10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

My cats refuse to even try Fiery Minivets. While my cats like the taste of the Greater Racket-tailed Drongo , they tend to look fairly ridiculous eating them, as the racket tail sticks out of their mouth. In the unloved “Other” section of today’s post, we have a few more mammals.

Birds 219

Birds Sri Lanka Taiwan Cats 219

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2022

These two islands are about halfway between the tip of South Africa and Antarctica in the Subantarctic Indian Ocean, have had relatively few human visitors, and are primarily inhabited with some of the rarest seabirds in the world and a smaller number of mammals.

South Africa 264

South Africa Mice Albatross Africa 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 13, 2022

Quite likely, these birds are also the inspiration for Australian science communicator Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki. According to the HBW entry for this species, it “has been claimed that loss of native mammals after European settlement created shortage of nesting material, explaining this species’ penchant for taking hair from humans.”

Australia 201

Australia Birds Feral Cats Kangaroos 201

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2011

Geophagy, the intentional consumption of soil by vertebrates, has long been documented in a number of bird and mammal species – including wide-spread use by humans – which consume soil to increase absorption of certain minerals not naturally occurring in the local diet. That’s right – birds eating clay. Wicked, right? Hat-tip to Stella.

Peru 255

Peru Parrots 2011 Research Center 255

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 18, 2011

But it is utterly bewildering to me to see news reports about this recent science that read “… An icon knocked from its perch&# or “Archaeopteryx no longer first bird.&# The ancestral mammal probably had 11 upper and lower teeth on each side for a total of 44 teeth. Horses have six upper and lower on each side.

Mammals 252

Mammals Europe Groups Family 252

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2024

One of my cats claims that the males taste better than the females (“too sour”), but then that cat has told me many lies before – I still think it more likely it has never eaten any minivet in its life. Which sounds like a species name taken from a science fiction novel for children.

Squirrels 139

Squirrels Birds China Bears 139