Such are the tide of taxonomic change, that even in my time in Australia this bird has changed name. Once considered a subspecies of the Purple Swamphen, it is now considered a full species. These days it goes by the name of Australasian Swamphen (Porphyrio melanotus).
These birds were feeding in the grass near the same 'wetland' as the carp from yesterday - although I did take these pictures at the very start of the year. I really like two parts of these pictures - firstly, the ones where the birds are behind the wire fence seem to say something about the power of the wild to exist even in contained areas. Secondly, I really like the look of concentration as the birds remove grass seeds from the dry stalks of summer grass. They are clearly more dexterous with their beak than its size would suggest.
I always like watching these birds.
These birds were feeding in the grass near the same 'wetland' as the carp from yesterday - although I did take these pictures at the very start of the year. I really like two parts of these pictures - firstly, the ones where the birds are behind the wire fence seem to say something about the power of the wild to exist even in contained areas. Secondly, I really like the look of concentration as the birds remove grass seeds from the dry stalks of summer grass. They are clearly more dexterous with their beak than its size would suggest.
I always like watching these birds.
As ever, you can join in with WBW by clicking on the link below - and also as ever, please feel free to share the love for WBW with other bloggers! Cheers. SM
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteI love the blue breastplates and the striking redness of the beak... great shots! YAM xx
My Common Moorhen looks like a poor relative of your swamphen! They were introduced into tour neighborhood about 20 years ago and have prospered to the point of overwhelming the wetlands of south Florida. They have survived an eradication campaign in which over 3,000 were gunned down. We called them Purple Swamphens at first, but now they are called Gray-headed Swamphens. Seeing your photos, they certainly are morphologically a distinctly different species as confirmed by genetic studies.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos of slightly prehistoric looking birds!
ReplyDeleteThe blue and red make these attractive birds in their own unique way.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this species very much. It seemed to be perfectly at home walking around with humans. I have had no problem linking up before but I tried four times this week with no success.
ReplyDeleteWell I am certainly able to get the thumb nail link into your meme however i personally cannot link into my OWN web site from the thumb nail so I do not know if you or anyone else can link in. I see David is also having trouble this week. A lovely looking bird and in the last shot one of them has 3 heads! Thanks for hosting and have a great week ahead
ReplyDeleteGreat photos of these birds. They have nice coloring.
ReplyDeleteGreat shots of the Swaphen- which I have never seen nor heard of! I think I would love watching these birds also. Have a wonderful Wednesday!
ReplyDeleteI also cannot link up to other people's websites though I have managed to put my own link on. Love the shots of the Swamphen.
ReplyDeleteMany birds in Southern Africa have slightly different names to what I knew them 20 years ago it makes life more interesting / difficult.
Have a good day, Diane
C'est un très bel oiseau et au milieu des herbes il est superbe.
ReplyDeleteJolie série
Lovely pictures of a lovely bird :-))
ReplyDeleteA Swamp Hen...not a very endearing name..kinda like "Carp"....Nice pictures of them though...good shots..Hope you are having a good week...
ReplyDeleteLove the ones where he is looking at you! I wonder what he is thinking.
ReplyDeleteStewart, fantastic capture of the Swaphen. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy their American cousins a lot too! Not least because their coloring makes them easy to spot.
ReplyDelete