Archives for December 2019

THE Indonesian island of Bali is known to Australians as a holiday destination – especially at this time of year – but for birders it has been put on the map for an entirely different reason. The holiday island is also the scene of an epic struggle to ensure the survival in the wild of one of the world's most beautiful birds, the Bali myna. The pure-white myna with a face mask of bare blue skin is Bali's only native bird species but its status as the island's wildlife … [Read more...] about Struggle to save the Bali myna

The scarlet robin is young, new to this world. Only a week or two out of the nest, testing boundaries not contained in and constrained by the tight confines of the straw and twig nest. He – the youngster already has traces of the scarlet breast feathers which distinguish the male – sits on an exposed twig in full view of the denizens of the forest, calling to his parents for food. The pademelons and Bennett’s wallabies resting in the shadows of a forest glade do not give it … [Read more...] about Young robin sings his own song

Each spring Tasmanians hold a collective breath, waiting to see how many of orange-bellied parrots return to their breeding grounds from the mainland. The good news this season is that more – 22 – have come back to Melaleuca in the far south-west than last year. Although the number is small what is significant is the females of the species have led the way. And this has given the biologists charged with trying to ensure the tiny parrots’ survival a unique challenge – they … [Read more...] about Endangered parrot putting up a fight