Polly wants a penny – or a dollar
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, Free Flight Bird Show, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
The Free Flight Bird Show at Taronga Zoo in Sydney has been my topic here for quite a few days now. Whenever we visit the zoo we make sure we schedule one of the shows into our schedule. It is also a great opportunity to get some good photos of the birds.
At the end of each show the keepers invite audience members to come forward and give some of the parrots a donation of a coin. The birds accept the coin in their beak and immediately drop it into the donation box. In this way over $75,000 has been raised for bird conservation in recent years. Today’s photo features one of those birds, a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo which is a common bird in the Sydney region. It is also common in other parts of Australia too.
Red-tailed Black-cockatoos, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
Red-tailed Black-cockatoos, Bird Show, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
Australia has a number of Black-cockatoo species, including the Red-tailed Black-cockatoo shown in today’s post. These impressive large parrots are not easy to approach in the wild, so when we went to Taronga Zoo in Sydney last year I was pleased to get these close up shots.
These birds are a part of the Free Flight Bird Show which is a feature of the programme at the zoo every day at noon and at 3pm. It is a great opportunity for zoo visitors to see some of our wonderful birds up close – and sometimes quite personal.
Red-tailed Black-cockatoos are found in their natural state in much of Queensland, the Northern Territory, parts of Western Australia and there is a small isolated population in western Victoria and SE South Australia. Seeing a flock flying overhead is an awesome sight, but seeing them up close like this at the zoo gave me a new appreciation of the delicate beauty of this stunning parrot.
Red-tailed Black-cockatoos, Bird Show, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
Red-tailed Black-cockatoos, Bird Show, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
Red-tailed Black-cockatoos, Bird Show, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
Wedge-tailed Eagle, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
Wedge-tailed Eagle, Free Flight Bird Show, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
The Wedge-tailed Eagle is the largest of Australia’s birds of prey. At rest it stands nearly a metre tall and has a wing span of up to 2.8 metres. It is a bird found throughout all of Australia and is a common sight soaring on high in rural areas. While it is more common in open country, it can also be found in mountainous and forested areas. It builds a large nest in a prominent, high position using sticks and twigs, adding to the nest year after year. Some can reach very large proportions, several metres deep and wide. At the beginning of each nesting attempt the nest is lined with fresh eucalyptus leaves.
The bird shown in the photos on this page were taken during the Free Flight Bird Show at Taronga Zoo, Sydney, on our visit there last year. This show is always the highlight for us whenever we visit the zoo. To have a large eagle such as this swooping low over your head is a truly awesome experience. I’m pleased that the zoo keepers have plenty of food for the birds during the show; I’d hate for one of these eagles to settle on my should and take a chunk out of my ear or nose.
Wedge-tailed Eagle, Free Flight Bird Show, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
Wedge-tailed Eagle, Free Flight Bird Show, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
Wedge-tailed Eagle, Free Flight Bird Show, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
Barking Owl, Taronga Zoo
Barking Owl, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
The Barking Owl is one of Australia’s owls and can be found in many parts of Australia from northern Australia, Queensland, through NSW and southern Victoria and parts of South Australia and Western Australia. Its preferred habitats include woodlands and forests.
The bird I’ve featured on this post is a captive one at Taronga Zoo in Sydney. It is featured in their very popular Free Flight Bird Show. This show, a major draw-card at the zoo twice daily at noon and 3pm, it always a highlight when we visit. It is also a great opportunity to take photos of birds close up.
Further reading:
Barking Owl, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
Black Kite, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
Black Kite, Free Flight Bird Show, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
Whenever we visit Taronga Zoo in Sydney we always make a point of watching the Free Flight Bird Show. This show is on every day at 12 noon and 3pm and it always draws a large crowd, so my advice is to get there 10-15 minutes before the show commences to ensure a seat in the amphitheatre. The seats have a panoramic view of Sydney Harbour, so the wait is never boring.
On our last visit earlier last year I was able to get this close up shot of a Black Kite, one of the birds featured in the show. This is a relatively common species in many places in Australia including my home town of Murray Bridge in South Australia, yet I’ve not been able to get a good close up photo previously.
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