Tania Marie May, The Common Bronzewing and the Silver Wattle Tree (DOCO 2026)

The gorgeous plump Common Bronzewing loves the indigenous silver wattle tree (Acacia dealbata). On a good year this tree will produce masses of seed pods that are shaken off the trees from strong winds, creating a type of seed storm, consequently landing on the ground for the pigeons to harvest. These trees also have plentiful yellow spherical flowers in early spring that float gently on the water creating a soft mosaic, they also create great cover for possums and the Imperial Hairstreak to lay their larvae. It is not typical on our piece of land in the Macedon Ranges to have more than one of these birds, so to now have a party of them is very special. They stay close to the water as they drink frequently and need to be mindful of predators, especially the resident Brown Goshawk. They are easily startled making a clattering sound as they fly off, also making it difficult for me to photograph them.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.