thanks for that. I'm not surprised about the yellow-streaked lories but I hadn't thought there were Pacific parrotlets and barred parakeets here.
Exotic Birds in Australia
- Thread starter zooboy28
- Start date
Anyone have an answer to this?
I have the faintest childhood memory of vultures in the bird of prey section of the Great Flight Aviary at Melbourne Zoo. This would be the early '60's. But it could well have been childish impressions of the hooked beak of a wedge tailed eagle.
Taronga had a very large and high bird of prey aviary just west of the (former) seal pond, which was demolished in 1975. It was divided into 5 sections and accommodated both native Australian and foreign birds. In the early 1960s the foreign species in the "Old World" section were Griffon vultures, Hooded vultures, a Vulturine fish eagle and a solitary Snowy owl (which was fenced off from the others.) In the "New World" section were Turkey vultures and a Virginian eagle owl.
These were all very old birds and had died out by the late 1960s.
These were all very old birds and had died out by the late 1960s.
Where will zoos get new birds from when the current population runs out?
nowhere. Birds kept in private aviculture (mostly finches and parrots) will always be available, but for more exotic species (e.g. the crowned pigeon, flamingo, etc) they will simply no longer be here.
Can zoos legally get exotic birds from other places?
read the first post in this thread and that will answer that question for you.
I can't image a trip to the Melbourne zoo without seeing the curassow!!!
a wild Paradise Shelduck has been sighted at Lake Wollumboola in NSW, and the birding email about it specified that it had been determined to be a true vagrant to Australia rather than an escapee because "all 6 captive birds have been accounted for."
seen it today. another free loading new zealander. ( joking )
beautiful bird. Big and very strong looking.
and I saw a pair of Australian shelducks yesterday. More Aussies coming to NZ because it is simply a better country
and I saw a pair of Australian shelducks yesterday. More Aussies coming to NZ because it is simply a better country
are aussie shelducks a regular in NZ?
you could say they are a fairly common vagrant. To quote NZ Birds Online: Chestnut-breasted shelduck | New Zealand Birds Online
I've seen them three times in NZ - a flock of nine in 2007, a different single bird in 2007, and the current pair. (In 2006/7 there were birds all over the country from a big influx).
Are there any exotic birds that wouldn't currently exist in Australia if the importation 'window' had not occurred in 1990-1995?
I have no idea if six is a genuine figure, but they are certainly now rare in Australian aviculture. (There don't appear to be any still kept in Australian public collections). The wild bird at Lake Wollumboola is a male.Astrobird said:
Is it worth noting in the first post that red-whiskered bulbuls are apparently 100% illegal to own in several Australian states (and I'm sure that this applies to mynas as well)?
I read the following in the Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds:
Is it possible that this species actually existed in Australian aviculture at one point, or is this another case of barbary doves being misidentified?
Is it possible that this species actually existed in Australian aviculture at one point, or is this another case of barbary doves being misidentified?
they were Barbary Doves. It isn't so much a case of the birds being misidentified, as the scientific name for this domestic form not being agreed upon (i.e. there has been confusion as to which species it is domesticated from).
See Forshaw and Cooper's Pigeons and Doves in Australia (it is available on Google Books).