Aussie Finch Forum

I took this photo in my back yard and have had it identified.
Anyone care to guess?
Jack

rufous fantail ???

Uraeginthus wrote:rufous fantail ???

Spot on.

Aren't they wonderful little birds! Where exactly did you take the shot?

I would expect them in the brush but this one seems lost!

There was a few around suburban Geelong quite a few years ago but all have disapeared.Jack that bird looks a bit sick to me,why is he laying flat out on the ground? Craig

I banded several of these at Moruya last weekend.
Looks like a young one to me.

Very pretty they are

When I re shellgritted the aviary I put too much in one aviary and rather than take it out I piled it up with intentions to spread it later. The sun hits this section most of the day. Ive noticed a couple of birds do this flat out spread wings thing on the sides of the pile later in the day, especially the OB pair. I thought they may be just using it like a heat bank and getting the last quick warmup before settling down for the night.

crocnshas wrote:There was a few around suburban Geelong quite a few years ago but all have disapeared.Jack that bird looks a bit sick to me,why is he laying flat out on the ground? Craig

The bird was fine, it hung around for a couple of days and what you see is it spreading it's wings to scare insects. It was catching insects.
Craig, I e-mailed a photo of it to Trevor Pescott who identified it for me and told me it was on it's migritory route heading North.
The photo was taken earlier in the year.
Jack