If you've seen the movie Storm Boy, The BeastMaster or more recently, Penguin Bloom, then chances are you have seen Paul Mander's birds at work.
The England-born trainer came to Australia 22 years ago for a holiday, but before long he was setting up some of the country's first authentic bird shows.
"We have birds that will come out of the clouds and soar on thermals," Mr Mander said.
"We specialise in displaying birds in a natural way, so people appreciate them for what they are."
Penguin Bloom is a true story about Sydney mother, Sam Bloom, who finds hope through caring for an injured magpie named 'Penguin' after a balcony fall left her with paraplegia.
The Australian drama, starring Naomi Watts and Andrew Lincoln, shot to the top spot at the box office in its first week, raking in over $1 million in ticket sales.
Eight magpies — all trained by Mr Mander — play the role of 'Penguin' throughout the movie.
"We had to have a baby, which is Swoop. We had to have the juveniles, three of them which were flying and learning to fly, and we had our adult birds as well that played penguin when he was a two-year-old," he said.
"The movie was a great opportunity to display magpies in a different way and show their funny side.
Mr Mander said magpies were innately curious species and responded well to signals when their behaviour was rewarded with mealworms.
"You can take advantage of that curiosity during training sessions," he said.
"They tend to be very inquisitive and involved in anything you're doing, and when you reward them for that, they learn very fast."
Birdlife
Mr Mander has always had a special affinity with birds — his father and family friends were keen falconers — and he now shares his Gold Coast property with about 65 parrots, macaws, owls, eagles, falcons and a magpie named swoop.
"Swoop is the juvenile bird in the movie, so he plays the baby that they find. The baby in the basket, who is rinsed in the sink with Naomi in one scene," he said.
"Some of the birds, other than swoop, that we used were rehabilitation birds that had come into captivity and were unable to be released into the wild."
Mr Mander said Swoop the magpie was the man about town and a little bit mischievous.
"The interaction we have with magpies around here is more because swoop brings them here, brings his friends back," he said.
"You have to be careful if you leave the door open in the house, he'll take the opportunity to go in the house and find things to eat or play with."
Mr Mander said magpies had a bad rap in Australia because of their tendency to swoop during breeding season, but they were very clever and misunderstood.
"They're very intelligent, but they also have very good memory retention," he said.
"So when we are teaching them new behaviours, they retain that information, and we can pick up on that in the next training session.
A true depiction
While computer-generated imagery is a common feature of modern filmmaking, Mr Mander said training birds was easier and cheaper.
When he is not training birds for film and television, Mr Mander is working with theme parks and wildlife sanctuaries as well as schools and on marriage proposals.
Mr Mander said his birds required equal amounts of love and attention, but a 22-year-old eagle named Soren was his favourite.
