I would appreciate views on the photo below (not a very good
one as it was taken from some distance). Is it m. leucopterus (black wren) or
m. leuconotus (blue wren) or was the light playing tricks with me? The photo
was taken at Garalia Station which is south of the bottom end of Exmouth Gulf,
WA, nearer Coral Bay than Exmouth. All my photos of this
bird show a small blue patch just behind the eye which apparently is not
uncommon in the black wrens. The guide books give m. leucopterus’ known
habitat as Dirk Hartog Island,
noting that the black wren is rarely seen on the mainland. However, we met a
fellow birder at Halls Creek who showed us a good photo of a black wren that he
claims he took at Shark
Bay. Rhonda photographed
the same bird and her photos are similar to mine.
Regards
Lindsay Hansch
