Trevor's Birding

Eclectus Parrots, Adelaide Zoo

5 Comments »17th June, 2010; Category: Aviaries, Parrots and Lorikeets, Zoos

Eclectus Parrot (female), Adelaide Zoo

The Eclectus Parrot of northern Cape York Peninsula in Queensland would have to be one of our most amazing birds here in Australia. Not only are they strikingly colourful as shown in the photos on this post, they are also rather unusual in the bird kingdom. The female is far more colourful than the male.

This species of bird I have yet to see in their natural environment. All the birds I have seen have been in aviaries or zoos. The photos on this page were taken in the walk through aviary at the Adelaide Zoo. In this aviary they are quite tame and therefore easy to photograph. I dare say that it will be a lot more challenging to get a good photo of one in the wild.

This species is also kept extensively in captivity, but it takes a very deep pocket to buy a breeding pair.

Eclectus Parrot (male), Adelaide Zoo

Cape Barren Goose, Adelaide Zoo

2 Comments »15th June, 2010; Category: Ducks Geese and Swans, Migratory birds, Waterbirds, Zoos

Cape Barren Goose, Adelaide Zoo

The Cape Barren Goose is locally abundant in its range but it has quite a limited range. Total numbers of this species would have to be about 10,000 so, although not endangered, it could be regarded as vulnerable.

This goose is found in coastal areas of South Australia, Victoria and in Tasmania. It breeds on the islands of Bass Strait between Victoria and Tasmania. There is an isolated population at Esperance in Western Australia.

During spring and summer it disperses to the mainland to feed on cultivated pastures, near wetlands and in grasslands. About a twenty minute drive south of where I live there are several large dairies. These have irrigated pastures (mainly clover and lucerne) which attract this species in large numbers. I’ve counted over 500 on several occasions.

The photo below was taken of a captive bird at the Cleland Wildlife Park in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia.

Good birding.

Trevor

This article was updated in August 2015.

Cape Barren Goose, Cleland Wildlife Park

Black-winged Stilt, Adelaide Zoo

No Comments »13th June, 2010; Category: Aviaries, Stilts and Avocets, Waterbirds, Zoos

Black-winged Stilt, Adelaide Zoo

One of the benefits of visiting zoos like the Adelaide Zoo here in South Australia is to observe many bird species up close. Most zoos have collections of birds and Adelaide Zoo is no exception. There is a large collection of easily viewed aviaries decorated to reflect the different habitats present in Australia – from the deserts through to rainforests. In most cases the observer can get to within a metre or two of the birds which helps in learning the finer details of plumage.

The zoo also has two walk through aviaries where you can get even closer to the birds. These are also excellent for bird photography. One of the species I photographed on my last visit was the Black-winged Stilt shown on the photos above and below. This was a challenge – even with a flash on my camera. It was lurking in the pools of the rainforest aviary.

Black-winged stilts are water birds found throughout most of Australia where suitable habitat exists, except, of course, for the drier inland regions. They can occur in small groups of only four or five through to large concentrations in the hundreds, depending on the conditions.

Further reading:

Zoo Chat Forums – my son’s site discussing nearly 1000 zoos from around the world. Numerous photos too.
Favourite birding spot – St Kilda
Water birds at Monarto Zoo

Black-winged Stilt, Adelaide Zoo

Injured bird – Mallee Ringneck Parrot

10 Comments »11th June, 2010; Category: Bird Behaviour, Parrots and Lorikeets

Mallee Ringneck Parrot

This morning I was busy at my desk in my home office when I was startled by a sudden loud thump on the glass of the window about a metre from me.

From time to time we are used to having birds fly into the glass of our windows. Usually the bird takes a few moments to recover before flying off. While it is stunned it is sometimes possible to get good close up photos of the bird in question.

I looked out the window but couldn’t see the poor victim. Grabbing my camera I raced outside. A Mallee Ringneck parrot was on the ground a few metres from the house, sitting quietly while it recovered from the shock. I quickly took the shots on this page before leaving it in peace to recover. I checked about ten minutes later and it had flown off.

I’ve always admired these beautiful parrots, but in examining the feathers up close in the morning sunlight highlighted the amazing colours of the feathers. This species is a resident breeding bird in our garden and nearby mallee scrub. This close encounter has given me a fresh appreciation of this bird.

Mallee Ringneck Parrot

Road trip to Sydney

No Comments »7th June, 2010; Category: Parrots and Lorikeets, Trip reports

Yellow Rosella, Balranald, NSW

We have just returned from a two week road trip to Sydney. In all we covered 2840 kilometres over five days. The remaining 9 days were spent in Sydney visiting family. We had the privilege of spending most of that time with our 20 month old grandson, so there were limited opportunities for birding.

On the trip over and back I listed the birds seen or heard whenever we stopped for a break: lunch or a cuppa. Because of the vast distances we needed to cover each day, birding time was limited. I’ll be sharing some of these times here on this blog in the coming days, including a few photos taken at the time.

In all I managed to record a total of 81 species, not bad for limited opportunities. One of the highlights was the beautiful Yellow Rosella shown in the photo above. He posed beautifully for me while we were enjoying lunch at Balranald in far western New South Wales on our return journey. You can read more about this species here.