who researches urban bird communities at La Trobe University, said koels were almost never seen in Melbourne until recently and were more common in New South Wales and Queensland.

They used to be very rare in Melbourne but now many people report hearing them and it’s hard to miss them with their incessant calls all night long.said Humphrey.

Climate change responsible for habit changes in devil bird

There’s not a lot of research on why this happens, but the general idea is that climate change might be involved.”.

Birdlife Australia public relations manager Sean Dooley said there is no doubt that koels are becoming much more common in Melbourne.

I remember going to Fairfield Park along the Yarra River in 2000 to record what was the sixth recorded koel sighting in Victoria.Dooley said.

This bird was perhaps one of the pioneers, as records have really increased since then. Our Birdata tracking site now has 750 koel records in Victoria”.

Dooley said there were 121 recorded sightings of koels in 2022, according to Birdlife Australia’s latest annual bird count.

This does not necessarily mean that there were 121 birds in the state, as their song is so loud that multiple accountants may have heard the same bird.“, he said.

Michael Clarke, emeritus professor of zoology at La Trobe University, has conducted bird studies at Victoria’s southernmost point, Wilsons Promontory, for 17 years. He says that koels, which are a species of cuckoo, lay their eggs in other birds’ nests to feed them.

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First records of the devil’s bird

“In 2017 we obtained the first record of [koels] there. There was another sighting this year… and that was noteworthy because the host, the red wattle, was remarkably abundant in my surveys.Clarke said.

The number of sightings is increasing and more are being detected than in the past.“, he said. “Clearly they’re exploring territory we’ve never seen before and what’s driving them is truly baffling.“.

It could be a response to climate change, places that were once inhospitable to them now tolerable.“.

“IWilson’s Promontory birds must be alert for a parasitic species that lays an egg in their nest or sometimes invades it.”.

Humphrey and Clarke said more research is needed to understand why koel migration routes are changing.

It is a bird that is used to higher temperatures and as the weather slowly warms up in the south of the country, they are deciding that this habitat is suitable and will continue to travel south where there are more resources.”, Humphrey. saying.

Other factors influencing migration

Dooley said there could also be other factors at play, such as an increase in food in suburban Melbourne and an abundance of host species such as acacia birds.

It’s definitely not because the birds have moved away from their main natural range, as there have been increases in numbers in Queensland and New South Wales.“, he said.

There’s a whole suite of east coast rainforest birds like koels that are spreading south and west across Victoria. Most are frugivores, but not all”.

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