Name That Bird Buddy - Easy Level Questions

Do you know what the largest flying bird in Australia is? Or which bird has the longest bill in the world? This description might sound quite exotic, but you'll most likely have seen this bird many times. Give up? It's the Australian Pelican!

Find out more about the Australian Pelican here: http://www.backyardbuddies.net.au/bmail/Bmail_October_2011.html

Holiday season is prime time for endless chattering and some raucous screeching, and not just from your Christmas guests. Sulphur-crested Cockatoos may be calling loudly near you in the early morning and at dusk as they fly home to roost at night.

Find out more about Sulphur-crested Cockatoos here: http://backyardbuddies.net.au/bmail/Bmail_December_2011.html

Cockatiels are intelligent, charming and social birds that live in arid and semi-arid areas of the Australian continent, in trees or dead branches. If you’re near a stream, creak or river, keep a lookout for these orange cheeked birds as they love water.

Find out more about Cockatiels here: http://www.backyardbuddies.net.au/bmail/PDFS/2011_01.pdf

Coastal emus are one of the most rare and isolated species in Australia. Listed as endangered under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, north coast emus survive only between Red Rock south of Grafton and Evans Head.

Find out more about the Coastal Emu here: http://fnpw.org.au/plants-a-wildlife/birds/coastal-emu

You go for a walk in the forest and stumble on a glittering treasure trove. You spot blue straws, blue pegs, blue bottle caps, blue bits of plastic, blue feathers and berries. This is the hoard of an obsessive little critter that is mad about the colour blue! And in the centre of all this lies a strange and intriguing architectural construction... You haven’t been transported into ‘Lord of the Rings’ – you’ve found the bower of an amazing fellow called a Satin Bowerbird. This species loves blue so much that even their eyes are a vibrant lilac-blue colour!

Find out more about the Satin Bowerbird here (page 3): http://www.backyardbuddies.net.au/bmail/PDFS/2011_04.pdf

Australian Magpies are intelligent creatures that recognise and remember individual human faces, even if the person wears different clothes. If you are one of the unlucky ones that get swooped, it’s likely that you look like someone who once bothered the Magpie. The good news is that most Magpies don’t swoop people. Females don’t swoop at all because they are busy sitting on the eggs, and only 12% of male Magpies are aggressive.

Find out more about Australian Magpies here (page 5): http://www.backyardbuddies.net.au/bmail/PDFS/2011_05.pdf

You've probably spotted this familiar face (and long black beak) when you've gone to enjoy the sun out in a local park, at a picnic site or even on your front lawn. You might not like their scavenging ways, but ibises are good buddies to have around. Don't write off the ibis because it forages in bins or tips, simply put lids on bins to make them inaccessible to birdy visitors.

Find out more about the Ibis here: http://backyardbuddies.net.au/bmail/Bmail_November_2011.html#trouble

You may have noticed a small black and white bird with a long fanned tail that it swings from side to side or up and down. This is the cute Willie Wagtail, and it lives all over mainland Australia.

Find out more about the Willie Wagtail here (page 3): http://www.backyardbuddies.net.au/bmail/PDFS/2011_05.pdf

You may notice this noisy, loveable show off clowning around near you. Galahs are playful birds that sometimes pretend to be in mortal danger. They suddenly swing upside down on a power line or tree branch and screech like mad as if they've fallen. Then when they've had enough fun they simply flap their wings to get back the right way up and - hey presto! - they carry on as normal. The funny behaviour of these clowns of the sky is the reason why Australians call people behaving like larrikins 'galahs'.

Find out more about Galahs here: http://backyardbuddies.net.au/bmail/Bmail_November_2011.html

The screech of the corella may not instantly seem like a beautiful thing, but give it a chance. The Little Corella is a gorgeous bird - mostly white with patches of blue skin around its eyes and a wash of pale pink sweeping up from its bill. Look up as they’re flying overhead and you’ll see bright yellow underneath the wings and tails.

Find out more about the Little Corella here (page 3): http://www.backyardbuddies.net.au/bmail/PDFS/2011_01.pdf

This Masked Avenger wears a bright yellow mask, but not to hide its identity. It’s infamous for swooping, but it’s not a magpie. It’s a common visitor to grassy areas around your suburb. Do you know its name? The Masked Lapwing, also known as a Spur-winged Plover or Masked Plover,
has a bad reputation for swooping but it’s not being pesky. These birds are only following their protective parental instincts and rightly defending what is theirs - their baby chicks.

Find out more about the Masked Lapwing here (page 5): http://www.backyardbuddies.net.au/bmail/PDFS/2011_06.pdf

There is no sound like the call of a kookaburra. Whether it be the ‘koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-kaa-kaakaa’ of the Laughing Kookaburra along the Eastern Seaboard or the cackle of the Blue-winged Kookaburra in the tropical north. These birds bring much welcome colour and character to your backyard garden and neighbourhood.

Find out more about the Laughing Kookaburra here (page 2): http://www.backyardbuddies.net.au/bmail/PDFS/2009_05.pdf

Find out more about the Blue-winged Kookaburra here: http://www.backyardbuddies.net.au/bmail/PDFS/2011_04.pdf