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The Oz Garden Gallery

Eastern rosella.

12 years ago

Here's another I resized by reducing the pixels. I spotted this occasional visitor - they're not all that common in my garden but when they do come around there's usually a pair. Prettiest of the rosellas, at least the local ones, I reckon and somewhat shy. I use to see them in Sydney way back when but the colours of the ones here seem much brighter. Lovely bird.
B.

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Comments (6)

inga007
12 years ago
Lovely, colourful bird.
funnelweb
Original Author
12 years ago
It is Inga, and that was taken with the 'zoom' lenz, they're very shy and wary and the closer you creep to them the jitterier they become.
B.
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tropicbreezent
12 years ago
If they're around people more then they become less timid. But when they're out in the wild and don't see people close up very often they treat them like any other large animal/possible predator. We have the Northern (or White-cheeked) Rosella here. They get stuck into my mangos. One day I found one laying on the ground, still alive but unconscious. Thought it might have been hit by a car even though the road is a fair distance. Took it to the vet at the wildlife park. She said it was drunk. Must have found an old broken/chewed mango that had started to ferment.
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Original Author
12 years ago
I've seen the odd magpie in my garden just lying spread eagled on the dirt; wing's out, head on the dusty soil. Saw one again yesterday not more than 3 metres from me while I was working away spreading sugar cane mulch. Except for it's body movement as it breathed I'd've thought it dead or dying. I wandered off for something or other and when I came back it'd gone. As it was in the full afternoon sun I dismissed the thought it was cooling itself. Mind you, from years of simply ignoring them except for chucking them the odd curl grub I dig up, they've become use to me. Maybe it was having a dust bath, might help get rid of what bugs that might plague them.
tropicbreezent
12 years ago
A lot of birds will do that, have a dust bath to get rid of parasites. Kangaroos will do it too. And then there's also the cooling off tactics of scratching down into damp soil in the shade. That's not so good in the garden though, a kangaroo need a lot of room to stretch out.
funnelweb
Original Author
12 years ago
Fortunately the fences tend to keep the (rarely visiting) 'roos at bay.
B

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