Around the World

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Permalink Reply by Elmer on March 25, 2008 at 7:06pm

Wow Dennis, that look on the owl is priceless. The last ones are what got me curious. At first I thought they may be related to the Chukar partridge because of its red legs and the plumage on their wings.

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Permalink Reply by Dennis on March 26, 2008 at 1:42am

Elmer you wouldn't think that is related to the pigeon. Everyday I go out the backyard you will always see 3-4 of the Crested Pigeon.

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Permalink Reply by Diane Phillips on April 7, 2008 at 1:21pm

Hello. Thanks for sharing - it would be fun to visit and see your different birds. The crested pigeons might be common there, but they sure are interesting to me! Is the colorful parrot-like (green +) bird wild? Is it something that shows up in people's back yards?

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Permalink Reply by Dennis on April 15, 2008 at 4:47am

Diane, the bird is a Rainbow Lorikeet, at any given time I can go into my yard and always see or hear them (very noisy when they want). One of the most colourful of Australia's parrots, the rainbow lorikeet has a dark blue head with a yellowy green collar. It has a red beak. Its belly is violet and its chest orange. Its back and tail are green and when its wings are stretched, they are orange underneath. There are yellow patches on their thighs. They are about 32 cm long, including tail. Males and females look alike. Rainbow lorikeets make a continuous loud screeching, chattering call. They cluster in groups and swoop from tree to tree calling out loudly.

Crested Pigeon

The Crested Pigeon is a stocky pigeon with a conspicuous thin black crest. Most of the plumage is grey-brown, becoming more pink on the underparts. The wings are barred with black, and are decorated with glossy green and purple patches. The head is grey, with an pinkish-red ring around the eye. If startled, this pigeon takes to the air with a characteristic whistling flight, and glides with down turned wings. The whistling sound is produced by the air passing over a modified primary feather on the wing. Upon landing, the pigeon swings its tail high in the air.

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Permalink Reply by Diane Phillips on April 23, 2008 at 11:43am

Dennis, thank you for taking the time to give such clear descriptions of these birds. I just obtained a field guide for Birds of Australia. I may never have the opportunity to see these in person . . . but who knows?? They are fascinating and new to me. Do you have problems in Australia in losing natural habitat for the birds (and other species) with encroaching urban sprawl?

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Permalink Reply by Dennis on May 19, 2008 at 2:37am

Diane,sorry for the delay to your question "encroaching urban sprawl".
US: 9826630 sqkm with a population of over 300,000,000
Australia: 7686850 sqkm with a population of over 20,000,000
As you can see from these figures the US is larger in area but supports a far greater population, Australia is more coastal based but there is still vast areas of land unused.
Hope this helps!!

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