cockatoo
expecting some lunch
impatient
Brambuk is an indigenous cultural centre on the Southern outskirts of Halls Gap. It is the best place to begin an exploration of Gariwerd national park. Jill was participating in a national textiles forum/workshop and her workplace was at Brambuk. Every morning for a week I would drop her off and plan my morning of hikes, haiku and photography from here. Then late morning I would return for a coffee and cake . By this time the resident wild but very tame Sulphur Crested Cockatoo gang would be waiting for their share of tourist offerings. Tame, as in walking up to the plate you are eating cake from , picking up the fork and throwing it on the ground, hoping to steal some food as one bent down to retrieve the fork. I guess this friendly behaviour was encouraged by the staff who fed them bird pellets and conversed with each one according to their name. To give them credit this table in the second photo was their table and they all waited to be served there.The polite birds each had a chair, the rest lacking manners sat on the table. After their snack they would check out anyone else eating. In an earlier post featuring this species I mentioned the beak is quite lethal, I have known people to almost lose a finger . Conversely these lovelies would delicately take pellets from cafe staff fingers. I threw my offerings onto a chair. At times there were flocks of these cockatoos numbering in the dozens flying around Halls Gap. The drought was not impacting on their lifestyle.
Ah, I love these birds! Such characters 🙂
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They are Jenny. When I was growing up as a young child in Western Victorian farm land many families had a pet one often rescued from disaster. They made great watch dogs.
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Yeah, they’re clever birds aren’t they?! I remember one that used to live at the local fruit shop and it always talked to the customers who came by!
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Clever is understating it. They can learn quite a vocabulary and this can be interesting when it includes swear words. I remember one that would wait for people to visit an outside toilet then just as they opened the door the cockatoo would begin screaming and swearing about visiting the toilet, (on farm houses back until the 1960’s the toilet was usually outside). That cockatoo nearly broke up a marriage.
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Wow, I’m glad I don’t have that cockatoo outside my toilet today 🙂
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They are so lovely… waiting for lunch… 🙂 In here sparrows come to the cafe and people feed them at their table… But they are I mean yours are so beautiful, white and big… Fascinated me. Thank you dear Denis, have a nice day and weekend for you both, Love, nia
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And much bigger than sparrows. When you have that many cockatoos around your cafe table it becomes threatening.
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How charming to have wild cockatoos visiting for lunch. They look so much more interesting than a gang of noisy seagulls swooping over your head.
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We have the seagulls too Agnes down along the coast. Cockatoos are the bush food sharers.
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What a great way to spend the day. Cockatoos are beautiful and intelligent birds. Love the haiku and pictures. That close-up is adorable. 😀
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We are lucky to have them as wild birds Vashti, however as you see here they quickly adapt to humans. The close ups were on the table, I had to push this bird away to take the photo. They are very intelligent and quickly learn to speak and how to use expressions and noises when appropriate.
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Cool , check out my blog too, you might like it as well as you like the others
http://www.sofietay.wordpress.com
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Thanks Sofie
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You are very welcome
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That looks like an amazing experience, Denis!! Those birds are sooooooo cute and cuddly 😀
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Cute and cuddly Joyce but look closely at the beaks, dangerous!!
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Yes, unfortunately haha
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It’s wonderful that you can get so close to them. Facinating!
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They become too tame around tourist sites in our countryside Pat. This one had to be pushed back from my cake I was trying to eat.
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Wow! That’s tame.
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Wild birds Pat, very pushy birds though and beaks that have to be carefully watched.
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What a great story. I will be visiting Gariweld in May. Your photos and stories are really getting me in the mood.
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I promise those cockies will be waiting at Brambuk.
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