Australian birds are the best

Over the past few weeks, I’ve really been noticing some of the great native Australian birds that are all around us. Some of my favourites are the brightly coloured Rosellas that squawk and carry on in the trees next to my house. They are always in a group and will chew and nibble on anything they can find. I love it when they grab something in their little feet to chew on and they scrunch their feet into a fist like shape. It looks like they’re a grumpy gang waving their fists in the air.

I also love all of the beautiful little Superb Fairywrens (we just call them blue wrens) that flutter and dart across the front lawn in the morning and in the afternoon. The females don’t have the brilliant striking blue like the males but are still beautiful with a light tinge of blue in their tail feathers and a soft gentle brown covering them. These little wrens are damn near impossible to keep track of when you’re watching them let along when you’re trying to take a picture. However, this seems to make it all the more rewarding when you snap them fluttering around.

The Yellow-tailed black cockatoos are always a treat as well. A local myth my mum always told me is that when you see them flying away it means rain is coming. They’re jet black apart from the golden patches on their cheeks and their cheeky little button eyes barely stand out against their dark feathers. Even from a distance you can tell that their sharp, strong parrot beak could break a finger if they wanted. What they lack in colour they make up for with noise and their loud piercing squawks.

Finally, my week was topped off with a rare siting of a tawny frogmouth owl.  It was at about 8pm at night at my mum spotted him sitting in a tree along the driveway. Their beautiful mottled brown feathers make them experts at blending into barks on trees. They often stand stock still pointing like an askew branch of a tree. They look slightly crazed most of the time in my opinion, but also very wise (although I’m sure their minds are on catching a big juicy moth rather than philosophical dilemmas). Have a look around and see what species and colours of birds you can find!