Monday 28 December 2020

A New Year's Chorus of Birds

Hooded Oriole (male and female)

Songs, snacks, glamour, and games – welcome in 2021 with a bevy of birds. 

The carol of the birds is performed by Nancy Rumbel and friends, including black-capped chickadees, red-winged blackbird, song sparrow, house finch, pine siskins, and mourning dove. 


Bird Bingo features 64 species of birds from around the world – mark them off on your card and bingo! 

“The ravens of Mount Seymour are well known for their lunch and snack stealing prowess. On almost every hiking or snowshoeing trip there we’ve witnessed a skilful heist of one sort or another, with prizes ranging from sandwiches to chocolate bars to full party-sized bags of chips.”
 
raven

Just eat one chip when there are three? Not a chance, said the crow! 

The strangest bird I’ve ever seen is called the Bokhara Trumpeter. Such a mass of feathers crowns its head that it looks disturbingly faceless, like a living tassel. Long plumes jut out from its ankles, like a second pair of wings. But for all its gaudiness, the Bokhara Trumpeter is, in fact, just a specialized breed of pigeon. It’s a frou-frou version of the same bird you might see choking down an entire Pop-Tart on the streets of any major city. 


“The Bokhara Trumpeter is one end-point of humanity’s long entanglement with pigeons, a relationship that began when the birds were first domesticated at least five thousand years ago. Since that time, pigeons have carried love-letters and military dispatches, assisted fortune-tellers, and inspired cutthroat bird-racing subcultures.” 


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Did you know? Evening Grosbeak's thick, cone-shaped beak is very strong and can crush large seeds, such as cherries and olives.