I attended a raptor banding demonstration at the Cape May Autumn festival a few years back, and the presenter demonstrated this ability with a Sharp-shinned Hawk they'd captured, just before they released him.  He moved the bird's body around to show us how his head stayed perfectly still.  He maintained that this is quite handy when perched on a branch that's moving in the wind, particularly if one is monitoring a set of bird feeders...

At the time, I thought it was one of the coolest things I'd ever seen...I described it to Jeane, fully knowing that one really had to see it to appreciate.  So, thanks for the video, I played it for Jeane so she too could stare in amazement!

And apparently we're not the only species who appreciates the value of a dollar (or a silver coin):
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/05/magazine/05FREAK.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1

Old but good article about monkeys learning to use money...

[T]

T is for Tern, in this case, Royal Terns.  We took both photos in Florida in winter.  In the first photo, a single Royal Tern is fraternizing with some Laughing Gulls, and the second photo just shows a whole batch of Royal Terns.

Patti

[T]

T is for Trumpeter Swan -- I took the photo in Yellowstone (the last week of September before the serious snow started to fall there).

Patti

Another bird from my Kepler Track hike in NZ:

TOMTIT

I found this tiny little itty bitty thing (what, 10 grams or so) stuck tenaciously and fearlessly (They are known for not fearing Us) to the screen door of the "hut" in the morning - on the mountain.

dale

I loved those little guys in New Zealand!  I found that not only did they not fear us, but that "pishing" brought them right up in our faces, along with the fantails.  They wouldn't hold still for the fractions of a second it would take to get a good photo however.  The first time I saw one of those New Zealand birds somewhat off in the distance, and "pished" to bring it closer, I about jumped out of my skin as it made a fast beeline straight at me, landed about a foot from my face, and proceeded to flit around curiously.

Patti

Patti - why is your wild turkey so different from my wild turkey?
Is it the light or that pesky genetic business?

OK...I am stumped.  Browsing through Sibley, wikipedia, and several other sources, I discovered that turkeys are sexually dimorphic, so it's possible that we've got two different genders.  There are also multiple subspecies that are somewhat different, but it's not very clear to me whether it's likely ours would be different subspecies or not.  Oh well...it will remain a mystery unless a real expert is around to weigh in.

Patti

[T]

T is for Townsend's Solitaire.  This bird is in the thrush family (along with robins, bluebirds, and the birds who actually have "thrush" in their last name).  I took this photograph in Yellowstone on a dreary, blustery day; this pose is very typical; when I've seen them, they're always perched on the top-most branch of a tree, usually a conical pine.  This often leads to photographs that are nothing but silhouettes against a light sky; the quality of this photo suffers because I lightened the silhouette to actually see the bird.

I read in Wikipedia that they are very specialized in that in winter they feed almost exclusively on juniper.

T is for Turkey.  I photographed this Wild Turkey in southeastern Arizona, at a roadside inn that didn't look very much like turkey habitat to me.

The cotton-ball thing they wear for a bowtie is awfully slick, too..
Dale

I like the way their neck baubles bounce when they sing!

Patti

...but who would buy one and live with it hanging there while people are hungry?  There's something really wrong about it.

dale

I have been hearing multiple news articles recently talking about the income and wealth gap being one of the major problems with the US economy (the top 1% taking home 25% of all income is the number tossed about).  The wealth and income gap is continuing to grow quickly.  What the economists have been talking about is that it's difficult to rehabilitate an economy in crisis because the wealthy simply can't spend enough to keep it going because they have more money than they can reasonably spend.  This is a perfect example...if those millions of dollars were spread out among the working/middle class, that money would be fueling consumption, growth, jobs, and generally making a lot of lives better both directly and indirectly.  But multi-million dollar purchases of big-ticket items are not going to do much to stimulate the economy...

Rerun...I think I posted this one last year...

[S]

S is for Sanderling -- these are the little shorebirds most of us have seen running just at the edge of the surf...always getting out of the way of the incoming wave seemingly just in the nick of time.

The first photo is typical...the second was an unusual sighting for me because I've rarely seen them not foraging frenetically.  Both photos were taken in Cape May, New Jersey.

[Sandpiper]

Sandpiper

Since then, I eschew labels and enjoy them for their themselves!

Gayle

I'm pretty happy that I've gotten halfway decent at the "easy" birds, but don't even much bother with the hard ones unless I've got such a good opportunity that there is really no excuse not to try.  Hard ones meaning shorebirds, gulls, and sparrows.  For example, if I'm at the beach with a scope, and am getting consistently good, long looks at shorebirds, with perhaps other birds that I do recognize (killdeer, for example) around for size comparison, and I happen to have my field guide in front of me where I can go through the book page by laborious page, comparing the photos, behavior, and field marks with the bird clearly in front of me, only then might I make an effort at the "hard" birds.

[Starling]

Starling

I'm with you, Anne.  Starlings may be nuisance foreigners, but individually, they are nice to look at and watch the iridescence change colors n the sunlight!

Gayle

Gayle, I'm sure you have a photo of a starling, but isn't this a grackle?

[Snow Geese]

Snow Geese

More on Snow Geese.  As Patti pointed out, conservation have worked far too well as populations are now in the millions.  The tundra breeding grounds are being degraded and as other species prefer the same areas, those populations are suffering.

Gayle

I shot several videos and photos that attempted to capture the snow geese phenomenon, and couldn't quite do it...but there were only a few tens of thousands at the refuge I visited, not over a million!  I know I should be wringing my hands over the degradation of the breeding grounds (and I am concerned about that), but experiencing thousands of birds swirling in a chaotic, cacophonous mass is one of those top 20 wildlife experiences...

Patti