Sunday Selections, brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, is an ongoing theme where participants post previously unused photos languishing in their files.
Anyone can join in, just post your photos under the Sunday Selections title, link back to Kim, then add your name to her Linky list at Frogpondsrock.
This week it is birds again. For the last few days we have been watching an adolescent galah with some concern. He appears to have left the nest too early (or been abandoned) and is more than a little confused. He is at our place for much of each day. There is food in plenty for him, but we would feel happier if he learnt more behaviour appropriate to his species. He is rarely seen with galahs, preferring the company of corellas and wood doves. He also doesn't know enough to get out of the way of me - I was able to walk within a couple of feet of him before he ambled away. He also has no fear of the car. My smaller portion had to stop the car twice while reversing out on Friday.
Adult galahs look like this.
The colours in the fledglings are more muted, and look like the photos below. The topknot seems to stay largely pink until adulthood.
He appears to be male. The females have a red iris while the males have a brown one.
He's really cute... I know that they cause a ruckus much of the time, however they sure are pretty!
ReplyDeleteNicky: He is a little cutie, but I am a bit worried about him. I would like to see him spend more time with other galahs. And learn to be a bit more cautious as well.
ReplyDeletePoor little baby...he's all losted and confused. Hopefully someone will take him under their wing.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I get to see a world through your blog I would never be so lucky to see in real life. Cute.
ReplyDeleteSuch beautiful photos. I just love birds and that little guy is adorable. I hope one of the others will take him in.
ReplyDeleteI may participate in this linkup too. Thank you for sharing this beauty with us. :)
Poor thing! Hope he is in a safe place and gets life figured out!
ReplyDeletePoor little guy! I hope he finds some adults to mentor him soon.
ReplyDeleteLove your photos. Hope this fellow gets help with his life skills.
ReplyDeletemybabyjohn/Delores: Fingers crossed. He is back again, and alone again.
ReplyDeleteJeannetteLS: This sharing of different lives and different worlds is magic isn't it?
Jenn June: Thankyou. I am hoping that he joins other galahs soon too. Do join in. Kim would be delighted.
Susan Kane: He isn't short of food which is a plus, but he does need some help with his life skills.
Alexia: On the one hand it is lovely that he has no fear of me, but I would really really like him to join up with other galahs rather than the bully boy corellas.
Joanne: Welcome and thank you.
OH he's gorgeous!! I hope there are no cats near you, though, or he's probably history, poor little thing.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he is destined to become a house-galah and live a free ranging life with you? We had a grey shrike thrush once that was in a very similar situation to your galah. Unfortunately after a month or so he was eaten by something. Life isn't kind to slow birds.
ReplyDeleteToni: Welcome. There are plenty of cats in the area - including two which live with us. It is a worry.
ReplyDeleteKim: He is certainly here most of the time. Unfortunately there are at least five cats in the immediate neighbourhood and three or four free ranging dogs. I am surprised that he isn't a pile of feathers already. Which is sad. I know it is natural, but I am still sad about it.
It is so amazing to see such colorful "wild" birds. Ours here are starlings that are solid black, noisy, and flock by the hundreds... messy, messy birds!
ReplyDeleteOh the poor little thing. That's how our pet galah came to be. He was not good flying free, so he became a house bird.
ReplyDeleteYour birds thrill me!
ReplyDeleteThanks
Warm Aloha from Hawaii
Comfort Spiral
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Maybe you should call him Forrest or Gump?
ReplyDeleteCindi: Welcome. Many of our native birds are very colourful. Very few of them are musical though.
ReplyDeleteKaren: I am hoping it won't come to that. He flies fairly well - he just doesn't seem to know he is a galah.
Cloudia: I'm glad.
Ampersand Duck: Sorry your comment came in as I was replying to others. Yup. Or just FG.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you are inundated by galahs just like us. Nice shots.
ReplyDeletePoor fella does seem to be lost, dazed and confused. Hopefully in a few weeks he'll be off with the other galahs and do what galahs do :-).
ReplyDeleteArija: We do get quite a lot of galahs. This one spends his time with the wood doves or corellas instead. I hope he learns who his family is shortly.
ReplyDeleteWindsmoke: Fingers crossed.
Awww, he's quite a handsome chap.
ReplyDeleteHope you can collect him to take him to a wildlife shelter or he gets some commonsense soonish!
Oh, galahs are lovely birds. I do hope the young one is all right!
ReplyDeleteThey are lovely photos. I hope this little guy finds his way soon.
ReplyDeleteSam (Learn. Create. Do.)
I also hope the little one finds his "family" soon. I wanted to pick him up and put him on my shoulder. I didn't know the females had a red ring around the eyes, so thanks for that.
ReplyDeleteJayne: This evening he was (briefly) with two adult galahs. I have everything crossed for him.
ReplyDeleteLadyFi: They are enchanting. And yes, I hope he will be OK.
Sam (Learn. Create. Do: Thank you. He seems perfectly happy and he certainly has enough food I just would rather he learnt some bird sense (and particularly galah sense) sooon.
River: Thank you. It may be that like the white top knot that changes with age too.
Aww, I feel sad for the little guy. I hope he survives.
ReplyDeleteI took some shots of a couple of romantically involved wood pigeons in a tree this week and posted them in an earlier post (not the Sunday Selections), but yesterday we found a dead wood pigeon in the garden. And since then I've only seen one wood pigeon in that tree. Now I'm sad, thinking that it's friend has died and he/she must feel so lonely. I just get too involved in these things. Must be tougher!
(hi again, I know you left a comment on my Sunday Selections, but for some reason it doesn't appear in blogger. It did in my email, thanks, and yes, it is an old village. I will probably post some more photos I took there in coming Selections ;-))
ReplyDeleteJust amazing that you have so many gorgeous birds around you.
ReplyDeleteThey are pretty! I'm glad you put in the picture with the tree, so I could see their relative size. They are much bigger than I first thought. You know I always love the bird pictures... :-)
ReplyDeleteI just can't get over how exotic the birds are at your feeder! My eyes are kinda bad right now but at first I thought your baby was surrounded by cockatiels... then I googled corelias and saw they're quite different.
ReplyDeleteI love watching birds, no matter what kind they are. But boy, your birds are lot prettier than mine!
I love birds, and I hope this little guy gets what he needs...
ReplyDeletePearl
OMG, those beauties are wild?!
ReplyDeleteWhere do you live? Africa? Heaven?
btw, i adore the pure black cats (panthers) on the bottom of this page.
Can you do a blog post on them?!!! Are they your pets? Xx
Dear EC,
ReplyDeleteI so enjoy your photographs. They introduce me to birds and scenes that are not part of the country in which I live. I've never even heard of a Galah bird before. I do so hope he learns who he is and what he is and begins to take hold.
I note that "Karen" has a pet Galah. Your reply was that you hoped it "wouldn't come to that." I suspect that you honor the need birds and animals have to be in their natural habitat. But if need be, would you take him into your home?
I so hope this puzzled Galah is taken under the wing of a grown-up bird.
Peace.
Carolina: I am more than a bit wussy about things like that myself. Survival doesn't (touch wood) seem to be an issue as he gets plenty to eat here, but I would prefer that he learnt some galah appropriate behaviour as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks for answering my question about your amazing knockers (door).
Lynn: We often get five or six native species a day visiting and do know how lucky we are.
DJan: I did think you would like it. An adult galah is probably about half the size of a cockatoo - which doesn't stop a stroppy galah challenging the cockies.
Cathy Oliffe-Webster: We love watching them too. We don't get cockatiels here unfortunately.
Pearl: Finges and toes crossed.
My Inner Chick: The galahs are indeed wild birds as are all of our birdie visitors.
The black beasts at the bottom of the page do share our life. Some days it feels as if they run it. I will put a post about them up for you shortly.
Dee Ready: I am glad you like my photos. We can get up to twenty or thirty galahs on our lawn at a time, and then they take off again to nearby bush - which is where they belong. I love to have them visiting, but do as you say respect their need (and their right) to be in their natural habitat.
Things are looking a bit better today. He socialised briefly with some adult galahs last night and didn't appear here until nearly lunch time. I would hate to cage him. If I thought he couldn't survive I would try and get him to our Wildlife Protection Service rather than cage hime.
Are they tough?
ReplyDeleteKeep an eye out for him. So long as there's food and water he may be fine.
ReplyDeleteI never get tired of seeing the birds you have there
ReplyDeleteJ Cosmo Newberry: You must have heard about the recipe for cooking galahs.
ReplyDelete'Take one galah, and a stone of equal weight.
Boil until the stone is soft.
Throw away the galah and eat the stone.'
Friko: He seems to be fine at the moment and doing a tiny bit more associating with other galahs.
Kim @ Stuff: Thank you.
I didn't know that females had red rings around their eyes but always liked it that both sexes had the same colouring because usually in the bird world the blokes are dazzling and the sheilas are boring brown. :)
ReplyDeleteSuch a sweet little galah. Maybe the corellas and wood doves will take him under their wings and teach him a thing or two.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by. I can understand your dislike of the Cilantro leaves because when we first tasted them many years ago, a friend of ours had put them on a pizza and frankly we thought the taste was kind of nasty. So, imagine our surprise when years later we found out we loved the stuff!!!
Kath: I have misled you all. I went back and checked my bird book this morning and the females have red IRISES. Which means that you are rarely going to be close enough to tell. I like that their plumage doesn't differentiate as well.
ReplyDeleteDenise: He is mingling with other galahs a little more which is really encouraging.
I have really, really dislike coriander leaves for over twenty years now, but perhaps I will learn to like them.
I've heard Australians call people a 'big galah' but nobody told me it was a real thing.
ReplyDeleteThe Good Greatsby: Welcome. I think that calling people a big galah is pretty much a thing of the past. The birds on the other hand are not. Lots of them. Which is lovely.
ReplyDeleteWow, the fledgling reminds me strongly of vultures. Interesting that the head coloration is so muted. Are there any strong evolutionary theories for why the young have such coloration?
ReplyDeleteJohn Wiswell: I am going to have a partly educated guess here. Typically galahs nest in our eucalypt trees which often have a grey/green bark and leaf. The fledglings would be quite well camoflaged there. He is still coming to visit and his adult plumage is coming along - albeit slowly. On the positive front he is now spending more time with other galahs though not as much as I would like.
ReplyDeleteVery nice photography.
ReplyDeleteIf it were legsl I'd beg you to pack him up and send him my way; my dove desperately needs a companion.
ReplyDeleteThe others are stunning as well; I am always surprised by what finds their way to your yard. And a little envious, too. Once again, thanks for sharing :D
He looks like somebody put a little bleach into his shampoo!
ReplyDeleteAbraham Lincoln: Thank you.
ReplyDeleteSpectra: I don't think that doves and galahs would mix happily. In normal circumstances galahs are bully boys with an impressive swagger and a hectoring manner.
Snowbrush: He does a little at that. I think he will have his final plumage in a couple of months.
It amazes me to see this type of bird roaming free as nature intended and not in a cage.
ReplyDeleteYour photos are beautiful , my thanks for sharing your world.
Hugs, Pam :)
Pam: Thank you. Birds are one of our obsessions and we get so much pleasure out of them every day. And the adolescent galah is still visiting us often. Which is lovely.
ReplyDelete