While walking outside I saw a white-breasted nuthatch doing an interesting behavior I’d never seen before: it was perched on the palm tree in the photo, and was repeatedly spreading its wings wide and swaying from side to side, almost snakelike:

When I got home I checked a reference guide, which mentioned this is a behavior that white-breasted nuthatches will do to deter nest predators. I couldn’t figure out exactly why it was doing it when I was there in person, because I didn’t see any snakes or other birds. But I did see a clue in the OP photo, and my reference even specifically mentioned this animal as a nest predator of nuthatches.

So, did everyone else see it immediately and I’m just slow? 😁

Green herons are indeed green, or at least appear so via some kind of iridescence when they're hit by sunlight. You don't typically think of finding herons in a tree, but in a tree is precisely where these two were. I believe this is a male and female pair but I don't know enough to be sure.

They have quite an extensible neck, but when they're just sitting around and not pecking at anything they usually keep it retracted like this. It makes them look like any other songbird until you notice the long legs and the bodaciousness of that beak.

Bonus picture of this one having a floof:

Not as in its description. "Superb starling" is literally what it's called. Lamprotornis superbus. I find them significantly more superb than the common European starling, anyway.

These are endemic to Eastern Africa which is obviously not where I spotted this one. Naturally, it was in a zoo.

Here's a bonus picture of it going scritch.

I have no idea if this was a male or a female since they are not sexually dimorphic and this one was, for the first time in recorded history, not making any noises.

Edit: I notice these are the very birds pictured in the "birds make friends, too" article posted here recently. How serendipitous.

Location: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada When: 2025-05-23 11:21am Camera: Sony A6700 with Tamron 18-300

It's gosling season. This family has been hanging around my work for the last several days, presumably overnighting under one of the shrubs or maybe in the drainage pond at the bottom of the property which has been quite full as of late. Sometimes they even come peck at the door.

If they like, I have a couple of clients I wouldn't mind if they came over and hissed at. But so far no such luck.

I think its a robin, I've seen them pretty frequently, and snapped a photo.

google pixel 7 pro, 5x zoom, if memory serves.

So close, and yet so far

We have a lot of these robins in the neighborhood. I managed to catch this one having a snack.

Location: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Date: 2025-05-23

possibly a canary, not sure. saw it while on a hike with family.

Google Pixel 7 Pro, taken at ~11x zoom if memory serves.

Gosling closeup

Greylag gosling (Anser anser) Olympus OM-1, Panasonic 9mm
f/2.8, 1/400s, ISO 640

#bird #BirdPhotography #birds #darktable #geese #goose #gosling #goslings #photo #photography #UrbanWildlife #wildlife @birding
https://zaktakespictures.com/gosling-closeup/

I took this a few months ago through one of our windows. I have a small backlog of photos to get through and hope to do one a day, but some of them might show up on [email protected].

A9ii w/ Tamron 150-500 @ 374 mm, 1/250, f/5.6, ISO 200. Cropped some.

I'll gladly take the weight penalty from bringing a proper camera on my bike rides, because I'd miss too many gems with only a smartphone.

I was in a forested trail when I heard the classic osprey call, so I went looking, and found several flying around. This one was just chilling 🥰

Lumix DMC-G85, Leica DG 100-400; f/6.3, 1/2000s, ISO 1000, 400mm

So many good shots from this walk I wanted to share. A mid osprey picture, two different species of terns, a couple nice golden hour shots. Really liked this one though. Light processing.

Today was my turn to work the bird room at the rescue! There were probably 25-30 in there, but these are the only pics I took since the work was non-stop and I was by myself. I knew bird parents were busy, but now I have a personal appreciation!

Some of these tiny guys eat a ton for how small they are! I keep thinking they're full and they come at me with open beaks and wings flapping, asking for more!

A cowbird was the most voracious. He would try charging right out of his enclosure and was screeching and beating its wings so fast!

The bluejay was my favorite. It is so pudgy and cute and I love my jays at home, so it was nice to work with one. Five more came in near the end of my shift, so I guess I should be careful what I ask for!

The baby crow was already so huge! It felt like a little dinosaur grabbing me for food, lest it take a bite of me!

There were grackles, robins, and Carolina wrens, and probably some other stuff I'm not remembering. The grackles and crow and another mysterious black bird (who was by far the most unhappy bird) were so loud the entire time, and with the concrete walls, it was quite loud, which seems the top complaint of people on bird duty.

The big walk in enclosure had 7 big robins who could at least partially fly. One eventually landed on me, which was fun. They mostly just parked themselves all in a row in their one tree and I fed them up and down the line until they were full. Then they would all lay down and nap for a little. Quite adorable!

But as soon as they were all fed, the first guys were ready for more, so just rinse and repeat all morning! Momma birds have crazy busy jobs!

Spain is one of a few european countries with a vulture population that is not declining. They have 5 species of Vultures, which (now again) breed in their natural habitat. Read more about vulture conversation: https://rewildingeurope.com/rewilding-in-action/wildlife-comeback/vultures/