Spending too much time online watching this again. Currently two eggs in the nest.

ChudFusk wrote: Sat Dec 10, 2022 2:48 pm I found a big dead crow yesterday. I considered taking it home but I don't have time to learn taxidermy.

It's not mosquito season most places in the US right now, but https://www.cdc.gov/westnile/dead-birds/index.html

Around here (Bay Area) the Mosquito and Vector Control District https://www.smcmvcd.org/ people drive around in jeeps with their cool logo and collect dead crows.

lotharsandwich wrote: Sat Jan 21, 2023 2:15 pm

ChudFusk wrote: Sat Dec 10, 2022 2:48 pm I found a big dead crow yesterday. I considered taking it home but I don't have time to learn taxidermy.

It's not mosquito season most places in the US right now, but https://www.cdc.gov/westnile/dead-birds/index.html

Around here (Bay Area) the Mosquito and Vector Control District https://www.smcmvcd.org/ people drive around in jeeps with their cool logo and collect dead crows.

My friend found a dead hawk, put it in her Jeep and brought it home where I happened to be at the time. She asked me to move it for her and when I picked it up there were so many fucking giant flies and weird bugs nestled under the feathers that we had to chuck the damn thing.

ChudFusk wrote: Sun Jan 22, 2023 3:20 am

lotharsandwich wrote: Sat Jan 21, 2023 2:15 pm

ChudFusk wrote: Sat Dec 10, 2022 2:48 pm I found a big dead crow yesterday. I considered taking it home but I don't have time to learn taxidermy.

It's not mosquito season most places in the US right now, but https://www.cdc.gov/westnile/dead-birds/index.html

Around here (Bay Area) the Mosquito and Vector Control District https://www.smcmvcd.org/ people drive around in jeeps with their cool logo and collect dead crows.

My friend found a dead hawk, put it in her Jeep and brought it home where I happened to be at the time. She asked me to move it for her and when I picked it up there were so many fucking giant flies and weird bugs nestled under the feathers that we had to chuck the damn thing.

Even apex predators get recycled eventually.

I’ve spent a lot of time watching the Australian Brushturkey and White Ibis over the last 2 years.

They always seem to be where ever i am.

Both are often thought of as pests here, the ibis in particular. Australian Brushturkeys are a protected species, so I think they cop it a bit less. Kind of like they've got a magical free pass, and this reflects their behavior. Ibis are often filthy and eat garbage, so they’ve become this thing adult human beings pick on and call names.

I think I relate to them a lot and something about the fact that most people consider them ordinary or pests to be made fun of appeals to me.

I saw this article about Ibis figuring out a way to eat poisonous cane toads the other day. It's great.

Ibis are often seen feeding on food dumped by humans, but citizen scientists are increasingly reporting the native species is dining out on toxic cane toads.

Watergum's Emily Vincent says ibis have developed a "stress and wash" method to avoid getting poisoned by cane toad. Biology professor Rick Shine says the method would be effective in ridding toxins from the toad. Cane toads were introduced into Australia in 1935.

Gold Coast coordinator of Watergum's Cane Toads program Emily Vincent said the "stress and wash" method had been viewed numerous times by citizen scientists.

"It's quite amusing to watch and it's quite different from other native species and their methods of eating them," she said.

"The ibis will pick up cane toads and they will flick them about and stress out the toads." 

"What this does is it makes the cane toads release toxins from the parotoid gland at the back of their neck, which is their defence mechanism when they're faced with predators.

"Then they'll take them down to the creek and wash them."

Happyman wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 1:09 am I’ve spent a lot of time watching the Australian Brushturkey and White Ibis over the last 2 years.

They always seem to be where ever i am.

You are Richard Carpenter, and I claim my five pounds.

seby wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 3:12 am

Yeah, I fucking hate this shit.

Uh hur uh hur uh hur.

That’s really interesting. Our White Ibis isn’t quite as bold, and I’ve always found them to be somewhat elegant. I usually see them in estuaries and along rivers. They live within close proximity to the Gulf Coast, although I do see them here in Central TX from time to time. They don’t hang around urban areas and I’ve never seen one rooting through the trash. I’m intrigued by this Australian White Ibis.

Do y’all have grackles Down Under? They shit everywhere, steal food when you’re not looking, and make a general nuisance of themselves. People have a love/hate relationship with them here in Austin.

Dave N. wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 1:11 pm Do y’all have grackles Down Under? They shit everywhere, steal food when you’re not looking, and make a general nuisance of themselves. People have a love/hate relationship with them here in Austin.

Those bastards travel in HUGE flocks, too.

(I think grackles only reside in the Americas, BTW)