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This morning I had a nice close view (sans binos) of three King parrots
perched on power cables along the house-block boundary, a male and two females /
immatures.
While I watched, the latter two birds underwent a prolonged ('bout three
minutes) stretching routine while the male sat doggo. They did leg
stretches and wing stretches, sometimes both simultaneously. They also indulged
in quite a bit of ear scratching.
As they stretched, they opened their bills and emitted a low
cluck-cluck sound. The bills remained open for about five seconds as
the heads and necks shuddered. I wondered if they were yawning, but don't know
if birds yawn.
Anyhow, the stretchings (not so much the ear-scratchings) looked so elegant
they reminded me of gaily-costumed ballerinas limbering up. Suddenly, the male
let out a couple of shrill yelps and the trio exited the power-cable
stage.
Then I did a stretch - a stretch of imagination - and wondered if the male
might have been the late Sir Robert Helpmann reincarnated as a parrot.
John Layton
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