Now the Eastern Rosella is back home
1 Comment »9th August, 2013; Category: Bird Behaviour, Flowers, Garden birds, Murray Bridge, Parrots and Lorikeets
Eastern Rosella, Murray Bridge
For almost two years now we have had an Eastern Rosella occasionally visit our garden and patch of mallee scrub. During some weeks we see it several times a day, every day. On other occasions it may only visit once and then not again for a week or two. It is an unusual visitor for a number of reasons.
- Eastern Rosellas are not normally found in the Murray Bridge region. They are common in the eastern states and even in the south east of South Australia. They have been introduced to the Adelaide region. All I can assume is that this species is extending its range or this one bird has escaped from someone’s aviary – or has been released.
- The other unusual matter relates to its behaviour: it is regularly seen in the company of a Mallee Ringneck. We have up to a dozen ringnecks around at any one time, but most of them do not tolerate this “interloper” and will vigorously chase it off. It keeps returning; such persistence.
For the last month we hadn’t seen the rosella, but earlier this week it reappeared, again in the company of a ringneck and again being harassed by the other ringnecks. On Wednesday it posed nicely for my camera while eating the flowers of one of our Eremophila youngii bushes.
Further reading:
- Now we have two Eastern Rosellas
- Adelaide Rosellas in our garden
- Mallee Ringneck Parrot
- Parrots eating our flowers
- Eremophilas – articles about Eremophilas on my wife’s site.
Eastern Rosella, Murray Bridge
Eastern Rosella, Murray Bridge
Eastern Rosella, Murray Bridge
Eclectus Parrot, Adelaide Zoo
Male Eclectus Parrot, Adelaide Zoo
In today’s post I feature several photos of the male and female Eclectus Parrots. This very colourful species of parrot is found in the northernmost parts of Queensland. It also inhabits eastern Indonesia, the Solomon Islands and Papua-New Guinea to the north of Australia.
These birds were photographed in a walk through aviary in the Adelaide Zoo, South Australia.
Female Eclectus Parrot, Adelaide Zoo
Male Eclectus Parrot, Adelaide Zoo
Sun Conure, Adelaide Zoo
No Comments »3rd August, 2013; Category: Adelaide Zoo, Aviaries, Non-Australian birds, Parrots and Lorikeets, Zoos
Sun Conure, Adelaide Zoo
Sun Conures (also called Sun Parakeet) are native to north-eastern South America. They are spectacular in their bright colours and it is not surprising that they are a popular aviary bird.
The birds shown in today’s photos are a part of the wonderful collection of birds in the Adelaide Zoo in South Australia. The zoo has a very strong collection of Australian birds with a small selection of non-Australian birds as well.
I am quite pleased with the photos shown today, taken as they were through the wire netting of the aviary.
You can read about another species of conure in the zoo, the Brown-throated Conure, by clicking here.
Sun Conure, Adelaide Zoo
Sun Conure, Adelaide Zoo
Sun Conure, Adelaide Zoo
Yellow-collared Lovebird, Adelaide Zoo
No Comments »1st August, 2013; Category: Adelaide Zoo, Aviaries, Non-Australian birds, Parrots and Lorikeets, Zoos
Yellow-collared Lovebird, Adelaide Zoo
The Adelaide Zoo has an excellent collection of Australian and exotic birds in their aviaries and I enjoy the challenge of photographing them, especially where I have to shoot through the wire netting. The photo of a Yellow-collared Lovebird above turned out quite well, despite the netting in the way. It is much easier in the walk-through aviaries of course.
The various species of lovebirds available through pet shops and those that specialise in just birds make them quite popular here in Australia. My opinion of lovebirds is somewhat unfavourable, I must admit. Many years ago our neighbours when we were living in another town had quite a number of lovebirds in a smallish cage right next to our fence. All I can remember is that they were constantly squabbling and screeching.
On a more positive note, I will acknowledge that they are beautiful birds. I can see the attraction of having them as pets, either in a cage or in a bigger aviary.
They are native to Tanzania in southern Africa.
I have written about this species on another occasion (click here).
Superb Parrot
Superb Parrot, Adelaide Zoo
On our recent trip to Sydney we stopped quite a few times for a meal break, to refuel or to change drivers. Generally we choose meals breaks where we know we have a good chance of seeing at least some birds. We’ve travelled this route many times in the last 15 years so we can visit family who live in Sydney. These trips have become very regular in the last four years. Grandchildren (ages nearly 5 and nearly 2) are something of an added attraction these days.
On our most recent trip a few weeks’ ago we didn’t get any chances to get out birding in the Sydney region itself. The first 10 days were very wet and cold, and them I spent the rest of the time confined to quarters with bronchitis. I’m still not fully over it three weeks later.
I did manage a little birding at meal breaks on our return journey. We were planning on stopping at the Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens on the first day of our return trip, but fading light and a bitterly cold wind convinced us to press on towards Narrandera for the night. Just east of Wagga Wagga we stopped at a roadside rest area in the Borambola district to change drivers. As I opened the car door my attention was immediately caught by a bird call. It was coming from a eucalyptus tree some twenty metres from where we’d parked the car. I whipped out the binoculars – sadly they’d been neglected for most of our trip – and searched for the bird. Eventually I found it sitting right at the outer foliage of a tall tree, with only its head and neck showing. Too high for a photo and only just enough of the bird showing to give positive identification.
This was only about the third time I’ve seen a Superb Parrot, aptly named for its wonderful colours. Because I didn’t get a photo on this occasion I’ve used one I took in an aviary at the Adelaide Zoo a few years ago.
Further reading:
- Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens
- Superb Parrot page on Birds in Backyards site