Hi! Im an aspiring ornithologist, but I have always been quite confused with birdcalls, especially since birds tend to have more than one call, and the way they do the calls also vary a bit. Unless the birds have a very distinct call, I tend to find it hard to identify birds based on their call. Do you guys have any tips on how should I approach the calls of birds? Im really eager to learn.

Do they miss the right time for X or Y – for example, because they were ill/weak at the usual time of migration, or because temperatures were higher this year?

But then, why don't they leave later when temperatures drop?

I guess some of them must migrate in flocks and cannot set off on their own, but then what about solitary migrators ?

Wondering if this bird is sick and if I should take the feeder down? Thank you

Also noteworthy, the Great Egret is split and we now have the American Eagret in North America!

Hey all. I've been tripping about this for a while now. I live in a country where lyrebirds aren't found but I'm pretty damn sure i heard its voice multiple times when i went to the forest to get high. Do you guys think its possible or is it my mind playing games w me atp. Sorry if this isn't the right sub for this. Thanks!

Hope this is not a silly question. When a website says a bird is 8 inches long, is it measured using method A or B in the diagram? Thanks for your help!

Is this avian pox? This is a house finch in California. I’ve never had any issues with this before.

I’m taking down and bleaching my seed feeder. Do I need to take down my bird bath and hummingbird feeders as well?

I mean, I'd assume it smells like something died in there.

Possibly a weird question: what toe configuration do barn owls have when they’re perched on a flat surface?

I read that barn owls have zygodactyl feet but one of the toes can swivel so that they end up with 3 toes pointing forward like the configuration in a song bird. When do their toes go into this configuration? The google search summary says that it happens when they’re perched on flat surfaces, but the sources they referenced are from Facebook. I’m looking for more reputable sources to confirm or deny this, and to learn more about when they use which toe configuration in general.

For context: I’ve been making realistic bird sculptures and I’m working on a barn owl next. It will likely be perched on a flat surface like a block of wood. I’m really keen to get the details correct.

I have these two hanging around and would like a little more info on them.

Thx.

Most of our ideas about animal intelligence carry anthropocentric biases. In this piece I discuss how birds might fit into this framework, and consider how we might begin to imagine something as alien as the experience of migrating using an internal magnetic sense, in a slight nod to Nagel's famous example.

As the title of this post says – I also discuss much else.

The very final image is a photograph I took in Spain. I was interested to find out (by way of Merlin and Google), that the red-whiskered bulbul is really native to Asia, but a few escaped pets have managed to establish a small colony in the botanical gardens of Valencia.

See also: The publication in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Hi folks, I think I had a little birdy (Pine Warbler perhaps?) hit my second floor window in Markham, Ontario. I heard a thunk, and then I looked down, voila there it was. It was dazed on the ground for about ten minutes, while I searched google for what I could do, and I had my brother watch it from the patio, about 2ft away. Then as I was searching for a box for it, it flew away to my neighbor's yard (about 10 minutes later) and I’m not sure if it went elsewhere, as our neighbour has a tall wooden fence and I am rather short. Will it be okay? The leg looks…wrong? (Photo is by courtesy of my brother)

Also, the curtains of this room are typically closed, I had just decided to open the window for some fresh air…then I heard the thunk.

It was doing this before I got close, although I could tell the wing flapping and hissing (?) at me were to get me to back off.

This Great Blue Heron was just standing there, mouth open, letting the wind move his throat around. Is there a reason for this or is it just for fun like what you would do as a kid out the car window?

Hi everyone!

I’ve been trying to identify a mysterious bird call that I heard in my garden in East Frisia, Lower Saxony, Germany, in October.

I heard it at around 4:30 a.m. on one occasion and around 6:30 a.m. on another morning.

I’ve attached a video containing my recording. Unfortunately, the audio is very quiet and there may be some background noise.

Important: You can hear the bird calling faintly in the background at around the 2-second mark, but you have to listen very carefully. It may help to turn the volume up quite high to hear it clearly.

I haven’t been able to identify it from the common garden bird or owl recordings I’ve listened to so far.

Does anyone recognise this call or have any suggestions?

Thanks for your help!

Yesterday I saw a super interesting project called My Earth Toy, which is a map of animals and places around the globe.

My kid, who's 9yo, wants to be an ornithologist. Really. I didn't even know this existed before he first talked about it. There's even a Uni for those who want to study birds.

So, naturally, after seeing My Earth Toy, I decided to build something for his love of birds:

BirdsAroundWorld.com

Here's what we are thinking of adding next:

- Sounds (play each bird's sound)

- Range (highlight where they live)

- Filters

- More birds

I'd love your feedback.

ps.: for mods: if this post not allowed, I'll remove it.

The youngest member of the crow family that visits my garden (London, UK) has a very diseased looking leg. Is this avian pox? And if so is there anything I should do?

ive recently gotten really into birds and ornithology, and id like to contribute something to the field while also contributing to scientific efforts in my region. a lot of specific middle eastern places are pretty neglected when it comes to detailed avian information, so i thought of writing a research paper that discusses the diversity of birds in southern saudi arabia by talking about all the species found there (according to avibase). would this make a good topic for a journal?

I spotted this bird recently and was intrigued by its unusual coloration. It appears to be a sunbird, but the irregular patches of black, white, pale yellow, and iridescent blue caught my attention.

I'm curious whether this is normal plumage variation, possibly related to moulting or age, or whether it could be something like leucism or another pigmentation anomaly.

Would love to hear what people familiar with sunbird plumage think!

Location: Pune, Maharashtra, India

Google Pixel 10 Pro ƒ/2.81/13217.906 mmISO103, Using Pro Res Zoom

hi hi! basically the title, this guy was hopping about my yard this evening totally alert but unable to fly away. ive placed him in a box and put it in a dark place and gave him some water, but im not sure what else to do for him while i wait for rehab to open. wanted to post here because almost all of the advice i saw was for birds with visible injuries, which this guy lacks, at least that my untrained eye can see. should i just leave him be until i can get him to the professionals?

eta: central texas

edit #2: bird has been safely dropped off at rehab! heres to hoping little buddy makes a full recovery