A Little About “Fun Bird Facts”

by | fun bird facts

In the course of researching for various projects, I’ve found out many little tidbits relating to birds; some surprising, some humorous, and some just downright weird.

So, I’ve dug into my books and notebooks, and offer up these nuggets of knowledge for your perusal and edification.

There are a couple of categories: bird trivia, and what the Latin, Greek, Latin/Greek, or other language, names mean in English.

I’ll be posing something cool several times a week, so have fun, and amaze your friends and family with your arcane knowledge

Wheatear

by | bird trivia, fun bird facts

The name doesn’t refer to its “ears” at all. It’s thought to be a polite version of “white-ass”, referring to its distinctively white rump area.
-The Birder’s Handbook, pp485

Hummingbird Sleeping

by | bird trivia, fun bird facts

Besides being among the smallest of all warm-blooded animals, hummingbirds also lack the insulating downy feathers that are typical for many other bird species. Even sleeping hummingbirds have huge metabolic demands that must be met simply to survive the night when they cannot forage.

To meet this energetic challenge, hummingbirds save enough energy to survive cold nights by lowering their internal thermostat at night, becoming hypothermic. This reduced physiological state is an evolutionary adaptation that is referred to as torpor. By doing so, a torpid hummingbird consumes up to 50 times less energy than when awake.

It is possible to walk right up to a hummingbird in this state and pick it up off its perch. But just because you CAN do this, doesn’t mean you SHOULD do this.
–Amazing Facts About Hummingbirds at Night

Black-Capped Chickadee

by | what does that name mean in english?

Parus atricapillus

Parus = Titmouse (Latin)
atricapillus = Black hair (Latin)
Literal meaning – Titmouse with black hair on its head

BONUS

Titmouse is a combination of the Icelandic tittr or titr for anything small, and the Anglo-Saxon mase for “a small bird”.

Raptors Provide Protection

by | bird trivia, Uncategorized

In the arctic regions of North America, Europe and Asia, various species of geese and ducks nest in association with Snowy Owls (Nyctea scandiaca), Rough-legged Hawks (Buteo lagopus), Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus), Gyrfalcons (Falco rusticolus) and Merlins (Falco columbarius).

The Snowy Owl and Rough-Legged Hawk feed primarily on lemmings (Lemmus and Dicrostonyx), and for this reason usually do not breed or nest successfully when lemming populations are low. When this occurs, birds that nest under their protection must seek other protectors or suffer greatly increased predation on their eggs and young from predators. (Summers et al. 1994; Tremblay et al. 1997).
–Ecology Info Website

Merlin

by | bird trivia

In early English falconry literature, the word falcon referred to a female peregrine falcon only, while the word hawk or hawke referred to a female hawk. A male hawk or falcon was referred to as a tiercel (sometimes spelled “tercel”) as it was roughly one third less than the female in size.
-Bert, E. (1619), An Approved Treatise on Hawks and Hawking.

Painting Your Own Glass Eyes

by | painting, tutorials

painting glass eyesThis is an older tutorial, so please pardon the photo quality (old technology). I still think it could be helpful to those who are considering painting their own eyes. I’m demonstrating a canvasback drake, but the steps still apply to any specie.

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