here’s a picture of a baby cedar waxwing begging for food from a robin. neither of these species are nest parasites, so it’s not possible the cedar waxwing was ‘adopted’. this is essentially the bird version of tapping a random person on the shoulder at the grocery store and going “MOM”
baby toucans are just. beaks and feet with a side of body. they look like if someone gently rested half of a banana on top of a birds face, made the birds toes 90% larger, and called it a day
1. Ocellated Turkey. I mean you have gorgeously iridescent feathers on the rest of the bird, but blue skin and orange and pink caruncles AND a magnificent drooping snood? It’s almost too much. Sadly this photo doesn’t show the snood to its greatest glory since it’s on the other side of the beak but the rest of the display makes up for it.
2. Kokako. I mean a wattlebird has to feature somewhere, and personally, while I appreciate how outrageous the ocellated turkey is, sometimes you want elegantly understated, and the kokako has you covered there. Sleek grey feathers and deep blue wattles under the bill make a heck of a statement.
3. Southern Cassowary. The undisputed winner of “most intimidating wattles” as far as I’m concerned. I don’t want to meet these wattles in a dark alley. Or dark forest. Or anywhere without a fence between me and the wattles, to be quite honest.
4. Andean Condor. Check out the wingspan on these wattles. And unlike the cassowary, I feel like I’d love to chill in the presence of a condor. Also, I like the muted tones. It sends off much less of a “don’t fuck with me” vibe without reducing any of the magnificence.
5. Temminck’s Tragopan. I mean. Just look at it. It’s almost eyeburning in its magnificence. All the tragopans deserve recognition for their amazing achievements in fleshy face decorations, but Temminck’s just has a little extra something.
2 weeks old and 12 babies are getting too big for the brooder. normally, i would i set up the second box i have and divide them. BUT its that wonderful time of year where i can put these lil guys into the coop with the adults early. over the last week they’ve only been in this brooder at night anyway.
time for my babies to live outside!
had to put Left Beef (the rooster) in a time-out for a while. he lost his fucking mind when i added these guys to his turf. but he’s cool now, still a bit on edge, but he cool.
to be fair, i’d freak out too if someone dumped a dozen children in my house.
I lov the children!
Where did you get that water dispenser? That’s a really clever design, the little lever for them to peck to get water into the bowl. Seems like a nice compromise between the nipple waterers (sometimes hard for birds) and bowls (too easy to get messy).
The crested owl (Lophostrix cristata) is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is the only species (monotypic) in the genus Lophostrix. It is a resident bird and occurs in Central America and northern South America. It is a medium sized owl, easily recognizable with its very long whitish ear tufts and otherwise darker appearance. They inhabit lowland rainforests and prefer old growth in proximity with water. The crested owl is a strictly nocturnal species, but very little is known on its behavior.
I’m guessing the dark face/crest areas serve to hide their eyes and make them less obvious to anything on the lookout for owls. Mostly it’s just made them absolutely gorgeous.
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