I'm a bird nerd.... Ask me anything!

[XemaSab]

:bounce:

[tjwmason]

1. About birds you mean, or more generally?

:shrug:

[XemaSab]

3. Whichever you prefer.

[tjwmason]

24. Have you ever listened to Messiaen's Catalogue d'oiseaux

and if so what do you think of them?

[XemaSab]

28. I haven't

What do YOU think?

[tjwmason]

47. To my mind it's the best attempt to capture birdsong

within the confines of music.

It is not mere repitition or pure mimikery of the sounds, but still captures them (within their context) in a broader sense.

[Radical Activist]

2. Are you concerned about the avian flu epidemic?

I mean, the avian flu campaign of terror hoax.

[XemaSab]

4. I'm more concerned about West Nile

and its effect on crows and magpies. :(

[Blue-Jay]

5. What is your favorite boobie?

[XemaSab]

7. I've only ever seen Brown Boobies and Gannets

But I was watching Animal Planet the other night and they said Gannets can hit the water at 90 mph.

I thought that was pretty cool.

[SofaKingLiberal]

6. How many feathers does the average bald eagle have?

[XemaSab]

9. Nice one, wiseass...

:eyes:

[Hugin]

25. You should say for them to look it up...

This *is* the Internet afterall.

[LynneSin]

8. So do you own these records?

I have that one and one specifically for Western Birds

[XemaSab]

10. I have that one on tape

and I also have Birds of California, Birds of Arizona, Birds of Texas, Western Birds, and Eastern Birds.

I have a lot of bird CD's.

[Hugin]

13. Do you have them loaded on an iPod?

or similar mp3 type device?

[XemaSab]

16. Yes

:D

[Hugin]

21. NERD!

:)

[XemaSab]

23. We already knew that, babe...

:)

[Hugin]

11. I had a Yellow and Black Gross Beak at the feeder yesterday...

It was chowing down!

No questions...

[XemaSab]

14. You mean an Evening Grosbeak?

I've seen a lot of them around lately.

[Hugin]

18. Probably...

At least I knew it was a Grosbeak.

:crazy:

[XemaSab]

20. That's a helluva lot more than most people can say

:toast:

[Justpat]

12. Would you please take my Quaker parrot?

Really. I think they should put warning signs of the cages in pet stores so that unsuspecting buyers
know exactly what they are getting into with these birds.

Ours is a professional squawker. It doesn't let up at all during the day. The only good thing
about her is that at 5 pm she says it is bedtime and goes to sleep.

Let me know. I would pay the shipping.

[XemaSab]

15. I lived next door to a Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo

and that thing NEVER shut up.

So no thanks. :D

[Justpat]

17. Rats. n/t

[u4ic]

51. Hi Old Broad!

Hope you're doing well.

So did you get the Quaker...for obvious reasons? :D

There should be a parrot rescue in your area if you cannot tolerate the bird any longer - or there are professionals that can help with bird behaviour problems.

I've heard of some huge turnarounds with the help of professionals. But parrots are, naturally, noisy.

[Justpat]

53. Hello, my dear u4ic!

I would take the bird to a rescue place tomorrow but my husband is very attached to her.
He would be sad if she left. I would be overjoyed.

There are tons of these birds that live wild in FL. I think they are pets that people booted out.
But they live in big packs in the palm trees and squawk like mad all day. Unfortunately, I didn't
find out about their world class vocal chords until it was too late. :-(

[anarch]

19. why aren't there more poisonous birds?

Like this one...

[XemaSab]

22. Ah, the Hooded Pitohui...

Good stuff...

[billyskank]

26. How are you?

:hi:

[XemaSab]

29. I'm pretty good

Going down south next week for another interview.

How are you?

[billyskank]

30. I'm okay

The weather here has suddenly become really nice. It's the weekend now so it'll probably rain tomorrow. ;)

[Sanity Claws]

27. Can you help me figure out what bird I saw?

Yesterday morning, I was cycling next to Puget Sound in Seattle. I saw a mostly brown bird with a white ring around its neck. In size, it was larger than a sparrow but smaller than a robin. It had a longish tail, more like a robin than a sparrow. Its legs looked longer than a sparrow or robin.
Sorry that I don't know enough about birds to give you more info.

[XemaSab]

31. Was the ring on the neck

on the front of the neck, on the back of the neck, or all the way around?

And what was the bird doing???

[Sanity Claws]

32. Definitely on the back

The ring may have gone around its entire neck; I just couldn't see it. It flew right past me and landed on a fence. We were not far from the shore in a park.
One other detail I forgot to include: it had a longish, thinnish beak.

[XemaSab]

33. Was it one of these?

[Sanity Claws]

34. the bottom one

What's it called? It looks like a Cutie pie to me.
The top one looks like it is related to a pigeon. Is it?

[XemaSab]

35. The top one is a band-tailed pigeon

They're a native pigeon, and they live in the woods.

The bottom one is a killdeer, and they're a type of plover.

[Sanity Claws]

36. Thank you!

[tigereye]

52. that's what I was thinking, too

they are such a neat looking bird... a plover nowhere near the sea....


my brother used to have them in his yard - it was partly a big field

[blindpig]

37. Why does the Porridge Bird lay her eggs in the air?

You asked.

[XemaSab]

38. I dunno... why?

[blindpig]

39. Damn, I thought you knew.

Some bird nerd.

[EstimatedProphet]

40. What's the little band above a bird's eye called?

The region corresponding to an eyebrow?

[XemaSab]

41. The supercilium?

:shrug:

[EstimatedProphet]

42. Lores?

So I was taught anyway...that was a while ago.

[XemaSab]

44. The lores are between the eye and the bill

For example, the yellow area on a great egret.

[EstimatedProphet]

49. OK

Hey, it's been almost 20 years...

[hfojvt]

43. Is the bird really

the word?

Also, why is it that a bird can fly
but a fly can't bird?

[XemaSab]

45. It's true

The bird is the word.

As for the second question, only the philosophers can tell us that one...

[Crazy Dave]

46. In order to maintain air-speed velocity, a swallow carrying a coconut...

needs to beat it's wings how many times? :P

[Ouabache]

61. African or European swallow?

and is it grasping the coconut firmly by the husk?

[Gormy Cuss]

48. 1)These days, do you find it hard not to prejudge

Bushtits?:+

2) Why don't hawks have better table manners?

[XemaSab]

50. I gained a whole new respect for bushtits

after finding a nest the other day. It was pretty cool.

Also, hawks have poor table manners because their parents, who were also hawks, had poor table manners.

[Gormy Cuss]

82. Follow up on hawks.

Is it polite for those #)$*#*($ sharp shinned hawks to spew downy feathers of small birds around my yard? It's bad enough that I need to see those little upturned feet under the feeding hawk.

[XemaSab]

86. I was thinking about this the other day

And the problem with hawks is that their parents were hawks and didn't teach them any table manners.

[Lisa]

54. turkey vultures -- do they really have a fantastic sense of smell ...

... or do they find carrion by watching for hovering clouds of flies?

[XemaSab]

57. They've done studies on how vultures find food

and I don't think anyone's figured it out.

[Lisa]

73. I actually took part in one of those ...

We had tame TVs at the raptor rehab clinic where I used to work, and someone from the vet school did a study on our birds and the ones at a local zoo (using covered food containers). The results were inconclusive.

[RadiDem]

55. Should all Mini Macaws be reclassified as Diopsittica, not Ara?

What dya think?

[XemaSab]

58. Of course

:D

[freethought]

56. What kind of bird will subdue a skunk as prey?

If you get this one I'll shoot a few more at ya!

[XemaSab]

59. Golden Eagle and Great Horned Owl are the only birds I'm aware of

:shrug:

[freethought]

63. YES!! You are correct!! I am humbled before you!

(Grovel) (Grovel)
Seriously! There are a number of bird watchers and wildlife enthusiasts I know that don't know that.
:applause: :yourock: :applause: :yourock:

[bigwillq]

60. Have you ever seen

a Great Horned Owl? :shrug:

[XemaSab]

64. I saw two and heard a third on Tuesday night

One was a fuzzy juvie in a tree, one was a nice adult perched at the tippy-top of a tree, and one was calling near where I had the juvie, and I assume it was mom or dad.

You?

[bigwillq]

84. Nope

never saw one. My cousin did a few weeks ago and said it was HUGE!1

:hi:

[Ediacara]

62. What's your take on Galloanserae?

Do they form a monophyletic neognathe clade with Neoaves, or are they the sister group to the paleognathes?

[XemaSab]

65. Avian cladistics is a kaleidoscope of competing theories

All I will say is that there are supposedly chickenducks on the town square in Sonoma, but I have never confirmed this myself. :shrug:

[Withywindle]

66. Asian Corvids...

...I just got back from a trip to Thailand and Malaysia. I saw a lot of very personable big crows that were half dark grey and half black. I think they're Hooded Crows, but most of the pictures I've seen of them had markings in a much lighter grey than the ones I saw.

Is this part of their range? And how much color variation is there? Were they some other subspecies entirely?

[XemaSab]

67. Hooded Crows don't get that far east

Based on your description, I think they were House Crows (Corvus splendens).

[Withywindle]

69. Ooo, I think you're right...

...although that's still a lighter grey than the ones I saw.

[Kat45]

68. Which species of bird has a penis?

[XemaSab]

70. "Ostriches and other ratites, certain ducks, gallinaceous birds,

and South American tinamous," from what it says in The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds.

[Kat45]

85. Don't forget the Greater Vasa Parrot,

the only parrot with a penis. :-)

[Der Blaue Engel]

71. Why do Mockingbirds mock?

And how come both of my (boy) cockatiels still try to pretend the other doesn't exist after six years in the cage together? I thought the second would keep the original company, but they just don't seem to like each other. :(

And to tie these to themes together, the local Mockingbird picked up a fair rendition of my Imhotep's "pretty bird" and "what are you doing?" a few years ago...disconcerting as I heard it overhead a few blocks from my house. :D

[XemaSab]

75. I have no idea why any birds mimic other birds

But it's pretty cool. :D

And as far as the cockatiels go, I'm stumped on that too. :shrug:

[Skittles]

72. I am a big bluebird fan

have several bluebird houses set up at the farm and sometimes peep on the little ones, just adorable. What I wanted to know is, why do they never feed from the bird feeders I have all around in the trees....ALL OTHER BIRDS chow there, from sparrows to woodpeckers, yet I never see the bluebirds eating at the feeders

[XemaSab]

76. Bluebirds eat insects, worms, and berries

Maybe if you had a mealworm feeder you'd get them at the feeder? :shrug:

[Haole Girl]

74. If a cat brings a bird to you in its mouth, what should be done...

...to try to save it?

this actually happened once, and we tried (unsuccessfully) to keep the poor bird alive. In hindsight, I wish I'd taken it to a 24 hour emergency animal hospital. But, we thought the bird was simply in shock and would recover if we kept it in a box over night (yes, the box had holes). Sadly, we were mistaken.

What should we do if this happens again (besides take it to an emergency vet clinic).

[XemaSab]

77. Aside from taking it to the emergency vet

or to a wildlife rehab place, putting it in a box overnight with a dish of water is probably your best bet.

I've seen stunned birds die, and I've seen them get up and fly away after a few hours.

[Haole Girl]

87. Thanks for your reply.

:)

[Jazz2006]

78. What kind of bird is this?

(edited to fix link)

[Maestro]

79. These birds are all over my backyard

I know what it is, but I am testing you. I took this picture of a very protective mother.



Here are another two from the zoo.

[Gormy Cuss]

80. Paging XemaSab.....

the sharp shinned hawks are laying waste to the small songbird population. Downy feathers flying everywhere. Discuss.

[spindrifter]

81. Today I saw a regular brown bird--I don't know what

it was, acting like a hummingbird. There was a hummingbird nearby that was flying at that kind of almost straight-up angle and so was the big guy. What gives?

[achtung_circus]

83. I saw a pair of Ovenbirds.

This was yesterday, and I ordered a medium pepperoni from them.

It's been 20 hours. Will my pizza be free?

[intrepid_wanderer]

88. ermmm

What looks and is sized very much like a larger pigeon, but has a beautiful crimson back of the neck and crimson brown 'accent feathers' that look a lot like a stereotypical 'asian fan' on each side ('rear quarter-panel' area)


I saw it for the first time (I'm new to Utah) today in the park near SLC... it was cool and more 'polite' to it's neighbors than most of it's neighbors....


thanks for the thread :-)