Another observation of an overwintering Fan-tailed Cuckoo prompted me to have a look at BirdData for seasonal records of the species in this part of central Victoria.
Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Muckleford Nature Conservation Reserve, 13th June 2022
The first map below shows records since 1998 for the months of May and June, the second map the combined records for May to August. Clearly this species is about during winter, at least in some years, but observations peak from August through November when they can be readily heard calling throughout the box-ironbark country.
Even in Tasmania, at the southern-most edge of their range, a few individuals are observed through deep winter. It is anybody’s guess as to whether our local ‘fantails’ are residents or migrants from further south, and furthermore if their movements are changing along with our climate. They are largely silent until their hosts (fairy-wrens, scrubwrens and thornbills) commence nest building with the first hint of spring, however I have been hearing the odd bird calling in recent weeks, along with a Shining Bronze-cuckoo.
Fan-tailed Cuckoo records (red dots) in central Victoria – May to June (all years)
Fan-tailed Cuckoo records (red dots) in central Victoria – May to August (all years)
This individual was hunting caterpillars from a series of low perches, dropping successfully to the forest floor numerous times as I followed.
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Natural Newstead 