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kiwipics — silvereye with blossoms
#cherryblossoms #cherrytree #naturephotography #spring #birdphotography #pinkblossoms #newzealandbird #birdphoto
Published: 2017-09-22 23:10:03 +0000 UTC; Views: 514; Favourites: 95; Downloads: 9
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Comments: 30
absolutely lovely bird & sakura and absolutely lovely photo!😍
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This is so cute! And the flowers are so pretty too! Nice shot
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Woah, what a beautiful photo! Just the right moment!
How cool that this species spread to New Zealand on its own, I just read up about that.
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Aw thank you! 
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That's pretty neat! I did not know that, what kind of species are originally from the Australian mainland?
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Mallards, black swan, Australian coot, spur-winged plover, Australian magpie and probably some more.
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Oh wow, that's really cool! I love Australian magpies, they have such a unique song. Black swans are gorgeous aswell, albeit a bit territorial.
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Yea magpies do sound beautiful, but most people are afraid of them. I didn't know black swans were territorial though, I always thought they were extremely placid compared to our mute swans.
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Yeah, is it because they protect their nests quite aggresively?
Oh well I think both black swans and mute swans get aggresive during the breeding season, but maybe mute swans are even worse, haha.
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Yea mute swans are at their worst in the breeding season. Mute swans have killed people but I don't think black swans have, so yea they would be more aggressive. Mute swans are also very territorial.
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Oh wow, I didn’t know they have even killed people. That’s crazy!
I did know they attack other waterfowl aswell, and that they cause a lot of damage as an invasive species because of this, since many endemic species can’t deal with their aggresive and territorial nature,
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Yea it is very rare but it can still happen. Their wings could break your bones, our one dented my dad's lawn mower just with his wings. And yes, they don't like other waterfowl invading their territory, the ducks usually know to get out of the way when he comes. I can imagine though how it would be a problem, so are they considered pest over there?
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Oh wow, I had no idea their wings were that powerful, yikes!
Good thing your ducks know to steer clear of them, haha. Mute swans are native to Sweden, so they don’t cause any damage here at all, they are part of the natural ecosystem.
However, I heard that in countries like the US, were mute swans aren’t native, they are displacing and killing many native species of waterfowl, since the native birds can’t compete or know how to deal with the swans due to their aggresive nature.
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Oh that is cool that they are native. We don't have many wild white swans here so not much problem with our native birds. Queen Elizabeth owns all the mute swans in NZ, is it the same in Sweden?
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Yeah, it’s pretty cool, and they look very graceful on the water.
Not anymore, but all swans used to belong to the royal family, and common people weren’t allowed to hunt or kill them. The same with oak trees, because they were important for the fleet.
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Oh that's very interesting, though isn't it still illegal to hunt them in Britain? I didn't know about the oak tree although it does make sense. When did the royals stop owning the swans and oak trees?
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I have no idea if they are still protected or not in the UK, but I guess that would make sense.
Not really sure, but it must have been at least a hundred years ago. Since oaks grow so slowly, we actually have plantations of oak trees that were planted in the 1600-1700’s, that was supposed to be cut down whenever timber was needed for the fleet. They didn’t realize we wouldn’t need them for that purpose a few hundred years in the future, haha.
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Oh wow, yea things have changed now. Will they still be cut down or are they going to be left there? Must be cool seeing trees that old.
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I don’t know for sure, but I think they are protected as part of our history! They’re included in cultural preserves, as far as I know!
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Yea it is gorgeous here, spring is my favorite season. 
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