Blue

The elusive male bower bird is deep glossy blue, almost black, with lighter blue eyes. He is fond of blue objects which he collects to decorate his bower – an odd assortment of blue feathers, blue plastic bottle tops, blue drinking straws and blue clothes pegs – to impress the bevy of females that are currently frequenting the trees in our garden. These lovely ladies are camouflage green with beautiful sapphire blue eyes. Young males are also green until they are about 7 years old.

Photo: Satin Bower Bird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus)

Words to walk with:
From the Penguin Book of Australian Slang by Lenie Johansen
Bowerbird – Person who collects an astonishing array of sometimes useless objects.