Australia

Voting has begun in the Bird of the Year poll.

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...-of-the-year-2021-vote-now-for-your-favourite

It's a little bit different this year:

The voting system in 2021 has changed. The competition kicks off on Monday 27 September with a lineup of 50 Australian native birds. The bottom five birds are eliminated at the end of each weekday, with everyone able to vote again in the next round each day. So on Tuesday, you can vote again on the 45 most popular birds from Monday and so on. You have one vote each day, but it doesn't have to go to the same bird. Eliminations will be paused over the weekend when the vote count will be hidden. Voting will go dark on Thursday 7 October for the final 10 birds and voting will close at midnight. All votes from the early rounds are discarded before the final count. The winning bird will be the one that receives the most votes in a simple poll of the final 10 on Thursday 7 October. The winner is announced on Friday 8 October. What will your strategy be? Will you vote for your favourite bird every day or for more underrated birds in the early rounds to keep them in the competition?
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I'll be making sure to vote every day. What about you?
 
On which criteria are we supposed to chose a favourite? I've probably eaten fewer than half of the species included....
 
Bush stone curlews are so cute the way they hide by freezing. And their haunting night calls.

Love sulphur crested cockatoos for their attitude.

Black and whistling kites are effortless thermal soarers.
 
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Far too many votes for the magpie. Swooping bastards.

I’d vote for the Powerful Owl. Great name, and we have one who has a nest not far away. It’s deep, hooting howl is wonderful. Just a few weeks ago it decided to sit on a drainage pipe of our house during the day and stayed for hours. It ignored our barking dog and I thought it might be ill, but it went away that night and we still hear the call.

I once spoke to a zoologist about the owl. She often gives evidence in cases involving land developers who want to subdivide Powerful Owl habitats. We have a developer who owns a lot of land behind us. Her words “nobody will develop Powerful Owl land, just call me”. I still have her number.
 
I've already voted once for the magpie, even though one of the little bastards knocked me off my bike at speed when I was a kid. I still love them. They're smart, not ******** for nine months out of every year, and they sing beautifully.

But at this early stage I'm spreading my votes around to several of my favourites - the sulfur crested cockatoo, the tawny frogmouth, the kookaburra and the galah are all on my list.
 
arthwollipot said:
I've already voted once for the magpie, even though one of the little bastards knocked me off my bike at speed when I was a kid. I still love them. They're smart, not ******** for nine months out of every year, and they sing beautifully.

But at this early stage I'm spreading my votes around to several of my favourites - the sulfur crested cockatoo, the tawny frogmouth, the kookaburra and the galah are all on my list.
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You have a very VERY different magpie down there than in N. America. Ours isn't little, is a perfect ****** 24/7/365 (366 in leap years), and sings like nails on a blackboard. I'd vote for them to be national bird of the Detroit city dump, but they'd probably team up with the rats and take over the city govt.

Hmm. Might be an improvement.
 
sackett said:
You have a very VERY different magpie down there than in N. America. Ours isn't little, is a perfect ****** 24/7/365 (366 in leap years), and sings like nails on a blackboard. I'd vote for them to be national bird of the Detroit city dump, but they'd probably team up with the rats and take over the city govt.

Hmm. Might be an improvement.
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That's right - the Australian magpie (Cracticus tibecen) isn't even in the same family. European and American magpies are corvids, while Australian magpies are in the family Artamidae. We have our corvids - the Australian raven Corvidae coronoides is native to my region. But it's not in the poll so I guess no-one cares. :(
 
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King parrot for me. We have them up here in the mountains - beautiful plumage, lovely nature, always travel in mated pairs.

Although just the other day a pair came and visited us very closely. The male watched from the gutter, while the female flew in our faces. Just once, then flew away. We took it as a warning to not come near their nest. I can't wait to spot their chicks!

[IMGw=500]https://live.staticflickr.com/7033/6770030129_8a5146cc1f_b.jpg[/IMGw]
 
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Norman Alexander said:
King parrot for me. We have them up here in the mountains - beautiful plumage, lovely nature, always travel in mated pairs.

Although just the other day a pair came and visited us very closely. The male watched from the gutter, while the female flew in our faces. Just once, then flew away. We took it as a warning to not come near their nest. I can't wait to spot their chicks!

[IMGw=500]https://live.staticflickr.com/7033/6770030129_8a5146cc1f_b.jpg[/IMGw]
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Yes agree with King Parrot (except when they're eating my tomatoes)- also in the backyard are the usual rosellas, lorikeets, magpies and Kookaburras.
 
Right after the 2019-20 bushfires, my son and I went to the town of Mogo to see how they were doing and to spend a little money. At one point, off in the burned-out bush, a kookaburra sounded off. It was one of the most beautiful and poignant sounds I'd ever heard.
 
dann said:
The first one to come up with it should have patented it. It wouldn't have had to open a single wheelie bin for the rest of its life!
Imagine what will happen if the wheelie-bin-opening cockatoos begin to copy black kites! :)
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Firestarting birds? I thought we didn't do Halloween here. :boggled:
 
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