I found a dead bird.

[Dale]

I've never cared for Bluejays. I think it all goes back to the time that one of them killed my Uncle Frank.

[Jack]

I've never cared for Bluejays. I think it all goes back to the time that one of them killed my Uncle Frank.

How did that happen?

[Joseph E. Smith]

Yes, do tell.

[Martin Milner]

Was it from Toronto?

[Matt_Paris]

Wow! I have never seen such a beautiful jay.

Our ones ar not that colorful.



I remember one night I was camping in the south of France, in spring. I woke up in the middle of the night because of strange noises. Sometimes in the south, hailstorms can be very strong, and completely destroy a tent, so I went out to watch what was happening. Actually it was hailing, but the noises came from birds... Hundreds of birds were falling, hit by the big hailstones.

A lot of them were just stunned, but the morning after hundreds were dead. Sad memory.

[herbivore12]

What's odd about the baby dove is that it had speckled wings, like pictures I found of mourning doves, but the parents both had smooth gray wings. When I first saw it on the roof, I didn't even think that it was a dove, but the head was very distinctly dove-like.

It's all a bit confusing. I guess I'll have to wait till next year to see what happens then.

Could your birds have been white-winged doves? They've been spreading into the SF Bay Area and breeding here pretty regularly, and the adults resemble mourning doves, but have a greyer body.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/programs/A ... e.html#map

(In fact, while the white-winged dove seems to be expanding its range, the mourning dove's numbers have been declining in recent years. There are a couple of projects seeking to reverse the decline.)

Mourning doves can be a bit variable, though, so you may have just seen greyer-than normal adults. This fellow's wings are pretty dusky:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/programs/A ... _Dove.html

I had a pair nesting right next to my front door once. For a couple of weeks, every time I stepped out, an adult would fly off in panic, and scare me to death with that loud, whistling wingbeat. We came to terms, eventually.

[Lorenzo]

I resuced a young mourning dove from the gutter one day as I was driving by. Two adult magpies were pecking it to death. What a horrid example of the way nature works, but I guess there are things I'll never understand or at least accept about it. Humans aren't that much better I suppose with all their toys killing such beautiful birds on the highways as this Blue Jay Cranberry found.

What's really sad is how humans become desensitized to killing innocent animals. I know not all are. But I remember a guy telling me that if there was a little deer in the road, he wouldn't put himself or his car in danger by swerving or braking, he'd just straight run over the darn thing with his big truck and let the chips--as it were--fall where they may.

[jsluder]

But I remember a guy telling me that if there was a little deer in the road, he wouldn't put himself or his car in danger by swerving or braking, he'd just straight run over the darn thing with his big truck and let the chips--as it were--fall where they may.

I once saw someone in a beater pickup do just that to a dog. He had plenty of time and room to brake and/or swerve. Instead, he sped up, ran over (and killed) the dog, then fled the scene.

It made me really mad. My wife totally freaked out. I had to turn around and take her home.

Edited to say: In fairness to my wife, I should probably add that we had just had one of our cats euthanized (cancer) earlier that same day, so she was already quite emotional. (She and this particular cat had "bonded" many years before. They were inseparable.)

[Jack]

What's really sad is how humans become desensitized to killing innocent animals. I know not all are. But I remember a guy telling me that if there was a little deer in the road, he wouldn't put himself or his car in danger by swerving or braking, he'd just straight run over the darn thing with his big truck and let the chips--as it were--fall where they may.

I find it weird that many people can't stand to see cruelty to dogs, cats, or birds, yet they eat cows, pigs, and chickens. Perhaps its because most of us don't see the cows, pigs, and chickens die before they are turned into food. I've seen it plenty of times, and it is not pretty. Even when the animals are killed as "humanely" as possible, it is still gut-wrenching to witness their deaths, especially when you consider that there's no need for them to die other than to make food for people.

On a semi-related note, when Westerners say that a Korean person eating a dog is gross or cruel, I really do wonder how that is different from them eating a cow.

[amar]

But I remember a guy telling me that if there was a little deer in the road, he wouldn't put himself or his car in danger by swerving or braking, he'd just straight run over the darn thing with his big truck and let the chips--as it were--fall where they may.

I once saw someone in a beater pickup do just that to a dog. He had plenty of time and room to brake and/or swerve. Instead, he sped up, ran over (and killed) the dog, then fled the scene.

It made me really mad. My wife totally freaked out. I had to turn around and take her home.

Edited to say: In fairness to my wife, I should probably add that we had just had one of our cats euthanized (cancer) earlier that same day, so she was already quite emotional. (She and this particular cat had "bonded" many years before. They were inseparable.)

i would lose it if i saw anyone doing that to a dog...

[missy]

I'm still waiting to see if the "Blues Brothers" come back.....

Six years ago we had 3 male baby blue jays raised in a nest behind our house. Usually, once they reach adulthood - male jays will not tolerate another male (at least in our area). But these three have constantly hung out together, and have come back every year (we have a feeder, BTW).

I'm also on the lookout for "Baldy" - a male cardinal that doesn't have a top crest, but a bald gray patch on his head. He's been around for 2 years.

On the topic of "mean" bird, mocking birds can be quite nasty, and will dive bomb dogs, kids, lawnmowers - you name it. But we had one around the house when I was a kid that had a call in it's repetoire that sounded suspiciously like our dachshund's bark! It would chase her and bark at her!!!

Sparrows drive me nuts at the bird feeder - they'll sit there and toss seeds all over the place! But the doves like that, because they won't sit on the feeder - they'd much rather eat on the ground.

Then there's the raccoons, squirrels, and possum and what THEY do to the feeders!

Missy

[Walden]

I find it weird that many people can't stand to see cruelty to dogs, cats, or birds, yet they eat cows, pigs, and chickens.

I don't see it as weird. Dogs, cats, and many birds are carnivores. In the case of cats and dogs, more so than humans.

[Walden]

Wow! I have never seen such a beautiful jay.

Our ones ar not that colorful.

We have some colorful buntings, too.
<img src="http://www.birdsofoklahoma.net/images/P ... 0725-2.jpg" width=300>


An especially spectacular jay, not found here in Oklahoma, but native to south Texas and a part of Latin America, is the green jay.

[gonzo914]

That, if I am not mistaken, is a Norwegian Blue Jay. And he's not dead; he's just resting. Or maybe stunned. That's it stunned. Shagged out after a prolonged squawk. He's kipped out on his back and pining for the fjords. Fine bird, the Norwegian Blue Jay. Beautiful plumage.

[Matt_Paris]

Great pictures, Walden, thanks...

Looks like photoshopping. American nature is amazing.