Wednesday 5 June 2013

Wild Bird Wednesday 47 - Silvereye

Something a little smaller than usual for this week.

This bird is a Silvereye - Zosterops lateralis - a species in the very last genera listed in my world checklist of birds! This bird - which is all of 11 cm long was feeding in some bushes in the Yarra Valley a few weekends ago.  Luckily there was an uphill slope away from the bushes so I was able to get on (more or less) eye level with this bird.  Having said that, the speed at which it and its companions moved made the delete function very useful!

One of the old names for this bird is the "Grape-eater" - and in the book I discovered this gem this origin of this name is put down to "one of its less universally admired characteristics" - this become rather funny when you realise that these pictures were taken from a vineyard!




I think I could live without the fence post - but you cant win them all. 

Now its over to you - click the link below and off you go.  Don't forget to link back to here and to invite any new bird bloggers you find!

48 comments:

  1. It's gorgeous!!!! And this bush/tree is what we call a bottle brush tree...is that the name of it in the land down under?

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  2. it's a beautiful little thing!

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  3. Lovely shots of this little cutie.

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  4. What a handsome little bird! Love the eye ring!

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  5. He's a real beauty!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  6. Great pictures, fence post or not. I don't suppose they'd be popular at a vineyard.

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  7. Oh it's gorgeous Stewart, and those are some mighty fine photos! The fencepost is irrelevant, but if you don't like it, just photoshop it out!

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  8. Very striking and aptly named species.

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  9. Lovely bird Stewart, I guess similar to the white eye families. Well taken and composed..... and we all agree that we need the delete button from time to time!

    Dave

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  10. I love these little birds adn it being in the Bottle brush tree is a lovely foil for it. Margaret

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  11. A cute little bird, nice captured!

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  12. Such a sweet little bird!
    The color of the bushes made a lovely background for these terrific shots!
    Very nicely captured Stewart!

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  13. A sweet little bird in a lovely tree!
    Very nice pictures, Stewart!
    /Pia

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  14. That's a gorgious bird Stewart, and am I right in thinking its feeding in Bottle Brush tree.(Callistemon), we use to have one indoors at a place I use to work.
    All the bes Gordon.

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  15. Those eyes are so striking. From Findlay

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  16. Great photos of the Silvereye. I usually find them moving much too fast for good photos - especially when they are way up high among the flowers.

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  17. It's a little beauty Stewart. How well the colours blend into the foliage. I can see why the bird is not popular in Australia if it eats the wine grapes. We all like a bottle of plonk now and again.

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  18. That is a very pretty bird, I haven't heard of Silvereye

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  19. What a cute bird! Is it the size of a humming bird?

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  20. A beautiful little bird to see Stewart... Many thanks for sharing your wonderful images and info.

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  21. Congrats on getting photos of such a wonderful little bird!

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  22. Cute bird, Stewart. The eye-ring really stands out! Your photos are great too! Thanks for hosting and have a happy week!

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  23. I love these little honey-eaters and haven't seen them at all often; you got such beautiful shots with the bottlebrushes, calendar material Stewart!

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  24. Fence post or not, that is one beautiful bird Stewart. So are your photos of it. I love that shade of green.

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  25. what a cutie. I love silvereyes. great shots Stewart.

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  26. Beautiful little bird! The bottlebrush tree is in a vineyard?

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  27. I love him! We have the bottlebrush plant all over our area, so I love seeing this special bird in it. What a great series of shots. I was so smitten with the bird, I didn't even notice the fence post until you mentioned it!

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  28. Great shots, with these little darlings the delete button is certainly a bonus. Love them in the Callistemon but I have the greatest trouble finding the difference between the Silvereye and the White-eye.

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  29. Super gorgeous bird & captures! Love the vivid colors too.

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  30. Nice bird....Great shots !!!

    Greetings

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  31. What a glorious looking bird and the flowers are not bad either...very pretty shares and so glad that you did not have to delete quite all of them~

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  32. Hi Stewart...What a pretty little bird and photo opp's perfect when there is a flower involved!! : )
    Grace
    Thanks for be a good host!!

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  33. What a gorgeous bird and great captures Stewart! Fence post or no ;-)

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  34. Looks like this bird is from the Vireo family. Cool little bird. And I know what you mean about the delete function:)

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  35. I like the delicate hues of its plumage and the striking eye rings.Slightly reminiscent of our White-eyed Vireo, which is not ranked as distant from dinosaurs on the taxonomic scale.

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  36. When I came over to link up, I had to laugh... guess which bird I've chosen to post today??

    Your shots definitely outclass mine by a LOT!! Gorgeous captures, Stewart. I hope to discover the Silvereye again sometime soon and manage some shots as good as yours!!

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  37. What a neat little bird. Great eye detail. Yeah, stay out of the grapes. haha!!

    The blog nobody looks at is the one just in the upper left hand corner---inches away from my regular blog. Just pictures I take. that's all.
    The ones on my profile are no longer used I suppose I should delete them. MB

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  38. What a lovely little bird. I don't even mind the fence post.

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  39. Oh Wow ..... what a beautiful bird! LOVE that eye ring! You got some exquisite shots! Well done!

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  40. What beautiful shots of that cute little bird!

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  41. Such a beautiful bird!

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  42. Beautiful pictures! That is a tiny little bird!

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  43. I remember those bottle brush trees Stewart!!Great captures!!!What a beautiful bird!!!
    Dimi..

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