3 doors down from my house!!!

I'm currently doing a good deal of research into eucalyptus, acacia and other Australian plants and trees that are native to the outback areas, to the rainforests of Queensland and to the coastal ranges where many of our Australian parrots are found. The biotope and habitats of Australia is an extremely unique place, cut off from the evolutionary processes of mainland Asia for many, many millions of years. Many of the animals are very dependant upon eucalyptus and the other unique plants of the continent. The last time I tried to contact Budgie World via email, the email was returned as a dead address, so I was not able to reach them for their input. Of course, Tara and I both can walk out our front doors and get all the eucalyptus we want since it is native to Australia and so incredibly abundant in California that you might think it to be native.

It seems that these trees play a huge place in the lives of Australian parrots. Most of them eat the leaves, flowers, seeds and bark of the trees or use the trees in some form. I am sure that various Australian plants are necessary to the real health of these bird species and that many of the problems we encounter in keeping these birds healthy and happy are caused by an absence of these elements in their diets and life experience. I am hoping to have a list of tree species together in the next five to six weeks and I will share it with others on the board.

People who live in the southern/southwestern US can plant their own eucalyptus - I planted one myself in May, primarily as a source of tiel snacks. The trees are easily available at nurseries, although the exact species that's available may vary depending on where you are. There are even supposed to be some cold-tolerant species that might be available in more northerly climes.

The tiels also enjoy snacking on acacia, although it's an African species rather than Australian. I'm planning to put in some bottlebrush for them in a month or so.

Just a quick correction, Tielfan. Acacia is not stricly African, some species are found in Australia. Bottlebrush is the genus Melaleuca not Eucalyptus. Just found that out on my last trip over to the Huntington. Learn something new everyday, even an old plant rat like me has to keep up on the research. Of course, taxonomy is a very fluid science right now and is likely to remain so for some time. I stay out of the taxonomists' way right now, there are couple of 800 pound gorillas (figuratively and literally) slugging it out and I sure don't want to get hit by those boys and girls!

Acacia is in a lot of places - it's growing wild all over my neighborhood, although the local varieties are so thorny that they're harder to handle than most cacti. I don't know if the Australian species have thorns, but my Abyssinian acacia is wonderfully thorn-free and has much bigger leaves than the local acacias. It grows like a weed in the summertime too - I can give the tiels a 3-foot branch every day and it still grows faster than I can use it.

Bottlebrush is callistemon, not melaleuca which is a different kind of tree. Both are Australian species that play a role in the life of wild tiels although they're apparently not as significant as eucalyptus.

Callistemon?Huh, I guess I read the wrong tag. That's very strange, cause I was looking a one particular species and a couple of hybrids that were pretty small in stature and would make a good patio or tub subject. Well, I'd better get that straight right away. Thanks!

Callistemon citrinus is lemon bottlebrush, which is the usual species. Around here it's available in both tree form and in a dwarf variety. I haven't decided yet which one I'm going to plant - it depends on whether I put it inside the walled part of the back yard where it will be safe from rabbits, or if I put it outside the walls where the pesky varmints will eat any greenery they can reach.

Sounds like it better be inside the walls if you want any left for the fids!

The bunnies can't fly, so if I get a tree instead of the dwarf (bush) form there shouldn't be a problem. The guys at the nursery said that bottlebrush isn't particularly attractive to rabbits anyway, although it isn't particularly repulsive to them either and if they're hungry they might go for it.