SYDNEY, Sept. 4, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – With one of the hottest and driest
years on record, many of Australia’s east coast birds are taking up residence
in Sydney’s well maintained parklands.
Supervisor of Australian fauna at Taronga Zoo, Michael Sheils, explained to
Fairfax media on Tuesday that due to the difficult conditions, “all the
animals are struggling.”
“When their food source dries up, they come looking… they’re not going to
survive where they are.”
On Monday, huge flocks of white cockatoos known as corellas, stunned
onlookers at Queens Park in Sydney’s east.
While corellas are often known to venture into urban areas, experts say the
recent influx of the bird species is far more than usual.
“They’re adapting to the reliable resources,” principal research scientist
at the Australian Museum, Richard Major, explained.
“Well-watered and fertilised parklands provide relatively abundant seeds
and other fruit for parrots to feed on.”
With the drying up of many wetland areas across the rest of the east coast,
a similar situation has affected ibises over the past decade and now they
have become a common sight in urban inner-city Sydney.
Other birds like nectar-eating rainbow lorikeets have also found themselves
feasting on “year-round flowers” planted across the city’s parks.
At the moment 100 percent of the State of New South Wales remains in
drought.