Kelly

Wow beautiful

Activity 1 My favourite birds from the bird wall are the Montezuma Quail and the Splendid Fairy Wren. I have always loved California Quail, which we have locally (coastal BC) but I think the Montezuma Quail is so beautiful and adorable too. I’d love to see one in person. The males have rounded bodies, rounded heads and patterned feathers. The females are also round bodied but they’re brown with a ghosted pattern of what the male has. I would also love to see a Splendid Fairy Wren in person (they are native to Australia, specifically SW or inland) — I find it so interesting that the males are nearly entirely blue when breeding then are partially blue the remainder of the time. The females are brown. They’re very tiny and cute with beautiful clear calls. I follow the hashtag #birdsofaustralia on Instagram and am learning Australian birds that way. Activity 2 Three different birds that I learned about: the Arctic Tern, the critically endangered Kakapo, and the Barn Owl. The Arctic Tern amazes me that it can travel our entire earth from its Arctic breeding grounds all the way to Antarctica. It is also a striking bird, all white with the distinctive Tern black crown and orange beak. The endangered Kakapo is a very special flightless bird that resembles something from a children’s book, with its expressive eyes, round body weighing up to 4kg (making it the heaviest parrot), and bright green feathers. The Kakapo can’t fly but it does climb and it can also glide using its wings. I hope its numbers can be reestablished as it is less than 300 in the entire world. The Barn Owl is closer to home, and I have seen many myself; however, I learned that this round headed, “heart” faced white coloured bird with brown wings can hunt in pitch black darkness and locate prey via sound. I found that really fascinating. Onto activity 3... one local favourite of mine is the Downy Woodpecker. Wevisit them at the local marsh during the warmer weather, then when it’s cold they stop by for suet in the winter. Weve had Robins build nests in our holly at least twice now (I think three times, but have only seen two sets of chicks personally). Here’s the chicks from this year.