No prize for guessing that you are looking at a male of its species.
This species – Malurus elegans, the Red-winged fairywren – can only be looked at in Australia’s southwestern corner.
Shy and secretive. Difficult to observe, says The Complete Guide to Australian Birds.
Hmmmm…immediately in front of our February 2025 accommodation (near Youngs Siding, between Albany and Denmark, in south coastal WA) a whole lot of flaunting went on.
Observing it was not particularly difficult!
However, successfully photographing same – and other birds, variously strutting, feeding, bathing and drinking – was challenging.
Digital technology is the great enabler for people who love to photograph birds.
Inevitably, most attempts are failures.
With film, bird photography was analogous to pouring money down a very hungry drain.
Now, the only substantial, ongoing “cost” is repetitive strain injury, via frequent use of the “delete” button!
Still, enough February 2025 images survived to ensure that birds would be the “stars” of this series…
Fun fact: among fairywrens – which are not “true” wrens – the pictured species is the “great survivor”.
More than 75% of breeding individuals survive from one year to the next.
It is not unusual for them to live for 10 years, and at least one is known to have survived for more than 16 years – an extraordinary feat for any tiny, hyperactive, feathered species.
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