Pale-headed Rosella (Platycercus adscitus)

Posted on November 29, 2015 by Tara

The Pale-headed Rosella (Platycercus adscitus), is a broad-tailed parrot of the genus Platycercus native to northeastern Australia. This beautiful parrot is special for me as they sometimes come into our property. Their visits are sporadic so I always feel honoured when they come around.

Pale-headed Rosellas have a large range extending from the far north of Queensland into New South Wales. They are readily seen both in bushland and in suburbs of Brisbane (lucky me!) and prefer open forests. They were very easy to see at Lake Coolmunda and Mosquito Creek Road.

LEARN MORE ABOUT PALE-HEADED ROSELLAS

VIDEOS

Beautiful close up to appreciate the colours on this bird.

They not only sound sweet, they are great communicators! Check out how this one chats to a Butcherbird!

Australian King Parrot (Alisterus scapularis)

Posted on November 23, 2015 by Tara

The Australian King Parrot (Alisterus scapularis) is endemic to eastern Australia found in humid and heavily forested upland regions of the eastern portion of the continent, including eucalyptus wooded areas in and directly adjacent to subtropical and temperate rainforest. They feed on fruits and seeds gathered from trees or on the ground.

The male has a bright red head and breast wheras the female is mostly green. Although this female has a leg band, she is actually one of the wild parrots that hang around O’Reilly’s for a free meal.

King Parrots are easily found within their range as the males are very bright and conspicuous and the females stay close to their mates. You are pretty much guaranteed to see them at O’Reilly’s and the small cafe near Jolly’s Lookout near Brisbane.

LEARN MORE ABOUT AUSTRALIAN KING PARROTS

VIDEOS

There’s no shortage of King Parrot videos online. This one is good for the close ups of the birds foraging and you can clearly see the difference between the male and female.

This little guy from the Blue Mountains in NSW has no trouble with accepting hand outs (literally)!

And here is a whole flock (mostly juveniles) that visit someone’s back yard. Notice the pleasant sound they make!

Turquoise Parrot (Neophema pulchella)

Posted on November 15, 2015 by Tara

The Turquoise Parrot (Neophema pulchella) is a species of parrot in the genus Neophema native to Eastern Australia, from southeastern Queensland, through New South Wales and into north-eastern Victoria.

I had to use a Wikipedia shot since the only one I could get was too far away.

Sitting on a wire near Amiens, Stanthorpe area.

They have a large range in eastern Australia mostly in NSW & Victoria with a smaller range in South-east QLD. I have seen them near Amiens in the Stanthorpe area and a brief glimpse of a pair in Durikai National Forest.

LEARN MORE ABOUT TURQUOISE PARROTS

VIDEO

Lovely close-ups of a lovely bird! That bright turquoise face is spectacular!

Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae)

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Tara

The Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) is a carnivorous bird in the kingfisher family Halcyonidae. It is probably the most iconic Australian bird and its distinctive “laugh” is as true blue Aussie as you can get.

They are very clever and more than one picnicker has lost a BBQ steak or bread roll to a swiftly swooping Kookaburra. We have quite a few of them in our suburb and I often wake up to the laugh outside my window and if you walk through any reserve or national park in Queensland, Victoria or NSW you will most likely see Laughing Kookaburras or even have unexpected guests at your picnic!

LEARN MORE ABOUT KOOKABURRAS

VIDEOS

The best video of the laugh was actually filmed at San Diego zoo. It’s kind of hard to predict when a wild one will laugh unless you want to sit there and film until it does. This is how they actually sound in the wild………..or in your backyard! What a wake up call!

Here’s some wild Kookaburras

And just to show you how iconic they are in Australia, here’s a kid’s song about them!

Superb Fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus)

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Tara

The Superb Fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus), also known as the superb blue-wren or colloquially as the blue wren, is a passerine bird of the family Maluridae, common and familiar across southeastern Australia. They were recently voted as Australia’s favourite bird. Two subspecies groups are recognized: the larger and darker Tasmanian form cyaneus and the smaller and paler mainland form cyanochlamys.

Superb Fairy-wrens have a large range in eastern Australia and Tasmania. I’ve personally seen them in the Captain Cook Caravan Park in Bruny Island, Strahan, around Hobart and near Girraween National Park in Queensland.