This little family of fairy wrens put on a good post bath display of flying round and snuggling up to each other. At this time of year there are no blue colours except for pale in their tails. I notice a distinctly different beak colour in some. Anyone know if this is an indicator of gender?
thanks for comments
This is magnificent :) Beats my bathing wrens i just posted! Not too sure about the beaks, but the difference is all in the colours of the feathers. Girls are all brown (and by looking at your photo, maybe girls have darker beaks). Males have the brilliant blue, and juveniles have the blue tails. Instant fav :)
Adult male Superb Fairy-wrens are among the most brightly coloured of the species, especially during the breeding season. They have rich blue and black plumage above and on the throat. The belly is grey-white and the bill is black. Females and young birds are mostly brown above with a dull red-orange area around the eye and a brown bill. Females have a pale greenish gloss, absent in young birds, on the otherwise brown tail. The legs are brown in both sexes. Males from further inland and in the south-west of the range have more blue on the back and underparts. (from Birdlife Australia website) What a great shot of the family group. Fav
@gigiflower@hermann@overalvandaan@gilbertwood thanks everyone for your lovely comments and helpful suggestions on the beaks. I looked on Wikipedia (ha ha) and it seems that the girls and juveniles have the red/brown beaks. Once the boys have had their mating colours in Spring their beaks remain black, so I guess that's Dad at the top!
@soboy5 ha ha, thanks, actually they're all nailed to the perch! Not really , just kidding, but it did take a few shots to get them all looking the same way! @susanalena@lindacarol@leananiemand thanks so much for the lovely comments and favs. They were flitting around so fast I had to keep pressing the shutter to get 2/3/4 together! @blueberry1222@vstap@carolmw thanks I was very lucky to snap just as they all lined up and looked the same way! appreciate your support and pushing this on the PP @allred3@ishutter thanks for comments, Yes Kim, I believe that is Dad looking the other way, in his Winter plumage. @shepherdmanswife@milaniet@777margo@stiggle thanks so much for the lovely positive comments and favs.
@flyrobin thanks Robyn, I finally looked it up too and found that the boys keep their black beaks once they've had their "boy" colours. After all these years I had never paid that much attention! @beachdog thanks Barb, appreciate the comment and fav.
@susanalena @lindacarol @leananiemand thanks so much for the lovely comments and favs. They were flitting around so fast I had to keep pressing the shutter to get 2/3/4 together!
@blueberry1222 @vstap @carolmw thanks I was very lucky to snap just as they all lined up and looked the same way! appreciate your support and pushing this on the PP
@allred3 @ishutter thanks for comments, Yes Kim, I believe that is Dad looking the other way, in his Winter plumage.
@shepherdmanswife @milaniet @777margo @stiggle thanks so much for the lovely positive comments and favs.
@beachdog thanks Barb, appreciate the comment and fav.