Losing those post-summer blues?

Got the post-summer blues? Well do what the Superb Fairy-wrens do and simply shed them.

Blue wrens have been one of the constants in my life, although those on the west coast of Australia are different from the blue wrens here in central Victoria. The blue wrens here are Superb Fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus), cyaneus being Latin for dark-blue. The male is conspicuous with its bright blue and black breeding plumage (pictured left), while the female is grey-brown (pictured below). During the summer breeding season the sexes are easy to tell apart.

At the end of summer all the male Fairy-wrens, except the apex males, moult their familiar blue breeding plumage in favour of grey-brown plumage. At the moment hopping around the bush there is a motley collection of males at various stages of losing their ‘blues’ (see below). During winter, immature and adult males can be identified by the slightly blue tail and the black beak. The females have a brown beak and brown lores (the area between the beak and the eyes). Next spring the breeding males will again don their nuptial plumage to attract the females.

So if you are suffer from those post-summer blues don’t worry. As any fairy-wren or whiskey drinker will tell you, all you need to drive those blues away is a good ‘moult’.