Trevor's Birding

Bar-shouldered Dove

No Comments »3rd June, 2010; Category: Aviaries, Pigeons and Doves, Zoos

Bar-shouldered Dove, Adelaide Zoo, South Australia

Bar-shouldered Doves can be found in eastern and northern Australia. Sadly I’ve only ever seen this beautiful species in the natural environment on one occasion – nearly 30 years ago in northern NSW. I need to get out and travel a little more! The above photo was taken in a walk through aviary at the Adelaide Zoo (click the image to enlarge).

This species is found in a variety of habitats, including subtropical scrublands, eucalyptus woodlands, gorges and gullies, near creeks and swamps and even in gardens with plenty of trees. Like many other species of pigeons and doves, they make a flimsy platform of a few sticks which serves somehow as a nest.

Further reading:

Wandering Whistling-duck

2 Comments »1st June, 2010; Category: Aviaries, Ducks Geese and Swans, Waterbirds, Zoos

Wandering Whistling Duck, Adelaide Zoo, South Australia

I have never seen a Wandering Whistling-duck in the natural environment. Sadly, I’ve never been to areas where this species lives in the wild, namely northern Western Australia, Northern Territory and eastern Queensland. One day I’ll get there – but not yet.

Instead, I have to content myself to seeing this species in captivity, such as the bird shown in the photo above, taken recently in the walk through aviary at Adelaide Zoo.

We have two whistling-duck species in Australia, the other being the Plumed Whistling-duck. They get their name from their whistling call, usually when in flight.

Their preferred habitats include lakes and swamps, flooded grasslands, the edges of rivers and dams.

Further reading:

White-browed Woodswallow

No Comments »30th May, 2010; Category: Aviaries, Woodswallows, Zoos

White-browed Woodswallow, Adelaide Zoo, South Australia

I love seeing woodswallows here at home and anywhere on my travels. All the various species present in Australia have a distinctive call that attracts my attention skywards. More often than not I hear them overhead before I see them. In many cases they are so high up to be almost invisible. At other times the flock – which can number from a dozen or so up to the hundreds – can be soaring just a few metres overhead. When a few individuals settle on some handy nearby dead branch I can sometimes get a few photos of these beautiful birds.

On a recent visit to Adelaide Zoo I was able to get up quite close to several White-browed Woodswallows in one of their aviaries. Despite the wire netting I was still able to get a reasonable few photos of them, albeit a little fuzzy.

White-browed Woodswallows can be found throughout Australia (except Cape York and Tasmania) but can be seasonal in their movements. Large flocks can form and move quickly from one area to another, sometimes in response to drought or rainfall.

Further reading:

White-browed Woodswallow, Adelaide Zoo, South Australia

Gouldian Finch

5 Comments »28th May, 2010; Category: Finches, Zoos

Gouldian Finch, Adelaide Zoo, South Australia

The Gouldian Finch of northern Australia is one of our more spectacularly coloured bird species. Sadly, it is one species I have yet to see in its natural environment. (The photo above was taken through the wire netting of an aviary at the Adelaide Zoo.)

Gouldian Finches are unusual in that their heads are usually black, but about a quarter of them are red with a few being yellow. Both males and females show this colour variation.

Finches are very popular cage birds both here and overseas. The Gouldians are much prized aviary birds, probably due to their stunning colours.

Being predominantly seed eaters, Gouldian Finches are found in grasslands, open scrublands and spinifex country. Due to disease and seasonal burning of their habitats, this species has endangered status.

Further reading:

Noisy birds in Chatswood

No Comments »27th May, 2010; Category: Bird Behaviour, Parrots and Lorikeets

This afternoon my wife and I accompanied our 19 month old grandson and our son on a visit to Chatswood on the Sydney North Shore area. The Chatswood CBD is an easy twenty minute walk from his home. We found a good spot to have a delicious lunch and later did some shopping.

It was dark when we left on the homeward walk. My attention was drawn to an extremely noisy group of birds calling just outside the doors of one of the shopping precincts. In three medium sized street trees there must have been several hundred birds, all calling raucously as they settled down to roost. In the little light coming from the shops I was able to determine that they were Rainbow Lorikeets. I can’t ever recall seeing so many together in such a small area.

Earlier on when heading for Chatswood we saw two Rainbow Lorikeets feeding near the footpath. I regretted not having my camera with me. I would have got some excellent shots. You’ll have to put up with photos taken elsewhere some time ago.

Rainbow Lorikeet, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney