Birding!
- Thread starter jjohnwm
- Start date
Kings. One of my favourites. Couple of species throughout aus and png. Blue ones are crimson rosellas. A real nice one. Those species don’t do too well in the suburbs. Rely on wet eucalyptus forestA bunch of parrots that always come down for breakfast. No idea what they are, maybe
They are amusing to watch, the red and green ones are dearly and will eat out of your hand and sit on your arm but the blue ones are scared of people and also the other parrots and only get the scraps.
Most days the parrots feast but then cockatoos come along and take over then 2 magpies arrive and chase the whole lot of them away
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Nearly stepped on this fella the other day
I think some of the coolest birding is on small islands. They’re seperated from the mainland, and develop subspecies which turn into new species, as everyone knows Darwin showed with the Galapagos Island Finches. As I’ve gotten the majority of Pacific South West birds (i will track you down someday LeContes Thrasher), the Channel Islands provide a couple life listers I have yet the opportunity to see. On Santa Cruz Island, I have the Island Scrub Jay (endemic), if San Clemente was visitable (military base), I could get the San Clemente Island Loggerhead Shrike, and the San Clemente Sage Sparrow. If I’m counting subspecies, of course. There is also a subspecies of House Finch, Orange Crowned Warbler, and Song Sparrows on the islands. Should subspecies count on a life list?
I seem to be the only person in the world who doesnt know what they are.
By the end of the trip they were literally landing on my daughters head and if you had seeds in both hands they would swarm you, sometimes they would even fight each other while sitting on your arm which was a bit concerning, i didnt want them to accidentally chomp down on my thumb.
It is a wet eucalyptus forest, up a mountain in the latrobe valley so i guess perfect habitat for them. I really got into feeding and watching the birds while there, a lot of different species from big black mean looking things to tiny blue sparrows.
I will take more pics next time and post them to see what you guys think.
Should they count? It's your list! Count or don't count, whichever you think is best for you. I'm pretty sure that the "rules", as laid out by the ABA or IOU or whatever body governs these important issues, don't strictly allow it; so what?
If you ever decide to do a Big Year or Big Day or some type of "organized" competition, you'll need to bone up on the regs and follow them; otherwise, relax and enjoy yourself. And don't forget that you should keep some kind of record of the birds you see when on a trip, even if they are not distinct species at the time. I have several bird species that were added to my list years after I actually saw them, because that subspecies had eventually been "split" into its own distinct species...so the ones I spotted long ago were now legitimate to count.
I break the so-called "rules" regularly, by being either too loose or too strict in what I allow myself to put on my list. On my list of birds found on my own property, I will unhesitatingly count birds that I can see while standing on my land, but if the bird is not flying directly over my place I will still count it as long as I can see it. Rule-book wavers regularly reprimand me for this.
The rules say that if you are able to identify a bird positively by voice only, it can be counted. Now, I have some birds that I have not actually seen here at home, but I have heard them; Black-billed Cuckoo and Yellow Rail leap to mind. Both of those species are on my Property List...but the Yellow Rail is not on my life list! That's because, despite having heard them many, many times, and even having called them within a few feet of me...I have never in my life actually seen a Yellow Rail! They are notoriously elusive, nocturnal and shy, and seeing one is a challenge I have never overcome...and unless I actually see a species I absolutely will not put it on my Life List, despite the rules that say I can.
How about Wilson's Snipe? I see them regularly, hear them calling regularly, and also hear them "winnowing" regularly. I have a friend in the city who has never seen one and never heard one vocalizing...but she has heard them "winnowing", which is a very unique and distinctive sound they make during flight, using specialized feathers. She visited us recently and we went outside in the evening to listen; we heard Great Horned Owls hooting (and she counted those), and we clearly heard multiple Snipe winnowing...but she refused to count them because they weren't making the sound with their vocal chords!
I can say this because I'm "in the club": birders are weird.
Oh, and...Shadow? It's not a competition, but...LeConte's Thrasher is on my Life List, bird #1237...but who's counting?
I count if I hear the birdHow about Wilson's Snipe? I see them regularly, hear them calling regularly, and also hear them "winnowing" regularly. I have a friend in the city who has never seen one and never heard one vocalizing...but she has heard them "winnowing", which is a very unique and distinctive sound they make during flight, using specialized feathers. She visited us recently and we went outside in the evening to listen; we heard Great Horned Owls hooting (and she counted those), and we clearly heard multiple Snipe winnowing...but she refused to count them because they weren't making the sound with their vocal chords!
I can say this because I'm "in the club": birders are weird.
Oh, and...Shadow? It's not a competition, but...LeConte's Thrasher is on my Life List, bird #1237...but who's counting?
If you’re telling the truth, Leconte’s Thrasher, very impressive. Their range is super small now, should be on critically endangered. Very elusive, I’ve gone out a couple times, but they’re very far from roads
If you hear the bird...what? Calling? Winnowing? Hammering? Farting? Our friend is very specific about which orifice the sound emanates from before she makes the judgment...
"If"? Lol, if I were to reduce myself to lying about something, it wouldn't be as inconsequential as a bird, and it wouldn't be for purposes of impressing an anonymous internet teen half a continent away.
I saw Leconte's in 1998, following a local to a spot not far from Yuma. Our local friend took us to the site where he had observed the birds on several occasions; we spent the day alternating between loving the desert and hating it. We saw definitely two, and perhaps three, of the Thrashers, using a long-dead cow skeleton as a landmark while we staggered around in the heat. The species was a bit of a toughie even then, but I'm certain that it's much more elusive today...or maybe today's new birders are just wusses?
