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.
