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We're not in Kansas anymore! We have catbirds in South Dakota...very elegant birds to me, with a dapper black cap and a rusty undertail. Catbird in Australia means something else entirely! We saw two kinds of catbirds while there, but the one that I really had a blast with were Spotted Catbirds. We were staying at the Rainforest Canopy Treehouses near Tarzali, in the tropical northeastern part of Australia. HIGHLY recommended, as you have your own very nice, well appointed "treehouse", surrounded by a large patch of still intact rainforest. The owners are very wildlife oriented, even giving you fruit and seeds to feed animals with.
It didn't take long after we settled into our treehouse when the wildlife started showing up! As in, within seconds! As soon as I went out on the deck and started adding seeds and cut bananas to a feeder, the birds starting showing up. SO many kinds of birds I'd never seen before, but one of my favorite were these guys, Spotted Catbirds. BIG, VERY chunky birds, it was so much fun watching them around the feeders. They were pretty shy compared to some of the birds (such as the Australian King Parrots, who would literally land on me and let me hand feed them!). They were there for the banana slices I was leaving out. Given their size, they really didn't seem comfortable coming in and landing on the feeder (a platform feeder dangling from a chain from the deck's canopy). Whenever they'd venture in to grab a banana slice, it was an adventure! It would perch on a nearby branch (as in this photo, wait for the right moment, and then dash in and cause quite the ruckus, generally scattering all the other birds that might have been at the feeder, tipping the feeder and spilling seed all over the place, all while grabbing a banana slice then immediately taking off to a nearby branch to eat it.
Beautifully patterned, and such unique looking birds...one of my favorites from our trip.
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