I love watching the birds at play. Even though they spend most of their time pecking around for food – grass, grubs and so on, each breed has its own version of fun:
The guinnea fowl love to dig themselves into any grassless patches and roll around in the dirt. They have also formed a choir and their performances are frequent (about once every hour or so). Their music is a bit of an acquired taste which visitors often refer to as ‘noise’ but we are used to its strange echoes.
The peacocks, of course, love to dance the ‘fantail’. Now, even though it’s only the males who do this, the females find it enormously entertaining (occasionally!) They also play a game called ‘scare-the-hell-out-of-Julie’ which consists of blood-curdling screams which never fail to stop me in my tracks, as they are so piercing.
The chooks love to play hide and seek in amongst the bits and pieces of farm debris. The hens are particularly good at hiding which is probably because they don’t like the roosters’ idea of play which I think is better left undescribed here.
The turkeys love a game called ‘peck-the-duck-until-it-wakes-up’. Even though the following picture is of one of the Bubbles (turkey) and Tapper (duck) when they were young, they still play this game with varying degrees of success.
The golden pheasants used to play a war game that turned out to be not a game at all but a war, with the loser banished to an adjacent property and the winner remaining here, victorious and splendid. And lonely. War games are no longer encouraged here.
The Indian runner ducks love to run around, pretending to be fast and, yes, before they met the emus, they thought they were fast. Unfortunately for the Indian runners, most of the timed races have been won by the Emerys, but the ducks are very dignified losers. The Emerys do concede, however, that they have the distinct advantage of loooooooooooooonger legs!
The best game of all here is waterplay and, since the following photo was taken, we have added a pond so that it isn’t just Godfrey who gets to play.
Oh, I nearly forgot – Buttons, the weiro, likes to boogie on my shoulder. He seems to be able to turn his head all the way around, then does this nodding thing really fast, then he shakes himself, then the whole dance move repeats itself. Since he is on my shoulder more than he is off my shoulder lately, this means that I am constantly covered in a sprinkling of tiny feathers that look like dandruff, as well as, you know, weiro waste (the excitement of the boogie seems to affect his little bowel – oh well!)
The following youtube of a crow snowboarding is accompanied by a rather serious little article about whether birds like to play in the same way humans do. I don’t think it matters.
jmgoyder 
I think birds love to play, especially in the water.
They sure do – even the emus!
You are making me want to come for a visit. So many wonderful species of birds I’ve never seen. We are enjoying our hummingbirds and a little tit mouse that comes and sits on our porch. Soon the doves will join us here in the California desert.
You can come and visit any time!
I would hang around that wattle too if I one of those guinnea fowl. It’s magnificent! When I was younger growing up on the farm we had huge ones like that too at the front of the house & driveway. Didn’t roll around in the dirt though, more put up hammocks.
I love seeing ducks swim. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a wild duck wallow in a dam the same way farm ducks do in a bathtub.
You’re right, I don’t think it matters if they do enjoy it the same way as we do – sometimes it seems like they enjoy it a lot more!
I never even notice the wattle so thanks for making me notice it!
Hi,
I love the photos, and all the different animals you have is just fantastic. 🙂
I had a bit of a laugh at the war between the golden pheasants, that is unreal how they couldn’t live together peacefully.
Yeah, way back whenever (last year) I began the blog with the pheasant war photos – hehe! Well, I guess it’s not all that funny – oh well!
Glad you got another pool! ~ Lynda
Yes I need more!
Having become quite a serious bird watcher in recent months, I have to agree with you – birds love to play. Not only that, they love having a bath and splashing around. Initially I thought they were just ridding their wings of excess water (by flapping their wings, but I really do think they play as well.
By the way, that’s a very nice photo of the Golden Pheasant on the right hand side of this post.
Any good photos have been taken by my niece, Jane! Thanks, Vicki.