Posted on 08/13/2011 3:56:45 PM PDT by EveningStar
Occurring on every continent except Antarctica, the osprey is the one of the most widespread birds of prey...
(Excerpt) Read more at arkive.org ...
Years ago I found an injured Osprey, which I thought was an Eagle, in the woods crying so I had a local YMCA get the Rangers out to rescue her and months later her wing healed and she was released.....
That is so funny you said that. The black phoebe is my totem bird. Let me explain:
I'm a professional bird surveyor, and every spring I team up with a bunch of young wildlife biologists to perform breeding bird surveys in an Interior West state. Even though they're in their mid-twenties -- and I'm old enough to be their father -- I still seem to have more energy than they do. In fact, I often come up with little intellectual games as the season is beginning. One such game involves "totem birds."
My definition of a totem bird is one that is a resident of somewhere that you absolutely love. It's the bird that is always there in all your favorite places.
For me, it's the black phoebe. It's now become a recurring joke with my fellow bird surveyors. When we're at a beautiful southwestern oasis, and we see a black phoebe, I always say, "Well, that means I can live here."
The crew this year produced some interesting totem birds. One female claimed hers was the American kestrel. Another, the Bewick's wren. Another, the American dipper. Another (from Iowa), the bobolink. And another, the pine siskin.
But sorry, La Enchiladita, I've already claimed the black phoebe as my totem bird!
Lol!
What about you guys?
Mine would have to be the Black-capped Chickadee for sure. LOVE those little birds and they were the first bird to get me interesting in birding. I had one singing it’s spring time song at 5am in the pitch dark and it woke me up. It did it again the next day and it took me a week to realize what it was and I then proceeded to put up bird feeders.
I also love my Carolina Wrens.
Good work, FRiend!
Oh my goodness!!! Well, you have to come live here, lol. The Phoebe makes sure to greet me everywhere I go. I can be walking and have my mind elsewhere but its call penetrates to my consciousness so I look around and there he or she is, usually perched rather low... on a wall or a low twiggy branch or street sign. Then, when I say hello she leaves the branch, dips down and re-alights. Sometimes the Phoebe will fly ahead of me on a walk, from perch to perch. I do not know what this means at all, because I do not love where I live....but the friendship is very special to me.
Now that was cool!
You must live in the Midwest or somewhere thereabouts, because that's the only place that has both the carolina wren and the black-capped chickadee.
Now I envy you!
Absolutely beautiful bird. In fact, I almost took the handle of "black phoebe" when I first joined FR, but I thought that it may confuse people into believing that I'm a black female. Lol!
Since I'm actually a white male, I thought to use the handle "flycatcher" (which is what a black phoebe is), instead.
Nothing wrong with flycatchers!
I see someone else now envies you, so things are evening out, so to speak:)
We have Anna’s hummingbird all year ‘round in Southern California. A couple of years ago, I was blessed to have a momma hummer nest right outside my window in the fall. She raised one baby and then, in a second nesting, raised two. I was so privileged to have an unlimited view... such a thrill.
So what's your totem bird?
Thanks......I also pulled my car over last week and picked up this pretty big turtle in the middle of the road, and I also saved a snake in the middle of the road with a big stick....I’m in the wrong profession!!!!!
Mine would have to be the Black-capped Chickadee for sure
Yep, they are mine too...,.I hate the Robins which are my state bird, they poop everywhere and they have an awful squawk as youngsters. In fact the damn things keep begging their parents for food long after all the little birds have grown up........I think they're democrats.
I'd like to see the chickadees replace the robin as our state bird since they stay here the year around while most of the robins head south.......
Once I discovered I had a chickadee in the area, I focused my bird feeding on him. Turns out he had a partner and now there are four of them coming to my feeder........
I've made a couple bird houses for them hoping they will use them but haven't been successful this year.........
It is great to talk with someone who knows my special friend so well and enjoys him or her also. This has been fun!!
I forgot you said you lived in central Mass.
I thought the Carolina wren could not possibly be that far north, so I had to check my bird range maps. You're right.
The Carolina wren's range does (barely) extend into the southern half of Mass.
I LOVE learning new bird facts every day!
At NAS Patuxent River Maryland, an Osprey kicked the crap out of an Eagle that Bubba Clinton turned loose.
Lived in Osprey Florida during the 70’s.
Used to have a lot of osprey’s, now it’s housing tracts where the woods used to be. Even the local state park.. Oscar Scherer expects to lose it’s scrub jay population due to loss of habitat and inbreeding due to isolation. Gotta love them yankees, they’re making florida just like jersey and long island.
I do the same thing.
But I look at it this way: God gave us dominion to be responsible stewards, not environmentalist fruitcakes who worshiop Mother Earth.
I applaud your responsible stewardship!
Awesome video. It even shows an Osprey repositioning the fish face forward while in it’s talons.
They're an amazingly hardy bird, and , yes, they are residents in the northern tier of the Lower 48. The robin often does migrate south.
I'm with you: If I had to pick a state bird between the robin and the black-capped chickadee, it would be chickadee all the way.
But I'm not an anti-robinist!
Snort!
I have a bird question. Is there a list (hopefully on-line) that lists the dimensions for bird houses by species? I’m interested in building some, but don’t know the particulars. I live in the Sierra Mtns on US50 between Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe @ 4000 feet elevation (near Placerville). About the only birds I see around are bluejays, but then I’m a woodworker not a bird person. Any help would be much appreciated.
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