Beautiful Birds from Down Under
Rebecca, our New Zealand Naturalist, continues to share pics of some fascinating birds from New Zealand and Australia. I really enjoy seeing the diversity of birds in the world so unless you go there or to a zoo you aren’t going to see these anywhere else.
The eyes match the bill – bright red! The New Zealand Pigeon is a large bird and very colorful. Would we like to have flocks of these pigeons downtown instead of the Rock Pigeons we always see?
At first glance these birds look like Northern Shovelers, common waterfowl that migrate down to the States in the winter. Take a closer look and you’ll see some pattern and color variance, particularly in the male. These are Australian Shovelers.
Rebecca said that she took this next picture as the California Quail perched in her backyard. Great yard bird! (PS – I thought this picture looked eerily similar to one recently posted by Osprey60 – Click Here to see it).
Before reading on, take a look at the picture below and see if anything looks wrong.
Did you get it? The knees bend the wrong way! This bush Thick-knee Curlew’s knees bend forward instead of backward. Talk about diversity!
Stay Safe. Go Birding. Take Pics. Share Here. Repeat.
Mike
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