Royal Spoonbill
Royal Spoonbill, Adelaide Zoo
Whenever I go out birding, I delight in seeing spoonbills. My favourite would have to be the Yellow-billed Spoonbill, but I also enjoy seeing the Royal Spoonbill. We only have the two species of spoonbills here in Australia.
Sometimes in the natural environment it is not easy to get up very close to the birds like I’ve managed in this series of photos. On this occasion I was photographing a captive bird in a walk-through aviary at the Adelaide Zoo.
The Royal Spoonbill is found throughout Australia where there is suitable habitat, except for the drier areas of South and Western Australia. You may notice in the photos on this post that the bird has a rather prominent plume of feathers coming from its head, prominent yellow marks above the eyes and a small red mark on the forehead. All these indicate breeding plumage; there was a nest in a tree planted in the aviary.
I must say that I’m struck by the yellow mark over the eyes; it gives the bird something of an evil look!
Further reading:
Royal Spoonbill, Adelaide Zoo
Royal Spoonbill, Adelaide Zoo
Royal Spoonbill, Adelaide Zoo
Eclectus Parrot
Eclectus Parrot (male), Adelaide Zoo
Australia has many beautiful parrots. One of the more intriguing – and beautiful – would have to be the Eclectus Parrot, shown in the photos on this post. This is a species I have yet to see in the natural environment which is not surprising seeing it is found in remote locations in far north Queensland, a state I am yet to visit.
The beautiful plumage on this large parrot is interesting because the male (shown above) is not as outstanding as the female (see below). This is unusual in the bird kingdom because most male birds are more colourful than females, but only where there is dimorphism. This means that the male and female plumage is different. Of course, many species display no dimorphism; male and female are identical.
Forget about the scientific explanations: I think the male looks rather neat in green. They both look stunning with such pure and startling colours.
I must attempt to get to northern Queensland soon as see them “at home.”
Further reading:
- Parrots -more articles from the archives of this site
- Eclectus Parrots at Adelaide Zoo
Eclectus Parrot (male), Adelaide Zoo
Eclectus Parrot (male), Adelaide Zoo
Eclectus Parrot (female) Adelaide Zoo
Pied Imperial-Pigeon
Pied Imperial-pigeon in walk through aviary at Adelaide Zoo
The beautiful Pied Imperial-pigeon is found in the mangroves, rainforests and woodlands of coastal northern Australia. I haven’t been birding in that part of Australia yet, so I was pleased to get these good photos of the species in one of the walk-through aviaries at Adelaide Zoo recently.
These pigeons are commuters. They nest and roost on the islands of northern Australia and daily commute to the mainland to feed on fruit in the rainforests and mangroves. They nest in the mangrove trees of the islands. They are also present in PNG and Indonesia. Many populations of these pigeons are also migratory, moving between Australia, PNG and Indonesia.
Further reading:
- Adelaide zoo website
- Pigeons and doves – archived articles about pigeons and doves
- Pizzey, G, The field guide to the birds of Australia.
Pied Imperial-pigeon in walk through aviary at Adelaide Zoo
White-headed Pigeon
White-headed Pigeon, walk-through aviary, Adelaide Zoo
The White-headed Pigeon is found along coastal Queensland and New South Wales in tropical and sub-tropical rainforests and scrubland. I know very little about this species because I’ve never seen it in its natural environment. One day I’ll make it to Queensland and see it.
In the meantime, I have to be satisfied with these photos taken in the walk-through aviary at Adelaide Zoo. It’s certainly a beautiful bird.
White-headed Pigeon, walk-through aviary, Adelaide Zoo
White-headed Pigeon, walk-through aviary, Adelaide Zoo
Buff-banded Rail
Buff-banded Rail, walk-through aviary at Adelaide Zoo
The Buff-banded Rail is normally a reasonably shy bird, preferring to skulk around in dense vegetation on the margins of rivers, lakes, dams, wetlands and swamps. On a few occasions, however, I have managed good views and excellent photos of this species where they are very accustomed to people being around. The bird in the photo above was a captive bird, taken while visiting one of the walk-through aviaries at Adelaide Zoo.
On another occasion I was surprised and delighted to see one wandering around my feet in a picnic ground in the Lower Glenelg River National Park in far south western Victoria. That was before I had a good digital camera, so no photos of that one. More recently I managed several excellent photos of this species while visiting the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney. The photo below shows one shot of this bird which casually strolled along the path in front of us. This section of the gardens is visited by thousands of people daily, so it was not at all concerned by my camera and its flash. It had been eating some melting chocolate that had fallen from someone’s ice-cream. I hope this was not a regular part of its diet!
Further reading:
Buff-banded Rail, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney