Hi Harvey
Thanks for your response. Oh to be a Galah, and not have to work!! We
humans have got it worked out all wrong....
Another great Galah tale - involving a very tall Royal Flying Doctor radio
tower, with consequent very long guy wires out of Meekathara in the great
Wild West (WA).
In this case they were reported to only spin during rain, as when the guy
wires were dry, the birds' feet got too hot. During or after rain, the
birds would spin down the extra long wire, then paddle in the pool at the
bottom to cool their feet down!! Smart fellas, I reckon.
I'll bet there are many more tales like this one out there.
Apologies to Roy Sonnenburg - I guess in a way this discussion has got a
bit less serious again, and I don't mean to take away the scientific
aspect. I think parrots are a bit exceptional (less bird-brained?), and
like Harvey says below, many species have undoubtedly benefited
(over-benefited in some cases) from us humans.......Ring-necked Parrot and
Galah, for example.
And, yes, nest sites, in particular have become a limiting factor,
especially with clearing, fire, etc.
Good birding
Jennifer Muir
Director, Muir Environmental
----------
> From: Harvey Perkins <>
> To:
> Subject: Re: Fun-loving parrots
> Date: Tuesday, 17 November 1998 13:48
>
> Jennifer Muir wrote:
>
> >But on the serious side, I'm sure its recognised by Birding-Aussers that
> >animals have a purpose in (almost) everything they do - basically
related
> >to survival or maintaining the species. And as activities take energy,
and
> >the source of that energy, food, is not as easily available, one could
say,
> >as it is to us, animals must be as efficient as possible in their use of
> >that energy. So, we ask what is the survival or reproduction purpose of
> >the Cockatoo carrying a pink rose?
>
> All no doubt true, but it sounds terribly "ecologic rationalist".
>
> But on a more serious note: Maybe it is the case, particularly for birds
> such as galahs, cockatoos and certain other parrots that have benefited
> from human activities, that there is an abundance of food available to
them
> (presumably nest sites and other factors become limiting) and they have
> energy to spare - and therefore to have fun!
>
> ...And I loved your two anecdotes about the galahs and keas!!!
>
> Harvey
>
>
>
> ..........................................
> Dr Harvey D. Perkins
> Divn Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
> Faculty of Science
> Australian National University
> Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia
> ph:(02) 6249 2693; fax:(02) 6249 0313
> email:
>
..........................................................................
>
|
