#fairywrens are quite good

[lindoig6]

Inner-city Bird Diversity

Birds on our Balconies

We live in a small high-rise on the edge of the Melbourne CBD, on the lowest level of apartments, 6 floors above street level.  We are on the intersection of two heavily trafficked streets, with constant construction and traffic noise all day and most of the night.  We have two outside terraces and despite the noise and pollution, we have been visited by many birds over the years we have lived here. The list of 19 species that we have seen on our terraces is as follows:

Common Blackbirds

Grey Butcherbirds

Pied Butcherbirds

Sulphur-crested Cockatoos

Pied Currawongs

Rock Doves (Feral Pigeons)

Spotted Doves

Galahs

Silver Gulls (ubiquitous Seagulls)

White-plumed Honeyeaters

Australian Magpies

Magpie-larks

Common (Indian) Mynas

Little Ravens

House Sparrows

Common Starlings

Song Thrush (barely-fledged chick – no idea how it got there)

Red Wattlebirds

Domestic chicken (presumed escapee from a higher apartment in a nearby tower)

In addition, I have also seen regular flypasts by several of the above species as well as four more that have not actually landed on our terraces:

Peregrine Falcons

Nankeen Kestrels

Masked Lapwings

Rainbow Lorikeets

Birds nearby

Most people imagine that big cities are virtually devoid of wildlife and what there is, is limited to cats, dogs, rats, mice, sparrows and seagulls.  But landings and sightings from our apartment, less than a kilometre from the centre of the city, number 23 species and I have seen at least another 15 on my walks across the Yarra into the CBD.  They include:

Eurasian Coots

Little Black Cormorants

Little Pied Cormorants

Great Cormorants

Darters

Pacific Black Duck

Nankeen Night-herons

White-faced Herons

Australian White Ibises

Australian Pelicans

Welcome Swallows

Black Swans

Chestnut Teal

Grey Teal

Crested Terns

I do quite a lot of bird surveys and within a further kilometre of home, I have reported personal sightings of at least the following 41 additions.

Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo

Long-billed Corella

Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike

Black-fronted Dotterel

Red-kneed Dotterel

Maned Duck (Australian Wood Duck)

Pink-eared Duck

Great Egret

Superb Fairywren

Grey Fantail

European Goldfinch

Australasian Grebe

Hoary-headed Grebe

Common Greenfinch

Pacific Gull

Hardhead

Swamp Harrier

New Holland Honeyeater

Sacred Kingfisher

Eastern Koel

Musk Lorikeet

Bell Miner

Noisy Miner

Dusky Moorhen

Spotted Pardalote

Red-rumped Parrot

Little Penguin

Crested Pigeon

Red-capped Plover

Australian Reedwarbler

Crimson Rosella

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

White-browed Scrubwren

Silvereye

Grey Shrike-thrush

Royal Spoonbill

Yellow-billed Spoonbill

Pied Stilt

Australian Swamphen

Willy Wagtail

Little Wattlebird

Who would have thought I could possibly have seen 79 different species of urban birds within a kilometre of Southbank – in an area of less than 4 square kilometres? Other people have obviously seen other species as well, so maybe this figure might be closer to 90 species.  The landscape is certainly not barren, but I am lucky.  I live close to large areas of saltwater, freshwater, marshland, luxuriant parks and gardens with a good range of habitats for so many species. Away from this area, the variety and abundance of wildlife is rarely as prolific.

[plutosonegoodeye]

Fuck this is rough...just for safe keeping

Once upon a time there lived a little blue man. He was not a sprite nor a dwarf nor any other odd contraption of creation. Instead he was just a man, little and blue. The task of comparing the palette of his skin with any other earthly object was a challenge to the most learned man. His individual shade did not match the ocean nor the sky, dawn or dusk. The blue did not resemble a blueberry and it was nowhere near the hue of a splendid fairywren. No he was, at best, comparable to an electric blue damsel, which was fitting since he was quite good at holding his breath, something practiced every morning in whiskey.

Our little blue man lived inside a tall pink house that no one ever had looked to find. It was his and his alone. Warm and soft it was full of him, a reflection that bared no mirrors. It has three stories in height, each story connected by a rickety wooden staircases that twisted round and round in circles. Whenever the little blue man wanted to change his location, up or down he went it. It took the little blue man a great deal of time however, seeing that he was so very little. Hands grasped each step as he pulled and hoisted his little legs up, and then on to the next. So, as one would imagine he chose his trips wisely, whispering to himself his journeys purpose the whole way least he forget.

The first floor was a great round room that held his truth. Simple in nature is contained stacks and stacks of canvases, caked and dried brushes and charcoal. Some used some not, but all ignored. The strong smell of oils and turpentine filled the room which no matter how hard he tried, never left his big nostrils when he was present. Much to his chagrin his tall pink house bared no breeze, the builder saw to that when he forgot to add windows. The little blue man spent the least amount of time in this room, for he found rooms that hold the most truth, the most uncomfortable of all.

The second floor was long and ovalish in shape and black as pitch, and though he lite it with hundreds of candles, all but one corner was quite cold. Inside this doom lite and chilled room he kept his wants. Pictures lined the walls of bright people, smiling and happy, all were his but none shared the unique shape or color of his eyes. This pained him deeply and, though he did not know it, was one of the reasons he was where he was. He cared for them deeply and loved them daily with soft black feathers, keeping them safe and clean. Fur covered the old chair that sat in the center of the odd shaped room, underneath hide a large black box labeled secrets and desires. The box, with its loose stitching was very rarely opened and when it was it was quick so that he never had time to look at what was next to what he put. Pushed closely to the chair, so that he might reach it stood a weather beaten table, decorated in all hid youth…and a single piece of parchment and quill. Every afternoon he would, in a dream like state, write the names of lost things from the night before. Wearily he would scratching the letters, sometimes human, sometimes objects, sometimes bits of himself he could not really put smart letters too. More often than not the letters were all repeats and bored him into longing.

The third floor was his favorite and most coveted place to be. It two was round but was separated down the middle by a thin curtain. On the right side of the room where more toys and games which surrounded a giant feather bed that looked something like a cloud. He would often sit on this large pillow like bed and stare of into space. He never told anyone, as there was no one to tell, that he called this puffed piece of fabric his Taker, for it took him so many wonderful places. He had been too far off lands where he was big and not at all blue. He had been to outer space and met blue women who nestled him in their giant bosoms. He had even been to the past where he traveled alongside the ancient Gods fighting snake haired women or climbed jagged golden tombs in search of his pharaoh love. Yes, this was definitely his most favorite room but not only due to his Taker. On the other side of the thin separating veil were books. Millions of books, full of brightly colored pictures and tales of super humans who were not blue, and if they by chance were, well it was for a purpose and special.

The little blue man spent so much of his life traveling through these three rooms that he had forgotten when he had even moved in. He did not remember packing boxes or even where he had been before, nor when the last time was he smelled fresh air or had spoken to another creature. He had completely forgotten that it was not his choice. He had lost all memory of the darkness that had been his capture, of the young man who had told him to go away, the man who told him to be quiet. The idiot who told him to stop existing….

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

I highly recommend having this survey open on your browser, doing research, and filling it out slowly. Because, birds. 

Palaeognaths

The first major division of modern birds (all the rest are Neognaths). Includes the Moa, Elephant Birds, Tinamous, Emus, Rheas, and Lithornithids. Casuarias and Struthio are ineligible, so don’t write in any Cassowaries or Ostriches. 

Highlights include the Kiwi, an adorable small with a long snoot; Aepyornis, the largest Neornithean known; the Emu, who has one of the funniest ways of running; and Lithornis, an extinct flying member of the group. 

Galloanserans 

The earliest derived group of Neognaths. Includes Gastornis & the very similar Dromornithids, Geese, Screamers, Ducks, Swans, Curassows, Guans, Megapodes, Partridges, Quails, Junglefowl, and Pheasants. Genera Pavo and Gallus are ineligible, so don’t write in any peafowl or the four junglefowl under Gallus (which includes the chicken). 

Highlights include Gastornis, which was actually a large herbivore rather than a super predator as thought; Vegavis, one of the earliest well-known Neornithes, being from the Cretaceous; Hooded Merganser, the duck with the very large crest that is quite impressive; and the Blue-billed Curassow, confirmed Friend and Curly Man. 

Caprimulgiformes & Opisthocomiformes

These two groups aren’t actually closely related, I just had to stick Opisthocomiformes somewhere. Caprimulgiformes include Oilbirds, Owlet-Nightjars, Frogmouths, Nighthawks, and Nightjars. Opisthocomiformes include Hoatzin. Genera Nyctibius and Opisthocomus are ineligible, so no potoos or the only modern Hoatzin. 

Highlights include the Satanic Nightjar, which looks exactly like you’d expect; the Tawny Frogmouth, who almost looks like a potoo if you squint; the Oilbird, which has some of the weirdest and spookiest eyes; and Hoazinoides, an extinct Hoatzin with feet like that of an owl. 

Apodiformes

Swifts, Treeswifts, and Hummingbirds. Nothing is ineligible. All are precious.

Highlights include the Bee Hummingbird, the smallest dinosaur known to science; the Common Swift, which looks like a boomerang; Eocypselus, an early relative of all these groups; and anything of the genera Sappho and Lesbia, which are the best genus names I’ve ever heard of.

Columbaves

Cuckoos, Turacos, Bustards, Pigeons, Doves, Sandgrouse, and Mesites. Genus Columba is ineligible, so don’t write in any of the “typical pigeons.” 

Highlights include the Dodo, which is not as dumb as we were lead to believe; the Bare-Faced Go-Away Bird, which represents Me at All Times; the Nicobar Pigeon, which has beautiful rainbow plumage; and the Kori Bustard, which has a really elegant neck and posture IMO. 

Gruiformes

Cranes, Crakes, Rails, Limpkin, Trumpeters, Flufftails, Finfoots, and Sungrebes. Nothing is ineligible. 

Highlights include the Whooping Crane, an endangered species with a distinctive call; the White-Spotted Flufftail, who has adorable spots on its butt; the Red-Legged Crake, which is red in lots of places besides its legs; and the Sungrebe, which has a nice blue cap on its head. 

Mirandornithes & Charadriiformes

Flamingos, Grebes, Waders, Snipes, Sandpipers, Jacanas, Wanderers, Gulls, Skimmers, Terns, Puffins, Skuas, Plovers, Buttonquails, Thick-Knees, Sheathbills, Ibisbills, Avocets, Oystercatchers, and Lapwings. Nothing is ineligible. 

Highlights include the Great Auk, an extinct large puffin that we as humans don’t deserve; the Ring-Billed Gull, whom I have a personal vendetta against; the Dovekie, a smol, adorable friend; and the Sanderling, one of the inspirations behind Pixar’s Piper. 

Ardeae

Tropicbirds, Kagu, Sunbittern, Loons, Albatross, Petrels, Storkss, Boobies, Cormorants, Pelicans, Hamerkop, Ibises, Spoonbills, Herons, Egrets, and Penguins. The genus Balaeniceps is ineligible, so don’t write in the Shoebill. 

Highlights include the Little Penguin, the smol adorable penguin of smol adorableness; the Least Bittern, who is indeed the Least Bittern; the Common Loon, against whom my partner Max (@plokool) has a personal vendetta; and the Emperor Penguin, which is the Pinnacle of Dinosaurian Evolution according to Thomas Holtz (well, okay, he said penguins in general were, but this is the emperor penguin, so...) 

Accipitrimorphs 

Vultures (both Old and New world), Ospreys, Hawks, Eagles, Kites. Genera Sagittarius and Gypaetus are ineligible, so don’t write in the Secretary Bird, or the Bearded Vulture. No, do not write in the Bearded Vulture, nor Lammergeier, nor Ossifrage. You will have wasted your vote. Do not do the thing. It doesn’t count. 

Highlights include Haast’s Eagle, an eagle so large it hunted the Moa; the Harpy Eagle, which honestly when you see it if you aren’t convinced birds are dinosaurs there’s nothing more I can do; the Turkey Vulture, or as I like to call it, the Bare-Faced Come-Hither Bird; and the Red-Tailed Hawk, aka, that sound you hear when people try to ignore that Bald Eagles are actually huge dorks. 

Strigiformes

Owls. Genus Tyto is ineligible, which is basically all barn owls and most of their close relatives, so just, don’t write that in. 

Highlights include Palaeoglaux, one of the earliest derived forms and may have been diurnal; the Burrowing Owl, who likes to dig them holes; the Snowy Owl, aka Hedwig; and the Fearful Owl, who looks exactly like what you’d expect. 

Coraciimorphs

Mousebirds, Cuckoo Roller, Trogons, Hornbills, Hoopoes, Rollers, Kingfishers, Woodpeckers, Toucans. Genus Dacelo is ineligible, which means no Kookaburras, none, do not write one in. 

Highlights include Septencoracias, aka a Friend and Boy; the Hoopoe, aka the Most Jewish bird; the Resplendent Quetzal, which truly is magnificently colored; and the Keel-Billed Toucan, who just really loves fruit okay?

Falconiformes & Cariamiformes

Serimas, Terror Birds, Bathornithids, Caracaras, and Falcons. Genus Titanis is ineligible, as is Falco peregrinus, the peregrine falcon. Since most falcons are under Falco, the rest of the genus is eligible. 

Highlights Include Phorusrhacos, one of the most Quintessential Terror Birds; the Red-Legged Seriema, who is just a very angry bird; the Pygmy Falcon, who is a Smol Ball of FURY; and the Northern Crested Caracara, who has distinctive purple-pinkish skin on its face. 

Parrots

... Parrots. The Kakapo, genus Strigops, is ineligible. 

Highlights include the Cockatiel, a common pet and soft friend; the African Grey Parrot, one of the smartest species of dinosaurs; Spix’s Macaw, a beautiful blue parrot on the brink of extinction; and the Mulga Parrot, a parrot with feathers that almost look like clay in certain lighting. 

Passerines

Perching birds. The vast majority of birds. Most birds are in this group. I am so sorry. Includes, but is not limited to, Pittas, Broadbills, Cotingas, Sharpbills, Flycatchers, Antthrushes, Ovenbirds, Lyrebirds, Scrub-birds, Bowerbirds, Honeyeaters, Fairywrens, Whistlers, Orioles, Vireos, Birds of Paradise, Jays, Satinbirds, Wattlebirds, Rockfowl, Tits, Chickadees, Larks, Nicators, Wren-Babblers, Swallows, Warblers, Babblers, Waxwings, Treecreepers, Thrushes, Oxpeckers, Mockingbirds, Sugarbirds, Sunbirds, Sparrows, Finches, Buntings, Cardinals, Whistlers, Woodshrikes. 

The genus Corvus is ineligible, which is a good portion of crows and ravens, so don’t write them in. There are so many passerines to choose from, you can pick another one. 

It’s, nearly impossible to pick four highlights, but here we go. Highlights include the Blue Jay, one of the most famous and beautiful perching birds; the Superb Bird of Paradise, who has one of the most spectacular mating dances of birds; the Great Tit, who truly is an amazing soft sphere of birb; and the House Sparrow, a feature of almost every major city and one of the dinosaurs often used to define the clade.

Good luck. Have fun. Voting will close February 24 (possibly earlier if we get enough votes in). 

#birds #dinosaurs #dinosaur march madness #dmm2017 #palaeoblr #birblr #neornithes #this is Insanity #I am so sorry #maybe one year we should just have it be only birds #the Bird Year #an entire quadrant would be passerines #John and I came up with an idea to make this easier next year and I hope it works

[meltedchandelier]

back again...

i “quit” this blog more than two years ago.  it was no longer an outlet I needed. everything was fine.  everything was stable.  maybe not quite happy, in retrospect, but almost there. 

and then it all came crashing down in the most spectacular of ways.  

but ironically, im pulled here not because things are going poorly, but because there’s so much good in my life.  

im writing this from a hotel bar in melbourne.  australia.  im here because back when i first started this blog, the amazing (then.. and again) fairywren wrote to me and we struck up a friendship.  

we met for real on a foggy day in san francisco i can’t quite remember because it involved a lot of margaritas, a lot of hugging, and a lot of disbelief that we finally got to be on the same continent.  but one thing we never quite got to do was the one thing that brought us together, way back in the day: see the mountain goats, together, live.  

just when my life went to shit last fall, the mountain goats announced an australia tour.  so i thought why not?  let’s aggressively seek out joy.  i proposed it to fairywren and she immediately agreed.  

so here i am, and it’s great to be back.  many i considered friends back in the day are gone.  some appear to be around, but are silent.  but just in case you’re listening, hello.  im back. again.  

[annoyingblizzardbread-blog]

General  firm

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