Bird of the Week

Bird 45 – Hooded Merganser

Birds on a Tuesday? The Gods must be mad!

Now, I’ve been looking over the Bird of the Week statistics and… (don’t look at me like that, of course I keep vital stats on the birds, gees). And, as I was saying, it seems that while we’ve had plenty of Passeriformes (perching birds) and a lot of Columbiformes (pigeons) we really haven’t had any solid Anseriformes (ducks). Now that is a total oversight on my part, but in my defence have you even seen a fancy pigeon?

Well today, I’m going to make up for that with this prize winner: check out the Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucllatus).

That’s right, I found a duck with a crest, because you know I love me a bird with a headdress. Now this is a small duck that lives in North America. As is the case with most birds, the male is particularity handsome, while the female, honestly, is a bit on the drab side.

They both have the fun crests though, which, much like a Cockatoo, they can flick up and down.

The other noteworthy thing about this duck is that they have a serrated bill.

Yeah, birds might not do teeth, but they got the next best thing, so you’d better make sure this little duck doesn’t take a bite out of you.

I have no idea what it’s doing here, but it’s amazing!!

02/10/2018

Bird 44 – Spangled Drongo

Today, by special request, we have yet another bird with a ridiculous name:

The Spangled Drongo (Dicrurus bracteatus).

They’re a rather odd looking bird, what with their blood-red eyes, iridescent back wings, forked tail, and spangles. What a sight!

But you’re probably more familiar with the word ‘drongo’ as Australian slang for someone who is stupid or incompetent. Now, while the word does indeed originate with our bird, is the Spangled Drongo a drongo? To that I say, nay. The way the word entered the lexicon actually traces back to the 1920s and a racehorse called Drongo who was named after the bird. In 37 race starts Drongo never manage to win. For some reason though it was popular with punters, so its name gradually came to mean someone who was slow or clumsy, and the word evolved from there.

Drongo finished up a winner | The Northern Daily Leader | Tamworth, NSW — Apparently he was still worthy of a book.

So it was the horse, the dopey horse that blackened this black bird’s good name. Typical horse, making a bird look the fool, when really with its red eyes and black feathers it should be known as a harbinger of doom along with its corvus brethren (no relation). We renounce all horses, and banish them from the glorious Bird Empire of the Sky.

Go forth Spangled Drongo, go forth and be spangled and fabulous.

24/09/2018

Bird 43 – Blue Tit

As our long time subscribers will know, I like me a bird with a ridiculous name. I’m sure you’ll remember Bird of the Week 23 – Cock-of-the-rock. For those of you who don’t:

Image result for cock of the rock — Exhibit A, Cock-of-the-rock

Well, in the interest of gender balance this week we have the Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus). You people have fifthly minds and you make me sick.

As you can see the Blue Tit is actually a super cutey. They’re a member of our old friends the perching birds, Passeriformes, and they live in Europe, where they hang about, mostly looking adorable. There are actually many Tits worldwide, each one more naw-inducing than the last.

The fire-capped Tit:

The Sultan Tit:

The Black-breasted Tit:

The Great Tit:

The Japanese Tit:

Many, many Tits.

Just between you and me, I really like that Sultan Tit, it’s the crest, just look at it! Such a looker, such a show pony. Flaunt that crest, you flaunt it, you little Tit.

Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.

The word tit actually comes from the Scandinavia titlingur, which is their word for Sparrow.

So … just keep that in mind.

17/09/2018

Bird 42 – Blue Jay

Today’s Bird of the Week is brought to you by the colour blue. Blue: the rarest colour in nature.

This may seem a bit counter intuitive as we have the sky, which takes up a good 50% of our visual field. But of course, the sky is blue because of the way light scatters in the atmosphere, not because there is something inherently ‘blue’ up there. And the same is true for nearly everything in nature: organically produced blue pigment just doesn’t exist. As a test, try to spot something blue just out and about and you won’t come up with much. Unless of course it’s a bird:

Introducing the Blue Jay (Cyancoitta cristata), cute little passerine bird from the US.

And it’s pretty blue, on a scale of 1 to Blue, it’s a good 8.5. On top of which, they’re also especially handsome.

They’re quite boisterous and bold birds. People can tame them fairly easily as well.

But what about them blue fathers? Well, unlike feathers that are red, yellow, brown, black or white, there is no pigment that makes them blue. Rather inside the feather itself there is a crystalline structure containing kertine and air bubbles that trap and cancel out the wavelengths of other light, while scattering blue, which gives the feathers a blue appearances.

Image result for blue jay feathers backlit

If you look at the feathers with the light coming from the wrong angle they appear brown revealing that there is no pigment in them. How about that!

But the same is true for every blue that appears in animals, from the blue eyes in people, to all blue feathered birds, insects, frogs, you name it. They all use a trick of physics to make a blue instead of a pigment. But there is one exception – The Olivewing Butterfly.

This is one of the only known terrestrial animal that cracked the code and produces blue with a pigment. They live in Mexico. But this is Bird of the Week, not Butterfly of the Week, so don’t worry too much about that flutterby. The important take home message is Blue Jays, and their light-bending feathers. Physics!

10/09/2018

Bird 41 – Nicobar Pigeon

Do I ever have a bobby-dazzler for you today.

Check this bird out:

The Nicobar Pigeon (Caloenas nicobarica), obviously of the order Columbiformes. To be honest, I don’t think I need to say much about this one.

Clearly this is an amazing pigeon, whose amazingness speaks for itself. I mean, come on. it has neck tassel! And iridescence, so much iridescence.

But here’s a fun fact. Following on from last week, the Nicobar Pigeon is the closest living relative to the Dodo. I know, right! Get out of town!

They live on a small group of island in the Indian Ocean known as the, get this, Nicobar Islands. As is the case with many of the birds we honour here at Bird of the Week, the Nicobar Pigeon is at risk of extinction. Mostly because of people, but for a really bizarre reason. Well, there’s actually a few reasons: they’re trapped by the exotic pet trade (but to be fair who wouldn’t want one), they’re also killed for eatings, but they are also also killed for jewellery. In their stomachs they have a gizzard stone that allows them to digest hard seeds and nuts, but people kill them to fashion the stone into jewellery.

Damn it pigeon, was it not enough to be fabulous on the outside, you had to have stomach jewellery as well. But hey, let’s not start victim blaming, here. Pigeons are always in the right. Always!

I also like that it seems to have a sinister bearing. This pigeon is more fabulous than you could ever dream, is unimpressed that you want it’s stomach gem and it’ll take you down.

03/09/2018

Bird 40 – Dodo

We’ve been on a bit of a flightless kick, so let’s keep it rolling, because it means we get a bird I’ve wanted to cover since day one. A very famous bird, your friend and mine, the Dodo.

Famous for being an internet provider. Famous also for being dead, stupid, clumsy, fat and flightless. Let’s see what this zany bird was all about.

The Dodo (Raphus cucullatus) was a member of the order Columbiformes and … wait a second … Columbiformes‽ – GASP! We all remember who those ones are. That’s right, the Dodo was actually a pigeon! A giant, flightless pigeon; what a twist. Ya’ll knew it was only a matter of time until another sneaky pigeon turned up. The first person to suggest the Dodo was a pigeon got laughed out of the Royal Society; well now who’s laughing?

Anyway, the old Dodo lived on the island of Mauritius, and as it evolved away from any major predator the bird was fearless, gallant. Noble. Majestic even… I seem to have lost my train of thought.

Contrary to popular belief the Dodo was not widely eaten by sailors, even though they were dead easy to catch. Their flesh was described as being tough and not particularly tasty, (unlike the Passenger Pigeon which was so delicious we had to eat 5 billion of them, am I right [see Bird of the Week 34]).

Rather, the thing that wiped them out were introduced species and habitat degradation, which yeah, we were kinda responsible for as well. The Dodo was last sighted in 1662, however it wasn’t accepted to be extinct until the 18^th Century, for religious reasons. No kidding, apparently back then the concept of extinction didn’t factor in with western religion, so there you go.

Now here’s a fact – there is no complete specimen of a Dodo anywhere, so if you ever saw a display of one, it was a lie.

There is also only one example of soft tissue in existence. Which looks a little something like this:

Actually, it looks exactly like that.

The Dodo only survived human discovery for about 60 years. Because it was only around for a short time, many people didn’t even believe it was a real, but some mythical thing.

But no, no, it was a bird, and what a bird.

27/08/2018

Bird 39 – Common Ostrich

So last week, while I was working at the thing I supposedly do, a question came into my mind. What is the most bird-like animal that isn’t a bird? I know this is a question that has kept you all up nights, so I dropped everything I was doing to discover the answer. And the answer is this guy:

The crocodile, apparently, is the closest relative to birds, as they both shared a common ancestor 250 million years ago. It was some dinosaur or something. Now, I know what you’re thinking, is this week’s bird a reptile? Well, while I could totally do that, and you’d all love it, no. Because this question led me to the next obvious question.

What is the least bird-like bird that is still a bird? What even is that question? Does it make any kind of sense? I don’t know anything about that, but regardless I have an answer.

And the answer is the Ostrich (Struthio Camelus of the order Struthioniformes).

How did I come to that conclusion? Don’t question my methods, damn you.

But just look at this thing. It’s ridiculous – can’t fly, it’s all legs and neck. And look at those feet, only two toes, what’s the deal with that?

How do you even stand? You’re a freak Ostrich, and you know it. Bird, more like an uppity crocodile, I say. Look at them side by side, and you’ll agree they’re basically the same the animal.

You see, the same. Look at them both laying eggs, not flying and … using eyes to see.

I’m not the crazy one, you are.

Bird of the Week out.

20/08/2018

Bird 38 – Red-legged Seriema

Oh boy, do I have something special for ya’ll today.

It’s been a while since we’ve done a flightless bird, so let’s take a look at the Red-legged Seriema (Cariama cristata of the order Cariamiformes <– I want you to remember that word).

This is a South American bird, kinda like a skinny chicken on stilts. It’s also got a fun crest, and ya’ll know I love a bird with an excellent head-dress.

Another interesting fact, they’re so loud its call can be heard from several kilometres away. They have quiet complex songs and when one sings many others will join in. They’re also aces at killing snakes, which seems like a plus.

By itself that would be enough to warrant Bird of the Week status, but this little guy has something else going for it. Do you remember that word I told you to remember (it was cariamiformes). Well, it turns out the Seriema is the closest living relative to another excellent family of birds, playfully referred to as Terror Birds.

What is a Terror Bird and what do they do, I hear you ask? Will this is a Terror Bird, attacking a sabre-toothed tiger (boot’s on the other foot now, cat):

And they do terror. Such a helpful name. During the Cenozoic era these guys were the apex predator in South America. Imagine a T-Rex with feathers and a break that could crush your skull, that’s a Terror Bird. The biggest ones stood at 3 meters tall. So yeah, you come across a Terror bird and you’re going to have a bad day.

Exhibit A: donkey-like creature meeting Terror bird and having a bad day.

Poor little Seriema, how mighty you once were.

I think this is a timely and important reminder that birds are basically killer dinosaurs that learnt how to fly, (and gained some gaudy feathers so they’d look fabulous while they did it). Remember this, because if they could a bird would totally eat you.

13/08/2018

Bird 37 – Tibetan Blackbird

So apparently some people thought last week’s murder gull was too dark. I don’t see it myself, but okay, let’s brighten up the tone.

I want to introduce you to this unassuming fellow.

What we have here is a Tibetan Blackbird. Doesn’t look especially unique. But what makes him so excellent is his taxonomical name, for this little blackbird is also known as Turdus Maximus.

That’s right, Bird of the Week is a poop joke. I’m just going to let that sink in for a minute.

I guess I can explain why it has a stupid name. So the Blackbird is a type of Thrush. You might actually see the Common Blackbird getting around your own backyard. They’re an invasive species in Australia and considered a pest, but I like them: they always look so mischievous.

Just look at that glint in its eye.

Anyway, the Latin word for a Thrush is Turdus; part of our order of perching birds, the passeriformes. And the maximus part, well, that’s because the Tibetan variety happens to be the biggest species of Thrush.

Also thrush. Just let that sink in too.

And here’s a free poo joke. What do you get if you divide a poo in three? You get turds.

Oh man, I’ll show myself out.

06/08/2018

Bird 36 – Kelp Gull

So the last few weeks has been a bit of a downer with birds being extinct (or nearly). So this week a more positive vision for the future. One brought to you by Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds.

I saw this movie for the first time on the weekend, and it’s a bouncy little film about a plucky flock of birds that rises up and takes over a town. Sure, there are a few humans that get in the way and have to be … eliminated, but no one ever said you could create a Utopian society without a little murder here and there. In fact, in my experience it’s encouraged.

Watch out Tippi, there’s a raven behind you. Ah, it’s only one, never mind. But don’t look away for too long.

Oh yeah, they multiple. Now that is a murder of crows.

And here’s one of the final shots from the film.

Image result for tippi the birds final shot — So beautiful!

Brings a tear to your eye, doesn’t it. This is the bird’s world now, we’re just living in it.

Now, you might be thinking, well this is an unlikely scenario, those birds couldn’t really get that organised or be that aggressive. Well, there are two types of bird in the film, Ravens and Gulls. We’ve already seen how smart Ravens can be (see Bird of the Week 33). And this week I want to tell you about how aggressive Gulls can be.

I want you to meet this little guy, the Kelp Gull (Larus dominicanus of the order Charadriiformes, which are gulls and other seabirds).

Now this is no ordinary Gull. We have Silver Gulls in Australia, a Kelp Gull is about twice the size – pretty big bird. From the name ‘kelp’ you’d think they’d be all into seaweed and kelp and whatnot, but oh no, not this Gull. In recent years Kelp Gulls have been reported attacking whales. They wait for the whales to surface and then land on their backs and pretty much peck until they can open a wound and eat the blubber.

Yeah, that’s right, these birds take down whales. They’ve also been known to peck the eyes out of seals and then take them out once their blinded (ya’ll can google that one if you’re game). They are one badass, murderous seagull. If they can take down a whale, what do you think they’d do to people? All they need is to team up with some smart Ravens and there will be no stopping them.

Bring on the glorious future of the Bird Empire, all hail.

30/07/2018