Great Birding Moments #15 Long Billed Corellas
3 Comments »15th October, 2006; Category: Cockatoos and Corellas, Great Birding Moments, Parrots and Lorikeets
Long Billed Corellas
This great birding moment occured not in the field but at my computer. A few weeks ago we visited Laratinga Wetlands at Mt Barker in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia. It was a calm and mild evening and we had a cuppa and a few biscuits while sitting on a log placed near the water’s edge. There was the usual squadron of ducks, grebes and coots swimming about – or headed in our direction hoping for a tasty handout. (Word must be out that my wife’s Anzac biscuits are superb).
Long Billed Corellas
A small flock of Corellas flew in and landed on a nearby tree. “Little Corellas” was my immediate thought and wrote that in my notebook. It was only when I downloaded the photos to my computer that night that I realised that they were actually Long Billed Corellas. Oops. Never assume anything – check them out carefully. It’s a good rule of thumb when birding. I had momentarily lapsed into thinking that they were Littles when in fact both species are common in our state.
Related articles:
- Laratinga Wetlands, Mt Barker – includes a bird list.
- Little Corellas – about calls to cull the large numbers of corellas in parts of South Australia.
Updated November 2013.
More about Sulphur Crested Cockatoos
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Yesterday I had a comment on an earlier post that made some interesting, informative and entertaining things to say about the behaviour of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos. In part, Scot was questioning my statement that this species was a bit flighty and hard to photograph. With his permission I quote his comments in full.
I’m surprised that you say that Sulphur Cresteds are hard to approach, Trevor. There’s a wild flock in the centre of Sydney that live in the botanic garden and it’s quite easy to wander around watching them dismantling various trees there. You can get quite close if you are careful.
They also use this as a base to invade much of the urban inner city area – some people feed them off their high rise balconies. I lived in Sydney’s inner east until very recently and they have, for the last 15 years or more, been a fixture of life in Woolloomooloo. Screeching their heads off and engaging aerobatic flying and tourist harassment and everything all year long.
In the last place I lived, in Potts Point, they used to regularly settle upon the trees in my street and proceed to demolish them for their fruit (which I note the Currawongs also ate). They will also attack human artefacts, such as the one we tried chasing off our neighbour’s window sill after it took a liking to shredding the fly screen. I guess living in centre of the big city they are used to humans completely. This one just looked me up and down, calculated that I couldn’t actually physically reach it, and then calmly returned to shredding activities.
They also once attacked a big foam spider effigy the museum had stuck on the front to advertise a spider exhibition they had on. I think they do this sort of stuff for pure entertainment value. They are hooligans and vandals and I love ’em!
Scot
Thanks to Scot for permission to post his comments.
Related articles:
Great Birding Moments #14 Cockatoo Close Encounter
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Last week I had a post where I wrote about a close encounter with a small flock of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos in suburban Adelaide. In that post I said I had taken a photo of one of the birds looking directly at me, but that it was blurred.
I was wrong.
It was a fine photo albeit a little dark. With a little computer tweaking I was able to make this a reasonable shot after all.
I wonder what he is thinking?
Great Birding Moments #13 Sulphur Crested Cockatoos
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Last week my wife was admitted to Burnside Hospital in suburban Adelaide for an operation. After seeing her into the capable hands of the staff I drove off to spend the day photographing birds in the Cleland Wildlife Park in the Adelaide Hills. Rounding the corner into the next side street I was astounded to see a small flock of about eight Sulphur Crested Cockatoos in a street tree. I just had to stop and get the camera out.
Sulphur Crested Cockatoos
The tree was a White Cedar and a branch had broken off, exposing a hollow. Several birds were investigating the hollow as they screeched and carried on just a few metres from my busy camera. I was very pleased with the result because, in my experience, this is not an easy species to get close to in the wild. They seemed more interested in the hollow and each other than the strange creature hovering below them. Actually, one of them did notice me as the photo I took had him looking straight at me with a quizzical look on his face. Pity it is a little blurred.
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Sulphur Crested Cockatoos are found in coastal and sub-coastal regions from northern Australia, down the eastern seaboard and through to Adelaide. It is also found in Tasmania and has been introduced to Western Australia. They are a delightful and spectacular species but are inclined to be rather noisy.
Sulphur Crested Cockatoos are a popular pet in Australia, and probably elsewhere too.
Update: this photo above – and many other photos featured on this site – can now be purchased on a range of merchandise such as T-shirts, aprons, wall plaques, clocks and mugs. Go to my Trevor’s Photos site here.
A bird of a different colour
6 Comments »17th August, 2006; Category: Parrots and Lorikeets
I recently had a picnic lunch at Clonlea Park in Gawler, South Australia. Gawler is a large town an hour north of Adelaide. The park consists of tennis courts, barbecue areas, extensive areas of lawn and is bordered by the Gawler River. We enjoy having lunch or a cuppa here on our way to visit our daughter in Clare. The bird life is interesting without being spectacular.
Australian Magpies, Wood Ducks, Adelaide Rosellas and Noisy Miner are the most common species present. Crested Pigeons and Spotted Turtledoves are likewise common. Masked Lapwings are sometimes seen on the lawns and Little Pied Cormorants along the river. Red Wattlebirds and White Plumed Honeyeaters are often seen foraging in the tree canopies. Striated Pardalotes are more often heard than seen.
On my most recent visit I was enjoying some lunch when my attention was drawn to a strange looking bird feeding on the grass some fifty metres away. I did not immediately recognise it so I scrambled for the binoculars. It turned out to be a white coloured Cockatiel (see photo), not a species I was expecting to see here. While it was not entirely impossible to see a Cockatiel here, the fact it was a white individual means that someone local is missing their pet bird.
Cockatiel parrot (aviary escapee?)
Cockatiels are bred by some aviculturalists in a range of colour variations. Why they do this always puzzles me because their natural colours are quite beautiful. We had a natural coloured one when I was quite young and I was able to teach it to speak a number of words. They make quite endearing pets and are quite at home living inside one’s house, like the pet of close friends. Theirs takes delight in harassing their two cats who also spend most of their time indoors.