Betrisher
Well-known member
- Jun 3, 2013
- 4,253
- 177
- Parrots
- Dominic: Galah(RIP: 1981-2018); The Lovies: Four Blue Masked Lovebirds; Barney and Madge (The Beaks): Alexandrines; Miss Rosetta Stone: Little Corella
Minnesota! I know it gets very cold there, so you'll probably laugh at me when I say it's *freezing* over here at about eighteen degrees Celsius. Freezing! I'm quite aware that it gets even freezinger where you're from! 
Victoria is OK, but I reckon NSW is better. We have a much broader spread of parrot species *and* ecosystems for you to check out than anywhere else. We're the only state that has a 'mountain' in it (you'd call it a hill, but we're really proud of our Mt Kosciuszko) *and* we have safe beaches (ie. no crocs, only sharks and a few stingers). We have vineyards, desert, rainforest (both tropical and temperate) and the largest network of riverine environments in the country.
I have to be honest and say Queensland is rather more exotic. They do have the Palm Cockatoo and the Eclectus, but we more than make up for that in variety and numbers of species. AND if you venture into Queensland, you'll probably die of crocodile bite or cassowary scratch. So yeah: NSW is the place to go in Oz.
I would *strongly* encourage you to pursue a degree in Zoology! I did mine as an external student back in the seventies and there are zillions more subjects and specialties you can pursue today. My degree was a general one, so I have a good grounding in all animal phlya from the molluscs on up. TODAY, though, you can specialise in entomology, mycology, ornithology or any of a wide spectrum of phyla. (NB. This is at the Uni I attend - might be different elsewhere).
The point I make, though, is that the learning is utterly AMAZING! The things you get to see down a microscope tube just blow your mind; the things you see in dissection, in lab class and on field trips are incredible and as your knowledge grows, you get greedy for more. When I was an undergrad, our big external project was to go to a rock platform in northern NSW and spend a week documenting everything we could find there. Today, students from my Uni go to places like Botswana and Xinjiang province in China to study the wildlife there and act as field assistants in ongoing studies. If I were younger and fitter and didn't have a family of animals and kids to care for, I'd be there in a heartbeat!
Just imagine doing a *degree* in parrot studies! There's so much still unknown about our Australian species, you could just pick one and find out about it. At length.
Victoria is OK, but I reckon NSW is better. We have a much broader spread of parrot species *and* ecosystems for you to check out than anywhere else. We're the only state that has a 'mountain' in it (you'd call it a hill, but we're really proud of our Mt Kosciuszko) *and* we have safe beaches (ie. no crocs, only sharks and a few stingers). We have vineyards, desert, rainforest (both tropical and temperate) and the largest network of riverine environments in the country.
I have to be honest and say Queensland is rather more exotic. They do have the Palm Cockatoo and the Eclectus, but we more than make up for that in variety and numbers of species. AND if you venture into Queensland, you'll probably die of crocodile bite or cassowary scratch. So yeah: NSW is the place to go in Oz.
I would *strongly* encourage you to pursue a degree in Zoology! I did mine as an external student back in the seventies and there are zillions more subjects and specialties you can pursue today. My degree was a general one, so I have a good grounding in all animal phlya from the molluscs on up. TODAY, though, you can specialise in entomology, mycology, ornithology or any of a wide spectrum of phyla. (NB. This is at the Uni I attend - might be different elsewhere).
The point I make, though, is that the learning is utterly AMAZING! The things you get to see down a microscope tube just blow your mind; the things you see in dissection, in lab class and on field trips are incredible and as your knowledge grows, you get greedy for more. When I was an undergrad, our big external project was to go to a rock platform in northern NSW and spend a week documenting everything we could find there. Today, students from my Uni go to places like Botswana and Xinjiang province in China to study the wildlife there and act as field assistants in ongoing studies. If I were younger and fitter and didn't have a family of animals and kids to care for, I'd be there in a heartbeat!
Just imagine doing a *degree* in parrot studies! There's so much still unknown about our Australian species, you could just pick one and find out about it. At length.
