AN annoying, early morning bird with a distinctive call has been antagonising Albury residents for weeks.
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It starts calling as early as 3am and is prevalent in the city’s central area.
But the mystery about its identity had not been answered until Wilkinson Street resident Ian Jenkin came up with the solution.
It is the Koel, one of several types of cuckoo that lays eggs in the nests of other birds.
The visitor is said to be the Pacific or eastern Koel.
Mr Jenkin, who has lived in Albury for 15 years and holidays up north, said he had first struck the bird in Queensland.
He believed the birds had migrated to the region since the drought ended in 2010.
When told about people’s anger towards it and its early-morning calls, Mr Jenkin said: “That would not surprise me”.
“They have been haunting my neighbours.
“A lot of people have been wondering what they are.”
He said one of his friends had threatened to get a rifle and shoot the pestering caller in his area.
Mr Jenkin said the bird has a unique call.
“It winds itself up. It goes up in levels,” he said.
Mr Jenkin described the Koel’s call as being a little like a cuckoo or owl and said they were an early morning alarm clock.
The birds are shy and usually perch in the top of trees.
Residents have found it hard to detect where the birds are perched.