A man who ripped the head off a kookaburra at a Perth pub in front of horrified children has been fined $2,500. The man killed Kevin – a cheeky kookaburra known for stealing food – at Parkerville Tavern last month. His lawyer described the bird as “a menace to public safety”. The $2,500 fine is […]
Tag: Kookaburra
Land of the birds: why Australia has the world’s greatest diversity of avian life
If you live in Australia, you may not realise how unique and special the birds around you are. Our continent was perhaps the most important for the evolution of modern birds, with a majority of the world’s species tracing their ancestry here. Long ecologically adrift as an island continent, Australia benefited through the evolution of […]
These parrots can make other parrots ‘laugh’ – a first !
Forget the laughing kookaburra – kea are the birds that really tickle each other’s funny bones. The highly intelligent parrot has a specific call, that – like human laughter – puts other parrots that hear it in a good mood. This makes the kea the first known non-mammal to show contagious emotion, joining the ranks […]
Birds along Palm Jungle track in Royal National Park
After weeks of rainy weather the sun has finally come out in Sydney and to celebrate I headed out to Royal National Park to hike along the coastline and to do a bit of birdwatching along the way. I took a train to Otford and the birdwatching started before I even got to the park. […]
Awe-inspiring images of birds by Ofer Levy
The saying ‘as free as a bird’ is spoken by many yet truly understood by few, except perhaps for the likes of award-winning Israeli wildlife photographer Ofer Levy. The recent winner of the prestigious ANZANG Nature Photography award in Australia and New Zealand, Levy has spent his entire career photographing our avian fellows for some […]
It’s official, the superb fairy-wren is our favourite bird
It’s bright blue, sexually promiscuous and just 14cm long – and it’s officially Australia’s favourite bird. The superb fairy-wren has won a national poll to identify the country’s most-loved feathered animal. BirdLife Australia said the vote, a part of Bird Week 2013, was a “very close race” for top spot between the fairy-wren and that […]
Kingfishers
In the last few years I have been fortunate enough to have visited four continents, (if you include my home in Europe) and in the next few days I am off to Africa, my fifth! In the UK the Common Kingfisher is a protected species and I am fortunate enough to have a license to […]