Kentucky Down Under Birds

Wandering amongst the bird enclosures at a zoo or animal park is always a welcome experience for me. Even better is walking inside an apiary and mingling with the birds themselves (make sure you wear a hat).

Most of the beautiful birds at Kentucky Down Under in Horse Cave, Western Kentucky, are in cages, unfortunately, but if you get up real close, the chicken wire becomes less of a problem. If you want pictures that eliminate most of the wire, put your camera up close with the lens at a hole in the mesh. That’s what I did.

My favorite bird adventure was the Land of Lories. The guide gives you a little paper cup of sweet syrup that the lories crave. As soon as you enter the enclosure, they swarm over you, landing on your arms, shoulders and head. They’re not at all camera shy, so I was able to photograph a beautiful one as it perched on my left hand:

Rainbow Lory - Trichoglossus haematodus

The rest of the birds were caged. The kookaburras were hiding and not singing or laughing, unfortunately, so I didn’t get a good shot of any. But there were a few magnificent cockatoos and lories out and about, sunning themselves:

Goffins Cockatoo - Cacatua goffiniana

Red Lory - Eos bornea bornea

I got a big kick out of the frogmouths – so named because of their wide mouths that emulate frogs’ mouths. They’re strange-looking birds indeed:

 Papuan Frogmouth - Podargus papuensis

Tawny Frogmouth - Podargus strigoides

Birdy, birdy in the sky ... drop some whitewash in my eye. Just kidding! Hey, watch it!