The weeping apricot blossoms in the middle of winter and provides nourishment for many species seeking food on cold wet days, including this tiny Silvereye.
I am especially fond of small birds like this tiny Silvereye that is about 12cm from the tip of its bill to the tip of its tail, with a mass of just 11g. The rich brown flanks of this bird identify it as Zosterops lateralis, the sub-species that migrates between the mainland and Tasmania. The local birds, Zosterops westernesis, don’t have the brown sides of the visitors. The more I think about these tiny birds flying across the ocean the more I marvel at the lives of our small bush birds.
Happy birding, Kim
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Beautiful as always Kim – thank you 🙂
Thanks heaps Fiona 🙂
Is the weeping apricot blossom a native tree, Kim? If not, how clever are these native birds to figure out that it can offer them nourishment. I’m also amazed that these tiny birds can fly across Bass Strait, with it’s turbulent, wild winds – how determined they must be! I caught the ferry over once, and the howling gale nearly blew me over the side of the ship! And I weigh a helluva lot more than 11 grams!
Oh Deirdre, I’ve only just seen this comment – sometimes they do go astray. The tree isn’t native. I’m astounded by their migration too, it’s phenomenal. And you did make me chuckle!
For some reason I am no longer being notified when you post. Sigh. I am so glad that I came looking.
I adore silver eyes (and no, that isn’t too strong a term) and am blown away when I think of the journeys that they and so many other birds undertake year after year.
Thanks for coming to check, EC. I’ll contact my wonderful web-helper when I get a minute and see if I can find out what’s going wrong. I’m staggered by the journeys too, utterly incredible and way beyond human capacity without creating ‘things’ to help.