#Hell Grackles

[rulesforthedance]

Update: he wants me dead

[thelonelyshore-if]

Are there more insects in town because of the lack of birds? Are there more bats to fill this ecological niche? Does the fog not care about ecology? I just keep thinking about a place without birds, and it's horrific in so many ways!!!

I love bats deeply so I want to say there are more bats, but not an obscene amount. The rabies risk is higher in town than in most places because if it, though, unfortunately.

There are definitely more insects than you'd expect. Don't even mention mosquitos--it's rough out there. But, at the same time--much like with the bats, it isn't really noticeable unless you're actively paying attention.

Though at the end of the day the fog really just doesn't care about ecology. It works on magic evil monster rules, and it Doesn't Like Birds. Too hard to control 😔

[i-exist-to-spite-god]

I fucking love grackles, they are the Walmart version of crows and I will always adore that about them.

"grackle" is one of the words of all time. like you know he gracklin

[bloodofgrapes]

everyone loves crows but I never see any appreciation for the humble grackle

look at this guy, crows are cool as hell but they wish they had this

[rip-cod-brainrot]

So I fed some pigeons and grackles/jackdaws today at the city station. This girl sits down next to me. And she’s apparently upset by the pigeons being near her, judging by the way she kept shooing them away with a frown.

Like. Girl. YOU are the one who sat next to the person obviously feeding pigeons. Who has pigeons literally diving under her feet to grab some peanuts. There are going to be pigeons. Why would you sit here if you do not want pigeon????

Anyways it’s so stupid funny I’m coming up with headcanons about how they (read: cod bois + maybe even perhaps some gals) will react sitting next to you, a stranger. Feeding pigeons

Characters; Price, Gaz, Ghost, Soap, Laswell, Alejandro, Rudy, Graves, Nikolai, Valeria, Makarov

PRICE -He doesn’t understand what you are doing. Aren’t pigeons dirty??? That one specifically looks like it has mange?????? -He is discreetly scooting away. Especially when the pigeons start hopping up to sit next to you on the bench to try and get more peanuts. He might shoo them away, but gently, with only furrowed eyebrows. -Says nothing to you, but also doesn't give you more than one confused look, because he's a gentleman.

GAZ -Yeah, he noticed the pigeons. Oh. Wait - he didn't see that you were feeding them. -He does panic internally - just a bit - when they start swarming your shoes as you drop some food. But then you just... giggle? Because the pigeons are... well, they are kind of cute. -Wait - never mind, one of them is staring at him with those beady red eyes. Never mind, they're more disconcerting than anything. Don't trust those gentle coos... they clearly hide evil pigeon intent

GHOST -??? Yeah there's somebody feeding pigeons, so what? The seat's free, he's gonna sit there. -Oh, the pigeons are starting to come closer to him because he's sitting still? Oh. Well. He doesn't mind that much. He'll just have to wash his clothes real well. Mites and all that. -Doesn't say anything, but he does give you a nod and a grunt when you compliment that they seem to like him. -Next time you're there he's feeding the pigeons too??? Who the fuck is this guy

SOAP -He is not discreet. He's leaning over curiously to try and look closer at the pigeons, eyebrows raised. -It's only a matter of time before he starts asking questions. "How'd you get them to come so close? Do you feed them that every time? How do you know they like it? What else do you feed 'em?" -He is actively excited by this Disney Princess(tm) shit happening in front of him. He might leave you with a torn out page of his sketchbook; a quick drawing of you, surrounded by the birds, smiling.

LASWELL -People feed pigeons all the time. Why should she care? She's just going to keep her distance and- -Oh, one of them hopped up next to her, and it's coming towards her. No, Kate doesn't have any feed for this thing, go away- -Actively goes to sit at the far end of the bench, putting her bag between herself and the birds. She does wave at them and wiggle her foot so that they don't come near her.

ALEJANDRO -Feeding the local wildlife? That's sweet. But can't they feed themselves? What the hell do pigeons eat anyways- -May or may not jump and shit himself when one of the pigeons suddenly flaps up to stand on his knee. Absolutely does not hurt the pigeons on purpose!! But if he swats a little too fast at one of them, he ain't missing, and he feels AWFUL about it. -Damn soldier reflexes. Next thing he knows he's holding a pigeon in his hands while you check it over, fussing over the thing even though it's looking around like nothing happened. -(Pigeon is ok btw. Turns out he just kinda... pushed it, and it flew back fast enough to avoid any real harm.)

RUDY -Oh he's absolutely into it, he knows the birds are hopping onto the bench and everything. He noticed it as he was coming up. -If one of them comes next to him or hops up onto his knee, he's smiling. But he does gently nudge them back over to you. "No tengo nada portigo, pajarito. Go to them." -Strikes up a conversation with you about what you're feeding them. You have a clear love for these birds, and he thinks it's wonderful that such love exists in the world.

GRAVES -Didn't even notice you were feeding pigeons. He just knows the damn things go everywhere, wherever they want. -Wait wtf you're feeding them? What are you, an old grandma???? Graves fully believes in the sky rat idea of pigeons. The hell are you doing??? -Jumps up when one of them flies right at him. "What in the hell-" -He has decided to sit somewhere else. Unless you strike him up in conversation and talk him down. (They're just birds, bro calm down)

NIKOLAI -Oh he sat next to you BECAUSE you're feeding birds. This looks like fun. -He asks if he can have a handful of the stuff so he can feed them, too. Or pulls out some spare packet of nuts he had in his pocket. He's enjoying feeding them, look at those little guys go. -He soon strikes up a conversation with you, smiling and laughing over the warm little birds so focused on getting the food that they're swarming around your feet.

VALERIA (because I think she would say smth 'bout it) -Didn't care that you're feeding the pigeons. Whatever. People do stuff like feed the wildlife in the city. Who cares. -Raises an eyebrow when one lands next to her, staring at her expectantly. "Que quieres? No tengo no comida portigo. Ve a tu amigo alli." -She brushes it away, back towards you. "You keep these birds too fat, they're gonna bother everybody, you know?" she hums. "You feed them every day?" -Soon enough, you're bantering back and forth. She likes a small conversation every once in a while, knowing that whatever civilian she's talking to hasn't the slightest idea how easily she could have them wiped from the face of the earth... MAKAROV (because I need more content of This Guy(tm)) -You're just another civilian doing civilian things. Feeding the birds. Yeah, whatever. -Frowns at the pigeons when they try to hop up next to him. Shoos them away, not out of any real malice, but in slight annoyance. -That annoyance does spill over, though. But at you. "Why are you feeding them? These are wild animals, do you think they cannot feed themselves?" -If you're just like 'they're cute', then he scoffs and ignores you for the rest of the time he has to wait. He refuses to move. But if you have a logical reason - "I want to make sure they're eating something that they can actually digest, and the more I feed them, the more often I can check to see if they're sick" - then he's pretty intrigued. Maybe you're not a stupid civilian, at least.

[brucewaynehater101]

Something I have seen in a few fics and is very near to my heart. Tim Drake Has Birds. Not just any birds, but a gaggle of Crows and Ravens and others. That's what everyone says. But what if he had *more*.

Sure it starts with him befriending 4 or 5 ravens/crows but both are smart kinds of birds and very social as well. They seek out others to play with after all. So if Tim was kind to them and fed them and even helped one of them heal after it got a broken wing (the others led Tim to their injured friend while screaming) then they would certainly spread news to other birds that Tim is safe and a friend. Plus, when any of those birds he befriended has kids? They will teach their babies that Tim is Kind and Trustworthy.

Eventually Tim's flock spreads from just being Crows and Ravens to adding pigeons and grackles and Sparrows and even a few blue Jay's and a couple owls! After all, if Tim starts befriending them about the time (or even before) he starts stalking the family by the Time he's Robin he's gunna have So Many Birds. Tim does his best to hide this from the other Bats because he thinks they will try to make him get rid of them like the one time his parents found him petting a Raven in the backyard.

Tim hides his birds from everyone the best he can and has taught some of them helpful tricks in the field that he can only use when alone. Only a handful can do them, but a handful is more than enough. Such commands are Follow That Person, Bring Me That, Poop On That Person, and other such things. Only three of them understand his favorite trick. Take This Match, Strike It, And Drop It On What I Point At. Sometimes he lights goons on fire, sometimes he lights dumpsters on fire. Either way, a perfect distraction for hoards of goons.

Many of them also have tiny harnesses that can't be seen through their feathers that have cameras on them. Sometimes Tim will have a bird follow a Rouge around for a while because really, who would notice of a specific bird is following them?

The three that are best trained and are totally not Tim's favorites, are the three he has in his civilian identity as well. He only debuted his "pets" are he took over as CEO of WE. On his right shoulder rides a *well* above average size Raven named Huggin and on his left is an equally massive Raven named Munnin. Yes, he did name them after Odin's two ravens from mythology. The last one does not come to work with him like Huggin and Munnin, but stays at home and is in fact part of Tim's Home Security. Guinevere the Agressive Swan. She will attack anyone and everyone that isn't Tim and the moment she spots a person who Shouldn't Be There, she is out for *blood*. The only people she tolerates are Brenard, Kon, Cassie, and Bart. Even Damian with his mastery of animals will get attacked by her.

That's such a cute AU! I want to add an that, because Tim is taking care of pigeons, their lifespan increases as well (idk much about other birds so maybe them too). Pigeons were originally domesticated animals. They live 1-2 years in the wild and up to 15 as a pet.

I would also love to see the ravens intimidate the hell out of other people at Tim's work. The birds are just staring intensely at someone Tim doesn't like as they try to get through a meeting. It's an effective tool for the CEO to get what he wants or needs from opponents (ravens are adorable, but huge. I'd be terrified if one just kept staring at me visibly prepared to attack).

[bookofthegear]

Our Lady of Grackles is one of those cryptic figures that pop up in art from time to time, which manage to be well-documented without anyone having any idea what they’re documenting. Who is she? No one knows. Does she represent an actual historical person? No idea. Is her name really the Lady of Grackles? Almost certainly not.

Even the convent of Our Lady of Grackles doesn’t know anything much about her, except that she seems generally benevolent towards humanity, or at least occasionally toward individuals. If the nuns are worshipping her wrong, she’s never cared enough to do anything about it.

What you do know is that she’s portrayed as a woman in a hood that covers her eyes, usually smiling, accompanied by grackles. Sometimes she’s nude except for the hood, but this may say more about the artist than the subject.

The portrait on the wall is a pretty good rendering, in a style you associate with Byzantine icons. After about the 12th century, you’d say, maybe even as late as the 14th. They did a neat trick with the grackle heads, painting blue over gold leaf, which doesn’t quite capture the iridescent quality, but you see what they were going for. (Jimmy chirps appreciatively at the grackles.)

Having happily mused over a chance to use your major, you heft your lantern. This seems like a dead end. Time to head back the other way.

You follow the corridor back to the east, and come up to the crack where you entered, and the doorway on the opposite wall…

…hang on a minute…

You don’t remember this doorway. You’re almost sure there wasn’t one! Nevertheless, there’s a doorway in the wall, leading into a room. The graffiti parts around it, but someone has chalked a single white circle on the wall beside it.

[doyouknowthemossinman]

i used to want to be a journalist bc i liked telling stories but didn't see myself selling fiction. but now journalism means being on social media all the time and having a perfect internet footprint before you even get hired. i just wanna post grackles all day

using bird sounds to try and focus my brain on reading textbook chapters. did you know a group of grackles is called a plauge

the book is not about birds

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #491

10 days have passed since last I changed braces, so you know what that means...!

Yes! It's time for more progress pictures!! Here we go! Here's the lower jaw!

...And this is the upper jaw!

...Things are considerably less fucked up in the inside of my face! Yay! But I'm still not done! I'm pretty sure this is only set number 20; I have 15 more to go!

My guts felt relatively icky this morning, so I didn't eat. J did, though, and that was good. And then we packed up and left Abilene, Texas in order to go further west.

...We intentionally left the fraying Bag of Holding behind. And this was a terrible mistake, for reasons I'll explain in a little bit.

On the way to the airport, I was able to get some better pictures of a grackle:

...They're such fabulous birds. So sparkly! Such poise! This one surely belongs on some kind of fashion runway, I think! And they squeak and chatter so merrily! I wish these lived back home...

...I did manage to come across another one of their feathers, though:

...I can't wait to bring all the feathers I found home, and to put them with the rest in my collection!

On the flight out, out the front windshield of the plane, I saw the exact vision that I saw in yesterday's dream with you, which is pretty wild:

Of course, lots more windmills followed:

...I wonder if your planet can try something like this instead of burning mako; this seems a lot more sustainable, don't you think? Solar power and hydropower are options, too; maybe someday you can check out what's available here, and then go back to your world with the knowledge you gathered from here. And then maybe things would be a little easier over there, at least in some ways.

Anyway, I saw lots of other things, too, like patterns in the ground that looked like the skeletal remains of a great big beast:

And this other pattern that looked exactly like a piece of cut and finished wood:

...And some more nifty patterns, too!

...But. From here, things quickly morphed into a more desert-like landscape; very flat, with lots and lots of sand. I was reminded of the sands near The Gold Saucer:

...And there were some weird patterns in the ground here, too:

Eventually, the landscape shifted to mountains, which is what I'm more familiar with, if you've seen the pictures I've taken from J's airplane, back in New York. But these mountains, unlike the ones at home, are not covered in trees. They're actually relatively bare, which makes it easier to see how time and the wind have carved into the rock:

We eventually came to a city, arranged in tight grids. And there were dusty roads sectioning off squares of undeveloped land, too. It looked kinda neat, but I'm not sure what they were for:

The airport we landed at is pretty big. Big enough that they even have airplanes from NASA. NASA does outer space stuff, kinda like what Cid Highwind wanted to do, in your world.

We had to stop here. It was so hot that the plane couldn't climb very well without the engine overheating. So we're gonna wake up early in the morning before the sun roasts everything all to hell. Then, it should be a little easier to get to where we intended to stop.

We eventually got to the hotel and got a dinner. I still wasn't especially hungry, but I ate anyways; it's important:

...And now I am here. J snagged a picture of me that sums up my internal and external state fairly well:

...I'm very tired. And dehydrated, probably. The last couple of weeks have been eye-opening in a variety of ways, but... also stressful.

...I wonder if a worse version of this is what you must have felt like when Shinra was sending you all over the place to do goodness-knows-what. At least in my case, I am doing a thing I actually WANT to do, alongside a person I love very much, whom I feel safe and understood with. Even this mostly leisurely travel is hard; I can't imagine how stressful your travels must have been for you.

We got back to the hotel and talked to M. I told him what became of the Bag of Holding. I... didn't know it had sentimental value to him. I thought it was just a bag; we got it at PAX East in 2012, and the bag served us for a long time, but... now it's not usable, so I thought... well. It didn't matter what I thought. I made the mistake of thinking it was just a bag, and that it could be easily replaced with something of similar caliber.

He said that, although he agreed with the decision to leave it behind, he still wishes that we had talked to him about it first. I apologized; I didn't know, but... the not knowing won't erase the fact that he's sad, and that there's not anything I can do about it now. I made a mistake, and the only thing for it is accountability and changed behavior on my part.

...Also, there's a lot of hateful propaganda being broadcast on the news out here. It's more than a little scary, actually. I don't really know how things are going to pan out, but... they're talking about “tracking” autistic people and about expanding the torture prison in El Salvador. I can only imagine that this means that autistic people are next in line to be scooped up and disappeared, after immigrants.

...I'm scared. Scared for all the people I know are gonna suffer. Scared for the people I already know are suffering. Scared for my friends. Scared for my little family living in our little house. But... I don't really know what to do other than keep on keepin' on.

I guess that's it for today. I gotta go to bed. Up probably at like 5 tomorrow morning.

I love you so much. And I hope you're staying safe out there. We'll try our best to remain safe, too.

I'll write again tomorrow. Watch over us, okay...?

Your friend, Lumine

[head-in-the-stars3012]

Enjoy the silence

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏

𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟗

Going to one of those big parties was never really your thing, usually being considered an outcast so you weren’t used to loud music, drunk people and football players being.. well.. football players. You would have never gone to a party like this, but here you were, being dragged to the party by your stepsister Carol because she said you need socialization.

“You know we could’ve walked right?” You told her, knowing the place was just a 10 minute walk from your home.

“Yeah it would’ve taken us like half an hour to get there by foot” she replies, but the truth is that she’s wearing jellies and those things make your feet hurt.

“there’s a shortcut through bachelors in the forest”

“The haunted cemetery? You know they do witchcraft over there, I don’t want to get sacrificed” Carol always believed any rumor she heard so you weren’t surprised by her believing the whole witchcraft and cult thing about the graveyard.

“It’s not haunted, it’s just abandoned and desecrated. I think it’s really peaceful and quite, it’s my reading spot” since you were forced to move here you became really attached to the graveyard, a quite place where you could read without interruptions, you never understood why it was such a comforting place to you, thinking that maybe being surrounded by nature helped you relax. “I like to do wax rubbings of the tomb stones, I also have a favorite” you said with a smile thinking about it.

“You have a…favorite one?…” Carol said, probably weirded out by this hobby of yours, you knew it was weird but you enjoyed it, going to the cemetery, doing wax rubbings, reading.. without anyone to disrupt your peace.

“Yeah, it’s this young man from the 1800s, I tend to his grave and leave him flowers..I talk to him sometimes” oh that young man, you didn’t know his name sadly, sometimes you would guess names that would suit him, like.. Victor or Walton.. he was such an intriguing man, you wished you were able to talk to him, maybe he would get you, just maybe. Visiting his grave was your favorite part of the day, not for a macabre reason, you just enjoyed talking to him and feeling like he was actually listening to you in that moment, that feeling helped you a lot after the accident.

“That’s really weird y/n, please don’t tell that to anyone” you knew you should’ve kept your mouth shut, she thinks you’re a weirdo now.

“I just don’t think anyone should be forgotten..”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

When you got to the party Carol instantly left you to join her friends, you stayed for a while at the car looking around before going to the mini fridge near the pool. As you opened it and took out a Pepsi somebody started talking behind you.

“If you’re looking to fade out the booze is inside”

You turned around to look at him and instantly recognized who he was, Andy Clark, a guy you’ve never spoke to but still had a crush on, it was very silly to be honest.

“What?” You asked, already confused as to why was the Andy Clark talking to you.

“The booze, it’s in the house”he replied

“Yeah I think my stepsisters friend brought most of it, I think her name is Taffy or something” You remember Taffy, she was the nicest one in your stepsisters friend group, even nicer than Carol, sometimes she would come to your house to hang out with Carol but you didn’t talk to her much. She was really nice though, you wished she was your stepsister.

“Mhm, you’re y/n Gardner. Andy..Clark” he said, why did he know your name or better, how did the know your name, you’ve never even talked to him how the hell did he know your name.

“Why?.. why do you know my name?” You whispered looking at him and he just laughed, oh my god he has a nice laugh.

“Well you submitted some really strong poems to the Grackle, I’m one of the editors. You’re poems are great, very dark but they’re great” you could’ve died right then and there and you wouldn’t even have cared, he likes your poems, he thinks they’re great.

“Thank you” you said with a smile before Tamara, she has English class with you, came and interrupted your conversation, talking to Andy. “Hey Tamara” you didn’t mind her, she was pretty cool actually.

“Hi, sorry how do we know each other?” She asked.

“We have English together, I usually sit in the back”

“Ohhh you’re y/n right??” Some people would say she was mean but she was actually really nice, at least to you she was.

“Yeah that’s me” you said cracking open your Pepsi.

“Do you.. want a sip?” She said offering you her cup, you weren’t sure what was in there but you didn’t want to look uncool in front of Andy, so you accepted it and drank almost half of it.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

You were high, like super high.

You ended up inside the house and Doug found you, you trusted him, he was a nice guy, he asked you about your favorite director, he even held your hair back while you threw up in a trash can.

He took you to a random bedroom, away from all the noise, you were thankful for that. Then a thunder erupted making you jump slightly by the sudden noise.

“Oh no, looks like the angels are bowling” he said, making you smile.

“My mom used to say that” your eyes were closed and you smiled thinking of your mother, though your thoughts were interrupted by Doug.

“Does that feel good?”

You looked at him and then slowly looked down where his hand was.. he was touching you, what. The. Fuck.

You just stood up and ran out the door, Doug shouting something in the back, you didn’t listen you just kept running out without a certain direction, all you knew was that..

Doug was not a nice guy.

Tamara was not sweet.

And you were an absolute idiot accepting a spiked cup, it was all your fault you ended up in this situation.

You just kept running, you stopped when you realized you were surrounded by some familiar trees and in front of you was a familiar grave. Getting closer to him made you feel more at ease, like everything disappeared.

You looked up to the statue that somewhat represented the face of the young man, lightly touching his stone cheek.

“I wish I was with you”

[corvusspecialartist]

Primarchs as Birds

Just in any order I goddamn want. Plus, these are North American birds only.

Perturabo (Northern Mockingbird)

They are just dicks. I swear. And just look at them. they will go after any and everyone who threatens their food source.

2. Lorgar (Cardinal)

He RED. Plus, cardinals are named after the cardinals of the church. Plus there are these birds that are in the Desert

3. Konrad Curze (Grackles)

Budget Crows. Nobody really likes em. (I mean they are trying to get rid of them in Texas) Plus they look like they gotta a problem with you in almost every other photo. Got that energy.

4. Gulliman (Blue Jay)

HE BLUE. PLus these birds are actually Corvids. They are smart as hell. (Another option is the California quail cause round)

5. Sanginius (Mourning Dove)

You can really replace him with any piegion species.. but although this little guy look like head empty/no thoughts.. this guys are actuall smart. Plus they are symbols of peace. (And they are cute as hell)

7. Mortartion (Turkey Vulture)

Although he stank. Turkey Vultures tend to keep to themselves and often have been tried to exterminated more than once. They do get bullied by black vultures.

8. Corvus Corax

Self explinatory. Move on.

9. Alpharius and Omegon: ANY brood parasite birds (Think cuckoos, cowbirds..etc)

These birds have the habit of laying birds in other's nest so that others can raise their young... and that's kinda what the Alpha LEgion do. Plus it can get REALLY complex fast.

[fangs-claws-and-terrible-ideas]

your fursona sounds cool as hell wtf I love javelinas - do you have any pictures?

:D thank you thank you, I do indeed!

I've never commissioned anything for her but I have scribbled out some pictures of her on my own :3

"wha- Oh yeah! Of course I eat it with the spines. Wouldn't be prickly pear without the prickly!"

In fact, this inspired me to give drawing her another go!

These would be her branches in winter whereas most of the year she'd have leaves and fruit too!

She is big and fat and hairy and I've toyed with the idea of giving her grackle wing earrings but those are very hard to draw lol here's the notes page I made while creating her design:

I forgot about a few of these details, and as you can see I'm not always feeling up to the challenge of em lol

Probably gonna skip the six tits thing (where would I even put em??) but I still really like her having two fingers and two thumbs on each hand because that matches javelina's hooves with their big dulap hoof-claw things

I can't remember if it actually got mentioned anywhere, but her name is Tabasco :3

[birds--daily]

How the hell are blue jays corvids but not grackles. unfair

NO SERIOUSLY 😭😭😭 they can't do things like that to me i'm not smart enough

[almostfoxglove]

Hi Freya! Could I ask for 6, 15, and 16?

I hope your holidays are going well ❤️

omg hi love!! ty for these :,) and tysm!! hope your holiday has been nice too <3

6. a scene you struggled with

omg, I had a MOMENT with dave york in Hold Still (my first and only time writing for the man - I was intimidated as hell!!) trying to figure out the ending. something I struggle with smutty one shots is coming to a satisfying conclusion (pun accidental I SWEAR) that isn't just the moment they finish fucking, but I was pretty happy with how I wrapped it in the end!!

15. an area of your art you feel you improved upon

HAVING FUN & BEING SILLY!! I think The Prettiest is the biggest example of me letting go a little, but getting fun with form in More Than Letters and at the end of I'll Carry You felt good too :,)

16. something interesting you researched as part of the process

omg. 100 things I had no business looking up, but they felt so urgent in the moment. what parts of the US grackles live in. what time of year a golden chain tree blooms. how many miles are between tampa, florida and prince edward island. the order of notes on piano keys. greenhouse construction. I've rewatched some movies that I wanted to reference to double check some shots/lines. LOVE RESEARCHING SILLY LIL THINGS!

💭 artist & fic writer EOY asks

[tenmillionmourningdoves]

grackles have gotta be one of the weirdest birds out there

they're loud as hell, they look like they're covered head to toe in petroleum, and all of their songs and calls sound like malfunctioning industrial equipment

[proton-wobbler]

Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)

Chadron State Park - Fall 2023

Well, its that time of year again- the towhees are molting! All migratory birds are likely undergoing some sort of molt here in the US, replacing old body plumage or growing their new flight feathers as they prepare for migration. This adult male Spotted Towhee is showing off just how dramatically this species looks when they molt. Most birds look a little patchy, but for some reason the bigger birds like towhees, blue jays, or grackles look just... rough as hell. This isn't even the most molt-y towhee I've had so far, he simply took the best pics.

All banding, marking, and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey's BBL. Permission to share images was granted by Bird Conservancy of the Rockies (BCR).