Satin Bowerbird

Description:

A male Satin Bowerbird has decided our top garden is the perfect place for his to build his bower. The juvenile males look like the females, (the second photo) with their green and brown feathers. Then they start changing throughout their 3rd to 6th year. In their 7th year they fully reach their full blue/black plumage. The males build their bower for courting. The bowers are built with collected twigs and sticks, woven into an avenue, with the walls running in a north-south direction. They decorate with flowers, snail shells, feathers etc. When near man, they'll take anything they can find that is blue. Bottle tops, clothes pegs, plastic etc. Females tour their area and check out the various bowers, the male prances and struts around and can even offer her decorations from his bower. If he's acceptable, they'll mate in the bower and then the female goes off and lays her eggs in a nest she's built up in a nearby tree and raises the young by herself. Photo order. 1 - Adult male Satin Bowerbird. 2 - Female Satin Bowerbird, the juvenile male also looks like the female. 3 - Male at his bower moving some decoration around. 4 - Face on to his bower. You can see the decoration at the front. 5 - Looking down on his decorations. He's constantly moving them to find the best configuration. Every day I look, it is set out completely different. You can see flowers, clothes pegs, bottle tops, wasp nests, bits of plastic, yellow feathers.