Southern Whiteface (Aphelocephala leucopsis) Bowra Station SW Queensland

[Rod Warnock]

Southern Whiteface (Aphelocephala leucopsis) Bowra Station SW Queensland
Canon EOS 40D Lens 100-400mm L IS USM at 400mm ISO 400 F 5.6 1/1000 available light 8 April 2010
Taken on my first morning at Bowra Station and was pleased to encounter Southern Whitefaces and get digital images to refresh images taken on Kodachrome slide film circa 1964. To many just another of the derogatory label... "another little brown job"...not so as the species is an alert active species and always flitting here and there...and a delightful image as they fan out their tail prior to landing. Grouped within the Pardalotidae Family along with the Pardalotes but the Whitefaces and Pardalotes are not closely related to one another. There are three Whiteface species in Australia all are endemic. The Chestnut-breasted Whiteface (see South Australian Biodiversity pdf page at : http://www.saalnrm.sa.gov.au/Portals/8/Publications_Resources/Factsheets_Brochures/SAAL-Chestnut_Breasted_Whiteface-FS-072011.pdf ) and Banded Whiteface ( Arid region habitats) complete the trio.

Thanks for viewing
Best regards
Rod Warnock

[Fred Canter]

Love the pose and a nice head angle for the pose.
IMO you could dial back the sharpening some, as it looks over-sharpened to me.

[gail bisson]

Nice BG and diagonal perch. Good look back. Agree that it looks oversharpened. I like the spider web thread,
Gail

[Daniel Cadieux]

Ah yes, LBJs!! North American Sparrows are know as that too, and yet they all have their distinct personal traits that make them beautiful in their special way...just like your whitefaces.

Lovely look-back pose and glance, and I love the nicely weathered perch. I agree it does look oversharpened on the shoulder and back areas, which make it look like critical focus was there (perhaps it was?)