@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social48 of 100: Dovescape
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: Some species of dove have no gall bladders. This led some medieval scientists to conclude (incorrectly) that they had no bile, which, under the theory of four bodily humours, associated doves with sweetness and peace.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social47 of 100: The Lord of the Eagles
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: The Philippine Eagle has one of the largest wingspans of any eagle, reaching up to 2.5 meters.
Deforestation and habitat loss have left this eagle critically endangered, with fewer than 500 adults remaining in the wild.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social46 of 100: Thieving Magpie
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: Magpies' love for stealing shiny objects is folklore; studies have found that magpies actually are less inclined to pick up reflective things.
Being highly intelligent and curious, though, magpies do investigate novel objects.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social45 of 100: Kingfisher
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: Kingfishers, and many other birds that primarily eat fish (like Puffins), have bills with jagged edges called tomial serrations, which act like teeth and prevent wriggling fish from escaping.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social44 of 100: Jackdaw Savior
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: Jackdaws are loud, sociable birds, that often associate with rooks and chatter together when roosting.
Nestlings begin to "cheep" when a week old, and develop their full, "penetrating screech" by their third week.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social43 of 100: Stormscape Familiar
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: Snowy Owls have many adaptations to living in cold, snowy climates. For example, they have feathered toes for warmth, with the longest toe feathers (about 30mm) of any owl.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social42 of 100: Judge's Familiar
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: In the 2000s, a certain pop culture IP inspired a surge of interest in keeping owls as pets. Like most things related to said IP, this is a bad idea. Owls are wild predators, are not pets, and are illegal to own, in most cases.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social41 of 100: Ravenform
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: Some ways to tell the difference between ravens are crows are size (ravens are larger), bill shape (ravens have thicker bills), and tail shape (raven tails are wedge-shaped in flight, whereas crow tails are more fan-shaped).
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social40 of 100: Cartographer's Hawk
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: Many raptors, like Broad-Winged Hawks, prefer flying over land while migrating between North and South America. This leads to incredible spectacles in Panama, with millions of hawks flying over the narrow isthmus.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social39 to 100: Strix Serenade
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: It used to be common for birdwatchers and photographers to use audio playback to lure elusive birds like owls. But research has shown this is harmful: it disrupts birds' rest and causes needless stress. Owl playback is unethical.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social38 of 100: Artificer's Assistant
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: Magpies are exceptionally intelligent, and have been observed using tools, playing games for fun, grieving deceased mates, and even using utensils to cut food into smaller sizes to feed to their young.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social37 of 100: Skyshroud Condor
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: DDT and lead poisoning drove California Condors, the largest North American land bird, extinct in the wild by 1987.
Wild condors have since been restored through a decades-long, painstaking reintroduction of captive birds.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social36 of 100: Giant Albatross
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: The Southern Royal Albatross has one of the largest wingspans of any bird, averaging more than 3 meters.
It takes more than 200 days for albatross fledglings to grow their wings to full length and fly by themselves.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social35 of 100: Dream Thrush
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: Despite its name, the Blue Whistling Thrush, which is known for its human-like whistling song, is not actually a proper thrush, but is rather a member of the Muscicapidae family of Old-World Flycatchers.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social34 of 100: Senu, Keen-Eyed Protector
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: The Bonelli's Eagle is noteworthy for its elongated legs, with large feet and talons. Female Bonelli's Eagles have hallux claws on their rear toes up to 47mm long.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social33 of 100: Murder of Crows
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: Crows, like other corvids, are extremely intelligent. In Japan, some crows drop nuts onto road crosswalks, where passing car tires break them open. Then, when traffic signals stop the cars, the crows safely retrieve the nuts.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social32 of 100: Messenger Jays
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: The genus name for Blue Jays, Cyanocitta, comes from the Greek words kyaneos and kitta, which roughly translates to "blue chatterer."
Like most other blue birds, Blue Jays get their bright color from iridescence, not pigments.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social31 of 100: Silver Erne
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: The word "Erne" refers most often to White-Tailed Eagle. Once widespread throughout Western Europe, by 1900 these eagles were extinct in Britain, where the government had offered a bounty of 5 shillings a head for killing sea eagles.
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social30 of 100: Murmuration
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: Starling murmurations can involve thousands of birds. In 2013, physicists found that each bird synchronizes its movements with close neighbors, so that "information moves across the flock very quickly and with nearly no degradation."
@bibliovoreorc.bsky.social29 of 100: CovetedPeacock
Wingspan-Style Fun Fact: According to Aelian, in "On the Characteristics of Animals," Alexander the Great was so stunned by the beauty of the peafowl he encountered in India, that he threatened punishment with death to anyone who killed one.
