17 of 100: Plumes of Peace
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: In North America, any pure white dove is most likely a Rock Pigeon with a recessive genetic mutation.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social17 of 100: Plumes of Peace
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: In North America, any pure white dove is most likely a Rock Pigeon with a recessive genetic mutation.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social16 of 100: Strix Lookout
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: Most non-fantasy owls are nocturnal. If you spot a roosting owl during the day, be an ethical birdwatcher: keep your distance, and don't disturb it. The owl is resting. It needs sleep, just like you.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social15 of 100: Seaside Haven
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: Birds that nest in large numbers on bird cliffs include auks, kittiwakes, barnacle geese, and typical Old World vultures.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social14 of 100: Explorer's Scope
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: A spotting scope is an excellent birdwatching investment, after you already have a good pair of binoculars. Spotting scopes offer greater light collection and magnification, at the cost of size. You'll need a good travel tripod.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social13 of 100: City Pigeon
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: Pigeons were domesticated more than 5,000 years ago, with records in Mesopotamian tablets. This long history of selective breeding explains the many different colors and patterns of Rock Pigeons.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social#Birdmander conservation call to action:
The history of Passenger Pigeons shows that even abundant bird species can be devastated by careless human activity.
There were an estimated 3 to 5 billion Passenger Pigeons in North America at the time of European colonization. By 1914, they were extinct.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social12 of 100: Restless Anchorage
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: Northern Gannets are the largest seabirds in the North Atlantic. They have wingspans of up to 2 meters, and will travel up to 300 kilometers to hunt.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social11 of 100: Serra Aviary
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: Modern aviaries are more than zoos, and play important roles in conservation and research.
The National Aviary in Pittsburgh, PA, USA houses more than 150 different species of birds.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social10 of 100: Carrier Pigeons
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: The first regular airmail service in New Zealand was operated by the Great Barrier Pigeongram Agency, which opened in 1897. Special pigeon post stamps were issued, and the service continued delivering mail until 1908.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social#Birdmander conservation call to action:
Canada's Ministry of Environment and Climate Change recently approved a hunting season for Sandhill Cranes in Ontario. Sandhill Cranes are a conservation success story; in the 1930s, fewer than 25 breeding pairs remained.
Allowing crane hunts is a mistake.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social9 of 10: Animal Sanctuary
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: There are 92 Migratory Bird Sanctuaries across Canada, comprising almost 11.5 million hectares of migratory bird habitat that provides safe refuge for birds.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social8 of 100: Migratory Route
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: Despite weighing less than 6 grams, tiny Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds migrate between North and Central America every year, including crossing over the Gulf of Mexico during a single 20-hour, non-stop flight.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social7 of 100: Pileated Provisioner
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: Pileated Woodpeckers excavate nest holes in dead trees that are so large, they can snap small trees in half. Racoons and small mammals, as well as other birds, may repurpose abandoned woodpecker nests as homes of their own.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social6 of 100: Thalakos Lowlands
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: Edge habitats, at the intersection of different terrain types (like grasslands and wetlands), are some of the best places for birdwatching, and can support a remarkable diversity of species.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social5 of 100: Swords to Plowshares (Ice Age printing)
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: A Picasso lithograph, titled "La Colombe (The Dove)," was chosen as the emblem for the World Peace Council in Paris in April 1949.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social4 of 100: Colorful Feiyi Sparrow
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: The true sparrow family (Passer) contains 48 different species, ranging in size from the Chestnut Sparrow (~11 cm long) to the Parrot-Billed Sparrow (~18 cm long).
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social#Birdmander conservation call to action:
The tiny Magellanic Plover is endangered by habitat loss and climate change. Local conservation groups in Argentina and Chile are doing incredible work to protect the species.
You can learn more here: www.manomet.org/publication/...
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social3 of 100: Adarkar Wastes
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: The tiny Magellanic Plover nests on the Patagonian steppe, often on the unsheltered sides of lakebeds, where average windspeeds routinely exceed 100 km/h.
Despite its name, the Magellanic Plover is not a plover.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social2 of 100: Mockingbird
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: Male mockingbirds learn to imitate the songs of other birds, as well as environmental noises, like sirens and car alarms.
In the 19th century, so many Mockingbirds were kept as cage pets, they nearly disappeared from the eastern U.S.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social1 of 100: Kastral, the Windcrested
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: The best way to use binoculars for birdwatching is to first locate the bird with your bare eyes, then, without looking away, raise the binoculars to your face.
