#columbidae creature

[harkthorn]

Today's sketch is a study of a classical chimera, but the lion part is a pigeon, and also the goat part is a pigeon, and would you believe it the snake tail is also a pigeon

-2450

[angelkin-food-cake]

hello! :> we are columbidae + hemiptera cladotherian, so like, seeds, grains, fruit, shoots, insects, bread and other seeds/grains based foods, vegetables. we like sweet/spicy/salty foods and also warm foods. we also really like pickles!! we can't stand the taste of (non insect) meat. ideally food that is, like, filling.

Hello! Here's some stuff for you. = >

Lemon Raspberry Baked Oatmeal

Spring Radish Salad

Roasted Carrots with Farro, Chickpeas & Herbed Crème Fraîche

Cantaloupe Dragon Fruit Bowls

(Mujadara) Lentils and Rice with Crispy Onions

Tod Man Khao Pod (Thai Corn Fritters)

Crunchy Roasted Corn

Coconut and Passion Fruit Rice Porridge

hope you enjoy! ♥

[thekrows-nest]

(Winndy, I'm back! And I've got ideas, so hear me out! I had a random thought about Krowie as a naga! And gosh darn it, I can’t get it out of my head! So I will make everyone else simp too!)

(This is how I feel he'd act as a naga, I guess!)

So, the plotline goes like this: in Columbidae City, there's this old forest that everyone used to freely go to and enter whenever they wanted! But soon something weird started to happen—people who’d go there to camp either by themselves, with friends, or with family started reporting sightings of an unidentifiable creature. All of their stories say that the creature had the upper part of a human, but down below lay the tail of a snake.

At first, the cops brushed it off as people being paranoid; but when people started to be reported as missing, that's when they knew they'd have to do something to control the situation. So what do they do? Close off the forest from any and everyone! But we all know that this isn't going to keep out the daredevils of society and those of curious minds. That’s where Dove (and their party of friends if they have any) come into play.

So from here, I’ll just summarize the events! :3

-It starts as friends joking around (or just pure curiosity and foolishness) to play a game of truth or dare.

-Dove, whose turn is next up, doesn’t want to be seen as the odd one out and decided to take the dare path, but little did Dove know it would come at a cost.

-Dove, now at the police-taped entrance of the “forbidden” forest, with a look of either regret or determination. Nevertheless, they take a step in after they hear the chants of their friends (or inner curiosity).

-Dove, now about 20 minutes into the forest, starts to feel a little… off! The bugs and other animals slowly but undoubtedly fall into a deep silence as Dove continues into the dark, bushy surroundings.

-Dove, now resting at a nearby lake they’d just found not too long ago, knows for certain now that something is amiss! Dove can practically feel the heat of whatever creature those people warned the police about right behind them.

-Dove, gradually raising to their feet and taking a small look behind them, where the darkness of the forest line resided. Only to meet the noticeable purple eyes of something.

-Dove, wasting no time to bolt back to the entrance of the forest (where their friends wait for them—again, if they have any). Running for their life, just for that grace of hope to be swept from under them when they feel the ground part from beneath their feet as they are now being hauled up into the air.

(Switching POVs until the end)

-Naga Krow, whose eyes started to take on a greenish hue as they peered at the human who dared to trespass into their home, just for that hue to turn back into purple as they got a good look at the human!

-Naga Krow, now confused about what he's feeling! He's never felt this sensation for anyone, even when it came to other nagas. But somehow this human has caused it!?

-Naga Krow, snapping out of thought from the futile struggle this human was putting up! Naga Krow, who didn't want this human, the cause of this new feeling, to leave him!

-Naga Krow, who in a flash, delivers a harsh, venomous bite to the human's neck; injecting them with a liquid that won't kill them but will make it easier for them to pass out!

-Naga Krow hurriedly moved back to his humble abode deep within the forest as the sounds of more footsteps emerged from the direction of the entrance!

-Dove, who lay semi-conscious over the creature's back, definitely regretted ever stepping foot into this old forest!

Veeeeery incherresting! Yeeeees very interesting!

That can make for a fun au yes yes.

I will post this up for peeps to read and muddle over! >:3c

[magnetothemagnificent]

Conversion student here with a random question/debate topic

Would penguins be considered kosher?

Obviously, they’re not in the list of non-kosher birds, but they give off a less-than-kosher vibe.

What about other flightless birds? I don’t know much about ostriches and emus, but they seem like birds that would be considered dores (I would personally include the ability to bludgeon other creatures to death as something that feels decidedly non-kosher).

Back on penguins, are they closer to other swimming kosher birds (e.g ducks) or other flightless non-kosher birds?

I haven’t seen it specifically mentioned, but I can feel it in my bones that more than one rabbi has devoted a significant amount of time and energy into this topic

No, penguins are not kosher.

Why?

Well, first we understand which birds are kosher by which birds aren't on the list of non-kosher birds in the Tanakh, which are:

-Eagle

-Vulture

-Black vulture

-Kite

-All falcons

-All ravens

-Ostrich

-Nighthawk

-Seagull

-All hawks

-Little owl

-Cormorant

-Great owl

-White owl

-Pelican

-Bustard

-Storks

-All herons

-Hoopoe

-Bat (yes a bat isn't scientifically a bird but the word used in the Tanakh is "הָע֔וֹף", which technically translates as "those who fly")

The Mishnah elaborates that a kosher bird is one that:

-Is not a bird-of-prey

-Has an extra/elongated toe

-Has a crop

-Has a "peelable" gizzard (has a layer of skin in the gizzard that can be peeled by hand)

-Doesn't split its toes when standing on a string (doesn't put two in front and two behind) (like how a parrot perches, so parrots aren't kosher)

Additionally, in practice, which birds are kosher are those that have a Mesorah (tradition) of being kosher. So, kosher birds are generally those in the Phasianidae family (although the Mesorah of eating peafowl has been shaky, so generally most Jews won't eat peafowl), the Anatidae family, and the Columbidae family. Most commonly eaten birds today are: Chicken, Turkey, Goose, Duck, Pigeon, Quail, and Pheasant. Turkeys are kosher even though they are flightless New World birds with no Mesorah because they've attempted to mate with chickens and are similar enough to other pheasant-like birds, and because they meet the qualifications of a kosher bird. Although still, some Jews won't eat turkeys. The Shulchan Aruch also established that if a bird has a long-standing Mesorah of being kosher, then even if it's missing one qualification, it's still kosher .(geese don't have crops, for example).

So, penguins aren't kosher because:

-They hunt

-They have a really tiny hallux

-They don't have a crop

-There's absolutely no Mesorah of them being kosher and they're in no way similar to kosher birds

And as for ostriches, they're already in the list of non-kosher birds.

Now, if you really want to have a debate, talk to your fellow students and Rabbi about why turkeys are/aren't considered kosher because hoo boy is it a debate starter haha

[funky-creature-of-the-day]

creature of the day #1!

today's favorite funky friend is the bleeding heart pigeon! or, Luzon bleeding-heart~

their scientific name is Gallicolumba luzonica and they are apart of the family Columbidae(which is a family which consists of doves and pigeons!)

these funky fellahs are a near threatened species which usually only lay a single egg during june. sadly, because they are endangered there isn't too many to study, but! there has recently been a push to create a breeding project to keep their numbers healthy!(link)

hower, pushing past that-- these are grey birds with iridescent feathers which give it a green-blue appearance in the correct light! in fact, you can see it in the little fellah above! another fun quirk is their red splotch on their chest, something which was the inspiration for their name!

here's a better look at it if anyone was curious!

currently, these guys are almost all in captivity but, they used to live in the Philippine Islands of Samar(link), Leyte(link), Basilan(link), Mindanao(link), Bohol(link), and Dinagat(link)!

these critters are shy creatures who tend to run from anything it deems dangerous! they tend to prefer being on the ground, only flying to branches when nesting or escaping from danger!

they primarily forage on the forest floor eating berries, seeds, worms and insects! although, in captivity, they tend to be fed grains, parakeet feed and greens!

also, the babies look so dumb

however sadly, that's all the info we know on these happy guys :)

[funnysillykins]

a general hermiptera / true bug carekit for @columbidae-creature !!!

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

[furretsden]

Fruit dove fashion kit with feminine leaning clothes for @columbidae-creature

Shirt | Sweater | Skirt | Cape | Sandals | Dove necklace | Flower necklace | Headband

[ghosting-s]

@i-see-all-things and @columbidae-creature hi! i saw your comments and can't comment back (this is a sideblog) but hi, welcome to my blog, you're both cool!

[sleeplessrobotic]

hello! I am just going to dump this here cause I don't have anywhere else to talk about this right now! I am a columbidae cladotherian, primarily a Birmingham roller pigeon though. but under columbidae I am also including like, birds-aren't-real-esque robot pigeons, because I am also a robot, and that is the way that I think everything makes the most sense for me. I have mixed feelings about birds aren't real because in my experience, it would get used to downplay my joy every time I tried to talk about pigeons. like, these things are serious to me! either listen or don't just don't say you are interested and them refuse to engage outside of making the same joke over and over again. it made me feel stupid for having sincere joy about things. I am not explaining this well, but yeah. these robots are still quite fun though. I am also flykin! and fairykin! I feel deeply unsatisfied when it comes to otherkin/therian stuff in a way that is hard to explain, but it also brings me. so much joy. I am a pigeon! and a fly and a fairy and a robot! that makes me very happy. (I joke that I only kin shiny/iridescent things) I get very intense phantom shifts to the point of rarely seeing translucent non-tangible body parts/feathers. I exist on the boundary of reality, things like that are just kind of part of how I function. I love objects, partially philisophically, that part would take a long time to explain, but also because I can hear them talk to me! they are mostly kind and happy, but sometimes I feel self-conscious around them. I worry I have not taken good enough care of them. I like busses. they are all quite happy beings. and they know a lot of things. I feel like objects are louder/have more of a distinct identity the more they have been touched by different people. I collect old computers and i feel such a sense of kinship with them. they are family/friends and stuff. idk I feel like I have more things to say but i am tired and this is long so here this is.

Thank you greatly for sharing! I am sorry that people make fun of the things you enjoy, that does not sound very fun. But do not let them stop you from being passionate about Pigeons! I do not know much about them, but they are very cute :], lovely creatures for sure.

Also, it is incredibly neat to hear about your different kin types! I think I understand what you mean with your dissatisfaction, but I also don't think I could explain that.

Objects are wonderful... for me, I can not hear my objects talk, I can more sense how they feel. I really enjoy your view on identity of the objects and how they become more... unique. Incredible! Please tell your old computers you love them, im sure they would love to hear it from you, they're very incredible machines. As long as you clean your objects, tell them you love them, and that you mean no harm to them..I'm sure they'll understand if you accidentally ever do something wrong. They aren't as judgemental as humans.

Thank you for writing! This was very fun to read and I hope less people will be so rude about Pigeons towards you! I wish you luck out there! Have a good day. :]

[firstginger]

Sorry, but I was just wondering if you have any ideas for forms for an INFJ who's also a type nine?

so many! and definitely check out this list if you haven't already! :)

my top suggestions for an enneagram 9 INFJ would be slow lorises, pygmy possums, pygmy rabbits, and doves. i'll go ahead and break down these categories a little bit more into specific differences between these species.

slow lorises slow lorises (nycticebus) are introverted but socially tolerant creatures. they're sensitive and easily stressed, and their communication patterns are in a very indirect way, owing to their withdrawn and passive nature. they're not terribly ambitious and prefer the slow and not-so-steady path; only when they're pushed to the edge can they snap, and it's likely that they are the type to bottle things up or bluff to keep situations calm. they're not very particular and good at working with what life hands them. while not outwardly emotional, they're amiable people who like to stick to their friendships and will do their best if you tell them what you need.

pygmy possums pygmy possums (burramyidae) are equally as introverted and have more of an independent streak when it comes to their work and pursuing their own ideas, but they're also very socially tolerant and easy to get along with. they're a cut more hardworking than the slow loris, though not competitive or domineering. they also aren't as even-tempered and are prone to anxiety, and they are the type to need to plan ahead to combat it. they're flexible because they need to be, but they're very capable of overwhelming themselves when there are too many choices or they're exposed to new situations. they're similarly passive like the slow loris, though more emotionally intuitive.

pygmy rabbit the pygmy rabbit (brachylagus idahoensis) is a burrow-digging rabbit species in the united states. they're more sociable than the slow loris or pygmy possum, though they're still introverted people who value their sense of privacy and security -- they just gain comfort from having the support of friends and loved ones. these aren't the adventurous sort and really value their own routine, and like the pygmy possum are very dedicated and hardworking people when it comes to planning ahead and preparation. they're much more compliant and forgiving than the slow loris, for example, and more on the meek side with a polite and careful nature. if this is too soft, also consider cottontail (sylvilagus) species, which are going to be more opportunistic, boundary-keeping, and adamant.

doves doves (columbidae) come in a lot of different flavors, but you're going to see common traits of introverted but kind and socially tolerant, sensitive and rather anxious, determined and open-minded, loyal and habitual, and self-conscious and hard on themselves. they're very selfless and generous individuals who are humble and reserved in nature. they're still a bit more particular than the slow loris but just as passive as the pygmy rabbit. very tenacious and resourceful, and dependent on their routine and loved one for their sense of security.

hope this helps! :)

[harkthorn]

Owlbear, but it's a variant that mysteriously happens to look just like it's part pigeon

-2626

[thewritinglist]

Thoughts on the Pigeons of Nottingham

I never realised how large and invasive the pigeon population of Nottingham is until I decided to watch them. They are everywhere. Dominating the Old Market Square, yes, but also nesting on hidden ledges and balconies you can only see from upper floors of the taller buildings. They walk their staccato strut, waiting for us to throw them our scraps. The way the pigeon reclaimed the city was like a long con, a slow burn of adaptation, a subtle pushback against urbanisation.

Pigeons and, to a lesser extent, seagulls, domesticated us, and they didn’t let us know it was happening until it was too late. These brilliant creatures have accomplished this task by letting other animals do the real hard work, then taking advantage. They were the ones who conned – or convinced – us into taking wild animals into our homes, giving them nourishment and shelter and only asking for affection in return. Objectively, this is an imbalanced relationship.

Cats and dogs softened us up. Our instinctive aversion to animals with claws and sharp teeth has dampened. Now, even lions and tigers are cute, adorable animals to be cuddled and played with. Pigeons saw this change in the relationship, and seized their chance. They’re not vermin: No, they’re foxes of the sky. Foxes are typically said to be cunning and strategic, but foxes are yet to migrate away from their natural habitat. The occasional story of a fox sneaking into a suburban back garden pales in comparison to the pigeons making home of city centres. Seagulls sit in-between these two –  adapting to humanity like pigeons, and sometimes nesting in the concrete jungle, but they spend most of their time on the coast, scavenging with less subtlety.

Pigeons took a risk with this plan. The urban environment is not safe for them. Some people hate pigeons, shooing them away in frustration or anger. The threat of culls hangs over their heads. This is a shame. Pigeons do no meaningful damage. Who cares if their shit does damage to car paint – that is the most aesthetic damage they could inflict. I’ve seen the dangers of their new lifestyle. An image that will stay with me perhaps indefinitely is the sight of a pigeon on a pavement, head removed from its body and nowhere to be seen. I looked around, but was running late, and couldn’t see the head of attacker. Its spine protruded from its neck awfully, a savage reminder that the rural dangers of the food chain were replaced by the urban dangers of the car bumper.

To the seagull. Whilst pigeons have learned patience and urban survival, seagulls have seen the people come to them, and haven’t learned to get food from humans with optimal efficiency. They expect the generosity of humans, and will steal if it takes too long. I’ve seen a seagull snatch a near-whole pasty, fly off with it and promptly drop it straight into the sea. This ruined the pasty, and theft like this sums up their flawed appeal. Seagulls need to learn the value of patience, for cast off chips and scraps of pasty. Otherwise, seagulls will become an irritating side-effect of a trip to the seaside, even if it is just animal nature.

You wouldn’t imagine Nottingham to be home to many seagulls, and sadly you’d be wrong. They’re everywhere. I can only imagine they’re trying to find a train to Skeggy, or Skegness as the rest of the country calls it. Seagulls are to pigeons what Skeggy is to Brighton. There is much less charm there. Rougher around the edges.

Coming home by train from the west and I’m rewarded with a view of its history. Face forward, as all good travellers do, and I spot the castle on the left. The train lines run under Carrington Street, so I pass through a mini tunnel before emerging out into the platforms. Up the stairs, through the barriers and out the lobby brings you onto Carrington. I exit to the right of the station, onto Station Street, which has been slowly pedestrianised, with a slow cull of the taxis who pooled there.

Slowly, Nottingham has improved its image, updating streets and neighbourhoods. Nottingham was a city born, like most of England’s cities, on a river, the Trent. The city sits just next to the river, a sign on Trent Bridge marking the city limits. The city divides Nottingham Forest (county) and Notts County (city). Confusing, I agree. The city is gentrifying itself and a hipster generation is encroaching on a traditionally working class midlands area. Hockley and the Lace Market are full of the type of establishments that put peaches on a pizza, presumably for the rhyme and not the taste. Despite this absolute scandal, I’m enjoying these changes. They’re so superficial, such surface level changes to the city, but they’re pretty, like a tattoo over a surgery scar. They’re now places to buy indie music and stock up on clothes from trendy second hand shops.

Walking up Carrington, the pigeons are congregating outside Gregg’s and the other food places. The road also passes over the canal, which runs through the city like a vein, carrying cheery old people in houseboats instead of blood cells, and clots with fly fishers. Pigeons love the canal, particularly the dark corner tunnel, where they can hide in the rafters and peer down, ready to put the fear of shit into me. Something about this tunnel has a strange intimidating effect on me. Everytime I enter the darkness, I assume a cyclist will come around the corner and knock me down into the canal. That or a pigeon will shit on me.

Carrington leads to Broadmarsh, a stubbornly ugly area that refuses to gentrify. The shopping centre is ugly. The car park is ugly. The bus station is ugly. The more I type it, the uglier the word ugly appears. In 2014, the city council decided to split the city into quarters. This should’ve been the ugly quarter. There is no beautifying here, no gentrifying these buildings. Their greyness fits the stereotype of the pigeon. The pigeon is a dirty, grey animal, a feral, flying rat. Some people still avoid the street pigeon, imagining that close-ish contact will pass over waves of disease. This attitude would’ve been helped during the era of the Plague, but it’s less necessary with the QMC.

Doves get the glory. Doves are sent by Noah to find land, to seek out the hope of a new life. They’re white, animal symbols for hope and peace. This, even though they are biologically close. They form the bird family Columbidae. Pigeon is French and derives from Latin, ‘pipio’, which meant a chirping bird. Dove is Germanic, and refers to its flight. The greatest glory a pigeon can hope for is posthumous, after being sent to die in a human’s war as they deliver small messages. A scarcely imaginable two-hundred thousand pigeons were provided to the British army in World War Two.

Humanity’s need to personify speaks to our anthropocentric worldview. We need to understand the world around us, beyond the relatively simple theory of food chains and animal instincts. No, they must be savvy, clever, cunning, or cruel, cowardly, vicious. We evolved beyond our base needs, for food, shelter, and pro-creation. Our needs are much more complicated and unnecessary. I don’t need to watch the latest season of the sitcom Silicon Valley, but it would make me happy. I don’t need to write, but it makes me happy. We have ascended Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and can’t imagine animals are yet to climb.

The Broadmarsh is Nottingham’s designated bad shopping centre. For some reason, towns require A) more than one and B) for one of them to be significantly worse than the other. The Broadmarsh managed, a few years ago, to swallow up the good music shop, Fopp, which gave it a little credibility, but it still feels cheaper than the Victoria Centre, with its regal name and fancy fountain. The Broadmarsh contains posters that promise an exciting redevelopment, but I struggle to become enthused.  

Stanford Street is one of Nottingham’s streets that attracts street performers. On any given day, you can be treated to some millennial busker, dressed scruffily and strumming a guitar as they sing Oasis. Stanford, like a decent amount of Nottingham’s city centre, is pedestrianised. This is a natural effect of being so old. Nottingham, named in Celtic Britain as Tigguo Cobauc, or City of Caves. Cities that predate cars naturally resist them. They’re built for the meandering routes that humans take. Old cities wind and bend in a way cars don’t want to. If you ever walk off the Market Square, past the statue of Brian Clough, you’ll see King Street slope down towards you, then make a hairpin turn to Queen Street, and slope up. It is the kind of truly pointless and convoluted piece of town planning that cars require.

Stanford leads towards the Old Market Square, the city’s heart and hub for pigeons and humans alike. This is where you get the clearest view of the human-pigeon relationship, and how one sided it is. Pigeons are like poachers, the goal-hangers of the food chain, not interested in the build-up play of seeking out and killing their prey. Here, the pigeons stalk the concrete, their little heads bobbing back and forth, and avoid the fountains. We feed them our leftovers, individuals serving as scouts for the huddled masses to follow, quickly overwhelming your feet if you don’t throw your bread far enough.

The Market Square, which only occasionally houses a market, serves as the centre to the city, home to the lion statues and council house. I’ve become fascinated by the reaction to pigeons. It disheartens me to see children running at them, trying to intimidate. But there is affection too. Feeding them is an act of affection, implicitly agreeing to their scheme. Feeding any animal as a human, as a dominant species, is a generous donation. We ordain ourselves as the masters, and allow lesser beings to feed on our scraps.

The city is the clearest example of humanity’s need to take dominion and domination over animals. The Broadmarsh centre is named for the area, which was historically boggy. But now you cannot picture in your mind how a boggy marsh could have existed where pale-grey concrete now carpets the ground. The history here is hidden away. The castle here holds within it all the folklore surrounding Robin Hood, history’s first and greatest socialist, but the city doesn’t promote the Hood mythos. There’s a few streets around the castle area: Maid Marian Way, Friar Lane, both roads where my father has worked, but that’s it. Torvill and Dean have a housing estate, there’s a banner near the train station for Byron, Stilitoe and D.H Lawrence. Some history is literally hidden – beyond a concreted over marsh, but caves, networked under the city.

Caves – they scream history. The ones that snake under Nottingham take you into the city’s medieval era, and there’s more than five-hundred in total. They’re so common that a new cave was found in March. They’re the kind of historical feature that instinctively grab a young boy’s imagination, for whom the Vikings were not raping, pillaging invaders but awesome, cool-helmeted heroes.   Caves, by definition, have to be old, have to have been put to use centuries ago, had to have been a necessity in some way. Some of Nottingham’s caves were used as pub basements, where the barrels were kept. Clearly, a significant necessity.

I’m headed home. Where I live – middle class, fairly affluent, tennis club – we don’t have pigeons, let alone seagulls. It’s the kind of suburb that attracts foxes, but I’m yet to see one. We don’t see many pigeons because it’s not their home anymore. The pigeon has evolved to get its food from thrown away scraps and nibbling at weeds and worms that have found homes in miniature edgelands breaking through the concrete. My home is, in a surreal sense, more rural than a pigeon’s.

Maybe pigeons need a rebrand, a marketing campaign. Pigeons are not at home in the suburbs as cats, dogs and smaller, cuter birds are, but maybe that should be their next move, the next step in their evolution from street rat to domesticated pet. They do have a curious history with being owned as pets: seeing someone with a pet pigeon casts them as eccentric, off-kilter, slightly abnormal. Domestication may be crucial to the pigeon’s long-term survival. Animals, sadly, need either humanity’s hunger or affection, ideally both, to survive. Anne Matthews defined the moment animals lose this as when "humans stop saying 'Aww' and start calling 911." The cultural carrying capacity has kept cats and dogs warm in our homes, and pigs and chickens plump and juicy.

The lack of pigeons in my suburb, which has fields and the Trent beyond them, is a curious testament to their own urbanisation. Eric Simms, in ‘The Secret Life of the Street Pigeon’, describes seeing a pigeon board the London Underground at Kilburn, go two stops and exit at Finchley Road. I love this story because I love evolution and adaptation. It’s fascinating to me to see a winged creature take the tube, presumably without paying. It’s a sad necessity that humanity has forced upon wild animals, but they’re finding ways around our development.

The Industrial Revolution, the historical nail in the coffin for pastoral life, gave Nottingham its textile industry, but also slums. This is the folly of urbanisation and capitalism – there is always a loser. They are, respectively, the environment, and the worker. The two combine when we decide that nature, systems much greater than ourselves, are either financially advantageous or problematic. Forests can be destroyed until the consumers decide they can’t, and then pictures of executives holding spades and young trees start appearing. Capitalism cannot allow for such trivialities like saving the planet, or supporting the worker. Look at the Market Square: Why does it have to be so concrete? Why can’t grass grow in Nottingham’s centre? Plant turf, plant trees, litter the ground with seeds and let us all breathe a little easier!

I think I’m attached to my hometown, when a song comes on, and it makes me question my affections. The song – You Don’t Know My Name, The Kinks, 1972 – takes me away. I’m on a train in London, it’s dark, and I’ve just been to visit my godmother. This is a vivid image in my mind, looking out at dark London from Blackfriars, happy after a fun visit. But I don’t have an image like this in my mind for Nottingham. Perhaps, after nearly twenty-two years, it’s all melted together in my memory, which is admittedly poor. Maybe I should move away if I want to create memories that have a song tied into them. Maybe, like the pigeon, I need to adapt to my surroundings. They surpassed edgelands to fully take the city. If edgelands represent nature and man’s struggle, pigeons are the envoys, ambassadors from nature to our lands. We cannot allow ourselves to war with nature anymore – it is one we will both lose. Instead, let’s take in pigeons, marvel at their adaptability, and find the path to peaceful co-existence.

[k00271299]

Movement Concept: Birds

• when I was basing my concept on nature, I wanted to focus on the form and shape, so I decided to look into insects, animals and plants because they all relate to nature in the their own unique way.

• While researching about nature I was looking into butterflies, I liked their shape, form and colours and what stood out for me was the patterns of the butterfly. As I was focusing on that, I sketched out different designs relating to the butterfly wings and how I can convert it into a clothing material and it was interesting to see the outcomes.

• Later on I decided to switch my concept and focus on birds because of how free and hopeful these creatures were, and I felt that birds and butterflies were quite similar when it came to their wings but different species. As I was focusing on birds I decided to research more about them e.g where they came from ?, the movement of a bird ?, s as no the structure and form of a bird ?. While I was researching more about them I became more fascinated and eager to learn and I found it very interesting.

• when it came to research, I was researching different artists who studied birds and based their designs on birds whether it was present, past or future it was interesting to find well known and talented artist who liked the idea of birds and nature as one. I also wanted to research different types of birds which were the columbidae, hummingbirds and flamingo’s. I also researched graphic and print designers who had interest in birds which was amazing to see interesting ideas that related to birds come to reality.

Electives: Fashion, Graphic Design and print

During this movement project all the three workshops I engaged in were different but fascinating to learn about.

Fashion workshop

1. For the fashion elective, I was excited because I do have interest in fashion and it was nice to participate in this elective, it was fun and a good learning experience which I liked. I got to try and learn new skills and ideas when it came to fashion and I was happy with my final clothing piece outcome.

Print Workshop

2. For the print elective, it was new and fun for me because I enjoyed this workshop and everything about it. I learned new things in this elective, made some really nice prints and it turned out to be my final look and I was happy with the result.

Graphic Design

3. For the graphic design elective it was hard and difficult for me to learn because I had no experience in graphic design before and it was my least favourite elective. I was practicing so that I can learn gradually over the weeks, but I was happy with the final look and how it came out.

[dragonagecompanionsreact]

Ok, so, if you had to pick animals that represented each dai companion, which ones do you think would be best? I saw that mod Sarah had a zoology interest and was a bit intrigued.

OH BOY QUESTIONS ABOUT ANIMALS??? AND DRAGON AGE??? SIGN ME UP!!! ASKING ME THIS WAS A MISTAKE ANON YOU HAVE OPENED THE INFO DUMP GATES I AM A BIOLOGY MAJOR SPECIALIZING IN ORGANISMAL AND EVOLUTION BIOLOGY

Cassandra: Perhaps a cat (any member of the family Felidae, though specifically for Cassandra, Felis catus, AKA the domestic house cat). Cats come in many personalities, just like humans and many other living creatures (not limited to vertebrates, consider cephalopoda). People, however, often associate them with being graceful and powerful hunters, but with also being somewhat standoffish– which is not a trait that is granted to all cats, as any cat owner would know. Most cats are loving and intelligent, too, which makes me think cats (mostly domestic cats, but if any of you are thinking of a black panther, which is just a melanistic member of any of the Panthera species) then go for it.

Iron Bull: A tough one. The bull (defined as any uncastrated males of the species Bos taurus), is the obvious choice– but with now much Bull likes dragons (while unfortunately not a real creature, because they can’t have a spare set of limbs to make wings-reptiles are part of the supergroup tetrapoda, have only four limbs; to have wings, the front limbs must be wings or or they don’t have any at all. In that regard, Skyrim dragons are the more anatomically correct dragons if they were to exist but WHATEVER this is a fantasy universe) a drake is also a very possible choice for Bull.

Blackwall: A bear would be the obvious choice, perhaps Ursus americanus, the American black bear, which is the most wide-spread of bear species and often the ones that wander into human settlements looking for food.

Sera: While many of you think of the a honey bee, any bee that is a species under the genus Apis, I don’t believe this suits Sera. Perhaps a raven, or another member of the genus Corvus. The reason for this is that members of the genus Corvus (which contains such species as ravens, crows, rooks, and jackdaws) are highly intelligent– and known to be ballsy as fuck. They can be taught human speech, and are known to even play tricks on each other for shits and giggles. They are the pranksters of the bird world, and I feel this would fit Sera excellently. 

Cole: A mimic octopus, Thaumoctopus mimicus. Bear with me on this; while all members of the order Octopoda, which are cephalopods, a subgroup of molluscs, are highly intelligent and capable of fantastic camouflage through the use of iridophores and chromatophores (to put it simply, they’re specialized dermal cells that contain pigment to rapidly change color), a mimic octopus is perhaps the best of all at camouflage. A mimic octopus is capable of changing its skin texture and shape to copy other species to blend in– sometimes called ninjas of the sea. Watch this TED Talk for further information: https://www.ted.com/talks/david_gallo_shows_underwater_astonishments 

ANYWAYS, GETTING OVER HOW RAD I THINK CEPHALOPODS ARE, Cole was a spirit who took the form of the mage Cole, in the White Spire. We have no idea what he looked like before then– as Dorian describes most spirits, they look “bizarre (and) monstrous” in their true forms. If a spirit is capable of such mimicry and such intelligence, I can think of no better animal to represent Cole than a mimic octopus.

Varric: A parrot. Parrots are highly intelligent and known for their speech capabilities, along with being v. pretty. There are MANY different members of the order Psittaciformes, which encompass all parrots. It is a very large clade composed of 393 species to date, but I I think Varric could best be represented by an African Gray Parrot, specifically the Congo African grey parrot, an Old World parrot of the species Psittacus erithacus. These birds are SUPER COOL because they’re among the best at mimicking human speech; one in particular in Japan was returned to his family after repeating the address of his home. They’re also known for hearing things in their surroundings and then repeatedly saying it, much to the ire of the humans they live with.

Dorian: This one is easy; a peacock, which comes in three species, though all are members of the family Phasianidae, which is shared by pheasants, partridges, junglefowl, chickens, Old World quail, and peafowl. These are popular gamebirds, often poor at flying but PRETTY AS FUCK. For Dorian, I think I’ll go with the Indian peafowl, Pavo cristatus– notice the familiar ‘Pav’ in the name, anyone?

Solas: An ostrich A gray wolf, Canis lupus. No further explanation needed.

Vivienne: An orca, Orcinus orca. Orcas are among the most intelligent animals on Earth, known for being beautiful as well as the apex predators of the sea (being cosmopolitan species, like humans, they are found in a variety of environments, across multiple habitats. 

Josephine: A dove, any member of the family Columbidae, which encompasses 310 species. (Fun fact! Members of Columbidae are the only birds that don’t have to lift their necks up to swallow water. All birds except for them have to pull it into the mouths and pull their necks up to swallow). Doves are seen as an international symbol for peace and love, suitable for an ambassador. For her, I think I’ll go with the diamond dove, Geopelia cuneata.

Leliana: Like Sera, I think she would also fit as a raven, but for the sake of being a nerd and introducing another sort of animal, the next runner-up is the ferret, Mustela putorius furo. Ferrets were domesticated for their ability to ferret– that is, to hunt and catch prey, specifically rodents, which often reside in narrow holes and tunnels that humans can’t reach. Being an excellent spy, well, I feel this should explain itself.

Cullen: An African lion, Panthera leo. If anyone has seen his helmet, it should be sufficient explanation, but they are also famed by their beautiful, voluminous manes– just like Cullen!

The moral of this story is: don’t ask me about animals unless you are prepared for the info-dump, because I love the kingdom Animalia so much (I got OVER 100% in a college-level Zoology course, I could regale you for HOURS on Animalia, ranging from Porifera (sea sponges), the basal clade and taxa of Animalia, all the way to Mammalia. I meant to do chores an hour ago but got carried away. Thank you, and enjoy my fangirling.

–Mod Sarah

[verytyphoonstudentthings-blog]

If you are one of the millions of bird lovers out there, you surely know that these are popular as inquisitive and social living creatures on earth. This is probably one reason why more and more people are thinking about birds as ideal home pets because they can entertain and offer a relaxing environment, especially in the garden.

Just like any other living creatures in this planet, birds have different species, varying basic needs, need proper care and housing, among others. Therefore, it is important to understand these factors before you make a decision to search and invest for any kind of bird that you wish to own.

When talking about unique and amazing bird species in the world, we can definitely include the beautiful Southern Crowned Pigeon or scientifically known as “Goura Scheepmakeri.” As detailed through reliable websites that provide information about this bird species, it originates from the Kingdom Animalia and from the Columbidae Family discovered by Otto Finsch back in 1876.

[harkthorn]

A loafing pigeon griffon sketch

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