this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2024
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[–] medicsofanarchy 58 points 9 months ago (1 children)

About a year ago I downloaded an app called Merlin. You can let it listen and it'll identify all the birds around you by their calls. I've found myself rushing outside with my phone if I hear an unusual bird while I'm in my study. Then I look at myself and wonder, who the hell is this?

[–] beetus 4 points 8 months ago

then I look at myself and wonder, who the hell is this?

Someone with passion for the world they live in! I have the same experience with the Merlin app after a friend suggested I download it last year. It's so fun seeing real time identification of multiple birds at once

[–] [email protected] 31 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

As a kid I adored being indoctrinated by my bird fanatic grandmother. I'd spend so much time looking through her Audubon's Guide to Eastern Birds (US), and she would help me identify anything that came to the feeder.

She died several years ago and that was the one thing of hers I asked for. Now my four-year-old daughter likes to look through it with me. I even bought her a brand new copy the book's western counterpart, since I live in western Canada now. I've even converted my wife who was once so ignorant of bird-related lore that she asked me one time if birds have ears.

[–] TotalFat 18 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Well don't leave me hanging!

Do birds have ears?

[–] [email protected] 16 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Yes, they do have holes at the sides of their heads that are used to capture sounds. They usually skip the meat flaps we have around them though, in favour of some magnificent fluffy feathers

[–] CosmicTurtle 8 points 9 months ago

My cockatiel absolutely loved it when I scratched his ear feathers.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago
[–] SpruceBringsteen 22 points 9 months ago (1 children)

A couple bald eagles sent me into a camera hobby, they fucking ruined me those birds. I'm broke as shit and my lens still isn't long enough.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

The only reason I didn't impulse buy a teleconverter to tack on my impulse bought 600mm is that it would just get me (more) underexposed pictures. But the urge is real, and we don't even have bald eagles around here.

[–] SpruceBringsteen 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Cmon, a long lens with 2.0 aperture is only 4-6k. Totally worth it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Why settle when I could get a 800mm 5.6 for a mere 14k?

[–] [email protected] 18 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Damn. I though i was just getting in to a nice new hobby, but apparently I'm just getting old.

[–] sxt 9 points 9 months ago

It was all over as soon as I bought a camera. I even live right next to some wetlands. Didn't stand a chance.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago

110% it started with some light fun making about birds not being real. Looking at superbowl pics and researching different tits.

Now I regularly visit Greggs for a baguette then sit and feed my army of starlings in town while tempting other birds to me.

I plan on visiting the South of my city to see some wood parrots this weekend. 🐦

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago

... Look Raymond, a yellow crested warbler.

[–] BanjoShepard 6 points 9 months ago

I need everyone to catch up. Soon it will be cool that I was a thirteen year old running around the neighborhood with a pair of binoculars. My friends are going to be so jealous that I got such a head start.

[–] probablynaked 5 points 8 months ago

Crossposted to [email protected] . Join us, you know you want to!

[–] chuckleslord 5 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Roseate Spoonbill. That's the end of my bird knowledge

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Neat birds. They're pink because of their diet like flamingos, and iirc while they're kinda monogamous, the ones I'm most familiar with had all kinds of soap opera style drama. They also don't smell great.

Source - I worked next to the roseate spoonbill enclosure at Animal Kingdom for a few years.

The sandhill crane is probably my favorite bird though. There's something extremely dinosaur like about them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Sandhills are my favorite too. They have a super recognizable call and their courtship dances are neat to watch.

[–] Cornucopiaofplenty 1 points 8 months ago

They eat flamingoes?

[–] Chestnut 2 points 9 months ago

Don't let Brennan know this one, he'll become unstoppable

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

When my grandfather passed, I got his bird call clock. I thought it was an innocent item to remember my grandfather, but apparently it's a time bomb.

[–] AnUnusualRelic 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

When you like looking at animals, birds are one of the easiest choice. Birds and insects are the only two categories that you'll encounter pretty much anywhere.

As expected birds are more popular.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Nice I just saw some yellow rumped warblers

[–] TotalFat 3 points 9 months ago

I've always lived in high migration pathways, so I had a mild interest from that. Then I picked up Wingspan in Switch which has tons of interesting birds in it. I noticed even Target sells the original tabletop game, but the Switch version is a great way to learn the game.

[–] marcos 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

I just noticed during a work meeting today that the birds near my window become extremely weary when I look into them. To the point that one behaved like that Super Mario ghost that only moves when you are not looking.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Well, yeah. They are not real. They are drones operated by the government to spy on you. And it seems they suspect you are onto them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

When I was a child my parents took me to a zoo and gave me a disposable camera. Most of the pictures were of birds.

The birds are going to be migrating in my area soon and I'm hopeful I'll see some cool birds.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

I feel attacked. I saw some birds cross the street while driving to visit my Dad and I spent like 8 hours looking up birds to try to figure out what they were and I've been into it ever since.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

identifying them by the sound when you're walking through the woods or w/e is just as addictive.. there's a couple of falcons around here that have been making a bunch of noise, along with all the crows and cardinals and robins and everybody else..

[–] tuto193 0 points 8 months ago

My interest in the different kinds of tits was present already from a very young age