Australian Feathered Friends

I spent the last ten days in the Gold Coast Hinterland, Neranwood to be exact, and I had the honour of befriending some of the wildlife in the area.

Now, most foreigners believe ALL Australian wildlife is designed to kill us, but that’s not true. These feathered friends are not our enemy……..they are some of the best and most beautiful of our varied wildlife.

Let me introduce you to the Australian Feathered Friends that flew down to say hello…..for a bribe of course.

Australian King Parrot

This stunning bird is of the parrot family and wears its bold colours with pride. Like most bird species, the male is by far the more beautiful, with his scarlet red head and neck feathers, while the female has the more subdued green head and neck.

Both stunning in their own right, but the males were definitely the friendliest. If I ignored their prancing along the rail, they’d edge closer to the door. If that didn’t work, they’d hop down on the Dome’s outer railing and peer in at me through the plastic covering……..and if that still didn’t work, and the door was open, they’d not hesitate to prance on inside.

So, with no further waffling, let me introduce you to the Australian King Parrot.

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo

The beautiful Sulphur Crested Cockatoo is a large bird, twice the size of the Australian King Parrot and would you look at that beak………I’ll keep my fingers well back from that appendage, thank you very much.

Their name is obvious, what with that awesome crown on the top of their head, that they’ll wave about as a warning when they want you to back off.

They are certainly a confident bird as you see when they arrogantly strut their stuff.

These Cockatoos hang around in a family pack and when they talk to each other, they are loud…….in fact I often wonder if they aren’t yelling at each other! Their voices echo across the entire valley and you can certainly hear them coming.

They don’t mind a free feed either. At breakfast one morning I had the pleasure of feeding thirteen Cockatoos all in one sitting. They sure left me with a mess to clean up afterwards.

So, without further ado, say hello to these glorious feathered friends.

Rainbow Lorikeet

Now here is an absolutely gorgeous specimen of our feathered friends. Look at those colours and you’ll understand where they get their name.

The Rainbow Lorikeets are not a big bird, in fact, they are half the size of the Australian King Parrot, which makes the Sulphur Crested Cockatoo four times its size.

What will surprise you is they’re bigger than large personalities. They had no qualms scaring off both the Cockatoos and the Parrots when they wanted a feed. In the video below, you’ll even see them warning each other when they feel the need.

I’m pleased I get to show you our gorgeous Rainbow Lorikeets.

White Headed Pigeon

Now this feathered friend surprised me, because the White Headed Pigeon usually prefers their diet of fruit, so to have this one fly down to eat the sunflower seeds was a pleasant surprise.

These pigeons also usually travel in pairs, so I was very surprised to see it visit on its own……..not that you’ll hear any complaints from me.

The White Headed Pigeon is twice as large as your every day pigeon variety and I kind of think of him as the King of his kind…….he’s certainly got the regality down pat as he pushes out his chest in glorious arrogance.

I do apologise that I did not capture this gorgeous friend on video though, but I’m still happy to have you say hello to the White Headed Pigeon.

Australian Brush Turkey

Our Australian Brush Turkey, which by the way, is a protected species, so no thinking he’d look good at the head of a table at your next celebratory feast.

This Turkey wanders around on our forest floor and scratches for his food….kind of like a chicken…..but don’t say that in his presence!

They can also be found in suburbia and they are a bane to a gardeners existence because they sure like to make a mess in your garden, especially if they choose your backyard for the perfect location to build a nest.

Please meet the Australian Brush Turkey.

And there you have the cream of the crop of some of our native feathered friends. This, of course, is not an exhaustive list of Australian birds but these are the ones that chose to honour me with a visit, as I sat back and relaxed for ten days in a little patch of paradise.

I hope you enjoyed my introduction.

Please click the link below my name to read more of my work. I would also like to thank you for taking the time to read this today and for all your support.

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Originally published on Medium