November Project: Day 13
Nov. 13th, 2013 07:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
calissaonewhitecrow wanted to know about galahs, so here are some shots. Apologies for the quality of the photos. The galahs are much more skittish than the cockatoos and won't yet allow me to photograph them without a pane of (very dirty) glass between us. The lighting was also not the greatest.Galahs (Eolophus roseicapilla) are almost ubiquitous throughout Australia. Being a kind of cockatoo, they mate for life. Below is a photo of a mated pair.
The differences between male and female are very subtle and I didn't learn the trick until recently. Below is a photo of a female. If you look carefully, you can see she has red eyes (please also disregard the state of my outdoor furniture--a casualty of cultivating such friendships).
Males have black eyes.
I mentioned earlier that they are a kind of cockatoo and you can see below that they do have a crest--though a rather more modest one than my friend from yesterday.
Speaking of my friend from yesterday, he continues to grow bolder. He peered inside at me for a good half an hour while I waited for my sweetheart to finish grocery shopping and bring me some bird seed (we had run out). We even played peekaboo for a little while, him bobbing his head around to see past the furniture and catch my eye. When the birdseed finally arrived, the cockatoo then allowed me to get very close when I brought out the food. I held some birdseed out to him, flat on my palm, and he rebuked me by (gently) nipping my finger (it was, after all, a silly move on my part). It didn't hurt, but it startled me so much that I dropped the seed.
It will be interesting to see what tomorrow brings.
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Date: 2013-11-13 12:34 pm (UTC)We briefly had a flock of cockies take up residence in the huge old cypress, but they left, and a whole lot of black cockies live in the pine trees up the hill but you only ever see them from a distance. Galahs rarely ever make it up into the Hills, so that just leaves us with the odd rosella, plenty of magpies and, of course, sodding crows.
Most of the birds we get are the little tweety ones that you never see but that have the most gorgeous songs. It was always the thing I missed most about living in the city rather than up here in the Hills, and what cemented my resolve to buy a house in the Hills when I get the chance :D
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Date: 2013-11-13 09:03 pm (UTC)Oooo... black cockatoos! We get the occasional one flying past (presumably on their way to the national park), but I think it would be quite something to have them living in the area, even if at a distance.
It sounds like you have quite a diversity in the Hills. Though Australia, in general, is so fortunate in its diversity of birdlife. Thank you for sharing with me a little bit about your area. I know
Oooo... black cockatoos! We get the occasional one flying past (presumably on their way to the national park), but I think it would be quite something to have them living in the area, even if at a distance.
It sounds like you have quite a diversity in the Hills. Though Australia, in general, is so fortunate in its diversity of birdlife. Thank you for sharing with me a little bit about your area. I know <user=ladylight> has it different again.
And if it were me, I'd want a house in the Hills, too. :D
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Date: 2013-11-14 07:26 am (UTC)Black cockatoos have the most amazingly sharp beaks. You think the sulphur-crested ones decimated your poor little tree--the black ones would rip apart the entire POT XD
I wish I could get decent photos of our birdies, but you barely see them half the time unless they flit in and flit out again. They sound gorgeous, though <3
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Date: 2013-11-13 03:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-13 09:08 pm (UTC)My iPhone isn't really good for bird photography, but I think that I might keep my eye out for more of the local species so that I can share them here.
EEEE
Date: 2013-11-13 05:26 pm (UTC)I am glad both that your sulphur-crested buddy didn't bite your finger off and that he didn't freak out and fly off at the idea of hands that close - it shows a fair amount of trust/willing, that.
Re: EEEE
Date: 2013-11-13 09:10 pm (UTC)Re: EEEE
Date: 2013-11-13 10:05 pm (UTC)As for captive parrots - please forgive the accidental eavesdrop, the comment is right above mine - having grown up with/alongside the same, I have to say that any captive-bred parrot that's treated well will put themselves back in their cage at bedtime or even long before: it's not a prison for them, it's their "room". Cry shame on callous owners and the gods-damned buyers of wild-caught birds (who should frankly be shot for the environmental damage they do, along with purchasers of tiger bones and people who dump reptiles), not birdcages.
By the way, if you haven't considered reading Corvus by now, I declare by my random On The Internet status that I really think you should.
Re: EEEE
Date: 2013-11-14 05:30 am (UTC)You make a good point. To be fair, most budgerigars I've seen seem quite happy in captivity. However, the few times I've seen bigger birds in captivity has been under less than ideal conditions. Perhaps I'm simply biased, being more used to seeing them in the wild. I suppose it is like any being--give it the space it needs, the right conditions, and lots of love and it will be happy.
(As a side note, my dogs often take themselves off to bed, too.)
I had not heard of Corvus but I shall definitely try and get my hands on a copy. Thank you for the recommendation!
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Date: 2013-11-13 05:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-13 09:10 pm (UTC)