Apostlebirds are strange, noisy, highly social birds of the arid interior of Australia.   These were photographed at Fowlers Gap, a research station in far northwest New South Wales, Australia.   They can become very tame with familiarity with people, as for the color-marked group in the bottom photo.

• Canon 1D3 or 7D; 500 mm IS lens plus 1.4X converter or Tokina 11-16 zoom, some with electronic flash (2009)