The birds and the bees

[lizkat]

The "I did not know this" gig strikes the center of my understanding of bird migration. With maps yet. Fascinating,

Ask Kenn: Do Migrating Birds Take the Same Routes in Spring and Fall?

In this month's column, bird expert Kenn Kaufman explains the phenomenon of "loop migration."

www.audubon.org

 

[lizkat]

These guys are wonderful fishers but hilarious and goofy in flight sometimes.

 

[Clix Pix]

Oh, that is a priceless photo! So ungainly, so ungraceful in flight, compared to how he usually looks placidly floating in the water or standing on a log proudly "displaying" with his wings wide open......

 

[shadow puppet]

I had no idea these birds were this smart. The second video is especially impressive.

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1478606205358592000/

 

[Yoused]

I had no idea these birds were this smart.

I strongly recommend Gifts of the Crow by Marzluff (one of the premier ornithologists there is). Corvids are stunningly smart birds (and of them, magpies are the prettiest).

A Profane Crow Made Friends at an Elementary School Before Being Expelled

The crow, known as Cosmo, made a stir at Allen Dale Elementary by teaching kids a few choice expletives.

www.mentalfloss.com

Also, they can learn to talk.

 

[lizkat]

Gotta love this: "... esteemed Canadian ambassador to the US seen in DC"

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1479809631321006081/​

 

[lizkat]

Heh. This might ACTUALLY be a redneck...

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1479436424751550465/​

 

[lizkat]

Wow, a bird with impeccable table manners. But he's a picky little guy, too...

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1484930180724502528/​

 

[Yoused]

When the subjects are smarter than the researchers

Altruism in Birds? Magpies Have Outwitted Scientists by Helping Each Other Remove Tracking Devices

It was the first time a bird has removed a tracking device, and the second time a bird species showed cooperative "rescue" behavior.

www.the-scientist.com

 

[lizkat]

Standoff: tiny blue tit with a stash of sunflower seeds, vs big ol' sparrow.

 

[lizkat]

Even a robin passing by may have found it fun: "always make time to watch the starlings take a bath".

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1510760623822548993/

 

[oldBCguy]

Bee condo(s) -- crafted and posted in select areas within several BC Municipal parks -- an attempt to help save an important pollinator.

 

[lizkat]

Domestic "foul" ??

 

[lizkat]

Definitely we should all have ducks.

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1559867148305965056/​

 

[lizkat]

Wow, didn't even know there was a pygmy kingfisher. Gorgeous colors, lives in Rwanda.

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1568509895216857088/

 

[lizkat]

The bar-tailed godwit weighs max about 400 grams (under a pound) and hasn't webbed feet, so cannot land on water and get up out of it again. This five-month old first-time migrant wore a tiny satellite tracking device and flew from Alaska nonstop over the Pacific Ocean to Tasmania in 11 days, a distance of 13560km (8425 miles). Typically this species loses up to half its body weight making the trip.

Bar-tailed godwit sets world record with 13,560km continuous flight from Alaska to southern Australia | Birds | The Guardian

Satellite tag data suggests five-month-old migratory bird did not stop during voyage which took 11 days and one hour to reach Tasmania

amp.theguardian.com

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1584815549137440768/

 

[Yoused]

That is an average of about 30mph. Most humans cannot run 10mph for 50 yards.

 

[lizkat]

That is an average of about 30mph. Most humans cannot run 10mph for 50 yards.

Somehow they know where to go, too... even not having been there before. Apparently it's common for first-year godwits to fly together, separately from adults. So a whole flock can end up at the mercy of whatever "road map" unreels itself in the brains of whichever birds end up as leaders of a given flock. Interesting to think about that in terms of a possibly random but adaptive trait as climate change goes on: the younger ones --by chance in this or that year-- may avoid an increasingly risky choice made by birds that have followed a certain flight path before and just stick to it thereafter.

Beats me why people came to use the term "bird-brain" disparagingly. Maybe they were only applying it to domesticated poultry. Some turkeys bred for table seem to be pretty stupid compared to their wild cousins.

 

[lizkat]

Tower of London ravens get a taste of the slam. (Hmm... law enforcement there saving money on new uniforms, so far.)

 

[shadow puppet]

Domestic "foul" ??

View attachment 16729​

HA! I forgot about this and recently shared this elsewhere: