Female and immature male Victoria's Riflebirds are indistinguishable in the field...unless the bird is displaying. In which case, it will almost certainly be an immature male.
It takes around 7 years for the male Victoria's Riflebird to attain his full breeding plumage, but they start practicing their display routines long before they reach maturity.
In many ways, watching the female-like, immature males practicing their displays was more entertaining than watching the adults. Whereas the adults would only switch into full display mode if a female was present, the immatures would often enthusiastically display on their own or duet with other immature males, often for prolonged periods. One immature I watched displayed constantly without a break for over 30 minutes!
Ray Wilson owns the copyright of all images on this site.
They may not be used or copied in any form without prior written permission.
raywilsonphotography@googlemail.com