gildedphoenixx

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⋖ Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo ⋗

Beautiful parrots native to Australia. The males have a bright red tail and females have golden stripes and accents on their feathers🪶

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I love cats so much. he will do anything and everything to sit on top of me. doesn't matter what position I'm in. what a beautiful animal

comfy bud?

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Fairytale

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Stabian Baths in Pompeii

(those details on the ceiling)

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oh my god wait did I tell you guys I saw a rare bird last week?

Look at him!!

I'm pretty sure he's a sharp-shinned hawk

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It’s not too late to turn back

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I owe my life to whoever invented the massage gun

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⭐

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Pink-spotted Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus perlatus), family Columbidae, order Columbiformes, found in New Guinea

photos: Irawan Subingar, Ekhardt Lietzow, Dubi Shapiro

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Pennant-winged Nightjar (Caprimulgus vexillarius), male, family Caprimulgidae, order Caprimulgiformes, South Africa

photographs by Manfred Suter

[gildedphoenixx]

so, many of you have probably seen news about one of the first recorded severe case of HPAI (avian flu) in humans.

a lot of you who follow me are birders or inatters or adjacent. hence, a lot of you guys have birdfeeders.

from a rehab worker of almost 3 years: Disinfect your goddamn feeders. not only for HPAI but other diseases, such as avian pox, and for the safety of the birds

and of course, heres how!

now here at rehab we use rescue to disinfect, which is a big ol fancy thing that looks like this

for all our stuff. it's about 1-2tbsp rescue per 32oz water. however, most of you guys cant get a hold of it. so, heres some other things suggested by friends & coworkers that will work just as well

-diluted hydrogen peroxide

-bleach (diluted)

etc. in addition, it's best to use the hottest water you can handle in order to kill off more viruses (our industrial washer does up to 200°F, but whatever you can works just as well.)

the most important thing here is to USE GLOVES!!! PLEASE. pair of gloves to wash it and preferably when youre rinsing it use a DIFFERENT pair of gloves so it doesnt get dirty again.

lastly, if youre seeing visibly uninjured dead birds in your yard, lethargic birds at your feeder, red discolouration or growths on exposed skin, blood on your feeder, or anything else you might deem unusual, take down your feeder. the birds will get food elsewhere i promise, just leave it down for two weeks at least and sterilize it using any of the steps above.

also. please dont hand feed birds. yes even ducks. please please ignore what you see on instagram, it only creates more work for rehabbers. this includes trying to camouflage yourself and feed the birds from your hand when they dont know youre a person. it only hurts you and the birds, and yes this includes hummingbirds. do not try and feed birds off of yourself directly. please. thank you

be safe, clean your feeders, and happy birding!

in addition, below is an approximate of the procedure we use at my work to prevent outbreaks in our residents/patients.

changing aprons between birds, esp for personable birds (assimilated to people, like to fly onto you), switch gloves between birds, between touching hoses, etc. spray or dip + scrape shoes into rescue/accel solution before entering enclosures & or buildings. daily mopping w rescue solution, all dishes are hand washed with soap and hot water, then sent into an industrial washer @ 200°F.

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i’m your dog

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on the thirteenth day of christmas my true love was investigated for his many flagrant violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918

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G U N D

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For International #VultureAwarenessDay:

Bernard Willem Wierink (Dutch, 1856-1939)

Gieren (Vultures), 1919

platecut print, 40.2 h × 21.5 cm w

Rijksmuseum RP-P-1924-380

[gildedphoenixx]

To the roadkill, Those animals on the road, The ones who once lived.

Deprived of life, Deprived of kindness, Deprived of purpose For all but the Vultures, Guardians of the dead.

May those who guide you onwards Be gentler than the things that killed you.