Knysna Loerie Bird in Flight
I based the colouring of the Love Knysna website on the Knysna Loerie Bird (or Tauraco as it is also called); green, red, white and black. Sometimes shades make for yellows, blues and purples. It’s the perfect bird for the area because its appearance identifies with the landscape too. It is an evergreen Garden Route with yellow morning sunrises and red sunsets in summer, blue rivers and estuary, and an island bedecked with white houses.
Although considered to be an emblem of our town, the Loerie Bird is almost mythical in some areas…and damn shy too:) I’m far luckier than most for they like the garden where i stay. For the past month, in between rain, they adopted the yellow-berried tree next to my room at the bottom of the garden, taking excursions to the guava trees 50 metres away. At one stage, there were 7 of them to which a 12 year resident remarked that it was the first time that she’d seen so many.
When i was browsing the web, my heart stopped when i saw the breathtaking photo (above) by Jan Fourie. He must must have had talent and luck or patience to have seized this perfect moment. They fly so quickly that all you’d normally see is a flash of red and then it’s gone. I got hold of Jan and he was kind enough to give me use of his photo for Love Knysna. Thanks, Jan!
The Knysna Loerie has wings that are red on the inside, not the outside. Therefore this cannot be a Knysna Loerie.
Hi, Eric. Thanks for dropping in. If not the Loerie, what is it?
The winged creature in the lower pic is the lesser striped PhotoShop bird – and not a very good job either. Just somebody’s cutesy wish for how the bird should look. Keep the top image, WM – lose the crap beneath it. It doesn’t do you any justice.
M
So confirmed that the main photo is the Loerie. The red in the wings is outwardly visible in flight. As for the verbal “crap” below, i’ll keep it:) I’m in love with Knysna so i don’t mind being a head-over-heels “teen”. And the Loerie definitely inspired the site design which turned out very well.
I have just seen a Loerie, I know as I have checked on pictures of them, so beautiful, flying over the top resses of Rhodes University it was in a tree eating a berrie with its orange beak and it had red on the outer tops of its wings, it flew away from me and up so i saw his outer wings
They are quite the sight to behold. Glad that you got to see one. They were a regular part of my life for 2 and a half years. I moved to a different suburb, not far from my last, yet i’ve only seen 2 in a month:(
If you want to attract loeries to your garden put fruit out for them: apples and pear halves, bananas, and such. They’ll get the idea pretty quickly.
Here are some loeries who feed at Featherbed regularly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMXWfwUL46I&list=UUy6OzP4vpWErU0TfvCSUtCw&index=7&feature=plcp
The guava tree was a winner for a certain period of the year where i stayed the past 3 winters. I was glad to find 2 such trees 5m from the door of my new place but strangely no Loeries on it yet.
Glad to see that vid. Thanks. Agreed, maybe the prettiest bird in the world.
Featherbed, for me, is a sadness, though. They haven’t wanted to deal with Love Knysna at all. Hopefully William Smith kicks someone’s butt one day.
PS: Sorry for slow comment approval. Landed in spam box by mistake.