Who has lost a canary?
Escaped Canary in our garden
We’d just finished lunch a while ago and were sitting on our back veranda enjoying a cuppa. The barbecue I’d coked had been delicious and the weather was fine. I was absorbed in a novel I’m reading when my wife suddenly drew my attention to a canary on the ground about three metres away.
I quietly went inside to get my camera and it stayed long enough for me to take about a dozen photos. The best ones are shown here. It has obviously escaped from someone’s aviary; they are certainly not native to Australia. Two or our nearest neighbours keep canaries so it may well have escaped from their aviaries. It was very tame, allowing me to approach to within a metre or two, but wary enough to keep out of reach. Catching it poses a few problems.
Sadly, such a brightly coloured bird could easily become easy prey for the local Brown Falcons, Collared Sparrowhawks and others.
Further reading:
Escaped Canary in our garden
Escaped Canary in our garden
Flamingos, Adelaide Zoo
Chilean Flamingo, Adelaide Zoo
The Adelaide Zoo has only two flamingos in its good collection of birds. The one shown in the photo above is the Chilean Flamingo.The other one is the Greater Flamingo, shown below.
The Chilean Flamingo is found in many parts of South America, while the Greater Flamingo is found in parts of Africa, Asia and Europe.
Further reading:
- Chilean Flamingo – read more about this species on the zoo’s site
- Greater Flamingo – more information on the Adelaide Zoo site
Greater Flamingo, Adelaide Zoo
Rock Doves, Laratinga Wetlands
Rock Dove, Laratinga Wetlands, South Australia
Feral Pigeons – also called Rock Doves – are an introduced species of bird in Australia. In fact, they have been introduced to most of the world. I haven’t been to many overseas cities but I am aware that this dove is very common in most urban areas of the world. They are certainly very common in cities and town throughout much of Australia, and their range is constantly growing.
Along some coastal areas here in South Australia they breed in large numbers – often in the 1000s – along the coastal cliffs. Town and city buildings also play host to hundreds of birds and can cause severe problems with their droppings.
This small group of about a half dozen appear to have taken up residence in this large eucalyptus tree in the Laratinga Wetlands in Mt Barker, South Australia. The only place they could be nesting is in the many hollows in the large trees. In this way they are are pest species, taking up hollows that would otherwise be used by parrots, owls and animals like possums.
Rock Dove, Laratinga Wetlands, South Australia
Spotted Turtledove nesting
No Comments »16th October, 2010; Category: Bird baths, Bird Behaviour, Garden birds, Nests, Non-Australian birds, Pigeons and Doves
Spotted Turtledove sitting on a nest
We usually have several Spotted Turtledoves hanging around somewhere in our garden. In the hot weather they are frequent visitors to our bird baths – to see photos click here.
They are also a resident breeding species in our garden here in Murray Bridge, South Australia. Quite often they go about their nesting quite unobtrusively and we never get to see their nests. The latest attempt, however, was several metres from our sun room where we often have our meals. We watched the progress of the nest over several days as the pair flew to the ground, selected suitable sticks and twigs and then flew back to the melaleuca bush.
I was rather cautious approaching the bush for the photo above because doves and pigeons can be very nervous on the nest, often flying off rapidly when approached and either damaging the nest or eggs, or abandoning it entirely.
Since taking this photo a few weeks ago the young have left the nest. Click on the photo to enlarge the image.
Spotted Turtledove at Adelaide Zoo
Worldwide Waders web site
No Comments »5th September, 2010; Category: Blogs, Field guides, Non-Australian birds, Plovers Dotterels and Lapwings, Shorebirds
I find identifying waders and shorebirds can be a very confusing pursuit. So many of our Australian wading birds look very similar in the field. I try to take note of the major characteristics of the plumage, consider carefully the size and shape, watch the habits of the bird in question and think I know what it is. Going to the field guides just confuses the issue all over again. [sigh]
If you see plenty of this kind of bird, or you want to learn more about waders and shorebirds, go to WorldWaders Posterous. This blog features wading birds from all over the world. Plenty of good photos are posted there too.
Red-kneed Dotterel