Critically Endangered
These parrots breed and nest in Tasmania, but then fly to the mainland. They are only about 9.8" long. They have lost about 23% of their blue gum forest habitat. One of the articles I read talked about a study that showed the ratio of male to female parrots has changed drastically. Sugar gliders were introduced to Tasmania and they prey on these birds. That I found rather shocking, but I assume it is the the babies. Honestly I know that they do not only eat sap and such, they do eat insects for instance. The thought that sugar gliders could be eating so many baby birds they are upsetting the balance of a species is crazy to me. What is happening is that there are now so few females that they are not monogamous, and because of that fewer chicks are surviving. Single males are trying to coerce females away from their partners, the males are having to spend more time defending their mate, and there is less time spent finding food for the chicks which lowers their survival rate.
I need to spend a good bit of time outside tomorrow working on the garden. I'm hoping to have a more positive result with our it this year. Last year the plants did not do well at all. I would love to do some aquaponics too. I wouldn't be raising fish to eat, I want to have a goldfish pond that is filtered by plants and the plants like lettuce, basil, and other tasty things that are then fed by the fishy water. I miss having our goldfish. They were very friendly and so much fun to watch. I also absolutely love the sound of running water. I find it incredibly relaxing. I got to spend a good bit of time at my bff Ladybug's house the other day hanging out in her backyard. They have a fountain, and sitting there next to it watching the robins who were ticked at us for interrupting their bath time was just perfect. They don't have any fish, their fountain just flows onto the rock and then down again onto some river rocks. I am thinking when this project is over I might try making a cheap and probably smaller version of her fabulous fountain, but not out of a big lovely rock, mine would be out of cement and chicken wire. Her fountain is fantastic though. The water is still enough that bees would be able to drink from it or at least from the stones below. It is deep enough that birds can take a bath in it, but even hummingbirds are drinking from it too. I usually put a bit of water out in a pie plate with a few rocks in it so bees don't drown but everybody can get a drink if they need it. I would prefer to have something more interesting. For the fish I won't do that, it would only be a fountain because of the water going from the pond to the plants and then falling back into the pond. Once I have the fish pond going I could move the fountain to the front yard, or maybe lug it out to my parents' home.
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