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Clever Wild Card in Original (Australian ) Species Limited series which emits cry of the Curlew when opened ; see recent post on Vandhana book which told how author Inga Clendinnen had missed the Curlews on Magnetic Island .
Various explanations have been
given for why Curlews wail at night. One says it is
for Aboriginal children lost
in the bush
and another that it
is a sign of death.
After a commotion in which Curlews
were heard crying
out in numbers , the second of
our latest batch of chicks was
found dead on the back verandah,
looking as if something had grabbed it ...a cat or a dog?... it was not clear .
The mother shrieked and ran at me
with wings extended when I stooped to examine the poor bird , named
Chicky Whicky. Soon the male bird joined her , then ran off . Watched through the backdoor and a bedroom window, the mother was seen
squat down nearby with feathers
fluffed out ,wings slightly
extended as if wanting the chick to get up and run to safety
under her .
For a long time she emitted the
soft ,soothing clucking sound given when walking about
with a chick in tow . Late in the
evening , the male was seen to run
up to the chick, its mother nowhere to
be seen , and drop what appeared to be a
morsel of food .
Early in the morning , it
was discovered that the dead bird had obviously been dragged off the verandah by the parents up towards the back of the property where they spent most of the secure daylight hours.
The parents , squatting close
together nearby, did not move when the chick was removed for burial. However, the male rose and inspected the position where the chick had been.
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Mourning Curlew parents after death of second chick .
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