Our messy looking garden attracts plenty of amazing insects and many different birds that hunt them.
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One of my favourites is a large Pheasant Coucal who a regular visitor with a dismaying taste preference for the beautiful large Goliath Stick Insects that live in our large Acacia trees.
A large, mostly ground dwelling cuckoo, the Pheasant Coucal has a long tail and short wings that can make flight appear somewhat perilous.
Its feathers are quite spectacular. In breeding season it has a black head, neck and belly while its wings and back are reddish brown with cream and black stripes.
At the moment our local Coucal doesn't have its mind on such important things and its head and neck are a rich reddish colour and its tummy, a beautiful cinnamon brown with many of its feathers streaked with white.
Female Coucals look similar to males but are usually slightly bigger and both have reddish coloured eyes.
Most cuckoos are known to be nest parasites, laying their eggs in other birds' nests and leaving them to raise the chicks, but the Pheasant Coucal takes parenting very seriously indeed.
Pairs build a nest made from a platform of sticks lined with leaves and grasses that is hidden in thick grass. The male Coucal is a 'hands-on' parent, incubating the egg and catching most of the food for the chick.
The female Coucal is content to simply lay the egg and help out when she can with finding food for the growing offspring. Coucals form lasting pairs and more than one clutch can be laid in each season.
Pheasant Coucals are not a popular part of the suburban bird flock around my place. When they appear the smaller Pee-Wee's, Willie Wag-Tails and Honey Eaters are quick to shout a warning.
This is because Coucals feed on eggs and young birds as well as large insects, lizards, frogs and even small mammals.
The other afternoon one of my favourite garden goblins, a large female Goliath Stick insect, was on the menu.
A bushy and unkempt garden is a beautiful one in the eyes of a bird as there are plenty of places to hide and many bugs to catch.
Rely on the environment to feed your backyard buddies and always remember that items like supermarket meat, honey and bread will make them sick.