Bold and daring. These birds came within two or three feet from me on the balcony. They’re small and compact, just about the size of a maya, but with attractive black, white and yellow plumage and a smaller, more pointed beak.

Since one of them took over my tripod (see first picture above, my personal favorite), I had to deal with trying to minimize handheld camera shake while taking shots, which was kinda difficult. I was a bit excited at being so near these elegant tits. (*I think I can sense some boys vigorously nodding their heads and panting “Oh yeah, well, I’d be more than just a bit excited to be anywhere near some elegant tits.” For the record, I’ve stated before that that’s what these birds are called. He he…)

The weird thing was, after I got to review the shots, almost all of them were of the birds’ right profile. We know from our biology lessons and National Geographic viewing that a lot of non-predatory (prey) animals have eyes at the sides of the head, compared to the forward-facing, closely-spaced location in carnivores. (A prey animal’s larger field of vision lets it see almost all the way around its body, so it has a better chance of spotting a predator and fleeing to safety.)

So I guess that after deciding that this two-legged meat-eating mammal wasn’t going after them for food, the elegant tits took their sweet time posing for the camera. And maybe – like some people who favor a particular angle when they have their pictures taken – these little preeners thought their right side looked more photogenic.

Anyway, thanks for the photo-ops guys! Bye and see you again soon!

Posted in: Better Earth, Photo Gallery | | April 2009