03 August 2013

Red Wattlebird

It's not unreasonable to wonder why is it called red, instead of yellow, Wattlebird?  Birds of Australia by Readers Digest says "cheeks silvery white, with drooping red fleshy wattle at rear becoming larger with age".




see that little confetti-sized dot of red?




indicating the younger bird




Location: Warners Bay

25 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

wow, carole! great, detailed shots!

DeniseinVA said...

Great pictures Carole, thank you for sharing this delightful bird.

Montanagirl said...

That's a beautiful bird, and your photography is stellar!

Brian King said...

Magnificent bird! It certainly isn't the only bird who's name doesn't seem to fit. Sometimes I wonder if scientists were drinking when they named some of them. :-)

Anonymous said...

Wow!! Truly beautiful captures.
In these pics you can feel the softness of the feathers.. wonderful

Deanna said...

lovely, clear shots...beautiful!!

Karen said...

Fabulous captures! Such a beautiful bird.

Christian Perrin said...

I like that last shot with the tail fan all spread out! These birds are very "Sydney" for me - I miss them up north.

Carole M. said...

it really makes me happy that many of you enjoy seeing these photos. Ros: loved your comment re the coke bottle, and will you believe me when I say, hand-held? It's pointless to carry a tripod and set it up for birding photography (at least to me it is) and I have tried the string pod concept recently after you mentioned it to me and while it works somehow, again, I just find it 'clumsy' to put into practice. If I possibly can when zooming out, I will stand up against a tree or fence post or car, that gives me some chance of getting a reasonable shot. For these photos though, there wasn't anything nearby ...I just was lucky

Isidro Ortiz said...

Bonita serie.Un abrazo

Irma said...

Hi Carole,
What a great beautiful bird.
Birds are perfectly sharp and lots of details, well photographed, my compliments.

Stewart M said...

Great set of pictures - this is a common bird that I always fail to get decent pictures of!

I use a mono-pod for most of my long lens shots, tripod for landscape pictures (if I dont have the kids with me!) and anything else I can lean on at other times!

Cheers - Stewart M

Joop Zand said...

Never seen such bird....i like this one Carole.

Greetings, Joop

diane b said...

You really know heaps about birds. Great shots as usual but one lost his head.

eileeninmd said...

Carole, what a pretty bird. I love that yellow on its belly. Great shots!

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

Hi Carole Lovely shots of this bird. I have seen it once when I was on the outskirts of Sydney in a forest.

John @ Beans and I on the Loose said...

you have such neat birds down under

Lisa Gordon said...

Had to look for a bit, but now I see it!
It's a really beautiful bird, Carole.

Jan Castle said...

Great shots Carole!!!

Sharyl said...

Glad you questioned the red! Funny how it's just such a teeny bit of red and the person who named it went for that bit rather than the bold obvious yellow! Well, it makes it memorable, once you know! ;-)

You all seem to have a number of bright yellow birds. I honestly can't think of one here. Most of our birds are somewhat ho-hum gray!

Phil Slade said...

They're great shots Carole. And what an unusual bird with an unusual name, especially since it doesn't appear to fit. Glad you explained it.

Joe said...

I was wondering about the name and then I saw why in the last pic.

Helma said...

GORGEOUS this bird. What a beautiful creature is this. Especially your first picture I find very beautiful Carole. I have this bird therefore never seen!

Jeanne said...

Amazing shots of this bird. You need to send some of these to National Geographic! They would love your photos

Liz said...

What gorgeous shots! I've have only seen a Red Wattlebird once and only have one shot. I didn't know they had a yellow belly.