Interesting question. I am guessing that the reason is, for most of our history, Satin Bowerbirds are forest birds, (as are Crimson Rosellas which are the common
source of blue feathers), whereas Sulphur-crested Cockatoos are open country birds. They would not often be together, let alone in an area where there are many people to watch them. Modern Canberra puts all three together in large numbers. This is likely to
be a new situation. I suspect that is the main reason.
Philip
From: Richard Lane [
Sent: Tuesday, 31 July, 2018 7:12 PM
To: Canberra Ornithologists Group
Subject: [canberrabirds] Satin Bowerbirds - Yellow and Blue Objects
Seeing this, I was reminded that all of the male Satin Bowerbirds that I have seen performing (which is not a statistically significant number but photographs illustrating this can be supplied upon request) have been carrying both a yellow
object and a blue object with their beak. Why is their penchant for blue objects always noted in the literature, whilst I have not read anywhere about the yellow objects that they present to females ?
On Mon, Jul 30, 2018 at 5:46 PM, Geoffrey Dabb <> wrote:
