Damien Enright: Keep eye out for wild creatures hiding in plain sight

Finding a background that so well matches its colour that its outline becomes indistinguishable against it is a defence strategy used by many wild creatures. 'Playing dead' (thanatosis) is another.

The small church of Ermita de Los Reyes, in Valley Gran Rey, La Gomera, Canary Islands, where my son was married. The fruit-laden tree is a papaya.

Birds, and wild creatures in general, will as often hide from predators or prying eyes by standing in front of an intervening object as behind it.

I'd never thought about this tactic in the case of birds, although I'd noticed insects under threat finding an area of ground or tree trunk matching their colour where they sit motionless until the danger has passed.