Birds from another dimension!

Can you figure out what species of birds these are now that their colors are all changed?

Rock Pigeons of the World

Looking out from the Empire State Building, 
New York, NY, USA

The Rock Pigeon may just rule the world. Don't believe me?

On the Western Wall, Jerusalem, Israel

April roundup- Birding the Bronx (#bronxbird)

Northern Shovelers, Van Cortlandt Park, 4-8-2017

Red-winged Blackbird, Van Cortlandt Park, 4-15-2017

Blue-winged Teal, Van Cortlandt Park, 4-17-2017

Appreciating the beauty of grackles

Snap, grackle, pop!

I know some people don’t like grackles. Of the 3 species in North America, they are all fairly common within their ranges. I don’t have feeders but apparently Common Grackles can be aggressive, which is why people often dislike them. They are also not always obviously bright and colorful.

But it all really depends on how you look at a thing.

Grackles are quite bright and colorful when our eyes, light, and their feathers align. Many colors of birds are due to pigments, actual substances in the feathers. Other colors are caused by the structure of the feathers, such as blues in Eastern Bluebirds or iridescence in grackles. Iridescence is not unique to birds, but here is how it works in the avian world:

“Iridescent colors are produced by differential reflection of wavelengths from highly modified barbules of the feathers that are rotated so that a flat surface faces the incoming light. The detailed structure of the barbule reflects some wavelengths and absorbs others, and the reflected wavelength changes with the angle of reflection. The structural color is registered by the eye in response to the reflected wavelengths and changes with the angle formed by the light, the reflecting surface, and the eye.” –Stanford University, Birds of Stanford, Essays, “The Color of Birds” https://web.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/Color_of_Birds.html 

Or more simply:

“Iridescent feathers appear black or dull one moment, then flash into glittering color as light hits them at just the right angle. The colors are produced as the feather’s microscopic structure reflects some colors while eliminating others.” –The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Bird Academy Handbook Chapter 4 “Iridescence: and the Birds-of-Paradise”, https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/iridescence-and-the-birds-of-paradise (Watch the video!)

It all begs the question: Is a grackle still colorful when you aren’t looking at it?

February birds at Van Cortlandt Park

A male Northern Cardinal splashes red and orange onto the browns of
dormant pants and the white of remaining snow.

Not quite home: Nests and Avian Architecture

Woven nests: Village Weavers (Rwanda)

Birds are consumers in their environments beyond food; they use space, plant material, mud, spider silk, mammal hair, rocks, and other materials to construct their nests. In some cases birds construct other structures, like bowers or food stores.

Tufted Titmouse with nesting material (they nest in holes per Cornell University)

According to Avian Architecture, by Peter Goodfellow, the vast majority of birds do not live in their nest, although there are exceptions. The primary function of the nest is to contain eggs for protection and incubation, and then for many species, for raising the young until they can fledge (defined by the book as growing feathers and being able to fly). For many other species, the young are born from the egg with feathers and without a need for parental care. Nests are then often abandoned or perhaps reclaimed the following breeding season.

Cup nest: Chipping Sparrow (Kansas, USA)

A year in Central Park

December 15, 2013: View from the Great Hill on the 2013 Christmas Bird Count
in Central Park, looking south over the park toward lower Manhattan

I noticed a bird and quietly announced to a couple friends, the closest birders to me in the group, “There’s a titmouse.” This is not a particularly odd phrase, as Tufted Titmice are common North American birds, even in some urban parks. It didn’t even strike us as odd at the time, but it was the first individual titmouse of the day. We did think it a little strange that it was the only one we noted over a few hours at the end of our route. It became much more peculiar when all groups reporting at the round-up of the 114th annual Christmas Bird Count noted that it was in fact the only tufted titmouse that had been spotted or even heard during the event where over 100 people were scouring the park to document every bird species present.

The southern three-fourths of Central Park. The Lake is the water body
in the center of picture, with the Ramble just above it in the picture,
filling in the 90 degree angle. The Reservoir is the much larger water body
in the far left and it extends to around 97th St.

Equal viewing for equal birds!

We are the united female birds of America,
and we demand to be seen!
(Black-throated Blue Warbler)

We are half of our respective species and
want your admiration too!
(Wood Duck)

Avi-feminism:
the radical notion that female birds
are equally beautiful
(Dickcissel)

An afternoon walk in the 'burbs

I set out to photograph dandelions in all their invasive glory. I ended up with a snapping turtle in my hands!

Life has taken me to many places: rainforests, urban jungles, rural hillsides, and now, the suburbs.

American Robin, suburbanite