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The Dracula Bird

10,000 Birds

But when raised, they seem to have a sort of weird cape. In other words, they never raise their own young. Instead, they lay their eggs in other species’ nests, and let those nest-making birds (often significantly smaller than the cowbirds) raise their young. But in most light, they appear to have a shiny black color.

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A New Year Begins! But First–A Celebration of My 2018 Top Ten Birds

10,000 Birds

John James Audubon first heard the sparrow in July, 1944, on a buffalo hunt in North Dakota. So, I was excited to read reports in late 2017 of a pair of Whooping Cranes being seen on a cattle farm. I easily spotted the Whooping Cranes in the cattle field. It has always been a difficult bird to find, even when abundant.

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The Domestic Turkey and the First Thanksgiving

10,000 Birds

Thus, the cattle we raise for meat and dairy are sometimes called Bos taurus while the extinct wild form is always called Bos primigenius. Some time after the Spanish encounter with the Turkey, birds were brought back to Europe where they were raised and became an important source of food and fancy feathers.

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