Have you ever caught sight of a bird that is odd in behaviour, appearance, or just down right strange all over? We are all familiar with the weird and wonderful wildlife of Australia, with no better example than the wacky wanderers of Australia’s far-north coastlands, specifically the giant, vibrantly coloured, strangely plumaged, deadly rock crowned cassowary and their stilt wearing friends, the quirky Curlews who gaze at you with their enlarged yellow eyes as if they’ve mistaken you for their dealer and call out late at night as you try to rest your weary head.
Curlews are widely spread across Australia, along with the lesser-known Tawny Frogmouths, a nocturnal bird known for its abnormally large mouth. You might recognise it from bird shows or in zoos if you have been so lucky to let it peer into your soul with its giant yellow eyes. It has an inconspicuously giant maw, and squashed owl-like facial features, though it is easily mistaken for a motionless, dull patch of bark during the day.
All of these birds are known to the Palm Cockatoo of Cape York, the furthest land point of North Queensland, where it lives as a wild spectacle. Referred to as the grandfather of cockatoos due to its ancient lineage, it is estimated to have evolved 27 million years ago. It is also known as the Goliath cockatoo since it is the largest of all Australian parrots. Its odd spikey hairdo and stark black feathers contrasting its hot red cheeks gives credit to its rock-band-like habits. They are natural musicians, spending their days looking for the perfect drum sticks to drum rhythmically until they attract a mate. Their strange habits include showing off their ability to mark territory with tools such as rocks and sticks. Even stranger is the peculiar monkey-like sound that echoes through the rainforest.
Further down the coast of south-east Australia, the Curlew and Tawny Frogmouth greet the habitat of the White Winged Chough. This bird appears bland in appearance, with mostly black plumage, contrasted only by white streaked wings, and red eyes. Few other birds have such traditional upbringings as these do - these birds live in large flocks where only the most mature couple is permitted to breed while the younger family members stay home to help rear the fledglings, construct the nest, and forage. Stranger still, they are known for their nefarious gang activity of kidnapping young Choughs from neighbouring nests to strengthen their own flock’s size.
Living nearby the Choughs, the Satin Bowerbirds who have a fetish for anything blue. They are often mistaken for a crow, with their yellow beaks and lilac eyes, but in sunlight the iridescence of satin blue in their black feathers reveals that what you’re seeing is a mature male bower bird, whereas female satin bowerbirds, and younger males both have green feathers. They all unite in their deep and profound peculiarity for blue objects; the males construct their nests on the forest floor with wall structures made of twigs and ‘meticulously decorate’ the nest’s perimeter with assortments of blue litter and debris they collect. Flaunting their ‘wealth’ entices the female’s affection for them. Allegedly. Don’t get any ideas...
Of Australia’s vast, weird, and wacky ornithological wildlife, least is known of the elusive, highly secretive, ground dwelling ‘night parrot'. It was considered extinct for many decades until it came out from hiding in 1979. So, why is this bird critically endangered? It could be to do with the fact it probably can’t see well at night, which is exactly when it chooses to walk about… though the sad reality is that it faces extinction due to human made challenges such as introduced predatory species and environmental degradation. Strangely, their chirp sounds like something between a cricket and a frog croaking.
One final notable mention is the critically endangered, Orange-bellied Parrot, a fluffy, vivid green, unique bird which is of the only two migratory parrot species in the world. They are known to the coastlands shared between Victoria and Tasmania, but less and less as time passes—fewer than 60 remain in the wild due to habitat degradation and loss at the hands of humans.
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