The many aspects of this remarkably malleable bird.
As he sits on a stump waiting for a meal, the bird is not much bigger than a blue jay, and frankly not as striking by a long shot.
Perfectly still and well camouflaged amongst the purple waterlily leaves and sticks and stumps in the swamp, the casual walker will walk right by and think – nothing here!
But then he starts to move about, taking a short flight from stump to stump and walking carefully and quietly along the logs. His neck elongates till he is quite another bird altogether. Suddenly he is alert with his crest standing tall. How can this be the same little boring bird? See the last photo for size perspective.
Do birds yawn? After standing silently for 15 minutes, I could swear that this one did!
Without binoculars, this is just another stick in the swamp.
A stick with feathers?
And then sometimes they are just hilarious!
