@2ugly2live

"i shouldn't have to pick up my own food, where are the parents"-- deeply embittered Northern Cardinal fledgling

PS-- nice shot

@zaktakespictures @photography

wow, those red flares are something else

@EvilTed

the Chicago population underwent a large expansion in the 1980s, & i guarantee the winter weather in Chicago in the 80s was famously cold but it seems like if they have enough food (which they can get from feeders from parrot enthusiasts), they'll do well

Harold Washington, first Black mayor of Chicago, in office in the 1980s, considered them his lucky bird & so he & others took them under their wing, so to speak...

(& yes lots of great wildlife, esp birds, in New Orleans)

@EvilTed

in New Orleans, our introduced parrot is the monk-- same species that is also the introduced parrot of the very different climates of Chicago & Brooklyn, New York! it's interesting to track their march across the planet! in the US, they greatly prefer cities, but i've seen them in rural areas in their native So. America

@AchtungDrempels @EvilTed

"Birds of Spitalfields," (London) was published in 1832, includes Rose-ringed Parakeet as one of the species present in the area so a small population was already present by then

saw a painting c.1500s in Amsterdam called something like "Hunting of the Parakeets" which would put them there even earlier

it's my guess these birds in Europe date back to the colonial/empire/exploration era but they've only grown large enough to be visible w/ warming climate

@EvilTed @AchtungDrempels

i feel like they didn't really explode in London until this century but i have a cool book about it by Nick Hunt that's a fun read about all the rumors

https://www.paradiseroad.co.uk/the-parakeeting-of-london-an-adventure-in-gonzo-ornithology

@frankenswine @bugworld

it's a crow, the eye looks pale because the bird has put up the nictitating membrane (a translucent protective eyelid) over the eye to protect from wind, snow, maybe camera flash... i've noticed that these membranes seem to reflect light in a way that makes the eye look pale or like a cataract or plastic...

https://www.audubon.org/news/birds-have-built-goggles

@streetfestival @imcan8dn

they do look a lot alike but the lack of the black bar beneath the white wingbar makes this bird a Hutton's Vireo

there's a good comparison pair of photos at this link
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ruby-crowned_Kinglet/species-compare/

@Vandals_handle

? i would have just called it as Rufous but I'm not any world hummingbird expert just somebody who gets a Rufous or three in the yard in the winter...

@GlassHalfHopeful

Yet Another Yellow Warbler Only This One's Wearing a Hat looks baffle-gasted