Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Wildlife on Wednesday ... the White-Bellied Cuckoo Shrike (Coracina papuensis)

One of the more unusual-looking birds that often drops by property is this fabulous bird with the 'Lone Ranger' mask!!


Whilst it's not a brilliantly coloured bird, it is distinictive.  It's underbelly is white ... hence the name!
Legs and feet are dark grey, eyes are black, bill is black and then there is that fabulous patch between the eyes.


It's grey on the back and the wings are grey with black markings. The tail is dark-coloured tipped with white.

While we get to see so many brightly coloured birds around here, this gorgeous creature is a welcome sight as well!


12 comments:

  1. What a neat little masked bird! Such beautiful tail feathers...:D

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  2. The bird is so sweet. I thought the guy is wearing a fashionable pair of dark sun-glasses ~bangchik

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  3. Incredibly gorgeous! The mask does it! The wing markings are brilliant. If it weren't for the mask, I might mistake it at a glance for a mockingbird. Your photos are AMAZING! Nice shots!

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  4. Bernie, the photos of the birds are wonderful. You must have a really long lens to get these close shots.

    Eileen

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  5. Hi Bernie. The cuckoo has wonderful marking on it. The dark masked eyes really remind you of a Jay. Beautiful pictures. I love seeing the different varieties of nature that what we are so use to here.
    Lona

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  6. Very interesting to see you native bird. Also love your coloured mosiacs!

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  7. Bernie,
    Your white bellied Cockoo is quite neat. The first picture looks like it is wearing sun glasses.

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  8. He's a beauty and looks so elegant Bernie!

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  9. Great images - I love the way he looks like he is wearing a mask - a very handsome bird.
    K

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  10. He is protecting his eyes with the sunglasses :-)

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  11. Beautiful bird and photographs! Would you mind if I 'feature' your blog in a section of my blog? I want to help readers be aware of blogs they might not know of, and should. I'll add it tomorrow if it's ok with you. Thanks!! Jan

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  12. A very handsome bird! In California we have a similarly black-masked bird called the Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus), which inhabits the open country and is often seen perching on top of wire fences and bushes. Very cool to see that it has a counterpart in the Bush.

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