Pink and Grey Galahs - An Open Outdoor Aviary

Living in the suburbs equals wild birds.

Mandurah has some exotic birds species visit it frequently. The most prevalent species has got to be the cheeky Pink and Grey Galah. 

There are also Ringneck Lorikeets, Kurrawongs, Doves, Pigeons and the odd King Parrot, but it's the Pink and Grey species who occupy my feeder most of the day. I've a few regulars - one couple sit in a branch above the feeder throughout most of the day - while others come and go.

The great difficulty in keeping caged animals is that it complicates matters when it comes to leaving the property for any length of time, like for vacations. 

Feeding and watering birds during any lengthy absence worries me - but having a feeding station instead ends all that worry. I am free to come and go. The birds are free to do their thing too. 

I never overfeed them - they get a cup of seed in the morning and another (sometimes not) in the evening. Those that don't take advantage of it move on and go to the natural food sources found elsewhere. I don't want them relying on my feeder. I just want to see and enjoy them for a while.

There are tricks to making good bird feeders and locating them in the right position. 

Wild birds don't like being enclosed... but they need to feel safe even if that means being able to make a speedy exit. 

Each has a potential predator waiting to get them from above and to the side (even below). That's why my feeder is open on every side. I also have a good-sized tree above it. The birds can come and go at varying heights using the tree as both a stepping stone to the food source and a hiding place. If they get spooked by something, they've got about 320 degrees of clear space to get out fast. (Birds won't enter an area they feel trapped in... but they won't visit if it's too vulnerable either.)

Predatory behaviour is something I've written about before. I've applied it to fiction. 

Predators look for opportunities to acquire their prey. They'll watch and wait for as long as it takes to get it and then pounce on it. Similarly, prey looks for ways to escape being another animal's meal. 

In nature, prey and predator are perfectly matched. One is aware of the other at all times and vice versa - one ready to attack, the other set to run.

In humans, there's been a push to stop this process. There are blogs about predatory behaviour, new laws are being installed, and workplace policies are being rewritten and amended for it. There's #metoo and a whole bunch of folk screaming into the abyss in the hope that those who do the hunting will stop. No one needs to spend their time constantly looking over their shoulders.

When I wrote SEETHINGS, I wasn't thinking of protecting potential victims or making the world feel safe by stopping predatory behaviour. I wrote a place for it to flourish.  I let a perpetrator do their thing.

I did that because, on occasion, a Pink and Grey Galah won't escape its predator. 

A much larger bird with hooked talons and a hunger of its own will catch and consume it. It'll then enjoy its own happy ending.

That's what I think about when enjoying my outdoor aviary.

-M