| Photo Information |
| Copyright: Les Bennett (williewhistler) (64) |
| Genre: Animals |
| Medium: Color |
| Date Taken: 2009-01-09 |
| Categories: Birds |
| Exposure: f/10.0, 1/200 seconds |
| More Photo Info: [view] |
| Photo Version: Original Version |
| Date Submitted: 2009-05-21 13:53 |
| Viewed: 469 |
| Points: 0 |
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
Whilst enjoying an ice cream in the park this fairy wren paid us an all too fleeting visit,so this is a grab shot I`m afraid.
The Variegated Fairy-wren is 14–15 cm (5.5–6 in) long[10] and weighs 6–11 g (0.21–0.38 oz).[16] Like other fairy-wrens, it is notable for its marked sexual dimorphism, males adopting a highly visible breeding plumage of brilliant iridescent blue and chestnut contrasting with black and grey-brown. The brightly coloured crown and ear tufts are prominently featured in breeding displays.[17] The male in breeding plumage has striking bright blue ear coverts, with the crown often slightly darker, a black throat and nape, a royal blue upper back, chestnut shoulders and a bluish-grey tail. The wings are grey-brown and the belly creamy white. Non-breeding males, females and juveniles are predominantly grey-brown in colour; all males have a black bill and lores (eye-ring and bare skin between eyes and bill), while females have a red-brown bill and bright rufous lores. Immature males will develop black bills by six months of age[9] and moult into breeding plumage the first breeding season after hatching, though this may be incomplete with residual brownish plumage and may take another year or two to perfect.[18] Both sexes moult in autumn after breeding, with males assuming an eclipse non-breeding plumage. They will moult again into nuptial plumage in winter or spring.[19] The blue coloured plumage, particularly the ear-coverts, of the breeding males is highly iridescent due to the flattened and twisted surface of the barbules.[20] The blue plumage also reflects ultraviolet light strongly, and so may be even more prominent to other fairy-wrens, whose colour vision extends into this part of the spectrum.[21]
Vocal communication among Variegated Fairy-wrens is used primarily for communication between birds in a social group and for advertising and defending a territory.[22] The basic song type is a high-pitched reel of a large number of short elements (10–20 per second); this lasts 1–4 seconds. The reel of the Variegated Fairy-wren is the softest of all malurids.[23] Birds maintain contact with each other by tsst or seeee calls. |
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