Bavariazing

Derpy mottle chested dark grey and white bird perched on a twig with two outrageous epaulette / armpit flanges of bright pinky purple

I’m especially keen to showcase purpletufts, one of the grooviest and most underrated mistletoe specialist frugivores (sister to Tityras and becards)
(pic by Jesus Alferez)

Platypuses hunt underwater (their bills detect the electricity given off by their preys' muscles), and cram the food into cheek-pouches, then come to the surface to chew it up.
#Tasmania #MammalWatching #WildOz #platypuses

MP Koalas | The Mornington Peninsula Koala Conservation Group MP Koalas, the Mornington Peninsula Koala Conservation Group ims to raise awareness of the challenges koalas face onthe Mornington Peninsula.

This group do a good job trying to protect them

mpkoalas.org.au

Sound up #frogs

You could say it’s a tawny within a tawny. #tawnyfrogmouth #ausbirds #birds

This is the male. He's perched on a slender tree branch is a chunky mostly-grey parrot, around 35 cm long, with a bright red head and wispy crest. The edges of feathers on the upperparts are slightly paler grey than the rest of the feather, which makes the bird look somewhat barred. He's holding a seed pod in his left foot, and chomping on it. The feathers in his underparts would be edged in yellow or pink, but we can't see which from this angle.

This is the female. Broadly the same image, except she’s facing to the left rather than the right, and she's a darker grey all over. The feathers on her underparts are edged in yellow.

GANG-GANG ALERT! We were just visited by a pair of gang-gang cockatoos (Callocephalon fimbriatum), a vulnerable species. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang-ga...

They were several metres apart munching on seed pods. They were kinda OK with me approaching quietly, until some twigs crunched loudly and zoom!

Forest kingfisher (incinctus) perched

Azure kingfisher, perched

Sacred kingfisher, perched

Blue-winged kookaburra, close relative to the more common laughing jackass, under attack by a little friarbird (the kooka won). Note the nictitating membrane closed over its eye as an instinctive reaction.

Today's @robcrank68.bsky.social #birdoftheday theme
is "Any Bird with 3 or More Colours".

Picked these at random... 😇
Forest kingfisher (incinctus), Azure kingfisher, Sacred kingfisher, Blue-winged kookaburra (excuse the photobombing friarbird)
#photography #birds #kingfishers #gift #EastCoastKin

Close-up photograph of a bright red and blue parrot on bare tree branch. The bird's body is partly obscured by the branch, and it is gently pressing its beak and forehead against the branch as if it's embarrassed to be seen and would like to hide. (It's actually a very bold Rosella who has no problem with my presence, will happily jump onto my hand to eat seeds, and will eagerly chase away any King Parrots who come close. I'm not sure what it was doing at this moment.)

A bashful Crimson Rosella.
#birds

Why do I keep coming back to kakīānau (black swans)? One big reason is the endless number of shapes they make… 🪶🇳🇿

A happy story but dogs and cars are the biggest threat to koalas - this male was killed on the Mornington peninsula last week

An #echidna showing off its many excellent features:
🐜Long ant-eating, electro-receptive snout.
♠️Massive digging feet.
🌵Anti-predator spines.
💅 Huge backward-pointing hind-claws, to scratch in between their spines.
🧥Thick fur coat to survive winter in #Tasmania.
#MammalWatching #WildOz #echidnas

<i>Forficuloecus pezopori</i> Parasites are a major part of biodiversity, but they spend most of their time hidden in plain sight. Even with some animals that have been k...

Crouching Parrot, Hidden Louse:
The Kyloring (Pezoporus flaviventris) is a critically endangered species of Australian parrot, and it is host to Forficuloecus pezopori - a species of louse which lives only on the Kyloring and nowhere else.
#Invertebrate 🧪
dailyparasite.blogspot.com/2024/06/forf...

A wedge-tailed eaglet in an enormous nest at Boolcoomatta. *Note that I took these with a long lens plus a 2x extender. I didn't go close to the nest.

It's a Fairy Penguin. Bet most of you didn't know they exist, I didn't until recently. This one is in Australia, near Melbourne

A large black and white bird with a long bill perched on the back of a cafe chair and peering toward the camera.

For #birdoftheday #notabranch a handsome and hopeful Australian magpie perched on a cafe chair offering to share my breakfast. Sunshine Coast 2022 🪶

#thicktrunktuesday

Croajingolong Magic! Home of the Gunaikurnai & Monero peoples.

A red-backed fairy wren perched on a barbed-wire fence

A sulphur-crested cockatoo negotiating a tricky descent into a feeder meant for *much* smaller birds

A wild magpie perched on a chair back

A wampoo fruit dove resting on a galvanised-iron roof

Today's #BirdOfTheDay chosen by
@alan678.bsky.social is any bird #notabranch

I have so many, I've divided it into lorikeets and non-lorikeets 🤣

Non-lorikeets... Red-backed fairy wren, Sulphur-crested cockatoo, Magpie, and Wampoo fruit dove
#photography #birds #lorikeets #EastCoastKin

#BirdOfTheDay #NotABranch
Red Rumped Parrot on a roof ledge

Spot the leech on this #echidna.
Spines work great against predators, but they're not much use against parasites. 🪱
#Tasmania #MammalWatching #WildOz #echidnas

A touch of yellow…✨
#RedWattlebird #Australianwildlife
#BirdOfTheDay #birds #nature

It does seem to be the mating season

Native #Australian Crested Pigeon. The biggest attitude offenders probs explains the Mohawk. Flying in everyday to mock my dogs, if they had hands I know which finger would be raised🤭 I’m never surprised by our birds or their attitudes. Close up image of our pigeons showing his stunning iridescent plumage along with his little tufted Mohawk. #Birds 🪶 #Photography @robcrank68.bsky.social #EastaCoastKin #wild #nature #bird #BlueSky

Native #Australian Crested Pigeon.
The biggest attitude offenders, probs explains the Mohawk.
Flying in everyday to mock my dogs, if they had hands I know which finger would be raised🤭
I’m never surprised by our birds or their attitudes
#Birds 🪶 #Photography
@robcrank68.bsky.social
#EastaCoastKin

Sound up
Whip bird

Canberra

Yesterday, we saw Dad Uber Eats arrive and depart at Collins Street, Melbourne. #PeregrineFalcons
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oibs...

We've been seeing them more frequently over the past decade here on the far south coast of NSW.
Here's one from last month in Merimbula.

An adult male cassowary walking I front of the tent with a juvenile chick in front and two following. Chick's are a mottled brown and about half the size of the adult.

Absolutely wild experience.

A dad cassowary and his three chick's walking through our campsite.

Excitement and terror!