Tag: birds

Callocephalon fimbriatum

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Callocephalon fimbriatum

My sister and I spotted a small flock of these stunning birds in the bush behind her house. The gang-gang cockatoo (Callocephalon fimbriatum), native to the coastal regions of southeastern Australia, is easily recognised by its unique call, often likened to a creaky gate. It is the faunal emblem of the Australian Capital Territory.

The loss of older, hollow trees and feeding habitats has caused a significant decline in the birds’ population in recent years. As a result, the gang-gang cockatoo is now classified as vulnerable in New South Wales and is slated for listing as endangered. So we were especially pleased to spot these beauties.

Sydney wildlife

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harold reid

Alectura lathami

There’s an active brush turkey nest in my friends’ front yard, right below the verandah. It’s a huge mound of mulch and leaf litter, several metres wide, which the male tends daily with much scratching and shifting of the plant material as the eggs incubate deep inside.

Brush turkeys are not exactly beloved in suburban gardens, as they steal every bit of mulch they can find. Once one starts building a mound, it’s pretty much impossible to get it to stop.

If the chosen location is really inconvenient, you can try to redirect the bird’s attention to a different part of your garden by creating a compost mound. The brush turkey might be drawn to this spot and eventually adopt the compost mound as its nesting site. Good luck!

moore lab

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moorelab

I took a (free) guided tour of the Moore Lab of Zoology at Occidental College in Eagle Rock and wow, it did not disappoint. The vast majority of the 65,000–specimen collection is whole bird study skins, mostly collected in Mexico in the early 20th century. The lab welcomes visits from students, scientists and artists, so I’m keen to go back for more extensive sketching time (and a peek into more of the drawers!).

Lonchura punctulata

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Lonchura punctata

New-to-me bird! The scaly-breasted munia or spotted munia (Lonchura punctulata) is a finch known in the pet trade as nutmeg mannikin or spice finch. The species is endemic to Asia, but feral populations have established in Puerto Rico and Hispaniola, as well as parts of Australia and the US.

Here’s an interesting fact: L. punctulata frequently serves as a brood host for the parasitic pin-tailed whydah in Southern California, where both have become feral. In this setting, the munia raises the whydah’s chicks as if they were its own. This interaction is unusual since the two species do not naturally coexist in their native habitats—the whydah is from Africa—and have no evolutionary history as parasite and host. Now I want to see a pin-tailed whydah!

Sturnella neglecta

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meadowlark_feathers

The small and large feathers were so different in colouring and size, that I didn’t suspect they came from the same bird. I was trying to come up with a scenario as to why both birds might have lost so many feathers in the same place. My reference book, and iNaturalist, led me to the much more likely explanation.

I wonder who ate the meadowlark?

through the trees

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Junco hyemalis

The dark-eyed junco, a small New World sparrow, is found through most of the US, Canada, and northern Mexico. There are a bunch of sub-species classified into different groups; we have the Oregon or brown-backed group here in Southern California. They mainly eat seeds, and the occasional insect. This one flitted away through the branches then turned back to look at me. I see you, Mr Junco!