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Birb is still the Wirb
- Thread starter Daikaiju
- Start date
Aww yiss birbtimes are happenin'
It's that, too! It's also the wirb, the warb, and (oddly enough) the Rob.
This one is especially the warb:
So mote it be.
This one is especially the warb:
What kind of birb is that friend? A+ color scheme.
So sleepy. What a bunch of uh... night owls. (Isn't that redunant?)Aww yiss birbtimes are happenin'
This is my favorite bird, the American Kestrel:
They're the smallest birds of prey in North America, ranging from 8-ish inches to just over a foot in length, with a wingspan of around two feet. Despite the name, they also range to parts of Central and South America as well. They subsist mainly on a diet of insects, lizards, mice, and other, smaller birds (e.g. sparrows).
They're also adorable as hell. Just look at it!
They're the smallest birds of prey in North America, ranging from 8-ish inches to just over a foot in length, with a wingspan of around two feet. Despite the name, they also range to parts of Central and South America as well. They subsist mainly on a diet of insects, lizards, mice, and other, smaller birds (e.g. sparrows).
They're also adorable as hell. Just look at it!
I did learn more and I'm glad, thank you!
Kestrels are my favorite, too!
I once saw a female kestrel chase a juvenile gray squirrel across a street into some bushes. The squirrel was the same size as she was, and yet she was like I'MMA EAT THAT and with a tiny determination did her best to make it happen. I did not see what ultimately happened, as I was driving to an eye appointment at the time (the chase happened directly in front of my car).
Haha, that actually reminds me of a similar bird-chasing-prey story I have. One time a couple years ago I was walking out of my college's music building after wind band practice (this was on the second floor), and I saw a squirrel run right by me. Not two seconds later a hawk (at least, I think it was a hawk) flies right by like a foot away from my face, talons outstretched and everything. I didn't see the outcome of the chase, but I like to think the squirrel got away.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
The Invasion of the Body Snatchers: Birbs Edition
The Invasion of the Body Snatchers: Birbs Edition
"I served with Great Horned Owl. I knew Great Horned Owl. Great Horned Owl was a friend of mine. You're no Great Horned Owl."
someone in the comments on that video said:
This is my favorite bird, the American Kestrel:
They're the smallest birds of prey in North America, ranging from 8-ish inches to just over a foot in length, with a wingspan of around two feet. Despite the name, they also range to parts of Central and South America as well. They subsist mainly on a diet of insects, lizards, mice, and other, smaller birds (e.g. sparrows).
They're also adorable as hell. Just look at it!
My favorite falcon fact is that falcons are not raptors - they're not related to hawks and eagles and buzzards and so on, like many people assumed for a long time.
No, falcons are an evolutionary offshoot of parrots. The fastest creature on Earth is an adorable little murderparrot.
I love the way they stare into the camera halfway through the video, like, "Can you believe this horseshit? Because I cannot believe this horseshit."
“You know I’m one of nature’s most perfectly designed killing machines, right? Y’sure you want to keep doing this?”
Vidfamne
Banned
Yes, not to infringe on anyone here, but I'm bewildered by people who keep owls as "pets" and I have doubts that it's good practice, much as I acknowledge those birds' pareidolic beauty. Which is the problem: they happen to have vaguely catlike faces and they're popular in Japan, so of course the wider Internet "loves" them in the sense that H. H. loved one Dolly Schiller; they have been safely solipsized.
Videos thereof may look "cute" in the moment, but even humans will habitually present resignation (either "shutting down" under acute stress, or through chronic stress leading to desensitization), or juvenile overattachment, as something quite easily confused for affection. I won't claim that it must be this, only that it could be this. Also I think it's safe to say that all the Internet-photogenic "pet" owls imprinted on a human rather than another owl.
I haven't worked with owls or other birds of prey in my life, I can't first-hand judge anything here.
Videos thereof may look "cute" in the moment, but even humans will habitually present resignation (either "shutting down" under acute stress, or through chronic stress leading to desensitization), or juvenile overattachment, as something quite easily confused for affection. I won't claim that it must be this, only that it could be this. Also I think it's safe to say that all the Internet-photogenic "pet" owls imprinted on a human rather than another owl.
I haven't worked with owls or other birds of prey in my life, I can't first-hand judge anything here.
I'll deliberately pass on the opportunity for "we just don't know".
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Yeah, as much as I think owls are absolute cutie-patooties, and very nice and soft to pet, they don't really belong as pets or on perches in small cafes. Birds that make good pets are social creatures, like parrots and pigeons, even corvids - owls are not social. Also? They're kinda dumb as shit. Despite being symbols of wisdom they are not the smartest birbs on borbway.
Japan has extremely lax exotic-pet laws; I've been in a pet store in a mall with dogs cats and birds, sugar gliders and hedgehogs, chipmunks and prairie dogs, meerkats and raccoons, a monkey, and more. Japanese culture isn't also great with animal shelters or anything - when someone decides they don't want a pet, they usually just dump it. Northern Japan has a growing pest population of raccoons because they look like such great pets but are waaaaaay too smart and active for the casual owner, so they get dumped, and welp.
That said - there was one owl at the cafe I went to who actually loved getting scritches and hanging out with people. It was a tiny one too, the size of a normal pet bird, similar to the above. I don't know if it's a breed thing, or if they happened to find one with a personality.
Anyway, if someone educates themselves about the animal they're keeping and is willing to do the extensive work to properly care for an exotic animal, I don't see it as a problem for them to keep such an animal. Waiting in line for another bird cafe I went to, a woman rocked up with a hawk on her arm. She's a regular there since they can get food for it? She kinda pops it on one of the perches now and then. Does falconry (...hawkry?), was going to compete or exhibit in some sort of show the next day. Hell, if you're willing to do the extensive work on enrichment and tons of cleanup, I think raccoons and ravens could make great pets. A tiny apartment is probably not a great place to keep an owl, but then again, a lot of our "normal" pets aren't actually domesticated either. Cats haven't actually changed much from our presence like dogs have - they just happen to like us and hang around, so we do that. Most of our small-rodent pets are just small enough to keep easily in a cage, not actually socialized or anything.
Japan has extremely lax exotic-pet laws; I've been in a pet store in a mall with dogs cats and birds, sugar gliders and hedgehogs, chipmunks and prairie dogs, meerkats and raccoons, a monkey, and more. Japanese culture isn't also great with animal shelters or anything - when someone decides they don't want a pet, they usually just dump it. Northern Japan has a growing pest population of raccoons because they look like such great pets but are waaaaaay too smart and active for the casual owner, so they get dumped, and welp.
That said - there was one owl at the cafe I went to who actually loved getting scritches and hanging out with people. It was a tiny one too, the size of a normal pet bird, similar to the above. I don't know if it's a breed thing, or if they happened to find one with a personality.
Anyway, if someone educates themselves about the animal they're keeping and is willing to do the extensive work to properly care for an exotic animal, I don't see it as a problem for them to keep such an animal. Waiting in line for another bird cafe I went to, a woman rocked up with a hawk on her arm. She's a regular there since they can get food for it? She kinda pops it on one of the perches now and then. Does falconry (...hawkry?), was going to compete or exhibit in some sort of show the next day. Hell, if you're willing to do the extensive work on enrichment and tons of cleanup, I think raccoons and ravens could make great pets. A tiny apartment is probably not a great place to keep an owl, but then again, a lot of our "normal" pets aren't actually domesticated either. Cats haven't actually changed much from our presence like dogs have - they just happen to like us and hang around, so we do that. Most of our small-rodent pets are just small enough to keep easily in a cage, not actually socialized or anything.
It's time to pick the Bird of the Year!
www.birdoftheyear.org.nz
Bird of the Year ‹ Forest & Bird
Forest & Bird’s Bird of the Year recognises our unique birds and with each vote you give them a voice.
www.birdoftheyear.org.nz
