My one Bird-of-Paradise

Birds-of-Paradise is a small family of birds with astounding dancing abilities. Most of them live in Papua New Guinea, but a few occur in north-eastern Australia, including this Victoria Riflebird:

While on a bird tour, we found it sitting on a stick in a strategically selected location (in a forest, but in a little open area), and the guide told me that we were in for a show. Sure enough, a few minutes later, it started its funky courtship dance. (Sadly, no potential mates appeared!)


Since these birds live in such remote places (at least remote from New York), I told my guide that this is likely the only bird-of-paradise I will ever see. Not just the only species - literally the only such bird. He then admitted to placing the stick there himself, knowing that a riflebird is bound to find and use it. I don't know how I feel about that, but I am sure glad I got to see it!


A Galah parrot from Uluru. (BTW, both of these names are from Aborigines languages.)


Aptly named Powerful Owl, found for me by a former co-worker friend in the Sydney Botanical Gardens:


And look what it got! It looks to be a ring-tailed possum.


A statuesque Australian Pelican:




Metallic Starlings do have that iridescent shine:


They nest in big colonies inside trees. This one is out in the open, though:


I also have a few cool duck close-ups to share. This is a female Maned Duck:


Pacific Black Duck:


A male Maned Duck on a windy day:


Parting shot - an iPhone picture of a Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo that let me come super close in a Sydney park:

Australia Parrots

 The interesting thing about Australian parrots is that very few are actually named "parrots". Not even "parakeets"! Of course, that would be too much like the rest of the world. But check out this selection and decide for yourself which names suit them better. 

Here we have very aptly named Rainbow Lorikeets. Common all over eastern Australia, but surprisingly hard to catch close (at least for me!) Nonetheless, here are a few good shots:

Another common eastern Australian parrot - Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo:






A parrot with a very poetic name - Crimson Rosella. It's common in south-eastern Australia.


This pink wonder is called Galah. Its range covers the whole continent. I got this picture in Uluru, in the middle of the Australian desert (where it does keep to the town).


Another parrot with a musical name (but somewhat crusty appearnce): Long-Billed Corella:


From parrots to bowers: the bachelor palace of Satin Bowerbird. The males collect anything blue (preferably, deep, saturated blue) and use these items to decorate their bowers, which the females then use to judge their mating potential:


And this is the architect of the splendor above - Satin Bowerbird. Even though it got its name from the blue bower ornamentations, it also matches their stunning eye color:


Another bower, but a different color - this one is of a Great Bowerbird.


I don't have a good picture of a Great Bowerbird itself, but here is one courtesy of eBird:


Another cool bird: Australian Brushturkey. Notice how its tail fans out vertically, rather than horizontally (like for most birds):


Another common, almost nuisance bird: Noisy Miner. They live in huge colonies, often in urban areas, and don't like anything or anyone else to come close to them. That includes humans - you've been warned!




Another cool bird from the Australian outback: White-Plumed Honeyeater:


Australian Ibis - super common even in the cities, like this one drinking from a Sydney fountain:


Little Pied Cormorant - looking all cute and serious:

Australia Wildlife

A few more eastern kangaroos. Note the distended pouch and the joey's legs sticking out of it:

What's this? A bit of tourist trash left behind in a park? But why is it all blue? And what's that grass structure next to it?

No, this place is a bower - a nesting and mating place for Satin Bowerbird. It creates and decorates this structures to entice females. There are many types of bowerbirds, and they all specialize in different colors. Satin Bowerbird does blue (and notice how all of its decorations are even the same blue hue!) The grass structure is called the avenue. It is created artificially and carefully groomed, and oriented in such a way that any female going through it would have its breath taken away by all the blue treasures on the other side.

Satin Bowerbird - the creator of all the splendidness above:

And some more wildlife shots. (Is it just me, or is that turtle smiling?)

Cairns and Great Barrier Reef

The ultimate Great Barrier Reef experience: looking a sea turtle in the eye:

The shells in this picture are the Giant Clams. The are the largest mollusks on Earth that can grow to more than a yard across. The ones you see here have been exposed by the low tide, but most of them live their 100-year lives fully underwater.

This is a small crown-of-thorns starfish. Its spikes are venomous, and it can grow to more than a foot in diameter. In large numbers, they are dangerous to the reef: they actually eat coral, faster than it can reproduce. 

At the Cairns airport:

Cairns beach:

And warnings about the Cairns wildlife:

A few more marsupials around Cairns and Port Douglas:

Night visitor to our house:

Fruit bats, also known as flying foxes:

Parting shot - just a picture of the reef blue: