It’s Sunday, which means that we have a batch of bird photos from John Avise. Today he continues his series on the feathered denizens of Australia. John’s notes and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
Here’s this week’s batch of photos, a continuation of my series on Australian birds.
Brown Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta):
Bush Stone-curlew (Burhinus grallarius):
Comb-crested Jacana (Irediparra gallinacea):
Common Mynas (Acridotheres tristis):
Australasian Darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae), female:
Australian Darter, male drying his wings:
Eastern Rosella (Platycercus eximius):
Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae):
Emu headshot:
Australasian Figbird (Sphecotheres vieilloti), male:
Australasian Figbird, female:
Forest Kingfisher (Todiramphus macleayii):
Ahhh… wonderful.
Have to love that beautifully ugly emu, posing for its head shot.
Love the Jacana on the lily pads: reminds me of the pond I frequented almost every day as a child. (No. Not in Australia, in upstate New York!)
Upon looking at that emu, did anyone else have “Keith Richards” flash through your head?
The Australian parrot is a Pale-headed Rosella Platycercus adscitus, not a Eastern Rosella Platycercus eximius, which looks like this :https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FEastern_rosella&psig=AOvVaw1fIZ_8rSdSdvsd5wHLrFux&ust=1710797358202000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBIQjRxqFwoTCJDei4Sf_IQDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAJ/
The Rosellas, of which there are several different plumage phases (sometimes considered subspecies or species in a hybridizing superspecies complex), have long been a taxonomically challenging assemblage of Australian birds. Thanks for pointing out what I thus presume is the most up-to-date name for the bird I photographed.
These are all beautiful! The Jacana is elegant, that big fuzzy Emu looks like you could pet it, and the Rosella might hop on your shoulder and start talking, but the Australasian Darter looks armed and dangerous.