WONGA WONDER

Watching a male Wonga Pigeon's courtship ritual has been this week's avian highlight thus far (and will probably remain so, unless, say, a disoriented Oriental Honey-Buzzard turns up at Jordan's Crosing Reserve and takes after startled Noisy Miners!). The Wonga was in a neighbour's yard. I started mimicking its ongoing call. The bird responded by fanning/spreading its tail and lifting and fanning its wings. It then threw its head back over each of its shoulders repeatedly. A female turned up and the pair copulated. The female then jumped on the male's back, which surprised me. Mutual neck rubbing ended the three or four minutes of love. Something I've never witnessed before. LJ, December 6 2012.