Our prime plumed pals

[Dr Sardonicus]

Flock of giant California condors trashes woman's home

TEHACHAPI, Calif. (AP) - Giant California condors are rare - but not at Cinda Mickols' home.
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The birds have trashed the deck - ruining a spa cover, decorative flags and lawn ornaments. Plants have been knocked over, railings scratched and there's poop everywhere.
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which runs a program to save the species from extinction, responded on Twitter. The agency noted that the house is in historic condor habitat, and suggested that Mickols try harmless hazing like shouting and clapping or spraying water.
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[Uncwilly]

The California Condors in the wild have almost all been raised in captive breeding programs. When they are being raised, they are taught to fear people. From the moment they are born they don't see people normally. When they are older and the staff needs to do health checks etc. multiple people swarm the cage yelling and screaming at the birds before engulfing them in a tarp. While the breeding programs are being done at 2 zoos, the actual area where they are kept is isolated. The birds can't see people near them normally.

[Xyzzy]

Here are some very messy birds.

We have the bird feeders set up so our cat can watch them.

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

Here are some very messy birds.
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Perhaps the birds are just cleaning up after the messy squirrels...

[Xyzzy]

Dunno why but there are absolutely no squirrels in or around our house.

Very weird!

[LaurV]

Because no branches and no nuts around?

(to make it clear, this is about the story with two friends who wanted to smuggle a rare, expensive squirrel, they were traveling by train and when it was to cross the borderline, one of them put the squirrel in his pants; the custom officers passed, they looked a bit to the luggage, asked some questions, then they were gone; then in the next second, the guy with the squirrel in his pants pulls the squirrel and throws it out through the window; the other asks "are you idiot? just now after we passed the check, we could be rich!" then the first answered, "when it took my ass as a hollow in a tree I endured, when it took my dick as a branch I endured, but when it took my balls as nuts, I could not endure anymore!")

[Dr Sardonicus]

I have for some time been noticing that the leaves on my sedum have been getting nibbled. It's been mainly upper leaves, and only slight nibbling. Rabbits sometimes nibble the edges of leaves slightly if it's a new plant for them, but will stop if they don't like it and will chow down if they do. Thus, the persistence of the slight nibbling (as well as the location) contraindicated rabbits.

It also didn't match any kind of insect damage I am familiar with. I was puzzled.

Yesterday, the mystery was solved. I saw a House Finch land on my sedum. As I watched, it dipped its beak several times. After it flew away, I checked and, sure enough - there were nibbled leaves with the edges not dried out. The mystery nibbler is identified! I'm not sure why the bird is doing this. Perhaps it's nibbling at the fleshy leaves to get a bit of moisture.

[masser]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

Yesterday, the mystery was solved. I saw a House Finch land on my sedum. As I watched, it dipped its beak several times. After it flew away, I checked and, sure enough - there were nibbled leaves with the edges not dried out. The mystery nibbler is identified! I'm not sure why the bird is doing this. Perhaps it's nibbling at the fleshy leaves to get a bit of moisture.

I have a few bolted kale plants that finches and other small birds enjoy taking nibbles from. The interwebs indicate that many species of sedum are edible, so perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that your plants are serving as the local salad buffet.

[Dr Sardonicus]

Thousands of eggs abandoned after a drone scares off nesting birds

By
Paulina Firozi
June 7, 2021 at 11:57 p.m. UTC

On a nesting island at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Southern California, thousands of elegant tern eggs dot the sands, abandoned. Now it appears the eggs will never hatch.

After a drone crashed on the reserve grounds on May 13, about 3,000 adult elegant terns were scared off, leaving about 1,500 to 2,000 eggs behind.

"It was devastating," Melissa Loebl, an environmental scientist who manages the reserve, told The Washington Post. "That's one of the largest losses we've had."

Drones, which California Fish and Wildlife officials say are prohibited on state reserves, can look like a "giant bird, a giant predator," to the elegant terns, said Michael H. Horn, a professor emeritus of biology at California State University at Fullerton.
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There's also been an increase in dogs roaming off-leash, which Loebl said can scare the birds. Loebl said dogs, horses and bicycles are all prohibited in the reserve because they can damage the wildlife.
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Roger Lederer, a professor emeritus of biological sciences for California State University at Chico, said birds "don't abandon their nests very easily."

In an email to The Post, he noted the recent disruptive activity reported at the reserve, including the off-leash dogs and cyclists, "so I suspect there has been continual stress put on the bird colony and the drone crash was the last straw."
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[Dr Sardonicus]

As I was looking around my yard this morning, I found a dead rabbit by the street near my mailbox. The body looked largely intact, but it had been decapitated. I suspected human activity, but it ain't necessarily so.

A bit of conferring with people who know more about wildlife than I do, together with the fact that there were three large punctures in the rabbit's left side, produced a likely suspect: an owl. The punctures could easily have been produced by a talon.

I bit of research disclosed that owls are known to kill rabbits and take their heads back to their perches, to dine on their eyes and brains. There are Great Horned Owls and Barred Owls working the night shift. One less rabbit chomping its way through my garden is fine by me.

Later on, after I had been gone and come back, I noticed that the carcass had bern partially eaten. Flies were swarming.

As I was talking with a neighbor, a Turkey Vulture landed near the carcass, warily walked over to it, and commenced (or resumed) feeding. It sometimes held the body down with one foot, and ripped off a good strip of flesh. It also moved the body around a bit. By the time it took off, there wasn't much left for the maggots except the guts and the feet.

I was reminded of a Charles Addams cartoon in which Morticia is calling the kids to see the birds coming to the feeding station...

I did find an owl feather near the body, confirming the manner of death. But later on, I also found the head nearby, lying inconspicuously in the grass. Perhaps the owl got scared off. I scooped up what was left and dumped it in a secluded area nearby, where there are unlikely to be children playing or people walking their dogs.