The Avairy-- aka Gone to the Birds
 

'allo All and welcome to the Avairy

Thought that I would start this back up-- For the birds, and those of us who love them.

The songbirds that come and brighten our days in our gardens, the parrots that wake us here at dawn. The crows and blackbirds that we love, and the small finches that we put seed out for...

Who are the birds in your life... who are the rare birds you look for, the ones you watch out for...

This is our place to share our stories, questions, pictures... and overall love of birds...

Welcome! :penguin::duck::penguin:

Just a photo or two to help get things rolling:

Some Emu's-- NOT in a zoo, but just out alongside the road during a drive one weekend... they are amazing (and dangerous) and I got nervous once the male was within a couple of meters of me. (do remember that emu's are a little smaller than an ostrich and have huge talons that are about 6 inches long on the end of very muscular legs)

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...s/PC196091.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...s/PC196132.jpg

These last ones are a mating pair of Wedgetail Eagles that we saw on another drive not far from home. They are among the largest birds of prey in the world-- reaching wingspans of 73-89 inches (6'1"- 7'5"), with a very distinctive wedge shaped tail.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...s/PC287431.jpg

When we still lived in Charles City, the annual migration of cedar waxwings was always a great treat to catch. I referred to them as tiny bandits, as they would move from tree to tree stripping any berries or nuts hidden by squirrels and make off with them. Couple interesting notes: They will store food in their throats, like 30 berries at a time to feed young. They will also line up on a branch and pass food from one to the next down the line until one finally eats it.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/P...ing_glamor.jpg

Neat lil fellers!

Thanks for the thread Finney Han! I'm a big old bird watching dork from way back!

thank you.
 

today is already quite warm in indiana. visiting the feeding stations today are the following birds-

sparrows, grackles, red-winged blackbirds, cardinals, jays, and on the ground- mourning doves, american robins, crows [my favourite], & late afternoon/early evening ducks.

the red-winged blackbirds take over the feeding stations, and make a shrill sounding * chreeeeeep- chreeeeeep*

during a walk, i'll see all of the birds listed at the feeders plus- finches, woodpeckers, turkey vultures, red-tailed hawks, cooper's hawks, great blue herons, ducks, geese, crows, and great horned owls.

cornell lab is a wonderful place :) i am very fond of ornithologist kevin mcgowan, and he's why i became a supporter of the field work/research he's done over the years with florida scrub jays and crows. i've made his acquaintance, and while some people may become star struck over actors, i'd much rather meet ornithologists/primatologists and so on !

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/index.html

http://www.princetonol.com/groups/ia...le/animals.htm

the first link is to kevin/cornell, and the second

has tons of information on history of art/animal symbolism.

Falcon / Hawk byk - The sacred bird of the falcon-headed solar god Horus, it was also regarded as his Ba. The falcon was a bird that had protective powers, and was frequently linked with royalty, where it was depicted as hovering over the head of the pharaoh, with outstretched wings. The falcon was also sacred to Montu, god of war, and Sokar, god of the Memphite necropolis. The bird of prey was sometimes associated with Hathor, 'The House of Horus'. The son of Horus, Qebehsenuef who guarded the canopic jar of the intestines, was a falcon-headed god. The human headed ba-bird was sometimes given the body of a falcon.

Heron bnw - The bnw-bird was represented as a heron, and was thought to be the original phoenix - it was a bird of the sun and rebirth, the sacred bird of Heliopolis, closely linked to the primeval mound. It was also thought to be the Ba of both Ra and Osiris.

Ibis hb - Regarded as the reincarnation of Thoth, the sacred ibis was sacred to the god of knowledge, who had the form of an ibis-headed man. The Akhu, part of the soul, was written with the sign of a crested ibis, known as the Akhu-bird.

Ostrich nyw - Ma'at, the personification of order, was shown as a seated woman wearing an ostrich feather as her headdress or as the feather itself.

Vulture nrt - sacred to Nekhbet, goddess of Upper Egypt and Mut, mother goddess. The vulture often holds the shn symbol of eternity in its talons, offering eternal protection to the pharaoh. As such, the vulture is closely linked to rulership.

happy day birding to you all-

belle

http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/a.../aprilhawk.jpg


i started two albums for here- one is called aprilOwls, though it contains hawks. the other album is crows [which only has a few rather far away images, but i like them anyway!]



http://s895.photobucket.com/albums/a...rilOwlOwletts/

Avid birder here
 

I'm hitting my favorite birding spot next weekend in northern Michigan, hoping I am not too late for the spring migration. Michigan is blessed by being located in a major fly-way. We see lots of cool birds here in the spring. A few years ago, my best bird was a Lewis' Woodpecker, normally only seen in the desert out West. It was blown off course and was spotted at Whitefish Point in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I happened to be in the area and drove over to the area and I ended up spotting it in the scrubby pines. It was amazing!

I'd love it if birders would post their lists in here of things they seen on their birding days. It would be cool to read what others are seeing in their part of the world.

Jake

I'm not an official birder - but I love birds.

One day 10 years ago, I was sitting in a friend's garden looking at the pigeons lined up on the telephone wires above. And there, in the midst of their grayness, was a bright bold green parrot.

There's actually a colony of parrots living in a large cemetery not far from my house. Here's a link: http://blogs.discovery.com/nerdabout...ts-of-nyc.html

We have some pretty interesting birds here in Arkansas and Jack saw her first Cardinal and Bluejay when we moved here!

We do have some funny little ones running along the ground. At first I thought they might be actual RoadRunners but they have a bluish-back and a reddish-belly. They are FAST too!

We also have a lot of Killdeer (I think that's what they are called?) that build their nests in rocks on the ground and then if you get too close to them, they will act like they have a broken wing to lead you away.

Oh, and did I mention that some kind of bird has built its nest on the downspout right outside our living room window? I expect to see little hungry heads popping up any day now :)

not just a cartoon character- carnivorous bird
 

Get a hair cut.
 

catbird-
 

http://www.avianweb.com/greycatbirds.html

i hear them every time i walk, and they sound exactly like a meowing possibly quite hungry cat! was able to photograph one- although he or she did give me the stink eye. they are elusive creatures- or else quite bold- so i've read. i think, in my own experience, more of the former!

I will be in the field Saturday all day and Sunday morning. I cannot wait! I will post my list back here when I have a minute.

Hack wrote: I will be in the field Saturday all day and Sunday morning. I cannot wait! I will post my list back here when I have a minute.

i hope you have a great time! :)

sue, catbirds are beautiful birds, and i'm not surprised about the crows mobbing eagles, hawks, or owls. in turn, crows are mobbed by smaller birds.