blp shabash 430x45
Inspiring and Supporting Photographers of Australian Birds

  • You are here:  
  • Home
  • Show Image

Australian Shelduck, Whiskered Tern

Australian Shelduck, Whiskered Tern (Image ID 45305)
Photographed byMichael Hamel-Green on Wed 10th Mar, 2021 and uploaded on Fri 12th Mar, 2021 .
Resolution1146x1800
Viewed377
ID45305
CommentIt’s raining Terns! I watched as a huge cloud of Whiskered Terns that were settled close to the Australian Shelducks on the Western Lagoon suddenly took off, and then wheeled around directly towards me. It was extraordinary how they all turned at the same moment, perfectly in unison as the image shows. How do they synchronize? Do they have a leader who gives the first signal (a Tern “Trump” whose mass base follows his every tweet)? Apparently not, zoologists now believe that birds anticipate changes in direction just as dancers do in choreographed routines. They see a changing wave of direction within the flock and anticipate how they need to respond rather than being cued by any particular breakaway bird. As for the imperturbable harlequin-coloured Australian Shelducks in the foreground, they seemed quite undisturbed by the aerial manoeuvres above. No doubt midday is Shelduck nap time after all their foraging and dabbling during the morning.
EquipmentNikonZ7 Nikon Z 24-200mm f4-6.3 135mm ISO 200 1/640th f14 Monopod
LocationWerribee Treatment Plant, Werribee, Victoria
Keywordsin flight, adult, behaviour/display
You already have an outstanding request to download this image for non-commercial purposes. You may cancel this request by clicking on the button below and waiting for confirmation that your request has been noted. When you have selected all the images that you require, go to 'My Download Requests' (under Photo Gallery) and submit your request by clicking 'Edit/Submit' and filling out the details. You will be advised of the result by email. Note that cookies MUST be enabled for this to work.
You may request download of this image for non-commercial purposes. A request that meets the usage rights of this image will be automatically approved; a request that does not meet the usage rights will be refused, but may (at the Download Manager's discretion) be referred to the photographer. The usage rights of this image are: Any non-commercial use by any requestor, including personal use. For further details of image usage rights, see here. Request the image by clicking on the button below and waiting for confirmation that your request has been noted. When you have selected all the images that you require, go to 'My Download Requests' (under Photo Gallery) and submit your request by clicking 'Edit/Submit' and filling out the details. You will be advised of the result by email. Note that cookies MUST be enabled for this to work.
Previous20763/31658 in Main LibraryNext
Previous152/999 by Michael Hamel-GreenNext
Previous40/64 of Australian ShelduckNext
Previous59/79 of Whiskered TernNext
Previous1152/1779 of Ducks, Geese and SwansNext
Previous780/1216 of Gulls, Terns and NoddiesNext
Previous21477/34534 OverallNext
Use the arrows at the left and Right hand side of this page to display the Next/Previous photographs in that group, or click on one of the blue links above to start a slide show in that group (group slide shows are only allowed if there are less than 1000 images in the group).

CONTACT US

The easiest way to contact us is by emailing us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Our People page, in the About Us section, contains email links to each of the committee members.