Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with birds

What birds were these?

haikuku — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 07:16:32 -0800

I live in the Western NC mountains. Early this morning I saw a line of birds flying very high, ( they looked like a ribbon of dots), and fast, from south to north. The formation was strikingly beautiful as they were following in a wavering line rather than the typical V formation. What species did I see?

Birds and Battlefields

josephtate — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:02:16 -0800

Mixing military history and natural history, I'm looking for information regarding bird behavior during wartime. An example: would one hear bird songs on the battlefield during pauses in fighting? I'd be happy with any sort of sources: articles, books, anecdotes (handed down or personal stories), etc., especially because my research has turned up so little so far.

I'm not after "hard evidence" so much as a general sense of how birds and even other animals might keep themselves out of harm's way—if they did.

So, I met this chap in the Bahamas...

shoesfullofdust — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 19:28:38 -0800

Can you help me identify this pigeon? Seen on Paradise Island, the Bahamas. Photo: pigeon with ruff. A Jacobin? A fancy pigeon? He was quite amiable. I had him feeding from my hand within an hour of arriving. The locals said he was an uncommon "crowned pigeon" but that doesn't seem to fit.

Anywhere to see tropical birds in New York City Area?

theNeutral — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 10:21:02 -0800

My 10-year-old nephew lives in Cranford, NJ and really likes tropical birds. My wife and I said for Christmas we'd take him to the zoo hopefully to see some birds and really the only research I had done was to confirm the Prospect Park Zoo (which is the same thing as the Brooklyn Zoo??) was open in the winter, but when I look at the site there's not much mention of tropical birds. Is there anything better in the area?

Wait, they MIGRATE too?! This is impossible.

radiosilents — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:27:25 -0800

Mefi birdwatchers, i need help! I'm looking for the most authoritative and comprehensive book(s) on the indigenous birds of Arkansas. Bonus points if it's fancy and the kind of thing you could put on your lap while sitting on the porch and bird watching. Christmas gift time! Specific to Arkansas, please, rather than the Audubon guide to North America, etc. I've also seen the Audubon Regional Guide to the Southeastern States but I'm not familiar enough with the materials available to know if a more specifically targeted book is available (or even practical; I'm led to believe that these "birds" move around a bit - geez!).

Where Have All Bird Corpses Gone?

notyou — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 18:54:23 -0800

Why don't I see more dead birds? I see plenty of live birds: big ones, little ones, loud ones, chirpy ones. Crows, gulls, hummingbirds, sparrows, hawks. In my whole life I've seen lots of live birds. Only a handful of dead ones.

I assume other critters ingest the bird corpses. But even roadkill sticks around for a few hours or days.

How come I'm not up to my elbows in dead birds?

Help me ID a bird!

feathermeat — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 05:27:12 -0800

Can anyone identify this bird found in North Carolina? This bird was lying dead on the sidewalk when I came to work this morning, and I am having no luck identifying it. Does anyone know what it is? This is in NC.

The Birds: Australian style

lollusc — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 16:54:34 -0800

How long after baby birds leave the nest until the parent birds stop being arseholes? Is there any way to convey the message, "move along now, no loitering" to a bunch of currawongs? Two currawongs have been tending a nest in my garden. They have been swooping if you get too close to "their" tree. Two days ago the fledglings finally left the nest and have been flying around the garden and the neighbours' gardens. But their parents' swooping behaviour has gotten out of control. I am scared to go into my own garden, and completely unable to spend prolonged time out there gardening or relaxing. I would like to have a BBQ next weekend, but I couldn't possibly invite friends over to experience this.

The birds swoop immediately you leave the house, and then over and over again the whole time you are outside, whether near the nest/fledglings or not. They get close enough that their claws brush my hair, and make loud clicking sounds that scare me out of my skin if I don't see them coming.

How long until they will move on or become less aggressive, now that the baby birds have left the nest? They aren't going to stay forever, are they? And is there anything I can do to discourage them from coming back next year?

Harbingers of doom or bringers of light?

kanata — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 18:19:21 -0800

What are some great myths about animals? I've been having odd encounters with animals on the hiking paths of Vancouver Island (luckily no cougars so far) and it has peaked my interest of learning myths and stories that grew through time surrounding these magnificent creatures.

Seeking myths you have heard, websites to peruse, easy to digest stories. Trying to avoid dry editions of Norse mythology I tried reading when I was younger and always fell asleep to.

I'd like the focus to be those found in the forests (especially ravens as I just saw two the size of medium size dogs) around the world.

Bonus points if the stories tie in with Jungian psychology in any way or if relate to Canadian First Nations - west coast focused.

Who owned this feather?

Burhanistan — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 10:15:58 -0800

What bird used to own this feather? I'm not having much luck with The Feather Atlas and other online searches, so maybe someone here might instantly recognize it. This was found in Houston, TX in an area where many large birds frequent. It's about 16 inches from tip to quill so it's obviously a main wing feather. Any ideas? Thanks!

Canary x Goldfinch mules for Newbies

mateuslee — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 09:22:04 -0800

My girlfriend wants to get a canary x goldfinch mule... what do I need to know? I'm curious what kind of impact this animal will have on our lives and what supplies we may need (besides the obvious) to give this animal a happy life.

Any Great Games To Play With/Against My Daughter on Two Android OS Devices?

nathanrudy — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 06:15:14 -0800

My 8yo daughter (in a few weeks) and I love playing Plants vs. Zombies, Angry Birds and other games on Android. We play them on my Xoom, Kindle Fire, and HTC Thunderbolt (phone). Are there any good games like these (not first person shooters, please. She's 8 and we're Quaker) that would allow us to play against o with each other, one on the Xoom and the other on the Kindle?

Too many birds, and too many bird problems.

PeppahCat — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 09:34:49 -0800

Name that bird! And also need some suggestions for keeping birds out of the pet food/water dishes. I'm gonna kill two birds with one question here (ha!) and ask two questions.
1. Can someone identify these birds? These little terrors are always a problem during the spring/summer here in Eastern Tennessee. They are of a dusty black/brownish gray/brownish black color (there's some scientific color specs for ya) and are the most annoying birds ever. They're roughly the size of your standard bluejay or mockingbird. They hang around the yard, walking mostly, and do a lot of picking on the ground rather than eating from a feeder. Oddly, they seem to stay with the momma bird well into their adult years, and are messy as all get out. The babies will literally follow the mom around puffing up, fussing, and generally being annoying until she feeds them...they look to be fully grown though. (IANA bird expert, just an observation). I've looked at whatbird.com and have not had much luck, but that doesn't mean much LOL.
2. Any fresh/new/interesting ideas on how to keep birds out of pet food/water dishes? We don't have the option to bring said dishes in during the day and the above mentioned birds, as well as mockingbirds, cause lots of mess and end up wasting food as well. We've tried the fake owl near the dishes and have moved it several times, but the birds seem to catch on to that pretty quickly. Any other ideas? (I think the easiest thing for us will be building lattice work around the dog's area, but the birds will still have access to the food...it will just require a little more walking/flying on their part.)

Has a copy of John James Audubon's The Birds of America ever survived a flood by floating?

feelinglistless — Tue, 22 May 2012 08:48:41 -0800

Has a copy of John James Audubon's The Birds of America ever survived a flood by floating? I was in a conversation last night and this story dribbled out of me about Birds of America surviving a leak or flood in a Liverpool library by floating. I remember reading about how the size of the books meant they were watertight so it was simply a case of waiting for them to dry out.

It's entirely possible it was some other great book like a Shakespeare Folio or a Bible and that it wasn't in Liverpool but it would be good to know that my brain isn't just making this stuff up. Again.

Bird tattoo

corn_bread — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:35:28 -0800

I am getting a tattoo of two birds on my back to cover up some old tattoos that I no longer like. I am looking for bird species inspiration. Ideally these will be some sort of plumed birds, but please link me/give me a species name of any birds that you find to be particularly beautiful. Thanks!

Songs with birds chirping

quiet coyote — Tue, 08 May 2012 13:28:24 -0800

Help me find indie music with the sound of birds chirping in the background. I really love the songs Summer Teeth by Wilco and Into the Woods by My Morning Jacket. And hey, they both use the sounds of birds chirping in the background! I'd like to make a mix of songs that use bird calls in the background at some point in the song (doesn't matter if it's in the beginning).

Birds in a Treeless City

space cat — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:58:24 -0800

Looking for information about birds in Asia that were discovered making nests out of pieces of hardare, because there were no trees left. About a year ago a read an article (I think online, but possibly in print) about some birds in a really polluted, treeless Asian city (I think in China's Shaanxi provence) who had been discovered creating nests out of bits of hardware, like nails and pieces of metal. It really stuck with me and haunted me. Now I'd like to learn more about it and revisit the article, but I can't find it online anywhere. Does anyone remember this event, or have any information? (Google searches yield little, due to the Bird's Nest olympic stadium gumming up the search terms).

Wild bird or lost pet?

ascetic — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:13:20 -0800

Help! Is this bird potentially a lost pet? Found this guy hiding under my car. I walked up to him and he actually walked towards me and hung out by my feet. I came back two hours later and he's in the same spot. Any chance it's a lost pet?

Picture: http://i.imgur.com/EM44E.jpg

Doc Buzzard is hangin' around...

WidgetAlley — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:20:21 -0800

What the heck are all these birds of prey doing? For three days in a row, now, I have walked out of my apartment about 45 min. before sundown and seen not one, not two, but hundreds of birds of prey streaming across the sky in an orderly and determined fashion, in a period of perhaps 20 minutes. Where are they going and why?

A bit of background: I live in middle/northern TN, on the side of one of the higher hills in a relatively flat area, overlooking a river. Across the river is a quarry, which has delved into the side of some bluffs for quite a long way. Because of the confluence of river, hill, and cliffs, it's not unusual to see some raptors hanging around, riding the thermals. That's not what's going on.

A few more details that hopefully will help the ornithologists among you:
- One day before the first migration, I saw several hundred turkey vultures gathered on the cliffs above the quarry. They were breaking off and wheeling around in small groups but were not moving en masse as they are now.
- The birds are mixed groups, mostly turkey buzzards but I definitely saw the white wings and bellies of several kestrels or red-tailed hawks as well.
- They are at a fairly uniform altitude, ranging from 10+ ft. above the treetops to perhaps 75 ft. This is clearly not optimal cruising height because they are having to flap their wings more frequently than I have previously observed.
- They are moving from the quarry over the hill and towards the flatlands, coming from the northeast and headed for the southwest.
- I have followed them for some time, but have not seen them lower altitude, circle or land anywhere, which leads me to believe they are not after a recent piece of roadkill or similar.
- They are gone by the time the sun goes down.
- This is the first time I've ever seen it, and I've lived in this area for 6 years (it is possible I've missed it previously, though, as this is my first year in this exact spot.)
- And, here's the kicker: turkey vultures, according to the Internet at least, do not generally migrate this far south.

So: it's probably not a migration, it's definitely not mating season, and it's not a fresh kill as far as I can tell. It is, however, one of the coolest things I've ever seen, and I'd love to know what's going on!

New Year's Bird

otherwordlyglow — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 20:38:26 -0800

I think we found a parakeet in our backyard. What should we do? I'm pretty sure that this parakeet (it is a parakeet, right?) is an escaped house pet. It flew right down to us while we were gardening in our San Francisco backyard. It readily ate the birdseed we put out for it, didn't seem very scared of people, and was easily caught. It's currently in our living room, with an overturned laundry hamper as a cage while we figure out what to do with it.

We made a trip to the pet store and determined that a cage was too expensive for what will probably be a temporary stay but did buy it some parakeet food, a cuttlefish, some millet, some toys, and a water bottle. We fitted out the hamper with some makeshift perches and it seems pretty content.

Ideally, we'd like to return it to its home. I've posted to the Yahoo group for my neighborhood, on Craigslist, and on Facebook with no responses so far. We'll post fliers around the block tomorrow (how far could it have come?).

In the mean time, how do we care for it? He's been pretty quiet in the cage, sitting on a perch since we brought him inside and I imagine that's because he's tired after being on the run for some time but I hope he's not sick or we're doing something wrong. He's not in any drafts or anything. We know NOTHING about keeping birds as pets.

If no one claims him, I can conceive of us keeping him but we haven't really decided yet. Do we call Animal Care and Control if we need to have someone else care for him? I've checked their website and there aren't any lost birds listed.

We do have a cat who so far is interested but not overly so. Obviously we're watching the cat but at night, I'm not sure what the best thing to do is. Do people really cover bird cages at night with a sheet? Is that just to keep them from being noisy?

Also, our 3-year old has named him Kornseed.

Fowl play

indognito — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 17:39:33 -0800

Any advice on catching a guinea fowl? This is a small-turkey-sized, semi-flighted bird that really, really doesn't want to be caught. There's a guinea fowl that's been hanging around the industrial area near a clinic where my significant other volunteers. It's been there a couple of months, alone, nowhere near any type of farm, house or caretaker. Since it's gotten cold, various people have been feeding it, but my SO and I are hoping to catch it and relocate it to a nearby farm animal sanctuary. We've tried once already and came nowhere near the bird, let alone near enough to catch it. We had a bath towel to throw over it, a large net, a large pet carrier and a mirror. (I read online that guinea fowls enjoy admiring themselves in mirrors, but apparently this guinea doesn't give a shit about what it looks like.)

Part of the problem is that we were in a very open area, and the bird would start flying as soon as either of us made any sort of move to throw a towel over it or what have you. There is a fairly busy road nearby, and I was worried we'd chase the bird into traffic. Most of what I read online concerning how to catch birds such as these suggests constructing makeshift pens, which obviously is not an option for us.

Any suggestions?

Why do birds migrate?

selenized — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:46:38 -0800

Why do birds migrate to the Arctic and Antarctic? I've been watching Frozen Planet and during the summer there is this huge explosion of life and all sorts of sea birds and what not migrate to the poles. Truly spectacular in HD, but I can't help but wonder: Given how much work it takes just to get there, well, why do birds bother?

Or to make my question sound more science-y: what is/was the selective pressure that drove various sorts of sea birds to begin these large migratory patterns in the first place?

Just don't say "rods".

trinity8-director — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:38:04 -0800

I have a backyard nocturnal UFC (Unidentified Flying Creature) What am I seeing? I've hesitated posting this question but WTH. I am curious. Please assume two things: 1) I'm a very good observer and B) I am not given to wild assumptions.

Born, raised, and lived most of my life in the Pacific Northwest in the less urban parts. I'm quite familiar with most of the flora and fauna of the region.

I live on a green belt that hosts the usual racoons, rabbits, owls, the occasional coyote, etc. I have a dual head halogen outdoor light for the deck.

Now, with the caveats out of the way, here are the salient bits and the question.

Last summer while waiting for the dog to do her night business, I was gazing up through the trees at the stars when something flew just a few feet overhead.

The flight was linear and level, no fluttering about. The creature had a fairly thin, tubular body. The wings did not flap as a bird would, nor was it on a descending glide path but it maintained its altitude.

There was no sound at all. If I hadn't been looking in the right place I would never have known it flew past. I have had birds fly over during the dog's night potty breaks; this was not a bird.

I estimate the length of the thing at ~9" and it moved pretty fast. A few seconds later a second one flew by, only this one was smaller, about 6" in length.

The closest thing I can compare it to, structurally, is a dragonfly but the flight characteristics were different and we don't have giant dragonflies here. Definitely not a bat (we have those as well).

Last night I saw the small one again, this time more at eye level. It confirmed to me again that it is not a bird or bat, the body looks insect like but it is much larger than the bugs we get around here and the flight was too direct and level for insects that I've observed before.

I'm willing to be wrong about what it is or is not so bring it on.

It turns out the owls are pretty much exactly what they seem

mudpuppie — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 15:34:45 -0800

I need to know how to set up a wireless, night-vision enabled, motion detecting camera for the purposes of spying. (...On owls in a nest box.)

I'm going to be building a nest box for barn owls, and I'd like to add on a sort of back room to house a small wireless camera. I've never hooked one up before and I have lots of questions. Thanks for answering any of them you can.

The camera
Any advice on the kind of camera to purchase? It needs to have night vision, obviously, and I'd prefer something that could be motion activated so that it's only in use when necessary. Smaller and cheaper are obviously better, too. I've no experience with these, so please tell me anything I need to know.

Housing the camera
I'm going to be making the box according to the plans in this PDF. My idea is to add a separate "room" in the back of the box to house the camera, with a hole cut in the wall. This is, of course, to keep the birds from disturbing the camera more than necessary. Any thoughts on placement? Do I need to worry about having it too close to the birds? (Not for safety, but because the picture will be unclear?)

The box will be constructed of plywood. I'll caulk around the seams for waterproofing. I'd thought about encasing the camera in a ziploc bag for additional waterproofing, but am worried that it might just trap condensation. Advice?

Other hardware
Once the camera is set up, how do I receive the signal? How far will the signal transmit? Do I need to buy any other hardware?

I'd like to be able to record the footage, and would ultimately also like to stream it if possible. I have no idea to go about doing either. Please talk to me like a dummy.

Other
The nest box will be mounted on a pole attached to the eaves of the house, and I'll have access to it on the roof in order to change batteries and the like.

I'm sure there are other things I'm not thinking of. Please tell me what they are.

What does a pigeon look like?

bleary — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 11:39:01 -0800

I got curious about this after reading a blog article on pigeons and face recognition. What colors does a pigeon see in other pigeons? I see pigeons with white, black, and grey bands and patches, sometimes with iridescence in the neck. The wikipedia entry for bird vision says they have pentachromatic vision. In the experiment, the two humans changed lab coats. The article does not show a picture of the coats, but I've been wondering if they were solid colors or patterned. If the humans wore lab coats that resembled patterns in the plumage of a pigeon, maybe they'd be harder to recognize when they swapped the coats. Do pigeons pay attention to uniform expanses of color?

What advantages do they get from pentachromatic vision? How does a pentachromatic eye perceive colors in a scene? And, this also had me wondering, why don't pigeons have more variations in the color of their feathers? Or maybe they do, but not in my frequency range?