springtime look
bird like charm
contagious
1.
2
3
the charm of springtime
is the look of affection
birds have for each other
Image 1 is a pair of Crested Pigeons that arrive in our yard every morning to be fed before they explore the neighbourhood. These birds pair up and seem to stay together for life. They rarely leave each other’s sight. Very charming.
Image 2 A pair of endangered Swift parrots who regularly adopt this charming pose for photographic workshops held by the renowned Ecologist and Nature Photographer Chris Tzaros. An Australian version of the Norwegian Blue made famous by Monty Python.
Image 3 Three of the infamous Lorne naughty pack. The Victorian seaside resort of Lorne is well known for the overfamiliar, overfed, demanding Sulphur Crested Cockatoos who terrorise and destroy property if they are not treated kindly.
charming bird
beak cuts to the bone
looks can fool
Another Sulphur Crested Cockatoo at the Grampians, (Gariwerd) National Park. This bird and its mates had similar characteristics to the Lorne mob. They expect humans to feed them and chew up buildings, furniture, fittings and anything else if not appeased. The beaks are incredibly strong and one needs to be careful not to get too friendly. These birds were once very popular pets in Australia even given the tendency to mutilate hands. They were often used as watchdogs, (birds) on rural properties as they are easy to be trained to talk and could scream abuse that would scare off intruders . One big disadvantage is they can live to 70-90 years and relatives would often inherit a bird with provisos in the will.
These are my 3 contributions to RonovanWrites Weekly Haiku Poetry Prompt Challenge 75 Charm&Look. To experience the artistic interpretations of this challenge in its various forms from an international array of poets visit
https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/2015/12/14/ronovanwrites-weekly-haiku-poetry-prompt-challenge-74-charmlook/
Haiku hound 
We have gulls that behave like that cockatoo in seaside resorts, dive-bombing visitors and stealing food. They particularly go for bald heads!
Great haiku, I like the last one best as it seems to me this could be an allegory.
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Thanks for the comments. We also have very pushy gulls here but the cockies actually destroy stuff out of boredom. And yes that might just be an allegory
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Beautiful birds…definitely not springtime here but it’s nice to dream that it is somewhere!
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These images are a few weeks old when Spring was a memory here as well, now summer is in full heat with the temp outside moving towards 41oC
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Oh, how I would love some warmth. Our summer was cold so it seems forever now since we had anything close to heat. Enjoy it!
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There is warmth and then heat, already at 10.00 am it was 37 o C after dropping to 27 oC after a 41 peak yesterday. Only people who have to be outside for work go out, everyone else bunkers down. The heat sears your eyeballs once the temp is in the high 30’s. For many parts of Australia this heat will be every day for nearly 2 months or more. We are lucky to be way down South on the coast, tomorrow is forecast to be 21 o C..
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Wow! I’ve never seen pigeons like that before. Very interesting. I guess with the cockutoos looks can be deceiving..that last haiku wrapped him up well:)
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Thanks for your observations. These are crested pigeons named after their wild hairdo. They are very tame birds and have adapted to suburbia well after moving down south in the last big drought. As for the cockies they are very naughty birds and very very destructive. Thanks for your observation, yes I thought he deserved that last haiku.
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I did not know that about the cockies. The looked like they would make a nice pet:)
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They are fairly faithful to one person as a pet, anyone else has to be careful. Over 60 years plus a pet cockie can cause strains on a family especially if they are taught to say obscenities.
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Ok, now it makes sense. Thanks for all the good info.
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Now it makes sense. Thanks for all your good info.
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I didn’t know that about the cockies. They looked like they would make a nice pet. A good write.
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I thoroughly enjoyed this post. It’s funny how an adjective can influence..I enjoyed seeing the charming side in all of the pics but could also see potential for mischief if the occasion arose–the last closeup is priceless–his charm almost hides his naughty potential — but not the sharpness of his beak and claws. 🙂
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I’m glad you enjoyed the images and haiku Janice, I guess that is why we are all such enthusiastic contributors to Ron’s challenges. These cockatoos can be very tetchy when they are not happy. They do make wonderful pets but they can also be very jealous as pets. In the wild they are just very single minded at times
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Quite the characters!
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Yes if they like you!!!!
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The Swift Parrots grab my attention the most, having an Amazon Parrot.. I love animals but birds and cats [all sizes] are some of my passions. Their love is real and their beaks, parrots & family, can sink in to the bone and leave bruises. But charming and snuggly in one beat. Your Haiku cover a good range of the world of bird language. Love the photographs and the Haiku. – jk 🙂
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Thanks so much for your encouraging comments. As I alluded to in the text those Swift Parrots are rare and the particular examples were stuffed, (literally). Both had died in unfortunate accidents and the ecologist had permission to keep them as stuffed examples for education purposes.
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Oh. my, I didn’t realize. I did understand their endangerment. The ecologist captured them beautifully for what he was doing. It is Sad. – jk
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Its very sad. There were 12 of us on a photographic workshop with this ecologist and most of us had never seen one of these birds in the wild. Australia has an appalling rate of eliminating fauna and flora and environmental groups can never relax in the constant war against environmental destruction in the name of economic development, ( greed and power in bed together to make money). Every time the conservatives win government there is a new round of battles to fight, currently it is having the federal government acknowledge the severity of climate change and global warming . We have a group of conservative politicians who are as environmentally ignorant as the climate change deniers in the US Republican Party.
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As you have been hearing truth coming from the US, I have been hearing from friends living around Australia who have told me of the fights and battles over the reef and battling the downing of trees to put in refineries. Government supporting these atrocities. It is a shame all the species who are dwindling due to ignorance and greed. Power can be destructive. It would be nice to some day reverse those who have it and can keep it, so the planet can be healed.
I am sad to hear about the Swifts. As I wrote I have a great fondness of birds and cats and all wildlife and nature. I am saddened to hear all of this but to believe for just a moment the birds were alive in your photograph gave me a small amount of joy for a moment.
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We are on the same wave length here and along with many others around the world. We need to keep up awareness. If you get time to explore my blog a bit you will see lots of other Australian birds, (all alive and many pictures taken around my home) from the BIRDS category in the right side index.
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Thank you for the invitation. I will take a visit asap.
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