While I much prefer to photograph birds in their natural habitat, providing a little bit of bird seed does offer a fantastic chance to get some close-up shots of the Sulphur Crested Cockatoos.  I wanted to convey the playful nature of Cockatoos, but also show their beauty.  To other birds, in this case a couple of Crimson Rosella, the Cockatoos are a menace, chasing them away from the food.  The sheer difference in size means the Cockatoos have the advantage every time.

While feeding, the Cockatoos are constantly in motion, jostling each other for position, and flying from the trees, to the ground, to one feeder, then the other – always looking for a better opportunity and checking out what the others are eating. The raucous calling from the birds as they flap around, adds to the sense of occasion… and at all times, they kept an eye out for me and the camera, almost as if they were posing.

I have not captioned these photos because they were all shot in about twenty minutes while the birds were on and around the bird feeder in our front yard.  If you receive this post as an email, I highly recommend that you click to come to the blog, and view the photos at full size, scrolling through them one at a time.  These birds are just gorgeous to see.