Birds (as in 🦅🐧🕊🦆🦢🦉🦩🦚🦜🐔 etc, not the user @birds)

**icehockeyhair** · April 25, 2019, 7:34pm

Since I moved in with the TV, I started being more interested in birds, due to the fact there was a big tree outside our living room window, and I started finding it really therapeutic to just watch them going about their day, and have apparently turned into a bit of a bird person. It’s still quite difficult to tell all their calls apart, but I’ve pretty much got wrens, great tits, songthrushes and black-caps all sorted so far, and am working on the other common tits.

We’ve just recently moved to south Manchester, and I find the general presence of parakeets to be weird, and highly entertaining in the context of the area, and I’ve also noticed that there are way more sparrows than I was noticing in Oxfordshire, and I reckon that’s gotta be a good thing. Heard/saw a marsh warbler up near Edale over the bank holiday, which was quite exciting - was really going for it!

So yeah, this is basically a bird thread for people that don’t necessarily know much about it (or for any proper twitchers as well). Anyone seen any good birds lately?

Personally, I’d love to see a crested tit, as they’re the coolest of all the tits (FAO @colinfilth)

**Joke** · April 25, 2019, 7:35pm

Really love birds

Birdsong is one of those stupid things that makes me cry a bit sometimes

My favourite bird is the ‘duck’

**icehockeyhair** · April 25, 2019, 7:38pm

There’s way more kinds of ducks than I thought. I’ve got a twitchy mate, who told me about one that pretends to be a female duck while its feathers change during autumn, just to avoid getting in a fight.

**ttf** · April 25, 2019, 7:38pm

saw some parakeets in the little park where I have started eating lunch this week, very exciting. vaguely related anecdote, remember getting a leaflet for rspb young ornithologist club when I was a kid that said ‘join today’, got really anxious as I thought that meant the deadline was that day

**rich-t** · April 25, 2019, 7:42pm

Saw a sparrowhawk on a walk the other week. Got a pic, but it’s pretty poor quality.

Have a bit of a cottage garden thing going on, have a few different resident birds floating around. Standard garden fair really, but nice to watch. Have a feeder, but it attracted squirrels into the garden, and subsequently, into our roof space. So I’ve not done anything with it recently.

Slotted a heron in town the other day, and a brown bird with blue flashes around its wings, like a magpie, but not. A jay or bluebird maybe

**Im_On_Safari** · April 25, 2019, 7:40pm

Interesting fact I learnt about birds recently is that sometimes you might find a bird dead that looks intact except for its eyes, which looks like they have been taken out. But don’t fear, it’s often because the eyes just dry out quickly when they die because no eyelids (?)!
I like birds. Love a little wagtail (with eyes)

**blimeycharlie** · April 25, 2019, 7:48pm

You’re not supposed to kill them, Rich!

**rich-t** · April 25, 2019, 7:49pm

Looked at me funny didn’t it

**icehockeyhair** · April 25, 2019, 7:50pm

Took some photos of a grey wagtail the other week (used to live close to a meadow with birds all over the shop) - this guy was just sat on top of a weir posing for about 5 minutes solid!

**blimeycharlie** · April 25, 2019, 7:51pm

My great uncle was a birdwatcher, so taught me all the different birds when I was a kid. Always enjoy seeing them (although living in inner city it’s mostly just sparrows, pigeons and gulls round here).

**markp** · April 25, 2019, 7:50pm

I like birds. Great time of year now. Was at my mum’s place (fairly rural) over Easter and we were eating in the garden.

Felt a brush across my back and a red kite had swooped down to try and grab my sanger. They are often hovering above. Cheeky.

**Im_On_Safari** · April 25, 2019, 7:54pm

Lovely. Think one of the most amazing things in nature is the beauty and intricacy of small birds like that. Blows my facking mind!

**Joke** · April 25, 2019, 7:55pm

‘don’t fear’

instantly says something terrifying

**shrewbie** · April 25, 2019, 8:00pm

my dad’s big on birds and so were his parents so I used to get taken birdwatching a lot as a kid. i’m not that knowledgable really but still think they’re great

**urbanfox** · April 25, 2019, 8:12pm

Saw a couple of goldfinches on the hedgerow opposite us the other day. Making a right racket they were too.

Hear the owls at night, see hawks and such around too presumably looking for mice and whatnot in the field. The reservoir across the fields is apparently really good for bird spotting.

I guess it’s because we live opposite fields and reservoirs that I’ve literally only ever seen one bird (a magpie) in our back garden, don’t think the bird feeder has been touched since we moved in 6 months ago.

**icehockeyhair** · April 25, 2019, 8:39pm

I just find it really relaxing to walk along and try and listen out for particular songs or calls, and see if I can find the bird that’s singing it. I usually can’t, but I find it nice and meditative all the same.

**froglet** · April 25, 2019, 8:42pm

maybe the bird feeder is in a location they don’t like, or they don’t like the sort of feeder? we had one of those ones that sticks to a window once and they wouldn’t touch that. and one that was a little bird shaped dish on a pole, they didn’t show much interest in that either.

**urbanfox** · April 25, 2019, 8:46pm

I thought that to start with, but I’ve relocated it twice with no joy. It’s not even as though birds are in the gardens in the first place though. The hedgerows, long grass and wheat field is obviously a much bigger draw.

**1101010** · April 25, 2019, 8:50pm

Australian birds look amazing but sound horrible.

**AphexTwinkletoes** · April 25, 2019, 8:56pm

Peacocks are incredibly underrated. If they only lived on papau new guinea then they’d feature in every David Attenborough series.