I have more reasons but I don’t have the energy to write them right now.
But yeah, I’ve been thinking about what I’d be if I were in Faas and Enya’s universe and I thought I’d be a changeling as well for a while for many reasons, but upon further consideration I think I was wrong. So here’s the first concept art for a my avian persona.
As for the songs (which was one of the main influences on why I started thinking about avians because I realized that over the last six months the majority of songs I’ve been obsessed with have bird centric undertones at the very least) you can find them here
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Exercise Fic Recs 11
Back to Superbat fanfic for this week! Well, almost all Superbat. There is one Twobats (Burharvey?) fic included, “Dad’s New Boyfriend” by TheClamBeforetheStorm. It’s not completed, but it’s been fun to read! The first fic is an update of one I’m currently following as well (I think I’ve recced it before, still so good!). The other three are Supebat :D
dead man’s party by TheResurrectionist
Dad’s New Boyfriend by TheClamBeforetheStorm
the difference between stone and skin (is immaterial) by vectacular
hear the future whisper by Anonymous
Mind if I cut in? by Mawiish
The weather is getting warmer, and this weekend has been so nice. I went out and touched grass twice this week! There’s a nice little park close to where I live, so I walked around there yesterday. I was able to get some pictures of robins! Unfortunately, Batman was nowhere to be seen 😔
The coffee shop I go to updated there seasonal lattes for Spring! I got a Hibiscus Morning latte to go with my pastry and breakfast sandwich. Very tasty!
It’s getting more and more green at the arboretum!
Trees and bushes are starting to bud!!
I took the long, rocky path today! I like how the rocks make the path look like it has steps.
I just thought this pool of water looked neat.
Lots of birds at the bird watch station! A blue jay, female rose-breasted grosbeak (I think???), robin (again, no Batman around), female red-bellied woodpecker, and male dark-eyed junco.
There was also a white tailed deer hanging around too??? We both looked at each other in shock for a bit, because we surprised each other. There are fences around this area of the arboretum to keep the deer out because they’ll eat all the pretty flowers. I have no idea how this guy got in here, but it’s not the first time I’ve seen them in this area of the arboretum.
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[ID: A portrait of a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. She's shown from the shoulders up, in high detail. Prominent in the frame is her big, dark eye with lines of brown and tan around her head leading to a large, pale pink beak. End ID]
Here's a picture of the most cooperative bird I've encountered in the wild. This past August, I had recently upgraded to a new camera and was on a hike with my Father-in-Law at Antigo Lake. We were slowly walking the boardwalk when I saw something moving in the bushes just on the other side of the railing.
I knew right away that it was a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak because of, you know, the huge beak. She sat just about 6 ft away and held perfectly still, allowing me to find a nice window through the branches and take a few bursts. Even though I was still learning the new equipment, I believe this remains the most detailed picture of a bird I've taken to date. Go ahead and zoom in on the eye. You can pick out all kinds of tiny feather structures that had been totally invisible to me until then, lost in either motion blur or the lower resolution of the sensor. Lately I've been seeking out birds that never sit still or won't go anywhere near people, but I should really spend more time taking portraits of birds that are more comfortable with presence.
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pine grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator) by Mary Shupe-Moore
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birds whose existence defies gender essentialism
bilateral gynandromorph northern cardinal! the left side of this bird’s body is female, and the other side is male. they can still hypothetically reproduce, as birds (mostly) only have one functioning ovary, on the left side!
bilateral gynandromorph rose-breasted grosbeak! the same case as above, just a different species.
chickens. just all chickens. they can just defy our boundaries of sex.
the white-throated sparrow, which is considered to have four sexes!
the ruff, which also has four distinct sexes! their breeding behavior is really unlike any other bird
ducks, which can also change appearance to show plumage associated with the opposite sex!
this is really just a jumping off point since birds don’t conform generally to human expectations for sex and gender - which is fair since they’re often pretty arbitrary!
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travelled to visit family and spotted some new birds for the first time (。^ᴗ^ )
^ pine grosbeaks (female)
a very pretty bird, both in plumage and song! I didn't get any photos I was quite satisfied with for the males, but they are a very pleasant pink colour ( ˙꒳˙ )
^ bohemian waxwings
very elegant-looking birds! they're most easily distinguished from cedar waxwings by the cinnamon colour of their under-tail coverts—cedar waxwings' are white ( ˙꒳˙ )
^ north american red squirrel
a very loud and cute squirrel ( ˙꒳˙ )
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BOTD: Blue-black Grosbeak
Photo: Larry Hubble
"Chunky, stout-billed bird of humid evergreen forest and edge in tropical lowlands. Usually found in pairs, often skulking at low to middle levels in lush vegetation. In typical views, looks simply dark. Note the large size relative to buntings, very stout bill, and broad tail, which can be twitched side to side. Male is deep blue-black overall. Female is rich dark brown overall. Sharp squeaky call often doubled and rather distinctive."
- eBird
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A Cardinalidae Feathursday
The Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks (Pheucticus ludovicianus) in our neighborhood have just been chattering away this early summer. The call of the Cardinal is quite distinctive, but we often confuse the call of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak with that of the American Robin. Some say the Grosbeak sounds like a Robin that has had better music lessons, but we have a hard time telling them apart. What do you think?
Both are members of the family Cardinalidae. The only other species in that family that lives in our area (that we know of) is the Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea), which also sounds remarkably like a Robin, but hoarser. The images shown here are from a 1930 painting by American nature artist Walter Alois Weber reproduced in Bird Portraits in Color by the American physician and ornithologist Thomas Sadler Roberts and published by the University of Minnesota Press in the 1934. The volume includes 92 color plates by five wildlife artists illustrating 295 North American species.
The three birds in the upper left of this plate are winter male, female, and male nestling Rose-breasted Grosbeaks; in the upper right are a fully adult breeding male and first-year breeding male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks; at bottom are adult female and male Cardinals.
View other posts from Bird Portraits in Color.
View more Feathursday posts.
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If you click the names of the birds below, you will find photos of the actual birds I’m referring to; mostly provided because the second two are morphs
EDIT: So honestly. Contrary to final poll results and my initial lean toward the grosbeak, I think I might just go with the crow. The design’s grown on me and in the last week I’ve collected many bones and observed many local crows and found myself just quietly very drawn to them. Nothing’s set in stone, but. . . It feels more right than the grosbeak- there are still things that draw me to the latter, and I still really love them and might switch in the future, right now I relate more to crows I think.
Rose Breasted/Cutthroat Grosbeak (female)
Similarities (between myself and the bird)
- small and chunky
- eats mainly seeds, fruits, and nuts
- elusive and relatively solitary aside from nesting season
- very intricate, unique nest type
- monogamous
- take care of young for a month after fledging (which is longer than quite a few birds)
- dwells mainly in deciduous forests
- I honestly think I do look a bit like a grosbeak overall
- there is limited information on them (which is obnoxious, but kinda goes with my aesthetic honestly)
Things I Like About Them
- very pretty markings, especially on face which makes for fun character design
- they were my favorite bird as a child and I would get so excited during the brief period that they would be at our feeder
Differences
- females don’t sing as much as males
- I am very much a mimic- I echo other people’s words as well as animal noises a lot, mostly without thinking, and grosbeaks do not mimic. The males learn songs from their fathers, but that’s different, and I’m not male anyway.
Black Billed Magpie (cinnamon)
Similarities
- eat a lot of fruit and grain
- they are skilled mimics
- mate for life something I aspire to achieve one day
- have only been seen in Michigan ten times in the last hundred years, so it fits the “elusive bird who’s sightings should be documented” narrative
- parents allow their young to stay with them as long as needed, sometimes even years
- males and females are both very vocal and sing, talk, and chatter quite often
- wary of new things and will shy away from bright colors and flashing lights (yes, that includes shiny things)
- many widely believed myths spread about them (such as tendencies to thievery, attraction to shiny objects, and hoarding things tho I am guilty of that last one)
Things I Like About Them
- Gorgeous wings and tail (though rather plain facial markings which is sad)
- they’re just nice, funky little guys and they were one of my favorites when I was younger as well
Differences
- not a bird I’d really call chunky lol
- they eat meat (mostly bugs) and meat is not my favorite honestly
- while some do only stay in groups of two, many others have tribe of up to twelve
Common Crow (cinnamon)
Similarities
- will bring people they like random bits of things such leaves, rocks, lost keys, and bones, as gifts
- stops for roadkill (though I don’t eat it, I’m just there to steal feathers or check opossum pouches for potential surviving babies)
- bones is good, we like bones
- also talented at imitating human speech, other animals, and just random noises they find intriguing
- mate for life
- very family oriented and good at taking care of each other. They’ve even been known to adopt unrelated fledglings
- stay in the nest up to forty days after hatching and often remain with a family group for two years, helping their parents look after younger siblings
- males and females are very vocal
- wants to eat rocks
- scavengers
- likes fruits, nuts, and seeds
- seen as weird or gross by the majority
- slow to trust humans, but is very loyal once they do
- could be considered chunky
- cinnamons tend to have blue or silver eyes
Things I Like About Them
- they are just. very good.
- wing markings of cinnamons are very interesting, and while I’d like more intricacies to work with for facial markings, they’re still good and simple
Differences
- they are very social birds (but most of that social time is spent with their family, which is where most of mine is spent as well, so I’m not sure this is a true difference)
- consumes a lot of meat (which, as stated, is not my favorite)
- they are very common in Michigan and easy to spot almost anywhere
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Sunday Birding 7/30/23
I had a lot of fun birding yesterday! Saw some of my favorite birds and a few new ones!!
I didn’t see as many around the pond, but I still saw my favorite funky lil’ guy, the green heron:
You can also see a frog in the left hand corner!
Some juvenile red-winged blackbirds:
A mourning dove:
I’ve been spotted!
At the arboretum, had to take some pictures of some pretty flowers:
some water lilies:
you can see another frog in this one!
A wild Kansas sunflower:
Big flower:
A turtle, relaxing out of the water:
Another big flower:
A butterfly! So pretty:
I saw so many of these guys out yesterday! A male northern cardinal:
I saw some more snowberry clearwings too:
Another male cardinal:
A wood pewee. There were two of these guys out, flying around, getting some bugs to eat:
A downy woodpeck, perched on top of a feeder:
A female cardinal, grabbing a treat:
A male indigo bunting! I met and helped a really nice older couple find this guy too. He was at the very top of the tree:
Some hummingbirds!
A male indigo bunting again, singing his little heart out:
Some pretty yellow flowers:
Some neat purple ones:
I thought this was a cool picture, an indigo bunting and an eastern bluebird:
I was SHOCKED when I saw this guy! A blue grosbeak!!! I almost confused him for an indigo bunting, but he’s too big, and you can see the brownish-red on his wings:
Some more water lily flowers:
Other neat flowers I saw:
A bee getting some pollen:
one last hummingbird:
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Black-headed Grosbeaks - female and male
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A beautiful female Rose-breasted Grosbeak we caught for our salmonella study
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Blue grosbeak, female . . . Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, Smyrna, Delaware . . . 5/21/22
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I hope you get a see a cool bird today.
I saw a female black-headed grosbeak and about swooned it was so pretty.
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