(INTO THE WOODS AND BEYOND!)
I feel the need to put a disclaimer in my blog today. Many, many times I make comments or statements on this blog that are intended as humor. I’m not very good at it, but I like to try. I like whimsy and looking at things from a different perspective, so please assume that I missed my mark if something seems negative, I’m just having fun.
As we take our first steps into the new year, I want to wish all of you happiness, good health, joy and wonder. Happy New Year my global friends!
In the secret life of birds, depending on whether the bird is a pet bird or a wild bird, some things aren’t so secret.
If you have a pet bird, you’ve probably watched it groom itself. Think about it, have you ever considered that they might appreciate a shower curtain when it’s time for their ablutions? If we’re there, there’s no way for them to hide the process, they’re on full display, their every moment of grooming can be known to us. I’m not saying they crave privacy at that time, it’s just that we don’t know their secret thoughts, so why not assume that they don’t want us there at that time and buy them a cute bird shower curtain.
Wild birds can always settle in some tree or bush that has heavy foliage to take care of whatever maintenance is necessary. Any and every thing done is PRIVATE! A pet bird probably would consider that SUCH a luxury…but I don’t know for sure, because they keep that secret in their little bird brains.
Look at the bird in the picture above…look how clean it’s snowy white feathers are. These birds are hammered with every weather element that comes along and yet, almost always they are immaculate…unless it’s raining and then they just have to put up with being a mess.
I want to know what their secret is…how do they stay so clean? How do indoor pet birds stay so clean? We don’t provide the indoor birds with soap and unless there’s a bird convenience store somewhere in the woods that I don’t know about, the wild birds don’t have access to soap, either.
To put you all out of your misery, I will wrap my musings up…but if someone out there knows the answer to the following question, I sure would appreciate being let in on the secret…IS THERE SOAP IN THEIR SPIT?
I want to make it perfectly clear that I am not a bird behavior specialist…although I have been mistaken for one at cocktail parties.
I am just a bird observer, a mere mortal with an uncanny ability to be wrong about a lot of things.
In the spirit of keeping my track record very blemished, I would like to offer my thoughts on the interaction above. The wide spread wings of the bluejay above may mean, “STOP”. Perhaps little bluejay birds were crossing the branches on their way to bluejay school, crossing guards are always needed and heeded.
I didn’t notice any traffic or construction, but the commanding posture of the wings could indicate that oncoming birds should take an alternate route. I’ve been told that these worker birds take a lot of verbal abuse from frustrated fliers.
One last possibility for this behavior is some kind of weird attempt to find a date for the “spring fling.” Personally I think this move just smacks of desperation and I suspect this bird will be shunned and become the catalyst for an urban myth about a creepy, inappropriate bird that lurked in the woods.
Look at that sweet little face.
I wonder what the little bird’s name is,”sweet pea”,
“tinker bell”?
It’s possible that this bird considers itself to be a rough and tough character. Perhaps it imagines itself a superhero of the bird world. It’s possible that it goes by the name of “Hercules”.
Of course I’ll never know what it’s name is…unless it can talk…then I would want to know a lot more than what it’s name is.
