Bird-Watching and Ornithology

Community about says mainly bird pictures so not sure if this is welcome or not but I don't have a more appropriate community saved and relevant content whilst the communities are still small I would imagine is welcome?

If not please remove or suggest somewhere it would be better posted :)

Japanese Snow Fairy from Hokkaido

So.... Back up to the roof I went.

I first gave them a quick inspection, since it's kind of a far drop and they had to have landed on these rocks...

Both of their wings and legs seemed to be moving just fine, and there were no other obvious signs of injury. They were both clearly hungry tho. As soon as I got close to scoop them up, they opened up their beaks and stretched their necks out towards me.

Not long after returning them to the nest, I saw what I assume to be momma flying out. She was some type of sparrow - we have several types common here. I'd hazard a guess (after perusing thru my state's wildlife website) that they are either Brewer's Sparrows or House Sparrows

I heard a weird tapping/rattling sound coming from my roof, and when I went to see, I saw this little nestling inches from the edge and about to tumble themself off.

I managed to catch them mid-fall. I pulled out a ladder, climbed up the roof with em, and got em safely back into their nest.

Pretty sure it's a starling.

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I used to watch a friends one over the summer. It was so exciting to see a bird arrive and take such diligent care of the space and her eggs. (The males appear to be mostly useless but some did return regularly with worms etc).

It led me to cancel Netflix because I was enjoying the nest cam more.

Edit: here's a great one of a blue tit. They'll be gone by the end of the summer, I think: https://webcam.sanslogic.co.uk/?top

Thanks for the recommendations. I'm not as interested in the big predators for whatever reason but there are some nice suggestions.

Birder drama always makes me sad.

kos / common blackbird / Turdus merula

Photo by Cyanistes and shared on PixelFed.

Image licensed CC BY-NC-SA

Gawron / Rook / Corvus frugilegus

Photo by Cyanistes and shared on PixelFed.

Image licensed CC BY-NC-SA

Modraszka / Blue Tit / Cyanistes caeruleus

Photo by Cyanistes and shared on PixelFed.

Image licensed CC BY-NC-SA

If this don't fit just let me know Normally we have 2 or 3 families of blue jays around the property, but they've been gone.

A few stopped coming around mid November, then the rest were gone late November, not even hearing them.

I know they got weird migration patterns but I just wanted to check if that was a normal time for them to leave? I'm in midwest/south US

Photo by Steve Attwood, New Zealand 2017

The Puteketeke is the front-runner in New Zealand's Bird of the Century contest thanks to John Oliver.

Photograph by John Bloomfield taken in the New Jersey Meadowlands in August 2016.

American Ornithological Society is changing the names of birds named after people. After being petitioned to change the names of several named after Slave owners and racists, they decided to blanket change all names regardless of culpability.

I welcome their rationale:

> Months later, the members came to the realization that all eponymous names were problematic. “They imply possession of a species,” Nol said. “They are overwhelmingly from a particular time and social fabric, they are almost all White men, few women, and women were almost all first names. Our main goal was to increase the birdwatching public."

While many of the eponymous birds are losing the names of racists and slaveowners, it should be noted that Alexander Wilson, a weaver who lived most of his life in poverty and was forced to emigrate after his satirical poetry enraged a British capitalist, seems to be an outlier from this group.

Via Wikimedia Commons

Photo by Amada44, taken in August 2012 in a Florida Zoo.

> The American Ornithological Society says it will alter the names of North American birds named after humans, starting with up to 80 of them.