Australian bustard female (left) and male (right)

30/12/14

Is the female fully grown? I never realised that there was this much difference in size of the sexes.

Females are somewhat smaller, but the one above must be a young one as the difference isn't that great.

Also apologies for the light saturation in the photo (didn't realise how bad it was until now!)

The female Bustard at Featherdale is actually quite an old girl - most likely she was actually further away from the fence in this shot... she's not as outgoing as the male, and tends to stay back from the fence - whereas he's a complete tart for attention.

I've been fortunate enough to actually be inside their exhibit and got to hand feed the male - he's a really stunning bird up close... *grin*

T.