Relaxing at Ballarat Bird World in Australia

If you like flying feathered beasts, then a visit to Ballarat’s Bird World in Australia might just be your cup of tea. Set into a cul-de-sac within a residential neighbourhood, Bird World is a bit of a chore to get too, but the way is well signed. Just pay close attention and you will get there eventually.

Bird World is open 7 days per week, only closing on Christmas day. I believe we paid about $8au each to get in. The entry fee included a bag of food to toss to the fish and magpies.

This is a self-guided tour of both free-flying and caged birds. The path is wood and built to be wheelchair accessible, although some of the paths are a bit steep. It is not a huge place, but you can plan to spend about an hour here... perhaps longer on a nice, sunny day.

During our visit Australia was experiencing a serious draught so the flora was not in the best of shape, nor were the ponds and streams. We could easily se how beautiful the place is under normal conditions though. There were spots where it was clear there were gorgeous waterfalls at one time. Hopefully they will get some relief from the lack of water so they can flourish again.

The main birds living here are parrots and cockatiels. We are talking all manor of each. From black to white to brilliant colors. Some of them will talk to you a bit. One shy orange cockatiel only spoke after we stepped on to the next cage. We would go back to him and he would go silent… until we moved away again. Pretty funny bit, that. One of the large black cockatiels came up to the cage begging for the fish food. He was very gentle about taking it out of my hand.

Of the free-flying birds, the magpies were king. There was a group of three that followed us just about everywhere we went waiting for us to drop them some food. We hung out and talked to them a bit down by the large pond. It was a pleasant spell of tossing the food into the giant carp & ducks, and almost hand-feeding our friendly magpies. I say almost because they stayed just barely out of hands reach. Just barely.

We had lattes on the wonderful wood deck after our stroll through the park. Several stunningly beautiful lorikeets came and said hello. They would not let us approach at all, though. Still, it was a very pleasant respite from a day of touristing all over Victoria.

My only true gripe is the lack of schlock in the souvenir shop. We did buy a tea towel for $7au, but I would have liked to have seen a wider selection of items. They had numerous potted plants for sale, but we cannot take those on the plane. There was a cap or two on offer, but not much of a selection at all.

The owners live on the property and run it themselves. She was taking the entry fees, serving the snacks and running the souvenir shop while he was out and about the small park area trying to figure out ways to save his slowly dying water-starved plants. They are a very nice couple.