Category Archives: Birds
Bird swathed in Christmas colours
This little Rainbow Lorikeet shows off its bright cloak of red, green, blue and yellow, perched on the greeny-white flower of an Old Man Banksia. Christmas colours indeed
Common name: Rainbow Lorikeet
Scientific name: Trichoglossus haematodus
Approximate length: 30 cm
Date spotted: 24 December 2015
Season: Summer
Location: Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia
Approximate latitude/longitude: 33°46’19.2″S 151°15’39.6″E
Cuckoos are back in town
They’re noisy creatures, but I love it when the cuckoos arrive in Sydney. They herald the start of spring. They also send the local birds into a tizzy. Territorial disputes abound. The kookaburras have a rival for their 5am wake-up duties. And the noisy miners have another large bird to terrorise.
The cuckoos are migratory, spending the warmer half the year in Australia and the cooler half in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and other northern climes. Two types of cuckoos make themselves known in our neighbourhood by their loud calls: the Channel-billed Cuckoos and the Koel Cuckoos.
Channel-billed Cuckoo
The Channel-billed Cuckoos are the largest cuckoos in the world. With their red eyes and large beaks, they’re an impressive sight. Today I was lucky to see one reasonably close by, and I was amazed by the way it moves. This one was being bothered by a noisy miner. The cuckoo was constantly bending and wriggling its neck to try and spot its tormentor. At the end of the video, you’ll see it looking up in alarm then disappearing with a flash of its tail, as the much smaller miner dive-bombs it.
Here’s a still photo of the same cuckoo peering out from underneath a canopy of leaves:
In this one, the cuckoo is looking reasonable relaxed but on the alert for attack:
And here it’s definitely wary:
Common name: Channel-billed Cuckoo
Scientific name: Scythrops novaehollandiae
Approximate length: 58-65 cm
Date spotted: 1 November 2015
Season: Summer
Location: Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: 33°46’13.9″S 151°15’39.2″E
Koel Cuckoo
Then there are the Koel Cuckoos, like this one who came calling recently:
Here’s a photo of the Koel Cuckoo in full throat:
Common name: Common Koel or Eastern Koel
Scientific name: Eudynamys scolopacea
Approximate length: 45 cm
Date spotted: 11 October 2015
Season: Summer
Location: Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: 33°46’13.9″S 151°15’39.2″E
Crimson Rosella in the wet
A Crimson Rosella hangs out on a wire in a Sydney rain storm.
(Click the image to zoom in.)
The Rosella looks a little miffed. The rain’s been going on a while, and I guess the bird’s had enough of it.
Common name: Crimson Rosella
Scientific name: Platycercus elegans elegans
Approximate length: 35 cm
Date spotted: 26 September 2015
Season: Spring
Location: Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: 33°46’13.9″S 151°15’39.2″E
Female Superb Lyrebird at Katoomba
She was hanging out in a secluded glen at Katoomba in the Blue Mountains yesterday, when I happened by with my camera. She is a Superb Lyrebird, scratching through the undergrowth for food. She doesn’t have the fanned lyre tail of an adult male, and alas, she’s not making any interesting noises. Instead, she’s catching a quick snack with a couple of wrens in tow.
We arrived in Katoomba at around 9am, and took the Scenic Railway down into the valley. We were strolling along the wooden walkways when the Lyrebird came into view. They’re usually very shy and keep to the shadows, so it was a treat to see this one reasonably well.
Lyrebirds are amazing mimics. Check out a video about the sounds Lyrebirds make, by David Attenborough.
Common name: Superb Lyrebird
Scientific name: Menura novaehollandiae
Approximate length: 85 cm
Date spotted: 13 June 2015
Season: Winter
Location: Katoomba (down in the valley), New South Wales, Australia
Approximate latitude/longitude: 33°43’56.1″S 150°18’14.1″E
Galahs galore
I’ve posted a few pictures of galahs on this blog. They’re gorgeous birds, a type of parrot with a distinctive call and an endearing habit of walking around on the ground in large groups, bobbing their white-capped heads at each other. If you do something silly, an Australian might fondly say, “You silly galah” – an affectionate nod to the slightly bumbling behaviour of the birds.
Yesterday I came across a group of them, all agog because a tree was dropping its seed balls. This bird peeks down at me while holding a seed ball in its beak:
In this video, you can hear the galahs chatting noisily to each other. Towards the end, something startles them and they take off, flying towards the camera with seed balls in their beaks:
Common name: Galah
Scientific name: Cacatua roseicapilla
Approximate length: 38 cm
Date spotted: 23 May 2015
Season: Winter
Location: Manly Vale, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: 33°46’48.6″S 151°15’52.2″E
To find more about these pretty birds, see the galah category in this blog.
Heron catching fish at Manly Dam
The smooth feathers of this White-faced Heron stand out nicely against the stripes made by the wind-ruffled water on Manly Dam. The heron strides out into the water, spots a fish, then spins around and jabs at the water in an amusing dance.
Here’s a still photo showing the bird’s yellow legs and big feet:
Here’s another photo which I like because of its impressionist mood and raindrop-scattered bushes:
Common name: White-Faced Heron
Scientific name: Ardea novaehollandiae
Approximate length: 70 cm
Date spotted: 7 March 2015
Season: Late Summer
Location: Manly Dam, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: 33°46’34.8″S 151°15’07.9″E
Song of the Currawong
Currawongs gather in a tree during a rain shower at dusk, chatting to each other. Their calls vary from bell-like chimes to whistles and peeps. For most of this video, the birds are just silhouettes flitting from branch to branch. I zoomed in on one bird at around the two-minute mark, and you can see it uttering its calls.
Here’s a still image of one of the Currawongs:
Common name: Pied Currawong
Scientific name: Strepera graculina
Approximate length: 45 cm
Date spotted: 10 January 2015
Season: Summer
Location: Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia
Approximate latitude/longitude: 33°46’19.2″S 151°15’25.2″E
Pelican at Long Reef Headland, New South Wales
The closer you get to a pelican, the more beautiful it is. Those eyes are so huge and seem so wise. Then there’s that appealing fuzz of fine feathers on the back of the head and down the neck.
For more about these pelicans, see my post from March this year.
Common name: Australian Pelican
Scientific name: Pelecanus conspicillatus
Approximate length: 170 cm
Approximate wingspan: 2.5m
Date spotted: 1 January 2015
Season: Summer
Location: Long Reef Headland, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: 33°44’15.2″S, 151°18’44.1″E
Black Swans calling
Black swans are native to New South Wales, Australia. This morning I saw four of them swimming amongst the other water birds.
Two of them were calling to each other and raising their necks up and down in a stately dance. They make a slightly funny, bugling call, a bit like a child’s party tooter, as you can hear in this video:
Common name: Black Swan
Scientific name: Cygnus atratus
Approximate length: 120 cm
Date spotted: 27 December 2014
Season: Summer
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: 33°46’58.4″S 151°15’18.6″E
Tawny Frogmouth eyeing me carefully
Tawny Frogmouths are irresistibly picturesque. They’re nocturnal birds, members of the nightjar family, so they’re a bit dozy by day. This one was very aware of me as I moved quietly around below it.
Click the image to open in a new tab, and zoom in to take look at its plumage. The bird’s eye is almost entirely closed in this image.
Here’s a close up view of the bird’s head. It’s eye is now half open, keep a watch on me:
There’s not much happening in the videos, but you can see the careful, slow movements that the bird makes, trying to preserve its disguise as a dry branch:
There’s even less happening in the next video, but it gives a nice view of the bird itself. The harsh chirring noise is the cicadas, which dominate the bush at this time of year.
Common name: Tawny Frogmouth
Scientific name: Podargus strigoides
Approximate length: 40 cm
Date spotted: 26 December 2014
Season: Summer
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: 33°46’26.7″S 151°15’08.7″E
Sydney Birder 