If you know birds, you know that preening isn’t cosmetic fluff. It’s a meticulous cleaning and placement of the bird’s survival gear: feathers. Feathers need to be pristine for flight and for insulation. During oil spills, the analogy used about feathers is that a spot of oil on a bird’s plumage is like a hole…
Goose + Water
Feathers are such critical components of a bird’s flight, insulation and general survival, it’s no surprise they have meticulous spa routines. The bathing helps remove dirt and parasites, the preening helps reset the feather barbs. Most birds also coat the feathers with protective oil from the uropygial gland. We came upon a small family of…
Fast Food [Gull] Nation
Part of what makes gulls both amusing and exasperating to humans is their cleverness and opportunism when it comes to food. Across the gull universe, the diet is omnivorous. They’ll eat crustaceans, fish, insects and other marine organisms. They will also prey on the nests of other bird species for food. A number of researchers…
Bird Bath Bliss
I’ll never forget the experience of Mikiko and his bath. He was a hospital rescue, a Japanese Quail with no verifiable background. Most likely, he was being raised for food, for eggs, for hunting or for dog training, and the lucky little guy escaped into the arms of a good samaritan. Dust Baths I had…
Kids Playing in a Puddle
I just came upon some great footage on You Tube, from David Neils. It shows three elk playing in a forest puddle. Embedding is disabled on that particular clip — but you can link to it here: Three Elk Calves in a Puddle. This companion video below, also from Neils, shows what most people would…
Tussle on Mountain Lake
This was a first for me . . . witnessing a down and dirty fight between American Coots intent on keeping each other off coveted turf. Neither bird was hurt. Well, maybe emotionally. The loser scrambled across the water to escape the victor. American Coots can drown in territorial battles, although it’s not common. They…
Shorebird Nation Rises Again
Ever since I picked up a telephoto lens and aimed it at my first non-human earthling, my seasons have morphed into migration schedules. Winter = Ducks. Spring= Babies. Fall (best time of all) = Shorebirds. I used to be an urban-girl-night-person — before I knew what I was. Autumn was: early darkness, early cocktails. Schlepping…
Swoops the Blackbird – Exhibit A in “Mobbing” Behavior
I snapped this on the weekend before national t.v. crews showed up to fuel the celebrity of Swoops the Blackbird. (Click on the image for the larger Flickr version.) ©ingridtaylar Swoops, a Brewer’s Blackbird with a nest of young to protect, perches on the awnings overlooking his brood and buzzes pedestrians who venture too close…
