Why we think it's black

A day of organising and tidying at the apartment before a late trip north to the beachhouse. Got here too late to do very much outside. AND I discovered that the battery in my Pentax KS1 needed to be recharged. Fortunately, I had charged the battery in the Nikon before leaving to come north. 

Had taken a photo of Kawau Bay towards Matakana when a tui flew into a pohutukawa close to me. Right at the point where the land drops away suddenly down to the beach below. 

After feeling less than pleased with my first attempts, I remembered that the Nikon has a setting for backlighting. Used that, the sky was washed out, but the bird is better than I could have hoped.

At this magnification the turquoise on the chest is visible, as is some of the green on the upper back. But basically the tui appears to be black, which is what I thought it was until just the last few years. 

Whether this tui was puffed up because of courting or the aftermath of courting I don't know. It remained in the pohutukawa preening until after I left and went inside.