stupendous expce

[Denis Wilson <>]

Yes, and they hold their heads low down, at least the ones I've seen.
But puff up like Puffer Fish (well, almost), when making their metallic whirring noises.
This can occur in trees when making those calls, not just when in the bower itself.

Geoffrey's account of the limp (being copied) is interesting too.

Cheers
Denis

On Sat, Jun 25, 2011 at 3:01 PM, Geoffrey Dabb <> wrote:

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

-- 
Denis Wilson
"The Nature of Robertson"
www.peonyden.blogspot.com