"Completed": #35. Learn more about birdwatching

I think why birdwatching sometimes goes hand-in-hand with autism spectrum disorders is because: 1. It gives a person new facts to learn that are supported by visual information; 2. It is easy to become a hyperfocus; 3. It centres one's attention on an external world that already exists, often unnoticed, through practical application; 4. It's micro with a macro application; 5. ANIMALS.

Very quickly, it becomes easy to identify birds if you make mental notes of: colour, pattern, size, tail shape, and the way it flies. (Presumably also song, but I am more visual than auditory.) I observe these things in the moment, and consult field guides and/or the internet when I am home again.

Since the last post, I have also seen:
Common grackles, magpies, turkey vultures.

The latter were two, and sitting ON OUR ROOF. In a little suburban enclave in the city. I don't understand. They are massive and somehow simultaneously majestic and terrifying.

My husband managed to capture a brief video of one flying:

I will tell you some things about turkey vultures: They are the only vulture in Canada, and only here in the south, and only when it is warm. They are almost exclusive carrion eaters. Their line of defense against animal predators is to vomit on themselves because it smells so terrible.

Another thing: A house sparrow pair has laid eggs in a nest in our eaves and they have hatched and they chirp all day and a mother and father sparrow alternately bring them food. They stand guard on nearby branches and wires if we stand too close. Here is a video of the chirping and a silhouette photo of the mom:

I will tell you some things about house sparrows: They bathe themselves in dirt piles. They are an invasive species in North America and not protected by law. Some birdwatchers kill them and their eggs because they say they affect native populations. For example, it is said that they kill bluebirds trapped in their nests, sometimes even laying their own eggs over the bluebirds' dead bodies.

I have never seen a bluebird.

I would never kill a sparrow.

A last thing:

Some American crows congregated in the neighbour's tree and on their roof, after the turkey vultures left. They sounded very upset. They seemed to be calling a meeting. Here is one on the roof, to the backdrop sound of one cawing in the tree:

I will tell you some things about crows: They are not the same as ravens. Ravens mostly live on the West coast in Canada, but some have been seen in Toronto in recent years. They are larger and their beaks have a different shape.

Crows are said to be one of the most intelligent animals in the world: About the equivalent of a three year old human. They can solve brand new multi-step puzzles using logical reasoning and tools.

Original goal list posted here