The first birds that caught my eye in Sydney were the iconic sulphur-crested cockatoos - backyard birds native to Australia, Indonesia, and New Guinea.
They are massive birds that grow to be 17 inches.
They have beautiful white plumage, stunning black eyes, and well-kept beaks that they trim by chewing on small tree branches.
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| Sulphur-crested cockatoo. |
Cockatoos are exotic birds with a recognizable yellow crest, which they use to communicate and express emotions.
They raise their crest when they are excited or curious and fluff it after preening.
Fun and funny, cockatoos are known to bob their heads when they want something or to the tune of a good song.
Lowering their crest is a sign that all is well.
These birds are as loud as they are beautiful!
While bird alarm sounds, like screeching or squawking, are an excellent tactic to warn the flock of an approaching predator, it is not pleasant to hear when sitting in the back garden enjoying a peaceful cup of coffee.
I was so excited when a cockatoo landed on the back deck railing.
I wanted to feed it, but my daughter warned me not to cause many more would come.
Not listening, I fed it anyway, and more came.
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| Cockatoo eating crumbs off the deck. |
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| Cockatoos perched on the railing. |
Cockatoos are not mean birds but can be aggressive and lunge toward you if they feel fear or stress.
You can see the yellow wash on the inside of their wings when they flutter. This action can be pretty startling if you're nearby.
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| Jethro and the fluttering cockatoos. |
Before the cockatoos came, I was excited about a tomato plant on the deck with two tomatoes on the vine ripening, and my son-in-law was thrilled with his new herb garden in the 3-tier deck planter.
The tomatoes, plants, leaves, and herbs were gone when the birds left!
So we had to plant flowers. Bummer!
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| Deck planter with flowers. |
The birds continue to visit from time to time, hoping to find something to eat.
They are out of luck at my house.
It was time for them to find a new food source cause I stopped feeding them - daughter knows best!
While tourists, like me, love to look at them, most Aussies call them pests.
They can be destructive in large flocks because they like to chew on wood, decks, and outdoor furniture, not to mention the poop they drop every 15 minutes.
A healthy cockatoo diet consists of blossoms, berries, nuts, fruit, vegetation, and leaf buds, along with two ripe tomatoes and a few herbs.
To protect fruit trees from cockatoos, Sydneysiders cover them with fruit netting.
Densely woven mesh netting protects animals from becoming trapped or injured.
It's not a nice look in the front garden, but it's worth it for a harvest of fresh fruit!
Lemon tree
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| Lemon tree |
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| Lemon tree. |
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| Mango tree. |
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| Mango tree. |
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| Orange tree. |
Even though cockatoos are noisy and pesty, we still get a kick out of seeing them up close and personal.
There are twenty-one different species of cockatoos; five of them are native to Sydney.
I didn't realize this until I came across a family of pink & grey cockatoos —feeding off the seeds and vegetation in a nearby field.
These exotic birds are called rose-breasted cockatoos.
They have grey wings, feet, tail feathers, and pink underparts covering their face, breast, and belly.
The aboriginal name for them is "galah," which means silly or loud.
Although "galahs" are supposed to be one of the most common cockatoos in eastern Australia, this was my first encounter.
They enjoy open areas and are supposed to be very friendly to humans, although they wouldn't let me get close enough for a proper photoshoot.
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| Rose-breasted cockatoos. |
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| Rose-breasted cockatoos take flight. |
Yeah, I don't know how anyone has veggie or flower gardens in Sydney.
ReplyDeleteHey! Are you going to post the video of the cockatoo that flew to the window? That was crazy!
ReplyDelete