Current Events > I like birds. Why dont you like birds more?

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https://twitter.com/Tparkslope/status/1363872720912601091?s=20

https://twitter.com/ScienceIsNew/status/1363678144494858241?s=20

Birds are cool as hell. That one's pink!

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I do like birds. owls are rad. we lived in the woods and would hoo back and forth all the time.

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But I do. I'm a Cardinals fan.
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We've been feeding birds off our back porch this year. Tons of them drop in now, the other day there were 6 cardinals, 10 doves, about a dozen little brown/gray ones, 2 woodpeckers, and a couple of bluejays.

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They're essentially impossible to housebreak.

there's a cardinal singing every morning outside my yard right now too!

i've been doing some amateur birding since last year and i'm enjoying bird a lot!!

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I got into bird watching a few years ago after I stopped going to zoos. I have a wooded area and creek behind my house that is abundant with all kinds of birds in winter and spring.

We have a few families of hawks (Red-tails and Cooper's, I believe) as well as some owls. There's a barred owl that nests somewhere in the neighborhood, though I've only gotten a glimpse of it, and a few screech owls that are insanely adorable. Turkey vultures are also fairly common. Migratory peregrine falcons have been spotted a lot and in 2010, we had a golden eagle pass through for about a week. I haven't seen a bald eagle around here in quite a while but a neighbor says they've been here as recently as last year.

We also have a lot of waterfowl. Storks, egrets, and herons are frequently seen in the area. I actually walked right by a Great Blue Heron one evening because he was so still that I thought he was a lawn ornament. I was about 3 feet away when he flew off and scared the shit out of me. There are tons of ducks and geese as well.

We also have a lot of blue jays, cardinals, cedar waxwings, mockingbirds, finches, gulls, pigeons, doves, and the like.

I felt like a fool once I started getting into bird watching because there was this whole world of fascinating creatures right outside my backdoor that I had ignored for so long. It's a great and inexpensive hobby that more people should take up imo.


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Birds aren't real.

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Birds are dicks

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my family had parakeets growing up. they were nice to look at uh, i guess.


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I think they're delicious.

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I saved a bird that was drowning in my pool. He wouldn't fly for hours after I got him out and set him in the sun. Then around sunset he finally flew away. I really thought his wing was broke cuz it looked all gimpy and shit. Dude conned me

Look at this dweeb! He's out there every morning!


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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5llmJQWCts

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because i had to deal with crippled bald eagles, which are vicious monsters, and ostrich, which are soulless demons, and ever since i've hated them.

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Look at dem birds

dolomedes posted...

wait 'til you fall into the arthropod abyss XD

i like birds but don't know much about 'em (i should know more, i volunteered on a bird survey several times).

idk i just don't care for binoculars or catching fleeting glimpses of something. when i move back into the country i wanna spend some time learning to ID bird calls.

Bird watching requires a lot of patience to get good sightings, and depending on what kind of bird you're trying to get a view of, it can become as much tracking as it is viewing. I combined my daily walks with following some hawks around over the course of a week and eventually found some hunting and nesting spots. From then on, I could somewhat reliably predict where they'd be and get a really nice view of them, with and without binoculars. Pictures were a different story and I don't even bother trying to photograph them anymore. It ruins the moment and the result is never worth it. This was the best one I could get with a phone camera >_>



I had planned to buy a quality camera and some fancy lenses but had to start budgeting better and scrapped that idea. Still want to do that some day though.

As for arthropods, I've also gotten into that. I actually started finding all kinds of kickass critters in the backyard once I started paying attention. I used to be terribly afraid of spiders but but they're so fascinating to watch, and they photograph much better.






This one is my fav tho, from a local wildlife preserve:

https://i.imgur.com/0yyDoG5.gif

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TheLiarParadox posted...

I had planned to buy a quality camera and some fancy lenses but had to start budgeting better and scrapped that idea. Still want to do that some day though.

Honestly to me it was worth the investment. I do understand that some birders don't see taking photos as what should be the goal of birding, but to me it's really satisfying. I invested in a solid dslr and a basic zoom lens a couple years ago and i don't regret it. I'm looking at getting a real telephoto lens in the near future. To each their own though.

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dolomedes posted...

yeah see i'm less patient and prefer to poke around up-close, you can always find spiders <3
even in the winter you can find arthropods if you know where to look and/or get lucky

birds all kinda look like a blur to me unless they're spectacular and unique like a goldfinch or a scarlet tanager.
however i knew all those spiders immediately XD maevia inclemens, platycryptus undatus, schizocosa sp., and micrathena gracilis

the spiky gals love spanning webs across trails, i walk into so many in the late summer/early fall. and then find myself alone in a wilderness, apologizing to spiders.

I've been trying to work on my patience in recent years, so it's been a good exercise for me, but there have been some days where I said fuck it and gave up. I've seen a lot of different birds but identifying them gets a bit tricky. Some of them are so damn similar.

And yeah, that spider in the gif was right beside the trail. My sister almost walked into the line.

TheGreatEscape posted...

Honestly to me it was worth the investment. I do understand that some birders don't see taking photos as what should be the goal of birding, but to me it's really satisfying. I invested in a solid dslr and a basic zoom lens a couple years ago and i don't regret it. I'm looking at getting a real telephoto lens in the near future. To each their own though.

Oh, no, for sure. I just meant that without a quality camera I don't bother. Fumbling with a phone for half-assed pictures has really ruined the moment for me at times. If I can get back to work and buy a good camera with a nice lens, I'd definitely take that up.

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TheLiarParadox posted...

I've been trying to work on my patience in recent years, so it's been a good exercise for me, but there have been some days where I said fuck it and gave up. I've seen a lot of different birds but identifying them gets a bit tricky. Some of them are so damn similar.

Oh yeah it can be really tough to definitively get an ID on some species unless you get clear shots of their wings, heads or tail shape. that's honestly one of the reason why i like to take picture, otherwise from a distance it's really difficult. With good pictures or even a good song recording the bunch of Cornell ornithology apps do a real good job at getting you a proper id.

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Little dude is hyped about the Arenado trade.

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I love birds. My favorite are the small and cute ones. The bigger ones like eagles are cool and all but the tiny ones are adorable.

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I love birds! I have a birdfeeder up at my apartment and sometimes I take pictures of the visitors. Here is a jay checking out my feeder



I have a new feeder now which I prefer to that old one.

I also volunteer at my city's wildlife rescue and I always want to feed the songbirds when I'm there.

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Wetterdew posted...

I love birds! I have a birdfeeder up at my apartment and sometimes I take pictures of the visitors. Here is a jay checking out my feeder



I have a new feeder now which I prefer to that old one.

Oh that's a nice picture, I love how its wings are open. Very pretty

I also volunteer at my city's wildlife rescue and I always want to feed the songbirds when I'm there.

That's also very sweet, good on you!

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I have 2 crappy feeders and some really fat ass birds that may explode if I keep feeding them

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a bird killed my whole family and burned my house down.

that's why i say fuck them!