Bird-watching in Western Australia

Some people who know me are well aware that I know very little about birds and bird species. However, currently living in Western Australia, I am fascinated by the native birds here. Usually, if I'm asked about a bird I saw, I would most likely say, for example, it was a red bird, or a yellow bird - that's about it! That's not the case with these birds.

A week or two ago I mentioned getting up close to a flock of these beautiful Australian ringneck parrots. We've also learned that locals just call them 28s. Apparently their call sounds like twen-ty-eight, but I haven't noticed that. 

This type of bird is a regular visitor to our home here. It's a magpie lark. We're usually woken at first light by their piercing but beautiful song. Again, those who know me would know I'd usually just call it a black-and-white bird. However, to write this blog, Greg did find the name for me. What I then learned was that it's one of about only 200 species in the world that sings in duet, each partner producing about one note a second, but a half-second apart, so that humans find it difficult to tell that there are actually not one but rather two birds singing. My thanks to Wikipedia for that information.

These are galahs, and are apparently the most common cockatoos native to Australia. They regularly fly over our home here, or can be seen in the grassy areas near the waterfront. They sometimes look more white than mauve, and the pink on their heads is a softer colour. If you click on the link here for galah, or rose-breasted cockatoo, you'll see the colour variations.

When we return home to Canada and I see birds like these in the pet store, I expect it will remind me of our travels in Australia.