weird birds

My friend John Trott used to harvest stems of pokeberry in late fall, just before frost. Hed put them in plastic bags in his freezer and, when the winter weather was harsh and most of the natural berry crop was gone, hed give his feeder birds a special treat

Have you ever observed house sparrows pecking at the mortar between bricks on a house foundation? Or have you seen evening grosbeaks or flocks of other seed-eating birds on a snowy road that has just been treated with sand? These birds are getting grit for their gizzards. What is grit? And what is a gizzard? The gizzard is the muscular stomach that seed-eating birds have. Food passing through the gizzard is broken down as the gizzards muscles contract. Grit (in the form of small stones, sand, or even eggshells consumed by birds) resides in the gizzard, helping to speed the food processing. We offer grit in the form of a pile of coarse sand left over from a building project. We often see sparrows, finches, and mourning doves getting grit from our sand pile. You can offer grit on the ground or on a platform feeder

The Rainbow Lorikeet, (Trichoglossus haematodus) is a species of Australasian parrot found in Australia, eastern Indonesia (Maluku and Western New Guinea), Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. In Australia, it is common along the eastern seaboard, from Queensland to South Australia and northwest Tasmania. Its habitat is rainforest, coastal bush and woodland areas. Several taxa traditionally listed as subspecies of the Rainbow Lorikeet are increasingly treated as separate species. There is little to visually distinguish between the sexes, however to a keen observer of their coloring and behavior, their dimorphism is readily apparent. (Source)

A truly magnificent sight, the Golden or Chinese Pheasant is another type of bird that catches the eye with a wonderful display of color. These are gamebirds, native to western China, although they have been bred in other countries like the UK, and are unmistakably lovely with a golden crest, rump and bright red body. When showing off to attract a mate, the male spreads his deep orange cape, which looks just like a black and orange fan covering everything except the bright yellow eye. It is native to forests in mountainous areas of western China, but feral populations have been established in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. (Source)

The resplendent quetzal is an aptly named bird that many consider among the worlds most beautiful. These vibrantly colored animals live in the mountainous, tropical forests of Central America where they eat fruit, insects, lizards, and other small creatures. Unfortunately, these striking birds are threatened in Guatemala and elsewhere. (Source)

The Hoopoe, a colorful bird that is found across Afro-Eurasia, is notable for its distinctive crown of feathers. It is the only extant species in the family Upupidae. One insular species, the Giant Hoopoe of Saint Helena, is extinct, and the Madagascar subspecies of the Hoopoe is sometimes elevated to a full species. Like the Latin name upupa, the English name is an onomatopoetic form which imitates the cry of the bird.

The Birds of Paradise are members of the family Paradisaeidae of the order Passeriformes. The majority of species in this family are found on the island of New Guinea and its satellites, with a few species occurring in the Moluccas and eastern Australia. Its likely that you will only see them on film, though, because they mostly live in inaccessible, dense rainforest habitats.

The Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) is a seabird species in the auk family. It is a pelagic bird that feeds primarily by diving for fish, but also eats other sea creatures, such as squid and crustaceans. Its most obvious characteristic during the breeding season is its brightly colored bill. Also known as the Common Puffin, it is the only puffin species which is found in the Atlantic Ocean. The curious appearance of the bird, with its large colorful bill and its striking piebald plumage, has given rise to nicknames such as clown of the ocean and sea rooster. The Atlantic Puffin is the provincial bird for the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Lears Macaw (Anodorhynchus leari), also known as the Indigo Macaw, is a large, all blue Brazilian parrot that is a member of a large group of Neotropical parrots known as macaws. It was first described by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1856. The Lears Macaw is 70?75 cm. (28?30 in.) long and weighs around 950 g. (2.1 lb.). It is metallic blue with a faint, often barely visible tinge of green, and a yellow patch of skin at the base of the heavy, black bill. This macaw is rare with a highly restricted range.

Stork-billed Kingfishers eat mainly fish, using their large heavy bills effectively to catch and kill their prey. From their perch, usually about 2-4 m. above the water, they will plunge into the water. They also eat crabs, insects, frogs, mice, lizards, and birds, along with their eggs. Prey is brought back and whacked senseless against the perch.They usually hunt near freshwater and along coasts and mangroves, particularly in habitats with suitable perches. Unlike the Collared, Stork-billed Kingfishers are rarely found near urban areas.