Fun With Birds in Australia

I appear to have accumulated a critical mass of bird photos and it's time to share them. I have also adopted a Magpie in the back yard who now comes every day to be fed.  This is the "swooping" season where male birds are defending their nests and will attack without warning.  And it is illegal to hurt them intentionally - you can defend yourself but don't take any offensive action.  They like their wildlife here and that's good (except when slowing down for echidnas, see previous post on that subject).  But Magpies are smart, and if you feed them, they remember you.

But boy, does it annoy the cats.  I just ran the video below and Karnak, who has taken to sitting next to the computer, stood up and started staring at the skylight and then ran downstairs to the back door to confront the intruder.

Here's my breakfast visitor:

Apparently being able to feed them by hand isn't that common, but they see me every day and apparently are used to me.

Magpie feeding from Charles Ikins on Vimeo.

And they have a beautiful song as well - here's one giving full voice in a local park.  He just sat there and sang his little heart out.  Sorry about the sideways film - can't be fixed.  I forgot that you have to hold the I-phone sideways when you shoot video.  But it's the sound that matters...

Untitled from Charles Ikins on Vimeo.

Then there are the Cockatiels (yes, the same bird that you remember from the cop show "Baretta"...

 

 Here's what happens when you put seeds out:

Cockatiels in the backyard from Charles Ikins on Vimeo.

Then there are the King Parrots...

 The Galahs...

The Crimson Rosellas...

The occasional Raven...

Black Geese...

 

Some sort of duck...

And the (angry) Minah...this one was so territorial he attacked his own reflection.

There are all other sorts of birds flying wild here that in the States you would only see in a petshop.  There are beautiful parrots called Lorrakeets that are all the colors of the rainbow, Grass Parrots (little green parrots), Currawongs (look like a miniature Magpie), little blue and green thrushes and all sort of birds just passing though.