Among the most famous exotic animals in Australia are birds.
This is one of the most beautiful surprises and one of the main reasons why I love living here, and I miss it terribly as soon as I set foot in Europe for the holidays.
Or even just when the sun sets here, after the birds, good birds, go to sleep, right on time: they all screech together in the air for half an hour, coordinated, returning home in pairs or in small groups, circling, then they say goodnight, synchronized, in the space of a moment they fall silent until dawn.

Other times the birds themselves wake me up from the window, at dawn, with that energy that sounds so anachronistic for me so early in the morning!
The ornithological presence of Australia is so massive and felt, that it even enjoys a dedicated competition established by us wingless bipeds, the Australian Bird of the Year. The vote remains open for weeks and is taken devoutly seriously, with media coverage.
I have not understood what exactly the top-ranked birds win, apart from occasionally meeting people who greet them with a “Hey hello! You have won! Well done!”, and who try to attract them by whistling. They are very receptive to this: for example, I have a neighborhood cockatiel as a friend who, after a few encounters, now comes running as soon as I get close, singing the Addams Family tune to him.
My knowledge of Australian birds began with a few but notable species, and has grown over time.
The (very fearsome) Australian magpie, also called the eye-gouging bird.
The Australian magpie is a bird that just mentioning it is enough to cause panic among the locals.
This black and white magpie stays quiet throughout the year, delighting you with its unmistakable melodious and enchanting song. Then comes spring and with October the nesting season, it may become your worst nightmare for a month and a half because it builds its nest.
In some nesting areas some warning signs warn passers-by.
You might fall into the trap of feeling safe in Australia’s big cities: wrong! Even in urban areas there are entire parks and streets that, during those weeks you simply don’t want to pass by. The male magpie might in fact decide that you, while you’re calmly going to the shop are coming to threaten its eggs or the chicks that are stretching in the nest, and therefore it would attack you mercilessly.

First it flutters around you as a warning and intimidation, then he swoops down to hurt you with his beak.
Every now and then someone shows up in a hospital with wounds to their face, neck or arms. There have even been cases of children who have lost an eye for the same reason.
The Australian magpie particularly loves to attack, and even more particularly in the eyes, those who are in a hurry or even better on a bicycle. It goes without saying that even when a magpie attacks you, you cannot attack it, even if only in defense. It is a protected species! There’s absolutely nothing you can do about it, the Australian magpie, like many species of Australian birds and beyond, has an excellent memory and is very skilled at facial recognition. It doesn’t matter if you’re dressed very differently from the last time: if you pass through its territory again, it will know that you are still you. If it attacked you the first time, it will attack you again. And again and again (at which point it might be a good idea to study an alternative route).
The sulphur-crested cockatoo, the crazy and sensitive parrot is very pretty.
There are many splendid varieties of cockatoos and this one in particular has a lemon-yellow crest folded back, which it unfurls forward when it is curious, angry or overexcited.
Another bird is the Australian white ibis, easily found hanging out in most parks and playgrounds this funny bird is always trying to prey on your picnic food and it’s always trying to get some food from people.