despazito:

todaysbird:

honestly 90% of people who want a pet parrot should get a dove, canary or finches instead. theyre so much easier to care for and are really better suited for being pets without being miserable

*100%

okay, but not really. there’s plenty of people who have done the research they need to and are committed. and there’s also plenty of parrots without homes, too many for rescues to take. yes, they are hard to care for, and they aren’t for the majority of people who want them; but if people stop adopting birds without homes, ultimately they would have nowhere to go.

red crossbills are found throughout north america; a member of the finch family, they are distinctive because of their odd beak, which gives them their name. crossbills use their unusual beak as leverage to extract seeds from conifers. male crossbills come in shades from red to yellow, and females are yellow, greenish yellow or brown.

(x)

This blog is so pure and good!!! I love birds!!! I saw your post on letting life be magical and seeing the red winged black birds. I live in a marshy area and kind of have a low key hobby of watching birds and learning what they are. First time I saw a red winged black bird I was coming back from a walk on the pier and there were several of them in a tree! I think I heard their call and looked up, and the red patches on their wings were so striking and pretty I fell in love.

thank you!! that’s so cool – im very jealous, i haven’t seen one in 3-4 years. i miss them!

an essay I wrote about pigeons.

secretsandsadness:

You may think they’re just a nuisance to be felt with in today’s society, a bird like any other, insignificant and a general annoyance. However this assumption is pretentious and untrue, and horrendously un-acknowledging of the history and use that pigeons have come to us as companions and as useful birds as the like. Because pigeons are truly magnificent birds.

Pigeons, unlike other birds don’t dispose of their feces when constructing a nest. so overtime the nest grows into a sturdy construction, albeit a little bit gross by today’s standards. Since these birds don’t remove material from their nests, this sometime means that unhatched eggs and deceased nestling corpses will be literally be incorporated into the nest. Whilst the other hatchlings will be sat next to their mummified relatives without realizing it. And you thought thou were morbid.

These simply magnificent birds, who have significantly better eye sight than humans, were used in the war efforts in both world wars. Their eyes were also utilized to find people lost and set askew at sea.

The pigeons in question were trained as a wonderful addition to “Project Sea Hunt.” To save lives on the high seas. The pigeons were carried via helicopter and were trained to find the red or yellow life jackets bobbing in the water. When they would spot one, they would peck a keyboard which would set off a light, signaling that there was a life jacket, aka a person in need of assistance. The helicopter flew closer until the humans could identify the person in the water. The pigeons in total ended up being quicker and more reliable in finding survivors than the humans that were assigned the same task.

In world war 1 a homing pigeon named “Cher Ami” was given a “French croix de guerre” an award given for “individuals who distinguish themselves by acts of heroism invoking combat with enemy forces.” Cher Ami delivered 12 vital messages to the war effort and saved 194 soldiers, and completed the mission despite being badly injured.

The second pigeon, “G.I. Joe” flew 20 miles in 20 minutes and saved over a thousand town residents and British soldiers.

Pigeons are extremely intelligent and can recognize the alphabet, the difference between paintings, and peoples faces.

Elvis Presley had a soft spot for pigeons, Queen Elizabeth even has pigeon keepers and pigeon lofts in one of her estates. So who dislikes these wonderful species known as pigeons?

Pretty much every American, though most of this hate is rooted in scorn, as a pigeon is care free, doesn’t give a damn, and will be most likely more famous than the average and forgettable 9-5 worker will ever be in their life time. This hate for pigeons roots deeper finding its place in the existential crisis bubbling under the calm surface of everyone. Though the average person will be forgotten in the blink of an eye, leaving no trace, and left to contemplate this all their lives. They will not be remembered, not rewarded in their existence, being out shone by a bird, which in their puny standards is a “sky rat.”

The pigeon simply doesn’t give a damn, and is more famous for just being hated then the average person who hates them will ever be, though the pigeon has done some wonderful things. They are simply existing like us, and are less of a drain on this earth than we are.

Instead of pigeons, it’s us that is the problem here.

Maybe contemplate that. When a pigeon takes a shit on your car, remember you are shitting on their entire world.

Sources:

https://www.beautyofbirds.com/warpigeons.html

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Rock_Pigeon/lifehistory

https://www.pigeoncontrolresourcecentre.org/html/amazing-pigeon-facts.html