Trust me me, I’m a biologist. A marine biologist, but I saw birds before I saw fish.
December 30, 2017 at 12:52 am
Deplorable B Woodman
I was going to try to say something about “cuckold”, but I couldn’t work it in properly. It’s late (for me), it’s Friday, and I’m exhausted. G’night all.
That was an exceedingly gentle way of saying that.
December 30, 2017 at 6:30 am
JackDeth 72
I believe the bird Sam is thinking about is a Magpie.
And John “Forrest Fire” McCain and Jeff “less Than Useless” Flake cannot fade into obscurity fast enough to suit me.
December 30, 2017 at 10:37 pm
RegT
I never heard him called (U.S.) “Forrest Fire”. That is priceless. Between the fire on the weather deck and his turning traitor when he was a guest (truly a guest, I firmly believe) of the North, he’s getting off lightly on this side.
Hopefully, he will pay what he actually owes on the other side.
December 30, 2017 at 10:41 pm
RegT
Sorry. USS Forrest(al)
December 30, 2017 at 7:02 am
Big Jim
The common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) is indeed a brood parasite. Sam has it right.
December 30, 2017 at 7:12 am
Bill G
Yes, hence Clifford Stoll’s use of the cuckoo in the title of his book:
The cuckoo ‘ s egg : tracking a spy through the maze of computer espionage.
It’s a fascinating tale of a Berkley grad student stumbling over an international computer spy ring by chance, and our bee-luvved gummint agencies being unwilling to listen to him. Or in the case of the CIA, listening but having their hands tied for a case inside the country.
December 30, 2017 at 7:37 am
eon
Also, the old SF movie Village of the Damned (1960), in which aliens impregnated women in an English village to produce “hybrid” children, was based on a novel by John Wyndham (Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris) which was titled The Midwich Cuckoos. Both the novel and the film had prologues describing the cuckoo and its behaviors for the benefit of non-ornithologists.
clear ether
eon
December 30, 2017 at 11:35 am
GWB
Also, Cherryh’s Cuckoo’s Egg, about a human raised as an alien. (I recommend it, btw.)
December 30, 2017 at 10:44 pm
RegT
And then there is RAH’s _Stranger in a Strange Land”, where a human was raised by aliens (Martians).
December 30, 2017 at 3:43 pm
MommaMackie
A really interesting book and well written. I need to dig up hubby’s hardback copy of it. He’s had it so long, it might be a first edition!
December 30, 2017 at 7:11 am
Big Jim
And the American Brown Headed Cowbird is truly a fine example of brood parasitism on this continent; a few years back 85% (IIRC) of songbird nests in the Chicago area were affected prior to a program to catch and gas the bastards.
December 30, 2017 at 8:37 am
Bill G
Those two, and some others of their flock, are definitely strange birds.
Specifically, catbirds and thrashers don’t play that shit, according to Big Jim’s wiki link response to Delilah downthread.
Well Trump is in the catbird seat now, and he is backed up by a yuge flock of deplorable thrashers, who are sick of two-faced thieving posing dirty cowbirds like McCain’t and the Flake rooting us out and eating our lunch and we’re fast sending them the way of the doo-doo bird, er, do-do bird.
(long way to go for a bird joke, but hey I got nothin’ else goin’ on right now.) 😐
December 30, 2017 at 1:19 pm
gruundehn
Senator McCain is a disgrace to his eagles (rank insignia of a Captain in the USN) and Flake deserves his surname.
December 30, 2017 at 2:36 pm
Pamela
Sounds like blood sucking ticks to me
December 30, 2017 at 4:27 pm
Delilah T.
Actually, the cowbirds are a protected species, and while they do look for an active nest where they can leave an egg, they are called cowbirds because they normally lay their eggs in the hoofprints of grazing cattle. You guys are thinking of the European cuckoo.
McCain is slowly dying of his disease. His warranty expired some time ago. Best to let him just slink off into the darkness on his own and don’t go to his funeral. The days of these peculiar people are oozing away to nothing.
Happy New Year to all of you.
December 30, 2017 at 11:29 pm
Bill
They capture and kill cowbirds in the Austin area because they predate Golden Cheeked Warblers and Black Capped Virios two protected species. I found it interesting that the feds get to pick and choose which species live and which die.
December 31, 2017 at 12:05 am
Delilah T.
Cowbirds are protected under the federal Migratory Bird Act. That means you and I can’t do anything to them. Only the Feds can do that. The brownheaded are the most common species. There are several others. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown-headed_Cowbird/id
The Corvids are just as bad as the Molothri, and just as willing to prey on other birds.
Arizona is worse off thanks to McShame, especially the VA hospitals. In his own backyard no less. Flake is no better. Too many people are moving here from their ruined States, i.e. Californistan and Minnesota and bringng their ruinous politics with them.
27 Comments
You’re gonna need a bigger list… 🙂
Thus goes the rest of Arizona…
Brown headed Cow birds
Molothrus ater
Trust me me, I’m a biologist. A marine biologist, but I saw birds before I saw fish.
I was going to try to say something about “cuckold”, but I couldn’t work it in properly. It’s late (for me), it’s Friday, and I’m exhausted. G’night all.
That was an exceedingly gentle way of saying that.
I believe the bird Sam is thinking about is a Magpie.
And John “Forrest Fire” McCain and Jeff “less Than Useless” Flake cannot fade into obscurity fast enough to suit me.
I never heard him called (U.S.) “Forrest Fire”. That is priceless. Between the fire on the weather deck and his turning traitor when he was a guest (truly a guest, I firmly believe) of the North, he’s getting off lightly on this side.
Hopefully, he will pay what he actually owes on the other side.
Sorry. USS Forrest(al)
The common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) is indeed a brood parasite. Sam has it right.
Yes, hence Clifford Stoll’s use of the cuckoo in the title of his book:
The cuckoo ‘ s egg : tracking a spy through the maze of computer espionage.
It’s a fascinating tale of a Berkley grad student stumbling over an international computer spy ring by chance, and our bee-luvved gummint agencies being unwilling to listen to him. Or in the case of the CIA, listening but having their hands tied for a case inside the country.
Also, the old SF movie Village of the Damned (1960), in which aliens impregnated women in an English village to produce “hybrid” children, was based on a novel by John Wyndham (Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris) which was titled The Midwich Cuckoos. Both the novel and the film had prologues describing the cuckoo and its behaviors for the benefit of non-ornithologists.
clear ether
eon
Also, Cherryh’s Cuckoo’s Egg, about a human raised as an alien. (I recommend it, btw.)
And then there is RAH’s _Stranger in a Strange Land”, where a human was raised by aliens (Martians).
A really interesting book and well written. I need to dig up hubby’s hardback copy of it. He’s had it so long, it might be a first edition!
And the American Brown Headed Cowbird is truly a fine example of brood parasitism on this continent; a few years back 85% (IIRC) of songbird nests in the Chicago area were affected prior to a program to catch and gas the bastards.
Those two, and some others of their flock, are definitely strange birds.
Is being a cuckoo worse than being a wacko bird?
Some papa birds kill and eat the hatchlings when their instinct tells them something ain’t right.
Specifically, catbirds and thrashers don’t play that shit, according to Big Jim’s wiki link response to Delilah downthread.
Well Trump is in the catbird seat now, and he is backed up by a yuge flock of deplorable thrashers, who are sick of two-faced thieving posing dirty cowbirds like McCain’t and the Flake rooting us out and eating our lunch and we’re fast sending them the way of the doo-doo bird, er, do-do bird.
(long way to go for a bird joke, but hey I got nothin’ else goin’ on right now.) 😐
Senator McCain is a disgrace to his eagles (rank insignia of a Captain in the USN) and Flake deserves his surname.
Sounds like blood sucking ticks to me
Actually, the cowbirds are a protected species, and while they do look for an active nest where they can leave an egg, they are called cowbirds because they normally lay their eggs in the hoofprints of grazing cattle. You guys are thinking of the European cuckoo.
McCain is slowly dying of his disease. His warranty expired some time ago. Best to let him just slink off into the darkness on his own and don’t go to his funeral. The days of these peculiar people are oozing away to nothing.
Happy New Year to all of you.
They capture and kill cowbirds in the Austin area because they predate Golden Cheeked Warblers and Black Capped Virios two protected species. I found it interesting that the feds get to pick and choose which species live and which die.
Cowbirds are protected under the federal Migratory Bird Act. That means you and I can’t do anything to them. Only the Feds can do that. The brownheaded are the most common species. There are several others. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown-headed_Cowbird/id
The Corvids are just as bad as the Molothri, and just as willing to prey on other birds.
Delilah, some reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown-headed_cowbird
(Just a bit of information)
Regards, Jim
Yeah, jim, just a bit of information for you: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/page.aspx?pid=1327
Arizona is worse off thanks to McShame, especially the VA hospitals. In his own backyard no less. Flake is no better. Too many people are moving here from their ruined States, i.e. Californistan and Minnesota and bringng their ruinous politics with them.