Yes Sz - that’s a fairly long-standing bower with a tirelessly exhibitionist male. No optical illusion.
However I remember the bower at the English Garden you drew attention to some years ago. There were 2 bowers in the vicinity. One, which continued for some years, possibly still there, was operated by a male with a deformed foot and a pronounced limp. The remarkable thing was that junior birds watching his performance, when it came to their turn for a bit of practice, used to imitate the adult - complete with the limp, evidently assuming this to be an essential element. I’ve got some video of it somewhere.
From: Suzanne Edgar [
Sent: Saturday, 25 June 2011 2:32 PM
To:
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds] stupendous expce
PS
Not sure if it was an optical illusion due to fading light, @ 4.40 pm, but the male seemed to puff himself up (or swell up) to the size of c. a native hen while doing this prancing and performing.
Sz
