Spring is in the air and this blue wren is losing his eclipse (non-breeding) plumage and his blue bib is beginning to emerge. (I took this pic through the verandah slats). Maybe it's an itchy process, because he then hopped into the birdbath for a quick dip (it was very quick, a matter of seconds, but I've witnessed a pair of wrens mating and that was even quicker!) The post-bath feather-aligning, flea-crunching (no doubt) and general preening that followed took quite a while longer. See it by clicking...
1 Comment
Marion May Campbell
26/8/2018 05:59:15 pm
How fabulous to record the après-bain preening process like this. I had no idea that the male only donned his blue vest for mating. Thank you for a beautiful study.
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