Sunday, January 16, 2011

Zebra Finches

Central Australia is famous for a lot of thing. A big rock, the most venomous snake in the world but what it was originally famous for was it's unique bird life. For those of you non-Aussies out there you can thank us for a couple of little birds. First is the Budgerigar.

It was first discovered by westerners when Charles Todd was building the Overland Telegraph Line. A botanist, of all things, discovered these fast green birds. He captured a few and eventually they made it to the East-coast then the rest of the world.

The second was one of my favorite birds, the Zebra Finch. They are a cute little bird. No bigger than 7cm tall and are extremely fast. Their chirp sounds like a dogs chew-toy, which isn't good for them. And they are everywhere out here!

5 comments:

  1. Oh boy, lovely shot. Bet that was the dickens to focus!

    Isn't shooting birds the most difficult thing to do. So small, so fast, so well camouflaged. And the exhilaration when it comes off (like this) is immense.

    Bravo!

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  2. Thank you. Yes it took a long time of standing perfectly still and playing with the focus ring. But isn't just so relaxing. Like fishing you just wait for that one little nibble.

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  3. I knew about budgies coming from Australia, but did not know how they became known. The Zebra finch is more my kind of bird. Most of what I know about Oz comes from reading the book Down Under by Bill Bryson and Australian films, seen quite a few of these.
    Its never easy catching small birds with a camera.

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  4. Australia has the most amazing birds! Lucky my scotties dont live there as sqeaky chew toys drive them crazy with excitement. They think they are squirrels or other rodents in need of dispatching.

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  5. Yeah my puppy has two under her belt last week! LOL

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