I've always liked Kestrels. Not really sure why, but it could be because I found a young one when I was a kid and looked after it for a while.
That and they can hover, which is cool.
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What's your favourite bird? (feathered variety)
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Posted 2 years ago #
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We had some Rhea's running wild round here, ecsaped after floods.
Bit of a shock riding along a bridle path & coming nose to beak I can tell you.Other than that
Barn Owls
King Fishers
DippersPosted 2 years ago # -
I am a big fan of the plain old Blackbird
Posted 2 years ago # -
Ravens. I never get bored of watching ravens catching air currents and seeming to enjoy the sheer thrill of being a bird.
(you can keep your Golden Eagles etc, nice though they are)Posted 2 years ago # -
Long time since I last saw one.Posted 2 years ago # -
Avocets, little egrets or possibly bee-eaters. Oh, that or king-fishers. I'll take a standard kingfisher, but some of the ones I saw in Africa were fantastic.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I like the Ring Ouzel (or its unfortunate other name Turdus torquatus
)Here is one of my drawings (which are for sale) of one here.
(Others are available on request and commissions accepted. Email and blog site in profile
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Posted 2 years ago # -
All owls and I love the local kingfisher.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Fan of the Turdus merula myself. Handsome chap he is
Posted 2 years ago # -
Mynah bird - just cause of the sheer range of noise they come up with
Ravens - massively clever, apparently, know how to use tools
That eagle owl which is on the loose and could apparently steal cats and small dogs away
Posted 2 years ago # -
Nuthatch. The Tie-Fighter of the avian world.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I'm also a fan of the wren. I don't often see them but when I do I always get a lift from it. I can't believe they are really that small.
Skylarks are pretty cool also. Always know its summer. Round my way there is a walk where you can pretty much hear them all the way round (~7 miles).
I also love swallows. The way they dart and swoop about is awesome. I think because of that I'd have to put them top of the list.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Oyster catchers
"Kleep kleep"
Posted 2 years ago # -
For those who like Starlings.
My favourite? Tricky, I love Swifts, their screams just say summer to me, and watching them tearing around in small groups chasing one another is a lovely summer sight. Ravens, which are starting to recolonise the countryside near me, although I've not seen any local ones yet. Peregrines, which are also coming back around my neck of the woods, I often see them perched or flying around a church in the centre of Bath. Red Kites, beautiful, beautiful bird, to see them also appearing in North Wilts is an absolute joy for me to see. There's loads of others, but those are probably my favourites.Posted 2 years ago # -
Starlings - Funny funny birds, colourful, superb to watch as they fly in their murmerings (?sp?)
Red kites - Truly graceful, still stop and watch them everytime
Swallows - The spitfire of the skies and fantastic to watchPosted 2 years ago # -
I love birds. Only this morning, for example, I awoke to find a gorgeous pair of tits bobbing up and down on my nuts whilst a beautiful big black bird feasted on my seed.
But if I were to pick a favourite, I'd have to say I really yearn for a swallow. You can't beat a good swallow, can you? A swallow in the morning leaves me happy all day. Really looking forward to the first swallow the year...
Posted 2 years ago # -
Hawks - pretty much any hawky type thing really in fact I was quite into falconry at one point - I'd love to have a Harris Hawk that I could take out while riding!
This (as I later found out) escaped gyrfalcon was pretty cool, it let me get really close before it flew off:
I like magpies too - very intelligent, good looking and really quite cheeky.
Posted 2 years ago # -
All birds is luvvly but I suppose my fave is the Lapwing.
Peeeeeewit.....peeeeeeeewit......peeeeeewit.
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Good post, Andy, Bateleurs might be small, but they're really amazing eagles.
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Robins, hard little devils liking a good scrap to protect their turf.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Those of you who are impressed by the sheer size of some birds of prey (and who isnt) should do a search for the word 'Teratorn' and patricularly 'Argentavis' and be impressed by how huge some grew to in the past.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Raven, in the winter some come down off the hill and scavenge down the shore, cool birds make the hoodies look a bit mickey mouse, hard as nails!
Posted 2 years ago # -
petesgaff - Member
Nuthatch. The Tie-Fighter of the avian world.
With you on that one.
Posted 2 years ago # -
The Hoopoe rocks!
However, I have a special place for a little Troglodytes...
Posted 2 years ago # -
They get a lot of bad press, but I'm a big fan of pigeons. I'm not a fancier, but I love watching them walk around, pecking at this and that. They're great.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Meleagris gallopavo
sans feathers?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Such a good thread
Tell me about sea eagles. Remember seeing them on Springwatch and was captivated by them. Where do I have to go to see them? Anywhere closer than Scotland?
Otherwise red kites. Despite having seen thousands of them, they still fascinate me and their colouring is beautiful when viewed through binoculars. Of course we have them in Hampshire too.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I love all kinds of ducks especially runners:
and I used to own chickens:
and I had some ex battery chickens. I love chickens and ducks (not to eat tho)
Posted 2 years ago # -
I love Coal Tits with there sweetoo call.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I can't believe this thread has got so far without this chap.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkSxRRxvQ8E
Mannequin birds rock!
Posted 2 years ago # -
shame they're extinct
Posted 2 years ago # -
Great thread, some superb stuff.
These are local to me (in summer anyway) and always a favourite:
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AvocetMarsh harriers are also a signature East Anglian bird, and thankfully becoming more and more common
Really liked the sea eagle earlier, depressingly most of the farmers round me have big signs saying "No to sea eagles here" in their fields in response to their proposed reintroduction on the Suffolk coast. I for one would love to see them here; marsh and hen harriers are impressive, but sea eagles would be in another league altogether.
Posted 2 years ago # -
One of my favorite foreign birds are Southern Cassowaries.
People often inaccurately mention crocodiles or Komodo dragons as being 'the closest thing to a dinosaur' but if you really want to get an idea of what many theropods were actually like, a Cassowary is surprisingly close, almost like a short-armed Oviraptor.
At the other end of the scale Hummingbirds (and in the old world, Sunbirds) take the maniraptorian body plan to extremes, adapting to an ecological niche more expected of insects.
For similar reasons to the cassowary, I also love Roadrunners... MEEP! MEEP! Posted 2 years ago # -
cinnamon_girl - Member
Such a good thread
Tell me about sea eagles. Remember seeing them on Springwatch and was captivated by them. Where do I have to go to see them? Anywhere closer than Scotland?
I think they are only in Scotland - mainly on mull. They are a reintroduction and still not many pairs - and the gamekeepers keep poisoning them.
There are some on the west coast now I think as well - but mull is the best place to see them. You know when you have seen one - they really are huge. The "flying door"
Hopefully the population will increase. When I was a kid we used to guard peregrine nests as they were so rare- just a dozen pairs IIRC. Now there are hundreds. Osprey populations have recovered as well.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/w/whitetailedeagle/index.aspx
Posted 2 years ago #
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