Take the bird with you

Easily transport your bird - to the veterinarian or the park - and keep him close, safe, and secure. Hands-free, vest-style bird carrier has padded shoulder straps and quick-clip waist strap for comfort. Durable mesh fabric allows good airflow and visibility for your bird. Zippered opening at top and bottom allows access. Removable bottom tray catches messes and wipes clean easily. Includes 1/2" diameter beveled perch and two toy hanging loops.

$29.99 at Doctors Foster and Smith

Going out for dinner

Video: Motion-Activated Sprinkler vs. Pigeons

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Poultry in Motion

Photo credit: Jodi Frazier / Parade Magazine

Lincoln Park Zoo has flamingo eggs

10 potentially viable eggs have been laid by Lincoln Park Zoo's Chilean flamingos, with zoo experts expecting offspring to begin hatching in about two weeks.

Available records indicate that the zoo has been egg-less since at least the late 1950s. In 2003, the zoo swapped breeds, changing from the American species to the hardier Chilean type. Adding the vegetation helped make the population -- there are currently 48 of the birds -- seem denser, which flamingos prefer.

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

FLAMINGO FACTS

Why are flamingos pink?
The color reflects the beta carotene in their diet of shrimp and shellfish.

Why do they stand on one foot?
Raising one foot helps them shift their weight to make themselves more comfortable. Folding one leg also can keep them warm by reducing the blood supply to the folded limb.

Do flamingos fly?
Yes, but they need a few paces to take off. Zoo flamingos either have their wings regularly clipped or are pinioned, having parts of their wings removed when they are young.

Source: Lincoln Park Zoo; Sea World

2nd photo: (via Mutts) Hanover Zoo's newest addition, who increases their flamingo family to an even 100 birds,

Hard to swallow?

An apparent set of conjoined twin birds -- an incredibly rare find -- has been discovered in Arkansas.


The bodies of the barn swallows, which are attached at the hip by skin and possibly muscle tissue, are being sent to the Smithsonian Institution for examination and confirmation, Arkansas wildlife officials said Friday.

The birds, found by a landowner in White County, fell out of a nest as a healthy sibling flew off to learn how to hunt with its parents, Rowe said. The birds first appeared to have only three legs, but further examination found a fourth leg tucked up underneath the skin connecting the pair.

Source: Boston.com

Three parrots

Three Parrots slide down the chutes..
(Just watch & wait ... )

Cute or not? Stork chicks

Photo: Carsten Rehder/EPA

New bird family tree reveals some odd ducks

The largest study ever of bird genetics has uncovered some surprising facts about the avian evolutionary tree.

For the study, conducted by Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History, scientists studied the genetic sequences of 169 bird species in an effort to sort out family relationships in the bird family tree.

Scientists believe birds, which first appeared roughly 150 million years ago, evolved from small feathered carnivorous dinosaurs. But their findings challenge many assumptions about bird family relationships and suggest many biology textbooks and bird-watchers' field guides may need to be changed.

Falcons, for example, are not closely related to hawks and eagles, despite many similarities, while colorful hummingbirds, which flit around in the day, evolved from a drab-looking nocturnal bird called a nightjar.

And parrots and songbirds are closer cousins than once thought.

Source: Yahoo News

Just washed my hair

and can't do a thing with it!

The duck gets washed

Chewy has had his Stuffy since he was just a little baby duckling. They are best of friends and Chewy drags Stuffy all over the yard to share in the fun.

See what happens when Stuffy gets cleaned up.

The story of Nebbeline

I chanced across an excellent photoset at Flickr, The story of Nebbeline (Ms. Freaky Beaky), which is the story of a duck with a very unusual beak.

The photographer, Cynthia, aka tuxette, lives in Oslo, Norway.

She met Nebbeline (nebb is the Norwegian word for beak) on a very cold, snowy Sunday in January while feeding the other ducks and taking photos.

Nebbeline's beak is very short and curved up, and her lovely pink tongue sticks out. She looks like she was born with a birth defect. The duck version of cleft palette, maybe?

Here's a closeup of that beak:


While she was slightly smaller than the other ducks, Nebbeline did not look unfed. Still, Cynthia felt concerned and has brought special treats to feed the duck, such as crickets from a local pet shop.

It looks like Nebbeline enjoys finger food. According to Cynthia, she even enjoys the fingers!

Would you?

Some women in New York are paying big bucks for a facial containing bird excrement.

The Geisha Facial, available at Shizuka New York for $180, contains nightingale excrement.

The Japanese powder, also known as uguisu no fun, is rich in the amino acid guanine, said to brighten and cleanse skin. In the 18th century geishas and kabuki actors used the powder to clean heavy white makeup off their faces.

"I was a little tentative at first," said Andrea Nieto, who recently received the treatment. "But there was no smell. It was creamy and rich."

Yeah, right.

Source: Reuters

Photo: Futamer

The California Condor

The California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) is the largest land bird in North America with a wingspan of 9 1/2 feet and weighing up to 22 pounds.

Today, the California condor is regarded as one of the rarest birds in the world. In prehistoric times, condors ranged from Canada to Mexico, across the southern United States to Florida, and north on the east coast to New York.

Between the mid-1880s and 1924, there were scattered reports of condors in Arizona. But by the late 1930s, all remaining condors were found only in California and by 1982, the total population had dwindled to just 22 birds and extinction loomed.

The California condor was placed on the federal endangered species list in 1967. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began a captive breeding program in 1980, but in the wild, condor numbers continued to decline until only nine birds remained in 1985.

A controversial decision was made to bring all remaining condors into captivity and the last wild bird was captured on April 19, 1987. All hope for recovery was now placed on the captive breeding program and the task was formidable.

Captive bred condors were being released back into the wild in California beginning in January 1992. Today, condors fly free in California and Arizona/Utah.

June 2008 California Condor Update

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife service has recently come out with a California condor status report as of April 30, with the following numbers (likely higher by now since eggs hatch in May)

World Total: 315
CA: 78 plus 6 chicks=84
Baja: 13
Arizona/Utah: 64 not counting chicks (of which we suspect 3 as of May 10, and TWO other possible eggs still to hatch!)

Some very unusual California Condor traits

Condors do not have vocal cords so they force air through their body to make hissing and grunting noises.

Condors defecate on their legs to reduce their core body temperature. This is known as Urohydrosis.

Condors can soar and glide at up to 50 miles per hour and travel 100 miles or more per day.

Condors eat an average of 2-3 lbs at a feeding.

Adult condors show their emotion through skin color changes.

Condors become sexually mature at about five or six years of age and mate for life.

Condors lay a single egg normally every other year. The egg, about 5 inches in length and weighing around 10 ounces is deposited on bare ground. Condors do not build nests.

Chicks are born with their eyes open.

When scared, condors regurgitate (throw up) their stomach contents.

Condors do not have talons like eagles or hawks; their nails are more like toenails.

The photo at left is of a condor chick hatched March, 2008. This chick is the 60th baby bird hatched at the San Diego Wild Animal Park since the Condor Recovery Program was implemented in 1982. The chick's mother was the first California condor to be conceived and hatched in captivity. (CNN story)

Refrences: nps.gov, ventana, All About Birds
Photo #1: ehoyer
Photo #2: Grand Canyon National Park
Photo #3: David Clendenen
Photo #4: CNN

Beauty and the Beak

Beauty is an 8 year old American Bald Eagle rescued two years ago in Alaska after she was found nearly dead and emaciated after a having her top beak shot off and left to die. The resulting damage from the bullet left Beauty with only a small portion of her left upper beak and nearly eliminated the majority of the right side.

A team attached an artificial beak to the 15-pound eagle in mid-May, improving her appearance and, more importantly, helping her grasp food. “She's got a grill,” joked Nate Calvin, the Boise engineer who spent 200 hours designing the complex beak.

The new beak is only a temporary fix, designed to nail down precise measurements. A final beak made of tougher material will be created and attached later, though her saviors don't plan to release her back into the wild. They say that she has spent too much time with humans that the final beak will still not be strong enough to tear flesh from prey.

(via Animal Crazy)

Clothes make the man?

In a test three years ago, using a $5.99 marker, scientists darkened the rust-colored breast feathers of male New Jersey barn swallows, turning lighter birds to the level of those naturally darkest. They found that the marked-up males were more attractive to females and mated more often.

Scientists recently repeated the test and this time they found out that the more attractive appearance, at least in the bird world, triggered changes to the animals' body chemistry, increasing testosterone.

"Other females might be looking at them as being a little more sexy, and the birds might be feeling better about themselves in response to that," said study co-author Kevin McGraw, an evolutionary biology professor at Arizona State University.

McGraw said the findings are surprising, in part because the hormonal changes occurred after only one week.

In the 30 male barn swallows who were darkened, testosterone was up 36 percent after one week, during a time of year when levels of that hormone would normally drop.

Source: Discovery News

Israel has a national bird

It may not be kosher, but the Hoopoe was chosen Thursday as Israel's national bird.

The Hoopoe, or "Duchifat" in Hebrew, is listed in the Old Testament as unclean and forbidden food for Jews.

President Shimon Peres declared the pink, black and white-crested bird the winner of a competition timed to coincide with Israel's 60th anniversary. It beat out rivals such as the Yellow-vented Bulbul and the Palestine Sunbird.

Photo: ilarius

Source: Reuters

Lunch to go

(via Dark Roasted Blend)

Pretty (smart) birds

Police in Japan rescued an African grey parrot two weeks ago from a roof in the city of Nagareyama, near Tokyo. After spending a night at the station, he was transferred to a nearby veterinary hospital while police searched for his owners.

After a few days with the vet, the parrot became chatty.

"I'm Mr. Yosuke Nakamura," the bird told the veterinarian.

The parrot also provided his full home address, down to the street number, and even entertained the hospital staff by singing songs.

Believable story!

Our own family's African grey parrot, Frankie, is also a well-versed conversationalist. He speaks both English and Italian and actually says things he has learned when the time is right. For example, when the phone rings, he says "Hello," and carries on a pretend (mumbled) conversation until he feels the call has been long enough, then says, "Thanks for calling. Bye-bye, now!"

When the doorbell rings, Frankie somehow knows who's outside even though he can't see them. He'll say, "Who's there, Julie?" when it's me.


Frankie is an adventurous eater - he likes just about everything we eat. Favorites are chicken leg bones and biscotti, which he dunks in his water dish.

Often, he gets messy with his food. He'll pick up clawfulls of seeds and throw them. Then he says, "Stop that! I'm going to spank your butt!"

Photo: corsi photo (Of Frankie tasting shrimp for the first time.)

A rare vintage

These are barn owl chicks, being fed by George Hedges. Hedges, of Devons Eagles, finds this the easiest method to give the fragile babies their daily morsels of food - mouse and cockerel chicks.

Source: MailonLine