Happy February! February snuck up on me, hence I’m a little late with sharing this blog with you.
The February pinup in your Bird’s-eye view calendar is the delightful Mistletoebird. If you listen out for their high-pitched call, you will hear them around south-east Queensland and elsewhere in Australia about now. We have one that stops by briefly everyday and sits at the top of our highest tree, then off it goes.
This is typically the kind of encounter I have with these birds so I was very excited to take this photo! It was another example of synchronicity – sometimes I think that’s what makes the best bird photos. As we parked at Banksia Beach, I said to Mum that I really hoped I would see a Mistletoebird. We left the car and walked towards the water by the she-oaks and who showed up? This gorgeous male Mistletoebird landed above our heads showing off its beautiful red chest and distinctive black stripe, and calling loudly for his partner who was somewhere nearby. Magic!
As with our January bird, these guys are tiny! They are characteristic of birds in the Flowerpecker family (Dicaeidae), with a short bill and tail and are in fact the only flowerpecker in Australia. Unsurprisingly, their favourite food is mistletoe and they digest and disperse the very sticky leftover mistletoe seeds on tree branches across Australia (except Tasmania).
Fun fact: They can digest mistletoe berries in as little as four minutes. Amazing!
Other things on the horizon are a new range of rainbow lorikeet items coming early February. Stay tuned! Below is a sneak peak of one of the items.
In case you missed it, I also have some new shopping list and pen sets (as well as some cute magnetic clips) featuring my magpie, galah, and superb fairywrens. Check out my Facebook page for more details.
I hope you have a fabulous February! Thanks for being here 🙂