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 ofContinue reading “Bird 45 – Hooded Merganser”
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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 isContinue reading “Bird 44 – Spangled Drongo”
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: Well, in the interest of gender balance this week we have the Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus). You people have fifthly minds andContinue reading “Bird 43 – Blue Tit”
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 inContinue reading “Bird 42 – Blue Jay”
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 neckContinue reading “Bird 41 – Nicobar Pigeon”
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’sContinue reading “Bird 40 – Dodo”
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 theContinue reading “Bird 39 – Common Ostrich”
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’sContinue reading “Bird 38 – Red-legged Seriema”
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,Continue reading “Bird 37 – Tibetan Blackbird”
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 aContinue reading “Bird 36 – Kelp Gull”
Bird of the Week 