Meet Frankie my new member of the flock bare eyed cockatoo

[Betrisher]

Betrisher: I think we're talking about two different things. You seem to think that for Australian birds are correct names used only in Australia (*I* got that impression). But not everywhere is used English, so for example with conure or macaws would be a problem with the correct names. In every official sides "cockatiel" is a cockatiel

Yes, I think you're right, Rozalka! You make an excellent point that English isn't used everywhere and of course, people should use whatever local translation works for them.

I'm just peeved that someone somewhere *outside of Australia* decided it was OK to rename birds that are known exclusively throughout their range as 'Galah' and 'Corella'. I'm waiting for the day some bright spark renames our kangaroo as a 'Large-tailed Jumping Rat' or our Emu as a 'Hairy-Feathered Runnerjumper'.

OK. I'll shuddup now. But I do reserve my right to be peeved!

 

[Betrisher]

I’m confused... so cockatiel is an incorrect name?? I’ve literally never heard them being called anything else. In the US we call Galahs rose-breasted cockatoos and Corellas bare-eyed cockatoos. I don’t know what the big deal is here.

I didn't say 'cockatiel' was incorrect, I was giving it as an example of a species which has many different names within its native range (Australia).

I don't understand why Galahs and Corellas ever needed to have special names coined for them in the US. It *is* a big deal to Australians because we're proud and protective of our wildlife. We have *very* stringent laws that prevent their export and many species require a licence to be able to even keep them as pets. Show a photo of either of those birds to any Australian anywhere and he will name them correctly as Galah and Corella.

I'll ask again: would you mind if Australians just decided one day to call your national bird a 'Carrion-eating Fish Eagle' just because we wanted to?

Sigh. Yes, I'm soapboxing and yes, I probably am crazy and no, nothing is going to change because of my intemperate ranting. But it gets my goat, y'know?

I will stop now.

 

[LaManuka]

Yes this kind of thing can make me a little crazy too. But sometimes even Aussies can’t agree on a bird’s name, for example a cockatiel could be called a “weero” or a “quarrion” depending on which State you’re from, or even which part of which State. The Australian Ringneck parrot may be called a “twenty-eight parrot” or a “Port Lincoln parrot” depending on the sub-species, the region, who you’re talking to and in which pub the conversation is taking place, and how many schooners of ale have been quaffed. But really, all this “rose-breasted cockatoo” business - if it’s pink and grey, it’s a galah in anyone’s language!

 

[Rozalka]

At the beginning when you, Betrisher named it as "correct name" I thought about "official" names which are used in lists like IOC, because corella and galah are used there. Like I had written before - not all these names are common and words like conure, pionus or caique aren't there used. I can't imagine write here without of using them. This is a general reason why I started write here that most of other names are correct in the aviculture.
My native language (Polish) is used only in my country so I don't know feeling using other names than here (because only here is Polish). Maybe something is with that what you wrote, I have a little similar but in another way. About 20 years ago we (in Poland) didn't have estabilished names for birds and everyone was naming as wanted. The most often they were translating from other languages. Now we have a side where are correct names of all birds. This is very hard to elimate all "incorect" names so old and new names I tolerate. We have bigger and bigger number of species and when "new" one is named by translation (eg from English) instead of correct one, it hurts me. It isn't only in every day Polish but in one of magazines, there's a lot of incorrect names. (Their naming hurts me the most)

 

[Betrisher]

Rozalka, you make an excellent point here! It's easy for us Australians to forget that other people have very different experiences with their own birds and with wild birds, depending on where they live.

I live on a large island, so most of our birds are born here and die here. The only ones that are found in other countries are mostly sea birds that migrate.

Australian wildlife is unique and we have strong laws in place to protect it. That's why it's no longer possible to import or export animals in Australia. (Did you hear about the fuss made when Johnny Depp flew his two dogs into our country without declaring them? Australian police stepped in and the authorities sent the dogs back to the US on the same day!) We don't get migratory visitors as you do (eg. the Stork which comes each year to nest in Europe), so we're used to a pretty unchanging population.

In Europe, though, birds don't have borders. They come and go into countries as they please and as they can find food. It amazes me to think of birds coming and going like that. I hear of annual migrations like those of the hummingbirds in the Americas or the raptors that migrate into Europe through Gibraltar and I find it astounding that birds are doing these things every year, but we don't see anything like it here in Australia.

Every few years something amazing happens, though. One year, I spent a short time on Lord Howe Island (400 miles offshore from NSW) with the Bird Observers' Group. There had been a series of hurricanes that year and a Red-tailed Tropicbird had been blown onto the Island. This was a good distance out of its range, so I got to see a bird that would normally never come to my country.

Another time, a European Yellow Wagtail turned up just a few miles from my home. Like many other birdos, I rushed out to get a sight of it! All I managed to see was a tiny speck of a bird with a very different flight pattern and an interesting way of flicking its tail. Sadly, I couldn't get close enough to see the colours or really say I 'identified' what I saw as a Yellow Wagtail. To this day, no one has any clue how that bird came to Newcastle from so far away!

So, beyond a few scanty visitors from other lands, we don't often get to see new birds except in drought years like now. The water in the centre of the country dries up and birds are forced to move closer and closer to the coast in search of water and food. This is how I came to see a Jabiru (Black-necked Stork) and a Pink-Eared Duck and a small flock of Grass Whistleducks and three Magpie Geese and the Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoos that occasionally visit my yard.

I guess what I'm saying is that my experience of birds and their names is different from those of people in other countries. Bird names are a part of our society because our birds are so obvious and so present every day. It's hard not to know when a flock of Corellas is flying over because they block out all sound except their own! We see Galahs feeding on the roadsides and in parks and gardens every day as well. There's actually a local movement to allow residents to *shoot* the SC2s because of the damage they do. They descend on a street and will strip all the leaves and fruit off the trees in just a few hours, leaving a dreadful mess on the roads as they go. They also like to chomp through coaxial cable, thus cutting off peoples' TV reception. (LOL!) Because the larger parrots are so familiar and so recognisable to all, their names don't vary across the country.

As LaManuka pointed out, smaller parrots like the cockatiel, the Port Lincoln parrot and others can have different names in different places. But I just don't get why anyone would want to rob our parrots of their origins by not calling them Galah and Corella. It's my problem. Leave it with me.

PS. May I ask about your name? It reminds me of the gorgeous aria by Dvorak and the water spirit his song was based on.

 

[Rozalka]

PS. May I ask about your name? It reminds me of the gorgeous aria by Dvorak and the water spirit his song was based on.

Rozalka is my Bourke's name (I've checked that English verson is Rosalia). My real name is Natalka (Natalie)

 

[Scott]

Back to the thread premise, what a beautiful face! Wonder how closely the Little Corella and "Cacatua goffiniana" aka Goffins/Tanimbar cockatoos evolved?AFAIK the former is a bit larger.

 

[Anansi]

Congratulations and a hearty welcome to the newest member of your household, ParrotGenie! I think he was meant to become a member of your flock and I'm glad you took Frankie in, as he is obviously bonding with you.

 

[ParrotGenie]

Been keeping them separated not allow to play with each other, or go to close as don't want fights, especially being my Cooper is mated to my female Umbrella Cockatoo Baby. With that said my male umbrella Cockatoo Cooper been acting strange and has to show off and does this lately pretty much more when Frankie in the same room. Think he trying to show off with the wing flapping and maybe jealous. He usually does this also when he happy and get excited as well. He also been bouncing up and down and barking like a dog and other noises to show off. Now he usually the one that goes with me everywhere and gets the most attention.

 

[HannahandSunny]

He’s so cute! So half he has found a permanent home at last