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In our final part of the series from outback NSW we feature a bird that was on my wife’s Bucket List, the Budgerigar. This tiny Parrot is only found in the dry hot arid inland regions of the Australian mainland. This was a popular bird for the European settlers to sell as a caged pet both here and abroad, and since then many different plumage colours have been bred into this species.

Many may not be aware that the true original and only colour of the Budgerigar is lime green. It was difficult to catch these fast moving birds on camera from such a long distance away at almost sunset. I captured this image at another time and have included it to show you what this bird looks like. Similar to the Zebra Finch, they are mainly small seed eaters, feeding mainly from the many grasses. The tiny heavily wired brain of the Budgie allows it to think and move so much faster than we can, thus enabling it to move seamlessly with the flock without collision. Click on images to enlarge them.

It was a magical experience watching the way the swarming flock moved together rapidly with precision and no collisions. This was to deter, frustrate and confuse predators from picking them off.

Here are images of the flock swarm at sunset.

While lunching in the town of Wilcannia we saw a flock of Red-tailed Black Cockatoo feeding on grass seed in the front yard of a local resident’s home. The males have a darker beak than the females, and the females have white spots around shoulders as well as striped orange-yellow–red colouring in tails feathers.

We saw the inland cousin to our Noisy Miners on the coast, the Yellow-throated Miner in the trees of the Road Houses.

While we were on a cruise of the Menindee Lakes we saw many water birds but the many Nankeen Night Heron at different stages of development we saw was an amazing sighting for us as they rested watching us pass by, after a busy night of fishing.

The Whistling Kite were nesting along the Darling River which fed the lakes, and can easily be identified when compared with the Black Kites and Australian Kestrel by its classic whistling call and the white bands in the wings of its primaries. The river and lakes provided excellent nesting areas with fresh water and plenty of sitting ducks for food. These were the main raptors we saw. Sadly we did not see a Wedgie.

Here are some shots of the Whistling Kite flying over us to check us out. Note the distinct white wing bands and cream head that easily identify it in flight.

Besides Kangaroos and Emus running in front of trains, buses and cars, wild goats are another animal we saw many times in great number roaming the plains. We were told that there is a lucrative business with one farmer whereby he captures the goats and sells them overseas as a live export of Free Range Goats, since they lack the diseases of overseas herds.

Lastly, we noticed this hive of Fairy Martin nests out in the Conservation area near the Dingo Fence. These tiny birds feed on the fly, mostly insects, which the desert provides plenty of, especially flies. We were using our fly nets over out faces out there most of the time, even at the end of Winter.

Have a wonderful week ! We hope you enjoyed our outback birds. Next week we return to Wagga Wagga for some Riverina birds.

The arid dry Gibber and desert regions of our continent make up most of the central land mass, of what once was an inland sea. The following text reassures us of a time of restoration not just for deserts but for the desert lives of the many broken and hurting and displaced people:

The wonderful news is that our very great Loving Creator God has already done all this for us through his Son Jesus whom he sent to earth as a man over 2000 years ago to offer his own righteous life in place of each one of us and pay the penalty for our selfish rebellion against God’s loving rule in our lives. He accomplished completely Salvation for all who will repent of their selfish way and submit and return to God as the true Father, Lord and King of their life. The word Greek name Jesus is derived from the original Hebrew Yeshua which means Saviour, and that is what Jesus truly is, this broken world full of broken people’s only hope for salvation, peace and restoration. Check it out for yourself in the New testament of the Bible.

You can find out more about living a spiritually good life from birds from my Birder Sanctuary page.

“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NLT)

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