Superb Fairy-Wren - Sandy Hollow, Australia

Superb Fairy-Wren (Malurus cyaneus) - Sandy Hollow, Australia

I have uploaded a couple of photographs of the Superb Fairy-Wren previously but thought I'd share a few more recent shots of the male of this species on this post. Again, the photographs were taken over a weekend spent on a friends farm in Sandy Hollow in the northern reaches of the Hunter Valley in New South Wales.

More photographs inside.

Superb Fairy-Wren (Malurus cyaneus) - Sandy Hollow, Australia

As with most Wrens, the Super Fairy Wren doesn't sit still for long. They spend their time hopping from branch to branch foraging in the undergrowth. Photographing these birds takes a fair bit of patience as you need to wait for them to appear in the open. Then you have to try and focus on the bird before it disappears again.

Superb Fairy-Wren (Malurus cyaneus) - Sandy Hollow, Australia

I used AI Focus to track the birds while they moved about feeding. As soon as they stepped out into the open I hit the shutter release to take the photograph. It does sounds a lot easier than it actually was! The main issue I experienced while photographing these birds was focusing. As the camera would sometimes focus on the leaf litter or on a stray leaf. I couldn't pre-focus as the birds were unpredictable.

Superb Fairy-Wren (Malurus cyaneus) - Sandy Hollow, Australia

All the photographs on this post were taken with a Canon 7D and the 100-400mm lens. A tripod wasn't use as the light was strong enough to use a quick shutter release.

Ashy Prinia - Yala, Sri Lanka

Ashy Prinia (Prinia socialis brevicauda) - Yala, Sri Lanka

The Ashy Prinia, also known as the Ashy Wren-Warbler, is found throughout Sri Lanka but it is commoner in the dry zone. I had photographed this species previously, on a trip to Anuradhapura a few years ago and got another opportunity to photograph it in Yala last year.

More photographs after the jump.

Ashy Prinia (Prinia socialis brevicauda) - Yala, Sri Lanka

These Prinias are found in grassland, woodland, scrub and even gardens in major cities. They are found in the Indian sub-continent as well as western Burma. In some regions the plumage of the bird varies based on season. The race found in Sri Lanka, brevicauda, is said to be endemic and varies in terms of plumage and tail length.

Ashy Prinia (Prinia socialis brevicauda) - Yala, Sri Lanka

The Ashy Prinia is known for making snapping noise, thought to be produced by the wings, while in flight. Some authors suggest that the noise is made by snapping its tail while others think it is produced by the birds mandibles.  

Ashy Prinia (Prinia socialis brevicauda) - Yala, Sri Lanka

During the breeding season these birds build nests close to the ground in shrubs or tall grass and lays around 3 - 5 eggs. The breeding season varies from area to area but is generally after monsoons. The birds are thought to be monogamous and both sexes are involved with incubating the eggs and feeding the young.

Ashy Prinia (Prinia socialis brevicauda) - Yala, Sri Lanka

All these photographs were taken with the Canon 7D and the 100-400mm lens. The birds were flying in and out of some shrubs when I saw them. Getting a clear shot was a bit of a challenge as they didn't perch on exposed branches very often. 

Superb Fairy-wren

The Superb Fairy-wren is the most widespread of the ten species of fairy-wren found in Australia. Their range extends along the south eastern coast of Australia from Brisbane to Adelaide. It was once an abundant species and was once common in urban areas. More images and info inside.

The Superb Fairy-wren males defend a territory of between 0.5 and 2 ha. They live in family groups with the young of the previous years remaining in their parents' territory and contributing to the care of the younger siblings. During the non-breeding period the males moult into brown plumage similar to the females except for the tail which remains blue. The males also have a black beak while females and juveniles have chestnut coloured beaks.

Fairy-wrens have been described as the "least faithful birds in the world" because DNA fingerprinting has revealed that more than three quarter of the young within a "family" group are sired by males form outside the group. Females prefer "high quality" males and therefore, 4% of the males in an area sire 50% of the offspring. The attribute of the male Superb Fairy-wrens most related to their attractiveness to females is the duration they hold their bright blue breeding plumage. Older males are more attractive than younger males. Some "top quality" males moult directly from breeding plumage to breeding plumage.

I spent a fair amount of time trying to photograph these birds. They move around a lot in the undergrowth and therefore it is pretty hard to actually lock focus on them. To get a crisp image of them a relatively fast shutter speed has to be used. I could have increased the ISO but I wanted to produce images which had minimal noise. I guess using a hide would have been an option but I never had a hide or a substitute for one available.

 

The last two images show the actual colour of the Superb Fairy-wrens breast. It is a very dark blue but is often mistaken for being black.

 

I will update this post with images of a female Superb fairy-wren when I actually capture one!