Pittsburgh Aviary--installment 3

This is the final installment of my Aviary adventure with Baby G, who took all the photos of me feeding birds.

After feeding the lorikeets and seeing some beautiful birds in their small enclosures (including some amazing weaver birds that I couldn't get any pictures of that weren't blurry), we went to the Tropical Rainforest room for our last big feeding show.

This was Gretchen's favorite bird, William the Victoria Crowned Pigeon:Look at that crazy crest! And for a pigeon, he was HUGE--like chicken-sized. Here's where I have to confess: William lost a feather (see it on the sidewalk near his tail?), and I really wanted it. But despite the fact that it was lying there on the sidewalk, I didn't pick it up. Reason? Just as I was thinking, "look, he lost a feather! I WANT IT," the crew of the Aviary were having a discussion by walkie-talkie about whether they "give out" feathers, and the answer was NO. So I took this as a sign that I'd better not pick up that beautiful blue feather. sigh.

This is the best pic I could get of a Blue-bellied Roller, one of my favorite birds I saw that day. He's a member of the Kingfisher family, and his cry was kinda similar to that dry rattle our Kingfishers make. When he flew, he flashed these sky-blue underparts on his wings. Amazing.

This shimmery little blue bird didn't come out of the underbrush, and I can't ID him on their Web site. Anyone? Anyone?

Another lurker who never came out of the undergrowth; he just watched us the whole time as we sat on a bench about four feet away from him. No idea what kind of bird he is, though his little spotted breast reminds me of our thrushes.

This Hamerkop looked a lot like a heron to me, but he's not even related (according to the guy who presented the birds). They have a little patch of carpeting on this perch so that the bird gets used to landing on it; then when they want to weigh him, they bring in a scale with the same carpeting on it, and the bird jumps right on. Smart! The presenters made it a point to say they never force the birds to do anything; they ask them and make it easy for them to do what's necessary. No big tricks or anything--just flying around and being themselves, getting the occasional treat.

This Crested Wood Partridge (I think--that was the match I came up with) was another lurker who only emerged for a brief snack in this little enclosure.

Every time this African Jacana moved around, he did so with these very slow and deliberate steps--Gretchen said he looked like a little old man walking around.

I saw a few of these incredible birds flying all over the place, just waiting for their turn to feed:The guy asked for volunteers, and I quickly raised my hand. I then got to hold a palm-full of LIVE mealy worms, and this beautiful bird landed RIGHT ON MY HAND!Lynne commented in the last post that I seemed to have a grimace on my face when the Lorikeets were feeding while standing on my arm. I think it's my "holy freakin' moly, I'm holding a bird!" look.
I calmed down a little bit.
I wish I could tell you what kind of bird this is, but I just didn't catch it that day and I can't find them on the Aviary's Web site. Any guesses? Isn't he amazing, though? The male and female were just as brilliantly colored. Definitely my favorite bird of the day.

Some final pics, many of which are of birds I can't ID:
Is this a scarlet ibis?

Couldn't find this beauty on the Web site.

William, struttin' his stuff.

Pittsburgh Aviary, installment 2

After the thrill of the wetlands birds, we had a little bit of time to kill before it was time to feed the lorikeets. Here's some of what we saw, although most of my pics of these inside exhibits turned out badly--not enough light, and I couldn't get close enough to the glass to focus on the bird rather than the wires running through the glass (which is there to prevent window strikes, I imagine). You can click for huge on all these pics.

One of my favorite birds was this ocellated turkey named Oscar:
I fell in love with ocellated turkeys after seeing them on Bill of the Birds' blog--remember? Isn't he the cutest little thing? He was all alone in there; otherwise, I'm sure he would've been a big hit with teh chicks.

This pretty Hyacinth Macaw was napping:
The lighting in the enclosure was weird--orange. Hence the weird photo.

We also passed some windows into the vet room, and they had these x-rays on display:
The top is an x-ray of a Barred Owl whose egg is bound, or stuck--which happens sometimes. Poor baby! It didn't say what they do in these cases, though--surgery? A laxative? On the bottom is an x-ray of a toucan's head and neck--the sign underneath says that beak is barely visible because it's mostly hollow, like a bird's bones.

Here's Gretchen posing by the bird sculptures:

And here's a pair of baldies that was hanging out in their enclosure:
Gretchen told me that one of these eagles has only one wing. Any guesses which one?

Finally it was time to feed the lorikeets!



So they let you into this little antechamber, where you can buy a little plastic cup of "nectar" (which looks kinda like pear juice). You then are free to go into the lorikeet enclosure and the birds just mob you! You have to be careful to keep them on your lower arm and hand, however, as the Aviary doesn't want them to get used to landing on shoulders or heads and then pecking and biting. Eek.

The birds are such fatties that it's all over before you know it. We ended up buying three little cups (total: $9!) but it was worth it. Those of you who've held a bird know the magical thrill of it; this was my first time to be this close to a bird. Even if it was in captivity, I'll never forget what it was like to feel them land on me; their grip was gentle but firm, not painful at all. I could've stayed in there all day, feeding those little piggies. I'm getting a little goosebumpy just thinking about it!

After the loris, it was time for the Tropical Rainforest Room, which was another amazing exhibit. I'll take you there tomorrow! (I love the cliffhanger!)

Pittsburgh Aviary blowout! installment 1

As I mentioned on Friday, I went to Pittsburgh (of all places for a Dallas Cowboys fan to go on Super Bowl weekend!) with Gretchen. We had a great time, and I have to give a shout-out to her parents for putting us up. They threw one heck of a party, and we had a great time. We had breakfast at local legend Isaly's (pronounced like Eisley's) and, despite my Cowboys cap, no one spit in my food! We also went shopping around (including a visit to Half-Price Books), and there's one thing that bears noting: I probably saw fewer than ten people all weekend (not counting me) who DIDN'T have Steelers gear on. It was admirable (and just a little disgusting) to see such ardent fans.

On Saturday, we went to the National Aviary and had a blast! It's my first visit ever to an aviary (although I did see some bird exhibits at Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, TX, circa 1978 or so), and I wasn't disappointed. Because there were so many great birds to photograph, I'm going to divide this post up into a couple or three posts. The first installment follows.

Our first stop was the Wetlands room, a huge space with bleachers where we sat and watched a guy feeding the birds. I got to feed a smelly little smelt to an Inca Tern, who flew by and picked it right out of my hand!
This Guira Cuckoo sat over us pretty much the whole time but never pooped on us. Thanks, Cuckoo!
Purple-throated Fruitcrow--check out that beautiful throat! It's really more of a maroon, I think.

I really liked this crow-like bird, a Crested Oropendola; note his beautiful blue eyes and his crossed bill! It looked like it had just grown too long and needed to be trimmed or filed down or something.

This is a Black-faced Tanager. Some of the birds would come down onto the fence/rail, but some just stayed hidden in the trees. This guy knew where the food was and stayed up front.

This Hamerkop was losing a feather, and boy did I want it! but I left him alone. It wasn't the first time I'd be tempted to steal a feather that had been discarded by a bird, but I took the high road and left them where they lay. sigh.

No idea what this bird was, but the best picture I could get was this one of his badonk. Oh well. I tried looking on the Aviary's Web site but couldn't find him. Anyone? Science Chimp?

Some kind of tanager, maybe? Again, couldn't find him on the Web site. I tried Brazilian Tanager, but they are all red without so the black belly. Still--what a beautiful bird. I like his red legs.

This pretty yellow parrot with green wingtips was quite the showman. I wish I could remember (or find) what kind of bird he is!

The Aviary's Web site said they had only Brown Pelicans, but this guy looks more gray to me.

The Screaming Piha, according to our Aviary tour guide, has the loudest cry of any bird. He had us hear the bird's "inside voice," and I could feel my fillings vibrating. I just liked how expressive his little face was. He looks like he's dreaming of faraway lands...

...and faraway skies.

This is a Wattled Curassow named Ramon. The star attraction of the exhbit was his girlfriend Joanie, but she was moving around too much to photograph. Ramon just chilled on the fence.

Mr. and Ms. Inca Tern, with Mr. Inca Tern showing off his impressive eyelashes.

They had lots of American Flamingos and Roseated Spoonbills, and even some Scarlet Ibises, though none of my individual spoonbill pics came out well at all. They also had some Ruddy Ducks already in breeding clothes, complete with blue bills, but my pics of them came out crappy too. Here's a broader view of all the pinkish-orange birds, plus a Ruddy Duck, plus a Cuban Tree Duck! (click for huge) There's even a Double-crested Cormorant in there!

At one point, they turned on the "rain" and these flamingos started dancin' crazy all over the place!tee hee!

This bird, a Bali Minah, is now extinct in the wild, thanks to the Balinese people making it a status symbol to own one. I didn't get a great pic of it, but it was a beautiful bird.

On our way out of the wetlands room, these Spectacled Owls gave us the hairy eyeball. If he hadn't been in a cage, I'm sure he would've pecked my eyes out!

Tomorrow: we wander through the smaller exhibits, feed some lorikeets, and enter the Tropical Rainforest room.

Still alive, still birding!

Despite our ridiculously low temps (in the teens and single digits), I've still managed to log a few birding adventures in the past week. Last Saturday, Laurie and I went to the duck pond near Centre Furnace Mansion, hoping to see two snow geese that--according to the local listserv--had been visiting the pond on a fairly regular basis for the last week or so. As I've never seen a snow goose, I was excited. Here's what we saw:Um--those are ducks. Domestic, albeit perhaps not from someone's farm, ducks. Quacking along with the other ducks. Hmph. I know that the people who'd reported seeing the snow geese are good birders, so my guess is that Earl Cootie's Bird Goddess decided to play a little trick on me. She's like that.

She did grant me a couple of treats, however. If you look closely at that white duck photo, you'll see an interestingly shaped duck silhouette on the upper left.

It came a little closer:And then a little closer:A WOOD DUCK! Granted, not exactly a breeding-plumaged male or anything, but still a wood duck! I always used to try to get photos of these guys back on the marsh, but I would spook them before I could get a decent shot. Yay me! I'm guessing this is a female, what with the white eye ring, but her plumage is still beautiful. Here's another shot:Isn't she beautiful? I didn't see her hubby anywhere; perhaps she was single and lookin'?

UPDATE!--my eagle-eyed commenters pointed out that I got both the drake and the hen wood ducks in that dark picture of the white ducks! here's a crop:
Cool!

We then walked a little to try to see some ducks farther out on the pond:That's a bufflehead waaaay across there. I've only ever seen those when I took the ferry from Lewes to Cape May a few years ago. I tried to get a better shot, but I ended up falling on some ice. (If you're on Facebook, you'll know that I fell THREE TIMES last weekend. This was my first fall.)

Here's a crop:I really like birds with funky-shaped heads, like wood ducks and buffleheads and mergansers. Anyway--it was neat to see one of these again, especially right here in town.

And here's one of those crazy-ass Muscovy ducks, probably an escapee (perhaps from the same place as those white ducks) who's "gone native," as they say:Check out the talons on those feet! I'd hate to have to scrap with this guy. His plumage was a beautiful emerald-black, though it's probably not visible here (it was getting late). And look at the bare patch of red skin, along with that big old wart thingie, on his face. Is that technically a wattle if it's on top of his bill? Oh--Peterson calls it a "knob."

I also saw a duck I'm a little unsure about:I know it's not a female mallard, as the bill is white/orange, it's darker and less streaky than they are, and the wingspot is a different color. Here's a comparison collage:That is definitely not a female mallard. The bill reminds me of the wood duck's bill, but the head isn't right. I just checked my Peterson's and I think I'm gonna go with my initial guess, made pond-side: that's an American Black Duck, isn't it? Not a lifer, but it's my first photo of one!

That's enough of the duck pond. Here's a pic of a recent sunset:It may be freezing here, but we still get some nice sunsets.

(By the way, for those who are keeping score at home, I fell a second time at the bowling alley where I was working part-time for moving money, and then a third time on some stairs at my friend Joche's house--but I think I told you about that one. My concussed noggin is feeling better, though my shoulder is still very stiff and sore.)

My next birdy adventure happened yesterday. Despite the irruption of white-winged crossbills in the state, I've yet to see one, so when I saw a report of some crossbills right on the Penn State campus, I had to check it out! However, the Bird Goddess was in a bad mood again, and I didn't see anything but a few noisy crows. Oh well.

Today, I saw some reports of redheads out there yesterday, but Gretchen and I are leaving right after work for Pittsburgh, where we'll be visiting THE NATIONAL AVIARY! so I won't get to go out there and see them. I hope they're still around next week, as that would be another lifer for me.

When I get back to my computer on Monday, I hope to knock you all outta your seats with some kick-ass photos of all kinds of groovy birds from the Aviary. I know they don't count on my lifelist, but it's going to be such a thrill to see these birds live, not just on The Life of Birds or whatever. Gretchen and I are both so pumped to go, plus we'll be watching the last disk of The Life of Birds as well as Season 7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (I've been shepherding Gretchen through all the seasons, and we're finally to Season 7.)

I know--how can my little noodle hold all this crazy-fun-time-ness!? I'll answer that question next week. Have a great weekend!