For a few months now a bird with a yellow cap has been visiting our bird bath. It looks very like a Little Wattle bird but I have not found any information regarding the yellow patch of feathers on its head. Has anyone seen or heard about this sort of variation, or is it a different species? We are in the Tweed Valley, far northern NSW.
ps, Great site - have just joined and this is my first posting.
Ange
Is it definitely feathers and not just a particularly heavy dusting of pollen?
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
I'm 99% sure it is not pollen because the yellow is still there undeminished, after quite vigorous bathing and because we have seen it quite frequently over the course of a few months. If there were a particularly heavy pollinating flower in the area (and I've not noticed any), it is unlikely to have such a long flowering time. Also I imagine pollen on the grey feathers would not show up such a bright yellow - it would be more of a dull yellowy-grey, wouldn't it?
Any thoughts appreciated.
Ange
Hi Ange & welcome to the forum. The yellow patch looks to me like some sort of abnormal growth rather than feathers. Araminta on this forum posted some time ago photos of a similar growth on a yellow robin, I think it was. (She'll correct me if I'm wrong about the species). The growth wasn't as large & if I remember rightly gradually disappeared.
You are right Woko, it was a Yellow Robin, but the growth was on the base of the beak, and it looked red, and a lot like a cancerous growth. And it did disappear after weeks.
In the first photo you can clearly see that it is above the eye on top of her head. I would still think it's some very sticky pollen.
The bird looks happy enough.
M-L
Thanks for the reminder, Araminta. I did wonder if it was a similar growth, albeit on a different part of the body.
In your second photo, Ange, the yellow does look very much like pollen although you say it hasn't disappeard despite frequent bathing. As well, you seem to doubt there are flowers with heavy pollen in your area. It's a mystery. So far.
Angela.
Almost certainly pollen. For a comparison look at my website www.graemechapman.com.au under Little Wattlebird and you will see a similar example which was certainly pollen. Cheers Graeme
graeme chapman
I am wondering if it is pollen as there were two wattlebirds flying around together only one was less endowed with the orange forehead, The only flower I can see that could possibly endow the bird with that much pollen might be the magnolia. Misty
If you'd ask me, I would say: all of them are feeding in the same shrub. It doesn't have to be close to you, neighbours can have a plant with orange flowers.
M-L
Thank you all for your replies.
The pictures I had originally posted were 2 pictures of the same individual, taken seconds apart. I have never seen 2 or more 'yellow capped' birds at the same time.
Since my first posting I have seen 'it' twice more on different days, but was too slow to take more photos.
Looks like the opinion is unanimous that it is pollen dusting. We do have a Magnolia grandiflora, which flowered for the first time this year. I just went out to check how sticky the pollen might be, but it no longer has any flowers on it and I did catch sight of the 'yellow cap' yesterday. I have also seen wattle birds feeding on our ornamental Passion Flowers (see photo below) but these flowers only have tiny amounts of pollen which does not seem to stain. I could not tell whether this feeding bird had yellow or not.
I will post more if I can capture more photos. Thanks again for your help.
Ange
ps. We have been enjoying the number and variety of birds using our bird bath for years. As I now have a little more time, I thought to start collecting photos of the birds visiting my garden. Need to improve on my photography skills though! But I do have a very comfortable 'hide', as I can lie in bed and see the bird bath through the french doors.
What a good spot Ange, you could put up a tripod, buy a remote, and just click away. Sounds like a good plan to me.
M-L
yes, you just need to sort out the regular cup of tea
Peter
We have had the same bird visit our robyn gordon grevillia - it is identical to a little wattlebird except for a yellowy orange cap. We saw it last year several times and this year it reappeared on two consecutive days. I am certain the cap is not caused by pollen as we don't have any flowers that could cause it. I have not yet been able to take a photo of it. We live in the Melbourne suburb of Balwyn.