[Des]

Great shots. It is so mind bending that your "yard birds" are our exotics over there

Thanks Eric. Yes, and vice versa. We have lots of introduced species too.

I had a pair of Goffin's, they looked a lot like your Little Corella except around the eye, same family. I'd hate to tell you what Pet Store's sell Cockatoo's of any type for around here

In a way the high price of Australian native parrots in other countries shows that controls on poaching and smuggling do have an effect. But it still goes on a lot, especially to Asian markets.

Pretty Boy Floyd is a real looker.

Yes he knows it too!

We have a number of naturalized parrot populations here in south Florida. Not native at all, but perfectly at home... "quaker" parakeets, "monk" parakeets, several different kinds of amazons and conures, even some macaws. I once saw a small cockatiel in the back yard, of course it was gone by the time I got the camera. In this immediate neighborhood we rarely see anything besides the conures and parakeets. Some are escaped pets. some are the remnants of a huge tropical aviary at the zoo destroyed by hurricane Andrew. My former boss keeps a lot of parrots on his property, including macaws, conures, amazons, and he even has a couple of eclectus. Wouldn't call them a pair, the female won't have anything to do with the male (much to his frustration). But the female is absolutely gorgeous, Floyd reminded me of her (a bit, she's solid dark red with dark blue wings).

I have not seen an Eclectus Parrot - they are indigenous to north Queensland and other tropical areas - but yes they seem to be the reverse of the King Parrots: predominantly red female and predominantly green male.

[OrchidJulie]

I have not seen an Eclectus Parrot - they are indigenous to north Queensland and other tropical areas - but yes they seem to be the reverse of the King Parrots: predominantly red female and predominantly green male.

It's amazing, no wonder early collectors/observers thought them different species. The female is solid dark red, with some deep blue feathers on her wings and a blue-black beak. A gorgeous bird! The male is bright green with a yellow-orange beak. He's handsome but no match for the female. When he first bought them, Boss had a pair, but for some reason -- nobody knows what happened -- the male passed one night. Boss got another male but she won't have anything to do with him. He's very neurotic as a result, pulls his feathers out.

[steamloco76]

Male white crowned sparrow and female dark eyed junco.
DFA 150-450 @ 450mm

[Thagomizer]

Male white crowned sparrow and female dark eyed junco.
DFA 150-450 @ 450mm

Great shots!

[Arjay Bee]

Yellow figbird on rear fence line
K3 and DA 55-300HD

[steamloco76]

I broke out my original Pentax Q, which hasn't been used since 2019, and added the Q to K adapter and my DA*300/4. Using a 3 power LCD magnifier and a monopod, I got a few decent photos. Focusing is a real challenge, as is motion blur at over 1550mm effective!

[Des]

I broke out my original Pentax Q, which hasn't been used since 2019, and added the Q to K adapter and my DA*300/4. Using a 3 power LCD magnifier and a monopod, I got a few decent photos. Focusing is a real challenge, as is motion blur at over 1550mm effective!

Very good results with those parameters.

I am always cheered by the appearance of our Eastern Yellow Robins. KP + DA 55-300 PLM

[TER-OR]

Our local song sparrow keeping a close eye on me. They nested somewhere in the corner of the yard(s) and would raise a bit of alarm if I got too close.

Black Vulture (coragyps atratus): "Patience, hell, I'm gonna KILL something!"

[MetteHHH]

My favourite yard bird showed up yesterday - right outside my lockdown workspace window!

I learned something new too: Hawfinches eat the tiny apples from our Malus sargenti hedge, and they do it the same way that pine grosbeaks eat rowan berries: Carefully pick one fruit with their oversized bill - scrape off all the yucky fruity bits - happily chew the seeds!

Lockdown limits most things, but this is one experience I would not have had without it. Taken through the window pane - I think pp was able to eliminate most of the window haze.

[Thagomizer]

Juvenile Bald Eagle:




Male Hooded Mergansers:




Cleanup crew. Possibly picking up after the subject at the top of this post.

[Mbaez]

Playing with my new toys: K-01 with the 1.4x teleconverter and the DA300

[dadipentak]

"Does all this down make me look fat?"

[normhead]

Who's in the yard today you ask?
Well you didn't but I'll show you anyway.

Downy woodpecker


White breasted nuthatch


Red breasted nuthatch


Black Capped Chickadee


Hairy woodpecker


Juvenile Pine Grosbeak


Male Pine Grosbeak


Blue Jay

[ehrwien]

Eurasian Blue Tit and European Goldfinch


Eurasian Blue Tit and European Goldfinch on Birch Tree


European Goldfinch #2