Saturday, July 20, 2013

Raggedy Swallowtail

Some too-impetuous bird got himself a mouthful of feathers. Maybe more than one bird, actually. Not to worry, says the feather provider; that's what they're for. Camouflage by misdirection.

Western swallowtail butterfly, Papilo rutulus, missing most of the swallow tails, and a lot of wing. Doing fine, sipping nectar from a generous abelia.

His wing once had a border of yellow dots, a hint of blue, and a red patch at the bottom.

There's still some blue on the underside of the hindwing. No red, though.

Happy foraging, and slowpoke birds, little one!

1 comment:

  1. This is fun. We can compare your westerns and my easterns!

    ReplyDelete

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