The Ornithophilia Thread

[jvcc]

I expect this to someday grow to the length of the Blurt thread.

Anyway, I've taken up hiking now that the weather's warm again and in the space of a week I have sighted what I believe was an indigo bunting and a northern oriole (not at the same time; pictures below for reference). I'm sharing this information with you all here because people in my real life don't seem very interested in my bird sightings, for some reason.

There are also some house finches that are nesting above my porch. From my living room couch I observed the female continuously trying to get twigs that were too heavy for her up into the half-built nest, only to drop them mid-flight or accidentally knock them back to the ground when she finally did get them up. Throughout this entire display the male sat nearby, not moving or seeming to take note. I considered putting the twigs up by the nest myself, but I wasn't inclined to find out how much damage two territorial finches could inflict.


Indigo bunting


Northern oriole

[Low-Tech]

Baltimore Oriole


I hardly get anything worth photographing around here, it's all Cardinals, Robins, Robins, and more Robins.... Occasional woodpecker to break up the monotony... Occasionally you'll see bluebirds, but I never have a camera handy.

Last year, some bird of some kind built a nest in the garage. It has mostly unfinished walls with the insulation showing, the bird just hollowed out a section of the fiberglass and stuffed it full of leaves/twigs. Considering there's always people going in and out of the place, I thought that they'd move when they realized they were in a "high traffic" area, but whatever they were, they didn't seem to mind. We left them alone, they left us alone, we'd pass going in and out the garage door When the babies did hatch, you could look into the tiny hole in the wall and see 5 pairs of beady little eyes looking back at you.... creeeee-py

[Judas Maccabeus]

Yes yes yes yes finally a bird thread.



Yeah, I also pretty much only get robins. Though when I strike out away from my apartment for whatever reason the avian variety grows a bit (going to the city, however, only nets me pigeons, of course, but they're fairly interesting pigeons so I'm not complaining too much). I really ought to keep my camera with me on some of those walks; they do get up to some interesting things, like seeing a few of them taking a bath in a nearby stream.

Now, back when I lived further out in the country... well, the most memorable was the one summer we had a whipporwill camping outside my family's house and announcing its presence every evening.

[EsBe]

I have no idea how to identify birds, but I have several nests scattered around the yard, either in birdhouses or under decks. So far we just happily stay out of each other's way, but when blueberries start ripening there will be a reckoning.

[jvcc]

Occasional woodpecker to break up the monotony...

One of my coolest bird sighting ever was a pileated woodpecker, which I saw while up in the UP of Michigan when I was a kid. It's basically a massive woodpecker with a vibrant red crest. It's drilling a hole in a tree could be heard echoing throughout the woods; at first it sounded like someone was actually using a power tool.

As far as sighting birds around my home, I'm lucky to live a short drive away from a state park. I like to walk on the equestrian trails because there tend not to be any other people, which increases my likelihood of seeing wildlife.

[Judas Maccabeus]

Indigo bunting

I have a "Birds of North America" calendar that I got for my desk at work, and looking at it reminded me that the bird on in this month is that one.* Just a neat little coincidence.

*Well, not that specific bird, probably, just the same species, but you know what I mean.

[badplantmommy]

I don't know much about birds, and maybe my eyesight isn't good enough for birding (I'm already nearsighted, and one's eyesight doesn't tend to improve with age). But I do really enjoy hummingbirds. I've never put up feeders or anything, but I grow lots of plants that have flowers they like to eat from.

[ntw3001]

Robins, Robins, and more Robins....

This is what I see in Toronto. And North American robins are bullhonky! I just looked them up and their Latin name is Turdus Migratorius. I think it fits.

[jvcc]

Robins, Robins, and more Robins....

This is what I see in Toronto. And North American robins are bullhonky! I just looked them up and their Latin name is Turdus Migratorius. I think it fits.

They're not actually robins, but members of the thrush family.

England doesn't have bluebirds, either over the white cliffs of Dover or anywhere else. Oh, you may have birds that are blue, but you do not have bluebirds.

[Low-Tech]

They also don't have red birds either, or at least I don't think they do, I still remember one of our UK members was a bit amazed when one of the pictures I drew a while back had a male Cardinal in it.

[ntw3001]

Yeah, our choices are pretty much brown or sometimes black. Or a green woodpecker, but they're infrequent. But robins are partially red! And it's actually red, unlike that silly browny-orange arrangement they have over here. CHRISTMAS

Oh yeah, and blue tits. They're a good colour. Blue and yellow, what a combination.

[MysticalDescent]

I have a crab apple tree outside my window. There was a blackbird nesting near here that used to used the crab apples to feed itself and its young during the winter. It's been happening for a few years. This year, at some point which I can't remember, about 30 starlings descended on the crab apple tree, were there all morning and devoured everything. I have since taken to putting out food for the blackbird, which looked awfully desperate. I now get a great deal of birds and an alarming number of pigeons.

[jvcc]

This isn't bird related, but I occasionally leave food on my patio for the thirteen-lined ground squirrels that live in my back yard. I started doing this because there's a sliding glass door that leads out there and they kept coming up and looking inside my apartment so adorably that I felt compelled to do something for them. I've named my favorite Torpenhow.

Starlings were introduced to the US by an eccentric Englishman who wanted all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare to reside in America. They are apparently a menace to farmers. (I first learned of this watching QI and have since confirmed it using other sources.) I can't tell if there are any around where I live because I confuse them with grackles.

[sum yun gai]

there is a raven family living in my back yard. we also put out food for a couple of the neighborhood cats who may or may not be strays. during the daytime, the ravens will swoop down, pick up the cat food, dip it into the water a few times, then eat it. they will do this for 5-7 pieces of food, then go do something somewhere else.

[chrismachine]

quoth the raven "I love meow mix".

[Low-Tech]

Interesting that we just had this discussion, as just yesterday I saw another bluebird...

[Judas Maccabeus]

According to my "Birds of North America" calendar, this month's bird is the Scarlet Tanager.



Discuss.

[jvcc]

I think I've seen one of those. They're hard to spot because they like to stay high up in the canopy. Absolutely beautiful, though.

[ntw3001]

It's okay. Three and a half stars.

[EsBe]

That just confirms my long held belief that scarlet tanagers are awful decorators. Not that I have anything against pink, but that's seriously a monotonous color palette it's got going on. Hey tanager, go buy a color wheel and come back to us when you know what "complementary" means.

[jvcc]

Well, not all birds can be as design savvy as the Satin Bowerbird.

[chrismachine]

That is about as neat as birds can be, I would say.

[ntw3001]

I actually use the 'blue sticks strewn about' look in all my interior design work.

[jvcc]

I went hiking again today and heard eagles or hawks shrieking. Proper shrieks, too, like a sound effect from a movie.

[Dusk]

I went hiking again today and heard eagles or hawks shrieking. Proper shrieks, too, like a sound effect from a movie.

Awww they wanted to feast on your remains.