This series is inspired by my personal photographs of the native birds that visit the flora around my house & surrounding neighbourhood. Whenever they are nearby, I stop what I’m doing to admire them in flight, to listen to their cheerful unique birdsongs, and to take inspiration from their natural fashionable colour palettes. I remind myself how fast our urban environment is changing, neglecting the birds that have no choice but to adapt to avoid being left behind. It provides a timely reminder that we, as a community, can help our native birds by planting bird-friendly gardens. This is why I have created a tropical fruits garden in my backyard and planted native flora trees in the front – a paradise the birds are always welcome to visit.
The Pheasant Coucal is the only Australian cuckoo to build its own nest. It also lives and nests on the ground, unlike other cuckoos. The Pheasant Coucal prefers dense understorey vegetation, particularly grasses, rushes, bracken and sedges, in open forests and woodlands, and around wetlands.The Pheasant Coucal is found in northern and eastern Australia. Source: https://australian.museum/learn/animals/birds/pheasant-coucal/
One of Australia’s most popular and iconic birds, the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, has been known to live up to eighty years of age in captivity. The Sulphur-crested Cockatoo is a large white parrot. It has a dark grey-black bill, a distinctive sulphur-yellow crest and a yellow wash on the underside of the wings. Sulphur-crested Cockatoos are found in a variety of timbered habitats and are common around human settlements. The birds stay in the same area all year round. The Sulphur-crested Cockatoo’s range extends throughout the northern and eastern mainland, and Tasmania.
Source: https://australian.museum/learn/animals/birds/sulphur-crested-cockatoo/
The Laughing Kookaburra is not really laughing when it makes its familiar call. The cackle of the Laughing Kookaburra is actually a territorial call to warn other birds to stay away.The Laughing Kookaburra is instantly recognisable in both plumage and voice. It is generally off-white below, faintly barred with dark brown, and brown on the back and wings. The Laughing Kookaburra inhabits most areas where there are suitable trees. Laughing Kookaburras are found throughout eastern Australia. They have been introduced to Tasmania, the extreme south-west of Western Australia, and New Zealand.
Source:
https://australian.museum/learn/animals/birds/laughing-kookaburra/
The Blue-faced Honeyeater is one of the first birds heard calling in the morning, often calling 30 minutes before sunrise. The Blue-faced Honeyeater is a large black, white and golden olive-green h.oneyeater with striking blue skin around the yellow to white eye . This honeyeater is noisy and gregarious, and is usually seen in pairs or small flocks. It is known as the Banana-bird in tropical areas, for its habit of feeding on banana fruit and flowers. The Blue-faced Honeyeater is found in tropical, sub-tropical and wetter temperate or semi-arid zones. It is mostly found in open forests and woodlands close to water, as well as monsoon forests, mangroves and coastal heathlands. It is often seen in banana plantations, orchards, farm lands and in urban parks, gardens and golf courses. The Blue-faced Honeyeater is found in northern and eastern mainland Australia, from the Kimberley region, Western Australia to near Adelaide, South Australia, being more common in the north of its range.
Source:
https://australian.museum/learn/animals/birds/blue-faced-honeyeater/
The name Galah comes from the Yuwaalaraay language word “gilaa”. In Australia, we call people galahs if they are acting silly or do something foolish. The Yuwaalaraay language area extends across north west NSW on the Barwon River into south west Queensland along the Culgoa and Balonne Rivers. Galahs can breed with other members of the cockatoo family, including the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Cacatua galerita. The Galah can be easily identified by its rose-pink head, neck and underparts, with paler pink crown, and grey back, wings and undertail. The Galah is found in large flocks in a variety of timbered habitats, usually near water . The Galah is one of the most abundant and familiar of the Australian parrots, occurring over most of Australia, including some offshore islands. Source: https://australian.museum/learn/animals/birds/galah/
Magies are one of Australia’s most highly-regarded songbirds. They have a wide varierty of calls, many of which are complex, and their pitch may vary over up to four octaves. The Australian Magpie is black and white, but the plumage pattern varies across its range. Its nape, upper tail and shoulder are white in males, grey in females. Australian Magpies are found wherever there is a combination of trees and adjacent open areas, including parks and playing fields. They are absent only from the densest forests and arid deserts. Australian Magpies are common and conspicuous birds. Groups of up to 24 birds live year round in territories that are actively defended by all group members. The group depends on this territory for its feeding, roosting and nesting requirements.
Source:
https://australian.museum/learn/animals/birds/australian-magpie/