THE BIRD THREAD - Post birds, discuss birds or even sniff birds.

[anliteralidiot]

P.S. I love silkie chickens. Not going to post a ton of images of them here though as they all pretty much look the same and the internet is full of pics of silkies. these are the chickens with charcoal black skin btw. I would not feel comfortable eating one of these adorable puffyball birds. They have no wattle or comb to speak of but instead possess little poofy heads and bodies that are probably super soft to the touch. I'd pet one.

View attachment 3095288View attachment 3095289

Chickens are cute. I remember years ago me and my bbmama were outside and this little chicken wandered off someone's farm waddles up to us. It was so cute, she reached down and just slowly picked up the bird and then put it in her lap and called one of her girl friends who had chickens. Since we couldn't know whose chicken it was her friend offered to take it. I will never forget how adorable it was to see her just reach down and pick the bird up with both hands I dunno it just melted my heart. the little chicken just chilled on her lap too, very docile. I love that memory.

Forgive me to sperg about silkies for a moment: they're the best chicken breed.

Our ancestors perfected the chicken form with them, as they contain the vital elements for a good chicken.

1. Docile as fuck
2. Egg-sitters. These little incubators will make a nest at the slightest hint of egg.
3. If they have chicks, ignore rule 1. They'll fuck you up if you look at their chicks wrong.
4. They just look so stupid.

We lucked out and noticed our local tractor supply had silkies mixed in with their mixed-bag stock of bantam chicks. If any other farmers want to try to find silkies at tractor supply, look for the BLUE-PURPLE skin, FIVE TOES, and FEATHERY LEGS. They innately have five toes (sometimes more) on each foot, even as babies. So, just pick up the chicks and look for the toes and skin color.

We currently have 3 females, 1 rooster, and a handful of half-breeds. They're all extremely docile, including the half-breeds. And while the fluffy feathers don't seem to be a dominant gene, the silly afro head shape is.

They do have combs, but not really wattles. Here's our rooster, as birb tax:


Related: any farmers know how to deter hawks? Preferably without harming them?

I've already performed the anchuent ritual of buying a dog, but sometimes my chickens leave the dog zone and there's a nesting pair of hawks around. I've seen them, and think they're also really cool birbs. I just don't want them to eat my other birbs.

@Cats pinecone birb is some breed of polish or frizzle chicken!



Frizzles, Polish, and silkies all suffer from mild vision issues because of their silly feathers. The remedy for this is a crossover with the shitty Etsy thread:
CHICKEN HEADBANDS

 

[IPman]

They play the drums! Theyre the only animal besides humans who make musical instruments, and they tutor their youth! Theyre monkeys of the sky. Theyre endangered because the wood hollows they nest in take 100s of years to form and the trees are being chopped down.

 

[SuiSui1]

 

[Diet Coke 4 Life]

Fucking fucksticks, potato camera wasn't in reach.

Had an immature male summer tanager at my bird feeder today (before I had to go out and scare off squirrels and fling ground cayanne pepper all over my grass to keep the fucking fuzzy monsters away). Please enjoy a stock picture of the little rascal that was having a grand time fighting with the local carolina wren that likes to lord over the feeder in the afternoons when the cardinals aren't about.

 

[Nonconsentual Pronouns]

Fucking fucksticks, potato camera wasn't in reach.

Had an immature male summer tanager at my bird feeder today (before I had to go out and scare off squirrels and fling ground cayanne pepper all over my grass to keep the fucking fuzzy monsters away). Please enjoy a stock picture of the little rascal that was having a grand time fighting with the local carolina wren that likes to lord over the feeder in the afternoons when the cardinals aren't about.
View attachment 3119942

If your birdbro is male, I nominate the name Mango Pete.

birb tax:

 

[Pee Cola]

Everything you wanted to know about your favourite flightless bird but were too afraid to ask.

 

[Chicken In A Pot]

Pearl is the hood birb, checking out the remains of the arson around the block.

 

[Chicken In A Pot]

View attachment 3119497

Magpies are our outside birbs here. They and the other corvids are the only birbs our parrots will deign to try and communicate with.

 

[RollerGator]

I came across a little fat birdie stuck in a mosquito net tent and tried opening it up for him to fly out. He wouldn't go out the door and kept flying into the corners so I eventually grabbed him and pet his little head and put him on a table where he hung out for a little and let me pet him again before flying away. First time I got to touch a wild bird.

 

[anliteralidiot]

Pearl is the hood birb, checking out the remains of the arson around the block. View attachment 3134328View attachment 3134329

It's a well known fact that a green cheek conure will commit arson if given the chance. Or if you don't share your food.

 

[Gay Mouth]

I came across a little fat birdie stuck in a mosquito net tent and tried opening it up for him to fly out. He wouldn't go out the door and kept flying into the corners so I eventually grabbed him and pet his little head and put him on a table where he hung out for a little and let me pet him again before flying away. First time I got to touch a wild bird.

This is one of those things about birds that is so magical and convinces me of the spirit of God. They love head pets and if you catch one and they realize you don't want to hurt them, they're like "AHH! oh... :3"

 

[Chicken In A Pot]

It's a well known fact that a green cheek conure will commit arson if given the chance. Or if you don't share your food.

They are hoodlums, that much I know.

 

[XYZpdq]

CHICKEN HEADBANDS

I'm okay with bird going so trailer trash

Pearl is the hood birb, checking out the remains of the arson around the block. View attachment 3134328View attachment 3134329

the realest birb gangsta shit was the time the burrowing owls that set up shop out in front of home, then they got into shit with local mockingbirds
mockingbirds didn't win
Burrowing Owls decided that it would be important to decorate their burrow with the dead body of one their foes, and then perch on said corpse, just to make it clear who won

 

[Nonconsentual Pronouns]

I'm family friends with some geese around here and I'm always nervous this time of year while I wait for the new goslings to be born. I'm not much for being glued to my phone IRL, but I'll try to remember to get some good baby pictures to post here this year. I'll also try to get a video clip or two of them running towards us, doing the little airplane zoom with their tiny winglets.

I've been able to pet each generation of them after the first while they're as young as this. (not my pic)


This was my favorite little buddy from the year before last.

We'd picnic where the family dwells and we'd do our best to keep them satisfied with goosie-safe foods, but this little stinker especially would make those little peeping noises at me, begging for whatever I was eating. There was one occasion while I was eating my sandwich that he climbed into my lap and I had to keep leaning further and further back to keep it away as I was taking a bite. He just kept peeping, winglets out and reaching up with his beak open, and I thought I was going to choke to death from laughing with tuna salad sandwich in my mouth. He also learned to tug on my clothes to get my attention, which his siblings soon learned from him. I still have a grass stain on one of my favorite dresses and I'm not even mad.

In case anyone's worried (I wouldn't blame you), we're careful about what we feed them, they know to flee from other humans and they've never shown dietary dependence on us. We're basically those relatives who spoil them and protect them from the occasional asshole human or predatory critter so their parents can nap with all of them in the sun.

 

[SuiSui1]

 

[Open Window Maniac]

 

[XYZpdq]

>We're a culture, not a costume! This is not who I am, and this is not okay.

 

[Chicken In A Pot]

I have heard some people say birds "don't have personality". I can't understand how anyone can think that.

Oh, they sure do. They've evolved to have a lot of mental and emotional intelligence, but they've done it on a completely separate track from mammals, with different environmental and predatory pressure. They utilize their intelligence in different ways from mammals, which makes them hard for us - the mammalian apex predator - to understand or predict. When a bird shows you as an individual some personality, it means they trust you not to hurt or kill them. When they act all wooden, it usually means they are cautious and afraid. All of their resources are preparing for fleeing because they don't know have any confidence in their safety.

I've heard a lot of people say "they're stupid", "they're mean", "they have no personality". None of that is true. They have different motivators from mammals, so they are hard to predict, hard to understand. As the devoted slave of 5 psittacine overlords, I spend a lot of time discussing birds with people in real life. I mostly spend my time convincing people that they do not want a bird in their house. For most of our species, it's the truth. We predominantly keep dogs and cats as pets for good reasons. While they are usually less intelligent than parrots, their motivators are easier for us to understand and we share more of them. Birbs are also more fragile in terms of our lifestyle and require a lot of labor from us to remain physically and mentally/emotionally healthy as house birbs.

 

[Gay Mouth]

I spend a lot of time discussing birds with people in real life. I mostly spend my time convincing people that they do not want a bird in their house. For most of our species, it's the truth.

I had a chicken who spent all her time trying to come inside and hang out with me. She’s walk in looking cautious, step over to me, and cock out her wings like she was bracing to get picked up. She loved being held and cuddled. I miss that sweet little bird.

 

[Diet Coke 4 Life]

I am jealous of the tales of affectionate chickens. My gray, having recently passed through mating season, enjoyed making kebabs out of my fingers and howling like a fucking banshee from Hell at every bipedal creature in his vicinity as he asserted dominance over the earth. Then he chased my fucking cat before I wrangled him back into his cage (and suffered more bites) for the damned day. That was every fucking day (except the chasing the cat - that only happened on day 1 - she wised up and stayed away when the bird came down for his morning shit-fest and breakfast). For a week. A long, miserable week.

He's better now, but still not up to cuddles. Because he is an obstinate ass. And an old curmudgeon who's above cuddles at this stage in his life.

ETA: This is his 'scritch my feathers and I will end you' face.