62
votes
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Why is there such a singular place for bird watching?
This is rather speculative, but draws on a few birding/wildlife books I've read and it's too much for a comment. It also has a little UK bias, but I've visited 4 continents on wildlife trips, and much ...
- 26.1k
44
votes
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Why do some birds fly in a V-formation?
They fly on the wing currents produced by the birds in front of them. It's similar to drafting someone in front of you while cycling or racing. The leader is breaking trail, and the followers are ...
- 53.5k
41
votes
Accepted
What is this animal with orange webbed feet, a white head with black stripes, and really likes breadcrumbs?
I believe this is a bar-headed goose.
Source
Source
The Bar-headed Goose has a white head with distinctive black bars or stripes on its head, black extending down the front and back of the neck, ...
31
votes
A bird is stuck flying in circles in my room. How to make it fly away?
I have never had to do it but my mother used to do it like this:
Switch off all lights that show in the room, close the door.
Close the curtains. When it goes dark the bird will sit down. All birds ...
- 3,579
23
votes
Accepted
Why does this blue tit bird desperately want to come inside?
Two possibilities:
There's something it thinks is food on the inside. Note that blue tits are quite clever at accessing food, to the extent of opening foil-topped milk-bottles (though the linked ...
- 26.1k
20
votes
Accepted
Do bees at the hummingbird feeders keep the birds away?
Yes, there is actually quite a bit of discussion you can find online. Bees in large numbers can keep hummingbirds away. They don't want to get stung either!
However, you can lessen the bees by doing ...
- 546
20
votes
Is the correct term Canada Goose or Canadian Goose?
According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the name is Canada Goose.
The big, black-necked Canada Goose with its signature white chinstrap
mark is a familiar and widespread bird of fields and ...
- 23.4k
17
votes
Does a bird really abandon the nest? Will similar birds re-use it?
Birds do not typically reuse nests, as pests and parasites typically move in and use it as a habitat after the birds are done with it. Those birds who do reuse nests often don't have much success ...
- 53.5k
15
votes
Why is there such a singular place for bird watching?
It's also a case of accessibility, birding really doesn't take any special equipment beyond say a pair of binoculars and birds will visit peoples backyards and bird feeders. While mammals can be shy ...
- 69.2k
15
votes
A bird is stuck flying in circles in my room. How to make it fly away?
I took a large wooden board and started waving at it, to make it fly in a more chaotic manner. After several minutes, it finally found the window!
I think it started to get tired, so it started ...
- 4,486
14
votes
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What should I feed ravens/crows?
We love crows! I live in America, where there are three main breeds of crow, including American Crows, Fish Crows, and Northwestern Crows. They're a bit different from the Common ravens, and other ...
14
votes
Accepted
What would cause sudsy surf?
The suds are caused by protein. Protein is usually consumed by the nitrogen cycle and finally plant life, but if there is enough water churning by wind and white caps and breaking waves it can froth ...
- 4,802
14
votes
Accepted
Why would a Canada Goose sleep on a frozen pond?
it's not cold for a goose, as they bring their insulating down-filled sleeping gear with them.
ponds/lakes are safer for them than a field where predators are more common. Typically in a flock, not ...
- 996
14
votes
Do birds eat chillies? Do they feel the chilli heat?
TLDR: Yes they eat them, No they don't feel the heat.
The tiny Bird’s Eye Chili originated in Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, The Philippines, and surrounding countries, but they can now be found all ...
- 69.2k
14
votes
Accepted
Why do they turn the 9/11 Memorial Lights off for birds?
The basic idea of turning them off temporarily is to let the birds readjust to their surroundings.
For reasons still unknown to science, artificial light attracts birds, from fledgling seabirds to ...
- 69.2k
13
votes
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How to help birds with water?
Providing water for birds in summer is always a brilliant idea, not just to drink but for them to have a nice bath in!
Usually bird baths are actually kind of shallow, or rather the edges usually are ...
- 15.4k
13
votes
Accepted
Bird identification from feathers - brown-black feathers, medium size, West Sweden
Looks like a female capercaillie to me. What killed it could be anything. Because the feathers seem pretty much intact I'd suspect a bird of prey like a goshawk. Here is a picture of a female ...
- 146
12
votes
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What is the best way to give an injured bird water?
There are several ways to give birds a drink.
if it is calm just dip the beak in water and let it drink naturally. Your method of dropping water of cotton wool is fine.
Dropper, syringe or drop-wise ...
- 136
12
votes
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Did I see an Osprey?
The osprey does seem the most likely option. There are only a handful of breeding pairs in North Wales, but they are in your area so it's credible.
The wingspan of a small common buzzard starts at ...
- 11.7k
12
votes
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Are the birds that snatch bread out of the air "more citified" (tamer) than those who let it drop?
No, gulls (of some species at least) steal food from other birds by moving them until they drop it. They must then be adept at snatching the falling food in mid air.
There's material of interest in ...
- 26.1k
12
votes
Is this bar-headed goose's behavior an indication of a problem?
Paul Lydon could be right. The behavior is designed to encourage worms to come to the surface, to make it easier for the geese to find and eat.
From the same Wikipedia page he quoted, entitled Worm ...
12
votes
Accepted
What is the ecological justification (if any) for bird feeders?
If we exclude the birdwatching explanation Shem gives, the only possible ecological reason for a bird feeder is to counteract the negative effect we have on the bird's habitat by having our house ...
- 24.9k
11
votes
Does a bird really abandon the nest? Will similar birds re-use it?
Some species reuse abandoned nests. According to the Bird Nests and Eggs field guide, great horned owls reuse abandoned raptor nests, and elf owls nest in abandoned woodpecker holes. This is far ...
- 769
11
votes
Accepted
How can I tell the difference between an American Crow, and a Common Raven that lives in America?
According to this article, (How to Tell a Raven From a Crow):
Ravens often travel in pairs, while crows are seen in larger groups. Also, watch the bird’s tail as it flies overhead. The crow’s tail ...
- 69.2k
11
votes
Is this bar-headed goose's behavior an indication of a problem?
I have seen gulls do exactly that. It is known as:
Worm charming, worm grunting, and worm fiddling are methods of attracting earthworms from the ground. The activity is usually performed to collect ...
- 5,980
11
votes
Accepted
What is this black and white bird with thin brown legs and a multi-colored beak, found in Massachusetts USA in January?
It looks like a Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), which are quite common over here in the UK.
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/s/starling/
Starlings love suet....
- 933
11
votes
Accepted
How much weight can a bald eagle carry?
According to the Alaskan Fish And Game department,
"The wings of an eagle need to support the eight to 12-pound bird as
well as whatever the bird is carrying, and best estimates put the
...
- 1,857
11
votes
Accepted
Do any birds hibernate?
According to the RSPB, which @muru found spelled out at the bottom of the linked page below as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, there is one species of bird that does truly hibernate. ...
- 23.4k
11
votes
Accepted
How do songbirds and small animals know when there's a hawk in the immediate vicinity?
All it takes is one of the birds to notice and give the alarm and then the other birds join in. Even the chipmunks and squirrels will listen to the birds and then pass the message along.
Birds' ...
- 69.2k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible