The Bird Thread

[MadamSarcastra]

I was surprised to see no general thread for birds, so here we go!

I have never "owned" a bird, personally, but have been around them, up close & personal, from time to time, going back to childhood. I see all different kinds now every day & I never cease to be fascinated by them....

What kinds of birds are prevalent where you live? What activity do you see? If you take photos, share them!

Are you an official bird-watcher or just an admirer from the wings?

 

[KLS52]

I love birds. We have cardinals, red winged blackbirds, titmouse, wrens, chickadees, cow birds and bluebirds. Also different kinds of woodpeckers. I can’t remember what they’re called.

 

[KLS52]

Clever little house Wren.

 

[MadamSarcastra]

Whoa, a goose-a-thon! I've never seen that before.... LOL

https://twitter.com/x/status/997166827611480064

 

[Amy SF]

It looks like they’re moving an entire colony (do geese have colonies?) from one location to another, in a BIG hurry. Escaping from Donald Trump’s EPA?

 

[Tom L.]

Someone told me that geese molt at a certain tome of year, and that is when researchers, etc band them. It was during one of the warmer months but I forget when it was. They need to be careful with the birds because they can overheat during being banded (sometimes fatally). I don't know if that's the reason the geese in the video were walking around.

My favorites around here are geese or ducks (it always thrills me to see a V of them flying overhead, no matter how many times I see and hear them), cardinals (beautiful birds!), and juncos (although I guess they only show up here on their way north or south). Goldfinches and hummingbirds are great, but I've only seen them once each.

We have hawks and the ocasional bald eagle, but I don't care for them. I think I hear woodpeckers but seldom see them. Chickadees, robins, mourning doves, and blue jays are common, crows even more so, and of course we have lots of starlings, English sparrows, and pigeons.

 

[Mischief]

Someone told me that geese molt at a certain tome of year, and that is when researchers, etc band them. It was during one of the warmer months but I forget when it was. They need to be careful with the birds because they can overheat during being banded (sometimes fatally). I don't know if that's the reason the geese in the video were walking around.

My favorites around here are geese or ducks (it always thrills me to see a V of them flying overhead, no matter how many times I see and hear them), cardinals (beautiful birds!), and juncos (although I guess they only show up here on their way north or south). Goldfinches and hummingbirds are great, but I've only seen them once each.

We have hawks and the ocasional bald eagle, but I don't care for them. I think I hear woodpeckers but seldom see them. Chickadees, robins, mourning doves, and blue jays are common, crows even more so, and of course we have lots of starlings, English sparrows, and pigeons.

I still remember vividly the first time I saw a hummingbird. I must have been about eight. It was so magical, that moment.

 

[Mischief]

I had two parakeets when I was a kid, Narcissa and Goldmund.

Then, when I met my ex husband, he had one little parakeet, in a small cage. I almost immediately went out and bought a other parakeet, and a much larger cage. This was before I realized that bird rescues exist.

A few years later, I was in a five and dime with my other and found a cockatiel living in horrible conditions. I bought him. That was Frisco. He died this past New Years Eve. He had lived with me thirty years.

A couple of decades after the advent of Frisco, I got divorced. New relationship, and the SO wanted a big parrot. I put my foot down about buying, and we ended up adopting five more parrots from rescue. When that relationship ended, I ended up with all the animals (including the cats he had had prior to the tine we met.) I have since ended up with a few more birds, ones that friends asked me to take.

My current parrots are:
Sky and Dandelion, budgies.
Luna, Leon and Felicity, cockatiels.
Ziggy, blue and gold macaw.
Rosebud and Socrates, greenwing macaw and blue and blue and gold macaw, respectively.
Paco and Amelia, Amazons.
Phoebe, African grey.

Then, of course, there are also the ducks and the chickens, all of whise names I'm too lazy to type out ATM.

My favorite wild birds? I'd be hard pressed to choose, but I've always been partial to the small brown and gray birds - sparrows, wrens, chickadees.

 

[MadamSarcastra]

I had two parakeets when I was a kid, Narcissa and Goldmund.

Then, when I met my ex husband, he had one little parakeet, in a small cage. I almost immediately went out and bought a other parakeet, and a much larger cage. This was before I realized that bird rescues exist.

A few years later, I was in a five and dime with my other and found a cockatiel living in horrible conditions. I bought him. That was Frisco. He died this past New Years Eve. He had lived with me thirty years.

A couple of decades after the advent of Frisco, I got divorced. New relationship, and the SO wanted a big parrot. I put my foot down about buying, and we ended up adopting five more parrots from rescue. When that relationship ended, I ended up with all the animals (including the cats he had had prior to the tine we met.) I have since ended up with a few more birds, ones that friends asked me to take.

My current parrots are:
Sky and Dandelion, budgies.
Luna, Leon and Felicity, cockatiels.
Ziggy, blue and gold macaw.
Rosebud and Socrates, greenwing macaw and blue and blue and gold macaw, respectively.
Paco and Amelia, Amazons.
Phoebe, African grey.

Then, of course, there are also the ducks and the chickens, all of whise names I'm too lazy to type out ATM.

My favorite wild birds? I'd be hard pressed to choose, but I've always been partial to the small brown and gray birds - sparrows, wrens, chickadees.

Wow!!

 

[Mischief]

Wow!!

Yeah, crazy cat lady AND crazy bird lady, all rolled into one.

I used to also qualify as a crazy dog lady, but now there are only two dogs, which is a normal number.

 

[shyvas]

Hythe - Kent.

 

[KLS52]

Whoa, a goose-a-thon! I've never seen that before.... LOL

https://twitter.com/x/status/997166827611480064

Hahahahaha...that’s amazing.

 

[shyvas]

Brighton.

 

[Amy SF]

This cracked me up.

https://www.facebook.com/

 

[Mischief]

This cracked me up.

https://www.facebook.com/

That bird is a cutie, and she sure is having fun.
In Australia, escaped pet birds have been teaching their wild counterparts human speech, and it's being passed on from generation to generation. A lot of it's apparently swearing, which I find hilarious. Imagine sitting under a tree and suddenly hearing someone swearing at you from above! Escaped pet birds are teaching wild birds to speak English

(The picture in the article is if two greenwing macaws, which are a South American species. Also, cockatoos (of which there are many species) are in the parrot familyfamily.)

 

[Jamie in Chile]

Hope this upload works. It's a photo of a bird in my old house a couple of years ago. But I was still in Chile then. We are quite lucky here we live in the countryside and I have seen all sorts although I don't usually know the species. We have birds lay eggs in our garden and then bring up the young in our garden. Sometimes have woken up to 20 birds in the garden. Sometimes seen whole flocks of 50 of them flying by.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

Mix of old house and new house but all taken from in my own garden. The red eyed bird is the common southern lapwing, and the baby is also of that species, and the others I don't know.

Where you see the southern lapwing sat down, it is actually giving birth. It sits down for a while, maybe a few days for the eggs to come out and then protect them until they are ready to hatch.

 

[Mischief]

Mix of old house and new house but all taken from in my own garden. The red eyed bird is the common southern lapwing, and the baby is also of that species, and the others I don't know.

Where you see the southern lapwing sat down, it is actually giving birth. It sits down for a while, maybe a few days for the eggs to come out and then protect them until they are ready to hatch.

Sometimes I wish we had a "love" button!

 

[MadamSarcastra]

Great photos, @Jamie in Chile

 

[shyvas]

Vancouver Island.