Fun Stuff We all know that birds are fascinating creatures. Sometimes, however, they do something, or we learn something new about them, that amazes us even further. Hope you enjoy…			Home A Peek Inside Photo Gallery Where to Buy
Here is a face anyone can love! Finding owls, particularly during mid-day, requires a lot of luck. A Long-eared Owl was once found at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve by a docent looking for wildflowers. He noticed an arrangement of white spots on the ground and looked up. There was the owl, which must have been sitting in the same spot for quite a while! (You get to guess what the white spots were.) In fact, the owl was considerate enough to stay in that spot for several days, providing viewing opportunities to many birders and other visitors. The cutie shown above was also found at Point Lobos strictly by serendipity. An instructor was guiding a group of docent trainees on an interpretive walk, stopping at times to ask what they had observed. On one of these stops, one trainee looked up into a dead snag and spotted something. Another trainee used her binoculars and saw this face peeking out. The leader immediately recognized it as a Northern Saw-whet Owl – an owlet, actually. The photo above, taken by docent Paul Reps, was the first of many. Over the next several days people came from all around to see and photograph this face – and the face of a sibling also in the hole. If you click on the photo above, you can see a short video taken by a professional photographer and posted on YouTube – be sure to watch long enough to see the surprise about one minute into it. Monterey County, California bird expert Don Roberson responded quickly to a report on the rare bird alert, and confirmed that “this is the first actual (Northern Saw-whet Owl) nest located in our county.” (Sadly, the tree that hosted this nest rotted out at the base and blew over the following winter) Click here to view his web site and more photos.		Fun Fact One month after Peregrine Falcon chicks are hatched blind, nearly bald, and helpless, the little monsters may become so aggressive that the parents just drop food onto the ledge and steer clear! There are several web-cam sites that may let you see this spectacle during the hatching season. Bird Sounds Click Here to see a two-minute video of a bird with an amazing vocal repertoire Click Here to see the author’s short video of a singing California Thrasher And here is another very short video of a Spotted Towhee’s “Bronx Cheer” Watch this space for more bird sound videos
Fun Fact The Western Grebe and its close relative, the Clark’s Grebe, are the only birds known to eat their feathers. Now why would a bird eat its own feathers? Ornithologists have found out that the feathers – plucked from the breast – create a filter at the opening between the stomach and the intestines, the pyloric valve. The filter prevents incompletely digested food particles, such as fish bones, from entering the more delicately-lined gut and puncturing it. How do these birds know when it is time to eat more feathers? Ask a grebe.		Word of the day: Kleptoscavenger An animal that gets its food by stealing from others. Example: Heermann’s Gulls get 30-40% of their food by grabbing fish that are hanging out of the bills of Brown Pelicans.
Fun Facts about bird names (Source: 100 Birds and How They Got Their Names)		Click here to see a different kind of kleptoscavenger! So you think your cat is lazy?
Hooded Oriole Photo by Dennis Renault	Orioles were known in the Old World by their Greek name, ickteros, meaning jaundice. The story is told of a jaundiced man that was cured by seeing an oriole that was the color of his ailment. (The bird died.)	How do you know when you are (or are not!) Mom's favorite? More Fun Facts from the book: Blue colors on a bird are not like the color of a blue dress, blue car, or blue flower. Rather than being produced by pigments, the color is produced by minute particles smaller than the wavelength of red light. Only shorter wavelengths are scattered, showing as blue. If you hold a blue feather up in front of a light, the blue disappears. (The Birder’s Handbook) Bird seasons are not the same as people seasons. Fall, for example, starts when the birds in the arctic begin to sense cold weather setting in and their food get scarce – around the first of August. The Prairie Warbler does not live on the prairies, but it does spend its winters in grassy woodland clearings known locally in the south as “prairies” (The Birder’s Handbook)
Common Loon Photo by the author	The Loon's name comes from the Scandinavian lom, meaning lame, describes this bird’s floppy helplessness on land due to the position of the legs and feet far back on the body. This one was on the beach near my home – possibly not well.
Northern Cardinal © Motorrad67	The Cardinal is named after the officials of the Catholic church, who traditionally wore bright red, a symbol of affluence and power.
Osprey Photo by the author	The name of the Osprey comes from the Latin ossifragus, meaning bone breaker, but this was probably a matter of mistaken identity. Ospreys usually swallow their prey whole, unlike some vultures, which break bones.
Click here to see a great photo on Wikipedia	The Petrel is probably named for Saint Peter, because when they fly close to the surface of water they push themselves along with their feet, looking as if they were walking on the water, as Saint Peter did briefly before he lost his nerve.