urimo.bsky.social
@urimo.bsky.social
This Variable oystercatcher, momentarily revealed a bouquet of white tipped feathers under its wing.
Variable oystercatchers (New Zealand) are named for their plumage variability: some are pure black, others are black and white pied, and many somewhere in between.
#BestOfTheMonth
#BirdOfTheDay A Grey Warbler en silhouette at dusk for Helen's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #BokehBirds. Grey Gerygones (Grey warblers) are hosts to Shining Cuckoos, but they can sometimes recognise and reject cuckoo eggs. An #Airborne white-capped albatross for today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme, #Seabirds.
These magnificent birds can exploit the wind gradient above the ocean—repeatedly climbing into faster-moving air and then diving back downwind, gaining energy from the wind rather than flapping continuously. Takahēs are always #borbs. #BirdOfTheDay.
The takahē was declared extinct in 1898, but then rediscovered alive in the Murchison Mountains of Fiordland in 1948—more than 50 years later. In New Zealand, pied stilits sometimes breed with the critically endangered black stilt (kakī), which produces hybrid offspring with a dark band across the chest, like this #Elegant bird.
#BirdOfTheDay. Unrequited love. The female great crested tern (on the left) did not accept the courtship gift 😐 and flew off...
#Mamas&Papas for #BirdOfTheDay. White-faced heron enjoying breakfast.
#BirdOfTheDay
#Herons&Egrets A recent Spur-winged plover in flight, demonstrating the reason for its name. For today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme, #InFlight. This New Zealand Kingfisher, to which I was able to approach closer than they usually allow, is my chosen #BestOfTheMonth for #BirdOfTheDay. The pair of synchronized Variable oystercatchers are my choice for Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme, #Coastal&River. A Silvereye on a flowering Pōhutukawa tree (aka New Zealand Christmas tree) for today's main #BirdOfTheDay theme #Birds&Buds. 
