#yellow-billed loon

[rafallerart]

Another round of watercolor bird studies, in preparation for a larger painting. These are all Arctic birds that can be found at/near the North Pole...so you can probably guess the theme of the bigger illustration I'm prepping for ;) Fingers crossed that it will be finished in time for the winter holidays!

[proton-wobbler]

Battle Royale

Pool Party! (E-5)

These birds are loosely grouped by their associations with water, and because I didn't want the family BR to get too big. Keep your eyes peeled- there may be someone here who got a little lost, but we don't discriminate here!

[simplified-birds]

Simplfied bird #109 - yellow-billed loon

( requested by anon )

[animal-families-tournaments]

[nymbruyn]

Undying Tales 2 : il s'agit du plongeon à bec blanc. Inspiré d'une légende d'Amérique du Nord

Pentel et encres Jacques Herbin sur papier coloré. , format A5.

Disponibilité de l'original : ✅

Légende du plongeon à bec blanc :

🇺🇲 "The mournful and beautifully poignant cry of the loon can be heard skimming across the waters at dawn and dusk. The Tsimshian people who live in Canada and Alaska have a story of how the loon got its white necklace of feathers. Loon assisted a blind man, restoring his vision by taking him under his wing and swimming swiftly under the mirror clear waters of a lake. After several circuits of the lake, when Loon and the man emerged, his sight was restored. He gifted Loon his traditional Tsimshian necklace, and it melted across Loon’s neck to create the white pattern of feathers around the bird’s ruff."

[birdblues]

Yellow-billed Loon

[herpsandbirds]

Yellow-billed Loon (Gavia adamsii), family Gaviidae, order Gaviiformes, Alaksa

photo: Ryan Askren USGS, Alaska Science Center

[whatsthebird]

What's the Bird?

Location: Talkeetna, Alaska

Date:

We ask that discussion under questions be limited to how you came to your conclusion, not what your conclusion was.

Happy Birding!

Keep the game alive! Submit a bird HERE

Bird-266 graciously submitted by @alaskannymph

[twocolorz]

Aight HC abt one of my fav jokers

The Ringmaster.

He barley sleeps

often fidgets with his tail when being stressed

He gets quick tempered especially when he hasn’t slept in a few days or hasn’t gotten his morning coffee lol

Bro cries everytime he looks at the electric, faygo and like anything relating to the carnival bills cuz I know that shit gotta be expensive with how the lights be runnin 24/7

He wears the most prettiest yellow robe, just slayin fr

He has a golden tooth (since he lost one from a fight)

His skin feels like wax and he has a hard time picking some stuff up cuz of his long ahh nails

He loves watching Garfield

He’s always running around the circus, pretty stressed and having to keep everyone on schedule.

He and milenko WERE together but their love died out due to lack of communication, this definitely doesn’t impact their future relationships. They’re still alright to eachother though, minus the fact the ringmaster doesn’t like being around milenko for long periods of time and milenko would sometimes flirt with bro dispute him being with RIDDLEBOX at the moment.

He uses like 6 blankets to sleep and four pillows to rest his head.

He had a pet loon he named “loon” not very creative with names rip.

Real talk tho if he gave you a hawk tuah your dingaling is gonna be a peeled carrot cuz of his sharp teeth 💀

His tail is bitten from a fight with someone who tried escaping the wax museum and he has mirror glasses.

[magnetothemagnificent]

My birding week vacation is over, so here are all the bird species I saw:

1. Little blue heron

2. Sharp-shinned hawk

3. Black vulture

4. Great egret

5. Sandhill crane

6. Mourning dove

7. Common loon (there were two of them just hanging out at a lake. We couldn't believe it but they were unmistakable)

8. Cattle egret

9. Great blue heron

10. Anhinga

11. Double-crested cormorant

12. Red-winged Blackbird

13. Limpkin

14. Wood stork

15. White ibis

16. Muskovy duck

17. Boat-tailed grackle

18. American crow

19. American coot

20. Common gallinule

21. Common grackle

22. Glossy ibis

23. Palm warbler

24. Osprey

25. American purple gallinule

26. Wood duck

27. Red-shouldered hawk

28. Pied-billed grebe

29. Royal tern

30. Eastern Phoebe

31. Roseate spoonbill (last year it eluded me, but this year I saw two at two separate locations!)

31. Black-bellied whistling duck

32. Tricolor heron

33. Northern harrier

34. Yellow-rumped warbler

35. Tree swallow

36. Swallow-tailed kite

37. Ring-billed gull

38. Turkey vulture

39. Mallard

40. White pelican (there were two just hanging out at an artificial lake in the middle of a residential area)

41. Red eyed vireo

42. Mulard

43. American pekin

44. Mallard/Pekin hybrid

45. Downy woodpecker

46. Grey catbird

47. Blue-grey gnatcatcher

48. Fish crow

49. Northern parula

50. Snowy egret

51. Chimney swift

52. Common yellowthroat

53. Bald eagle

54. Red-bellied woodpecker

55. Blue winged teal (we only saw these guys because we had to walk an extra 1.5 miles to take the long way back to the car because an alligator decided to block our short way back)

56. Great-crested flycatcher

57. Louisiana waterthrush

58. Laughing gull

59. Northern mockingbird

60. Mottled duck

61. Loggerhead shrike

62. White eyed vireo

63. Tufted titmouse

64. Northern cardinal

65. Black and white warbler

66. Ring-necked duck (I saw this lone duck from the car as we were driving past an artificial lake. From it's silhouette I could see it looked different from the other ducks common in the area, so we stopped the car literally on the side of the road so I could run out with my binoculars, and sure enough it was a new species to add to the list. And then when we came back a few days later, it was still there swimming around and diving, so I guess it lived around there.)

67. Carolina chickadee

68. Swamp sparrow

69. Ruby-crowned kinglet

70. Pileated woodpecker

71. Belted kingfisher (we visited the same place three times because my Grandpa saw kingfishers there a few times. It wasn't until the third and final time, while we were ready to give up and leave, that we saw it, perched on a sign post over the water)

72. House sparrow

73. Cooper's hawk

74. Carolina wren

75. White-throated sparrow

[officialweezerelections]

THE FULL FUCKED UP BIRD BRACKET

All birds have been randomized, the seeds mean nothing. Yes pitohui is spelled incorrectly in the bracket image.

GROUP A

Andean Condor VS Loggerhead Shrike

Superb Lyrebird VS Emu

Greater Sage-Grouse VS Common Ostrich

Yellow-Billed Oxpecker VS American Woodcock

Bare-Throated Bellbird VS Giant Petrel

Greater Sooty Owl VS Vampire Ground Finch

Great Eared Nightjar VS Spur-Winged Goose

Common Cuckoo VS Tawny Frogmouth

GROUP B

Great Potoo VS Killdeer

Domestic Chicken VS Oilbird

Tufted Puffin VS Dalmatian Pelican

King Vulture VS Twelve-Wired Bird Of Paradise

Greater Superb Bird Of Paradise VS Perrito

Barn Owl VS Purple Gallinule

Bearded Vulture VS Secretary Bird

Long Wattled Umbrellabird VS Horned Screamer

GROUP C

Oriental Bay Owl VS Anhinga

Pennant Winged Nightjar VS Snowy Sheathbill

Red-Legged Seriema VS Marabou Stork

Argentavis VS Common Loon

Black Skimmer VS Luzon Bleeding-Heart

Southern Cassowary VS Flamingo (all species)

Green Heron VS Great Hornbill

African Jacana VS California Condor

GROUP D

Hamerkop VS Capuchinbird

Shoebill Stork VS American White Pelican

Roseate Spoonbill VS Hoatzin

Terror Bird VS Elephant Bird

Great Egret VS Magnificent Frigatebird

Guinean Cock-Of-The-Rock VS Hooded Pitohui

White-Throated Rail VS Spur-Winged Plover

White Bellbird VS Kiwi

Polls will be tagged with their BRACKET (example: #bracket a) and #tournament poll

MAY THE WORST BIRD WIN

[haveyouseenthisbirdpoll]

List of Birds organized by Order + locations:

Accipitriformes:

Bearded vulture

California condor

Cooper's hawk

Osprey

Red-shouldered hawk

Steller's sea eagle

Anseriformes:

Bar-headed goose

Barnacle goose

Black swan

Common merganser

Red-breasted goose

Snow goose

Trumpeter swan

Apodiformes:

Common swift

Ruby-throated hummingbird

Bucerotiformes:

Eurasian hoopoe

Cariamiformes:

Red-legged seriema

Casuariiformes:

Emu

Southern cassowary

Cathartiformes:

Black vulture

Turkey vulture

Charadriiformes:

American oystercatcher

Atlantic puffin

Black-headed gull

Black skimmer

Black-tailed godwit

European herring gull

Killdeer

Northern lapwing

Ruddy turnstone

Ciconiiformes:

White stork

Columbiformes:

Common wood pigeon

Eurasian collared dove

Luzon bleeding-heart

Nicobar pigeon

Victoria crowned pigeon

Coraciiformes:

Blue-capped kingfisher

Common kingfisher

Cuculiformes:

Asian koel

Greater roadrunner

Yellow-billed cuckoo

Eurypygiformes:

Kagu

Falconiformes:

American kestrel

Common kestrel

Galliformes:

Palawan peacock-pheasant

Plain chachalaca

Scaled quail

Western capercaillie

Gaviiformes:

Common loon

Gruiformes:

American coot

Australasian swamphen/pūkeko

Blue crane

Common moorhen

Sandhill crane

Sora

Whooping crane

Passeriformes:

American bushtit

American robin

Australian raven

Baltimore oriole

Barn swallow

Black-billed magpie

Black-capped chickadee

Black-headed grosbeak

Black-throated sparrow

Blue-headed vireo

Blue jay

Bluethroat

Brown thrasher

California towhee

Canada warbler

Canyon wren

Cedar waxwing

Common blackbird

Common chlorospingus

Common raven

Eastern wood pewee

Eurasian blue tit

Eurasian bullfinch

Eurasian golden oriole

Eurasian jay

Eurasian magpie

European robin

Goldcrest

Great-tailed grackle

Great tit

Hooded crow

House sparrow

Indigo bunting

Kirtland's warbler

LeConte's sparrow

Long-tailed tit

Mexican jay

Painted bunting

Phainopepla

Pine siskin

Pin-tailed whydah

Pinyon jay

Pygmy nuthatch

Red winged blackbird

Rook

Saltmarsh sparrow

Satin bowerbird

Spotted towhee

Steller's jay

Tufted titmouse

Wallcreeper

Warbling vireo

Western tanager

White-breasted nuthatch

White-throated dipper

White-throated magpie-jay

Yellow-rumped warbler

Pelecaniformes:

Brown pelican

Great blue heron

Great egret

Great white pelican

Least bittern

Roseate spoonbill

Shoebill stork

Snowy egret

Phoenicopteriformes:

American flamingo

Chilean flamingo

Piciformes:

Acorn woodpecker

Clark's nutcracker

Great spotted woodpecker

Lewis's woodpecker

Northern flicker

Pileated woodpecker

Red-bellied woodpecker

Red-headed woodpecker

Podargiformes:

Tawny frogmouth

Podicipediformes:

Pied-billed grebe

Procellariiformes:

Wilson's storm-petrel

Psittaciformes:

Australian king parrot

Chestnut-fronted macaw

Citron-crested cockatoo

Cockatiel

Galah

Gang-gang cockatoo

Pacific parrotlet

Red-masked parakeet

Rose-ringed parakeet

Sulphur-crested cockatoo

Strigiformes:

Barn owl

Barred owl

Eurasian eagle-owl

Suliformes:

Anhinga

Blue-footed booby

Double-crested cormorant

Trogoniformes:

Elegant trogon

Locations:

Africa

America

Antarctica

Asia

Australia

Eurasia

Europe

Oceania

[angelfishcake]

Okay I'm genuinely curious. What's your favourite thing about loon birds? :)

Oh, I can't just pick one!

First, their call, the one that starts low, spikes up to a high note, then fades out. Genuinely haunting but oh so beautiful. The best part is that it's not even meant to be sad, it's a way to call out to other loons, "I'm here, where are you?" Like one big game of Marco Polo!

Second, their swimming ability. Their feet are situated on the sides of their body instead of directly under, the propellors of a boat, so their swimming far exceeds that of a duck or goose. (Unfortunately, that also means that their walking ability is nonexistent. They only choose to shuffle up on land for nesting purposes, which is brief. Mother Nature did 'em dirty 😔)

Third, their designs. All four species are rather similar (majority black feathers with white dots and white underbelly) with slight variation, which is self-evident in the names: Common loon, red-throated loon, yellow-billed loon, and black-throated loon. (I'm partial to the common loon, because of the neck band.) With the combo of black and white feathers, it makes their red eyes POP! So eye-catching, so distinctive, when you look at a loon, you know it's a loon.

Fourth, their name. Associated with a silly, perhaps crazy person, but done so in a leisurely manner, rarely an insult and more of a friendly remark.

And last but not least, like many other waterfowl, they carry around their babies on the water like this:

Thanks for the ask!

[animal-families-tournaments]

About a day left to vote for your favourite loon!

Vote for your favourite member of the Gaviidae family here.

[practically-an-x-man]

Your ocs as birds

ooooh this is gonna make me think! thank you!!

gonna put these under the cut since I'll have pictures and explanations for each of these

Okay well obvious first: Kestrel is literally an American kestrel. Like, that's literally what I based their character on (both physically and in their characteristics), they're a shapeshifter and a kestrel is their main form, it's the whole point. I love these funky lil raptors

Next, her name might be Robin, but she's a canary. They're known for being able to sing two songs at once, which reminds me of her ability. Her story also makes me think of miner's canaries - fully ready to sacrifice herself to save others' lives... but some miners carried resuscitation devices to save the canaries because they got so attached to the birds :) Also, not all canaries are yellow!

I feel like Rae would be a mute swan. They're supposed to be a symbol of grace, but they're actually deceptively territorial and love to start fights. And they mate for life! If that's not Rae, I don't know what is.

Jasper is a mandarin duck! They're super bright and colorful, which I think suits Jasper well, and they're one of a few species of birds known to change sex from female to male. And while the Mandarin duck isn't known particularly to display same-sex mating tendencies, several other species of ducks are.

Ophelia is a cassowary for sure. They're big, strong, super fiesty, and they're a species of flightless bird (which in my eyes could represent Ophelia being a superhero without powers of her own, like a bird can't fly). Plus, one of her signature clothing pieces is a navy blue long coat, and the cassowary's feathers reminded me of that.

Indigo is an Iranian ground jay. For one thing, their coloration reminded me of her hair, especially with the white stripes on the wings. For another, jays are corvids, so they're very clever birds, but they're not often recognized as corvids since people usually associate the word with crows, ravens, and magpies (i.e. Indigo being very strong and smart of her own right, but rarely being noticed). And as a ground jay, she's "underfoot".

With all the focus on Ancient Egyptian culture and mythology, Katherine has to be an African sacred ibis. They represented Thoth, the god of knowledge and wisdom, and while Katherine herself is more connected to Bastet than Thoth, the connection to Egyptian mythology as a whole means this is absolutely her bird. (though an honorable mention to sun conures, since she keeps them as pets in the fic)

I know I said Prometheus is a phoenix in (Farewell) Wanderlust (and I still stick to the decision that the Corinthian is a barn owl), but I figured I'd pick a real-life bird here just for fun. This was a tough decision, but I went with a slender-billed crow. For one thing, there's a Lenape legend about Rainbow Crow bringing fire to humans and having his feathers burnt black, which reminded me of the legend of Prometheus and his fire in the Greek myths. Crows also form family groups and are even known to hold funerals for their loved ones, which made me think of Prometheus' endless care and compassion for their dreamers. Crows are also linked to Morpheus, and bonus... slender-billed crows are Passerine birds, and we both know Passerine is a total Prometheus song :)

I also struggled a bit with Quinn. On the one hand, I wanted to make her a loon, since they're excellent diving and swimming birds but are physically incapable of walking because of where their legs are positioned (great in their own element, but with disabilities outside it). On the other hand, I wanted to make them a mockingbird, partially for their sharp wit and partially because of their skill with disguises. But in the end, I decided to make her a flamingo: super bright and flashy, almost to the point of being a joke, but shockingly resilient to anything they come across (I mean, look it up, flamingos can survive all kinds of temperature, salinity, acidity, you name it. They're hot pink TANKS)

And finally, I know I've compared Madison to a goose in Smoke and Mirrors for her protective nature, and I debated making her a Major Mitchell's cockatoo for their coloration (thank you Odel), but I ended up settling on a red-chested goshawk. Goshawks are VERY protective birds - they can and will attack anyone or anything that gets too close to their young. They're strictly monogamous birds and actually put a lot of care into raising their young. They're strong hunters and are said to be adaptable to their habitat.

thank you for the ask!! this was a lot of fun to think about!

[deehellcat]

I'm old, y'all, especially in tumblr years. I grew up in the 70s, in the American South. My parents were yellow dog Democrats, by which I mean, if the Dems ran a yellow dog for an office, my mama and daddy would have voted for that yellow dog. And one of my most vivid memories is, on election days, if the weather was bad, they would sigh and go 'that's good for the Republican'. Because even then, it was understood, it was folk wisdom, that the higher the voter turnout, the better for Democrats.

This year, if you vote for rump, you're voting to end democracy. Do not step to me, this is a fact. But, and I have probably posted this before but imma say it again, if you vote for some third party rando, you are also effectively voting for rump. And if you DON'T vote, you are also effectively voting for rump.

Is there stuff Biden has done I don't like? hell yeah. But the alternative sure as shit isn't better. If I don't vote for Biden (oh AND vote for every Dem for House and Senate, so these damn Republican loons can't keep blocking every decent bill that would actually, oh I dunno, HELP PEOPLE), I may never get another chance to vote in an actual election, in Dolly's United States, in my lifetime, and that is fucking unacceptable. To paraphrase Eminem, I will not grow old in Gilead.

Anti-voting rhetoric will be the death of the left. Literally.

Not a single fucking Republican voted to protect roe. It was fucking overturned in the first place bc trump got three Supreme Court appointments.

Every fucking thing wrong in this country is almost certainly the result of Republicans being in power. In 2020, Texas cut half of the polling places in black neighborhoods, and doubled them in white ones, regardless of population. It was Republicans bitching about mail in voting, and constantly, constantly fearmonger about voter fraud. Literally, their platform is about making civil rights harder to practice.

Would you like to know why? It’s because Republican politicians know better than anyone that higher voter participation means higher republican loss.

But what do I see from the online left, champions of the oppressed?

“Voting doesn’t do anything, the parties are the same, the system is rigged, etc, etc”

Don’t sit here and tell me you give a fuck about marginalized people if you aren’t ready to march your ass to the voting booth and vote out the party actively stripping their rights away.

Protest, donate, community build, unionize, and vote, vote, vote.

By the time direct action is the only option, it will be too fucking late.