ABCs of birds -T!

[dale]

I've been waiting for this one!

TUI !!!!
THE hands-DOWN COOLEST bird I've EVER HEARD!
The cotton-ball thing they wear for a bowtie is awfully slick, too..

I listened to them for hours and hours while hiking through the rain forest in NZ.
 
They rearrange the song elements as they see fit, it seems; this is some of the elements I was listening to (not all):
http://www.xeno-canto.org/sounds/uploaded/BPSDQEOJWG/Tui_song_Ulva_Island_2004-12-18.mp3

this one has visuals too (Listen long enough for him to get warmed up):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8diWFGM6sQ

Matt Binns photo - wikipedia

and (!!!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT-FJHWwRnA&feature=related

…AND… THIS is what they can do when they MIMIC!!!
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt8dpQSS1QM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqF33vc_q68&NR=1

Dale

[Patti from Kentucky]

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

[Patti from Kentucky]

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.

[dale]

Turkey again.

Carmel Valley.

dale

[dale]

TAKAHE

From 1898 to 1948 the TAKAHE was thought to be extinct; but they aren't quite… there are 225 left:
 
"We returned to where we had found the tracks on our last trip. Suddenly, quite near this spot, a large blue-green bird stepped out from among the snow tussock. And there, no more than twenty metres away from us stood a living Notornis, the bird that was supposed to be extinct."   Dr Geoffrey Orbell, November 20, 1948.

It's a flightless blue NZ bird, a relative of the Pukeko - Purple Swamp Hen I posted about in "P" -

I took this silly photo in Te Anau, NZ, where Orbell rediscovered the TAKAHE and where the few existing ones hang out.

Dale

[dale]

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

[Patti from Kentucky]

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.

[dale]

T is for Townsend's Solitaire. 

It looks like a Bird. Like, if you'd ask me, what does a Bird look like, I'd describe it pretty much exactly like that.
OK, Maybe bluer.   
Maybe with looooonnngggg fabulous feathers coming out of every part of his anatomy.
But he'd sing just like that.
And look just like that.

song:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Townsends_Solitaire/sounds

[dale]

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

[Patti from Kentucky]

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

[dale]

a real Takahe parent and juvenal (wikipedia, photographer "Avenue")
I find their feathers just breathtakingly beautiful

[Patti from Kentucky]

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

[anneintoronto]

I've been waiting for this one!

TUI !!!!
THE hands-DOWN COOLEST bird I've EVER HEARD!
The cotton-ball thing they wear for a bowtie is awfully slick, too..

I listened to them for hours and hours while hiking through the rain forest in NZ.

Dale

I'm always fascinated by wild mimicking birds.  These Tui are quite remarkable -- their "songs" very diverse!  No wonder you liked to listen to them on your hikes, Dale!  And their appearance -- quite "dressed up" for the occasion!!  Cool!  A in T

[dale]

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

well, they're both total dinosaurs, in any case.

[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

aha. so it's true. This one on the screen just did not FEAR me at ALL. I thought maybe he was sick or crypto-DEAD, since I had never met a bird (with whom I was not previously acquainted) that didn't fear me like that.