Wednesday, September 14, 2011

World Bird Wednesday - Common Suburban Birds


On one of my walks in suburban Melbourne recently, I shot a
few common birds of the area. It is seldom I catch a Sulphur-
crested Cockatoo Cacatua galerita with the crest so visible.


Ubiquitous to our whole continent except the very driest
desert, the Magpie, Gymnorhina tibicen, has a voice like
burbling water, also warbles on moonlit nights. It is very
protective of it's nest and will attack passers by in the
breeding season.


Another common bird, the Rainbow Lorikeet, Trichoglossus
haematodus, fast flying and hard to catch in the field of a lens.
I was just plain lucky to get this pair in one frame, no points
for guessing which one is the male.


The Common Myna, Acridotheres tristis, looks like big bad
Leroy Brown, meanest man in all the town. A very cheeky
customer and certainly not a kind bird, breeds like rabbits in
an urban environment.


The Noisy Miner, Manorina melanocephala, has also flourished
near human habitation and steals material for its nest, even
unravelling the ends of ropes and tenaciously braking them off
strand by strand or unpicking shade-cloth.


Common Starling, Sturnus vulgaris, as the name implies,
is very common indeed.


The Piping Shrike, Murray Magpie, Mudlark or Peewit,
Grallina cyanoleuca, is a common sight in Australia and
surrounding islands. Smaller than the Magpie and with a
totally different call, watching over the wetlands sign.


The Red Wattlebird, Anthochaera carunculata, is quite a large
and raucous bird. It seems to have increased it's numbers
greatly in the last ten years, possibly because many more people
have turned to planting native gardens that are less reliant on
water during our recurrent droughts and produce the nectar
bearing flowers they love.


Australian White or Sacred Ibis, Threskiornis molucca, that
I came across in the wetlands near my sister's house.


Spooked by the landing Intermediate Egret, Ardea intermedia,
one of the Ibis took off.


Intermediate Egret in flight . . .


A purple Swamphen, Porphyrio porphyrio, posed for me for
a moment before disappearing amongst the reeds.


Lastly for today, the Spotted Turtle-dove, Streptopelia chinensis,
a pretty little thing that is rather stupid with it's nest building but
it does coo so nicely.
Naturally the 'burbs are full of many more birds but this is all
I bagged in one walk.



To see birds of all persuasions, click on the Logo at right and show
us what's flapping around in your world!

13 comments:

  1. You have such exotic birds over there Arija - I am deeply envious.

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  2. wow! all so beautiful and so many are so different from what we see here!!! loved this post!!! thanks for these!

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  3. Leckeresfuurmenchundkatze said:

    Loved these birds :)

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  4. That's ALL you bagged on one walk ;>)... now you're just bragging. I can't ever get over the birds that are "common" in your backyard. And your pictures are SO good. I am familiar with the waterbirds but the land ones I have only seen magpies (in the dry areas of the Pacific Northwest), a type of shrike (on the desert) and unfortunately the "vulgar" starling -- sadly everywhere.
    I would love to see your more exotic (to us) birds. Thank you for sharing.

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  5. In one walk your "common birds" bring such a delight to those with different common birds. And that image of the egret is Awesome!

    Your country is SO on my list of places to visit.

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  6. Wish our common suburban birds were as exotic as these! :-) All are beautiful, great post.

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  7. Gorgeous birds and such a variety! Terrific captures as always, Arija, and your post is. as always a delight! Thank you for sharing the beauty!

    Sylvia

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  8. Great post Arija. I loved your asides as much as your photographs.
    Do I notice a trend? Does the city intice mean birds?
    I thought it was cool that native garden plants are making a comeback along with the native birds that require them. Good going!

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  9. What a wonderful variety you found in one walk. I enjoyed seeing some of your common birds.

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  10. Your common = my Exotic. Beautiful birds, to be sure!

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  11. LOL! You have such beautiful "uncommon" birds in my neck of the woods.:)

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  12. Common in my neck of the world . . . Not! Love your birds, especially the Rainbow Lorikeet!

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  13. Wow very beautiful of the birds. Love them all.

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