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Birds of Oz: The charming natives that found TikTok fame

Katrina Smith was living a city lifestyle in Melbourne, Australia, when Covid hit. Fearing a lockdown, she packed up and rented a place on the Surf Coast of Victoria.

She started posting videos of the birds that showed up on her balcony. Those birds quickly found online fame, notching up millions of views on TikTok and Instagram.

Now she's left with the dilemma of whether or not to return to the city at all.

Video By Isabelle Rodd

27 April 2021

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Curlew, brown bird with speckled wings, mid-flight

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Two parrots looking at eachother

Couple love showing people their 20 rescued parrots

A screen grab from a camera inside an owl nesting box. It shows a mother owl and her four chicks. The mother owl and one of the chicks both have small rodents in their beaks.

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An adult curlew standing in grass beside a wire fence

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Hisham with Happy on his left shoulder and Scarlet on his right shoulder

Meet the parrots flying around Primrose Hill

Glasgow man frees trapped bird from street light

Is it a bird? Man scales street light to free seagull

Fluffy white flamingo chick in cupped hands

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Beds, Herts & Bucks

The inside of the Local Stop 24 Bangor newsagent store, with the till on the left hand side and a stack of newspapers in the centre. The seagull is in front of the newspapers with a newspaper in its beak.

Watch as bird bandit pinches paper from newsagent

A ducking born being held in a hand with a white glove

Rare ducklings are 'ambassadors of their species'

Female duck and chicks

Duckling family march to safety at Hardwick Hall

Science & Environment

A bittern flying through the sky with a blurred background

Bitterns attract wildlife tourists to Somerset

Emu chicks

Three emu chicks hatch at Borders bird centre

Seagull Boy and Olly Alexander

'Seagull Boy' teaches Olly Alexander how to do impression

A bittern in flight

Appeal to listen out for 'bittern boom'

A herring gull

What is happening to Wales' seagull numbers?

Peregrine falcon in its nest box on at Cromer parish church looking down at its egg

Church tower peregrine lays first egg of the year

Kingfisher bird perched on tree

Kingfishers begin nesting early at wetland centre

Gloucestershire

A Waxwing bird perched on a tree branch

How do you spot a waxwing?

Thom Yorke speaking on microphone on stage and pointing at audience

Radiohead's Thom Yorke calls out heckler over Gaza protest

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Tilly Cooper

Australian teen: Oh my God, I just talked to the Queen

An Australian says "you can't get any better than that" after meeting King Charles and Queen Camilla in Sydney.

Indigenous protester arrested by police in Sydney.

'He is a King of thieves': Aboriginal protester arrested in Sydney

BBC footage shows the protester shouting to crowds waiting to see King Charles outside of the Sydney Opera House.

Lidia Thorpe being ejected as she heckles King Charles in Parliament House in Canberra

Moment King Charles is heckled by Australian politician

The woman shouted "you are not our King" and "this is not your land" before being escorted out.

A woman on a Sydney street speaks to the camera

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Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnolley wearing white shirts and black suit jackets

Ant & Dec helped reunite me with my Aussie family

Tina flies to Melbourne to meet her four siblings for the first time and it is captured on film.

People trapped in mid-air after ride malfunctions in Australia

People trapped in mid-air after ride malfunctions in Australia

The ride was stopped due to a "sensor communication fault", according to a theme park official.

Raygun speaking

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Nate Byne presenting the weather on ABC News Breakfast

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ABC News Breakfast's Nate Byrne speaks with the BBC about how he handled the on-air moment.

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Julian Assange is with his family in Australia, after walking free from a US court in Saipan.

Nish Veer, speaking from Sydney

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Swimmers on the beach in Hobart for the naked winter solstice swim

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Around 3,000 people took the plunge in the River Derwent in Hobart to mark the winter solstice.

Light plane flying over houses

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The pilot was able to steer clear of roofs in Sydney’s suburbs after the plane lost power mid-flight.

Debra and

Watch: Mother of slain surfers says ‘shine brighter’ in their memory

The mother of two Australian brothers killed in Mexico says “the world has become a darker place”.

A family in Sydney attending a vigil for the Sydney stabbing victims.

'We felt we should honour a mum in our community'

People gather for a vigil in Sydney to remember those who died in a stabbing attack in the city's Bondi Junction.

Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel

Stabbed Sydney bishop forgives his alleged attacker

In an audio message, Mar Mari Emmanuel said he was ‘doing fine’ in his first statement since being attacked on Monday.

Two police officers stand outside a church with riot shields

Police disperse crowds after Sydney church stabbing

A bishop and several other people have been stabbed during a sermon in the suburb of Wakeley in Sydney.

Katy Watson in front of police tape

Sydney attack: What's known about how it unfolded?

The BBC's Katy Watson explains the violence at Bondi Junction that left six people and their attacker dead.

The words 'This video has been removed for rights reasons' on a red background

This video has been removed for rights reasons

This video has been removed for rights reasons.

Two men on an escalator appearing to have a confrontation

Video shows Sydney stabbing attack suspect in mall

The footage appears to show a man confronting the knifeman on an escalator with a pole.