The MacDonnell Ranges are rich in birdlife, including species unfamiliar to most suburban Australians.
This post’s photo may look “peaceful”, but in the middle of the day at Jessie Gap, the Australian zebra finch “action” was in fact a display of incredibly fleet, flurrying, “colour and movement”.
The pictured individuals were just part of a large flock, whose members were repeatedly zapping to and from tree and waterhole.
Jessie Gap is a short drive south-east, from Alice Springs.
Zebra finches survive well in captivity, and are very popular as “pets”.
So, most Australian humans have seen them, but only in cages or aviaries.
Most Australian humans live near the coast, in cities.
Wild Australian zebra finches cover 75%+ of “our” continent, but “their” 75%+ is inland, mostly in arid or semi-arid country, well away from city-dwellers.
Only a small proportion of Australia’s human population has ever seen how zebra finches drink; their “group drinking sessions” make mid-20th-century male Australian humans’ “six o’clock swill” look relatively sedate.
An Australian zebra finch can drink about one eighth of its own body weight in less than four seconds!
Discover more, here.