Hi
Any ideas what this bird might be?
Small 5cm to 10cm wren like bird. Very bright orange (almost fluorescent) on back. Brown wings. Bill and feet tan/yellow colour. Dark rounded eye. There were three birds at our bird bath one was much brighter than the others? I live on north coast/ clarence valley.
I can't seem to find it in my bird book.
Also any recommedations on a really informative bird book. I have an old readers digest book of Australian birds and a field guide by Slaters.
Cheers
Jodie
I found a pic of a Purple-crowned fairywren:
Might not be the one you saw but its a starting point.
That's a Red-Backed Fairy-Wren which sounds like a fairly good match. My bible is the Pizzey/Knight Birds of Australia book, but I think if you go to any book store and get any up to date bird identification book, they're all pretty good.
I mostly use Michael Morcombe: Field Guide to Australian Birds. It's a bit of horses for courses (or birds for nerds) so check out what suits you. Pizzey is probably the best of the field guides for information. The keener you become on bird watching the more field guides you'll buy. Believe me, I know! Take your time & have fun browsing.
Thanks for Id. I think it was the red-backed fairy wren. Will keep an eye out if it comes back for a photo shoot. Am heading into "big smoke" from country so will hit the book shops and purchase bird books! Thanks for references
Cheers
Jodie
WOW... I have never seen that much red on the wrens around here. I'm just up the coast a bit from theClarence, but the local birds have nowhere near that amount of colour. Ray