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Project Noah Nature School
Malurus cyaneus
The blue markings are less vivid outside mating season.
Spotted on May 13, 2011
Submitted on May 15, 2011
4 Comments
Here's a photo of a boy in full color: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/331...
And they so live up to it Mitch. They are the jauntiest little puff-ball birds, and the males' breeding colors are amazing.
That may be the best common name I've ever heard.
This male is properly described as "going into eclipse". Eclipse is the season of non-breading plumage. In Superb fariywrens, eclipse males have the same unmarked tan plumage as the females, except for their tails which are a dusky dark blue. The main distinction between eclipse males and females is that males have black bills and females have a reddish-brown bill.