I’m wondering how the sooty owl, rescued by a reader of this blog last week, is fairing? 
Birds
Open Thread
Two bush turkey (Alectura lathami) chicks hatched from the pile of mulch in my back garden recently. I took this photograph yesterday in the back garden in Noosa. 
A Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo and Two Messages for Australian Readers
THIS beautiful bird, a Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo, has been sitting in a tree outside my study perhaps wondering when I am going to refill the bird-feeder with some bird seed. The few times I have walked outside this afternoon the bird has squarked, perhaps asking me to “fill it!”
Meanwhile I have been posting a couple of messages at the ‘Community Home’ page.
I am now asking you, particularly if you live in the vicinity of Mittagong to have a look here, and if you are a member of the Australian Environment Foundation to have a look here.
Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos, Cacatua galerita, are very common where I live in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. It is not uncommon for a flock of perhaps 20 birds to strut about on my back lawn late in the afternoon before perching in a very tall nearby pine tree where they sleep at night.
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Update, January 31
OK. In response to requests from Janama and Bernard and the Bird, I’ve filled it!
More Birds in New York is Good News – Sorry about the Airbus
THERE has still been no official confirmation, but it seems likely that the airbus that ditched into the Hudson River last week was brought down by one, two or several Canadian geese.
According to the New York Times: “The cause is still under investigation,” said Stephen Sigmund, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. But he said preliminary reports indicated that Flight 1549 was several miles out from La Guardia Airport, at 3,000 to 4,000 feet, when the pilot radioed that there had been a bird strike.”
Lots of praise has been heaped on the pilot for not losing a single passenger.
There has been some discussion in the mainstream media about the problem of geese getting in the way of aircraft and how populations of many bird species, particularly Canadian geese, have increased dramatically in recent years – but no congratulations for this achievement.
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An Old Queen Parrot
Since moving to the Blue Mountains late last year I’ve made some new friends including a King Parrot and a Magpie. The young male King Parrot sits on my back landing and looks through the glass door into my study when the bird-feeder is empty. Maggie, the Magpie, perches on a window sill and looks into the kitchen when she is hungry and notices I am feeding myself.
They are both rather bold birds.
There are usually three or four King Parrots in the trees in the vicinity of the bird-feeder that hangs in my backyard. Over the last few days an old King Parrot, in fact a female so lets call her a Queen Parrot, has been mostly just resting on the back lawn.
Injured Cassowary
About two months ago, this magnificent adult female cassowary (above) traversed alongside our house with a dreadful limp. At the time, cassowaries had been fighting, so I assumed this one had suffered an injury in such conflict.
However, the big bird was not seen again for about two months and this was remarkable for this well-known inhabitant. She re-emerged late last week with no improvement in her gait, but with a dramatic loss of weight and this has presented an awkward dilemma for the land-manager.
It is pretty obvious that the bird is suffering. Then again, being a declared endangered species under EPBC, different protocols are invoked for response and intervention. She is a dominant female of a population of perhaps fewer than one-hundred birds remaining in the Daintree Cape Tribulation rainforests. She is also a wild animal with really scary feet.
Queensland’s EPA has the delegated authority for such matters. яндекс. For the importance of the bird they are compelled to have the animal assessed by a veterinarian for diagnosis. If it is perceived that the animal is suffering from an infection, strategically placed fruit with antibiotics could be deployed. If the trauma was identified as a dislocation, the animal might be tranquilized or netted for manipulation. On the other hand, if the injury required resetting and immobilization for weeks, say for a broken bone, then the bird would be euthanased.
Trouble is, a vet with cassowary expertise cannot really expect to travel from Cairns or Ingham or wherever, to the Cooper Valley in the Daintree and the expectant arrival of a wild cassowary.
In a stroke of good fortune, a departing client rang through to the office from our entrance courtesy phone, that the injured cassowary was halfway along our driveway. I drove down and managed to get about ten minutes of video of the brid, limping and feeding and hopefully this will allow the vet to make the necessary determination.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.