Cassowaries look the part, absolutely! And while they certainly can harm people (and dogs), they seem to do that only if provoked and to protect their young. Same as ostriches, which actually seem to kill more people.
But generally Australian Animals are in a class of their own. If you’re looking for a thrill, the magpie swooping season can create memorable encounters.
The Showbill is a good choice!
But I guess they wanted a native bird for authenticity. And who knows if Shoebills are cut out for a life in showbiz.
I love Eulenschwalme (German name of frogmouths - still descriptive but less insulting). I’ve learned of their existence through an Australian TV series named Golden Pennies where one of the bad guys kept a frogmouth as pet.
And an article called: What Instagram Can Teach Us About Bird Photography: ‘The Most Photogenic Bird and Color Preferences’ declared frogmouths the be most ‘instagrammable’ bird species.
The surprising winner in this ranking is the frogmouth which seems to be a matter of poetic justice, as this nocturnal bird with very distinct facial features was once designated “the world’s most unfortunate-looking bird”
Oh, that poor baby! At least this one has a happy end and serves as a reminder to regularly check what we dumb humans can cause out of ignorance.
Hens and roosters don’t fly
That isn’t completely true. The wild ancestors of our chickens needed flight as part of their survival strategy.
The different breeds of chicken that still exist today have varying degrees of ability. In general they aren’t good or persistent fliers. Of course humans are at fault. They kept and bred chicken for meat and egg production. That’s why chicken mostly kept or developed even bigger muscles but their wingspan didn’t keep up with their body weight. Smaller breeds with regular feathers can fly a short distance and reach a height of about 9 to 10 meters. That’s why my grandfather regularly clipped the wings of his chickens and still had a high fence surrounding the area he kept them in. The chickens were still able to fly up into the small bushes and trees.
Looks like he experienced a real Oh-Shit!-Moment.
Ok, I’ll see myself out…
I just found out that my app offers a restore function. The comments are back.
Federation issue on my part and a cute idea on your part. Sorry, I deleted the doubles - before your comments appeared in my inbox 😞
With the sequence of pics it almost looks like ballet performance.
With the sequence of pics it almost looks like ballet performance.
With the sequence of pics it almost looks like ballet performance.
Farewell Ixonia!
And the town of Ixonia really should add her on their Wikipedia page. Without her I wouldn’t know about it.
Sorry, I’m late. Dis it work later or via browser?
As far as I’ve read there were four towns that applied for hosting the event. Montreux wasn’t among them. They might not have been interested. They have the Jazz Festival and I guess that takes a lot of capacity.
I’m offended. Why particularly at me?
The Sandwich part sent me on a little goose chase (pun intended)
There’s also the Sandwich tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis)
https://www.bto.org/understanding-birds/birdfacts/sandwich-tern
and the nēnē, aka Hawaiian goose (Branta sandvicensis)
https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?avibaseid=EDB18078B9A2C905
And Wikipedia helped with the rest:
The Sandwich Islands is Captain James Cook’s name for the Hawaiian Islands in 1778. He chose the name of his patron, the 4th Earl of Sandwich.
Hi there! I just wanna talk to you about your car’s extended warranty!