Looking more closely at feathers

The Black Vulture above shows off the feathers that allow it to soar the skies. The feathers of the wings and tail are major reasons a bird can generate lift and thrust and also maneuver in shifting air currents. You can count the feathers- about 70- that make up the flight feathers.

And yet, according to Feathers by Thor Hanson, hummingbirds have around 1,000 feathers and swans have up to 25,000 (apparently mostly in the neck) (2011). Most birds have less than 10,000 feathers, with smaller birds having in the lower thousands (Wetmore 1936). Even if the Black Vulture above had only 1,000 feathers, its feathers primarily dedicated to flight represent less than 10% of the total. Although all feathers contribute to flight by streamlining the bird and reducing its weight relative to other substances, they do so much more.

Down feathers on a baby Chipping Sparrow.

A feathered dinosaur on exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History.
Although there is still much unknown, according to Hanson, it is generally
accepted by most scientists that birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs.
Additionally, fossil evidence points to feathers evolving earlier than
any known birds, which means that birds were not the only organisms
to have them (some non-avian theropod dinosaurs had them too).

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.

SuperB owl Party 2017

I celebrated the biggest game of the year by going birding, attending a SuperB owl walk in Pelham Bay Park, Bronx, NY. The score was three owls- a win for the birders!

Northern Saw-whet Owl

The Museum of Modern Bird Art in New York City

New York City is full of art galleries and museums. While there is no official museum of modern bird art, all you need to do is explore the city's streets, subways, and parks to find diverse portrayals of the feathered kind. No fees required. Well, maybe a subway fare!

Owl statue (with obligatory Rock Pigeon) overlooking Herald Square,
Manhattan

One of many Audubon Mural Project paintings in Washington Heights
(formerly Audubon Park!), Manhattan

Christmas Bird Count in the Bronx

One young Red-tailed Hawk.

For the East Bronx section of Bronx-Westchester Christmas Bird Count (CBC), I birded the southern zone of Pelham Bay Park with a group of five people. We covered about 2.5 miles of distance (not including backtracking) in over five hours. Our goal was to identify and count every single bird to submit as part of a larger citizen science effort to track bird populations and distribution.

Early light at Pelham Bay Park landfill, part of the southern zone of the park.

One of the highlights of covering the southern zone is entering the generally-closed-to-the-public landfill area. With its grassland-like habitat, it always holds promise for interesting birds.

New York City landmarks, just part of the scenery!

Triple helping of Christmas Goose

Snow Goose started off the holiday visual feast on 12/25/2016
at Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, NY. Canada Goose followed. 

The main delicacy, a Pink-footed Goose, in Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, NY,
with tons of Canada Goose on the side.

With little time and declining light we did not pick out a Cackling Goose, but one may have been hiding there! 

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)