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Monday, January 30, 2017

Birds

As some of you may recall, my son is a birder. That means he likes to go out and search for birds, especially birds he hasn't seen or birds not commonly seen. He'll drive hours to go see a rare bird that's stumbled into Maine or be perfectly happy going down to the mills and watching the ducks and geese. Recently he bought himself a nice camera to take pictures of the birds he sees, something he'd been wanting for quite some time. Today, I'm going to share some of those pictures...

The first pic he sent me was of a Mockingbird, from the Mimidae family, who are best known for the habit of some species mimicking the songs of other birds and the sounds of insects and amphibians, often loudly and in rapid succession. They're here in Maine, but not commonly seen, like goldfinches or chickadees.



Second pic is a Red-tailed hawk, which belongs to the Accipitridae family (no idea how to pronounce that) and is a bird of prey which is colloquially known in the US as the "chickenhawk," though apparently it rarely preys on standard sized chickens. The majority of hawks captured for falconry in the United States are red-tails.



Seagulls belong to the Laridae family and are generalist feeders, equally adept at swimming, flying, and walking. In the air, they are able to hover and they are also able to take off quickly with little space. Some people think they're a nuisance but I like them, even if they can be NOISY!



And finally an extra pretty House finch (Finch family), which I occasionally see at the feeders at my work. Originally only a resident of Mexico and the Southwestern US, they were introduced illegally in NYC and sold as "Hollywood Finches". To avoid prosecution, vendors and owners released the birds which have since become naturalized. The girls aren't nearly as pretty, poor things.

 
And that my friends is your lesson on birds for the week :)

Do you like birds?

29 comments:

  1. I have a friend who is an avid birdwatcher and also goes out of her way to find the rare ones.
    We get a lot of those hawks and mockingbirds around here.

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    1. oh, yes, birders will drive hours to 'get' a bird as they say.

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  2. I like listening to birdsong and I get terribly excited when I see a colorful one. That's about the extent of it though. :)

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    1. I am more interested in bird than I used to be, thanks to my son.

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  3. We have a lot of hawks and mockingbirds around our house. Catbirds, too—which were very confusing at first because they really do sound so much like cats meowing. I haven't seen a lot of sea gulls at the beach, though. Lots of terns, but very few gulls.

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    1. I love catbirds. Their cranky meow song always makes me smile.

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  4. Seagulls, ick. They live on our campuses, feeding off the litter the kiddos leave. After lunch, one must be careful walking around as they tend to drop poop on us. (Once I got some that LANDED IN MY EAR!)

    I saw two hummingbirds today.

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    1. I still like seagulls, tho I def wouldn't like one pooping on me!

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  5. I like your banner, blue flowers are a favorite of mine. And yes, I do like birds as my hubs was an avid birder prior to his illness. These are great images your son has captured! We were enthralled when we visited Merritt Island, where NASA has it's museum and launching area as there were so many exotic species of birds and other critters there. Thanks for sharing the images!

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    1. I never paid birds much attention until my son got interested. Now I notice them. And you're welcome :)

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  6. I do like birds and it's funny you posted this, because just the other day I was walking in the park and saw a man who was obviously a birder. It made me think that I wished I knew more about the different kinds of birds. So I loved looking at your pics and reading about the birds. Interesting!
    And I LOVE seagulls and never agree with those who say they are a nuisance. They are one of my favorite things about going to New England. Love them.

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    1. Yes, birders are a strange lot. My son has driven around some place for hours looking for a bird that was supposedly spotted there. He's very patient. I figured I should accompany the pics with a little something about each bird, both for my readers and for me!

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  7. I remember waking up to bird chirping every morning, and listening to them being so noisy while eating breakfast. I didn't mind though--as a kid. These days most the birds I see are down by the lakes...or strolling across the road at the most inconvenient times. I suppose that means I need to get out more?

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    1. I will admit sometimes the birds start singing awfully early in the summer...

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  8. Yeah, I love birds. I'm not a birder, but I do enjoy watching them. Even if they do poop all over my car.

    Seagulls have another talent. They're fabulous thieves, especially when it comes to food. And they aren't shy about swooping down and snatching something they want right out of someone's hand or plate. (Good reason to avoid outdoor eating places when seagulls are on the prowl.)

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    1. I remember being at the beach a few years ago and these seagulls came and just snatched a bag of chips off someone's blanket. Bad seagulls.

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  9. I just watched "The Big Year" an awesome movie with Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson. It's all about the lengths birders will go to find birds. I loved it! Yay for your son being a birder!

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    1. I loved The Big Year. What a hilarious movie!

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  10. Such pretty pictures. I like the red on the last one. Cool that your son is a birder.

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    1. Yes house finches are awful pretty :)

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  11. I'm not a fan of birds myself, but my daughter is, and this is her idea of heaven.

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  12. My dad was a huge bird fan. My favourites are always the hawks and the eagles :)

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    1. I like painted buntings *sigh* we don't have them here in Maine but I've seen them at my mom's in FL. So pretty.

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  13. Finch is cute, hawks give me creeps every since I saw one butcher a sparrow in the air! Ducks and penguins are probably the only birds I find cute, but I do like to feed the birds, which is why we always have a couple of doves nesting in our yard with dwindling numbers (we have a new cat)!

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    1. We have Mourning doves here, so sweet.

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  14. I love birds! We see waves of vultures during summer. They are so important, if not so clean on a personal base. Nice photos!

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    1. I think birds a pretty interesting, and just pretty :)

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