First - ever see a male peacock in a tree? Was a first for a bunch of us - plus the added wondering how the heck we didn't notice we were walking under a peacock. :) (no good pics 'cause it was dark)

A baby Flamingo I took 2 weeks ago (there are 3):


I really thought this little guy was adorable. It'a Pigmy Falcon:

IMG_27221
Originally uploaded by FlyingWolf.

Maybe more later...

I have just moved to the Bay Area (to work on a raptor migration project, in fact.) I don't really know anybody in the area, nor have I seen very many western birds. I was hoping you guys could refer me to some good birding groups I could join up with around here.

Hey everybody. I have a friend who lives in Kentucky. She has a pet starling, but I really don't think it's a starling. It's solid black and has a kind of "hump nose" on its beak. She feeds it wet dog food, fruits, veggies, etc, and it eats it.

I'm going to ask her if I can take a picture because it doesn't look like a starling to me (a little bit bigger, solid black, different beak shape) but I can't figure out what it is. Does anybody know of a list of solid black birds of Kentucky, or Eastern North America in general?

Peace,
Jack

Hooded mergansers, duck with ducklings. Maryland, USA.

Wild condor chicks in jeopardy from Big Sur fire. One might have died already. *sigh* - But honestly, there's nothing safe that can be done about it.

What an interesting combination of birds I'm hearing. There were just coopers (I think) hawks swooping around the house calling a couple of minutes ago. (We have red-shouldered, red-tailed, and coopers as either yard birds or birds who nest within half a block of here and hang out overhead a lot, lucky!) Now, chestnut-backed chickadees are going nuts in the bushes outside. They sound like little squeaker-toys.

I love living here. :)

They're considered pest birds, I think, but if you've never looked closely, starlings are actually quite stunning. This one's a little cocky as he has found a seed pitcher on a shelf in the wildlife center bird rehab room.




I volunteer as a bird chauffeur and keep a blog of my passengers at terrataxi.

Spotted Dikkop, Burhinus capensis, hiding in a cauliflower patch in Langa township, South Africa

i went to the san diego zoo in california this week and saw this magnificent bird but can not for the life of me seem to remember what it is called...here i am asking for help yet again.... :)

Connecticut, USA

I saw this bird last weekend flying around a patch of tall weeds and wildflowers with the butterflies.  The area has some cultivated fields on one side, and a small pond surrounded by trees and shrubs on the other, and a big parking lot nearby.  The bird was very small (5 inches maybe?), looked brown in flight, and it looks like it was catching insects - I could barely get it in my binoculars, and I don't know how I managed to get a picture.  But since I did, I feel like I ought to try to ID it :)  Other birds seen in the area included redwinged blackbirds, a common yellowthroat, mystery sparrows, and tree swallows.  Any suggestions?   





And here's my entry with the pictures of the common yellowthroat and a male bobolink in breeding plumage. 

They were learning all the skills, zipping around, and caught them learning to pound trees!LOL!

Tufted Titmouse




Red Breasted Woodpecker




Downy Woodpecker

I've been trying to get some pictures of male cardinals because I think their color is absolutely stunning, but every time one lands it flies away before I can capture it! Kind of frustrating, but hopefully I'll be able to catch one soon.

A new study on the evolutionary relationships of birds, the largest and most in-depth of its kind to date, is being published tomorrow in the journal Science. News magazines have picked it up.

mscnbc's coverage, including their "top ten new facts" based on the study

As a result of this study, many of the well known orders of birds will have to be changed and renamed. Falconiformes, Ciconiiformes, Coraciiformes, Caprimulgiformes, and Pelecaniformes, just to name a few, will have to be revised. Listers who organize their lists taxonomically (like myself) should be prepared for some changes :-)


another link, this one to Birder's World, which describes the findings in more detail

 

Here are pictures of the baby woodpecker that I've been blathering about lately. 

He is a downy woodpecker, a juvenile male.

 

 

This is a picture of him with his daddy.  Daddy is the above left.  The baby looks bigger because he still has his baby fluffy feathers.  The picture was taken through a rain-splattered window with a flash, and that along with my poor photography skills makes for a rotten pic.  The next one is a little better:



Again, daddy is to the left and baby is upper right.  This is my favorite picture of baby, because of the pose.  He poses like this a lot. I just love his body language!

I saw something new today, with a different baby downy.  He was clinging to the bottom of one of the suet cages upside down, so he could reach two of them, each of which was a different flavor.  But what made me laugh was that he could catch the falling crumbs on his little chest, rather than leave them to fall to the ground, then pick them off his chest for munching. Has anyone seen a woodpecker do that before?

Could anyone please tell me what species of bird this is? I'm guessing that it's a Gray Catbird because I've heard it chirping around my backyard and it has a very loud, obnoxious cat-like call. Any help is appreciated :)

My husband bought a new canon lens so he could take photos of birds! We went out this evening to try it out and here are some of the results:

(click images to view full size!)

Black-crowned Night Heron



Swainson's Hawk



Wilson's Snipe



Enjoy!

A biologist and undergraduate student have discovered that what's good for an area's bird population is also good for people living nearby: Diversity Among Bird Populations Found To Reduce Threat Of West Nile Virus