Sunflower Birds – Video

Terrific video of birds feeding from sunflower seeds. By Marie Read and Lang Elliott.

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Less birds in my Backyard

Now that temperature has changed from hot to cold especially at night and mainly early morning when the grass is covered with frost. I can tell  there are less birds going to the feeders because the amount of seeds being consumed. It’s going to be one week since the last time  I refilled the feeders with seeds and now they’re still half way empty, what regularly I do every day.

Today I bring you some pictures from previous seasons:

Eastern Towhee (Male)

Canon 20D\

f/5.6 – 1/400 – IS0 1600

Eastern Towhee (Female)

Canon 20D

f/5.6 – 1/800 – ISO 1600

Eastern Bluebird

Canon 20D

f/8.0 – 1/80 – ISO 1600

Eastern Bluebird

Canon 20D

f/8.0 – 1/400 – ISO 1000

All photos are © H.J. Ruiz – Avian 101

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Halloween

In a few more days will be Halloween again!

History of possible Halloween Origins

“Historian Nicholas Rogers, exploring the origins of Halloween, notes that while “some folklorists have detected its origins in the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the festival of the dead called Parentalia, it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain, whose original spelling was Samuin (pronounced sow-an or sow-in)”. The name of the festival historically kept by the Gaels and celts in the British Isles which is derived from Old Iris and means roughly “summer’s end”

Scarecrows

All parents in our community are talking about what kind of costumes their children are going to wear and trying to organize whether go trick-or-treating in small groups or just go together. There are all kinds of ideas for doing it but always having in mind the safety of the kids.

My wife Lucy is still looking for a costume for our grandson Tyler. The problem is that he’s grown and is between sizes, some of the costumes are too small and others are to big, but I’m sure she’ll find one.

We are buying more candy this year, because last year we ran short of it early. Several new young families have moved in our community this year, all of them have small children. The average age of homeowners in our community is 36 years old.

Halloween’s always been a lot of fun for all kids and many adults too! Just have cautious to cross the streets with kids and watch out for anything that might look suspicious or dangerous.

Let’s have a fun Halloween! 🙂

All photographs are © H.J. Ruiz – Avian 101

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Elegant-crested Tinamou

Elegant Crested Tinamou a.k.a. Martineta Tinamou, Eudromia elegans

This is a medium-sized tinamou that can be found in southern Chile and Argentina in shrub-land.

Elegant-crested Tinamou

Eudromia comes from two Greek words, eu meaning well or nicely, and dromos meaning a running escape. These definitions together mean, nice running escape, which refers to their habit of escaping predators by running. Finally, elegans means neat or elegant, and martinete is Spanish for night heron because its elegant crest is reminiscent of a night heron’s crest.

The Elegant-crested Tinamou averages 39–41 cm (15–16 in) long. The species is a dark or yellowish brown partridge-like bird with a short tail and wings, two white stripes on each side of its face and a long crest with an upward pointed tip. The feet have no hind toes and the bluish or greyish legs are short and strong, as they are highly ground bird.

The diet, during the winter, consists mainly of seeds, leaves, fruit and insects, but in the summer it east mainly insects. The nest is a hollow on the ground formed by both birds and situated close to a low bush. The male incubates the eggs and raises the young. When the young chicks hatch, they are down-covered and can run. They leave the nest almost immediately. This Tinamou, unlike others, flocks regularly, especially in winter.

Their call is a loud sad whistle.

All photographs are © H.J. Ruiz – Avian 101 

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