Satin Bowerbird
Satin Bowerbird
Ptilonorhynchus violaceus
Supplier: Flickr: EOL Images
Photographer: Leo
Mature males have clear blue eyes and are uniformly coloured black, however, light diffraction by the surface texture of the feathers results in an almost metallic sheen giving a deep shiny blue appearance. Immature males are coloured and marked the same as females and are often mistaken for them. Females might be mistaken for the Green Catbird or Spotted Catbird with distinctively green/brown or otherwise entirely brown upper body and lighter under body with a distinct reticulated or scalloped pattern, but with very striking lilac eyes. The Satin Bowerbird is common in rainforest and tall wet sclerophyll forest in eastern Australia from southern Queensland to Victoria. There is also an isolated population in the Wet Tropics of north Queensland. Source: Wikipedia.