Satin Bowerbird likes apples

Well, that will hardly surprise anyone who knows these birds.

Today there were many Satin Bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) hanging around, so I put out 3 small apples on the feed tables. I have fitted screws through the bottom of the wooden feeder table (from below) thus giving me a threaded point sticking upwards. That means I can screw the apple onto the point (or just push it on if the apple is soft).

A male "Blue Bird", a Satin Bowerbird tests out the feed table.
These birds are so dark blue that they appear black,
unless the light is reflected off the highly shiny feathers,
at which point the feathers have a purplish sheen.

The system of screws as spikes to hold the fruit in place has the advantage that the birds have to peck the fruit to bits. The apple cannot just blow off or roll off the feed table.

The table is made of heavy plywood (7 Ply)
The screws are about 3 inches long, and are drilled up from below.

Up until now I have resisted the temptation to provide food for wild birds. I do not want to attract too many parrots and especially not any introduced birds. So I will not put out grain. That's why I have built a flat table, and not a tray. Also, in view of our high rainfall, it avoids any problem of soggy grain or bits of bread, which can attract vermin. But I figure that some fresh fruit will be OK. So do the Satin Bowerbirds, obviously.

Click on the image to enlarge it, to see the bird's violet eye.

Normally these birds are very shy, and also observant, so whenever I bring out a camera, they disappear. This bird was clearly nervous, and suspicious of my intentions. But it did decide it could get a few useful pecks of the apples because I was sitting at the far end of the deck, 15 metres away.

Here are some images from my friend George, of a female Bowerbird, at his place, and head shots of a female, an immature male and an adult male, for comparison purposes. The number of "green birds" always far exceeds the number of "blue birds" because young males keep the green plumage until they mature fully, which might be as long as 7 years of age.

Head images - for beak colour comparisons.
A - female or juvenile male, with dark beak.
B - immature male, with bone-coloured beak.
C - Mature male - the so-called "Blue Bird"