Here we have another example of an exotic bird in a decidedly not-exotic natural setting. This is a galah. It’s one of the smaller members of the cockatoo family, about 14 inches long. Galahs live throughout Australia, and the are not hard to find. Quite the opposite. You’ll see them in big groups in open fields. And unlike so many species of birds that have almost been wiped out because of human interference, we’ve actually made galahs more abundant, because they eat crops and make use of the cattle drinking ponds and wells.
I took this shot in Apollo Bay, in somebody’s back yard. A small group of them were pecking for worms and insects. They wouldn’t let me get right next to them, but they didn’t seem to care when I was 10 or 12 feet away. As I traveled through Australia, I’d see them on power lines, in trees, all over the place.
And although I never heard anyone use the term, Wikipedia informs me that this bird’s name has become part of the native slang for an idiot or clown, e.g. “flaming galah!”