More Random Bird Pics

We thought we had something when the King Parrot landed on my head at Pebbly. But at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, there are flocks of tame birds always looking for a free meal. Hold out your hand with a bit of bread, and,

Gez, do I make a lousy scarecrow. Ornithologists have been studying this particular expression since the time of James Audubon. What it means, scientists can confidently state, is "where's the bar?"

This is Anna, one of our friends from Madison, getting mugged. The rangers in the car yelled at everyone to stop feeding the birds. Which we did. Everyone else started back up as soon as they were out of sight.

And Adam, sharing a moment

The birds seemed to have personalities, though it could have been just feed me! expressed in cockatoolean, or klingon, or whatever langauge they speak.

And to complete the illusion, massive fruitbats hanging from trees. I thought bats navigated by echolocation. These guys navigated by making so damn much noise that every other flying species just got out of the way. I swear, when they spread their wings they looked just like, well, it was uncanny, Batman! You don't suppose there's a connection there, do you?

Purists might well respond that bats aren't birds. They're mammals. More like flying rats. But I say, you want taxonomic infallibility - get your own blog. And maybe a fruitbat.