Ol’ Blue-eyes

During my latest excursions with the Murrindindi Birdwatchers I have learned a new word – ‘Lifer’. A lifer is a bird that you have observed for the first time ever, and of course everyone is keen to do that. Last weekend whilst wandering in the bush I saw a lifer. Strangely enough it was not really the bird that I was interested in but one of its constructs – a bower. Ever since I was a kid I had heard of the bower that a Satin Bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) makes and how the male decorates it with blue articles to attract and impress the female Bowerbird.

And there it was in the middle of the bush, a collection of blue articles (pictured above) – packing twine, packing straps, plastic lids, even the top of a BIC ballpoint pen. It took four visits to the bower over several days to eventually see the constructor of the bower (pictured right). The male is solid black in colour (the female is green/brown) but when the light is at the correct angle it diffracts off the feathers to give the male bird a distinctly metallic blue appearance. Most striking however are the violet-blue eyes.

This particular male was quite mature. Younger males are coloured like the female and decorate their bowers with both blue and yellow objects. As a bird matures the feathers become darker and the decorations become more blue.

Which got me thinking…all the items in this bower were man made. Blue is not a common colour in nature and I wonder what was used to decorate bowers before man appeared. Berries maybe, even flowers.

If I was a Crimson Rosella I’d watch out for my tail feathers.