Fred's Birds

[polywideblock]

     do you get the currawongs

[XH29N0G]

Fred,

Could you include some sound effects with some of these, too?  I have only been to Australia a few times, but what struck me was all the weird sounds those birds make.  The warding (raven?) sounds wreaked havoc with my jet lagged family.  We were half awake and had no idea what was making that sound.

[Fred]

Yes, that's one behind the king. They're really quite tame. Will take the bread out of your hand.  Love their haunting call.

[polywideblock]

my father had a "tame" wild one that would sit on his arm and take pieces on sausage out of his hand (no biting) they know when your not going to hurt them   

[Fred]

Fred,

Could you include some sound effects with some of these, too?  I have only been to Australia a few times, but what struck me was all the weird sounds those birds make.  The warding (raven?) sounds wreaked havoc with my jet lagged family.  We were half awake and had no idea what was making that sound.

If you think our bird calls a strange XH you need to get out in the bush (or just our back yard for that matter) at night and listen to a possum calling. When we first moved up here from the suburbs, I walked around the place in the dark when all of a sudden I heard this noise.....a sound I'd never heard before.......it sounded like a wild, BIG cat.......it scared the stuffing out of me. I had nothing to protect myself with so I hightailed it back inside and told the wife about it. Imagine how foolish I felt when we found out it was just possums calling out to one another. Here was me thinking I was going to be some wild animals dinner!

[Fred]

my father had a "tame" wild one that would sit on his arm and take pieces on sausage out of his hand (no biting) they know when your not going to hurt them   

Yes, on the whole they're mainly here in Autumn and are pretty timid but we have a pair that are with us all year round. They seem to have made the bush beyond our backyard their home. And they've known us for some years now. They come for a feed when food is in short supply. Which seems to be every day at the moment ha ha!! and are not afraid of us.

[XH29N0G]

I'll put that on my to do list.  Don't know when I will make it back to your side of the world though.

[Fred]

This one's following me all around the house going from window to window just hanging on the frame. (I'm inside)

[moparsr2fast]

Nosy little critter.  Cats would love your home 

[Fred]

Yes it would be a smorgasbord alright. Fortunately the dogs keep them at bay.

[burnout.dawg]

Aww ... C'est l'amour!

[Fred]

Dankeschoen. 

[Mopar Nut]

This one's following me all around the house going from window to window just hanging on the frame. (I'm inside)

Have you ever seen the movie Birds?

[Fred]

Yes, it's one of Erika's favourites.
When we first moved to this place there were a couple of currawongs hanging around so Erika got some bread and went to feed them. (we were only just getting to know some of these birds.........don't see them in the suburbs). Next minute there was another and another and then still more and more and more. In the end there must have been around 60 birds all at her feet. It was the time of year they come through and it got pretty intense because they were all flying at her to try to get a feed and she was a bit concerned that one of them might accidently hit her in the eye with it's beak.  That was definitely a bit of a "The Birds" moment except for the fact they weren't attacking to kill. But we did decide it would be safer to come inside until they cleared off. She did have to slide her feet along the ground for fear of treading on them.
Now we just have our resident pair and their young (we seem to have a pair of everything lol) that have made our place their home and we don't feed the ones that are just passing through.

[Mopar Nut]

It's one of mine too by Alfred Hitchcock, I remember watching it when it first came out in 1963.

[Fred]

Were you young enough to be scared or old enough to take it in your stride?

Erika has it on dvd, it's her favourite A. H. movie.

[Mopar Nut]

I was too young to be scared and enjoyed eating Chicken after that much better.   

[Fred]

are you scared now?

[Mopar Nut]

Never too old to be scared.

[JB400]

I never have found that movie to be scary.

[Fred]

We don't think it's scary either, just good entertainment.

[Fred]

.

[Fred]

This is what kookas do on a hot day. They just kind of luff up their feathers, loll their heads to he side and open their beaks.

[Fred]

Just took this. Thought it was rather cute with the King perched in the middle. And thought the contrast was rather nice.

[Fred]

This King is without tail. Don't know how he lost it but he's been like that for a few years now so I'm guessing tail feathers don't grow back.
He looks funny when he's flying.