Birds in the News #74
No Comments »13th March, 2007; Category: Birds in the News
The latest edition of Birds in the News digest has just been published. It is worth a look even if it is just for the photo of the beautiful Baltimore Oriole at the top of the page.
Link:
- Birds in the News 74 – a digest of articles in the news about birds.
Good Articles you may have missed
1 Comment »13th March, 2007; Category: General
The number of readers of this birding blog continues to grow steadily. Readers who may have discovered this blog only recently may have missed some of the interesting articles I have featured here over the last 18 months.
Here is a digest of some popular articles. Many of the articles have comments by readers, so it is worth reading those as well. Just click on the title and that will take you to the relevant article:
- Diamond Firetail Finches – one of our most beautiful birds.
- Eastern Rosella – many comments about this beautiful species.
- Favourite Birding Spots #1 – the first in a series of good birding spots.
- Great Birding Moments #13 – Sulphur Crested Cockatoos
- Do Blackbirds Swoop? How to deal with aggressive behaviour in birds. A very long and detailed article about birds that act aggressively. Includes many comments and observations from readers.
- Gotcha! I finally captured a photo of the beautiful Rainbow Bee-eater in our garden.
Of course this list is merely a sample of the well over 400 articles about birds on this blog. To read more you can click on one of the categories listed on the side bar, or go to the contents section or check out the Archives.
Updated November 2013.
Do Emus Swim?
I guess the Emu is one of the most recognisable birds in Australia. Not only is it our biggest bird, it also features on our coat of arms. Most Australians would instantly recognise an Emu if they saw one out in the wild or in a park. Birders from all over the world would probably have a fair idea of what an Emu looks like.
I hope my readers know what an Emu looks like because strangely enough I don’t seem to have taken one with my digital camera. (Somewhere on several thousand old slides I am sure I have several, but finding them would take all day). See update below.
A question arose recently on the Birding-Aus forum, “Do Emus swim?” The answer is most definitely “yes.” It is not a common activity but they can and do swim.
Some years ago we were on a boat cruise on the Lower Glenelg River near Nelson in south-western Victoria. This was a very relaxing two hour cruise on a lovely stretch of the river. The birding was also very good, with excellent views of Peregrine Falcons along the way. On our return voyage back down river, the captain suddenly interrupted his commentary to point out two Emus swimming across the river about fifty metres in front of the boat. Only their snake-like necks showed above the water. He slowed the boat and turned so everyone on board had a good view.
On reaching the shore, the emus shook their feathers vigorously before heading off into the bush. The captain explained that despite doing this cruise almost every day for over twenty years he had never seen Emus swimming. I later checked with other readers of Birding-Aus and some said that it was relatively common along the River Murray, especially in times of drought when the Emus are migrating, looking for food.
UPDATE:
I now have some photos of Emus to share with you. These were taken last year at our local Monarto Zoo – just a few kilometres from my home. I have also added some links to other articles about Emus.
UPDATE #2
Parts of the above article were quoted in an article in the Sunday Mail, a weekly paper published in South Australia. It appeared in the July 12th 2015 edition.
Related articles:
A short break in Clare
On Friday we travelled from home in Murray Bridge to the mid-north town of Clare. Our daughter is a teacher in the local high school. This is a long weekend, so she has taken that opportunity to fly to Sydney to visit her brother and sister in law, as well as friends from England who have recently moved to Sydney. We were left to dog-sit in her house.
I usually take a great deal of interest in observing the birds we see as we drive along. In the farmlands of South Australia there are usually quite a few birds to see along the roads and in nearby paddocks. Interestingly, I did not see all that much of interest. Sure, there were the usual species one would expect to see.
Australian Magpies and Little Ravens are by far the most common birds seen along our roads, closely followed by species like the Crested Pigeon, Common Starling and House Sparrow. Several times I observed Feral Pigeons (Rock Doves) with one flock of about a hundred on the power lines near a bridge. I dare say they breed profusely under the bridge and have food laid on in abundance in the nearby wheat crops and sheds and silos where grain is stored.
The occasional Red Wattlebird flew from tree to tree and several Willie Wagtails hovered near the roadside grass. At one stage the road passes a reservoir. Because we were on a tight time schedule we didn’t have time to check out the water birds there. On other occasions were have seen Australian Pelicans, Black Swans and Little Pied Cormorants on this dam.
Of note was the total absence of raptors during our two hour journey. We usually see quite a few Nankeen Kestrels and Black-Shouldered Kites as we drive along. I’ll especially look out for them on the return trip next week.
Related articles:
- Favourite Birding Spot #4 Lake Inchiquin, Clare – about one hundred metres from my daughter’s home.
- Favourite Birding Spot #4 Lake Inchiquin, Clare – part 2.
Words and Birds
Ever wonder where bird names come from? And what they mean?
Harry over at his blog called Heraclitean Fire had fun with the dictionary recently. He discovered some interesting things about words and birds. He tells about his discoveries in a post called Birding the Dictionary.
Related articles:
- Glossary of bird words – learn more about birds and their words here.