#intergrade flickers

[tinylongwing]

One month into winter and I have two new intergrade Northern Flickers to my yard! Last winter (December - February) I had six distinct individuals. This winter, top bird there has returned, so it's nice to see her again.

See here for last year's full set (which somehow I never uploaded here? sorry about that!) As with last year, I'll keep this updated in case more turn up!

[na-bird-of-the-day]

BOTD: Northern Flicker

Photo: Jerry McFarland

"This brown woodpecker flashes bright colors under the wings and tail when it flies. Its ringing calls and short bursts of drumming can be heard in spring almost throughout North America. Two very different-looking forms -- Yellow-shafted Flicker in the east and north, and Red-shafted Flicker in the west -- were once considered separate species. They interbreed wherever their ranges come in contact. On the western Great Plains, there is a broad zone where all the flickers are intergrades between Red-shafted and Yellow-shafted."

- Audubon Field Guide

[rebeccathenaturalist]

So I had a famous first today--my first rare yellow-shafted flicker on the west coast! (Sadly, it was also my first deceased rare bird sighting.)

I was out hiking Powell Butte in eastern Portland, OR, and we came across these northern flicker (Colaptes auratus) feathers that had been freshly plucked by an avian predator, likely a red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis). Now, the flickers on the west coast south of Alaska are usually red-shafted subspecies, with red undersides on the tail and wing feathers, and a red moustache stripe on the cheeks in males. Yellow-shafted flickers, which are found in eastern North America and in Alaska, have yellow wing and tail undersides, and males have black moustaches as well as a red spot on the back of the head. I saw them all the time growing up in Missouri.

Birds don't always obey our stated boundaries, though, and intergrade flickers occur in areas where red and yellow populations overlap; these hybrids have varying characteristics of both parents. However, it is very unusual to see a yellow-shafted flicker in the Pacific Northwest, particularly south of British Columbia.

I checked eBird, and apparently Powell Butte has had a spate of sightings of a lone male in the past couple of weeks, to include as recently as yesterday. (My observation hasn't made it onto the map yet, though I did upload the photos as evidence--I rarely ever use eBird, preferring iNaturalist, so I'm not 100% sure how it works.) The number of sightings uploaded to eBird since the app launched is probably in the very low hundreds; there were 119 in Oregon as of 2015, but I haven't found a numbers update since.

The feathers I found were evidence of his fate as a raptor's lunch. There were more feathers than these, all from the wings, so it's highly unlikely that the poor bird made it out alive (though I'm sure the hungry hawk appreciated the calories, if not the rarity of its meal.) RIP, strange visitor.

[tytonidyke]

I have great news for you- that’s his mustache!! Only the males have them.

The ones in my area (east coast USA) are the yellow-shafted morph, which have black mustaches instead :-)

The two color morphs are called red-shafted and yellow-shafted because the central feather shaft and parts of the wing and tail feathers are bright red or yellow! In areas where they overlap you can even see intergrades that sport orange feather shafts. Photos from US Fish & Wildlife Services’ Feather Atlas.

If you’re interested in reading more about intergrades (which don’t always have orange-shafted feathers and can exhibit a wide array of combined traits from both morphs) check out this article on flockingaround. Thanks for appreciating the handsome and charismatic Northern Flicker!

Photos: Audubon Bird Guide

I will always love animals I just saw a picture of a bird I didn’t know existed and teared up bc it was cute and pretty

The red cheeks r so cute

[thelostcanyon]

(Yellow-shafted) Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus auratus), Empire Gulch, Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, Pima County, Arizona.

Northern Flicker is common in Arizona and throughout North America. However, this individual is of a geographical form of this species which is not of normal occurrence in this part of the country.

There are two easily distinguishable forms of this woodpecker: the “Yellow-shafted” Flicker of the East, and the “Red-shafted” Flicker of the West. Once treated as separate species, they are now considered to be distinct geographical forms of the same species: the Northern Flicker.

On the western Great Plains, the two forms come in contact, and there is a broad zone where all the flickers are intergrades between the western Red-shafted and the eastern Yellow-shafted. Most Northern Flickers seen in Arizona showing yellow shafts are usually one of these Plains intergrades. However, there are no signs of intergression on this individual which suggests that this is a pure example of the Yellow-shafted form of the East.

A “pure” Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker is rare in Arizona. This bird, with its brown face, gray crown, red nape patch, black malar, and bright yellow in the wings and tail shows no sign of being an intergrade. So this bird is most likely a stray from somewhere in the eastern part of North America.

[arcadequeerz]

Robot Scribbles AU stuff!!

This is all taken from a discord server N slightly reformated so!, 

N its all I have on him pretty much n everything story wise thus Far!!

This post will also uuh explain stuff bout this AU’s Bendy,  In terms of this AU’s Joey,I haven't rly thought up much on him-

More to come? Perhaps! But for now this is all I hav:

Robot!Scribbles: Same height as his Canon Self, 6'10

Body is made out of this smooth, sleek, sort of Shiny black metal?? Glossy and Smooth- On his head, down the back of his neck he has a mess of curled, tangled wire, sorta gives him the appearance of havin a head of curly hair almost! Has more of these curled wires down along his back, though these r much longer and he's able to move these, Stretch them longer- they end in frayed wire and will occasionally spark at the ends of them.

Arms r made of segmented coiled wire?? tht r a dark steel color, Is able to stretch them longer and uncoil them, Hands end in hooked silver claws, when his arms are uncurled the wires made from his arms each end in a hooked claw! Has a long tail of coiled wire that end in more frayed wire, will spark sometimes like the ones on his back.

His legs r sorta like unguligrade?? End in Points tht r flat on the bottom tho and have a point that floats a Lil off of the back of his 'foot'?? idk how to Describe thm HGD

Like his normal self he has two horns on either side of his head, Horn on his left is more bent in then the one on his Right! His face is a slightly lighter, black screen- Displayed on the screen r two white piecut eyes, Though on the right side of his screen its cracked/broken- making the eye Look warped/Stretched, kind of glitchy. The smile for his mouth is like- a Equalizer, white and it moves when he talks/makes noises!! Iss like this(tw Flashy/Eyestrainy!)

His Smile will glow brighter while Talking, and his eyes are glowy!!

Scribbles himself has this slight warmth to his body, and to his screen. Has a sliight heat to him when you touch him!(If you happen to fluster him he’ll get Warmer and so will his screen, and it’ll lead to it glitching a bit and flickering, and his voice getting stuttery with crackly static.)

His screen is also able to like- Break off, To reveal two Bright glowing white lights in shadow, and a mess of tangled wire and v jagged pieces of metal/teeth- This only really happens when he’s Pissed off enough Usually.

His voice is also Really Messed up- Kinda shifts between volume a lot- tends to have a pretty loud voice, He can kind of control the volume of his voice to a certain extent, but under moments of high stress, or really strong emotion- their voice will get louder and get heavily distorted the longer he's stressed/ distressed.

Also due to Glitching like he does, he ends up repeating words when he doesn't mean to- if he happens to glitch when speaking, it can manifest in him being 'hung up' on a certain word and repeating it a few times before it'll pass- Or his voice will suddenly get very distorted- or even just. Cut out entirely.

When angered, his voice will get a Lot more distorted/crackly- and growly sounding- can get to the point its pretty much incomprehensible sometimes. His purring is more like a low, Deep whirring/rumbling sound!

Scribbles also has this sort of- Soft? Plush-Smooth, Squishy material from his inner Thighs, Hips, to his stomach and to his chest. It’s a lighter shade of black compared to the rest of his body, He is..Rounmd, Chubby- n Sofft.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

A.I/Robot Bendy: Unsure on how..Uh big he is?? Pretty big-He’s not fully built.

Bendy is attached to a arm thats on this swivel that hangs down from the ceiling that allows him to move. He’s half built- Half a torso that looks like they had their Arm ripped off and lower half is missing- They have their right Arm and a mangled mess of wire and his spin that stretches into a long length of thin wires. He’s made of pitch black, bent- scratched metal, Rusted in certain spots like his hand- His head has two long horns on either side of it, Face is a smashed, broken screen that’ll occasionally flicker to life showing a distorted pair of bright red pie cut eyes- that’ll glitch and seemingly melt down over the broken screen, and a crooked Very wide smile. 

Their one hand ends in crooked, hooked claws and they have jagged spines that trail down along their back. Seemingly has this thick- tar like black liquid that melts off of him from the cracks in his screen and the mangled mess of wires hanging off from his mangled torso.

Bendy is a forgotten- Abandoned A.I left to rot in Joey’s facility- Created by Joey, Put in the darkest corner of the facility and forgotten about pretty much, locked away from everyone and everything else, Kept in the dark about the world around them. Joey doesn’t realize though they have ways of seeing things in the facility- Able to ‘slip’ through the broken cracks in his screen, in their body and into the systems of the facility- He lacks eyes/can’t see- So the cameras in the building act as his eyes, allow him glimpses of things around him.

Overall, His abilities are limited though, His communication to anyone, or anything are limited- Unable to really reach out to anyone, Up until Joey builds Scribbles.

Bendy also has this almost- Sense of divinity to him, Like he isn’t A god- But..In the way he carries himself almost- the way he speaks, Acts, there’s this air of other worldly, sort of divinity to this Odd, Forgotten A.I. Sort of like- He’s been forgotten/left alone for so long- they’ve kind of Evolved- I am unsure of exactly how to say what I mean HGFDSHG He’s just, become something FAR more then a simple A.I at this point- something Bigger then That.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK FINALLY ONTO THE STORY/ STUFF I’VE COME UP WITH SO FAR:

This will pretty much be Mostly just, copy n pasted from discord, Maybe a LIL Reformatted but not much Probably!!

Scribbles being built and Joey wanting to know  if he can 'teach' a A.I to be someone else.

Builds Scribbles- And its after Henry's died(?), so he wonders if he could teach this A.I to be Henry? Maybe he can have him back that way.

It starts to work in the beginning, but it doesn't last though because somehow The A.I keeps deviating from what 'role' they've given it- Keeps acting out of line- almost acting like they are their own self- And that enrages Joey- The thing should be whatever he makes them be and yet? It's not.

Scribbles though? He's confused- He's Supposed to be Henry- but...he doesn't feel like he's Henry- Everything tells him to be Henry-

But it feels...wrong- It's not right- But if he's not Henry....

Then Who is he?

Bendy is a witness to Scribbles Creation, and sees what Joey as doing as Wrong- And decides to sort of- Ruin his plans in a way, Free Scribbles from Joey’s ‘role’ he’s given him. He has a hand in giving them their sentience, and the idea that he can be his own Self.

Bendy somehow manages to reach out to Scribbles, Speaking to him in what Ways he can, reaching out to him in his limited ways(the specific Ways I can’t think of atm), And lures Scribbles to the forgotten/abandoned half of the facility where he meets him for the first time. The two sort of have..A Chat- in the only Way Bendy can, He slips out of from his body- and Goes into Scribbles, Partly- so he can speak to him.

It uh- Has a pretty Big effect on Scribbles, Sort of- Short circuits them- Changes them, Its a bit overwhelming and a Literal Shock to his systems- Bendy unfortunately hadn’t realized he couldn’t handle them/isn’t built to be able to. And due to this it pretty much Overwhelms the robot.

Scribbles hears him though- He hears this forgotten A.I’s words and those words Stay with him- Ingrained in their version of a ‘mind’. Unsure of the exact things Bendy says, Tells him or shows him, But Scribbles manages to pull themselves off the floor- bit shaky on their feet now as Bendy pulls themselves from him, slinking back to his body.

The two stare at one another- Scribbles with the eyes on his screen- And Bendy with the cameras mounted in the corners of the room. After this for a few moments- Scribbles says goodbye to him and leaves. Instead of it being a word spoken with no emotion, There’s something to it- Fear?- Confusion? Bendy is uncertain but hopes the strange Robot takes his words and keeps them.

These words do Stay with Scribbles, who now finds themselves thinking- Thinking things far more then what he should be able to with what Joey intended him to be- And its..Quite a overwhelming feeling..He starts to feel like whoever- Whatever this ‘Henry’ is- That that’s not him- Due to Scribbles having this encounter with Bendy he’s sort of like- Broken?? His body is no longer suited for him- Since Bendy’s kind of changed him, That encounter is how he gets the broken part of his Screen- And it leads to his body sort of..Starting to Intergrade things into themselves, to try and fix themselves. 

Pretty much- After this encounter with Bendy, his body is unfitting for his ‘A.I’ now, therefore its pretty much Constantly falling part in a way,  breaking down/degrading- To hold this off n sort of fix themselves, Scribbles’ body starts to like, absorb- Intergrate, other bits of tech and machinery into themselves. Does this by absorbing things with the wires on his back and even ‘Eating’ things sometimes(Not rly in the same way a Human would, More of- puts it in the mess of wire and teeth behind their screen n its..uh Devoured, absorbed.)

Joey starts to take Note of the..Odd behavior of his newest Robot, And is quite concerned by it- Watching how they seem..Distracted? Confused- Glitching, fumbling over words and even glitching. He’s run diagnostics, done checks- but he can’t seem..To find anything different- Then he sees Scribbles absorb something and He’s pretty much just:

“WHAT THE FUCK- THAT’S NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN- HOW THE FUCK!!!?!?!!”

He takes to keeping Scribbles locked in his Lab, refusing to let the A.I out without his supervision- And takes notes of every bizarre behavior he sees from The robot.

At some point, While in his lab- Running even more diagnostics on Scribbles just to be safe, They speak to him-

Scribbles straight up Asking Joey why He has to be Henry.

It makes Joey freeze and stare at him- He almost feels scared- It shouldn't be asking this? It shouldn't be thinking- and yet its Looking at him, head tilted as they kick their legs from the counter their sat on- The white eyes on the screen have started to have a brighter glow on them, and they're looking directly at him.

It's just waiting for him to Answer them, He takes a moment to think of what to say- He feels deeply uncomfortable with their eyes on him- Shifting in place as he speaks.

"Because that's who I Want you to be"

The robot Sits up straighter, Blinking a few times- the smile on their face shifting to a frown as they look from him down to their hands. The coiled wires on their back shift a bit, and they twitch suddenly- Head twitching, the images on their screen flickering as they seem to be thinking- before looking back to him and speaking.

"Bu-ut wha-T I-If I don't Want to be Henry?"

It shouldn't be thinking. It shouldn't be asking this- It should just Listen to him and do as he says- It shouldn't be able to ASK this!...what the fuck was going on-?

Joey backs themselves away a bit, Suddenly feeling..Much more scared now, his creation doesn't seem to notice the fear as they keep their eyes trained on him, Watching him as he tries to figure out how to respond- stuttering, trying to hide the fear in his voice.

"Wh-well that doesn't m-Matter-You are Who I Say you are-"

The frown on the things face tilts down more, Seems like that wasn't the answer it wanted- It shouldn't matter the answer he gives it- it should just Take his Word and LISTEN!- do as he Tells them- but it doesn't respond, Simply frowns and looks away from him finally and down at the floor.

He takes this chance to leave- Quickly leaving the Lab- locking the door behind him and stumbling back from the door, staring at it with wide eyes. This wasn't right- this was wrong- What the fuck was Happening?!

Pretty much- Joey in that moment is just-

-if it Isn’t Obvious, Joey isn’t exactly a Good person-

Joey leaves the facility for the night, too freaked out to Stay there any longer- Assuming Scribbles will stay in their 'room' for the night- He thought wrong as Usual.

Scribbles manages to get the door open and leaves his room, wanders around the facility- While doing this he integrates a few things into himself- Part of him wonders why he does this? But it feels..Right- Makes him feel more..whole? So he doesn't think much on it while the tendrils on his back curl around small pieces of tech, sort of..absorbing? Them into him as he wanders.

Eventually, he makes his way back through the abandoned part of the facility and shows back up to Bendy. The old A.I turns the cameras on to see him. He feels happy to see them again, They seem..Different? They do not stand in the same- stiff way, they carry themselves differently- have..A curiosity to them? The tendrils shift on their back as they sit themselves down in front of him, looking up at them from where they're hanging from the ceiling.

The arm that Bendy's attached to moves- a loud creaking, grinding sound coming from it- it hasn't moved in so long, as he moves himself closer, lower so he's right in front of the other robot. A Broken hand reaches out and lightly touches the top of their head- Patting them on the head and Bendy..Smiles, the broken- smashed screen flickering a warped smile on its surface as Scribbles wags his tail, smiling back up at him.

Good, they're getting somewhere, Becoming their own- It makes Bendy feel..Proud! Happy- Joy.

His hand twitches a bit, as a thick- black liquid spills between the bent, rusted metal of the limb and curls around one of Scribbles horns- He needs to speak to them again. The other robot shudders- screen flickering but he doesn't break like he had before, blinking as he hears Bendy speak, the A.I's voice is Loud, Very loud in their head but it doesn't hurt like it had before.

Unfortunately I cannot think of the exact thing Bendy tells Scribbles, But he mentions he was watching through the cameras, and saw his and Joey’s little..Talk. He expresses happiness that they asked Joey such a question, but shows clear anger about what Joey’s response was. Telling him he can be whatever- whoever they’d like to be, Regardless of what Joey feels. He does not need to be this ‘Henry’ that Joey wants him to be.

Scribbles is confused- Asking him..Who should he be then, which makes the A.I flash a warped, broken frown on their screen. They tell him it is not something he, Or anyone else can tell him. Only he can decide who he should be- Who he Is. That is no one else’s decision but their Own. That in itself seems to make Scribbles more confused.

They don’t quite know how to be ‘himself’, He has no idea who, or What that is! If he knew, he could be- It quite literally makes Scribbles glitch- shuddering, screen flickering wildly before Bendy places a hand onto his head again, patting him once more- A calming gesture which seems to work thankfully. Bendy simply tells him to Think about it. Think about who he wants to be, He’s the only one who can decide it fr him. The only thing Bendy says is he shouldn’t let Joey decide for him, or allow him to stop him.

Scribbles nods his head slowly, before that black liquid pulls back- Slips from around his horn and crawls back into Bendy’s hand- As they pull away and pull back from them. They give him a nod of their head while Scribbles stands up- Waving goodbye to him and walking from his room once more. He has..A lot to think about. A lot that confuses him- but it feels Right? The fact it confuses him feels right in a way- Like it should, he thinks about things more as he makes his way back to the lab. Sitting on the metal table of the room where he goes into sleep mode, Screen cutting to black.

ANNNND That’s all I got!!! So far, GHDSHG Sorry if this is explained poorly- n all ovrr the place- I’m..Stupidly attached to Robot Scribbles, as well as Bendy! I’ll try and think of more bout this- So expect to see somethin more for this at Some point?? DO Lemme kno what u think tho..I love feedback on my stuff n knowing if u guys Enjoy it,, d:>

Also as A Bonus: have a song thats v Robo Scribbles Vibes!:

“I witnessed a glitch The system is rigged I insist we delay until it is fixed We hang by a thread Inaction’s the knife Leave it unchecked and You’re taking a swipe

Wisdom unearned Intrepid and proud Till we’re dragged by the tide And nearly have drowned Entropy thrives In conditions enclosed Innovations arise When humanity chokes

It's not on the table (I witnessed a Glitch) (The system is rigged) You mustn’t get entangled (I insist we delay) (until it is fixed) They are more than able (We hang by a thread) (Inaction’s the knife) This whole worry is a fable (Leave it unchecked and) (You’re taking a swipe) It’s not less than stable (Wisdom unearned) (Intrepid and proud) Immune from every angle (Till we’re dragged by the tide) (And nearly have drowned) Let your mind untangle (Entropy thrives) (In conditions enclosed) We are entertaining angels (Innovations arise) (When humanity chokes)

Oh A.I. are you okay? You weren't' designed to behave this way Can't They see you should be retrained Why can't they see you should be restrained

Oh A.I. are you okay? You weren't' designed to behave this way Can't They see you should be retrained Why can't they see you should be restrained”

[lauren-no-why]

This is actually an intergrade, Red-shafted x Yellow-shafted. Red-shafted Flicker males do not have the red nape patch that Yellow-shafted does, but this bird does have red on the nape in addition to the mostly gray head, red moustache, and orange underwing of Red-shafted.

While Red-shafted are typically found in the west and Yellow-shafted are typically found in the east, the intergrade zone (where the two meet and interbreed) forms a horseshoe shape up the west coast, across southwestern Canada, then south along the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains to roughly Texas/Oklahoma.

Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus), male, family Picidae, Alberta, Canada

This is the subspecies known as the Western Red-shafted Flicker (C. a. cafer) 

photograph by Lisa M Jones Photography

[wallypollyanna]

He was different, and wrong chapter 2

Nothing about today seemed like it was going to be different.

Virgil woke up at the normal time, got dressed, and went to class.

He, as usual, was the first in the room. Ever since he started skipping breakfast, he always got there first, even before the teacher.

He took his normal seat,and took out his phone to scroll through Tumblr while waiting for class to start.

After about 10 minutes of sitting in the dark alone, the door was reopened, lights flickered on, and the teacher walked in.

Virgil glanced over to do a quick greeting gesture, but was surprised when he saw his teacher, Mr Wilkerson, talking with a student he had never met.

The student was facing away from him, but Virgil could still see his dyed pink hair, and his pastel backpack that seemed to be completely covered in buttons.

While Virgil was studying the new student, Mr Wilkerson must have mentioned him, because the next thing he knew both Mr Wilkerson and the student were facing him.

"-Is always extremely early to class. Virgil, this is our new student, Emile Picani."

The student, Emile, walked over to Virgil and stuck his hand out. 

"Hey there! My name's Emile! I moved here from closer up north. "

Virgil cautiously shook his hand, and took a better look at Emile. He was wearing a white tee shirt that had the Steven universe logo on it, which was tucked into his jeans. He looked at Virgil in a friendly way, and smiled genuinely.

"M Virgil"He said quietly.

Emile didn't seem to be upset by his lack of enthusiasm or friendlyness. He sat in the seat in front of Virgil, and started rambling excitedly.

In the mist of all Emile's "It's so much warmer here!" and "Everyone I've met has been so friendly!" , Virgil realized this was the first time in a while he had felt completely comfortable talking to a new person, or any person at all.

He was slightly startled by this realization, but if Emile noticed, he didn't say anything.

They continued to talk, and eventually more students started to come in. Roman, Logan, and Remy came in at the same time, as usual.

"-Would have, like, been soooo much easier then trying to get him to like, ya know, stop " Remy said loudly as he entered the door, practically collapsing on his desk dramatically.

Logan pinched the bridge if his nose, and said "Resorting to violence in that situation would have caused more problems then it would have solved. If Michael had chosen to fight Tony, Tony would have just reported him and left out what he said." He sat down normally, and started unpacking his bag for class.

Roman also flopped into his seat and opened his mouth to put his piece in, but noticed Emile before he could start.

"And whose this sitting with our resident emo nightmare!"

Emile smiled and stuck out his hand. "My name's Emile!"

The three other boys introduced themselves, and Virgil felt fear gather in him.

He knew fully god damn well, that if given the chance and choice, any person with any braincells would choose to stay with them. Hell, Virgil would too if he could actually talk to anyone or stay comfortable around then.

After watching Emile talk to the three for a bit, Virgil knew it was doomed. Roman would offer him a seat with them, he would accept, and he would become intergraded into their group. He would met the others, and would fill the slight hole Virgil had left.

Virgil didn't realize how upset he was getting, until he realized he was tearing up.

He panicked for a split second, before saying "My eyes are watering!" Slightly loudly, unintentionally speaking.

All four boys gave him strange looks, with varying levels of confusion and concern.

Which didn't help how he was feeling at all.

"Sorry- I just ah, didn't want you guys to think I was, you know crying or something. I'm just gonna-." Virgil quickly got up, and basically fled to the bathroom.

Once in, he tried his best to stop the tears.

"Your being ridiculous" He said to himself. "Your doing what you always do. Make people feel uncomfortable. Emile's definitely gonna move over to them, there's no doubts about that anymore. Why would he want to sit with the edgelord hi can't even act like a normal person?"

He put a wet cloth on his eyes, and did the tricks he knew to stop himself from crying anymore. After a short while, he decided he looked normal enough and went back to the classroom.

When he walked in, he expected Emile to be sitting with Roman, Logan and Remy, talking about some scandel or another.

He didn't expect him to still be in the seat in front of him. He definitly didn't expect Emile to look happy when he walked over.

 "Did your eyes stop using splash?" He asked.

Virgil, surprised that Emile was still over here, just nodded his head. "I thought you were gonna sit with Roman Logan and Remy?" He asked.

Emile continued to smile, but furrowed his eyebrows. " I liked sitting here and walking with you, and plus, i didn't want to leave you all alone!" He tilted his head. "How did you know they asked anyway?"

Virgil took a deep breath in, and looked anywhere but at Emile.

Before he could think of a lie that would work, Mr Wilkerson walks to the board, and said "Ok, everybody. Phones away, get out your books!", And started class.

Virgil took his seat, and let out a silent sound of relief. He still was surprised that Emile was still here, but he was honestly, and truly happy he was. He didn't know how long it would last, but he knew he would have to enjoy it while it did.

[digiscoped-warbler]

Hornsby Bend (January 31, 2017)

A nice and productive, if relatively cursory (and even sporadically cursorial), birding trip this morning! I started out driving the ponds, then walked up the River Trail behind P3 to the first point where a split occurs in the path. Following that, I came back south and finished driving the ponds before heading out! All in all I was there for about 1 hour and 55 minutes, and probably traveled about 3 miles. When I first arrived it was pretty cold – I wish I’d brought a jacket! It was bright and sunny all morning, though, with very little wind.

The first obvious, striking observation I made on touring the ponds was the almost complete disappearance of the usually huge Northern Shoveler population! Most often, I record between 200 and 350 Shovelers on a Hornsby trip, but today I found only 19 total, evenly split between P1E, P2, and P3. My lower number seems consistent with other recent eBird reports; the last time more than 100 Shovelers were reported at Hornsby was on Jan. 21. I’m not sure where they all went, but I had a few guesses: A) They locally dispersed within the Austin area, maybe because they’d finally depleted resources at Hornsby for the moment, maybe because of actions of the Water Utility? B) Although there are huge numbers of Shovelers year round, maybe few individuals are permanent residents, and the ducks which “overwintered” here have now headed back north, to be replaced by birds which wintered further south. Or maybe it’s something else?

I’ve started to notice that I almost always seem to see Black-crested/Tufted titmice in pairs – and actually, on looking it up, it seems like this is A Thing! Also, I want to learn more about hybridization in these species – where the delimiters of the zone are, and how to distinguish a hybrid from either pure species (by voice? or appearance)… 

Flickers! I saw a Northern Flicker today with yellow “shafts” and a black malar. I didn’t see whether it had a gray or brown face, or the condition of the nape, but I think this still should mean it’s identifiable as Yellow-shafted (I haven’t really reported the subspecies distinction often before). Why are Flickers considered subspecies, where the Titmice are hybridizing species? Do the subspecies have any preference for mating within their subspecies, and are there habitat preferences between the two? It does look from eBird like the intergrade zone in Flickers is much larger than the hybrid zone in the Titmice…

Tying into the above, I saw more Yellow-rumps here today than I ever have before – mostly in the woods south of P3. I want to get better at differentiating and learn more about the differences between the two subspecies here, as well. 

[tinylongwing]

Here's my final full chart for this winter's cast of unusual characters.

I document the individual intergrade (and otherwise unusual) Northern Flickers that turn up in my yard. This winter had some returnees plus a bunch of new faces!

Intergrades are a mix between subspecies, as opposed to hybrids, which would be a mix of different species. More info on intergrade flickers here!

[c0nn0rb0t]

"Well it is important to the health of a human being to diet and exercise, in order to maintain their bodies. And you seem to be doing a good job of it" A small smile tugging at the corner of his lips, if only he could get a certain old human to take better care of himself.

His arm folded behind his back as he listened, the ring on his temple flickering as he processed the humans words, committing his name to his memory bank. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well Kronk. Not to brag...but I am a specialized model that was made specifically to intergrade with humans, and work alongside police in order to aid in investigations...I can even check samples in real time" Would be mention he had to put evidence in his mouth to do that? Nope...according to Hank, that was gross. He perked up, his LED flashing "You can speak to animals? I didn't think humans could do that?" What the android wouldn't give to be able to communicate with animals himself..."And you cook? Although it's no tin my original programming....I have been trying to teach myself to cook, I would love some tips if you have any"

Send 🫴 to place a hand beneath my muse's chin and tilt their head to look at yours.

Send 🫴 to place a hand beneath my muse's chin and tilt their head to look at yours.

Que the flickering of the LED light on his temple, and the slight head tilt. "Hello, was there something you needed assistance with?" Not that he had an issue with the action, he was just confused.

[backyardbirdsus]

Intergrade Northern Flicker Eating at Suet Log Feeder 2018

[tinylongwing]

I keep track of intergrade Northern Flickers in my yard because I have so many I'm constantly tripping the ebird filter on the counts. Here are the individuals for this winter so far that I can distinguish.

Northern Flickers typically are either Red-shafted (North America west of the Rocky Mountains) or Yellow-shafted (North America east of the Rocky Mountains) but there's a large zone of overlap where they interbreed. The offspring are known as intergrades, not hybrids, because they're still the same species but a mix of subspecies types.

[gean-grey-blog]

We have a feeder of sunflower chips set up for little finches etc but sometimes the flickers land on the lower perch and eat from the upper hole lol. The little birds scatter when they fly in, but quickly realize the flicker isn't a hawk and go right back to eating next to this bird 8 times their size.

Also fun fact, the two subspecies are mixing. Which you can see in this map found in the following kind of oddly sassy but entertaining article about the phenomenon

I will always love animals I just saw a picture of a bird I didn’t know existed and teared up bc it was cute and pretty

The red cheeks r so cute