BIRDS

been seeing a lot of red-winged blackbirds hanging out on cattails lining the shore of a park pond across the street. i enjoy their conservative use of color, they're not all obnoxiously slutty about it like some other birds WHO SHALL REMAIN NAMELESS

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/3738/redwingblackbird.jpg

also, a few weeks ago this scene unfolded at the same pond, apparently some geese produced a gaggle of goslings and then when i tried to photodocument the goslings the geese hissed at me but did not comically peck at my crotch like so many geese have done throughout history

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/6297/photolp.jpg

I've been seeing a lot of red winged black birds lately too, they are stunning!

Took this a few weeks ago. They saunter leisurely across the street in the late afternoon, stopping in front of cars to peck at little items of interest:
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b74/righteouskate/peacock.jpg

what, those roam wild where you live? do you live in...thailand?

As soon as I find a copy of the book here at work, I'm going to share a quote about peacocks and their displays vs evolution....

Florida. The release and subsequent adaptation to the wild of exotic pets is incredibly common down here.

Laurel, I hope you find it! Are you thinking about how the trains of the males are more of a hindrance than a leg up on mating because the weight of the tail slows them down making them more vulnerable to predators? I read recently that the decorative trains (specifically size and color variation) have been found less effective in mating than calls and other physical displays, which is pretty interesting.

lol best use of username ever

I'm not really obsessed with peacocks...

do you ever find dead peacocks in the road, peacocks

haha actually, no! It's a little street between two parks and I like to think, despite their wandering primarily during rush hour, that people are so pleasantly suprised to see them that they stop right away and wait patiently for them to pass. The females are gorgeous.

Although... the ranger for the two parks is really on top of his game so there might be some hit and runs that are picked up before anyone notices. I hope the former is the case.

all staring down their noses at the other birds

they must think themselves the landed gentry of their domain

aduh:
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b74/righteouskate/30-rock-203.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/27/article-0-09C73668000005DC-994_634x421.jpg

take the silhouette of that and you have a very bizarre creature indeed

That pic is from a DM article - [url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1281970/Swooping-150mph-golden-eagle-really-knows-meaning-fast-food.html]Swooping in at 150mph, this golden eagle really knows the meaning of fast food.[/url

I'm pretty sure they don't travel at 150 mph?

hahahahaha methinks the Mail have their raptors confused

The symmetry is amazing but it's the look on his face that kills me. "Yes, I am going to eat you, bwahahaha..."

at that angle it looks like it's a slightly sympathetic, pitying, amused expression

o lowly vole, if only you could fly like me

flying dinosaurs, how do they work

http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/ifwis/ibt/userfiles/image/photos/800/olive-sided-flycatcher--tom-munson.jpg

Bird ppls have decided the olive-sided flycatchers call is saying, "Quick, three beers!"

flycatchers are incredible birds

some of my favourite memories involve watching them at primary school

I saw a hawk in downtown Toronto today, a fucking hawk (roughly 2 feet in size, too).

Golden Eagles definitely swoop at around 150mph, fastest is the Peregrine Falcon at around 200mph

in neighbours garden finishing off a pigeon.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4001/4568033551_d8b10a9d87.jpg

http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l69r5jj3zT1qak053o1_250.gif

This bird has a RUMEN!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62Q-himJgaU&feature=related

They are all feathered dinosaurs but particularly that one.

poor smelly bastards

better one, sorry, temporarily obsessed will stop now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18582_zqzF8&NR=1

I mean now.

worth watching gets even more amazing towards the end
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH-groCeKbE

Wow, thanks for posting that.

Had just come on here to ask "Where is good for watching migrating starlings?" and it turns out it's two miles up the road ... Marvellous.

When's a good time to see starlings as in the above clip? (Looks like Feb?)

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/11/23/1290551753396/Flamingos-001.jpg

if only its tail wasn't melting amirite

shaped a bit like the Spurs logo

Some people have actually said that the image is divine intervention and proof that there is a God

That God, eh?

fucksake everyone involved, especially the flamingoes

flamingoes are among the most boring of birds imho

if I wake earlier than the heroic 16:00 I have set my alarm-clock to I will rank all the birds whose jpgs still adorn this thread

flamingoes are among the most boring of birds imho

― pro EVOO sucker (acoleuthic), Wednesday, 24 November 2010 08:59 (10 hours ago)

ha

i agree

great fucking birds (an incomplete list)

gulls (larger ones)
corvids
wagtails
swifts (and martins, more so than swallows)
robins when singing
ALL WADERS EVER esp sandpipers
small falcons
shrikes
buntings (much more so than finches)
the chiffchaff
the zitting cisticola aka fantailed warbler
treecreepers although I've never seen one ;_;
migratory thrushes
PIPITS

pipits might be stealth winners actually

stormy petrels also altho they are almost too elusive and unlikely

SHIT BIRDS (British; incomplete)

geese
ducks EXCEPT mergansers and wigeons
mute swans
small gulls
owls when portrayed as cute
large raptors when portrayed as superior (ospreys have their moments for instance but r overly fetishised)
coots when there are too many of them and they are not being violent (violent coots r GREAT)
starlings (do not need to explain this)

So much wrongness, more later.

BIRDS THAT CAN BE GREAT DEPENDING ON MOOD

pigeons (esp wood)
woodpeckers
tits (esp crested)
the dunnock
the heron (esp in unexpected surrounds)
the moorhen
the kingfisher when not gratuitous
gamebirds when not in season
grebes when you haven't seen one for a while
gannets the first time you see them; see also auks - the black guillemot is a delightful species actually
fulmars when you haven't had an overload of shearwater stiffwingness
wrens when they're not being miserable skulkers

ok geese needs more of a breakdown. brent geese are cool.

Can't believe yr trying to troll me on ducks tbh.

wtf wrens are awesome whatever their mood

^

wrens are awesome when flitting around in full view and singing; not when they're dashing around the undergrowth and you can't see them

ducks are a bit played ime - the wilder, faster-flying ones are mad cool tho - <3 goosanders

oh shit, EIDERS ok eiders are also cool but they're seagoing ducks - much preferable on the whole