Common Australian Birds

[WhitewaterWoman]

That's the result of farming. Wheat farms for the bigger birds and sunflower and canola for the smaller ones. South Australia never used to have fruit bats but we've got them now - you're quite welcome to have them back if you want them.

Once again that's due to farming, fruit farms through the Murray Riverlands provided them with a migratory corridor. No one has "introduced" them. At least we still don't have cicadas yet.

So maybe I’ll see fruit bats if I paddle down the Murray River? I understand from your posts they are a terrible nuisance. But I dearly love bats and seeing one the size of foxes would be awesome.

 

[Outdated]

So maybe I’ll see fruit bats if I paddle down the Murray River? I understand from your posts they are a terrible nuisance. But I dearly love bats and seeing one the size of foxes would be awesome.

Yes, you'll see them along the Murray, but you'll see them in Brisbane first, this happens most evenings:

 

[monkeyclogs]

Remember the old TV series Flipper?

Dolphins don't make noises like that, they only make clicking sounds. The sound used for Flipper is a recording of a kookaburra run at double speed.

well this is a bombshell!

I can't believe that for my whole life, in my head, dolphins make the same noise as Flipper. i'm now looking back on all my other dolphins memories and realising it is just Flipper that made that noise!

Also, watched the first of the two videos and i've now got bird envy for how colourful the birds are in Australia!

 

[Outdated]

Also, watched the first of the two videos and i've now got bird envy for how colourful the birds are in Australia!

Most tourists, especially those from Europe and the US, are shocked by our birds, most of the birds in those videos can be seen wild in the cities, and in great numbers. You don't have to travel to remote places to see them, they're everywhere.

Tourists are also often shocked by the noise they make, they don't "chirp", they screech, they honk, they whistle, and they're quite loud.

 

[Cyber]

That's the result of farming. Wheat farms for the bigger birds and sunflower and canola for the smaller ones. South Australia never used to have fruit bats but we've got them now - you're quite welcome to have them back if you want them.

Fruit bats, we never used to have twighlight hordes like in Sydney until recently. Yes farming broadacre farming and sunflower/canola.

 

[Outdated]

Fruit bats, we never used to have twighlight hordes like in Sydney until recently. Yes farming broadacre farming and sunflower/canola.

When I was a young man Melbourne only had the one small colony living near the botanic gardens. Now they're everywhere. Adelaide now has just the one small colony living near our botanic gardens....

 

[Judge]

Balancing nature through the addition or subtraction of wildlife. Seems a very complex and difficult job. Reminding me of how the Brown Tree snakes not native to the island of Guam have decimated native birds.

https://news.vt.edu/articles/2024/07/CM-brownsnake-research.html

 

[Judge]

Wondering if the bulk of such issues are largely contained in the South Pacific in general when it comes to so many species of birds, and other creatures who may or may not be indigenous to various places.

Or not ?

 

[Outdated]

Balancing nature through the addition or subtraction of wildlife. Seems a very complex and difficult job. Reminding me of how the Brown Tree snakes not native to the island of Guam have decimated native birds.

What we're doing in South Australia is a little bit different, we're not introducing new species, we're encouraging the proliferation of the original species that used to be prolific here.

The noisy minah is a good example of this, people hate them, they're noisy and they attack all other animals including humans and cats as well as other species of bird. So people started shooting them and chopping down the trees that they nest in so that the sparrows and starlings they loved could survive. Sparrows and starlings that they brought from England to make the place feel more like home.

 

[Judge]

What we're doing in South Australia is a little bit different, we're not introducing new species, we're encouraging the proliferation of the original species that used to be prolific here.

The noisy minah is a good example of this, people hate them, they're noisy and they attack all other animals including humans and cats as well as other species of bird. So people started shooting them and chopping down the trees that they nest in so that the sparrows and starlings they loved could survive. Sparrows and starlings that they brought from England to make the place feel more like home.

Heard a lot about Cane Toads in other states, but are they really a problem in SA?

 

[Outdated]

Heard a lot about Cane Toads in other states, but are they really a problem in SA?

No, cane toads are tropical creatures and can't survive a temperate winter, fortunately. You've got them in Florida too, same story.

 

[Judge]

No, cane toads are tropical creatures and can't survive a temperate winter, fortunately. You've got them in Florida too, same story.

Florida...cane toads and burmese pythons. Very bad....along with mother nature in general.

 

[Outdated]

Fruit bats, we never used to have twighlight hordes like in Sydney until recently. Yes farming broadacre farming and sunflower/canola.

In one way at least you should be happy that the bats are there, those furry little faces make great pollinators. Now that Varoa mites are wiping out the European honey bees farmers were really worried about not getting their fruit trees pollinated, bats do just as good a job.

Personally I'm happy about the Varoa mite, our native bees are immune to them. I never understood why we couldn't farm native bees for honey instead of bringing in foreigners, we have enough different species of them. Maybe that'll start happening in the future.