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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).  Read More

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.  Read More

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  Read More