For the birds

(Image from U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)


This magnificent bird is a Snowy Egret. I detect baby birds in the nest, already starting their own showy costumes. We do not know whether this is the mother or father bird handling the feeding duty because both sexes look the same.

My sister is a "birder." I envy her wide knowledge and ability to identify birds by their songs. She has more than one bird book; all are thumbed and tattered. Like other dedicated birders, she keeps several bird baths, hardly ever empty, in her tree-filled yard. She protects bird food from thieving squirrels. She knows how high to hang a bluebird house and where.

This and that - Birds are thought to be descendents of dinosaurs. Some birds are flightless. The first attempts to build airplanes looked and acted like birds. A bird can bring down an airplane. The national bird, the American Bald Eagle, is no longer an endangered species. The state bird where I was born is the Western Meadow Lark. The Texas state Bird is the Mockingbird.

Good Bird Reference sites:

• Cornell University's All About Birds.


• Wikipedia: "Snowy Egret" extensive information


• New Hampshire Public Television's NatureWorks

Cross-posted at Southwest Blogger
My topical post today at South by Southwest and The Reaction is about Texans.
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