The 'wattle' refers to the red fleshy appendage hanging from the cheeks, rather like a 'mini-rooster' wattle adornment! I discovered today that there are different species of wattle birds, so I may have to find out which one this juvenile wattle bird is.
How very interesting that little bird is! Obviously an Australian sort, but never even saw one in a zoo! The wattle is unexpected as I thought they were limited to the birds everyone already knows!
@dkbarnett yes - the background sky was actually completely 'blown out' because I exposed using spot metering on the bird. I layered about 5 different images behind the bird to try & replicate something that might have been 'seen' (give or take an edit or two ...or three...) I am trying to combine the backgrounds in the final image so that it looks 'almost' real. I had always imagined they were called wattle birds because they fed on the insects in wattle trees! oops.. now I know otherwise thanks to 365 research! ha ha, there is always something new to learn
This is quite impressive work, I think! Really great background and the cool bird really stands out. I kept looking at it, wondering how you did (then saw your comment about the layering). FAV
