Bird Watching

[weltschmerz]

I've never seen these before, but this year, I have a flock of about 50 living in the woods near my cottage. They're magnificent when they're in flight, soaring on the wind currents.


Turkey Vulture

[Forever Sunshine]

Saw-whet Owl

[weltschmerz]

My favourite bird is the lowly crow. Talk about smart! There's a good reason that the crow is revered in everything from Aboriginal to Buddhist culture.

Recent research has found some crow species capable not only of tool use but of tool construction as well.[2] Crows are now considered to be among the world's most intelligent animals.[3] The Jackdaw and (along with its fellow corvid, the European Magpie) has been found to have a neostriatum approximately the same relative size as is found in chimpanzees and humans, and significantly larger than is found in the gibbon.[4]
Recent research suggests that crows have the ability to recognize one individual human from another by facial features.

[Artemis Windsong]

Being recognized by the crow is ok if they like you. But one that dislikes you can get you pecked. My bro. had a magpie when we were kids. A teacher tricked our class into revealing unusal pets that we had and so I told about the bird. She goes ballistic and threatens to report us so the bird was released.

Our city had an infestation of turkey vultures. I remember seeing the first two in the late 80s. I don't recall what the city did to get them to move on.

Where is the saw-whet owl located? I can look in my book.

[mmhmm]

Crows can most definitely tell one human from another, and they have preferences. Many years ago, in California, I made friends with a crow who'd bring me gifts ... shiny trinkets like bottle caps, tin foil bits and, once, a little silver bracelet. It expected something shiny in return, along with bits of food (darned thing would eat anything we ate, just about). He came by every day to pick up my gift from the outside table and leave one of his own. If I saw him, I could come right out the back door and he'd just sit and look at me. Sometimes, he'd caw a greeting. If my husband or one of the children came out, however, he'd fly away.

[weltschmerz]

Mmhmm, what a cool story! I know they do that, my mother used to have one that kept stealing the clothespins off the line, and you had to give him a treat to get them back.

[mmhmm]

They're horse-traders, welts, and they love it! As we went along, the gifts kept getting larger in size. Sometimes, I wondered how in the heck he'd carried something he brought, but he managed. I got a lot of tinfoil! With the larger gifts, though, came larger expectations. If he didn't feel my gift was adequate, he'd sit on the table and caw loudly until he got something else. He really was a joy. When we moved away, I actually missed that silly bird.

[weltschmerz]

Damn thing could count! If you gave him one berry, he'd bring back one clothespin. Give him two, and you'd get two of your own clothespins back.
Absolutely amazing.

[weltschmerz]

It's little wonder that they were revered by the ancients, mmhmm.

[mmhmm]

Absolutely! They're really magnificent birds, and smart as whips! They've always been my favorite bird. I love to watch them strut! ;D

[weltschmerz]

Mmhmm, you might be interested in this. It's the CBC's The Nature of Things: A Murder of Crows. It's fascinating and very well done. There's a link on this site to watch the video....I hope it works in the US. Enjoy!
www.cbc.ca/documentaries/natureofthings/2009/murderofcrows/

[mmhmm]

Oct 15, 2011 19:13:00 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Mmhmm, you might be interested in this. It's the CBC's The Nature of Things: A Murder of Crows. It's fascinating and very well done. There's a link on this site to watch the video....I hope it works in the US. Enjoy!
www.cbc.ca/documentaries/natureofthings/2009/murderofcrows/

Wow! Thanks, welts! I'm looking forward to watching this one. Had to prepare dinner for mother and I and help her get ready for bed. I've always enjoyed anything about crows, so I know I'm gonna love it! ;D

[mmhmm]

Most scientists and others who study the intelligence of various species agree the crow is the smartest bird, toughtimes. Crows not only use tools, they innovate and create them. They're really remarkable creatures. I think I read that the Kea of New Zealand (a sort of parrot) might rival them.

Here's an article I was able to find about a scientist who has studied the issue. I know there are more, as I've read them in the past. This one, however, is the one I found available:

abcnews.go.com/Technology/DyeHard/story?id=524845&page=2

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The Golden or “Chinese Pheasant” is another type of bird that catches the eye with a wonderful display of colour. These are gamebirds, native to western China, although they have been bred in other countries like the UK, and are unmistakably lovely with a golden crest, rump and bright red body. When showing off to attract a mate, the male spreads his deep orange 'cape', which looks just like a black and orange fan covering everything except the bright yellow eye. A truly magnificent sight.

[Artemis Windsong]

Wow, they are magnificent Thank you.

I had a couple of ringneck pheasants unexpectedly fly by me last Tuesday.

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Male ringneck pheasant


Female ringneck pheasant

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Golden Reeves ringneck hybrid pheasant

[Artemis Windsong]

I saw a bird. Yipee, a duck. Not a coot but in with the coots. I looked it up when I got home. Ruddy body under black wings. Could it, oh could it have been a hooded merganzer? I didn't see it's head just the rust red body. Maybe a ruddy duck.

The little prairie pot holes weren't frozen over so there were ducks and geese about.

Bird Songs:

www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/song.html

www.math.sunysb.edu/~tony/birds/



There is a nice list of bird songs on the youtube site.

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Bleeding Heart Pigeons..

[Artemis Windsong]

I never knew there were pigeons that looked like that. Wow. Thx

[Artemis Windsong]

The annual week-long Holiday Bird Count was a huge success with a lot of participants and great weather. A lot of snowy owls were seen and a few rare birds. I watched my yard bird feeder but no birdies were interested.

[KindeBabe's Kupid Kiss]

[Artemis Windsong]

OMG, Kindebabe. How beautiful they are. QE2 used to have an island that had pink flamingoes on it.

[Artemis Windsong]

I remember the pink flamingo craze. Very funny to awake to them in the front yard. An odd way to let a person know they are loved. Or is that more like the hostile toilet paper episodes?

I saw a Eurasian Dove today. The TV news reports loads of snowy owls in the state. A lot more than the usual flock of geese have hung around all winter. The water has just recently frozen so they will probably move to open water.

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[Artemis Windsong]

What are those birds? You come up with the most unique species.

[Artemis Windsong]

I noticed in a book I read recently there were a lot of references to a variety of birds at bird feeders.

Like: She glanced out the window at the bird feeder to see a red poll, and some sparrows feeding with chickadees waiting.

[ysi]

I loved my extended family of mourning doves. Then my state enacted mourning dove hunting season and my city decided to set out poison for the crows. I haven't had a mourning dove since, where before they visited for years :-(

[Artemis Windsong]

The populations need to be controlled in some way when nature doesn't keep the balance. The birds can be a nuisance in a lot of ways including crop depredation and health issues. I insert the word rat or mouse when controlling populations are being discussed.

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Kite kourtship - Male presenting mouse to female..