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

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How much do you love birds?

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    932
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Does this count?
 
 
My fave bords will always be meadowlarks and owls, but a lot of other birds are pretty great birds too. Like chickens, lol.
 
Recently got a bird feeder, and I'm really enjoying cataloguing the different varieties of birds that show up. It's only been a week or two, but I've already ended up buying new birdseed and a suet block, which seems to be helping attract some variety (they hated the corn in my original bag, so I got them something with more black sunflower seeds, small seeds and some mealworms). Sorry for the poor quality, most of em are at 10x zoom because I don't want to scare the birds in my small apartment backyard.
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Tufted titmouse on the suet block. I need a better place to hang / put this.

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Northern Cardinal coming to visit!

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Carolina chickadee puffing itsself up against the cold.

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Squad of house sparrows scanning for predators while some of the females ate.

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Was trying to get a picture of the female at the feeder, got a bonus picture of one of the males hopping around.
 
Weather turned slightly warm this week (20s-low 50s! though fuck it's going back down to teens soon) so got to watch some wild turkeys in their annual wooing ritual. Toms with puffed-up blue throats and splaying their glossy tails stalking the hens, who were doing their best to ignore the "notice me! Notice me! Don't you like my feathers?!" from the males. They were all acting weird, in the way they only do when it's time to think about babies - the flocks are normally pretty placid and slow, meandering along as they munch, but at this time of year you get strutting and stalking by the males, while the females either overtly ignore the males or start harassing each other.
 
Harris's Hawks are desert birds. Unique among raptors, they hunt cooperatively in groups of up to seven. Researchers believe this pack hunting is an adaptation for catching large, strong jackrabbits. At certain times of the year, adult jackrabbits are their only reliable prey, necessitating teamwork to safely take down. Their cooperative nature makes them popular with falconers. Harris's Hawks have complex social dynamics that are not fully understood. It's believed that groups are composed of a female, multiple male mates, and their children.

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Harris's Hawks also participate in another unique behavior: "back-stacking" or "back-standing". Members of a group will perch on each other, sometimes for up to 20 minutes. Some report seeing stacks five hawks high. Why they do this isn't known, but one theory is that it's used to get a better view.
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