Birds Of A Feather…
Matthew 6:26 : “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”
Do you love birds? I certainly do. Then perhaps you will like my post today, Birds Of A Feather!
Last week I posted about “Ollie” the Burrowing Owl who has taken up residence in our courtyard, which has a 8 foot tall stucco wall. I really love bird watching but let’s face it, the mess they can make where one likes to eat a meal can be annoying. (See this post).
Case in point: Here in SW Florida we have many out door eating restaurants and those near the Gulf have issues with the gulls and black birds who like to swoop down on a diner enjoying their fresh seafood. Some are bold enough to literally land on your outdoor table and “steal” a bite from your plate. The Captain and I had that happen several years ago as a gull swooped to our table and grabbed a package of saltine crackers off of our table and never landed, just soared back towards the water. We imagined the bird was so used to this that he found a place to stop and remove the cellophane with his little bird feet and beak and enjoyed a snack. So many restaurants try to deter the birds by stringing fishing line or dangling noisy wind chimes…but many of our feathered friends become immune to that and swoop down anyway.
One year, we had Crows nesting in our ficus hedge and if we walked to the mailbox, the female would swoop down and literally pluck my red hair (which smarted) and she would fly off with it in her beak. I am not sure she would want my silver hair now that it is completely natural, although she did swoop down and tried to pluck the Captain’s grey hair, so who knows. LOL Crows are common everywhere aren’t they?
Did you know?
Robins usually don’t come this far south any time of year. I love them and rarely see them. I guess we are too hot for them down here in the SW Florida peninsula. However, they do frequent a few of the other Gulf states.
Did you know that it is illegal to be in possession of many breeds of birds’ feathers? It goes with out saying regarding Golden and Bald Eagles, one can be fined up to $100,000.00. But also other birds’ feathers such as blue jays, cardinals etc.
“It’s illegal to pick up a blue jay feather in the U.S. because of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) of 1918, which protects nearly all native North American birds, including Blue Jays, making it a federal crime to possess their feathers (or any part) without a permit, regardless of how they were found (even molted or roadkill). This law prevents the illegal feather trade, protects birds from poaching, and simplifies enforcement by removing the need to prove how the feather was obtained, as proving innocent acquisition is difficult for officers.”
My friends, We have some spectacular birds here in SW Florida. Some are very common and some rare such as this yellow cardinal.
Floridians on the Atlantic side of the state have reported a yellow cardinal. “This is an extremely rare sight, caused by a “one-in-a-million” genetic mutation called xanthochromism, which prevents the bird from producing red pigment, turning its normally red feathers bright yellow instead.” Isn’t it beautiful? I would love to see this bird as I love the red cardinals that visit and nest in our shrubs.
We don’t have snow as a backdrop but our greenery provides a contrast for our beautiful red cardinals.
Florida is also home to the Painted Bunting. The above photo is of a female and male. Of course you know which is which. Right?
“The Yellow-headed Blackbird often nests in the same marsh as the Red-winged Blackbird. The larger Yellow-headed Blackbird is dominant to the Red-winged Blackbird, and displaces the smaller blackbird from the prime nesting spots. While the yellow-headed blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) may be a common resident of the western United States, it is a rare visitor to Florida. This male is one such individual that migrated just a little too far east. Every year, a small handful of these birds can be seen in random locations throughout Florida, usually in the Fall and winter months.” There was a report of yellow-headed blackbirds about an hour from the Cape, I’ve never seen one although the brilliant yellow-headed blackbird is one I would love to see,
The red-winged blackbird is very common here in Florida as it is most everywhere..
Another common bird is the sandhill crane.
And the Great Blue Heron, these are almost always visible around any body of water.
And I must not forget our pink flamingos. After Hurricane Ian, whole flocks were seen in the panhandle of Florida, with the assumption that the storm drove some of them north.
I find these flocks of Ibis in my front yard on a daily basis. They are searching for grubs. There are usually about 10-12 of them and they stick pretty close together. They usually have white feathers although sometimes one will show up with some brown feathers mixed in. Not sure why or how.
And this beautiful egret visits our home, though not as frequently. Their feathers are pure white.
There are many other colors and types of birds here in Florida, and I love them all. Do you have special birds that you favor?
I like that I do not have to leave my home to do any bird watching…My Secret Garden and courtyard provide my viewing.
Have a great and wonderful week.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.[a] 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Hello Kari! Thank you for this wonderful bird post. We are definitely bird watchers. The yellow cardinal is amazing and how fun it would be to ever see one! The painted buntings are beautiful, the poor females in the bird world lack color, while the males are fabulously colored. I will show your post to Butch, he will love it. Happy Wednesday, my friend!
Pam, I do love birds…so much so that my kids when growing up used to say things like “are you watching YOUR birds Mom?” …and I must say that we had an amazing array of birds in New Mexico when we lived there. I always have a bird book for the area we live in and carry one on the Motor Home as well. LOL. I, too would love to see the yellow cardinal…in N.M. we had a bird that resembled the red cardinal, the Pyrrhuloxia. It wasn’t as pretty as the red cardinal although the shape was almost the same. It was more gray with just a touch of red (sometimes barely visible) on it’s wings, head tuft and belly. Pictures always show the color exaggerated but in all the time we lived there, the ones I saw were pretty dull looking. Thx for showing Butch…and Thanks for stopping by my friend. Hugs and stay warm. 🥰
I have several bird feeders in my yard and love to watch the birds that visit. It was so enjoyable seeing the birds that are in Florida, Kari. That yellow cardinal is stunning! I get bluejays a lot and didn’t know about that feather rule! Happy bird watching to you!
Oh Kitty, I didn’t know that either about the feathers…over the years I have picked up a feather or two so I could get a closer look but didn’t keep them. I remember finding red feathers from a red-shafted Flicker in New Mexico on our ranch and I picked up the red feathers only to find they were more orange or coral than red. We had a lot of yellow shafted and red shafted Flickers there. We do have Flickers here but not as many as we had in N.M. Thanks for stopping by my friend and stay warm. 🥰
I love all your bird photos! I’ve never even heard about yellow cardinals. We wintered in Florida for many years in the Sarasota area and I loved watching birds. It’s amazing how many parrots we would see in the trees there. We also were in Costa Rica a couple of years ago which have a huge variety of birds. My camera was clicking away!
Carol you are so right! We have lots of parrots down here…I particularly love the little green monk parrots! We are fortunate to have these colorful birds though I do miss the Robins, Western Meadowlark and Black Capped Chickadees which rarely make it this far south. Do you still come to Florida? Have a great and wonderful week and thanks for stopping by.🥰
Kari, I love this blog. My mom was an avid bird watcher and she had bird feeders out for them. These birds are gorgeous. I’ve never seen a yellow cardinal and never knew they existed. Of course, I know which painted bunting is the male. lol He’s always the most colorful. We have robins here right now. They must know spring is just around the corner.
Hugs,
Sandy
Sandy I love the yellow cardinal and just wish they were on this side of Florida. It never ceases to amaze me that birds have an invisible line that they do not pass over when it comes to their territories. Example: the red cardinals do not go into or past Colorado and New Mexico. Our son lived in Buena Vista Colorado and we were in the Albuquerque, N.M. area which was an almost straight North/South line. We were used to these bright red birds in Kansas and missed them when we all moved. You are right about the colorful Painted Buntings…they are always the most colorful aren’t they. Hugs my friend.🥰
Kari, your post is so informative with the colorful pictures of the birds. We love bird watching and they have really been devouring the seeds this winter. I use the Merlin Bird app to identify new birds in our area. Ouch to getting a hair plucked out of your head. Our neighbor just had her hair done when a bird flew over her and dropped some nasty stuff in her hair. During a camping trip, a sea gull grabbed a hamburger off our grill leaving us with one less for supper.
Sure hope KU can keep their streak alive in Allen Fieldhouse against Otzelberger’s team tonight.
Jan that is so funny about the nasty stuff in the hair. That happened to my BIL one day and he quipped to the bird…”well everybody else does it so you might as well do it too! ” LOL. Thank you for dropping by and I have my fingers crossed for tonight….Rock Chalk Jayhawk…that game with TCU was crazy and mind boggling! 15 points down with 5 minutes to go and then cut the lead to 3 with 34 seconds to go before forcing overtime…and then we play WV and completely fall apart in the second half. Do you think the team waits for DP to make plays instead of stepping up and doing their part?
What gorgeous photos of such beautiful birds! That yellow cardinal is really something. I never knew it existed. You are blessed to have so many colorful birds.
My sister lives in Florida, and one year, a Mockingbird had a nest right outside her doorway. Whenever she had to leave to go on errands, etc., it would come out of nowhere and bop her in the head. She learned to use an umbrella when she left the house. Oh my goodness! What momma birds will do to protect their young.
Happy Tuesday, dear friend!
Isn’t it interesting that all “mommas” will do what it takes to protect their babies? That instinct is built in. LOL. I keep a bird book to identify a bird I am not sure of…I would not call me an avid bird watcher but I certainly love to watch them from the comfort of my own home. Nancy, Thanks for stopping by…and fast healing for you as you ‘ditch your cane’. Hugs
Kari, wow, all of these birds are so beautiful! We have beautiful birds in our garden, such as several kinds of hummingbirds and lovely colorful finches and sparrows, but nothing like these colorful wonders. We also have a fierce hawk that flies in and sits on our fence looking for lunch (!) and mockingbirds that arrive every spring that I love to hear.
Thank you for this beautiful and colorful post, I learned so much. Xo Lidy
Lidy I love to sit in my courtyard in the early morning as the mockingbirds begin their day singing and chattering. They are our state bird. When we lived in New Mexico, I kept hummingbird feeders to nourish the many, many little hummers we had visiting all day long. It was interesting at how aggressive the Rufous hummers were…they would chase away the Ruby-throated humming birds. I’ve noticed several red tailed hawks hanging around…not sure what they are after but it might explain why “Ollie” the burrowing owl keeps coming to our courtyard. Thanks for stopping by. hugs 🥰
This is spectacular, Kari. That yellow cardinal, especially is a WOW, but so are the buntings, which I haven’t seen. You have far more colorful birds down there than we do here in the north. We do sometimes see robins in the winter (rarely,and I wonder if they were lost!), but also have the cardinals, blue jays, sandhill cranes and herons; egrets, chickadees, juncos, woodpeckers, and lots of water foul. I’m not an active bird watcher, though I always look out for them on walks and take as many photos as possible. We have a bald eagle at the cottage, elusive but so handsome and powerful when he flies by! This post is a perfect way to start my day — I loved every photo, every word, and learned a lot too!
Thank you Jeanie! We, too have lots of birds common to up north, particularly our state bird, the mockingbird and a protected and endangered scrub blue jay which is native to Florida. I particularly love the bald eagles…they are majestic aren’t they? Thanks for stopping by my friend and for your kind comments. 🥰