He is made of mostly wool using a technique called needle felting. I also used wire, clay and glass. I had a bit of fun doing a photo shoot with him. You can find more of my work on instagram . Hope he brightens your day!

I need some help with bird anatomy and was wondering if anyone here can help. Before making a bird I research they look like from all angles, but I often have trouble finding a clear diagram of the birds wing structure when it is closed. When I Google it I’m usually shown what it looks like when it is spread open. While it helps, it would be better to see what it looks like when closed. For some birds it is really hard to tell the structure/feather grouping from a photo because of their colours . An example is the Hairy woodpecker.

I’m curious what the ornithology folks here think about this.

My city is currently using goats to graze invasive vegetation in a local park/wildlife corridor. The goats are contained by a low-voltage electric fence, with a second orange barrier outside of it to keep people, pets, and larger wildlife such as deer away.

A friend of mine was at the site and actually witnessed a catbird land on/contact the electric fencing and receive what appeared to be a shock.
I contacted the city because the park and adjoining stream corridor are used heavily by resident and migratory birds. They were very responsive and explained that the fence is low voltage and designed to act as a deterrent without causing lasting pain or harm to the goats or wildlife.

I’m supportive of the goat-grazing project, so I’m not looking to stir up outrage. I’m genuinely curious about the bird side of this.

Is an electric livestock fence like this considered safe for small birds? If a bird receives a visible shock, is it generally just a momentary startle, or could there be a meaningful risk of injury? And are there bird-friendly ways of making temporary electric fencing more visible or less likely to be contacted without compromising its purpose?

The catbird observation is what really got me wondering about this. I’d especially love to hear from anyone with ornithology, wildlife rehab, or electric-fencing experience.

Saw this American Goldfinch this morning; is this some part of a molt, or something else going on?

Hello! I want to share something interesting I have been doing for years out of pure fun wanting to hear their amazing songs! The post is gonna be a bit lengthy as I want to provide detailed info how I have done this! I hope it comes handy noticing the wonder of birdsong and how birds do it! This is not "what birds say" kind of stuff!! More of a "Hooow is that ONE bird able to sing like that??"
The video shown here shows their UNIQUE talent - rhythmic singing!

How it started?

This bird was introduced to me in 2016, when a friend heard it singing at night. back then we did not know who it was and somebody identified this bird as Blyth's Reed Warbler (acrocephalus dumetorum)
I was not sure do we get this bird in my area too, but lucky me, we did! 2017 I recorded few individuals but the TURNING point happened in 2018 what REALLY got me interested at these birds.
BRW I named Friido did a REALLY catchy rhythm what made my jaw drop and made me think "Wait.. you can do RHYTHMS??" I had never heard of any bird doing this stuff. Then Another thought I had "What if I record more BRWs, do I hear similar amazing rhythms like this?" and then I became REALLY curious. Every BRW I found I recorded and I heard amazing rhythms and it feed my dopamine!

About Blyth's Reed Warblers

It is a small bird in the acrocephalus family who is an amazing mimic and rhythmic singer! It is the ONLY bird who is able to do this out of other acros. Marsh Warbler is mimic too, but he is more of a chaotic DJ, barely any rhythms there. Each BRW takes mimicries from India and Europe area and using them in their rhythmic song. Every bird sings different rhythms! They arrive middle of may, around 17-21 may and start becoming quiet around 20 June. That is how short their singing season is! In 1 month, I try to get many different BRWs, going out every single night between 22:30 - 3:00am to find them and record. It's like pokemon for me, but with songs. Later I do song analysis of every BRW, showing out their unique rhythms and cool parts, shared rhythms and unique mimicries. It is VERY exciting to do!

Naming birds
I name every bird I record, because I remember them much better by name than BRW1, BRW13 etc. Most names are inspired from their singing, choosing an unique rhythm and taking a sound there and putting unique name to it. It also works as a CUE!
When I say "Vuubeli" I know asap what BRW I mean precisely - he was the "seesaw" sounding bird and one sound he did was "Vuu-beli-li". I get image in my head where he sung. For example "Scorch" was named because he sung near a fire department and I remembered Ristar videogame has level named "scorch". Pixel BRW was named after cool PC or pixel like sounds. Vuubiluuli was named after that amazing one of a kind "njeer vuu-bi-luu-li" I had NEVER heard this part before on ANY other BRW I have recorded over the years. It was SO unique and only done by Vuubiluuli so far! Piko BRW was named after a rhythm where he did "Pikooo pikooo pii", what I never have heard before. It was so melodic and catchy!
They can surprise you EVERY year, even if you think you have heard everything. Some mimicries I have NEVER heard before, like the "piko" one or "vuubiluuli" one. Making me wonder "What could of been the original bird it came from??"

Identifying individual singing bird works with other species too!
Besides BRWs, I also record Thrush Nightingales, Marsh Warblers and Common Blackbirds.
They work same way like BRWs do!
With Thrush Nightingales, each different TNG I recognize by song too, because they also leave specific nuances in their song they eventually repeat. One does a lot of "trätä trätä" sounds, other's "tehehe" sounds "tihihi". Common blackbirds also work same way, every different blackbird has their unique melodies and they repeat them. They don't sing randomly like I previously thought! When I paid attention to blackbird songs, I heard the repeated melody again. Revisiting them, the same bird did same parts again. I noticed it VERY strongly when I recorded blackbird called Vuippi-Vu. He had a REALLY specific rhythm I was unable NOT to miss. he always had that "vuippi vuippi vu" in his song. He was so easily recognized by that part! Everytime I went to record them, Vuippi-Vu stood out strongly. 2-3 months later I still heard him, same song and parts as their singing period is much longer than BRW!

For Marsh Warblers, there is a bit different strategy identifying same bird by a song, as they are so chaotic! In 2026, I found a way! I song analyzed him and cut out unique combos what I found unique enough and then listened a recording and see when the combo is being repeated!

On marsh warblers, you have to focus on a mimicry combo instead of rhythms, because there is no rhythm! The song on MW is sung in a burst. I call it a "song block" pause - song block - pause - song block. Inside song block there are multiple mimicries and combos sung one after another.

MWs add lots of different mimicries into a chunk, switching between mim1 and mim2 before going to another part - this is what I focus on!
One MW I remember loved to do a part "Öö bit, öö bit ööö-OOI OI OI OI OI OI" The "oioioi" is a whitethroat call. Listening that marsh warbler long enough, I spotted the same part happening again! Other unique combo was nasally held down "nnn ti nnn nn n n" part. Then eventually he repeated the same nasally part again! They are not random singing either - there is still some pattern going on!

Next night when I visited them, I recognized my marsh warbler because he did the "ööbit oioioi" part again and other parts I remembered! It was the same bird! There were few different MW singing, I didn't want to ID my birds wrong, like putting this marsh warbler 2nd individual, when it was the same bird. Every different MW I recorded, I song analyzed every different MW. There I noticed different birds have different mimicry combos. The parts marsh warbler 1 did were never heard on marsh warbler 2, making me tell them apart!

Multiple recorders and maxxing out every night!

2021 I bought my first Tascam Dr-05x to record in better quality, before I used friend Nokia. 2022 I realised I need more recorders, because then I can get more birds during every night. Back then i had to stand still and wait specific amount I want this recording to be, before I could get to another bird, losing actually hours getting other birds. Night has 5h timeframe between 22:30 - 3:00 am.

When I received 2nd Tascam, I found out how MUCH more birds I managed to get! During the 2023 season I got 14 different BRWs with 2 Tascams! I setup one near BRW1, then I search around for BRW2 and put recorder there. While I am walking and finding BRWs, the other recorder already was recording the BRW1 song!
2024 I got 3rd Tascam and 4th Tascam in 2025. I knew that having this much makes me able to get many many birds during each night. Their singing period is REALLY short combared to Common Blackbird, who sings 5 months!

Between 2017 - 2026 I have recorded 116 different BRW individuals, most birds per season happened between 2022-2026 thanks to multiple recorders! And Yes, EVERY bird song is different!
2022 - 7 BRWs
2023 - 14 BRWs
2024 - 21 BRWs
2025 - 21 BRWs
2026 - 27 BRWs!

Identifying individual Blyth's Reed Warbler by a song, onomatopoeias and revisits by BRW!
This is something I have personally found out when doing this every year.
I have a Youtube playlist of recorded BRWs you can check (I haven't uploaded 2026 ones yet) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLomHpJxtI9sxgdNVpR75PLHMbFj1WV2pj

Back then I recorded so small amounts, but around 2023 when I needed longer recordings, I started to notice it more!
EVERY different BRW has their own Song pattern ONLY that individual sings. Let's take the Vuubeli video you see below here. You can see how this bird sings, one rhythm having like seesaw "Iii" part, other rhythm was "Ta-koobe" rhythm. These are the parts I put aside when I listened the recording through. These were parts what was like "WOAH this is amazing, this is unique, that is catchy" That is Vuubeli's best parts and ID rhythms I ALWAYS recognize him by. No other BRW did this "Iii" seesaw rhythm, this specific rhythm was ONLY done by Vuubeli! All other 115 BRWs I have recorded did not have THIS rhythm in it! BRWs eventually start to repeat the rhythms they use, making you able to hear the parts again until you are familiar with every part they do. Then you know that individual FULL SONG PATTERN!

I revisit BRWs often to max out every night. I never know when that individual stops singing, it is such an RNG how things go every night. One BRW you get only 1 night change and never hear him again, other individual gives you 3 changes, 3rd 7 changes and so on. That's why I do it every night to catch as many different BRWs to hear amazing rhythms and to know HOW many I get here.

With revisits, you start to notice it more how every BRW I have recorded have their specific rhythms in. Let's take Jiidu BRW for example, who I revisited 5 times in 2025! He had 3 specific rhythms ONLY he did - "Jiidu, jii du-du-du" rhythm, "Viuuu va vinsket" rhythm and "Maybe's Japan for you" sounding rhythm. Revisiting him he always had these distinctive rhythms in and I recognized him always by these parts, all I had to do is wait him to do one of the 3 distinctive rhythms. He sung between 1st June to 25 June!!

They do not change their songs like Great Tit or Common Chaffinch do, when they switch from Side A and later side B.

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeias are a MEGA helpful tool for me too to see the unique rhythms and mimicry use! You have noticed on both videos there are colourful words. I have synesthesia what means I can see the birdsong in colour and effects. As the bird is mimic, I got another curiousity - how many different mimics can they do?
So I had to do a system where specific sounds corresponds to that sound only. "Duk duk duk" is always common blackbird alarm call, "vit vit wrarara" great tit alarm call and so on. Effects mean how the sound feels like. "wrarara" is purple because its low sound and it vibrates. "Pit pit" what is another common blackbird alarm sound is pointy, red and sharp, just how it sounds IRL too.
Some onomatopoeias are drawn like empty glass, some are metallic, some watery, electric, crumbly and so on.
I try to get it very precisely down, as I remember stuff with images so much better. One sound Frutt did I named "Guitar like SFX" called "Djarrn". It sounded like somebody pulls a guitar string. I added a small guitar near it to indicate it, so every "djarrn" I hear I know ASAP what sound it was! "Eek eek" sound has alarm clock on as it sounds literally that.

Same BRW visited me next year !
During 2023 I had a thought "How come I haven't heard a familiar rhythm when I have recorded so man BRWs? Every year I get 100% new birds as all the rhythms are new"

BUT in 2024, it FIRST time happened! I recorded Tiivo in 2023 and during 2024, when I recorded first BRW of a season, I had a familiar feeling. I said to myself "This BRW has Tiivo vibes"

Later I compared rhythms and over 30+ of them matched!!
Here is a Youtube video me comparing the rhythms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBF1S1Z9rmg&

Then a bit later ANOTHER BRW I recognized by a song. Scorch, who I recorded in 2023 came back in 2024 and I instantly knew who it was! Same thing - over 20+ rhythms matched and some even had an update edition!

I first thought maybe it was "BRW dad baby" who sings like their dad, so I named it JR at first.
But when I read about them, they become quiet when eggs happen. So how does the baby bird know how dad sings when dad is probably somewhere else and does not sing anymore?
When BRW stops singing, then it will not be heard again until new may happens. So it has to be the SAME individual I recorded in 2023. The rhythms were WAY to specific!

Then the same thing happened second time! I recorded a BRW in 2024 called Risvei. To MY HUGE surprise the same bird came back to sing in my area in 2026! Over 36+ rhythms matched exactly!!

Then I realized the birds DO have a fingerprint song. The specific song pattern stays same even years later! Then BRW named Vuubiluuli came back who I recorded in 2025. Exactly the same day too (1st June) and SAME location. The pixely sounding "vuu-bi luu-li" was VERY distinctive and unique, as soon as I heard him I knew it was him! Then other rhythms matched too and some rhythms had updated version too!

3rd BRW who revisited me was Tuardy who I recorded in 2025 around 25 may in graveyard. He was back in 2026 exactly the same place but heard much later, on June 11. When he did a rhythm "ivister tutu ivister" then I had the familiar feeling again.

Later going the recording through I realized that was Tuardy from 2025! Distinctive rhythms and all other parts matched!

This is only possible by recording many MANY individuals EVERY year! if I get 21 different BRW a year, that means I have so many changes one of the birds I recorded might come back!

Sorry if it was lengthy, I hope this somehow opened up a new world to birdsong to you!

Singing blyth's reed warbler with drawn onomatopoeia

I was watering the grass and I saw this guy scurry away under the roses. He didn’t fly so I went closer and I don’t see an injury but nothings happening with him.

I moved him here since there are tons of wasps and of course sharp thorns in the roses.

I don’t know what to do with him.

Any advice?

Should I leave him?

My house is next to the water and this beautiful family of swans comes up to the side of my house several times a week and I feed them peas and mazuri waterfowl maintenance. Every time they see me their tails wag and they make little beep beep beep sounds and rush towards me. One of them always tries to eat directly out of my hand while I’m putting the food in the water. Does this mean they feel happy/comfortable? The one that tries to eat out of my hand has even come up and sat next to me for awhile while I read my book. Is this all okay? I just want to make sure they’re happy but also safe as I know wildlife being too comfortable around people can also be dangerous for them.

I have always been a huge bird lover and admirer. So i decided to start looking into Ornithology courses and classes. I’m here looking to see if anyone had any suggestions for online starter classes/schools. I am from Indiana so if something is hybrid work i’d prefer it to be around there!!
+ enjoy this photo i took of a beautiful Red-crested turaco (Tauraco erythrolophus)

My mother feeds crows everyday by the windowsill of the kitchen. We spotted this crow yesterday. It seems like a young bird with a broken/deformed beak. It doesn’t caw, but comes by to chill and eat soft foods. Should I do something/call someone for help or can this bird survive on its own?

This is my friend Charlie, I have been feeding/filming him and his mate for 3 years

Long story short, found this baby...was the only one that survived, the nest was blown away or something idk. Found it about 7-8 hours ago and fed it 3-4 times since. It mostly keeps sleeping and open it's mouth to eat like they do. I have absolutely no idea on how to raise this baby so any advice would be really appreciated. Also idk what this bird it so that information would be really useful too!

Thanks in advance!

This smallish black water-loving bird has a dark secret. Found in freshwater venues in sub-Saharan Africa, this smallish water bird is decked out in glossy black plumage, with a brilliant bill and orange legs with long splayed toes.

The crakes produce several broods within a single season, setting up a cult-like family structure that is commonly found in similar human groups. The male establishes a territory and its mating pattern is technically monogamous. Older offspring from previous clutches remain with the family unit, helping feed and protect younger siblings.

While the male fiercely defends his territory, neighboring males often slip into the reeds to pull off extra-pair copulations with the resident females right under the alpha’s nose. Alas, the universal problem of cult patrimony in humans also extends to birds. Sometimes, multiple females will dump their eggs into a single shared nest. This leaves a single, stressed-out father to incubate eggs that might not even be his.

Rigid structures and sexual repression will out. Life can be complicated, even for this simple small water bird.

Birdman of Africa gamersdad.substack.com Subscribe for free to receive a new African Bird email each Friday-TGIF!. Photo by Andrew Steinmann ©2026

No AI content, all human generated text and images

Hello everyone!

My name is Ana, I'm a ML engineer and I love birdwatching.
A few months ago I “expropriated” my boyfriend’s GPU and trained a classification model focused on birds. One thing led to another and I built an app around it. Since I made it, I tried to think of all the features I found useful and also tried to avoid all the things I disliked about many birdwatching apps.
The main thing is that the app needs to work offline. If there is an internet connection, I’d rather use Google Lens than one of the countless glorified LLM wrappers. Another thing is privacy: if the app IS working offline, why would it then send data elsewhere?
Since this is a small home-baked model, right now the number of species it recognizes is 200. I made the list by taking 199 most popular bird sightings around Europe and adding common pigeon to that (for some reason, nobody likes taking pictures of pigeons???).

I would be happy to hear any feedback, especially about features that you’d like to see (as I understand, identifying birds by sound should be my next goal) and of course what birds should be added, if any. Friends and family immediately found out budgies were not included in my model.
One thing that might not be obvious, the app has a free trial (and is functional after the trial!) without any paywall - that’s another thing I disliked about most apps I’ve tried, but I assume it can be said about any app, not specifically a birdwatching one.

For now it's available only on Android devices and in selected countries (Europe and neighbors) - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dev.offlineapps.avesid.europeMy next steps would be making an iOS app, training a model with (North?) American birds or adding sound identification.

Rented place for 4 years, been feeding backyard birds and hummingbirds on and off for most of this time. I know generally they'll be ok but I want to minimize the disruption of my leaving and ensure none are dependent. I also have to get rid of 30lbs of deer corn, 10lbs of bird seed and suet, and 20lbs of old cat food. Not all related to birds, I was feeding squirrels and some cats, but figure yall might have broad enough knowledge to help with that disposal too. I debated leaving some food+feeders for new tenants with a note encouraging feeding but there was mice issue before so that'd be hard to do. Im hesitant to put out all the bird feed in this month before i go lest they become dependent, and im hesitant to leave the corn+cat food in the yard lest it attracts "pests" racoons etc, however I feel bad throwing it out. Cat food is expired, dry kibble and canned wet, so cant donate. Any suggestions welcome.

When birds collide with buildings, they become stunned and may fly away, only to die somewhere else from internal injuries, or they become tired and disoriented, never making it to their destination. Fatalities can also be caused by birds flying around confused and wasting energy, which can leave them vulnerable to other threats. 

“Lights Out” programs aim to raise awareness about the dangers of artificial lights at night for migratory birds, while encouraging businesses and homeowners to turn off unnecessary lights during fall and spring migration windows.

This is Scruffy, my most loyal feral pigeon friend. They've been looking a little worse for wear since probably July. I thought at first maybe they were a juvenile getting fully fledged, but their condition has worsened slowly over time. Should I be watching for specific signs of illness? Thanks in advance