Lilac Breasted Roller

I cannot start posting from a trip without my favorite bird the Lilac Breasted Roller showing all its colors in great light at Kings Camp in the Timbivati Game Reserve, South Africa in August 2026 and yes I have some flight shots for later!

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stopforgettingit 5 points 2 days ago

First time I saw a photo of one of these I didn't think it was real. This was pre-AI, I thought it was photoshopped because it was so colorful.

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anon6789 4 points 2 days ago

At this point, I'm generally accepting they're real, I just start to wonder how much is the perfect lighting or post processing.

I was excited to go see some kind of starling, I believe it was, that I'd seen posted a few times and it was so beautiful in photos, something like one of these:

When I got to see it, it was indoors with no natural light, and it just looked charcoal colored and drab. I could kinda see a little sheen in just the right conditions, but it was staying in the shadows of the trees, and it was just a bit of a let down.

These guys maybe have their color from pigmentation instead of iridescence, since it looks muted in the shadows, but still colorful.

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