what’s your opinion on brood parasites like the cowbird? I honestly think it’s pretty dang cool that they evolved to be anti-parenting assholes

while i feel sad for babies/eggs that are pushed out by nest parasites, it is a pretty awesome thing! i have a pair of cowbirds who visit my feeder and they’re very charming.

ruffboijuliaburnsides:

gallusrostromegalus:

todaysbird:

goodbonestarot:

todaysbird:

i think a lot of people hear the word ‘roadrunner’ and associate it immediately with the looney tunes character but uh. real roadrunners actually manage to look even stranger than the cartoon?

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Before my parents married my dad worked at a national guard base in Arizona that basically consisted of a bunch of “office buildings” made up of clusters of those long, thin pre-fab style tube houses. In the afternoons if it wasn’t too hot the guys in his building would open the doors on either end to get a breeze through. Apparently a local roadrunner took this as an open invitation and started coming in to “inspect” the offices each day/use the long hallway as an indoor runway. He go up and down the hallway stopping at each desk to see if anyone had anything tasty for him and then wander back out the other end and go about his roadrunner day. If they didn’t open the doors right away he’d just be hanging out, waiting outside the building until someone let him in. They are apparently highly curious (and also incredibly trusting) birds.

this just made me so happy thank you for sharing your story

Bonus Fun Facts: 

  • The closest relatives to roadrunners are Cuckoos
  • They run up to 26mph, only a bit slower than Usain Bolt!
  • Roadrunners are monogamous and form lifelong pair-bonds. 
  • They’re omnivores, but have a distinct fondness for meat eating mice, rats, snakes (including rattlesnakes), other birds eggs and babies, and sometimes young jackrabbits! 
  • They have two front-facing toes and two rear-facing toes.
  • Roadrunners are fully capable of flying, but since most of thier food is on the ground, they really only use it to get away from predators.

Roadrunners are amazing and i miss them now that i no longer live in Arizona.

Peristeronic

thebeautifulwordlist:

Adjective

[puh-ris-tuh-ron-ik]

1. Relating to pigeons.

Origin:
From Ancient Greek peristera (dove, pigeon). Earliest documented use: 1868.

“But I do like the look of a dovecote. After all, these peristeronic palaces do grace the gardens of some of our finest stately homes.”
– Alan Titchmarsh; Tales from Titchmarsh

the secretary bird is a large bird of prey endemic to the grasslands and savannahs of africa. secretary birds are several feet tall and weigh 5-11 pounds, but are strong for their size – typically, they kill their prey by chasing it on foot then stomping it to death. the secretary bird is distinct from other birds of prey by its long, crane-like legs. it is thought they earned the name ‘secretary’ bird due to their black crest, which is said to resemble quills behind a secretary’s ear.

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