Satin Bowerbird

Gallery: AvianPosted January 30, 2012229 views7 comments

Immature male Satin Bowerbird displaying at a bower in Canberra, Australia. This is probably a four or five year old bird, the males do not aquire the satin-blue adult plumage until seven years of age. These birds decorate the bower and display with blue objects: in the olden days they went for blue parrot feathers and the like, but nowadys blue plastic is the go in near urban areas.

Canon 7D, EF70-200 f/1 + 1.4x @280mm, handheld, ISO 800, f/6.3, 1/250, slight crop for composition

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on January 30, 2012 at 10:12 PM

Good job in the dull conditions Simon. Love the ruffled feathers with the pattern running through them

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on January 31, 2012 at 7:19 AM

A very interesting image for several reasons. Love the ruffled look on the bird and the great blue eye. It is kind of sad to see all the plastic replacing natural blue items in the Bower. Kind of cool that you can read "Sprite" in the cap.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on January 31, 2012 at 7:39 AM

wow, what a treat, Simon--I've never seen this species here before. great low angle, an amazing bird with lots of detail, and the bower is really neat. it's a shame that they gather plastic now, but it's also fascinating to see the behavior (and I guess this might even be a rare case of birds actually enjoying all of our garbage). Thanks for posting this, Simon, it's one of the most engaging, interesting, and unique shots I've seen in a while.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on January 31, 2012 at 9:43 AM

Very interesting bird Simon. DOn't think I have ever seen one of these posted here before. Those blue eyes are wicked! BTW, you should also post this in Environmental to show how our trash can effect the environment.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on January 31, 2012 at 11:52 AM

Wow, I do not recall ever seeing a bird with such a blue eye, very interesting shot showing the behavior and habitat. I like the feather patterns and colors on the larger image, very nice job getting this low perspective under branches and still able to see the bird really well, excellent shot, well done.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by John Robinson on January 31, 2012 at 3:39 PM

Wonderfull shot indeed.
JR

Registered on March 2, 2008, 535 Posts, 2453 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on January 31, 2012 at 9:54 PM

How very interesting. I've seen stories on these birds and their acquisitiveness but this is a great example. How cool that they go for blue objects. Thanks for sharing this.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments