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Brucebubs

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Just a couple more before you all get sick of them!

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And living by the sea ... an Albatross.

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Zelja

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You asked for them!

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I've been feeding this same adult pair for about 6 years now.
They'll happily sit on me.
I left a back door open one day and they came inside the kitchen.
Males have a solid white back - females have a lighter, dappled white back... (she's sitting above him in that picture)
They are delightful birds but notorious for 'swooping' humans in mating season - unless you make friends with them, if you gain their trust they'll leave you alone.
Ha! Brilliant Bruce!
I have a magpie nest in a gum tree out the back. The maggie is quite friendly - and like you, my dad fed them (worms he found) while he was working out there. One day he/she just swooped down and landed on the chair opposite me - surprised me how forward it was, no fear. I really like them despite their reputation for attacking innocent bystanders. What do you feed them?

I'm in Sydney metro though still get quite a few birds through - rosellas, cockatoos and kookaburras, along with the less colourful varieties. The laugh of the kookaburra always lifts my spirits! I also get bats in the gum trees this time of year, possums all year round & have a resident blue tongue lizard that shows itself every now & again.

Great pics from the US guys too. Woodpeckers have a certain mystique for me due to the Woody Woodpecker cartoons of my youth. He, like our kookaburras, seemed like such a jolly chap! I don't think I have ever seen one in person though, despite a few trips to the US.
 
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Brucebubs

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Zelja I feed them mince beef with a special bird supplement mixed in. I've got a Willy Wagtail that will sit on my hand and eat and just this year a Wattlebird will take from my hand too.

The one real nuisance we get here is the Koel.

1am - 2am - 3am ... if you know them you'll know what I'm talking about!

 

Sal

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Nice photos Bruce, birds are amazing. I took care of a crow one summer and I lived with a macaw for a time. The Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney is full of gentle sulphur-crested cockatoos that will sit on your arm if you bring fruit and nut treats. Cockatoos are such clowns!
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Zelja

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Zelja I feed them mince beef with a special bird supplement mixed in. I've got a Willy Wagtail that will sit on my hand and eat and just this year a Wattlebird will take from my hand too.

The one real nuisance we get here is the Koel.

1am - 2am - 3am ... if you know them you'll know what I'm talking about!


Don't have the Koel but there's another bird here that does this persistent 2 note call/whistle that starts up at about 5am. Drives me bonkers. The kookas call in the morning doesn't bother me somehow even if it wakes me up before I want to.

I'll have to try feeding the magpies as well. Cheers.
 

adorshki

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Nice stuff. We really don't get much colorful birds . here. Black ravens and , brown sparrows and finches. Some groups of vultures that circle in the updrafts. A few red tail and kestrel hawks. Oh and a rare to see barn owl. All browns and black.

Pretty similar up here, except throw in robins in springtime, and hummingbirds and bluejays, (about 30 years I figured out one could be sure spring was finally here with no more cold snaps when I'd find the first bluejay feather) and this little fellow I spotted some of these in a tree a couple of years ago, never spotted 'em before:
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Lesser Goldfinch
I suppose it was just the fact that the tree was only about 10 feet away from my balcony and I just happened to notice the unusual white striping on the wingtip feathers first.
Pulled out my binocs to take a closer look and lo and behold they're yellow too!
Otherwise yeah, seems most birds in CA are pretty drab, suspect it's all about camouflage, even where here it's green all year round.
 
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adorshki

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They are delightful birds but notorious for 'swooping' humans in mating season - unless you make friends with them, if you gain their trust they'll leave you alone.
First thing that hit me was "Wonder if those are corvids (crow family)?"
Sure enough, yep.
Crows have been getting pretty aggressive around here in the last few years.
Or maybe I just notice it more because my apartment's on the second story with a pretty good view up and down the street.
Do you see evidence they teach their young?
I'm wondering if the juveniles trust you like the parents?
Do other magpies seem to trust you as well, or do you think they may be protective against competition, seeing you as a food asset?
 

adorshki

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Great pics from the US guys too. Woodpeckers have a certain mystique for me due to the Woody Woodpecker cartoons of my youth. He, like our kookaburras, seemed like such a jolly chap! I don't think I have ever seen one in person though, despite a few trips to the US.

Woody was originally a pretty feisty character!
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geoguy

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I believe that Woody was modeled after a Pileated Woodpecker.

They sound like automatic weapons fire, when pecking on a tree!

Lots of cool bird photos in this thread . . . thanks to everyone who posted.
 

davismanLV

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I only have one bird photo to share. He's a yellow-naped Amazon parrot named Sherlock and he lives here in the house with us. He's 35 years old. He chatters and laughs and says a few words. Mostly he does his irritating "phone chatter" when you're making a phone call. Just jabber like, "Oh yeah.... uh huh..... oh yeah, of course. HAAAAA HAAAAA!!! Yeah, right. Uh huh.....etc., etc." That and he makes a mess with feathers everywhere. But he's been in the family since he was a baby and he's been with us for 14 years. Here you go.....

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Brucebubs

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Every year the Magpie couple bring their big fluffy chicks to my house for a feed.

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And this is a Wattle Bird.

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GuildFS4612CE

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These are all great pics...thanks for sharing...someone needs to invite Joe to the party...one of you must have his contact info.
 

Sal

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That and he makes a mess with feathers everywhere. But he's been in the family since he was a baby and he's been with us for 14 years. Here you go.....

Nice Tom! Yeah, the mess. I would come home to find the crow had unspooled my cassette tapes thru out the house.
 
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