I just want to give You a 'Head's Up' that Bird watching today is much different than the old stereotypes from the 50's! With all the new technology tools available, birding is more rewarding than ever before. Of course, the Internet has opened many new sites devoted to birds. Do your Google Search to find anything about birds. There are still the formal Scientist birders, but informal backyard birding is the growing hobby/sport that anyone can do. Some people like the thrill of the hunt and drive all over to see certain birds. Others, (like me), prefer to build the backyard habitat and live with the birds. I see the same ones every day and therefore, get to know them! Your Photostudy tonight is an update of a few of the baby cardinals, plus new photos of the baby black vulture. Enjoy!
The Baby Cardinals:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birdwatching
Birdwatching
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Birdwatching or birding is the observation of birds as a recreational activity. It can be done with the naked eye, through a visual enhancement device like binoculars and telescopes, or by listening for bird sounds.[1][2]
Birdwatching often involves a significant auditory component, as many bird species are more easily detected and identified by ear than by eye. Most birdwatchers pursue this activity mainly for recreational or social reasons, unlike ornithologists, who engage in the study of birds using more formal scientific methods.
Birding, birdwatching, and twitching[edit]
The first recorded use of the term birdwatcher was in 1891; bird was introduced as a verb in 1918.[3] The termbirding was also used for the practice of fowling or hunting with firearms as in Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor (1602): "She laments sir... her husband goes this morning a-birding."[4] The terms birdingand birdwatching are today used by some interchangeably, although some participants prefer birding, partly because it does not exclude the auditory aspects of enjoying birds.
In North America, many birders differentiate themselves from birdwatchers, and the term birder is unknown to most lay people. At the most basic level, the distinction is perceived as one of dedication or intensity, though this is a subjective differentiation. Generally, self-described birders perceive themselves to be more versed in minutiae like identification (aural and visual), molt, distribution, migration timing, and habitat usage. Whereas these dedicated birders may often travel specifically in search of birds, birdwatchers have been described by some enthusiasts as having a more limited scope, perhaps not venturing far from their own yards or local parks to view birds.[1] Indeed, in 1969 a Birding Glossary appeared in Birding magazine which gave the following definitions:
Birder. The acceptable term used to describe the person who seriously pursues the hobby or sport of birding. May be professional or amateur.Birding. A sport and/or hobby in which individuals enjoy the challenge of bird study, listing, or other general activities involving bird life.Bird-watcher. A rather ambiguous term used both to describe the person who watches birds for any reason at all, and, more recently, to refer to a person who watches girls. Used mostly in fun. Should not be used to refer to the serious birder. The word "BIRD-WATCHING" is in the same category, of course.—Birding, Volume 1, No.2
Twitching is a British term used to mean "the pursuit of a previously-located rare bird." In North America it is more often called "chasing", though the British usage is starting to catch on there, especially among younger birders. The term twitcher, sometimes misapplied as a synonym for birder, is reserved for those who travel long distances to see a rare bird that would then be ticked, or counted on a list.[2][5]
The term originated in the 1950s, when it was used for the nervous behaviour of Howard Medhurst, a British birdwatcher. Prior terms for those who chased rarities were pot-hunter, tally-hunter, or tick-hunter. The main goal of twitching is often to accumulate species on one's lists. Some birders engage in competition to accumulate the longest species list. The act of the pursuit itself is referred to as a twitch or a chase. A rare bird that stays put long enough for people to see it is twitchable or chaseable.[2][5]
Twitching is highly developed in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, Finland and Sweden. The size of these countries makes it possible to travel throughout them quickly and with relative ease. The most popular twitches in the UK have drawn large crowds; for example, a group of approximately 2,500 people travelled to Kent, England, to view a Golden-winged Warbler.[6] Twitchers have developed their own vocabulary. For example, a twitcher who fails to see a rare bird has dipped out; if other twitchers do see the bird, he may feel gripped off. Suppression is the act of concealing news of a rare bird from other twitchers.[2]
Many birdwatchers maintain a life list, that is, a list of all of the species they have seen in their life, usually with details about the sighting such as date and location. The American Birding Association has specific rules about how a bird species may be documented and recorded in such a list if it is submitted to the ABA, however, the criteria for the personal recording of these lists are very subjective. Some birdwatchers “count” species they have identified audibly, while others only record species they’ve identified visually. Some also maintain a country-list, state-list, county list, yard-list, year list, or any combination of these.
Networking and organization[edit]
Prominent national and continental organizations concerned with birding include the British Trust for Ornithology and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in the United Kingdom, and the American Birding Association and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in North America. Many state-wide or local Audubon organizations are also quite active in the United States, as are many provincial and local organizations in Canada. BirdLife International is an important global alliance of bird conservation organizations. Many countries and smaller regions (states/provinces) have "rarities committees" to check, accept or reject reports of rare birds made by birders.
Equipment and technology[edit]
Equipment commonly used for birding includes binoculars, a spotting scope with tripod, a notepad, and one or more field guides. Hides (known as blinds in North America) or observation towers are often used to conceal the observers from birds, and/or to improve viewing conditions. Over the years optics manufacturers have learned that birding binoculars sell, and virtually all have specific binoculars for just that. Some have even geared their whole brand to birders.
Sound equipment[edit]
Recognition of bird vocalizations is an important part of a birder's toolkit. Sound information can assist in the locating, watching, identification and sexing of birds. Recent developments in audio technology have seenrecording and reproduction devices shrink in both size and price, making them accessible to a greater portion of the birding community.
The non-linear nature of digital audio technology has also made selecting and accessing the required recordings much more flexible than tape-based models. It is now possible to take a recording of every birdcall you are likely to encounter in a given area out into the field stored on a device that will slip into your pocket, and to retrieve calls for playback and comparison in any order you choose.
Photography[edit]
Photography has always been a part of birding, but in the past the cost of cameras with super-telephoto lenses made this a minority, often semi-professional, interest. The advent of affordable digital cameras, which can be used in conjunction with a spotting scope or binoculars (using the technique of afocal photography, referred to by the neologism "digiscoping" or sometimes digibinning for binoculars), have made this a much more widespread aspect of the hobby.
Videography[edit]
As with the arrival of affordable digital cameras, the development of more compact and affordable digital video cameras has made them more attractive and accessible to the birding community. Cross-over, non-linear digital models now exist that take high quality stills at acceptable resolutions, as well as being able to record and play audio and video. The ability to easily capture and reproduce not only the visual characteristics of a bird, but also its patterns of movement and its sound, has wide applications for birders in the field.
Portable media players[edit]
This class of product includes devices that can play (some can also record) a range of digital media, typically video, audio and still image files. Many moderndigital cameras, mobile phones, and camcorders can be classified as portable media players. With the ability to store and play large quantities of information, pocket-sized devices allow a full birding multimedia library to be taken into the field and mobile Internet access makes obtaining and transmitting information possible in near real time.
Remote birdwatching[edit]
New technologies are allowing birdwatching activities to take place over the Internet, using robotic camera installations and mobile phones set up in remote wildlife areas. Projects such as CONE [1] allow users to observe and photograph birds over the web; similarly, robotic cameras set up in largely inhospitable areas are being used to attempt the first photographs of the rare Ivory-billed Woodpecker. These systems represent new technologies in the birdwatcher's toolkit.[36]
Communication[edit]
In the early 1950s the only way of communicating new bird sightings was through the postal system and it was generally too late for the recipients to act on the information. In 1953 James Ferguson-Lees began broadcasting rare bird news on the radio in Eric Simms' Countryside program but this did not catch on. In the 1960s people began using the telephone and some people became hubs for communication. In the 1970s some cafes, like the one in Cley, Norfolk run by Nancy Gull, became centers for meeting and communication. This was replaced by telephone hotline services like "Birdline" and "Bird Information Service".[37]
With the advent of the World-Wide Web, birders have been using the Internet to convey information; this can be via mailing lists, forums, bulletin-boards, web-based databases and other media.[38][39] While most birding lists are geographic in scope, there are special-interest lists that cater to bird-identification, 'twitchers', seabirds and raptor enthusiasts to name but a few. Messages can range from the serious to trivial, notifying others of rarities, questioning the taxonomy or identification of a species, discussing field guides and other resources, asking for advice and guidance, or organizing groups to help save habitats. Occasional postings are mentioned in academic journals and therefore can be a valuable resource for professional and amateur birders alike.[40][41]One of the oldest, Birdchat[42] (based in the US) probably has the most subscribers, followed by the English-language fork of Eurobirdnet,[43] Birding-Aus[44]from Australia, SABirdnet[45] from South Africa and Orientalbirding.[46]
Several websites allow users to submit lists of birds seen,[47] while others collate and produce seasonal statistics, distribution maps.
Please see Wikipedia link for complete article.
Baby Buzz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Vulture
Black Vulture
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) also known as the American Black Vulture, is a bird in the New World vulture family whose range extends from the southeastern United States to Central Chile and Uruguay in South America. Although a common and widespread species, it has a somewhat more restricted distribution than its compatriot, the Turkey Vulture, which breeds well into Canada and south to Tierra del Fuego. Despite the similar name and appearance, this species is unrelated to the Eurasian Black Vulture. The latter species is an Old World vulture in the family Accipitridae (which includes eagles, hawks, kites and harriers), whereas the American species is a New World vulture. It is the only extant member of the genus Coragyps, which is in the family Cathartidae. It inhabits relatively open areas which provide scattered forests or shrublands.[2] With a wingspan of 1.5 m (5 ft) the Black Vulture is a large bird though relatively small for a vulture. It has black plumage, a featherless, grayish-black head and neck, and a short, hooked beak.
The Black Vulture is a scavenger and feeds on carrion, but will also eat eggs or kill newborn animals. In areas populated by humans, it also feeds at garbage dumps. It finds its meals either by using its keen eyesight or by following other (New World) vultures, which possess a keen sense of smell. Lacking a syrinx—the vocal organ of birds—its only vocalizations are grunts or low hisses.[3] It lays its eggs in caves or hollow trees or on the bare ground, and generally raises two chicks each year, which it feeds by regurgitation. In the United States, the vulture receives legal protection under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.[4] This vulture also appeared in Mayan codices.
| Black Vulture | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Coragyps atratus brasiliensis in Panama | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Incertae sedis (disputed) |
| Family: | Cathartidae |
| Genus: | Coragyps Le Maout, 1853 |
| Species: | C. atratus |
| Binomial name | |
| Coragyps atratus (Bechstein, 1793) | |
...this is brendasue signing off from Rainbow Creek. See You next time! Remember to get a bag of birdseed and throw it out as you drive or walk. Birds use the streets and roads to hunt for food and for navigation. Think about the other living creatures and plants on this Earth and develop a respectful and caring feeling toward all life. You will be the one who benefits by the goodness You become!
The end of the Supermoon from my front gate!
O+O
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