red-backed fairy wren

[greg cowle]

Female and male red-backed fairy wren (Malurus melanocephalus) on their chosen perch at the edge of a field.
560mm, 1/1600, f8, ISO6400.
Australian endemic, the smallest member of genus Malurus, so I have posted at a small size.

[Ian McLachlan]

Nicely done Greg .Hard to get the eye of the male even without his girl friend. Also I don't think I have seen his wings as clearly defined as you have before , well done. Yes the barb ! but that's one reason they are both sharp. Very good at that iso too.
.

[Arthur Morris]

Well done and worth a chuckle. Is this a crop? What lens?

with love, artie

[Daniel Cadieux]

How cool is that! Very nice. In a perfect world the male would have turned a bit more towards us, but who's to complain with such an entertaining scene. High ISO, but turned out well for web posting.

[annmpacheco]

Hey Greg, very sweet positioning of this couple, I'm on my notebook and can't comment on the blacks/etc, ... Fun frame.

[Dorian Anderson]

Wonderful comparison, and the fact the female is there partially redeems the male's disinterested pose. Biggest issue for me is the wire. Unnatural perches not for me, ever.

[John Mack]

The barbed wire is cool. The birds balance each other out nicely.

[greg cowle]

Thanks all for the comments. You are right Ian, the wire did make this possible. I was able to drive up to get the lens 90 degrees to the wire, and with a nice clean background. I was exposing for the male, hence the good view of the wings, there were several prancing around and grooming, the female only appeared for 10 seconds. Despite blinkies on her the exposure was pretty good for her too - the advantage of dull conditions.

On the wire in general, I certainly wouldn't seek a wire perch on purpose, but will not hesitate if I see an interesting bird or bird behavior. You can get fun frames like this. Probably wouldn't print it, but happy to have it, and I like to share birds most on here don't see regularly. In this farm/bush habitat the wire is the reality, and the birds are quite happy with it. If you were a little bird who had to catch insects all day and you had a nice stable perch 1m above the ground for a good view of the hunting ground you would take it too! The bee-eaters, smaller kingfishers, woodswallows, etc are fine with the fences, while the kookaburras and smaller raptors prefer the higher telephone and power lines. Good adaption.

Artie: yes it is a good crop, lens was a 400f2.8 + 1.4x... I use what many would generally be considered obsolete and/or inappropriate gear!