#eurasian birds

[proton-wobbler]

Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)

"They look like oil spills in a good way"

We're just gonna skim right passed these guys being invasive species (they're found on every continent!) because they do have a home range and they are quite neat little creatures.

They're really good mimics! While not as noted as the Lyrebird or Mockingbird, the whole family of Sturnidae often make good mimics, and Common Starlings will often pick up other bird sounds to weave into their own song at times. I worked at one job where one mimicked a Gray Catbird so well the store employees thought that's what I was called in to catch rather than a starling.

These birds used to be referred to as "Stare", with "starling" only referring to the juveniles of the species. Some time in the 16th century :stare" had been replaced with "starling" to refer to all ages.

These birds are primarily insectivorous and eat a large variety of insects across their range, including species that are often pests to humans and crops. They will, however, readily eat grains, seeds, and fruits as well, and will raid crops such as grapes or cherries.

Unpaired males find a suitable cavity and begin to build nests in order to attract single females, often decorating the nest with ornaments such as flowers and fresh green material, which the female later disassembles upon accepting him as a mate. The amount of green material is not important, as long as some is present, but the presence of herbs in the decorative material appears to be significant in attracting a mate. The scent of plants such as yarrow acts as an olfactory attractant to females.

Sources:

Image Source: eBird (Josep del Hoyo)

[unleashthemerch]

Kingfisher Maple Pin ✨

[hellsitegenetics]

Oh, I'm a goofy goober, yeah

You're a goofy goober, yeah

We're all goofy goobers, yeah

Goofy, goofy, goober, goober, yeah!

I'm a goofy goober, yeah

You're a goofy goober, yeah

We're all goofy goobers, yeah

Goofy, goofy, goober, goober, YEAH!

String identified:

, ' a g g, a

' a g g, a

' a g g, a

G, g, g, g, a!

' a g g, a

' a g g, a

' a g g, a

G, g, g, g, A!

Closest match: Caprimulgus europaeus genome assembly, chromosome: 10 Common name: European nightjar

[maureen2musings]

jukkarisikko

[niqvassieart]

5-10 min nightjar studies to help me with a book illustration i was working on. Such beautiful and weird birds!

[michaelnordeman]

Eurasian bullfinch/domherre. Värmland, Sweden (April 5, 2021).

[lichenaday]

Some of the baby birds I met on this recent round of field work:

1. Limosa limosa, black-tailed godwit

2. Haematopus ostralegus, oystercatcher

3. & 4. Numenius phaeopus, Eurasian whimbrel

5. Tringa totanus, redshank

6. Charadrius hiaticula, common ringed plover

7. Pluvialis apricaria, European golden plover

[filurig]

ok new sona bcs i have been ardeidaepilled for a few months (eurasian bittern)

[rfskia]

[caleod]

13-4-24

[acorviart]

a new tote bag, feat. the eurasian tree sparrow!

these have both shorter handles that can be used like a regular tote bag and a longer adjustable (and detachable) strap for crossbody wear

shop's opening feb 3, 2pm cst

[proton-wobbler]

Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius)

"They're super pretty and hop around very adorably" "I fear they may be too common to make it, but I love them! They're the only larger colourful bird i usually get to see here, so when I do it always makes me happy. Cool fact I just learned: they (like other jays) bury acorns in the ground to retrieve them later, but they don't actually dig all of them up again and so they have played an important role in the spreading of oak trees."

Every time I research a new bird with a large range map I'm blown away by the amount of subspecies I find. 33! 33 for Eurasian Jay! Split into 8 different groupings- thats So Many! I cant find a good map to show the split amongst them but I'll drop as many pics of their differences as I can find below. They're mostly different in face plumage.

Despite still all being labeled under Eurasian Jay on eBird, the species has been split into three separate species as of 2017. "The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Birdlife International split the Eurasian jay into three species. The subspecies G. g. leucotis becomes the white-face jay (Garrulus leucotis) and the bispecularis group containing six subspecies becomes the plain-crowned jay (Garrulus bispecularis)."

Eurasian Jay were responsible for planting most European oak trees before humans began doing so, as they transport and cache hundreds of acorns on a yearly basis. Some jays have been reported to fly up to 20km to cache!

Sources:

Image Source: eBird (Eurasian [header] - John Higgins); all subspecies pics can also be found on the eBird page for this species as the main display images. Photographers are listed in Alt ID.

[unleashthemerch]

Scrapbooking with blackbirds

[hellsitegenetics]

Has anyone tried to send you a carefully composed ask before that specifically contains the genome of something they intend?

Now you'd think that by sending this ask, I may have done this very thing. But that would be too much effort for me.

Or is it....

REVEAL THE BEAST

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String identified: a a t t a ca c a tat cca cta t g tg t t?

' t tat g t a, a a t tg. t tat t c t .

t….

A T AT

Closest match: Fringilla coelebs genome assembly, chromosome: 8 Common name: Eurasian chaffinch

[tinylongwing]

Eurasian Tree Sparrow. Look how striking! Take a moment to appreciate the beauty of something you might otherwise pass off as just another little brown bird.

[sugiichi]

Pyrrhula pyrrhula  [ウソ,Eurasian Bullfinch]

目の前の水路に水を飲みに来てくれました🎉 びっくりしました💦