There were no Galahs at Galah
Galahs at nesting hollow
Sydney Road Trip May 2010
Earlier this year we travelled to Sydney to visit family. Along the way I naturally looked for birds as we travelled along. Because we were on a tight time schedule I wasn’t able to do much birding, nor was I able to get many photos.
From home in Murray Bridge we travelled east through Lameroo, Pinnaroo and then over the border into north-west Victoria, heading for Ouyen where we stopped for lunch. Just west of Ouyen there is a locality called Galah. I don’t know the history of this “town”, or even if there ever was a town there. All you can see today is about 2 farm houses, some mallee scrub and a tall wheat silo for the surrounding farms. The railway line runs past the silo.
Interestingly, on many trips along this road, I cannot ever remember seeing any Galahs in the locality called Galah. I’m sure there are some around; I’ve just never seen any there. Just so you don’t feel left out, I’ve included a photo of two Galahs I took some time ago. These two were cleaning out a tree hollow ready for nesting – in my garden. Perhaps I should rename my garden “Galah”.
Happy birding
Trevor
This article last updated in August 2015.
Galahs lose their home
Galahs at nesting hollow
A few months ago I wrote about a pair of Galahs investigating a hollow in a large tree in our garden. Every day or so they would come and do a little more in the hollow. I even saw them lining the nest with fresh gum leaves. But it didn’t happen. Their happy homemaking never resulted in the happy – noisy – squawk of little ones.
In the meantime I noticed that they would come every few days, sit at the entrance and screech loudly into the hollow. This behaviour puzzled me. I wondered if some other creature – an owl perhaps – had taken up residence.
A few nights ago I found out what had happened – and I have photographic evidence of who had taken over their cosy love nest. The photos below tell the story.
Brush-tailed Possum
Brush-tailed Possum
Two Galahs and a Corella
Galahs in aviary, Pinnaroo Caravan Park
I took this photo of two Galahs in the aviary next to the Pinnaroo Caravan Park last week. Rather sad looking birds if you ask me. I guess they’d rather be out in the fields pinching the seeds from a farmer’s wheat crop. At least they have each other – many parrots mate for life. It’s a little hard to tell but by digitally enlarging the photo it looks like the one on the left is a male, the other a female. (Males have dark brown eyes, females red eyes).
Even sadder is the solitary Little Corella shown below.
Little Corella in aviary, Pinnaroo Caravan Park
Galah
Galah
The well known Australian parrot, the Galah, is a very common bird in our district. Flocks numbering in the hundreds are common sights. I can confidently say that this is one species that we would see every day of the year, either flying overhead or perching somewhere in our garden.
Flocks are very common, as are pairs flying overhead. Occasionally I will see a single bird, like the one in the photo above. This one came in to have a drink from one of our bird baths recently.
Providing watering points like this in a home garden is the most effective way of supporting our native species, especially in the harsh, hot and dry climate we have here in southern Australia. If placed close to the house where you can see the birds but they can’t see you – or aren’t disturbed by you – can provide many hours of great birding.
Gertie Galah adopts us
Galah
Strange things happen in the bird world from time to time.
Stranger things sometimes happen in my world from time to time too.
Like yesterday.
I was sitting on the back veranda reading the morning paper. I was suddenly aware of movement near my feet. I wild Galah casually walked past me, across the grass and went straight for the swamp… er… swimming pool. It leaned over looking for a drink, but the water level is just a little too low.
She continued walking around the pool to the steps. She took quite and interest in the little ramp we installed a few weeks ago to allow some Pacific Black Ducklings to get out of the water before they drowned. (Yes – baby ducklings can drown due to hypothermia and having feathers that cannot repel water. They develop water resistance after a few weeks.) Said Galah, having tested out the ramp, walks down to the water’s edge for a good drink and then back to the bricks again. She then proceeded to walk out through a gap in the fence and off through the mallee scrub at the back of our house. As she left I noticed that one wing was drooping and obviously damaged.
This morning Gertie was back – but this time she was floundering in the water. Several other Galahs had gathered on the pool edge to encourage her. She was quite soggy and I rescued her just in time. I wrapped her in a towel, put her in a cardboard box in the sun and hoped she would dry out. Within the hour she shrugged off the towel, climbed out of the box, preened her feathers and walked off towards the scrub again. This time the wing seemed to droop even more.
At lunch time she was back, sitting on the water’s edge. I managed to approach close enough to throw the towel over her and catch her, making sure her sharp beak and claws were kept away from my tender fingers. Despite her loud, squawking protestations I managed to release her in an old aviary to keep her out of harm’s way. We have stray cats and foxes in the vicinity; it’s not safe out there for a wounded Galah who can’t fly more than about a metre.
By this evening she had found the food I’ve put there for her and I hope she’ll also find the water. Even though wounded she was able to climb up the netting and find a perch.
How did she become wounded? I suspect she’s been hit by a passing vehicle. The death rate of Galahs from road kill is incredibly high. In another part of town today I saw four dead Galahs in a 50 metre stretch of road. Other possibilities include a fox, dog or cat attack while feeding on the ground, flying into a power line or even a bullet wound.
The photo above is of a free bird, not Gertie. I hope she quickly recovers so we can release her again.
Update: Gertie obviously felt better after a few days. She managed to escape from my old aviary and we haven’t seen her since.
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This post was updated July 2015