World Bird Wednesday - Naughty Little Corellas

These naughty, naughty Little Corellas, Cacatua sanguinea,

sitting on the very tip of our precious blue spruce and nipping

out the eye of the new leader. Goodness, I did not know what

to do first, shoo them off or snap them.

Just look at that super cheeky expression!!!

Ah well, click, shoo!! It took a bit of doing but I did manage

to dislodge them.

Now don't get me wrong, under any other conditions I love

these little beggars, after all, I raised one from a totally naked

little chick that had a head almost bigger than it's body.

The Prof was in the Simpson desert with the Country Fire

service and National Parks chiefs. Brenton from Nat.Pks.

stuck his hand in a hole in a tree and pulled out three Little

Corella chicks, put two of them back again and said this little

runt won't survive another day. Thereupon the Prof said

"I'll take it home to my wife". Brenton said words to the effect

that his wife would kill him. Prpf replied "you don't know my

wife!"

The long and the short of it was that that baby bird became my

constant companion for the next two years, even (illicitly)

travelling on an airliner in an ice-cream container in my handbag.

when he started to squawk, I just put my hand on him and no one

noticed a thing. He grew up a free bird, walking down to the

village on my shoulder, giving orders to our German Shepherd,

an bossing the cats about. In his second spring, he stayed away

over night a couple of times but came back again. Then one day

he came back and flew low past the window of the room I was in.

I knew if I called to him, he would stay but being a good mummy,

I stayed silent although my heart ached.

I was glad I let him go because that summer we had a massive

bushfire that consumed all we had including the 150+ year old

garden.

We saw my Little Corella just once more in the company of

two Galahs so he had found some friends.

So there you have it, that is what he looked like as he

swooped past the house.

They do enlarge if you want more detail.

Click on the World Bird Logo to show off your birds too.