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Album: Fischer's Lovebird (Agapornis fisheri)
These noisy seed-eaters are found in the grasslands and cultivated areas of Africa. Small flocks are common, but sometimes over a hundred birds will gather to feed on ripening crops. Breeding colonies of birds build dome shaped nest of twigs and bark in tree hollows, or at the base of palm fronds. A clutch of 5-6 eggs is usual.
Changed: May 01, 2008.
Contains:
5 items.
Viewed: 83 times.
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| Album: Cattle Erget (Ardea ibis)
Feeding on insects disturbed by grazing cattle, these egrets will also perch on the backs of cattle to rest or pick parasites from the hide. They roost and nest in large colonies alongf waterways. The male chooses the nesting site and builds the nest of sticks in the upright fork of a tree. Both parents incubate the eggs.
Changed: May 01, 2008.
Contains:
3 items.
Viewed: 68 times.
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| Album: White faced Heron (Ardea novarhollandieo)
The most common of Australia's herons, this bird is usually found around swamps, dams, lakes and irrigated crops. A varied diet includes fish, tadpoles, worms, frogs and snails. Like all herons, it has a special hinge in the neck which allows a rapid strike when hunting. The nest is a loose platform of sticks built high in a tree and 3-5 eggs are laid.
Changed: May 01, 2008.
Contains:
1 item.
Viewed: 27 times.
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| Album: Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis)
Changed: May 01, 2008.
Contains:
2 items.
Viewed: 33 times.
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Album: Black Winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)
What do they eat?
It's long slender legs enable it to wade out into the shallows to forage in wet mud for brine shrimp, molluscs, flies and aquatic insects, jabbing its needle like beak into the mud to capture tiny organisms, but does not submerge or swim to feed.
Where do they live?
The Black Winged Stilt is found along the muddy fringes of fresh and brackish water bodies throughout Australia. Although small groups congregate to feed they are nomadic by nature and travel to new feeding grounds under the cover of night.
Some interesting facts!
Chicks hatch from patterned eggs that are well camourflages in the ground nest. The chicks are described as precocious, leaving the nest within hours or hatching feeding with remarkable independence.
Changed: May 01, 2008.
Contains:
8 items.
Viewed: 49 times.
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| Album: Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii)
Unique to Australia, these seed-eating cockatoos are usually found in eucalypt woodlands or along water courses. Large flocks are common in the north but populations in the lower south-east region are threatened by clearing of the brown stringybark and buloke trees. A tree hollow, lined with chewed wood chips, forms the nest for a single egg.
Changed: May 01, 2008.
Contains:
1 item.
Viewed: 32 times.
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| Album: White-headed Pigeon (Columba leucomela)
The most wary and secretive of the rainforest pigeons, the White-headed Pigeon spends much of the day sitting quietly in a densely leafed tree. It feeds mostly on the fruit of native laurel trees, sometimes coming to ground for seeds and fallen fruit. One egg is laid on a platform of twigs and vines which is built in a bush or small tree.
Changed: May 01, 2008.
Contains:
1 item.
Viewed: 28 times.
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| Album: Musk Lorikeet (Glossopsitta concinna)
Noisy, chattering flocks of these parrots may be heard as they feed on the nectar and pollen of eucalypt blossoms. Their colouration makes them difficult to see among the leaves. Mush Lorikeets fly rapidly between feeding areas, which change as different eucalypt species come into flower. Each female lays 2 eggs in a tree hollow.
Changed: May 01, 2008.
Contains:
2 items.
Viewed: 59 times.
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Album: Ganggang Cockatoo (Callocephalon fimbriatum)
Changed: May 01, 2008.
Contains:
1 item.
Viewed: 50 times.
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| Album: Gouldian Finch (Erythrura gouldiae)
What do they eat?
Scaling the tall slender grass stems to access seed heads, their beak is specially designed to extract each individual seed one by one and is equally suited to catching flying termites on the wing. The termites and the finch's primary food source during the breeding season, providing the elevated protein levels required for breeding.
Where do they live?
A highly social bird that bonds together forming large flocks. They inhabit the coastal woodlands from the Kimberly through Arnhem to the western side of Cape York Peninsula. Although once widespread their numbers have declined dramatically. The flocks around the Gulf of Carpentaria and Cape York Peninsula are presumed to have vanished in recent years with the entire range withdrawing by half overall.
Some interesting facts!
Unlike many other finches the Gouldian Finch has poor nest building skills. They are the only Australian finches that nest exclusively in the hollow limbs of trees and inside termite mounds rather than constructing a nest from fibre and grass strands as with many other finches.
Changed: May 01, 2008.
Contains:
8 items.
Viewed: 27 times.
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| Album: Kookaburra
Changed: Mar 18, 2009.
Contains:
15 items.
Viewed: 18 times.
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| Album: Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus)
What do they eat?
One of Australia's iconic parrots, their diet consists almost entirely of grass seeds with the occasional feed of herbaceous material. Famout for huge flocks of green, the Budgie sweeps through arid lands following the flush of seeding grasslands.
Where do they live?
Inhabiting the vast majority of the arid interior of Australia the Budgie is a nomad. Flocks shift from grassland to grassland migrating to the southern part of their range in spring and the north in autumn. They can be found in the tree lined warercourses, and timbered grasslands as well as mallee scrub, mulga scrub and Spinifex desert country.
Some interesting facts!
The Budgie is a gregarious species not only living in tight flocks but multiple pairs will nest in the hollows of the same tree. This gregarious breeding behaviour has contributed to their success as an Australian cage bird. This has produced many domesticated forms and colour variations over many years of captivity.
Like schooling fish, these parrots appear to move as one in dense, wheeling and banking flocks. Budgerigars are nomadic and ofter cover large distances across inland Australia to feed on fallen grass seed. Like other parrots, they depend on hollows for nesting sites. While the female of each pair incubates up to 6 or more eggs, her mate brings her food.
Changed: May 01, 2008.
Contains:
2 items.
Viewed: 29 times.
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Album: Major Mitchell Cockatoo (Cacatua leadbeateri)
Named the Major Mitchell Cockatoo after the explorer Sit Thomas Mitchell, and also known as the Pink Cockatoo, these shy birds generally feed in pairs or small groups, and will alight if approached by an observer.
They have not prospered under the rural development of inland Australia like other birds such as the Galah. Loss of habitat, trapping for the illicit bird trade and out-competition by Galahs for nesting hollows have all combined to contribute to a decline in number of the Major Mitchell Cockatoo.
Changed: May 01, 2008.
Contains:
1 item.
Viewed: 23 times.
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| Album: Cockatile (Nymphicus hollandicus)
The Cockatiel lives in open or lightly timbered country and is found throughout Australia. It feed on the seeds of grasses, trees and shrubs, particularly acacias. Five eggs are laid on a bed of wood dust in the hollow of a tree. Both parents incubate the eggs and share in the feeding of the young.
Changed: May 01, 2008.
Contains:
3 items.
Viewed: 28 times.
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| Album: Little Pied Cormorant (Phalacrocorax melano leucos)
The smallest of the cormorant family, this bird is equally at home in fresh or sea water. Diet includes yabbies and fish and, although a good diver, it is more skilled at taking fish in shallow water. The male calls its mate to the chosen nesting site and provides sticks for her to build a nest.
Changed: May 01, 2008.
Contains:
5 items.
Viewed: 31 times.
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| Album: Pacific Baza (Aviceda subcristata)
What do the eat?
Grubs, frogs and reptiles are the main creatures preyed upon by the Pacific Baza although the Phasmids or giant stick insects are considered a delicacy. Food is obtained when patrolling the outer foliage of trees, waving in and out of the crown, then snatching prey with accuracy from the leaves.
Where do they live?
It is found along the Northern and Eastern Coast of Australia in association with eucalypt and rainforests. Galleries of trees that line watercourses provide the ideal habitat for the Hawk.
Some interesting facts!
The Pacific Baza is also known as the Crested Hawk due to the prominent feather crest at the back of the head. The ability to distinguish green prey from green leaves is due to the anatomy of the eye. The Crested Hawk has the enhanced ability to differentiate between subtle shades of green.
Changed: May 01, 2008.
Contains:
4 items.
Viewed: 24 times.
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Album: Pelican
Changed: Mar 18, 2009.
Contains:
3 items.
Viewed: 25 times.
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| Album: Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus)
Changed: May 01, 2008.
Contains:
12 items.
Viewed: 24 times.
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| Album: Roufous Whistler (Pachycephala rufiventris)
What do they eat?
The Rufous Whistler mainly eats insects and sometimes seeds, fruit or leaves. It usually forages at higher levels than other whistlers searching the underside of leaves and tree crevices for its prey. It is rarely seen on the ground.
Where do they live?
Mostly seen in pairs, found throughout most of Australia, excluding the arid inland parts were there are no trees. It prefers eucalypt forest, woodlands and shrublands with an understorey. It is also found in New Caledonia.
Some interesting facts!
The female builds a fragile, cup-shaded nest from twigs, grass, vines and other materials, bound and attached to a tree fork with spider web. These bird become quite vocal during breeding. A loud, tuneful song resembling pee-pee-pee or joey-joey-joey-eeee-chong maybe heard.
Changed: May 01, 2008.
Contains:
2 items.
Viewed: 25 times.
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| Album: Spinifex Pigeon (Geogphaps plumifea)
The desert herbs, legumes and grasses burst into seed immediately following rain then die. This flush of seeds provides an abundance of food for the Spinifex Pigeor triggering reproduction. The seeds of the ever present Spinifex Grass are sporadic in production yet through sheer abundance the tussocks provide the staple diet of the pigeon throughout the year.
Where do they live?
A permanent resident bird speciesto the central and northern Australian Spinifex grasslands. There are two distinct races of Spinifex Pigeon that extend throughout the arid zones of Northern Queensland, across the Northern Territory to Western Australia. The second is distributed from the Pilbaranorth to the Dampier Land.
Some interesting facts!
Although the Spinifex Pigeon is well adapted to life in the desert, they are heavily reliant upon water. The necessity to constantly access water in drough conditions creats large congregations around the few remaining waterholes. The onset of rain enables the birds to disperse again and signals the start of the breeding season.
Changed: May 01, 2008.
Contains:
4 items.
Viewed: 25 times.
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| Album: Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata)
Zebra Finches live in close-knit flocks in dry, grassy woodlands close to water. They feed on the ground, eating mainly seeds, but also catch insects to feed to their young. In the late afternoon they gather at a watering point to bathe and preen. Pairs mate for life and build a grass nest lined with feathers. Both parents incurbatea clutch of 4-5 eggs.
Changed: May 01, 2008.
Contains:
5 items.
Viewed: 33 times.
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| Album: Unknown Bird 1
Changed: Mar 18, 2009.
Contains:
6 items.
Viewed: 20 times.
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Album: Wedge Tail Eagle (Aquila audax)
In the wild, Wedge Tail Eagles usually lay two eggs. It is not uncommon for the first and larger chicks to kill the second sibling.
Changed: May 01, 2008.
Contains:
1 item.
Viewed: 19 times.
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Andy's gallery
