Monday, October 19, 2009

Dollarbird

Yesterday, I was traveling in the car and had my camera with me when I saw this bird sitting on the electricity wires. Until now I have only had brief and distant views of these birds. The name comes from the blue-white wing spot seen under the wings when the bird is flying but this one did not oblige by flying and letting me see the spot. My birding book says they are summer migrants to Australia from Papua New Guinea and E. Indonesia.
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18 comments:

  1. eileeninmdOctober 19, 2009 at 4:43 AM

    Cool looking bird. You never know what you might see while driving. I am going to have to start keeping a camera in the car.

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  2. mickOctober 19, 2009 at 5:12 AM

    Thanks for your comment Eileen. I still don't keep a camera in the car all the time but I had been out counting shorebirds earlier so was lucky this time.

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  3. AnonymousOctober 19, 2009 at 7:21 AM

    Nice one! I'm glad I enlarged to see more of the detail. The bright orange feet are fluorescent!

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  4. mickOctober 19, 2009 at 7:39 AM

    Hi Wren, and the bit I didn't get - the under-wing patch is even better!

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  5. NeilOctober 19, 2009 at 9:05 AM

    Thanks Mick for the Dollarbird I still have to get that one maybe next time.

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  6. mickOctober 19, 2009 at 9:15 AM

    Hi Neil, when I think of all the ones you have that I don't....... well...... I have a long way to catch up!

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  7. Tyto TonyOctober 19, 2009 at 9:35 AM

    Nice mature bird. Keep an eye and ear out for others, specially near tall trees with any high hollows and you may see aerobatic mating behaviour and noisy interactions.

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  8. Bob KaufmanOctober 19, 2009 at 9:53 AM

    Lucky you, to find..and photograph..this bird, Mick.

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  9. mickOctober 19, 2009 at 10:23 AM

    Thanks for the further info Tony. That would be great to see displays like that.

    Thanks Bob and Cynthia for your comment.

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  10. UnknownOctober 19, 2009 at 4:20 PM

    He's beautiful!
    I have not seen one of those yet.
    Lucky you :D!

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  11. Midmarsh JohnOctober 20, 2009 at 12:00 AM

    What a brilliant red on the beak and legs. Quite a bobby dazzler.

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  12. mickOctober 20, 2009 at 4:28 AM

    Hi Nicole, well that's a bird for you to see in the future, maybe!

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  13. mickOctober 20, 2009 at 4:30 AM

    Hi John, the red is certainly bright on the beak and legs. btw - I haven't heard the expression "bobby dazzler" for ages. Nice!!

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  14. LarryOctober 20, 2009 at 3:58 PM

    Absolutely striking! Nice capture of the Dollarbird Mick. Someday I will get to Australia and New Zealand and get to see all these wonderful sights.

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  15. mickOctober 20, 2009 at 4:02 PM

    Thanks Larry, and I'm sure all your blogging friends would be glad to welcome you. If you read Wren's blog (http://wrenaissance.com/) she is still posting photos of Aussie birds :-)

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  16. RedzlanOctober 20, 2009 at 5:51 PM

    Beautiful Roller.
    This bird is fairly common at lowland open country here.

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  17. NatureFootstepOctober 20, 2009 at 6:13 PM

    Hallo Mick, thanks for visiting my new birdblog. This seem to be an unteresting challenge. You show me a bird I have never seen. :)

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  18. mickOctober 21, 2009 at 4:50 AM

    Thanks for your comments Tabib and Naturefootstep. Very interesting that this bird is one you also see Tabib.

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