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Mandarin duck (male) in eclipse plumage. Many male ducks have bright, colourful plumage, exhibiting strong sexual dimorphism. However, they moult into a dull plumage after breeding in mid-summer. This drab, female-like appearance is called eclipse plumage. When they shed feathers to go into an eclipse, the ducks become flightless for a short ...
The original English name for this bird, dating back to at least 1465, is the ree, perhaps derived from a dialectical term meaning "frenzied"; [8] a later name reeve, which is still used for the female, is of unknown origin, but may be derived from the shire-reeve, a feudal officer, likening the male's flamboyant plumage to the official's robes.
Exhibiting a high degree of sexual dimorphism, the male in breeding plumage is a small, long-tailed bird of predominantly bright blue and black colouration. Non-breeding males, females and juveniles are predominantly grey-brown in colour; this gave the early impression that males were polygamous as all dull-coloured birds were taken for females.
The superb fairywren (Malurus cyaneus) is a passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae, and is common and familiar across south-eastern Australia. It is a sedentary and territorial species, also exhibiting a high degree of sexual dimorphism; the male in breeding plumage has a striking bright blue forehead, ear coverts, mantle, and tail, with a black mask and black or dark blue ...
The secretarybird is instantly recognizable as a very large bird with an eagle-like body on crane-like legs that give the bird a height of as much as 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in). The sexes are similar in appearance. Adults have a featherless red-orange face and predominantly grey plumage, with a flattened dark crest and black flight feathers and thighs.
In the adult plumage, superb starlings have a bronzy-black crown and ear-coverts. The area between the eye and the bill on the side of their head (the lore ) is black. Almost all their body is a blue-green glossy color; the chin, the throat, the chest, the nape, the mantle, their back, and their uppertail-coverts.
Male (top) in nuptial plumage and female. Male has the wide white wing stripe and conspicuous face markings, which gave the colour teal its name. The Eurasian teal is one of the smallest extant dabbling ducks at 34–43 cm (13–17 in) length and with an average weight of 360 g (13 oz) in drake (males) and 340 g (12 oz) in hens (females). The ...
This plumage is present on the backside of the male and wraps around the chin to back of the head, throat, and breast, with a dark black crown, forehead, flank, and belly. The tail and upper wings are brown, with pale legs and a black bill. [2] This plumage, the identifier of the northern red bishops, is only present in the breeding males.