28 June 2016 A lyre by the fire How did a firescreen made from the tail of one of Australia’s most iconic birds end up in a British home? Categories Birds/Science
21 October 2015 What bird is that? Bird Week 2015, 19-23 October, is an initiative of BirdLife Australia, with the aim of inspiring Australians to take action and get involved in bird conservation efforts. This week, as many people take part in the Aussie Backyard Bird Count, they’re likely to ask: ‘What bird is that?’ Generations of Australians have answered that question with a copy of the book What bird is that? in hand, inspired and guided by the work of... Categories Art/Birds/Uncategorised
28 January 2014 What bird (egg) is that? How many species of birds can you identify just by looking at the size, shape and colour of their eggs? For me, the answer is probably one or two, so I recently asked collection donor Bill Gibbs and ornithologist Dick Schodde to visit the Museum to help describe the species represented in some 276 bird eggs. For me, engaging with these beautiful eggs provoked complicated thoughts of loss and appreciation. Categories Birds/Museum practice
6 December 2013 Wrecks on the South Coast Not what you were expecting? When I walked the beaches of the far south coast a few weeks ago, I wasn’t expecting it either. The usually empty stretches of sand were littered with the dead and dying bodies of hundreds upon hundreds of short-tail shearwaters, commonly called mutton-birds. These events are called ‘wrecks’. They occur when these migratory birds return to Australia to breed after a journey of some 15,000... Categories Birds/Climate change/Landscapes
26 November 2013 A winning chicken Australians seem to be falling in love with chooks. Poultry keeping and showing is booming around the country, and the Museum is building its own flock. The Museum recently acquired an oil painting, believed to be by S.Thomson, of ‘Robert’, a striking black-red, hard feathered, Modern Game Bantam. This magnificent rooster won the Waugh Cup for ‘best bird’ at the Old Goulburn Poultry, Pigeon and Canary Club’s annual show in... Categories Birds
22 October 2013 Australia’s favourite birds Have you seen a pennantian parrot lately? Do wattled bee-eaters live in your backyard? What about the crested goatsucker or the white vented crow? This week is BirdLife Australia’s annual Bird Week, and, to celebrate, the conservation organisation is inviting Australians to vote for their favourite bird. This avian election prompted my colleague Martha Sear and I to wonder which species the first British settlers in Australia might have selected as... Categories Birds
