So wonderful that you get to have parrots in your backyard -- not nearly as messy as having them in your living room. Here, black cockatoos are so rare -- owing to the import/export ban in Australia since the 1960s, the few here are descendants of those that came before or slipped through somehow after, all being captive-bred. The only ones I've ever seen have been Palms, and they cost five figures here. Even your common-as-pigeons Galahs cost over $2k here. But on the flipside, look up how much Amazona oratrix sell for in your area. That's the species to which my Sammy belongs.

:-)

~Christopher

I love seeing your wild parrots! I have a Yellow Nape Amazon that has watched way too much Family Guy and Cable tv in general and has an extensive vocabulary as a result lol. He is definitely messy. I've had him almost 23 yrs. When I first got him he wasn't tame at all and had been abused in the past and lived his whole life on a manzanita branch that was too wide for his feet so he had foot issues for a while as a result. He is much improved now.

To see any endangered creatures, even only as black objects in the sky, is a pleasure and a reason to hope. Clever of you to get in the garden too!

Nice catch Adam.

Which reminds me I need to cut down that 30foot Grevillea robusta which is growing at an alarming rate in a totally inappropriate spot and will soon interfere with the stonework.. That was understock of another bush Grevillea which went missing in action and before I could realise what was going on the Silky Oak had grown to a chlorotic tree.. What a messy tree to have in one's garden unless it's far from anything..

Thanks for sharing this. Sent me on a wikipedia tangent and what a fascinating creature to learn about. Does the government encourage home gardeners to help populations by planting food sources for these birds? They seem in a precarious state, what a shame it would be to lose them.

Ninkasi, not really, even though some of thier preffered forraging trees are great for gardens. I have planted pincushion Hakeas in my front yard for them, but they haven't come over for a snack yet.

I am planning on planting a Cape Lilac tree at our next house. they have gorgeous, scented blossoms and the fruit is attractive to black cockatoos and 28s.

Freddy wants to be a really big boy! mine is not doing at all well in his pot, so I either need to find somewhere in the ground or throw him out... Love your yard btw; it looks nice and jungly enough to be cool in summer.

Black Cockatoos are wonderful! we don't get them in the wild this far east tho; it's just Cockies, Galahs and Rosellas here. Mainly Cockies- they hang out in the local golf course, but there havent been any backyard visitations since the great sunflower raid a couple of years back, but seeing as I went overboard with a packet of seeds this year..who knows.

I did see one obstinately hanging on to his perch on the overhead power lines outside the house while being divebombed by several Magpies earlier this Spring. He lasted a whole ten minutes before they succeeded in scaring him off

Here is a better pic of the roses.

Look at the size of the leaves!