Trapeze artist Galah swings on the wires. All paintings by Patsy Hunt By Patsy Hunt
YOU don't have to be an expert to appreciate birds. Just watch their different characters, their beauty, their song, their tenacity for life, their dedicated care for their young and their ability to enjoy life and have fun despite all the threats they face.
So many people these days are so wrapped up in their busy lives, and the technology that goes with it, that they go through life oblivious of the world around them. Take some time out to watch the birds around you.
YOU don't have to be an expert to appreciate birds. Just watch their different characters, their beauty, their song, their tenacity for life, their dedicated care for their young and their ability to enjoy life and have fun despite all the threats they face.
So many people these days are so wrapped up in their busy lives, and the technology that goes with it, that they go through life oblivious of the world around them. Take some time out to watch the birds around you.
Birds that make a splash
A visitor that really makes its presence felt is the Rainbow Lorikeet. This bright multicoloured parrot arrives, usually in a small group, with a screech and then continuously chatters while feasting on fruits and flowering plants. These lorikeets have become the most frequently sighted birds in many residential gardens and, unlike many birds, their numbers remain high. This is mainly due to the suburban gardens that have fruit trees and shrubs like grevillea and callistemon (bottle brushes) which provide a plentiful food supply. In our garden they love the prunus tree, with its many plums, and make a real mess when the fruit is ripe. Rainbow Lorikeets can be loud rather pushy birds that can certainly disturb the peace, rathe like noisy flamboyant neighbours, but are certainly colourful popular birds.
A visitor that really makes its presence felt is the Rainbow Lorikeet. This bright multicoloured parrot arrives, usually in a small group, with a screech and then continuously chatters while feasting on fruits and flowering plants. These lorikeets have become the most frequently sighted birds in many residential gardens and, unlike many birds, their numbers remain high. This is mainly due to the suburban gardens that have fruit trees and shrubs like grevillea and callistemon (bottle brushes) which provide a plentiful food supply. In our garden they love the prunus tree, with its many plums, and make a real mess when the fruit is ripe. Rainbow Lorikeets can be loud rather pushy birds that can certainly disturb the peace, rathe like noisy flamboyant neighbours, but are certainly colourful popular birds.
A relative newcomer whose numbers are on the increase is the even noisier Little Corella. Once seldom seen here they are now present in large noisy flocks flying crazily around on dusk with a great deal of noisy high pitched screeching. These mainly white birds with pink and blue markings around their eyes look like small cockatoos. When they land on a tree in large numbers they look like large white Christmas decorations. In our nearby park I have seen flocks of 60 to 80 birds feeding on the ground and am concerned that they may be displacing other hollow nesting birds like galahs and rosellas.
The Galah is a very different character. While it has a high pitched call it is a much more peaceful bird than the corella. Galahs love grazing on grassy nature strips and then enjoy perching in a happy group on the power lines. What I love about them is how affectionate they are to each other. They will sit cuddled up on the lines gently preening each other and chattering softly. Galahs are very patient parents and I sympathise with them for having to deal with such noisy demanding offspring. The young chicks sit quietly where they have been placed but when a parent returns with food the gurgly noise they make is incredible as they hungrily eat the food pushed into their mouths. Galahs also seem to have times when they show complete happiness. When welcome rain arrives they will hang upside down on the power lines with wings spread to enjoy the cleansing shower and will then fly madly around zig zagging with pure joy. I have read that galahs have been seen using slides in children's playgrounds for no other reason than enjoyment. A good example to set to us that we should take pleasure in simple things. They are a pink and grey delight.
The final bird seen fairly frequently is the Grey Currawong. They have a ringing call that can be heard over quite a distance. Currawongs are omnivorous and their arrival causes great concern among smaller birds especially during nesting time. I have seen a group of Little Wattlebirds attack and harass a currawong and actually succeed in making it leave. A large grey bird with white markings and a punishing beak they certainly can cause mayhem preying on smaller birds, their eggs and young. Currawongs do come into our garden but are particularly fond of the large eucalypts on the nature strips and can often be heard stripping bark in quite large pieces to get to the insects under the bark. If only they could clean up the mess they leave behind their visits would be more welcome.