Alphabetical list

Most of the images for my gallery were taken in New Zealand. The Australian Coot is a subspecies of the Eurasian coots, and was introduced into New Zealand in the twentieth-century. Within city parks its pictures could be taken with no problem from quite a close distance. It was not timid. In size and behavior it does not differ from our commonly occurring coots.

It is said to be quite common in Australia, but unfortunately it was not easily available for me. I managed to find it only twice, and it was so skittish that I took pictures only from a distance. Those presented in the gallery are significantly framed, and thus of poor quality. In size it does not differ from our kestrel. They do not build their own nests, they use nests of other birds and regardless of the state do not rebuild them.

Another parrot in my collection. The photos of the Australian King Parrot were taken in Sydney. This parrot, for its beauty, is also a breeding species. The Australian king parrots presented in the pictures are wild, of course. They had their own bush, at which they would arrive every morning and evening, to eat. They would behave calmly and allow me to photograph them from a distance of a few meters. Only the male, in the park (on a tree) was very cautious and wouldn’t allow me to approach him to a distance closer than a dozen plus meters.

The Australian Magpie is slightly larger than our magpies. Wingspan is about 70-85 centimeters and the weight of its body is up to 350 grams. Its beak is far more massive than of our magpies. Like our magpies, australian magpies can be found in cities near human settlements. Most of the images were taken in Sydney.

The first contact with Australian Pelicans was a failure. Even in the bush on a flowing river we observed only their departure from afar– we probably too quickly walked out of the bend of the river. The second meeting has resulted in the presented images. This time we saw them from a distance in the middle of the river, when we were passing the bridge which during heavy rainfall can be found  8 meters under water. Then most of the crossings in the bush by a small makeshift bridges is impossible and roads are simply impassable.

Unfortunately I didn’t manage to take satisfactory pictures of the Australian raven. The bird itself, its coloring and the accompanying contrasts were much of a challenge.  Not to mention the fact that the photos were taken against the sun and I had only three brief encounters with the representative of this species.  Thus a few documentary photographs, which create this gallery, were taken.

I encountered purple swamphens in Australia and in New Zealand. Those photographs taken in New Zealand were more interesting but maybe because of scarcity of other birds I was just focused on swamphens. In Australia due to a large number of bird species it was sometimes difficult to concentrate properly. Its dark blue neck and red top of the head with the red beak make a beautiful combination, particularly against the background of lush greenery. Their strong and solid feet do not go together with the delicate and beautiful silhouette.

The Australian white ibis is ubiquitous in Australia, especially in the vicinity of Townsville and Sydney. It often visits urban spaces like squares and lawns. It is often an unwelcome visitor, however. It searches for food in dustbins and throws litters out of them, leaving it in the street. It was difficult to take photos of this bird in nonurban surroundings. Photos of the ibis feeding on garbage would not embellish my gallery. I took a few photos, though. They document the urban “bush” of Australia. Males may weigh up 2.5 kilograms, while females only 2 kilogram.

I had the pleasure to photograph Australian wood ducks in urban parks as well as in the bush, on little ponds. They are present in almost every part of Australia. A characteristic feature for these ducks is their sexual dimorphism. The head of a male has a brown coloring. Observing females of the Australian wood duck you can spot that they bear some resemblance to the females of the Mandarin Duck or the Carolina Duck.