Australia Zoo bird keeper Taryn Smith wows Instagram with wildlife photos taken on her iPhone
THESE are the incredible photos of Australia Zoo’s animals that Bindi Irwin hasn’t seen, which have been taken by the zoo’s Instagram-famous bird keeper.
THESE are the incredible photos of Australia Zoo’s animals that Bindi Irwin hasn’t seen.
As one of the zoo’s bird keepers and trainers, Taryn Smith has amassed an Instagram following of more than 17,600 fans with her pictures of parrots and birds of prey she works with daily.
Ms Smith, 24, from Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast, said each photo was taken on her iPhone 6 while she has been at the zoo since moving from Canada four years ago.
Her Instagram account @tbonesjones has lots of close-up shots of her with birds including Queto, a blue and gold macaw, Jagger, a red-tailed black cockatoo, Amelio and Ace, two wedge-tailed eagles and Peter, an Australian powerful owl.
She said the best moments to photograph them are when they’re distracted by something, and she doesn’t have to bribe them with treats.
“I think the birds love it, they are quite intelligent and they love to show off,” she said.
“I enjoy taking and posting photos of animals close up because not many people are lucky enough to be able to see birds and other animals in so much detail, and appreciate how amazing they are.”
While the Irwins haven’t seen her photos, she said she hopes her followers learn more about wildlife from her encounters.
“If people see a bird on my Instagram and know what it is, when they spot it in the wild they might get excited about it,” she said.
She has posed in several photos with Queto, a 12-year-old blue and gold macaw, with the caption “weird bird girl”.
He “waves” to people by flapping his wings and “makes a kissing noise”.
She raised and trained Jagger herself, and described him as her “boy” in one photo.
“He’s my personal project and he’ll be ready to take part in the bird show soon. He’s nearly two and he just loves attention,” she said.
Amelio, one of her wedge-tailed eagles, was brought to the zoo after he got kicked out of his nest and was found by a local family.
Like other birds of prey, Ms Smith said he is easy to photograph when focusing on a potential target.
Her other eagle, Ace, was captured “coming in for a kiss” towards her iPhone camera.
In a selfie with Peter, the two of them look like they are winking at the camera. But Ms Smith said the Australian powerful owl only has one eye.
“He’s a four-year-old Australian powerful owl, he fell out of his nest and was attacked by crows and magpies. A family found him and brought him to the zoo but the specialists here at the hospital couldn't save that eye,” she said.
“They didn’t think he’d be able to catch moving prey but he gets food on a silver platter from us.”
She has also taken photos with other animals at Australia Zoo including Igloo, a 38-year-old tortoise that visitors can pat, a cuddly 10-year-old koala called Slater and Blue the echidna.
She was also photographed touching noses with Pit, a Binturong, which visitors can meet up-close.
Ms Smith’s passion for taking photos with animals also involves her three pets at home. She has Rome, a great dane, a pitbull named Zeph and a baby pigeon named Lemon.
She took one photo of herself with Zeph while swimming in a pool with a Go-Pro while underwater with a selfie stick.
In another post captured Lemon sitting on top of her great dane, tagging it with the words “PidgeLife”.
“Lemon is a regular homing pigeon, like what you’d see in the street, but he lives in our house,” she said.
“As long as I’m sitting there with Rome, I can put the pigeon near him and they are fine around each other. Lemon has quite a big personality.”
Ms Smith said her passion for animals comes from when she was growing up.
“I think I’ve always loved animals since I was small when my mum put me into horseback riding. I loved the feeling with being close to such a big animal. It would listen to you, it would respect you,” she said.
“To understand birds, it takes a lot of effort and hard work, but it is totally worth it in the end.”
An Australia Zoo spokeswoman said the photos are a great way to learn about the zoo’s wildlife.
“Australia Zoo takes pride in the fact that the passion of our Wildlife Warriors shines through in all aspects of their lives. That passion is what inspires others to be involved and take an interest in conservation,” she said.
“Social media platforms are becoming an increasingly great way to allow people to fall in love with wildlife and Taryn’s pictures certainly represent how important our cause is as conservationists.”
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