The Australian Galah

Australian parrot known as the Galah

We have many beautiful parrots here in Australia. Most people living here would have noticed several species of parrot in their everyday lives, even if they are not birders (bird watchers). One of the most easily recognised of Australian parrots would have to be the Galah. It was once called a Rose-breasted Cockatoo, a much more poetic name than Galah, in my opinion.

Over recent weeks, the Galahs around our home and garden here in Murray Bridge, South Australia, have been going stir crazy. We usually have small flocks of 5 to 50 Galahs fly over our house every hour or so. Sometimes the flocks can range up to 500 or more birds together. That is a spectacular sight. And noisy, too.

 Frequently they will land in one or more of the trees near our house, creating quite a noisy racket. In the last few weeks, they have been behaving in an erratic way, flying around and around, squawking loudly and wheeling around in the air above our property. I am not sure what has got into them. In the past, this behaviour is common during rainy days, but we haven't had one of those in a while. Strange.

Australian parrot known as the Galah

The photos I am showing today are from another time. These shots were taken from our cabin in one of the caravan parks in Mudgee, New South Wales. We were on our way home and it was a balmy evening. My wife and I sat on the deck of the cabin enjoying a late afternoon cuppa, just before we had our dinner. I noticed a Galah in a nearby tree, lit up beautifully by the setting sun. a few moments later, the female popped her head out of a hollow in the eucalypt tree. I figured that they were nesting and the were probably preparing the hollow for their eggs.

You can read more about Galahs here, and read more about Australian birds on my other site, Trevor's Birding.

Australian parrot known as the Galah

Australian parrot known as the Galah