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News: Songbirds, Swifts & Hummingbirds
carly:
:-* :-* :-* :-*
The Peregrine Chick:
Pigeon steals poppies, creates 'commemorative' nest above Australian war memorial
Christy Somos / CTVNews.ca / 11 Nov 2019
TORONTO – A pigeon has been stealing poppies from the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra and making a nest out of the flowers in the alcove of a stained glass window.
“Each day the pigeon has been flying down… to steal poppies, carefully crafting a nest in the lead-up to Remembrance Day in an alcove above the stained-glass window of a wounded Australian soldier,” the website for the Australian War Memorial reads.
The poignancy of the bird using the unusual nest materials is not lost on the Memorial’s staff, as the website explores the history of soldiers using pigeons during wartime.
“Between 1942 and 1943, pigeon fanciers across the country gave some 13,500 trained pigeons to the army for signals use purposes,” the website says. “There are lots of stories of pigeons valiantly going forward and saving people’s lives.”
A pigeon roosts in a nest built of poppies taken from the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra (Australian War Memorial)
A pigeon takes a poppy from the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra (Australian War Memorial)
source: https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/pigeon-steals-poppies-creates-commemorative-nest-above-australian-war-memorial-1.4679584
carly:
:'( :'( :'( Heartbreaking :'( :'( :'(
GCG:
:'( Most of us look forward to posts that enlightens us and puts a smile on our faces, but sometimes there is a downside, such as this article. This is so sad and hard to read. Thank you TPC for posting this for me/us. I say a little prayer for our migrating falcons and look forward to their return in the spring.
The Peregrine Chick:
The "migrating birds' are Chimney Swifts, a provincially, federally & internationally designated species-at-risk ...
Over 300 migrating birds smashed into Charlotte's NASCAR building
Amanda Watts & Eric Levenson / CNN / 16 Oct 2019
(CNN) Dozens of migratory birds were killed Tuesday night when more than 300 of them struck a building in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, the Carolina Waterfowl Rescue group said on its verified Facebook page.
The birds, identified as chimney swifts, hit the windows of the NASCAR Hall of Fame building, according to video from CNN affiliate WSOC. The organization said that of the 310 chimney swifts that flew into the building, roughly a third were killed and 100 were severely injured, sustaining broken wings, legs or other fractures. Other birds appeared to be stunned and will hopefully be released in a few days, the group said.
The NASCAR Hall of Fame building in Charlotte, North Carolina.
On Wednesday morning, the organization posted a plea for volunteers to help in their recovery. "We desperately need help feeding them and will be posting for volunteers tomorrow. They all have to be hand fed. I'm not sure how we will manage but where there is a will there is a way," the group said. When injured, the birds have to be hand fed lots of worms. "It's an expensive endeavor but these birds are an incredible contributor to our ecosystem and eat hundreds of mosquitoes a day," Carolina Waterfowl Rescue said.
The chimney swift, sometimes called a "cigar with wings" because of its appearance, is a migratory bird that travels from the United States to South America in large flocks in the fall. The birds feed on flying insects and commonly live in residential chimneys or hollow trees.
The chimney swift migrates each fall from the eastern United States to South America.
Every year, around 600 million birds die after striking tall buildings, and Chicago, Houston and Dallas are especially deadly, according to research from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The problem is exacerbated by the migration's timing, as many birds fly at night. Attracted by the glow of skyscrapers in the dark, they are vulnerable to collision -- either with each other or the buildings. For some, the light can prove so disorientating that they flutter around for hours, eventually becoming exhausted and landing in inhospitable environments.
In a Facebook live video, Carolina Waterfowl Rescue said the birds most likely had been disturbed from their roosting area or were migrating.
source: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/16/us/birds-nascar-building-trnd/index.html
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