Dear all, Read More
MANDAANG GUWU (thank you) to everyone who has contributed gawuraa (feathers)
to the giran gulbanha (wind philosophy) project. Read More
Finches are small birds, about 10cm long, that feed on grasses and seeds. They
are found all around Australia, with many being endemic. Read More
Often birds come together and fly in united flocks, performing extraordinary
aerial acrobatics as one. Although not completely understood, it’s generally accepted that flocking birds benefit through cooperating with food hunting,
that they exchange information and have greater protection from predators as a group. Read More
Australia is often referred to as the land of parrots. We have more than 56 species
of parrots, from the smallest, the double-eyed fig parrot (Cyclopsitta diophthalma), to the largest, the palm cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus). Read More
Many Aboriginal creation stories across Australia will tell you that
birds are connected to the spreading of fire. Often cheeky birds would steal fire and accidentally drop it as they fled, inadvertently gifting it to
everyone. Read More
Commonly known as the budgie, the budgerigar (Melopsittacus
undulatus) is a small seed-eating parrot endemic to Australia. They are around 18cm long and are green and yellow to blend in with the arid regions
of Australia. Read More
Bill Gammage describes galahs (Eolophus roseicapilla) as the ‘great adaptors’,
showing through his work that galahs have capitalised on the pastoralisation of Australia. Read More
Many names for Australia’s birds are in fact Aboriginal names for birds. For
instance, when you say galah (Eolophus roseicapilla), you are using a Wiradjuri word spelt gilaa. Read More
It’s important to know the difference between a native noisy miner (Manorina melanocephala) and the introduced common myna (Acridotheres tristis).
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The Superb Lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae) is named for its extraordinary ability to mimic sounds. From the calls of other birds to motorbikes and chainsaws, they create
songs that reflect their local environment. Songs are vitally important to the lyrebird, so much so that they start singing while still in the egg.
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In Sydney Harbour a number of fairy or little penguin (Eudyptula minor) colonies are still holding on. They are the smallest penguin species in the world, reaching about 30cm in height. Several protected fairy penguin rockeries
are dotted around the harbour. Read More
Flying
in between the skyscrapers of the Sydney CBD is the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus). Known to be living within our cityscape, they often feed on
feral pigeons (Columba livia domestica). Read More
Like
many other migratory animals, we still don’t know how birds navigate during their long migrations.
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In Australia we have a number of introduced bird species, including
feral pigeons (Columba livia domestica), the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) and the common myna (Acridotheres tristis), sometimes called the Indian myna.
Many of these introduced birds compete not just with native birds but with all native animals, creating a number of problems. Read More
Over the coming weeks artist Jonathan Jones will be writing a series of guest posts on all things native Australian birds, touching on their importance, the issues they face and what we
can learn from them. Jones' upcoming artwork for the 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art requires thousands of native Australian bird
feathers, which he needs your help to find. Read More
A NEW PROJECT BY JONATHAN JONES
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