The Bull Finch nests often in the same English woods as the pheasant. Although it is richly coloured, its shy habits cause many people to consider it rare, which it is not. It builds a fragile stick nest, almost as flat as a doves, in which it lays four to six eggs, usually in May. Often a second brood is reared, as is the case with many other finches.
The Lyre-bird is a dull coloured but very individual Australian, which lives only in the deep forest country of South-Eastern Australia. In the nesting season the male builds a dancing mound where he sings and displays while the female is sitting on the single egg in a domed nest on a stump, or high in a sassafras tree. She feeds and rears the young alone, and the male may not see it until it leaves the nest.There are lots of good vids out there, but I'm ready for a laugh, how bout you...
Orange Chat is one of the birds often noticed in the desert parts of Australia. It lives in the blue-bush and saltbush, and travels between the patches of this growth in small parties. It has a pleasing call-note, and this, together with its bright colouring, explains the bushman's name of 'bush-canary'. Like other chats it builds a deep cup-shaped nest in the base of a low plant, and when you go near its nest it drags itself away over the ground as though injured, hoping you will follow it. If you do it will lead you a certain way, and then fly up and away.The description above is actually rather good for a trade card. The taxonomic name for Orange Chats is Epthianura aurifrons.
The Australian Swallow is another capable flier, which in many parts of the world travels great distances on migratory flights. Australian Swallows do not migrate to another country in winter, but move towards Northern Australia. When they return South in spring they may be seen building mud nests in garages and hollow trees. Swallows must be able to fly well to catch flying insects, so the young ones must be fed by their parents for many weeks after leaving their nests. Old swallows have been seen to fly beneath their tired young and support them in the air.Also known as the Welcome Swallow, this colorful cousin of is indeed an excellent flier. As evidenced by my somewhat futile search for videos of actual flight of these birds, presumably since they are relatively hard to capture in motion. There are many good images and videos of the Welcome Swallow available at the Internet Bird Consortium. Its interesting to see how agile fliers have a much sharper wing shape, differentiating them from larger gliding birds. And how designers occasionally catch on and use that in new aircraft developments.
The history of the Pheasant is mixed, but it seems to have come originally from China. History tells us that the Romans introduced it to Britain. A favourite sporting bird, it clings to the thickets, where its brownish mate broods the dozen or more eggs in a nest on the ground. The young Pheasants can run soon after hatching and disappear from sight at a call from their mother.
All pheasants of the world originated in the Himalayas. The hills and valleys of Himachal, Uttanchal and Arunachal Pradesh are the only areas left in the world where these exotic birds species still exist in their natural surroundings. Western tragopan, Himalayan Monal, Koklass -glimpses of the graceful world of these beautiful birds.
The Pale-headed Rosella is found in Easterns Queensland and New South Wales. These birds are usually seen in pair or small flocks, and make their nests in hollow limbs or holes in trees. In New South Wales the breeding season is between September and December, in Queensland it is any time after the rains, when they will lay three to five eggs. This Rosella is also call the Blue-cheeked Parrot or the Moreton Bay Rosella.
The Rainbow Bird is one of the few migrant birds Australia has. In summer it arrives in the southern half of the country - so giving rise to the countryman's name of 'summer bird'. But in the autumn after it has bred, it sets out to fly north, and some flocks actually cross the sea to New Guinea. In other ways, too, it is an unusual bird. It lives largely on bees and wasps which it catches in flight, and it always removes the sting before swallowing them. It nests in sandy country, digging a burrow on the ground which ends in a bottle shaped chamber for the nest.The Rainbow bird is also called the Rainbow Bee-eater. It's taxonomic name is Merops ornatus, which roughly translates to the "richly adorned bee eating bird". According to Birds Australia "...it really does catch bees, beating them on a branch until they can no longer sting before tossing them down."
