Miromiro (not to be confused with
riroriro) are currently easy to see on the No. 1 Line track. Photographing them's another matter, but this bedraggled little female posed nicely for me yesterday — but only for a few seconds. I managed several photographs as she flitted about and paused to pose, but she quickly lost interest. The whole encounter was over in less than a minute.
All content © 2016 Pete McGregor
She IS bedraggled, isn't she - perhaps a casualty of this appalling summer. But she tones so beautifully with her surroundings, her head feathers the colour of the branch she clings to.
ReplyDeleteLisa, I think she'd been grubbing around in some damp litter or foliage. In some other photographs you can more clearly see lots of specks of debris on her head and cobweb clinging to her beak.
ReplyDeleteTiny, but strong feet
ReplyDeletegz — and skinny legs!
ReplyDeleteYes,gz!
ReplyDeleteHow do birds' legs work? Do they have muscles in there somewhere?
Watching a programme about Wallace Simpson they other evening I was thinking that about her as well.
Such a dancer pose, awkward but casual, oddly graceful.
ReplyDeleteRR, I think the legs and feet mostly work through the action of tendons and ligaments. For example, when a perching bird crouches, a tendon closes the feet to grip the branch, so the bird doesn't have to do any work to remain clamped in place.
ReplyDeleteZhoen, any dancer would envy the way these little birds are so light on their feet.