r/Ornithology 9h ago

Rare yellow cardinal

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562 Upvotes

This fella, my dad named him Donovan, has been chilling around my folks' house near Lansing, Michigan. Here's a link to a news story about it: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-106-windsor-morning/clip/16117822-yellow-cardinal


r/Ornithology 21h ago

Question very wet feathers on starling

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378 Upvotes

This winter starling (I think) has been visiting for the past hour and has not been able to dry their wings even though the birds it’s feeding with (mourning doves, junco, chickadees, house finch) seem totally dry. It is lightly raining however I was surprised to see it so soaked. It is shaking off but that doesn’t seem to be helping. Is this normal or cause for concern? It’s the only starling individual who has visited so I unfortunately can’t compare it to another of the same species. Hopefully I came to the right subreddit- If this inquiry would be better suited elsewhere plz lmk!


r/Ornithology 54m ago

Question Family Mockingbird Behavior

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Upvotes

This Mockingbird has been sitting between the top of this rhododendron tree and a berry bush all day long each time l've visited my family's house over the past 6 months. Is that typical behavior? It feels like it is part of the family now as well.


r/Ornithology 18h ago

Does anyone there like naturalistic illustrations? We know that illustrations like these are important for us to study each existing species and its habits.

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65 Upvotes

r/Ornithology 14h ago

Question Some species of birds like the frigate bird can inflate their get gular sacks to get more mates and I gotta say how is a thing like that possible? Was there any genetic clue how they are able to do it? Does it have to do with niche or not?

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22 Upvotes

r/Ornithology 1d ago

Question Leucistic Red-tailed Hawk (soCal)

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106 Upvotes

I was not familiar with Leucism when I first spotted this beauty! How common are Leucistic red-tails?


r/Ornithology 21h ago

Are these bird droppings and how to keep these birds away?

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12 Upvotes

My gramma has been getting these daily on her 4th floor balcony latelly . Any help Will be welcome, thank you


r/Ornithology 1d ago

Discussion Black-Capped Chickadee eats a Dark-Eyed Junco.

733 Upvotes

Filmed this in my front yard at the bird feeders. I know some people can be sensitive to dead birds, but I thought it was too cool not to share!! Also marked this as a discussion, since it might provoke some questions/comments. Winter is a hard season!


r/Ornithology 1d ago

I need help with crow wings please!

4 Upvotes

Hello! I am creating a piece of art for my novel and it has crow's wings on the sides. I need to draw it as a crow, not a raven. But so far my search on google hasn't lead me to a solid result. I can't find an image that clearly differentiates between the two. And I need to be able to trace it on my sketching app as well. Can anyone help me please?


r/Ornithology 1d ago

Question Bird ID? Central Florida

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38 Upvotes

r/Ornithology 1d ago

Question Today i picked up a bird an outside cat attacked, now im scared of bird flu

9 Upvotes

I (F21) picked up a bird & was nursing it back to health after i found it being toyed with by an outside cat. Im in california which has been declared a state of emergency for bird flu. I am so terrified right now. I was touching this bird for an hour, probably touching my face unconsciously & stuff like that. Should i be worried? What are things i can do now to make sure jm safe & healthy?


r/Ornithology 2d ago

Study Taxonomy Update: CATTLE EGRETS are now placed under the genus ARDEA alongside much larger species such as Grey Heron, Great Blue Heron & Great Egret.

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101 Upvotes

r/Ornithology 1d ago

Question Favorite bird artists other than Audubon? (Nature artists too!)

28 Upvotes

I love collecting anthologies/books of bird/nature illustrations. Outside of Audubon, I'm fairly unaware and was hoping there might be others like myself who follow nature artists and purchase their works.

All drawing styles are welcome!

EDIT - What an amazing community! Thank you so much—please keep the recommendations coming!


r/Ornithology 18h ago

Question Will a hawk attack me if I hand feed birds?

0 Upvotes

Hi! It’s easy to hand feed titmice and chickadees in Central Park, but should I be worried about the red-tailed hawks and Cooper’s hawks that hunt in the area? Will one of them swoop down and attack my hand? Sorry if this sounds too paranoid but I do worry sometimes. Thanks in advance!


r/Ornithology 1d ago

Question This is a question I just wanna ask but which reptile that isn't an archosaur has more genetic similarity with a bird? Like I get that all non archosaur reptile is equally related to birds in a way but which one is more genetically or have similar genes to a bird?

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4 Upvotes

r/Ornithology 1d ago

300+ Bird Flocks in Northern Shenandoah Valley

3 Upvotes

Seen these for the last few days but they are so jittery they don't hold still long enough for my eyeballs let alone my camera lens to id them. Small birds in a flock of 300 flying in a tight flock that makes concentric feeding circles. They only land for 25 seconds so birdy better be fast to land right on a bug they can snatch up - which I did see one do. Then they take off, wheel around, and land on the lawn next door. The year round mocking birds are here but not out today and normal winter bird flocks are starlings and juncos. These are not dark enough to be starlings, but I've not seen juncos do this before. Appreciated some tips.


r/Ornithology 1d ago

Discussion rescued accipiter (?)

4 Upvotes

hello! apologies if this is not the right subreddit, but i need some advice.

while on my walk i saw a bird (possibly an accipiter nisus from what i looked up online) being chased by a cat. one of his wings is injured and he understandably is unable to fly.

i managed to catch him in a blanket and took him home, where i placed him in a covered box. i already contacted local wildlife rescue centers but no one is able to pick him up until tomorrow.

what can i do until then? should i feed him? keep him covered? any advice is more than welcomed, thank you!

edit: a wildlife rescue took him in! he turned out to have a closed wing fracture. thanks everyone for the advice!


r/Ornithology 2d ago

Try r/whatsthisbird Could somebody please identify this bird

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86 Upvotes

Iam visiting family over the holidays. This bird is sitting at night in the window. We are curious what kind of bird this is. Can somebody please identify this little fellow? The window is facing a smal space between two houses.


r/Ornithology 2d ago

Article Big cats dead from Bird Flu- use caution

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122 Upvotes

r/Ornithology 3d ago

Question So basically green anole lizard microchromosomes are highly syntenic with chicken microchromosomes, yet do not exhibit the high GC and low repeat content that are characteristic of avian microchromosomes2. I get lizards and birds are both reptiles but What are your thoughts on it?

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41 Upvotes

r/Ornithology 2d ago

Question avian pox? or something else?

10 Upvotes

just spotted this house finch on my feeder and i noticed a growth/ swelling on it's right foot? i can't tell if it's avian pox or something else, let me know so I can take it down/clean it. thanks USA PNW