#bird nerd

[tytonidyke]

These are so fun to make

[ilikeloons]

Alright bird nerds, buckle up. It's profile picture lore time.

This is an 'I'iwi (ee-EE-vee) or a Scarlet Honeycreeper. They are endemic only to the Hawaiian Islands and high high altitudes. Although they will sometimes head further down to forage for food, which is flower nectar (unsurprising after peeping that beak). They are in the same family as the American gold Finch and Pine Siskin - which is a fact that blew my mind.

They are at risk from mammal introduction to the islands and avian pox/malaria and scarce food. The 'ōhi'a tree, one of their main food sources, is similarly vulnerable from a fungus that can kill a tree in a matter of days.

This 'I'iwi was photographed at Hosmer Grove in Haleakalā National Park. We were able to watch them for a few hours before heading up to the summit. I had gotten a few of the photos below, but not up close shots. On our way back down the volcano, I asked my boyfriend if he minded stopping for an extra 20 mins to see if I could get a closer picture. Right as I walked into the grove I got this shot.

Few others from the same day:

[hermit-home]

I picked up an Ashford Country Spinner recently for chunky yarns and decided she needed a personal touch!

I’ve named her Ava.

She currently has 15 warbler species and a Hermit Thrush completed, but I’ll be adding more on other surfaces little by little! I went with a heavily simplified, pretty stylized style and I’m loving how it’s turning out.

The next few I’m working on are all 4 species of North American nuthatches on each side corner

[reasonsforhope]

Humans are so cute. They think they can outsmart birds. They place nasty metal spikes on rooftops and ledges to prevent birds from nesting there.

It’s a classic human trick known in urban design as “evil architecture”: designing a place in a way that’s meant to deter others. Think of the city benches you see segmented by bars to stop homeless people sleeping there.

But birds are genius rebels. Not only are they undeterred by evil architecture, they actually use it to their advantage, according to a new Dutch study published in the journal Deinsea.

Crows and magpies, it turns out, are learning to rip strips of anti-bird spikes off of buildings and use them to build their nests. It’s an incredible addition to the growing body of evidence about the intelligence of birds, so wrongly maligned as stupid that “bird-brained” is still commonly used as an insult...

Magpies also use anti-bird spikes for their nests. In 2021, a hospital patient in Antwerp, Belgium, looked out the window and noticed a huge magpie’s nest in a tree in the courtyard. Biologist Auke-Florian Hiemstra of Leiden-based Naturalis Biodiversity Center, one of the study’s authors, went to collect the nest and found that it was made out of 50 meters of anti-bird strips, containing no fewer than 1,500 metal spikes.

Hiemstra describes the magpie nest as “an impregnable fortress.”

Pictured: A huge magpie nest made out of 1,500 metal spikes.

Magpies are known to build roofs over their nests to prevent other birds from stealing their eggs and young. Usually, they scrounge around in nature for thorny plants or spiky branches to form the roof. But city birds don’t need to search for the perfect branch — they can just use the anti-bird spikes that humans have so kindly put at their disposal.

“The magpies appear to be using the pins exactly the same way we do: to keep other birds away from their nest,” Hiemstra said.

Another urban magpie nest, this one from Scotland, really shows off the roof-building tactic:

Pictured: A nest from Scotland shows how urban magpies are using anti-bird spikes to construct a roof meant to protect their young and eggs from predators.

Birds had already been spotted using upward-pointing anti-bird spikes as foundations for nests. In 2016, the so-called Parkdale Pigeon became Twitter-famous for refusing to give up when humans removed her first nest and installed spikes on her chosen nesting site, the top of an LCD monitor on a subway platform in Melbourne. The avian architect rebelled and built an even better home there, using the spikes as a foundation to hold her nest more securely in place.

...Hiemstra’s study is the first to show that birds, adapting to city life, are learning to seek out and use our anti-bird spikes as their nesting material. Pretty badass, right?

The genius of birds — and other animals we underestimate

It’s a well-established fact that many bird species are highly intelligent. Members of the corvid family, which includes crows and magpies, are especially renowned for their smarts. Crows can solve complex puzzles, while magpies can pass the “mirror test” — the classic test that scientists use to determine if a species is self-aware.

Studies show that some birds have evolved cognitive skills similar to our own: They have amazing memories, remembering for months the thousands of different hiding places where they’ve stashed seeds, and they use their own experiences to predict the behavior of other birds, suggesting they’ve got some theory of mind.

And, as author Jennifer Ackerman details in The Genius of Birds, birds are brilliant at using tools. Black palm cockatoos use twigs as drumsticks, tapping out a beat on a tree trunk to get a female’s attention. Jays use sticks as spears to attack other birds...

Birds have also been known to use human tools to their advantage. When carrion crows want to crack a walnut, for example, they position the nut on a busy road, wait for a passing car to crush the shell, then swoop down to collect the nut and eat it. This behavior has been recorded several times in Japanese crows.

But what’s unique about Hiemstra’s study is that it shows birds using human tools, specifically designed to thwart birds’ plans, in order to thwart our plans instead. We humans try to keep birds away with spikes, and the birds — ingenious rebels that they are — retort: Thanks, humans!

-via Vox, July 26, 2023

[knithacker]

*NOT AI* Crochet a Common Kingfisher Amigurumi - Gorgeous! 👉 https://buff.ly/3f3uNbf

[sea-of-emocean]

Excited for today, just like this Fulmar.

[hornymotionalcookie]

Another Self-Prompt & Discord No-Longer-Exclusive

I didn't realize how many pre sambucky stuffus I wrote, but here's another one.

Prompt: A nest of starlings is outside of Bucky's window. And all the time he's not responding to Sam via text, he's responding out loud to an empty apartment, all manners of confession about "stupid, pretty, kissable Sam". When they finally do reconnect and after Bucky's decided to move to Delacroix, Sam gets to meet the birdies who have juicy secrets to spill, unbeknownst to Bucky.

Bucky's taking the meager furniture he did have down to the donation truck that's come to pick it up. Sam's looking at the view from Bucky's kitchen window and sees the nest in the corner. He lifts it up listening to their beautiful songs.

Bucky comes back upstairs after chatting with the pick up fellas Damian and Leslie. Good dudes. He calls out to Sam and then hears a high voice pitched voice calling out to Sam. Bucky's a bit taken aback, wondering who in his building knows Sam's here. Or maybe Sam's on speakerphone. But Sam never mentioned seeing anyone. Did he?

Bucky pushes his irrational jealousy down, instead following the voices to round the corner into his kitchen to see a giddy Sam cheesing a mile wide. He's not looking down at his phone, but instead down at the window sill and a group of maybe 3 or 4 little black birds. Bucky's losing it just a bit at the adorable picture of bird nerd Sam being all soft and smiley behind a few feathery crew.

Bet if I had pretty feathers and birdsongs he'd smile at me like that, too. You all aren't special. Bucky's petty mental spiel is (thankfully) interrupted by Sam's voice as he speaks softly to his fellow featherheads.

"Is that right? What else?"

"Stupid Sam." Bucky splutters his laughter. Those miming menaces. Bird man being picked on by actual birds. Hilarious! He eases more into the room.

"Well that's a little mean. But you're forgiven since you keep bad company."

"Sam pretty," another chirps. Bucky's eyes widen on that.

"Thank you, I do put in a lot of effort into maintaining a fit form."

"Bighead Sam."

"Back to the insults, hmm?" Bucky wants to relax, but the things he's said out loudly unknowingly to a very nosy, snitching audience won't let him.

"Should just shutup and kiss me. Be a better use of that mouth."

"Sam. Sam. Sam."

"I miss you."

Sam turns at the sudden sound of thumping behind him to see Bucky banging his forehead repeatedly against the kitchen wall.

He walks over to him and slides one hand between the wall and Bucky's forehead, the other on his shoulder to spin him around.

"You're gonna lose your security deposit if you keep throwing that huge noggin around like that."

Bucky takes a breath before attempting to try to explain this away, but Sam moves the cupped hand from his forehead down over his mouth.

"Before you say something to ruin this, let's try something else first, huh?" He leans forward and removes his hand just before his lips touch Bucky's in a soft kiss.

"Gotta give it to you, Buck, this is a much better use of your mouth than speaking." Sam kisses him again, smiling into it as Bucky envelopes him in an embrace.

[cricketpress]

We've got NEW birds. So, welcome to BIRD WEEK!!!

We're going to start with this little cutie...

Tufted Titmouse

Print Details: 3 color screenprint 8" x 10" available in our Etsy Shop

[djkerr]

So, birds are your thing, huh?

NCIS 19x16 The Wake

[riovidalharkness]

[Me watching TV]

[Hears a bird in the background]

That's a Blue Jay!

[townslice]

Did a little sketch of one of my old ocs, an entomologist bird nerd Henry the hooded crow!

Warning: will NOT stop talking about insects once you mention his special interest

[fanfoolishness]

Me, a birder: nice, Bufflehead ducks

Me, an intellectual: every day I’m Buffling

[arcaneowldice]

A wing full of Malibu Sunset

Out of all the sets that I've made in my past, this one was one of the hardest to put up for sale. It just has such a delightfully warm glow to them! My own little wing full of sunshine!

[tytonidyke]

Gotta love a little autumnal Mallard moment

[o-the-mts]

Bird Nerd Report - March 2025 #Birding #Birdwatching #Birds

[knithacker]

These Knitted Knee Socks Are For The Birds, Get The Pattern! 👉 https://buff.ly/39MA06z ... I love birds, follow me on Instagram at @DanielleHolke for my bird photos (art too) and at @KnitHacker for fiber art adventures - let's connect! 🐦