Bird Word: Distribution
No Comments »26th December, 2006; Category: Bird Word
- Distribution: a description of where a bird can normally be found, also called its range. This is sometimes accompanied or replaced by a map with shading or colour indicating where it is found.
The normal distribution of a species as shown in the field guides and bird atlases can be useful in identifying some species. For example, if I see or hear a kookaburra in my garden I know it is a Laughing Kookaburra. The only other possibility is Blue-Winged Kookaburra, but the normal distribution of that species is nowhere near where I live.
Note the word “normal” in the last sentence. One thing I have discovered is that most birds don’t read the field guides. They sometimes do not know where they are supposed to be and can be found well outside their normal range or distribution. This can be caused by many factors but I won’t cover that here; that’s material for another article.
Laughing Kookaburra
How to be a lazy birder part 4
This is part 4 in the series of articles for The Lazy Birder.
- Pick up your binoculars.
- Pick up your car keys.
- Drive to the nearest park, beach, river’s edge or lake.
- Park the car, carefully applying the hand brake.
- Watch the birds you can see from the car.
- After a suitable period of birding, drive home carefully.
- Optional extra: stroll for a few minutes though the park, along the beach of river or along the shore of the lake.
- Happy birding.
Bird Word: Cryptic
- Cryptic: something that is hidden. A bird may have cryptic colours or markings that help it to hide from predators in its preferred habitat. A bird’s behaviour may also be cryptic, meaning it acts in ways to prevent it being seen by other species.
Some birds are incredibly hard to see. Their cryptic markings or colour makes them almost impossible to see in their natural habitat. They don’t do this to make it hard for birders to see them. They do it to hide from predators like hawks and eagles. Musk Lorikeets are mainly green in colour and they blend in beautifully with the foliage of the eucalypt trees in which they feed.
Musk Lorikeet
Other birds use cryptic behaviour to hide from their enemies. Some wrens can be incredibly hard to find; you can hear them in the bushes all around but they won’t show themselves. Sometimes I have been almost driven to dispair at not being able to see a White-Browed Scrub-Wren. Many other small birds are the same and defy you to ever find them as they skulk in the grass tussocks or in the shrubby undergrowth of a forest.
Spotted Nightjar
One species that combines both cryptic markings and behaviour is the Spotted Nightjar, shown in the photo above. Being related to the owl family of birds it is nocturnal. During the day it roosts on the ground, very quiet, very still and perfectly camouflaged in the grass, sticks and sand on which it is sleeping.
A bad egg
No Comments »23rd December, 2006; Category: General
On my writing blog I have been writing about idioms, those common and colourful expressions we use in everyday speech. Many idioms have interesting meanings and sometimes very bizarre origins. Some of them relate to birds in some way. Here is another one to consider:
“A bad eggâ€Â
Meaning:
A person who is unreliable or untrustworthy is sometimes referred to as “a bad egg.â€Â
Origins:
One cannot tell the quality of an egg just by looking at the outer shell. Breaking the egg and looking inside is the usual way of testing the quality of an egg. A bad, or rotten egg, may contain a nasty surprise.
Likewise with people, it is not always possible to tell the true nature of a person judged by outward appearances alone. It is only by getting to know the inner person through friendship that we get to know their reliability and trustworthiness. It is only through a close relationship with a person that we get to know their true character, their inner qualities.
This expression may have been in common spoken usage for some time before its appearance in published form in the 1850s. The opposite expression, “a good egg†did not come into use until the early 1900s and was probably coined by students at Oxford University. Naturally, it refers to a thoroughly reliable and trustworthy person.
Example:
- I wouldn’t trust Percy with the club’s money; he’s such a bad egg.
How to be a lazy birder part 3
This is part 3 in the series written for The Lazy Birder.
- Warning: this hint requires a little effort in the preparation stage.
- Find a shallow dish, like those used under a pot plant.
- Locate the dish outside in the garden where you can see it from the most comfortable seat in your lounge room, sun room or front porch.
- Fill the dish with fresh water (in accordance with local water restrictions of course)
- Sit in your comfortable chair.
- Watch the birds come to drink.
- Optional extra: binoculars.
- Essential extra: some liquid refreshments.
- Happy birding.