Tame, so tame

[manda]

These aren't particularly good photos, I was just snapping, but I could not get over how tame these lorikeets were.
I was just using my digital with no special lens, just the zoom which shows you I was standing about 50 centimetres away from these babies.

Oh and if you're an animal rights lobbyist, I know you prolly shouldnt feed wild birds honey on bread, but I was just taking the pics!

 

[markc]

So beautiful! It's amazing that animals have colors like that in nature. I envy your surroundings.

 

[manda]

Yeah, I didn't touch them up in photoshop either. Those colours are natural, baby!

Those types of birds are beautiful yes, its the cockatoos that eat away those types of balconies that aren't so great. Our whole back vernadah needs replacing because of them!

 

[terri]

Mind-blowingingly beautiful birds! Wow! It took me a second to realize you were saying these critters are wild, and not just tame "out of the cage".

I don't think plain honey is particularly bad - they could get it themselves if they wanted to, raw, from local beehives - but I'd want to know what they liked in the wild and put out a feeder. The birds in my back yard are fat & happy, trust me.

I love the critters.

 

[Harpper]

I agree the colors are really great in these pictures. I wished we had nice wild animals like that here to photograph. All we have are wild animals like rats, skunks, my next door neighbor, etc.

 

[craig]

Magnificent birds! With all due respect, feeding wild animals is a very sensitive subject. I think it is important to consider all the facts first.

 

[mrsid99]

Incredibly beautiful birds!
Is that normal for them to be so tame or have you been "training" them?
Thanks for sharing Manda.

 

[vonnagy]

i love aussie birds! we just have wierd flightless ones here. when i stayed in sydney i was amazed at the abundance of lorikeets - they the most colourful birds i've ever seen. nice shots mandapants

 

[manda]

Well as I said in my first post, I wasn't the one feeding them. It wasn't my house. We had a long discussion about what wild birds should or shouldn't be fed.

I've never seen them so tame like that before so they must have been there before then.

My favourite Australian birds are pink gallahs. I hate magpies and cockatoos. In fact, Im not much of a bird person, they freak me out. Alfred Hitchcock has a lot to answer for.

 

[terri]

With all due respect, feeding wild animals is a very sensitive subject. I think it is important to consider all the facts first.

Craig: I very much appreciate this point of view. I'm the last person to want to feed the deer or other local critters at a national park, or any of that. I know what you're saying, I think. I do keep a birdfeeder year round in my yard, however, because I believe there's a big difference in being in a wilderness area and trying to "befriend" larger, wild animals, and in keeping a little "extra" seed out there in an over-developed suburban area outside a big city, where the songbird habitat has shrunk dramatically over the past 30 years.

 

[markc]

With all due respect, feeding wild animals is a very sensitive subject. I think it is important to consider all the facts first.

Craig: I very much appreciate this point of view. I'm the last person to want to feed the deer or other local critters at a national park, or any of that. I know what you're saying, I think. I do keep a birdfeeder year round in my yard, however, because I believe there's a big difference in being in a wilderness area and trying to "befriend" larger, wild animals, and in keeping a little "extra" seed out there in an over-developed suburban area outside a big city, where the songbird habitat has shrunk dramatically over the past 30 years.

Part of the issue is what is being fed. We have a lot of ducks and geese in different areas, like where the Erie Canal runs through Pittsford. Everyone goes down to feed them bread, so they gather there and don't go off looking for real food. Wonderbread sucks as far as nutrients goes. Birds can't live off it alone, so they end up getting sick. They have dispensors there of real bird food, but it costs money so not everyone uses them.

At least in backyard feeders the food is seeds and stuff they would be eating in the wild. As long as you keep the food consistantly available, I think they are a good idea.

 

[steve817]

- but I'd want to know what they liked in the wild and put out a feeder.

In the wild they feed mostly on nectar.

 

[craig]

It's my fault. I knew a debate could be in the works. :shock:

I have to say that your lovely bird photos. Made me say "Whoa! that bird is eating bread and honey off the deck!!! During the past winter there were serious feeding issues here in the high country.
Terri fully put things in perspective. Elk and Bison are different subject.
In all honesty I may be jealous. The birds around here are really skittish. Yes I do have a bird feeder (seed)