Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Wild Bird Wednesday & Nature Notes - Zebra Finches


These Zebra Finches, Taeniopygia guttata, were from our 
trip to Wirrealpa station in the desert country east of 
the North Flinders Ranges.

The first shot is just to give you an idea of the size of these 
busy chattering little birds. 
The little female kept watch in the Acacia tree by a waterhole


while her mate cautiously went for a drink


her ladyship is on the alert


while himself is at the bar guzzling down a few beers as fast
as he can


she checks him out and thinks he has had quite enough and,
like the good fellow he is, he joins her and they merrily fly off.


Although these birds can be found almost Australia wide, they are
more prevalent in the arid inland of the continent.

Linking with Stewart's


and Michelle's


25 comments:

  1. Marvelous captures and such different birds!! Haven't seen one of those before!! Love your captures for the day, Arija! Hope your week is going well!

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  2. Great photos of beautiful little birds. I saw these birds out in W-ern Qld a couple of years ago - whole flocks of them all together in little shrubby trees! it was a marvelous sight!

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  3. What a joy to see these little beauties "in the wild" through your photos ... I've adored them for years! Sadly, my only contact with them here in the western USA has been as caged pets (not mine - belonging to others). There used to be a bead store that I frequented on the next island over where the owners had built a gye-normous floor to ceiling cage for their flock ... yes, FLOCK ... and I loved to go in there just to hear them all twittering to one another. Always left with beads, but that's another story altogether ;>]] Thank you for the peek into native habitat which is, no matter how you look at it, far superior to any cage.

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  4. What pretty birds, Arija! A wonderful sighting and great photos! Thanks for sharing your wildbird. Have a happy day!

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  5. Nice pictures - I had a lot of fun and a not a small amount of frustration trying to get images of these a few weeks ago!

    Cheers and thanks for linking to WBW

    Stewart M - Melbourne

    PS: I added another image to the WBW - I forgot last night!

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  6. Thank you so much for featuring this Arija - it brings back many fond memories of the finches around the waterhole in arid conditions at Nectar Park via Nectar Brook. It is certainly my favourite post. I really enjoyed living there.

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  7. Real beauties!! Boom & gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  8. What gorgeous birds and a nice story to go along with it. ♥

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  9. to see them in the wild is awesome! they are popular 'cage' birds here in the states.

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  10. Beautiful bird and lovely shots. Great job and quick fingers you have.

    Alexander
    Alex's World! - http://www.kakinan.com/alex

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  11. Hi Arija...What a cute post of these birds!!
    So interesting to see the birds in another country, and these are great!!
    Love the beer guzzling line "hahaha" ; )
    Grace

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  12. I say the same as TexWisgirl :) Nice to see these birds in the wild, because they only live here in cages. Nice shots you took of them.

    Thanks for your comment! So you from Latvia!
    Greetings Pia, from Sweden.

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  13. Yes I love these little birds, Beautiful colour. Hope you saw my Australian Ibis today in my post!

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  14. Sweet little zebra finch blending perfectly into it's surrounds.

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  15. It's always a thrill to see a flock of these - and if I'd ever managed to capture them on film I'm sure that'd be a thrill too ... but they're WAAAAAY too quick for me!

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  16. How sweet the couple are and very fancy colored bills too.. Hugs to you dear Arija.. Michelle

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  17. They're gorgeous birds and you told the story beautifully.

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  18. What gorgeous birds, very pretty colours and I bet they have personality plus. I cannot send an e-mail your way for some reason...it comes up as a NoReply...sad, what to do now~ Hugs!

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  19. Beautiful bird! Great spotting.

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