Sulphur-crested Cockatoo - Cacatua galerita
A wet Cocky - hooray, we're getting rain! - are we out of drought?
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo - Calyptorhynchus funereus
Purple Swamp Hen - Porphyrio porphyrio - New Zealanders call them Pukeko
Black Ibis or Straw-necked Ibis - Threskiornis spinicollis
Our pet Australian Magpie - Cracticus tibecen
We call her 'Broken Beak' and have been feeding her minced steak for months. See the story 22nd December 2008. When she came to us she had a very sore, bleeding leg - she'd lost a toe, was skinny and had very dull, scrappy feathers. She is still smaller than her mates but has put on weight and her feathers are now shiny. She hangs about all day long.
4 comments:
Wow! amazing that you have such visitors! The cockatoo's are wild? Never even thought of that...I mean, I knew they were wild somewhere...How very very cool. Love the story of broken beak. You guys are good peeps!!
How wonderful to see the cockatoos out in the open air.
I'm caring for my daughter's conures right now and I'd love to see them in their natural habitat. Not hers, of course. They are easily frightened and totally dependent on her.
I'm glad that you've had such good luck bringing your magpie back from the brink. I hope that it continues to grow strong.
Last summer, there was one crow, of the bunch that visit my yard, who had a bottom beak that hung to the side. He managed all of last year but I haven't seen him this spring. Hopefully, he's moved to another area and is still managing.
Yes, the Cockatoos give us much pleasure. Some mornings we might have 100 waiting in the courtyard, I kid you not! They jump all over the iron roof in summer and wake us up. When there's that many we shoo them off and only the 'locals' come back for wild bird seed and grain bread.
Around 4pm they sit around the garden setting like sentinels waiting for 'afternoon tea'. They're so polite, hang on with their right claw and eat with their left.
We end up with a mess with both Cockatoos and Magpies coming in, forever hosing down but they're a treat.
Hey chookie,
The story about Ma and the piano brought a tear to my eyes.
I'm glad you liked my card enough to put it on your blog.
love you,
Nicole.
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