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Phasianids are awesome. They're a cautionary tale for what happens if sexual selection runs amok. On a somewhat related note, has anyone had any trouble with binoculars at airports? I've got a pair that I'd like to bring in to the States from abroad, and I'm not sure whether they'd be better off in hand luggage or in a suitcase - or in neither. I'm coming in from the Middle East so I always get randomly chosen for searching. Are binoculars suspicious? 
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Aug 22, 2013 16:59
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| # ¿ Apr 16, 2024 06:34 |
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TLG James posted:Why????? The link says that it's bait for peregrine falcons. Probably left by a farmer or a hunter, they tend to see raptors as pests.
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Dec 13, 2013 16:30
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Marshmallow Blue posted:Don't raptors eat mice which actually are pests to their crops? Peregrines prefer to hunt birds, but the impact they have on game/domestic birds is negligible and overexaggerated by people. Hawks hunt mammals, which is why they weren't hit as hard as falcons and accipiters.
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Dec 13, 2013 22:15
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Anyone have any good experiences owling? It sounded like a terrible hazing ritual at first - midnight, cold, rainy, nothing in sight - but somehow it all feels justified when you finally see (and hear) that screech owl. So worth it.
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Jan 11, 2014 06:37
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Owl Prowl seems to be the correct term where I am, but I've heard both that and owling. The important thing is seeing owls!
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Feb 27, 2014 21:32
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Tangentially related, but this upcoming Lego set should be of interest to bird nerds (x-post from Lego thread).ixnay posted:The Birds idea set is already revealed. $45, 580 pieces, comes out in January as a set with 3 birds:
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Nov 28, 2014 17:12
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Linedance posted:East coast birding is feast or famine, mostly the latter. West Coast maybe gets less species through in migration, but is steady year round. What's Florida birding like? I was looking through the Sibley app in anticipation of my move, and it looks like they have just about every invasive imaginable.
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Apr 25, 2016 19:04
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| # ¿ Apr 16, 2024 06:34 |
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Cowbirds are awesome. I got to see one peering intently at another bird's nest, going for it as soon as the parent left, and being chased off loudly. There's all sorts of ecological and evolutionary interactions at work too. The mafia hypothesis was already mentioned, but did you know that they are nest parasites because they coevolved with bison? They used to follow the migrating bison herds, and since they couldn't settle down, they'd parasitize a nest and keep going. But we all but hunted the bison into extinction, leading cowbirds to follow cows instead (hence the name). Cows don't go anywhere though, so the cowbirds end up overparasitizing the area. Even worse for the cowbirds, they will also parasitize house finch nests. House finches were introduced to the East (good job, us) and are not typical cowbird hosts. This is because they feed their young seeds, whereas cowbirds need insect food. Any cowbird chick unfortunate enough to hatch in a house finch nest is stuffed with seeds until it dies. And then, of course, the cowbird retaliates... In short, humans (not cowbirds) are assholes.
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Jun 15, 2016 03:42
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