Mad as a gum tree full of galahs

One of the truly iconic views of the outback is to see flocks of Galahs (also known as pink and grey cockatoos) resting in dead trees. The word Galah was adapted into Australian English from the Aboriginal Yuwaalaraay language of northern New South Wales.

The birds were reportedly a popular dish with the early settlers struggling in the outback; in 1902 the Truth newspaper reported that “The sunburnt residents of at that God-forsaken outpost of civilisation were subsisting on stewed galah and curried crow”. Galahs exhibit erratically noisy behaviour. As a result the term Galah has become slang for being a fool and to be as ‘mad as a gum tree full of galahs’ is to be completely mad or irrational. I took the shot at sunset in the Northern Territory Outback just outside Watarrka National Park. Australia.

If you would like to learn a little bit more about my background in photography you can read the interview @photofeed did with me here.

Robert Downie
Love Life, Love Photography

_{All images in this post were taken by and remain the Copyright of Robert Downie - http://www.robertdowniephotography.com}