PDA

View Full Version : Birds & Bees a Nonviolent Exchange


LeftWriteFemme
08-25-2012, 06:12 PM
You know the drill this is a thread for pictures of winged creatures whether they be insects or our feathered friends. I hope you enjoy!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2597/3932356029_36020c7c0e.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rFSPEW3qEwk/T4w9rxuq7FI/AAAAAAAAArc/fxC5NdgAFfU/s1600/bumble-bee.jpg

Kätzchen
08-25-2012, 09:08 PM
http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs41/i/2009/011/e/3/Three_little_birds__by_ectoband.jpg

Kätzchen
08-25-2012, 09:17 PM
http://c0.wall-art.com/img/Glass-art_beautiful_peacock_web_single.jpg

LeftWriteFemme
08-25-2012, 09:47 PM
https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT-DiJEGBoSCxjGS8Ys2wddFSlU_JOZaI-0wApSvY1IbiiflFV_

always2late
08-25-2012, 10:07 PM
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y7W2J5Lbrws/TjATik7gsGI/AAAAAAAAA_o/0qJQ3HwnFFU/s1600/red%252Bcardinal%252Bbird-778175.jpg

My favorite bird :)

PaPa
08-25-2012, 10:13 PM
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQyUzfQ-2vTCZcP11S_DxnrcPdYGNACT7XBzXn7oQ-8xcJNCm9N&t=1

always2late
08-25-2012, 10:17 PM
http://www.grahamowengallery.com/photography/birds/2009-birds/snowy-egret-fluff.jpg

Many years ago, while attending a drum circle, I found out that my spirit guide is a Snowy Egret.

lusciouskiwi
08-25-2012, 10:34 PM
http://richardspranger.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/BT4C7273-590x381.jpg

http://www.completestamp.co.nz/(RoxenUserID%3Db70e2a427cc460415e4aeacff47e07a8)/images/stamps/136245.jpg

A very good year even if I do say so myself :D

DMW
10-08-2012, 04:56 AM
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/black_capped_chickadee_glamour.jpg


A bird almost universally considered “cute” thanks to its oversized round head, tiny body, and curiosity about everything, including humans. The chickadee’s black cap and bib; white cheeks; gray back, wings, and tail; and whitish underside with buffy sides are distinctive. Its habit of investigating people and everything else in its home territory, and quickness to discover bird feeders, make it one of the first birds most people learn.



Size & Shape

This tiny bird has a short neck and large head, giving it a distinctive, rather spherical body shape. It also has a long, narrow tail and a short bill a bit thicker than a warbler’s but thinner than a finch’s.
Color Pattern

The cap and bib are black, the cheeks white, the back soft gray, the wing feathers gray edged with white, and the underparts soft buffy on the sides grading to white beneath. The cap extends down just beyond the black eyes, making the small eyes tricky to see.
Behavior

Black-capped Chickadees seldom remain at feeders except to grab a seed to eat elsewhere. They are acrobatic and associate in flocks—the sudden activity when a flock arrives is distinctive. They often fly across roads and open areas one at a time with a bouncy flight.
Habitat

Chickadees may be found in any habitat that has trees or woody shrubs, from forests and woodlots to residential neighborhoods and parks, and sometimes weedy fields and cattail marshes. They frequently nest in birch or alder trees.

Calls

Chickadees make their chickadee-dee-dee call using increasing numbers of dee notes when they are alarmed. They also have a gargling call, often given aggressively when a lower-ranking bird gets close to a higher-ranking one; also exchanged between members of a pair. Black-capped Chickadees make a high pitched see as a high-intensity alarm call, often when a fast-approaching predator is detected. When chickadees hear this call, they freeze in position until they hear a chickadee-dee call signifying “all clear.” High see calls most often given by males.

Cool Facts

The Black-Capped Chickadee hides seeds and other food items to eat later. Each item is placed in a different spot and the chickadee can remember thousands of hiding places.
Every autumn Black-capped Chickadees allow brain neurons containing old information to die, replacing them with new neurons so they can adapt to changes in their social flocks and environment even with their tiny brains.
Chickadee calls are complex and language-like, communicating information on identity and recognition of other flocks as well as predator alarms and contact calls. The more dee notes in a chickadee-dee-dee call, the higher the threat level.
Winter flocks with chickadees serving as the nucleus contain mated chickadee pairs and nonbreeders, but generally not the offspring of the adult pairs within that flock. Other species that associate with chickadee flocks include nuthatches, woodpeckers, kinglets, creepers, warblers and vireos.
Most birds that associate with chickadee flocks respond to chickadee alarm calls, even when their own species doesn’t have a similar alarm call.
There is a dominance hierarchy within flocks. Some birds are “winter floaters” that don’t belong to a single flock—these individuals may have a different rank within each flock they spend time in.
Even when temperatures are far below zero, chickadees virtually always sleep in their own individual cavities. In rotten wood, they can excavate nesting and roosting holes entirely on their own.
Because small songbirds migrating through an unfamiliar area often associate with chickadee flocks, watching and listening for chickadee flocks during spring and fall can often alert birders to the presence of interesting migrants.
The oldest known wild chickadee lived to be 12 years and 5 months old.

DMW
10-08-2012, 05:40 AM
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/common_loon_glamor_joe_urban.jpg

Call Sounds http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Loon/sounds
Size & Shape

Common Loons are large, diving waterbirds with rounded heads and dagger-like bills. They have long bodies and short tails that are usually not visible. In flight, they look stretched out, with a long, flat body and long neck and bill. Their feet stick out beyond the tail (unlike ducks and cormorants), looking like wedges.
Color Pattern

In summer, adults have a black head and bill, a black-and-white spotted back, and a white breast. From September to March, adults are plain gray on the back and head with a white throat. The bill also fades to gray. Juveniles look similar, but with more pronounced scalloping on the back.
Behavior

Common Loons are stealthy divers, submerging without a splash to catch fish. Pairs and groups often call to each other at night. In flight, notice their shallow wingbeats and unwavering, bee-lined flight path.
Habitat

Common Loons breed on quiet, remote freshwater lakes of the northern U.S. and Canada, and they are sensitive to human disturbance. In winter and during migration, look for them on lakes, rivers, estuaries, and coastlines.

Cool Facts

The Common Loon swims underwater to catch fish, propelling itself with its feet. It swallows most of its prey underwater. The loon has sharp, rearward-pointing projections on the roof of its mouth and tongue that help it keep a firm hold on slippery fish.
Loons are water birds, only going ashore to mate and incubate eggs. Their legs are placed far back on their bodies, allowing efficient swimming but only awkward movement on land.
Loons are agile swimmers, but they move pretty fast in the air, too. Migrating loons have been clocked flying at speeds more than 70 mph.
A hungry loon family can put away a lot of fish. Biologists estimate that loon parents and their 2 chicks can eat about a half-ton of fish over a 15-week period.
Loons are like airplanes in that they need a runway for takeoff. In the case of loons, they need from 30 yards up to a quarter-mile (depending on the wind) for flapping their wings and running across the top of the water in order to gain enough speed for lift-off.
Loons are well equipped for their submarine maneuvers to catch fish. Unlike most birds, loons have solid bones that make them less buoyant and better at diving. They can quickly blow air out of their lungs and flatten their feathers to expel air within their plumage, so they can dive quickly and swim fast underwater. Once below the surface, the loon’s heart slows down to conserve oxygen.
Like many young birds, juvenile loons are really on their own after mom and dad leave at about 12 weeks. The parents head off on migration in the fall, leaving juveniles to gather into flocks on northern lakes and make their own journey south a few weeks later. Once the juveniles reach coastal waters on the ocean, they stay there for the next two years. Finally in the third year, young loons return north for their first breeding season. Even though they haven’t been home in awhile, young loons typically return to a lake within 10 miles of the lake where they were born.
Migrating Common Loons occasionally land on wet highways or parking lots, mistaking them for rivers and lakes. They become stranded without a considerable amount of open water for a long takeoff. A loon may also get stranded on a pond that is too small.
The Common Loon is flightless for a few weeks after molting all of its wing feathers at the same time in midwinter.
The oldest-known Common Loon lived at least 24 years, 1 month, spending its summers on a lake in Michigan.

DMW
10-08-2012, 05:45 AM
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/bald_eagle_glamor.jpg


http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

http://birds.audubon.org/

Size & Shape

The Bald Eagle dwarfs most other raptors, including the Turkey Vulture and Red-tailed Hawk. It has a heavy body, large head, and long, hooked bill. In flight, a Bald Eagle holds its broad wings flat like a board.
Color Pattern

Adult Bald Eagles have white heads and tails with dark brown bodies and wings. Their legs and bills are bright yellow. Immature birds have mostly dark heads and tails; their brown wings and bodies are mottled with white in varying amounts. Young birds attain adult plumage in about five years.
Behavior

You'll find Bald Eagles soaring high in the sky, flapping low over treetops with slow wingbeats, or perched in trees or on the ground. Bald Eagles scavenge many meals by harassing other birds or by eating carrion or garbage. They eat mainly fish, but also hunt mammals, gulls, and waterfowl.
Habitat

Look for Bald Eagles near lakes, reservoirs, rivers, marshes, and coasts. For a chance to see large Bald Eagle congregations, check out wildlife refuges or large bodies of water in winter over much of the continent, or fish processing plants and dumpsters year-round in coastal Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.

Cool Facts

Rather than do their own fishing, Bald Eagles often go after other creatures’ catches. A Bald Eagle will harass a hunting Osprey until the smaller raptor drops its prey in midair, where the eagle swoops it up. A Bald Eagle may even snatch a fish directly out of an Osprey’s talons. Fishing mammals (even people sometimes) can also lose prey to Bald Eagle piracy. See an example here.
Had Benjamin Franklin prevailed, the U.S. emblem might have been the Wild Turkey. In 1784, Franklin disparaged the national bird’s thieving tendencies and its vulnerability to harassment by small birds. "For my own part,” he wrote, “I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly. … Besides he is a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District.”
Bald Eagles suffered in the March 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska. An estimated 247 Bald Eagles died from oil exposure and population levels in the Sound decreased by almost four percent the following year. The local population returned to pre-spill levels by 1995.
Sometimes even the national bird has to cut loose. Bald Eagles have been known to play with plastic bottles and other objects pressed into service as toys. One observer witnessed six Bald Eagles passing sticks to each other in midair.
The largest Bald Eagle nest on record, in St. Petersburg, Florida, was 2.9 meters in diameter and 6.1 meters tall. Another famous nest—in Vermilion, Ohio—was shaped like a wine glass and weighed almost two metric tons. It was used for 34 years until the tree blew down.
Immature Bald Eagles spend the first four years of their lives in nomadic exploration of vast territories and can fly hundreds of miles per day. Some young birds from Florida have wandered north as far as Michigan, and birds from California have reached Alaska.
Bald Eagles can live a long time, with a longevity record of 28 years in the wild and 36 years in captivity.
Bald Eagles occasionally hunt cooperatively, with one individual flushing prey towards another.

willow
10-08-2012, 02:08 PM
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/246619_2152656531376_1878517_n.jpg

Kätzchen
10-08-2012, 03:11 PM
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6lV5hzNR1fU/ShRqm-s-aFI/AAAAAAAAEPk/XrdfcGuWF4E/s400/imma+be.jpeg

Kätzchen
10-08-2012, 03:15 PM
http://hotoffpress.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/snls2e3-killerbees.jpg

LeftWriteFemme
10-08-2012, 06:42 PM
http://wordpress.birds.com/wp-content/uploads/home/bird4.jpg


http://www.factzoo.com/sites/all/img/insects/violet-carpenter-bee-jeff-clarke.jpg

Martina
10-08-2012, 06:59 PM
http://fadedandblurred.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/bwp-awards-winner-5.jpg

LeftWriteFemme
10-08-2012, 07:03 PM
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W90V87w3sr8/TSf0RX6bikI/AAAAAAAAAnY/If__zASTV7Q/s1600/blue-bird-missouri.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iISd7ZK0pEs/TYlUDJjJaYI/AAAAAAAAAHg/ND1d_SJ0KG4/s1600/carpenter-bee-hovering.jpg

Martina
10-08-2012, 07:03 PM
http://media.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/images/macro-photography-take-two/spider.jpg

LeftWriteFemme
10-08-2012, 07:52 PM
http://hasadjo.com/thumbnail.php?file=2_217236307.jpg&size=article_medium

http://beniceartfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/red-bees-e1292636613829.jpg

Martina
10-08-2012, 08:52 PM
oops, a spider isn't winged. sorry re that.

http://www.empowernetwork.com/Rubiegrace21/files/2012/07/500-Dragonfly-01.jpg

Semantics
10-08-2012, 08:58 PM
https://s3.amazonaws.com/objects.artspan.com/member/rliotta/500/46475.jpg

Kätzchen
10-08-2012, 11:06 PM
http://mybellelumiere.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/03.jpg

Turtle
10-09-2012, 12:07 AM
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-38GwPvXBxfo/Tq4EW6m41jI/AAAAAAAADYk/ABSIpiuDEHM/s1600/DSC08054_sm.jpg

Kätzchen
10-09-2012, 09:50 PM
http://static.neatoshop.com/images/product/34/3734/Junior-Bird-vs-Bee-Vs-Mittens-Kids_15889-l.jpg?v=15889

always2late
10-09-2012, 10:20 PM
http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/c2c/share/27/277/792/2779272_370.jpg

Peacock spider

DMW
10-10-2012, 04:14 PM
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/northern_mockingbird_glamour.jpg

Calls

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Mockingbird/sounds

If you’ve been hearing an endless string of 10 or 15 different birds singing outside your house, you might have a Northern Mockingbird in your yard. These slender-bodied gray birds apparently pour all their color into their personalities. They sing almost endlessly, even sometimes at night, and they flagrantly harass birds that intrude on their territories, flying slowly around them or prancing toward them, legs extended, flaunting their bright white wing patches.

Size & Shape
A medium-sized songbird, a bit more slender than a thrush and with a longer tail. Mockingbirds have small heads, a long, thin bill with a hint of a downward curve, and long legs. Their wings are short, rounded, and broad, making the tail seem particularly long in flight.
Color Pattern
Mockingbirds are overall gray-brown, paler on the breast and belly, with two white wingbars on each wing. A white patch in each wing is often visible on perched birds, and in flight these become large white flashes. The white outer tail feathers are also flashy in flight.
Behavior
The Northern Mockingbird enjoys making its presence known. It usually sits conspicuously on high vegetation, fences, eaves, or telephone wires, or runs and hops along the ground. Found alone or in pairs throughout the year, mockingbirds aggressively chase off intruders on their territory.
Habitat
Look for Northern Mockingbirds in towns, suburbs, backyards, parks, forest edges, and open land at low elevations.

Cool Facts

It’s not just other mockingbirds that appreciate a good song. In the nineteenth century, people kept so many mockingbirds as cage birds that the birds nearly vanished from parts of the East Coast. People took nestlings out of nests or trapped adults and sold them in cities such as Philadelphia, St. Louis, and New York, where, in 1828, extraordinary singers could fetch as much as $50.
Northern Mockingbirds continue to add new sounds to their repertoires throughout their lives. A male may learn around 200 songs throughout its life.
The Northern Mockingbird frequently gives a "wing flash" display, where it half or fully opens its wings in jerky intermediate steps, showing off the big white patches. No one knows why it does this, but it may startle insects, making them easier to catch. On the other hand, it doesn’t often seem to be successful, and different mockingbird species do this same display even though they don’t have white wing patches.
Northern Mockingbirds sing all through the day, and often into the night. Most nocturnal singers are unmated males, which sing more than mated males during the day, too. Nighttime singing is more common during the full moon.
Northern Mockingbirds typically sing from February through August, and again from September to early November. A male may have two distinct repertoires of songs: one for spring and another for fall.
The female Northern Mockingbird sings too, although usually more quietly than the male does. She rarely sings in the summer, and usually only when the male is away from the territory. She sings more in the fall, perhaps to establish a winter territory.
The oldest Northern Mockingbird on record was 14 years and 10 months old.

Listen To The Mockingbird by Brother Bones and His Shadows - YouTube

LISTEN TO THE MOCKINGBIRD - VOCAL- Ladies & Love Songs of the Civil War-Tom Roush - YouTube

Turtle
10-16-2012, 11:40 PM
http://snu.photosynthesis.bg/uploads/user-files/maumyhata/portfolio/DSC_photosintesis1.jpg

DMW
10-19-2012, 08:40 AM
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/bullocks.jpg

Cool Facts

The Bullock's Oriole hybridizes extensively with the Baltimore Oriole where their ranges overlap in the Great Plains. The two species were considered the same for a while and called the Northern Oriole, but recently, they were separated again. Molecular studies of the oriole genus indicate that the two species are not very closely related.
The Bullock's Oriole's nest is not always placed in territory where the male advertises.
Both sexes of Bullock's Oriole sing, but the males and females sing different songs. The song of the female is similar to that of the male, but it ends differently and with harsher notes. Early in nesting period, and before and during nest-building, the female sings regularly, and may sing more than the male.

Other Names

Northern Oriole (in part)
Oriole de Bullock, Oriole à ailes blanches (French)
Bolsero calandria (Spanish)

Cool Facts

The Bullock's Oriole hybridizes extensively with the Baltimore Oriole where their ranges overlap in the Great Plains. The two species were considered the same for a while and called the Northern Oriole, but recently, they were separated again. Molecular studies of the oriole genus indicate that the two species are not very closely related.
The Bullock's Oriole's nest is not always placed in territory where the male advertises.
Both sexes of Bullock's Oriole sing, but the males and females sing different songs. The song of the female is similar to that of the male, but it ends differently and with harsher notes. Early in nesting period, and before and during nest-building, the female sings regularly, and may sing more than the male.

Habitat
Open Woodland
Riparian and open woodlands, or woodlots with tall trees, including parklands. Winters in riparian woodlands and woodland edge, with some in pine, pine-oak, or fir forests.

Food
Insects
Caterpillars, fruits, insects, spiders, and nectar.


Nest Description

Hanging nest, neatly woven of hair (especially horsehair), twine, fibers, grasses, and wool, lined with cottonwood or willow cotton, wool, or feathers. Placed in isolated trees, at edges of woodlands, along watercourses, in shelterbelts, and in urban parks, often near water.
Nest Placement


Gleans and probes in trees and flowers for insects and nectar. Visits feeders for sugar water.

A beautiful bird

willow
10-19-2012, 04:22 PM
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/59881_340699529360337_869565966_n.jpg

Nomad
10-19-2012, 07:44 PM
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/600613_3273238551267_719012247_n.jpg

Nomad
10-19-2012, 07:48 PM
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/162943_1519902638965_4020508_n.jpg


http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/164572_1519902798969_4957456_n.jpg



http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/166531_1519902958973_6569887_n.jpg

Girl_On_Fire
10-19-2012, 08:10 PM
http://www.birdingmaine.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/ruby-throated-hummingbird.jpg

Angeltoes
10-19-2012, 08:18 PM
Mountain Bluebird...

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8dpWgsMCIWc/TcIlM9-RpPI/AAAAAAAABjk/gd6RWiwNrHs/s1600/Mountain%2BBluebirds%2B%2BSialia%2Bartcia%2Bstate% 2Bbird%2Bof%2BIdaho%2BApril%2B26%2B2011%2Buploaded %2Bby%2Bfundawg%2Bto%2Bwunderblog.jpg

weatherboi
10-23-2012, 06:06 AM
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/185173_275361662584379_334779750_n.jpg

weatherboi
10-24-2012, 04:13 PM
http://s3.amazonaws.com/readers/2010/10/07/600pxguianancockoftherock28rupicolarupicola29_1.jp g

The Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock is a brightly-colored bird with a unique half-moon crest which is used as competitive display to attract female. One thing extraordinary about this bird is its coloration; the bill, legs, feathers are all orange. Not only that, even the bird’s skin is also orange.

DMW
10-26-2012, 06:24 AM
Al Jolson - When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along (1926) - YouTube


http://tgreybirds.com/AmericanRobin43L.jpg

Cool Facts

An American Robin can produce three successful broods in one year. On average, though, only 40 percent of nests successfully produce young. Only 25 percent of those fledged young survive to November. From that point on, about half of the robins alive in any year will make it to the next. Despite the fact that a lucky robin can live to be 14 years old, the entire population turns over on average every six years.
Although robins are considered harbingers of spring, many American Robins spend the whole winter in their breeding range. But because they spend more time roosting in trees and less time in your yard, you're much less likely to see them. The number of robins present in the northern parts of the range varies each year with the local conditions.
Robins eat a lot of fruit in fall and winter. When they eat honeysuckle berries exclusively, they sometimes become intoxicated.
Robin roosts can be huge, sometimes including a quarter-million birds during winter. In summer, females sleep at their nests and males gather at roosts. As young robins become independent, they join the males. Female adults go to the roosts only after they have finished nesting.
Robins eat different types of food depending on the time of day: more earthworms in the morning and more fruit later in the day. Because the robin forages largely on lawns, it is vulnerable to pesticide poisoning and can be an important indicator of chemical pollution.
The oldest recorded American Robin was 13 years and 11 months old.

LeftWriteFemme
10-28-2012, 03:25 PM
http://www.bigpicture.in/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/CollectionOfBestPhotographsOfBirds9_009.jpg

DMW
10-31-2012, 12:33 PM
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/red_winged_blackbird_glamour.jpg

One of the most abundant birds across North America, and one of the most boldly colored, the Red-winged Blackbird is a familiar sight atop cattails, along soggy roadsides, and on telephone wires. Glossy-black males have scarlet-and-yellow shoulder patches they can puff up or hide depending on how confident they feel. Females are a subdued, streaky brown, almost like a large, dark sparrow. In the North, their early arrival and tumbling song are happy indications of the return of spring.

Cool Facts

Different populations and subspecies of Red-winged Blackbirds vary markedly in size and proportions. An experiment was conducted that moved nestlings between populations and found that the chicks grew up to resemble their foster parents. This study indicated that much of the difference seen between populations is the result of different environments rather than different genetic makeups.
The Red-winged Blackbird is a highly polygynous species, meaning males have many female mates – up to 15 in some cases. In some populations 90 percent of territorial males have more than one female nesting on their territories. But all is not as it seems: one-quarter to one-half of nestlings turn out to have been sired by someone other than the territorial male.
Male Red-winged Blackbirds fiercely defend their territories during the breeding season, spending more than a quarter of daylight hours in territory defense. He chases other males out of the territory and attacks nest predators, sometimes going after much larger animals, including horses and people.
Red-winged Blackbirds roost in flocks in all months of the year. In summer small numbers roost in the wetlands where the birds breed. Winter flocks can be congregations of several million birds, including other blackbird species and starlings. Each morning the roosts spread out, traveling as far as 50 miles to feed, then re-forming at night.
One California subspecies of the Red-winged Blackbird lacks the yellow borders to the red shoulders (epaulets) and has been dubbed the “bicolored blackbird.” Some scientists think this plumage difference may help Red-winged Blackbirds recognize each other where their range overlaps with the similar Tricolored Blackbird.
The oldest recorded Red-winged Blackbird was 15 years 9 months old.

The Beatles - Blackbird (Lyrics) - YouTube
Lyrics-
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Black bird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
all your life
you were only waiting for this moment to be free

Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise,
You were only waiting for this moment to arise,
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

PaPa
10-31-2012, 12:56 PM
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/article_horizonta_lifestylel546/article-images/21LEAD2.jpg.crop_display.jpg

Martina
10-31-2012, 03:07 PM
http://www.petsfoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Beautiful-Photos-Birds32.jpg

Martina
10-31-2012, 07:43 PM
http://ineedfile2.com/archive/birds/8-birds.jpg

Turtle
11-01-2012, 12:13 AM
http://www.pics-site.com/wp-content/uploads/Amazing-Birds-Photography-15.jpg

Turtle
11-01-2012, 12:16 AM
http://www.imagebookers.com/gallery/d/1780-2/tweety-onmoon.jpg

weatherboi
11-08-2012, 06:20 AM
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/523421_282109541909591_795565233_n.jpg

weatherboi
11-11-2012, 07:27 AM
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/430656_278706288916726_2098173518_n.jpg

Massive
11-14-2012, 09:50 AM
I have blue tits and coal tits in my garden too :)


A Blue Tit
http://whatafy.com/storage//2012/08/2012/08/17/the-great-tit-and-other-lively-bird-species/Blue-tit.jpg

A Coal Tit
http://www.bbc.co.uk/southyorkshire/content/images/2008/12/29/coal_tit203_203x152.jpg

A Bearded Tit
http://birdinglodge.com/wp-content/gallery/birding-trips/bearded_tit.jpg

A Great Tit
http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/naturelibrary/images/ic/credit/640x395/g/gr/great_tit/great_tit_1.jpg

And finally A Long Tailed Tit
http://www.imagesoflincolnshire.co.uk/Long_Tailed_Tit_IOL.jpg

weatherboi
11-15-2012, 05:37 AM
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/550465_167480943393292_254510110_n.jpg

Not sure what kind of bird this is....

deb0670
11-15-2012, 05:40 AM
http://www.picresize.com/images/tbirds-wallpapers-33.jpg

deb0670
11-15-2012, 05:41 AM
http://www.picresize.com/images/tbirdshd.jpg

deb0670
11-15-2012, 05:44 AM
http://www.picresize.com/images/tmonstersincforthebirdswallpaper1024.jpg

DMW
11-20-2012, 08:01 PM
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/blue_jay_glamour.jpg

This common, large songbird is familiar to many people, with its perky crest; blue, white, and black plumage; and noisy calls. Blue Jays are known for their intelligence and complex social systems with tight family bonds. Their fondness for acorns is credited with helping spread oak trees after the last glacial period.

Thousands of Blue Jays migrate in flocks along the Great Lakes and Atlantic coasts, but much about their migration remains a mystery. Some are present throughout winter in all parts of their range. Young jays may be more likely to migrate than adults, but many adults also migrate. Some individual jays migrate south one year, stay north the next winter, and then migrate south again the next year. No one has worked out why they migrate when they do.
Blue Jays are known to take and eat eggs and nestlings of other birds, but we don’t know how common this is. In an extensive study of Blue Jay feeding habits, only 1% of jays had evidence of eggs or birds in their stomachs. Most of their diet was composed of insects and nuts.
The Blue Jay frequently mimics the calls of hawks, especially the Red-shouldered Hawk. These calls may provide information to other jays that a hawk is around, or may be used to deceive other species into believing a hawk is present.
Tool use has never been reported for wild Blue Jays, but captive Blue Jays used strips of newspaper to rake in food pellets from outside their cages.
Blue Jays lower their crests when they are feeding peacefully with family and flock members or tending to nestlings.
At feeders in Florida, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Florida Scrub-Jays, Common Grackles, and gray squirrels strongly dominate Blue Jays, often preventing them from obtaining food.
The pigment in Blue Jay feathers is melanin, which is brown. The blue color is caused by scattering light through modified cells on the surface of the feather barbs.
The black bridle across the face, nape, and throat varies extensively and may help Blue Jays recognize one another.
The oldest known wild, banded Blue Jay lived to be at least 17 years 6 months old.

3 jays for 3 days have come by my way.
Not just in flight or passerby but twas nigh.
Each had something to say.....Jay Jay Jay
Interrupting that moment...
i had to halt all thought
and pause.
Was this but a single Jay?
Following me...beckoning what i may?
Is there a cause or reason for
me to listen and heed your...
Call? What do you say ?
Jay Jay Jay...
What do you need?

LeftWriteFemme
11-24-2012, 09:25 PM
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/c38.0.403.403/p403x403/252282_10151372556146844_2001864867_n.jpg

Angeltoes
11-24-2012, 09:29 PM
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_liflasoyCJ1qastyxo1_500.jpg

DMW
12-05-2012, 06:34 PM
http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee487/jpalmken/Selected%20Photos/D14closeup.jpg


Still Flying in Spirit he is.

I am the eagle, I live in high country
In rocky cathedrals that reach to the sky
I am the hawk and theres blood on my feathers
But time is still turning they soon will be dry
And all of those who see me, all who believe in me
Share in the freedom I feel when I fly

Come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops
Sail oer the canyons and up to the stars
And reach for the heavens and hope for the future
And all that we can be and not what we are

Words and music by John Denver and Mike Taylor

weatherboi
12-08-2012, 06:18 AM
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/559720_505452526141541_210693199_n.jpg

this little bat eats 1,000 mosquitoes an hour!!!

i also love how the nose looks like to separate nostrils!!!

Beloved
12-08-2012, 07:33 AM
Whoops! Nevermind.

LeftWriteFemme
12-11-2012, 09:57 PM
http://www.pdazzler.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/birds-bees.jpg

Turtle
12-12-2012, 12:44 AM
http://smashmaterials.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Beautiful-Birds-Photographs-10.jpg

DMW
12-12-2012, 07:31 PM
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/mourning_dove_glamor.jpg

The mourning dove coo
A graceful, slender-tailed, small-headed dove that’s common across the continent. Mourning Doves perch on telephone wires and forage for seeds on the ground; their flight is fast and bullet straight. Their soft, drawn-out calls sound like laments. When taking off, their wings make a sharp whistling or whinnying. Mourning Doves are the most frequently hunted species in North America.

Cool Facts

During the breeding season, you might see three Mourning Doves flying in tight formation, one after another. This is a form of social display. Typically the bird in the lead is the male of a mated pair. The second bird is an unmated male chasing his rival from the area where he hopes to nest. The third is the female of the mated pair, which seems to go along for the ride.
Mourning Doves tend to feed busily on the ground, swallowing seeds and storing them in an enlargement of the esophagus called the crop. Once they’ve filled it (the record is 17,200 bluegrass seeds in a single crop!), they can fly to a safe perch to digest the meal.
Mourning Doves eat roughly 12 to 20 percent of their body weight per day, or 71 calories on average.
Perhaps one reason why Mourning Doves survive in the desert: they can drink brackish spring water (up to almost half the salinity of sea water) without becoming dehydrated the way humans would.
The Mourning Dove is the most widespread and abundant game bird in North America. Every year hunters harvest more than 20 million, but the Mourning Dove remains one of our most abundant birds with a U.S. population estimated at 350 million.
The oldest known Mourning Dove was 31 years 4 months old.

The realese dove... flutter Peace Dove

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/5f/WhiteDove912.jpg/220px-WhiteDove912.jpg

Homing pigeon

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/6d/White_homing_pigeon.jpg/220px-White_homing_pigeon.jpg


The song
Prince Buster - Wings like a Dove - Wildbells - YouTube

DMW
12-16-2012, 09:07 AM
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/coopers_hawk_sim_5.jpg


Among the bird world’s most skillful fliers, Cooper’s Hawks are common woodland hawks that tear through cluttered tree canopies in high speed pursuit of other birds. You’re most likely to see one prowling above a forest edge or field using just a few stiff wingbeats followed by a glide. With their smaller lookalike, the Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper’s Hawks make for famously tricky identifications. Both species are sometimes unwanted guests at bird feeders, looking for an easy meal (but not one of sunflower seeds).


Behavior

Look for Cooper’s Hawks to fly with a flap-flap-glide pattern typical of accipiters. Even when crossing large open areas they rarely flap continuously. Another attack maneuver is to fly fast and low to the ground, then up and over an obstruction to surprise prey on the other side.


Feeding the birds brought this hungry hawk to the yard yesterday.
I got to stare at it for a very long time in a perfect moment.
It was nice.

DMW
12-30-2012, 08:57 AM
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/dark_eyed_junco_2.jpg

"The Harbinger of Winter"

A lot of these babies around needing food.

Angeltoes
02-05-2013, 11:17 PM
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lthf22QOoj1qk7uiso1_500.jpg

Angeltoes
02-05-2013, 11:18 PM
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_me07kfdVD41rluhyko1_1280.jpg

Angeltoes
02-05-2013, 11:20 PM
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_maq1sl7gwd1rrxqflo1_500.jpg

Martina
02-06-2013, 02:48 AM
http://www.motherjones.com/files/Female_zabulon_skipper.jpg

Martina
02-06-2013, 04:23 AM
http://www.nature.org/idc/groups/webcontent/@web/documents/media/photo-of-the-month-owl02.jpg

DMW
02-24-2013, 03:12 PM
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/red_bellied_woodpecker_11.jpg

Enjoy hearing these lively ones.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-bellied_Woodpecker/id

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-bellied_Woodpecker/sounds

DMW
02-28-2013, 06:15 PM
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/hairy_woodpecker_glamor.jpg
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hairy_Woodpecker/lifehistory

always2late
03-11-2013, 02:18 PM
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4vbebeGv01qejnfko1_500.jpg

Ok...I am not a big fan of tarantulas, but this is one stunning spider! It's called a Metallic Tarantula.

femmeInterrupted
03-11-2013, 03:06 PM
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/13116_10152572850765136_677958801_n.jpg

Photo credit: Isabelle Marozzo

femmeInterrupted
03-11-2013, 03:08 PM
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/534703_10152217230655136_634069715_n.jpg

Photo Credit: Isabelle Marozzo

femmeInterrupted
03-11-2013, 03:09 PM
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/295188_10151993894590136_948556941_n.jpg

Photo Credit: Isabelle Marozzo

Kenna
03-11-2013, 03:23 PM
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5334/7202705288_4d321023fb.jpg
(image from Laura Erickson's birding blog http://lauraerickson.blogspot.com/2012/05/prothonotary-warbler.html )

Prothonotary Warbler... our sighting was at Cane Creek park, NC. It's sad to think how rare they are from habitat destruction. What I wouldn't give to watch them for hours.

DMW
03-11-2013, 07:32 PM
http://www.houstonaudubon.org/html/TitmouseAMmed.jpg

Tufted-titmouse

meridiantoo
03-12-2013, 01:12 AM
http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y483/ca_dence/bird_zps2905dbc2.jpg

always2late
03-12-2013, 09:02 PM
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4S-IRPc_1iw/UQ6_aWCY5SI/AAAAAAAALfk/__OG3-78JwU/s400/a%2Bpurple%2Bpraying%2Bmantis.jpg

Purple orchid mantis

always2late
03-12-2013, 09:04 PM
http://0.tqn.com/d/birding/1/0/J/9/-/-/paintedbunting.jpg

Painted Bunting

always2late
03-12-2013, 09:06 PM
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8x05npfyw1r7u6l5o1_1280.jpg

Poodle moth

always2late
03-12-2013, 10:40 PM
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/09/04/article-1211187-031D74D10000044D-170_468x389.jpg

Hummingbird moth

always2late
03-12-2013, 10:59 PM
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SqhhJb_P3Kk/TDeLHw9T4yI/AAAAAAAAMf8/6QFntfZf7mI/s1600/virginia+tiger+moth.jpg

Tiger moth

femmeInterrupted
03-13-2013, 10:45 AM
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/188931_284865454977825_1062417117_n.jpg



Found in coniferous forests throughout the most northern parts of Europe, Asia and western North America.

always2late
03-22-2013, 08:16 PM
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/1818_569836369704045_1800621436_n.jpg
Amber Phantom butterfly

DMW
04-03-2013, 10:14 AM
V2nn-q6ezuM


Cool Facts
The name "peregrine" means wanderer, and the Peregrine Falcon has one of the longest migrations of any North American bird. Tundra-nesting falcons winter in South America, and may move 25,000 km (15,500 mi) in a year. Maps of the migration of individual falcons determined by satellite telemetry can be seen at Environment Canada.
People have trained falcons for hunting for over a thousand years, and the Peregrine Falcon was always one of the most prized birds. Efforts to breed the Peregrine in captivity and reestablish populations depleted during the DDT years were greatly assisted by the existence of methods of handling captive falcons developed by falconers.
The Peregrine Falcon is a very fast flier, averaging 40-55 km/h (25-34 mph) in traveling flight, and reaching speeds up to 112 km/h (69 mph) in direct pursuit of prey. During its spectacular hunting stoop from heights of over 1 km (0.62 mi), the peregrine may reach speeds of 320 km/h (200 mph) as it drops toward its prey.
The Peregrine Falcon is one of the most widespread birds in the world. It is found on all continents except Antarctica, and on many oceanic islands.

always2late
04-03-2013, 02:50 PM
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/544570_575049729182709_815265223_n.jpg

Rosy maple moth

LeftWriteFemme
04-03-2013, 03:10 PM
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/Creatures/MISC/MOTHS/puss01.jpg

DMW
04-21-2013, 01:50 PM
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/ruby_crowned_kinglet_1.jpg

Saw this little baby yesterday. Nice song too.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ruby-crowned_Kinglet/sounds

Hollylane
04-21-2013, 02:35 PM
http://i37.tinypic.com/azfq8.jpg
Tufted Puffin, Oregon Coast Aquarium, March 23, 2013

DMW
04-28-2013, 09:18 AM
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/brthr.jpg

Spotted a pair among the forsythia. Have not seen them in a few years.
Really like this bird's song. And their Yellow Eyes
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown_Thrasher/sounds

Cool Facts
The Brown Thrasher is considered a short-distance migrant, but two individuals have been recorded in Europe: one in England and another in Germany.
An aggressive defender of its nest, the Brown Thrasher is known to strike people and dogs hard enough to draw blood.

Brown Thrashers are accomplished songsters that may sing more than 1,100 different song types and include imitations of other birds, including Chuck-will’s-widows, Wood Thrushes, and Northern Flickers.

At least one early naturalist thought the Brown Thrasher’s song was underappreciated, writing “Much of the [acclaim] which has fallen to the Mockingbird is really due to the unperceived efforts of the Brown Thrasher. It is the opinion of many ornithologists that the song… is richer, fuller, and definitely more melodious than that of polyglottis” (the Northern Mockingbird).

Both males and females help incubate the eggs and feed the young. Nestlings sometimes leave the nest fully feathered within nine days of hatching—earlier than either of their smaller relatives, the Northern Mockingbird and Gray Catbird. Shrubby habitats are popular hideouts for nest predators, which may explain why the thrashers fledge so quickly for birds of their size.

deb0670
04-28-2013, 10:12 AM
http://www.indiabirds.com/images/gallery_birds/slfmblog.jpg
http://www.planetofbirds.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Sri-Lanka-Frogmouth.jpg



Physical charateristics

The Sri Lanka Frogmouth is about 23 cm long. It looks large-headed, and has a large flattened hooked bill and huge frog-like gape. The female is rufous, lightly spotted with white. The male is grey and more heavily spotted.
The Sri Lanka Frogmouth hunts insects at night and rests during the day. The Sri Lankan frogmouth is not very adept at flying and can seem weak in flight, yet it can fly quietly under the thick canopy at night to hunt for insects. It can be identified at night by its klock-klock-klock-klock-klock calls which can best be described as loud, cackly and frog like. It has the same quality as of pebbles rattling down. This klock-klock call is of the male and is answered with a long and harsh krsssshhh by the female.

wingspan min.: 0 cm wingspan max.: 0 cm
size min.: 22 cm size max.: 23 cm
incubation min.: 0 days incubation max.: 0 days
fledging min.: 0 days fledging max.: 0 days
broods: 0 eggs min.: 0
eggs max.: 0
Range

Oriental Region : South India, Sri Lanka

Habitat

The Sri Lanka Frogmouth inhabits dense tropical rainforest and is sometimes found in shade grown coffee plantations. It is found only in the Western Ghats of southwest India and Sri Lanka.

Reproduction

It builds a nest in the fork of a tree from 2?6m above the ground, lining it with moss, small leaves, twigs and underfeathers. A single white egg is laid and is incubated by the female at night and the male during the day. The white chick is cared for over a period of weeks before dispersing. Second down of the chick is rufous-buf and barred.

Feeding habits

The Sri Lankan frogmouth is nocturnal, hunting insects at night and resting on branches during the day.

Conservation

This species has a very large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

The Sri Lankan frogmouth can inhabit shade-grown coffee plantations, which require the presence of the taller trees of native forest, and are therefore relatively ecologically sound. However, a recent trend has seen tea plantations becoming more profitable than coffee plantations, leading to the destruction of native forests. Habitat is also being lost to fires, forestry operations, water resource development, cultivation and grazing.

DMW
05-01-2013, 11:13 AM
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/house_wren_6.jpg
The wrens are here looking for the best nest. Very interesting ritual that the pair goes through to build said nest. The male presents several to the female and she decides where they will live. Was not aware, until now, that they destroy other birds nests. Very territorial and has a wonderful song.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/House_Wren/sounds
Physical Description
Male and female House Wrens look alike. They have grayish brown upperparts, buff or pale-buff underparts, and faint buff or dusky brown eyebrows. Juveniles have a reddish brown rump, and their underparts are a darker buff.

Distribution and Breeding Habitat
House Wrens occupy the northern two-thirds of the United States and parts of Canada. They breed in forest edges, shrub lands, swamps, fields, farmlands, and suburban parks. House Wren Range Map

Diet
Gleaning their food from tree foliage, House Wrens feast on a variety of invertebrates, including millipedes, spiders, snails, caterpillars, grasshoppers, ants, and beetles.

Pair Formation and Territoriality
The male arrives first on the breeding territory. Once he establishes a territory, he builds "dummy nests" in all available cavities on his territory. When the female arrives, she selects a nest site that may or may not be one of the nests started by the male.

House Wrens are very territorial. Although they use only one nest cavity at a time, they vigorously defend all cavities in their territory. As part of this defense, House Wrens often pierce and destroy the eggs of other cavity-nesting species such as Eastern Bluebirds and Tree Swallows that attempt to nest within their territory.

The House Wren's mating system is complex. A male may pair with one female for part of the season to raise a brood. He might then mate with a different female to raise the second or third brood of the breeding season. Males may also be mated to two females simultaneously.

Nesting Behavior
Nest Building: The breeding season begins in late April for birds living in the southern portion of their range; it begins in early May in the northern portion. House Wrens nest in natural cavities, tree stumps, woodpecker holes, building nooks and crannies, and in nest boxes. They have also been known to nest in such unique places as cow skulls, flower pots, tin cans, boots, scarecrows, and the pockets of hanging laundry.

Males begin building the nest by filling the nest cavity with small sticks. Up to 500 sticks have been counted in a single nest. High behind this pile, the female constructs a nest cup from various soft materials, like feathers, hair, wool, spider cocoons, strips of bark, rootlets, moss, and trash.

Egg Laying: Females lay one egg per day until the clutch is complete. The average clutch size is 6 to 8 eggs, but up to 12 eggs have been reported. The eggs are glossy white, sometimes tinted with pink or buff. They are uniformly and profusely marked with fine pinkish brown, reddish brown, and brown specks, which sometimes form a ring near the larger end of the egg.

Incubation: The incubation period lasts 13 to 15 days. Females begin to incubate on the day the next-to-last, or penultimate, egg is laid. Males occasionally feed their mates during this period.

Nestling Care: Both adults care for the young. The young fledge after 12 to 18 days. Although able to fly, the fledglings continue to be fed by their parents for approximately two weeks. The female may begin to renest while young are still dependent; the male then becomes the primary caretaker of the young.

Pairs usually raise two broods per breeding season. Some pairs can successfully raise three broods.

Winter Movement and Dispersal
House Wrens migrate to the southern United States and Mexico for the winter. Males return to the same breeding territory year after year. There is no information on site fidelity in females.

There is no information on juvenile dispersal.



Visit Shaw Creek Bird Supply to see our selection of House Wren Houses.

DMW
05-20-2013, 07:01 PM
I saw one of these today.

http://www.nativeamericananimalmedicine.com/files/QuickSiteImages/GreatBlueHeron.jpg

I saw a juvenile.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/great_blue_heron_9.jpg

I have seen them here too.

http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/channel/8/Great_Blue_Herons/

DMW
05-28-2013, 04:54 AM
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/house_sparrow_glamour.jpg

Loud obnoxious bird. Identified as a sparrow, but really isn't. LOB works for me.

Info enough...

You can find House Sparrows most places where there are houses (or other buildings), and few places where there aren’t. Along with two other introduced species, the European Starling and the Rock Pigeon, these are some of our most common birds. Their constant presence outside our doors makes them easy to overlook, and their tendency to displace native birds from nest boxes causes some people to resent them. But House Sparrows, with their capacity to live so intimately with us, are just beneficiaries of our own success.

DMW
06-08-2013, 01:00 PM
http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/004/cache/blue-bird_471_600x450.jpg

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/eastern_bluebird_4.jpg

Saw a pair of these beautiful birds for the first time! Incredible!

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Bluebird/lifehistory

Interestingly enough, speckled starlings were nearby, among the pines, the bluebirds nest.
And some bullfrogs.

DMW
06-15-2013, 08:24 AM
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/spotted_towhee_glamor.jpg
Male
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/spotted_towhee_2.jpg
Female
Very interesting
Cool Facts
The Eastern Towhee and the very similar Spotted Towhee of western North America used to be considered the same species, the Rufous-sided Towhee. The two forms still occur together in the Great Plains, where they sometimes interbreed. This is a common evolutionary pattern in North American birds – a holdover from when the great ice sheets split the continent down the middle, isolating birds into eastern and western populations that eventually became new species.

DMW
06-20-2013, 06:12 PM
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/american_goldfinch_3.jpg

willow
10-25-2013, 12:12 PM
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/1379760_525503527539336_1372484895_n.jpg

LeftWriteFemme
10-26-2013, 06:49 PM
http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/23300000/Beautiful-Birds-beautiful-nature-23334849-800-544.jpg

LeftWriteFemme
10-26-2013, 06:50 PM
http://www.thewowimages.com/wowimages/beautiful_birds_4.jpg

Sheridan
11-01-2013, 04:43 AM
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01513/bird_1513295c.jpg

Smiling
12-26-2013, 08:47 AM
http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/s577/Bree524/image_zpsa86ed3d6.jpg

Photo Credit: Eric Tourneret, The Bee Photographer
Source: http://www.thehoneygatherers.com/html/photolibrary1.html

Every photograph on his website is a work of art. I think he is my favorite photographer, but I might be biased because of my love of bees. :)

If you are interested in viewing some absolutely stunning images, however, do take a moment and browse this website.

cinnamongrrl
12-23-2014, 06:47 AM
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ4N7zXw6pRY73X_4QjE4Io0slG-Hzm-KkgdRvDiu7dcOZWVC_QZg

My oldest daughter and I just love dragonflies :) It never ceases to amaze me how varied their color spectrum is!

cinnamongrrl
12-23-2014, 06:50 AM
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSML76WObi_6JIPc7JoTLC46qPiEgdjb-MHkkJKZyiKfcSvQSLUNQ

Not a showy beauty, but they have the prettiest song. And, though they are shy, I once had a close encounter with one while hiking. It still stands out in my mind as one of those amazing life experiences :)

cinnamongrrl
12-23-2014, 06:58 AM
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR_3mbLEtHipNBnoMZ_n80DFT6wplkdl E_oHeIB6wMb15mEyIU0mg

I see this sort of hawk nearly daily here. It's labeled as a red-tailed hawk but I know that it isn't. There are so many different species of hawk in NC! I'm amazed and frequently looking up when I should be driving lol

Kätzchen
10-04-2020, 09:27 AM
aD-sWWc7TGU

Flocks and flocks of wild geese have returned to the fields, nearby.
I love how they talk to each other as they take flight to the skies.

FireSignFemme
10-05-2020, 12:24 AM
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/62/2a/6f/622a6f500beeeb6aff9bd9d8f3ebfd25.jpg

C0LLETTE
10-05-2020, 06:54 AM
aD-sWWc7TGU

Flocks and flocks of wild geese have returned to the fields, nearby.
I love how they talk to each other as they take flight to the skies.

They look great but if you're planning to walk out into those fields for a closer look...wear hip-waders...I think you know what I mean.

homoe
10-05-2020, 06:49 PM
Q_VGwZTPoGk

Femmewench
10-05-2020, 06:58 PM
I'll see your wild geese and raise you some cranes and ducks and others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52ZxL33V9So

C0LLETTE
10-05-2020, 07:31 PM
I'll see your wild geese and raise you some cranes and ducks and others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52ZxL33V9So

that's incredibly funny...

thank you

C0LLETTE
10-05-2020, 07:38 PM
wish I'd watched the video before posting ... your line was funny. Now I realise that bird shit maybe awful but the en mass squawking, screeching, flapping may be worse...Bless their little fowl souls.

FireSignFemme
05-10-2023, 07:44 PM
https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1335242756/photo/close-up-of-insect-on-flower.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=Fw_4anOZRlGk0DjYBNMLVuBPM1rzFWB7oScqjXpvt_o=

Bee-eaters (Meropidae)

https://www.10000birds.com/the-bee-eaters-of-africa.htm

https://media.gettyimages.com/id/998983426/photo/playing-bee-eater.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=wV_N8fCu43FgGGNavcn-xhBC6VvL8Odpkb-LCnT4-bI=

https://static.wixstatic.com/media/dc5049_5e376e420432410c9e79e47573d7a685~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_2238,h_1493,al_c,q_90/20220131%20Bee-eater%2C%20White-fronted-Edit.jpg

https://pbase.com/ianfulton/image/94056341

https://dibird.com/image_taxon/5_4814_39893400823_6544e37d78_c

https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1351309228/photo/close-up-of-bee-perching-on-branch.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=6Fm2PoC1D_Z1XVGeU-Ruk6zYNdCfeko5CfIKapzFYQo=

https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1210643287/photo/bee-eater.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=uDvO6SE1VWj-HVwp8XlwuR38gPJVY-8KVNcBfFU-aMA=

https://www.aasafaristours.com/wp-content/uploads/Cinnamon-chested-Bee-eater.jpg

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/european-bee-eater-catches-butterfly-on-branch-royalty-free-image/1161251419

Kätzchen
05-11-2023, 10:49 AM
https://www.pufferbelliestoys.com/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/full/bee_kind5eb076ef8d02f.png_r1.jpg