As an "overseas" birder I have to agree on the strange choice of fairy-wren - I
feel that both the Splendid and White-winged are definitely superior to the
Superb - and you also have to work a bit harder to find them.
Interesting comment about Grasswrens - some time ago we did a Kimberley trip
with George Swann and I must say at the time we did not really understand why
the highlight of our trip was going to be a boring little Black Grasswren.
However, we did just about see it and we have a T-shirt to prove it!.
Perhaps the "100 birds" list has parrots from other countries - Macaws for
example, though personally I don't think you can beat Australian parrots.
Rainbow Lorikeets are just stunning - also we could not get over Crimson
Rosellas and King Parrots. And you can get much closer to parrots in Australia
- in South America you often only seem them flying over unless you can get to a
parrot lick. And Australian parrots mostly make much nicer noises with the
notable exception of the cockatoos.
And you can't beat a Galah for wearing the most amazingly unlikely outfit!. The
first one we ever saw was on the grass in Kings Park in Perth - we just could
not believe our eyes - a pink bird! Just like coconut ice! And my
most-want-to-see Australian bird was the Major Mitchell's - it certainly lived
up to expectations.
Rosemary
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