Birds of Canberra

I picked up this great book yesterday, called "Birds of Canberra Gardens". It's put together by the Canberra Ornithologists Group and its great because it lists all the birds that have been spotted and recorded in the area of Canberra.

Some of them are soooo cute. Like the Gang-gang cockatoo. See the cover:

Don't you just want to tickle him under the chin?

I bought the book because its an authorative list on the birds in Canberra, and in my artwork I specifically want to depict birds which are local to my region. I have seen lots of the birds in the book before but some of them are very low in numbers and I've never seen anything like them before. For example this little guy:

(Photo (c) Max Sutcliffe) So cute! I don't think anyone would believe me if I told them that such a colour existed in wild birds. Hot pink!! Apparently this robin usually lives in rainforests.

Maybe this little guy will turn up in my textiles in the future...