Barlow's Bird Files

PCA, VBS

2008-07-27T15:03:00.000-07:00

This year I will be going to Providence Christian Academy. We get to learn latin and HAVE to wear uniforms. Some my friends from church go there. At the end of VBS we had to do a skit. Our class's was reacting the Battle of Jericho. When we ran in Jericho and killed the soldiers, I jumped off the stage and stabbed a guy with my staff.

Pool, air soft, etc.

2008-07-07T07:11:00.000-07:00

I've been spending a lot more time outside than I usually do. One reason is that I got an air soft gun. They shoot out pellets that can give you a little welt. I shoot root beer cans. Another reason is that dad got a little pool that we can sit in, splash around in, and cool off.

For the Fourth of July we invited some friends over, played with fire crackers, and saw unbelievable fireworks. We just walked to our local rec. center. Because of this, we got to stay up until 10 o' clock.

Edgar & George

2008-06-29T17:31:00.000-07:00

The other day I was outside and I remembered how we got our turtles. We were coming back from school and mom says something like: " We got something really cool today." Mom told us it was in the bathroom. I looked in the bathtub and there was a turtle. Mom told us she found him on Edgar Road, so we decided to name him Edgar.

Another day, that same month, we were at the bird sanctuary when Dad saw a round thing on the side of the road and claimed it was a turtle. We got out of the car and picked it up. It was a turtle. While we were driving home, James suggested that we should name him George after the turtle Lonesome George.

Well, the turtles have escaped so we took down their chicken wire fence and threw out watermelon rinds just incase their still in our yard.

Ugggggggggggggggggggh. More Media.

2008-06-11T14:31:00.000-07:00

Why does everyone in my family do three hours of media each day? Because they say there's "nothing" else to do. Charlie will play on the computer for 2 hours and then go and play Xbox for another hour. James watches a movie and plays the computer as well as game boy, and mom and dad sit in the living room and watch their pointless shows. If I ever have a chance to use the TV, I usually watch shows with Jeff Corwin. Jeff Corwin is a naturalist that comes on Animal Planet and Travel channel. His newest show is called : INTO AMERICA'S WEST with JEFF CORWIN.

Lately, I've been writing a story. I write a chapter a day after I read. I'll talk about it when I'm finished with my book.

Zoo

2008-06-05T12:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, at the zoo I went into the flight cage and saw: a Canvasback duck, which has a red head and a white back, a Bobwhite fly down from a tree and land in the bushes, a Blue Jay that wasn't supposed to be there, and a Double Crested Cormorant with a blue eyes and half a wing.

I will be going to Alabama and Mississippi on June 14th. Those of you who live in Alabama will know that we are there for 3 days. I will also get to see an old friend from Gulf Drive.

Conan the Barbarian and Bird sanctuary

2008-05-26T18:02:00.000-07:00

Conan is actually not much of a barbarian. If you grip an almond with two fingers and hand it to him, he's going to take it so gently that you don't feel him grabbing on it. He acts like a sock police dog. My mom just took off her socks, and he has them 5 seconds later. You can tell he's happy to see you when you come home from school or church because he'll jump in your arms and actually HUG you. When he curls up you can't tell that sometimes he can hop around the room non stop for 10 minutes.

I went to the bird sanctuary with my mom today, they got a Kookaburra which I made talk. We noticed that the Sandhill Cranes have an egg. We were looking at the common Raven when a bluebird flew over our heads and landed on the top of a vulture cage. It was amazing.

More stuff. (BORING)

2008-05-25T17:01:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been reading the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians. This series is about a boy ( Perseus Jackson ) that goes to a summer camp in the 21st century where Greek Myths are there. He goes on adventures with his friends, fights monsters, and goes on quests. I've read the first, second, and third book and there are four books.
There is a Gray Crested Flycatcher in our backyard. It has a bright yellow belly and a long crest.

We only have three days of school left before the summer. Next year, I will go to Providence Christian Academy. Happy summer.

(Applause.)

Thank you, thank you.

Men and boys camp out, etc.

2008-05-11T16:53:00.000-07:00

Two days ago, Charlie, dad, and I all went to the Keane's property from our church. There, we caught ten fish in all, found a frog and a toad, found a dead bird, and I got shot with air soft guns all over my body when I didn't have a gun! When I explored the land I found a canal which I rode in a canoe down. In the morning we were freezing our tails off. So, we went to the fire and put on two or three layers.

Conan is a very smart dog. Sometimes when he needs to go outside he will bring the leash to us.

What's going on.

2008-04-30T09:29:00.000-07:00

Since I only have 46 posts and I've been posting since November, I'm not only going to have birds on here but other things as well.

1. We went hiking on Saturday in a place called Rockwoods Reservation. It had so many rocks and streams that you could investigate and I hope we go back again. The sign said no pets but we brought Conan anyway. He loved splashing around in the streams and we find about four ticks on him each day.

2. A friend gave us an album called "Vampire Weekend" on Saturday. My dad loves it so much that he's already put videos up on "You Tube" of him singing it.

3. My Grandmother "Mama Susie", we call her, gets all the fun because she has Rose- Breasted Grosbeaks and Indigo Buntings in her yard in Alabama. No fair.

4. When I lived in Gulf Drive almost two years ago we met some people called the Dalgos. Austin is coming over for brunch on Saturday. They enjoy animals and nature as I do and we had lots of fun with our fellow milk drinkers when mom was packing to leave to Webster Groves.

5. I feel bad for my mom she has got so much work to do that she planned out her weekend on a sheet of paper. She's got a WIC brunch on Saturday and has to prepare for people coming over, I'm sick so she has to take care of me and tour a school today, and Eli's got to go to pre-k. Bless her.

6. James ( my older brother with autism ) is eating so much now. Pre- teens think they own the place.

7. Charlie ( a younger brother who is not fully autistic ) has been driving me crazy with talks about super hero cartoons like Batman and Spiderman. He's killing me.

8. Not only are birds like Robins making nests but Rabbits are too. We see them collecting straw and now there's a giant mass of straw in our back yard.

9. Strep throat is not fun. I'm warning you! Be afraid!

Jefferson City Trip

2008-04-24T05:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to school at 7:00 A.M. so that I could go to Jefferson city! We got in these buses that had bathrooms and snacks. When you approach the city the first thing you see is the large capital building. It has a huge dome and a statue of Thomas Jefferson at the front. There's a visitor center with a small museum. We also went inside the senate lounge and met Sen. Michael Gibbons and went in the room with the painting all around the room. We went to the governer's mansion which had old furniture and lots of space. Then we walked to the Supreme Court building and went to the court room and the library with the original Dred Scott case.

Goldfinch in St. Louis!

2008-04-20T18:03:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, after school I was walking around the backyard. I wasn't doing much except for cutting up wild onions and shooting windows with water guns. So, I happened to glance at the feeder with mixed seeds in it. On it, there was a black and yellow object. It took a while for me to realize there was a Goldfinch here! In other news, our church is having an annual men and boys camp out. It's from May 9-10 so we have a lot of time to get ready but, a lot of people are already talking about it. One of my church music teachers walked over to where I was sitting on a bench almost asleep by Mr.Jaeggi. I think his name is Tim Weston anyway, he said he knew I liked birds and that I might be going to the camp out. He asked me if I could go bird watching with him. So, I asked my dad if we could go, seeing is how we have a tent, knifes, and other things that might be useful and he said "Yes, probably." I hope to go.

Trip to the Zoo 2

2008-04-08T16:44:00.001-07:00

On Sunday I went to the zoo. We went to the flight cage which was amazing, and has these birds: a Hooded Merganser, Ruddy Duck, a couple Wood Ducks ( which are the state waterfowl of Mississippi ), some funny Double Crested Cormorants, a Canvasback, and different kinds of Ibises and Herons. The Hooded Merganser could unfold and fold a huge crest. The Ruddy Duck had a blue beak.

. . .

As we were walking out of the zoo I noticed a Black- ish bird behind me. It turned around and I noticed a Red and Yellow shoulder on it . I knew instantly that it was a Red -Winged Blackbird. So I said to dad: " Mom- uh dad look, it's a - ". Then the bird took off and flew about five inches away from my pointing finger, "Red Winged Blackbird."

2008-04-08T16:44:00.000-07:00

Woodpecker and a dog!

2008-03-28T18:30:00.001-07:00

This morning before we left for St. Louis, I was downstairs and Charlie came down and said: " Nathan, there's a Pileated Woodpecker outside"! I walked, or rather ran up the stairs to see something the size of a large duck with a black back and a huge red crest outside. That was one of the best bird adventures I've ever had.
When we were all tired from the trip and getting in the hose we never knew there would be something fuzzy and the color of wheat inside our door. Mom opened the door and we walked inside to hear a scraping noise and dad saying "Back"! He walked around the corner of the hall with a Wheaten Terrier. Dad had got him at a shelter with mostly Pit Bulls. After much debating we finally named him Conan since he's Irish. I had suggested the name because of Conan O' Brian. So dad looked up the meaning and it said that it meant Hound or Wolf which, was pretty funny considering he's a dog. If I were to give you a description of him tis is what it would be:
-loves to drink water,
-friendly and does not jump on people
-curly hair
-loves everyone

We all love our new dog.

P.S. He's one year old.

Mama Sue's House

2008-03-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

This morning we were planning on going to the Dismals Canyon but, when we got there it was closed. So we went to a place called Natural Bridge where there were caves and streams. The part I really want to talk about is how this morning and this afternoon I have seen birds I have never seen before. The one that amazes me the most is the American Goldfinch. It is bright yellow with a black back and head in the breeding season. Alabama has so many great birds. I also saw a Purple and House Finch which are both purple, a Brown Thrasher, and a brave Mockingbird which Mama Sue and I named Tom. We went to Miss Mari's house and saw more of the same birds and a Eastern Bluebird. I am sure I will see more birds quite soon. My time in Alabama is going to be great.

Bird News

2008-03-17T14:28:00.000-07:00

Recently a person asked about a bird with a red throat and head that I think is a House Finch because even though they are usually pink they can be Red, yellow, and purple. Lately, I have seen more of those Eurasian Tree sparrows which are only native to St. Louis, some more Northern Flickers, and something I have never seen before : a Hairy Woodpecker. These are an exact replica of a Downy except they are much bigger and have a proportionately longer beak and a huge red spot.

This ends BNN ( bird national network ).

Flicker is back!

2008-03-06T15:25:00.000-08:00

This morning my mom told me she hadn't seen her Northern Flicker in a while. Today, after school mom told me she saw him twice. Also, after school we were just pulling in to the driveway when I saw the fattest House Sparrow I've ever seen. Before we got in the car today My dad said, " Ooh, look, look, look. It's a HUGE Hawk." We all looked to where he was pointing and we saw a Red Tailed Hawk being harassed by Crow Magnon and his gang. I have seen a ton of Cardinals as well. Later, after I was done with my homework I was making a picture of a Eastern Bluebird around some pine needles when mom called me. I walked in the kitchen and right up close to the window there was a beautiful Morning Dove. My mom has just handed me an article in the newspaper about Galapagos birds with a picture of two Albatrosses and a hysterical Blue Footed Booby.

My New Bird Partner

2008-03-03T18:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, after sunday school was over I saw my old friends from Gulf Drive: The Hiers. I said Hi to Caleb and this was all he could say before we had to go home: "My favorite bird is a Flamingo". For those of you who go to my church you'll know what I'm talking about when I say we took Mr. Jim Duncan to lunch at Growler's. As we pulled in to the parking spot we noticed the Hiers were here too! I made sure that Caleb and I ( bird people ) sat next to each other because we both love birds. Caleb amazed me with his knowledge of birds, reading, and had very neat handwriting. ( I wish mine was neat ! ) We drew pictures of birds on the back of those kids sheets they give you and we talked about the birds we see around our houses. Kids eat free on Sundays so Growler's has a lot of people, ( usually people from Providence Church ) ( ? ) so Caleb and I were able to draw twelve birds each! While we ate we were quiet because everyone was hungry. Before we went home Caleb gave his drawings to his mom and I gave mine to my mom. I hope to see my bird friend again soon.

March=Birds

2008-03-02T04:22:00.000-08:00

Well it's March now and even on the first day I've noticed it's gotten warmer. Just remember that March 1 is the day to put up your bluebird boxes if you have any and to hike in places such as Castlewood and Powder Valley. (Where you can see deer, turkeys, robins, bluebirds, and other birds). I have hypothesized that since robins and bluebirds are both in the thrush family, Turdidae, I think that robins like the bluebird boxes too. Robins and bluebirds are also similar in size. Around my school and house I have seen Eurasian Tree Sparrows and House Sparrows. Eurasian Tree Sparrows are only native to St.Louis MO.

I like to go outside almost everyday in my backyard to find birds and I encourage you to go outside, too, and if you happen to see a bird like a hawk on the highway or a cardinal on your feeder just comment that you saw a bird and I might post about that bird if I haven't before.

P.S. The doves that you see on the wires in cities are the wild subspecies of a Homing Pigeon which is called a Rock Dove.
The two other kinds (Homing Pigeons) are Brown and White and the Rock Dove is irredecent purple or green (and also plain gray).
P.P.S. Get out all your bird feeders for spring and summer so you can see more birds.
P.P.S.S. I think the House sparrows on top of my school are building a nest for spring.

More birds! Yay!

2008-02-23T06:23:00.000-08:00

When I am walking into my school on certain days, I see two House Sparrows on top of the school. They call back and forth to each other. I find that it is easier to spot birds by hearing them. Around my house I've noticed a lot of European Starlings flying around. Mom has spotted her favorite bird, the Northern Flicker and I have spotted a new Blue Jay and a White Throated Sparrow. WHOA, I just saw a huge crow fly into my backyard but flew away soon. I'm surprised the Starlings didn't fly away. Can you believe almost all of this happened this morning.

Hillary 4U and me & more

2008-02-22T15:36:00.000-08:00

Dad showed me this video called Hillary for you and me. It's on youtube. This has nothing to do with birds. I think I have a character for every candidate, here they are.

Indiana Jones's dad: Ron Paul

Syndrome: John McCain

Fred Weasley : Mitt Romney

Gilderoy Lockhart: Hillary Clinton

Bethoven the dog: Edwards

Belloq: Mike Huckabee

Squidward: Barack Obama

Elmo: Dennis Kucinich

Our New Business: email 2 postal

2008-02-17T13:27:00.000-08:00

This business has nothing to do with birds but it's called email2postal.com. You can also go to my mom's blog, annie's blog and she has a huge link. It's not ready yet just look on one of my parents' blog for when it's ready. I'll give you an example of how it works.

You hop on the computer and email us and we'll send the card with a special design to match the occasion. You don't have to worry about mailing, buying a card, or anything else. All you do is email.

"MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! We forgot to mail a birthday card to Aunt Sally!" "Use email 2 postal!", said Ma.

"I tried email 2 postal and my life is easier!", says imaginary character from New Mexico.

All you need to remember is that it's not out yet. If you need to know more about it just go to our site.

Kookaburra

2008-02-15T15:51:00.000-08:00

In my zoo post I think I mentioned a Kookaburra. This is the largest kingfisher in the world, and only lives in certain parts in Australia. Now, other kingfishers that live in North America are the Belted ( the most common kind ), the Ringed Kingfisher ( the largest ), and the Green Kingfisher ( the smallest ). The kookaburra makes a sound like this which is easy to imitate ( for me ) that sounds like this: oo,oo,oo,oo,oo,oo,aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauauauauauauauuaauauau. This was in all the jungle movies that are in South America and India like Tarzan and the Jungle Book. Really, these Kookaburras don't live in those kind of places. One time at the zoo I made the sound and it made it back.

Books and other information that I would recommend
Smithsonian Handbooks- excellent guide(s)
Jeff Corwin Experience & Corwin's Quest- funny and informative show with host Jeff Corwin
all about birds- a website with every bird in North America
owl pages- a website with all the owls from around the world and tons of fabulous pictures
bird sanctuary site St.Louis MO
Backyard Habitat- a show similar to TLC but it's backyards and attracting animals

Bird Sanctuary Trip 2

2008-02-10T04:52:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, my family and I went to the bird sanctuary. The first thing we saw was a noisy Harris's Hawk, a Red Tailed Hawk, a Tawny Owl, and a Peregrine Falcon named Lightning. ( Which is a perfect name for a Peregrine Falcon seeing is how they can go 280 mph.) Whenever I go to the bird sanctuary I always bring a jar of coins so that I can donate. I donate in whatever donation box I can find. We saw a turkey named Fred. Now, this happens to be my brother Charlie's favorite animal in the sanctuary. Fred is a white turkey. Then, we saw my favorite animal. Jake, the Great Horned Owl. I grabbed a Bird Sanctuary news paper. In the back of this newspaper there are Fred's questions where there are a bunch of questions.

P.S.
The Northern Flicker is appearing a lot more around my house.

P.P.S.
We had to replace the suet in the feeder.

Trip to the Zoo

2008-01-27T14:19:00.000-08:00

This morning after church my family and I went to the zoo. One of the first things we saw was the Bird house. For those of you who have been there you know how superb it is. One of the things I did in there was make the Kookaburra talk. I said to it oo,oo,oo,oo,oo,oo,oo,ah,ah,ah,ah,o,o,o,o,o,o,o,o,o, which you can hear from across the house. Some of the other birds we saw were a Hyacinth Macaw, Tawny Frogmouth, Mottled and Burrowing Owls, different species of Toucan and Hornbills ( and the Hornbills are scary beyond all reason ) , Bautelaur Eagle, and many others. When we went to the outside part and I saw tons of European Starlings. Here is some history of the Starling: in 1890 I believe, a few of these birds were introduced in Central Park, New York and have become so abundant that they have been considered a pest. They can be shiny blue or green or purple. We went to the Reptile House and left ( sadly ) and got pizza. Later, my dad and I got another bird feeder and more feed. This one is another tube feeder.

Mockingbirds and Hawk & Crow Fights

2008-01-26T12:11:00.000-08:00

Today was a very birdy day. I woke up and went upstairs and was pointing a laser pointer out the window at a Squirrel. He claims that it scares them away. I noticed what I think is a Carolina Wren foraging for food on the ground. I also saw a Carolina Chickadee on the sunflower seed feeder and a Downy Woodpecker on the suet feeder and a couple of Dark-Eyed Juncos. Then I saw something I haven't seen in St. Louis ever. A Northern Mockingbird. I've seen these in Hattiesburg before. This one had it's feathers puffed up and then hopped on the suet feeder. Then, later a Hawk and some Crows flew across the yard probably fighting. Over all this day so far was good. Tomorrow dad said we could go to the zoo after church.

More birds! Yaaaaa aaaaa aaaaaay !!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-01-21T17:19:00.000-08:00

This morning while the Wood family. While they were over I saw a Northern Flicker on our suet feeder which some people like my mom know it as a Yellaa Hammer. Now, there are two sub-species of the Flicker: the Red-shafted, and the Yellow-shafted. The one we saw was a Yellow-shafted which has yellow under it's wings. I also saw some Dark-Eyed Juncos pecking on the ground for seeds that fell off when a "something" jumped on the feeder. Then, I saw a White-Breasted Nuthatch climbing up the tree and a Carolina Chickadee fly on the seed feeder with a Northern Cardinal and a Downy Woodpecker fly on the suet feeder. I went out side to see more but heard a sound like this: caw, caw, caw! Then, two crows dived out of the sky. General Crowwallis was the bigger one. A hawk was on a branch that I named General Hawkington. Now, I have something to tell you: I HATE CROWS!!!!!!!!! The crows tried to scratch the hawk but he just stood still. Two more crows hopped on the same branch and it snapped under the weight and the Crows and the Hawk flew away and the branch snapped in two. This was a great day.

Birds on the Bird Feeder!

2008-01-19T11:48:00.000-08:00

This morning at nine or ten o'clock my dad and I were in the kitchen. Dad pointed out a gray-ish bird fly down to the suet feeder and then flew to the sunflower feeder. I noticed the bouncy flight which let me know it was either a chickadee or another relative like a Tufted Titmouse , a Sparrow, or a Nuthatch. I called mom to see the birds. She ran up the stairs and grabbed the binoculars she looked through them and said: Titmouse! A Creeper on the tree. Dad thought it was a rat but when mom and I looked through the binoculars and agreed it was a Creeper. The squirrels haven't figured out how to get on the line. I hope we see more birds soon.

Bird Feeders

2008-01-18T17:02:00.000-08:00

For my mom's birthday my dad and I made a bird feeder with a orange roof thing with a suet basket. My mom's birthday was in October! We just put it up today. My dad came back from the store after school with green wire. Dad said, Hey, Nathan wanna help put up the feeder? Sure! I walked outside and dad and set up a line with the wire and hung our feeder and another one we have had a long time. We haven't seen a bird yet because they aren't used to it yet.

Bird Sanctuary Trip

2008-01-01T08:01:00.000-08:00

I am in St.Louis again. I went to the bird sanctuary yesterday with my brothers and mom. First , we saw a loud Harris Hawk named Chester ,he makes loud noises whenever a human approaches that sounds like this: ree,ree,ree screech. The cages next to him held: a Common Black Hawk , Red Tailed Hawk , Tawny Owl , and a Peregrine Falcon. Next, we saw a Turkey named Fred, a Golden Eagle named "Killi", and a bunch of Bald Eagles ,one of which made a sound like this: ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee . We went to this one house "thingy" with a one eyed Eastern Screech Owl, a Mottled Owl who makes a high quiet screech, a chicken , a Kestrel , a bearded dragon ( a type of lizard) and a leopard tortoise and out side of the house there are birds one of these which is my favorite ; a Great Horned Owl . Next, we went to the gift shop I went out the back door where a White Necked Raven , Barn Owl, Kestrel, and some other things. On the way out I saw a White Breasted Nuthatch flying to a tree.

Gulf Shores,AL

2007-12-28T06:23:00.000-08:00

This is my last day in Gulf Shores sadly. I saw many brown pelicans. As I walked around a pond with my grandma Mama Susie, my brother Charlie, my Aunt Deana, my Uncle Ezra, and my one-year-old cousin Harrison, who follows me everywhere I go , I saw a Killdeer. Which is a type of plover named for it's call: killdeer,killdeer,killdeer, not named for killing deer. (?) I went to Bon Secour, a 7,000 acre national park. Home to the endangered Alabama Beach Mouse,370 species of birds,sea turtles, and occasionally alligators. My dad and I think we saw a yellow-bellied sapsucker. I don't think my brothers James and Charlie enjoyed it as much as Eli might have. I had a great time. We hiked to a large bay and saw a dead sea turtle and two huge jellyfish. We heard and owl that sounded like this: whoo. When we walked back from the two mile walk we kept looking for things , but found none. We bought ice cream on the way home. This was a memorable event!

Eastern Bluebird and anoles & toads

2007-12-22T14:58:00.000-08:00

I saw this bird today in Hattiesburg . It is bright blue and has an orange breast. They move to much for you to get a good look at them. All you see is a flash of blue and that is all. It is the state bird of Missouri and I never ever saw it. ( It should be the state bird of Mississippi!) Also, my cousin Payton and I found two anoles and dad found a toad and a black widow spider. There are too many fire ant beds here you really have to watch where you step.

Skink & Anole in Hattiesburg

2007-12-21T14:13:00.000-08:00

This is a link to a picture of a amazingly colorful skink. I am in Hattiesburg and dad and I just did a little exploring in this field. I love Mississippi. First, we turned over pots close to the house. Dad picked up a huge flowerpot and; there was nothing there. I picked up a tiny blue pot and there was a brown colored green anole. Dad reached down and picked it up . I told him we shouldn't make him lose his tail because it stores fat. We released him and traveled father away from my grandpa's house. We picked up a large bucket and found a beautiful skink with amazing colors . I got three pictures of this amazing reptile. We hoped to find snakes but found none.

My picture of the lizard buzzard

2007-12-09T13:17:00.000-08:00

I have a picture that I took on wikipedia. It is the second picture down.

Thick Billed Parrot

2007-12-08T08:19:00.000-08:00

Today on bird files: Thick Billed Parrot
You can find this bird on display at the World Bird Sanctuary St. Louis, MO gift shop. If you hum the Jimmy Buffet's tequila song he will bob his head up and down and at the end he will shout: TEQUILA, in his screeching voice. These birds are very intelligent and if you don't give him a treat and you try again he won't do it without a treat.
I found a site online called: The Owl Pages. It has every single owl you could think of.
Also if you would like to hear more about the bird sanctuary, just go to the website.
Join me next time for the: Northern Flicker or the Yellow Hammer.

Ivory Billed Woodpecker

2007-11-30T15:10:00.000-08:00

This bird was thought to be extinct for a long time until one day in the swamps of south Arkansas two fishers were in a boat and then a bird bigger than a crow flew down on a branch. The sailors started crying. Sufjan Stevens made up a song about it called the "Great God Bird". Also, this is something about owls: in school we dissected owl pellets today I found a bunch of bones and fur including two rat skulls, ribs,and lots of femurs.
Join us next time for the : Red Crowned Parrot

AUSTIN IS IT REALLY YOU?

2007-11-27T14:47:00.000-08:00

Thanks for commenting on my blog. I hope your medicine school is going well.(?) How is Birmingham ? Have you seen birds there?

DOWNY WOODPECKER

2007-11-25T17:17:00.000-08:00

These birds are very common and make a loud ch ch ch ch ch when they are pecking in wood. They are black and white with a red spot on their head. They usually eat insects but they always come to feeders when they are available. They are so closely related to the Hairy Woodpecker that their only difference is that the hairy woodpecker is about three inches bigger in length than the Downy Woodpecker. I hear them a lot around my house.
Join us tomorrow for the : Ivory Billed Woodpecker

BLUE JAY

2007-11-24T06:28:00.000-08:00

Today on bird files: BLUE JAY
The blue jay is considered a pest to some people. NOT to me. Blue Jays are bright blue,they are awesome. When enemies approach they shout THIEF,THIEF,THIEF OR JAY,,JAY,JAY. ( Which I say when my brothers want to hurt me ). They are closely related to crows, crows are the only bird that I hate. They are both in Corvidae with GRAY JAYS,STELLER'S JAY,ETC. They are actually very good helpers to other animals because the have the call that they use when they feel threatened.
Join us tommorow for the :DOWNY WOODPECKER

RED WINGED BLACKBIRD

2007-11-16T15:14:00.000-08:00

Sorry I have not posted for a while. I've been doing a lot of things. Anyway, Red Winged Blackbirds usually live near water. The best place to find them near me is the Saint Louis Zoo. There are loads of them eating fish crumbs, foraging for food in the picnic areas. They are related to blackbirds and grackels. The males are black with red and yellow shoulders. The females are so much like a sparrow ( brown ) that if I had not told you and you saw one you'd seen a sparrow.
Join us tommorow for the : BLUE JAY

NORTHERN CARDINAL

2007-11-12T14:35:00.000-08:00

Today on bird files :NORTHERN CARDINAL

These birds are so common in the eastern U.S.A . They weren't common 40 years ago. The male of this species is bright red with an orange bill. The female is all different colors. They can sing more than 25 different songs. Even the female sings which most female song birds do not. I found a nest of one last spring it was just like a little bowl. Unfortunately, one egg was cracked and the other was stolen and one would have survived except the mother abandoned the nest because she thought it was not worth it. We gave the nest to my third grade teacher.
Join us tommorow for the: RED - WINGED BLACKBIRD

WHITE THROATED SPARROW

2007-11-09T04:58:00.000-08:00

Today on bird files: WHITE THROATED SPARROW

I saw this bird yesterday. This bird is named for it's white throat it also has yellow markings by it's eye and a pattern like leaf litter. This bird only stays in Missouri in the Winter/Fall so I'm glad I saw one. There was something that a bunch of other birds really wanted that was scattered around the yard these birds were DARK-EYED JUNCO,EURASIAN TREE SPARROW,MOURNING DOVE,NORTHERN CARDINAL,and of course the WHITE THROATED SPARROW.
Join us tommorow for the : NORTHERN CARDINAL

QUESTIONS and ANSWERS

2007-11-08T15:30:00.002-08:00

Q: How do they keep them from flying away?
A: They clip their wings . A bird can't fly if it's wings aren't balanced.

TRUMPETER SWAN& QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

2007-11-08T04:37:00.000-08:00

Today on bird files: TRUMPETER SWAN

This is the largest water fowl in North America and is the largest swan in the world. These birds are all white except their feet and beak which are black. These birds are so powerful that when a male is guarding a nest it could break an arm or a leg with one blow, there are even inncidents where a swan has drowned a small kid. These birds are so graceful when they take off (I've never seen one) they have a 6--8 foot wingspan.

For,my uncle Bob
Q: Can owls be trained to hunt like falcons?
A: I'm not sure ,but I think they can because owls can be smart.

Lori
Q: Do you get up and blog in the morning at 5 AM?
A: Yes, I have to go to school so I do it in the morning.

SNAIL KITE

2007-11-07T04:48:00.001-08:00

Today on bird files: SNAIL KITE
This bird only lives in the everglades , and feeds on only one animal: the APPLE SNAIL. This is why its called the"SNAIL'' KITE.
The male is black,while the female is two shades of brown. What it does to catch prey is it swoops down to the water ( Watch out for crocodiles!) reaches with it's big talons into the water and it extracts the deilcious snail that when its on it's perch will crack open. These birds are about the size of a RED TAILED HAWK.
Join us tommorow for the: TRUMPETER SWAN

BALD EAGLE

2007-11-06T04:47:00.000-08:00

Today on bird files : BALD EAGLE

The other day when I was hiking with my family, I pointed out a large bird flying overhead. It had a white head , a brown torso , and white tail feathers. I new instantly what it was : a BALD EAGLE. Bald Eagles live in Missouri all year, while most bald eagles live in the western and eastern states during the winter , and fly north to Canada for the summer. Bald eagles are not bald. I think its the either latin or greek word "bald" it means white. Bald eagles latin name is " Haileeatus leucophalus " .
Bald eagle adults can have an amazing 6-8 ft. wingspan
Join us tommorow for the : SNAIL KITE

NORTHERN HARRIER

2007-11-05T04:51:00.000-08:00

Today on bird files: NORTHERN HARRIER

This bird lives in my backyard, it is very slender and has a very long tail. This bird is also called the " HEN HARRIER" and I don't know why. These birds get harrased by AMERICAN CROWS , but the larger crows get either , knocked off a wire, or chased away by the smaller harrier. Somewhere in my mom's blog is a picture of the harrier.
Join us tommorow for the : BALD EAGLE.

SNOWY OWL

2007-11-04T06:47:00.000-08:00

Today on bird files: SNOWY OWL

The male of this species is all white except for a few dark specks,while the female of this species has many larger black spots. Their scientific name is Nyctea Scandinava. These birds pretty much only live in Canada but sometimes will venture down to St.Louis in the winter. Also I want to talk about how hawks,eagles,falcons,owls can not move their eyes very well. This is why they have so many neck bones. These snowy owls are in Harry Potter. Harry's owl ( hedwig ) is a snowy owl.
Joinus tommorow for the : NORTHERN HARRIER.

QUESTIONS and ANSWERS

2007-11-03T13:57:00.001-07:00

This is for Bobber ,

Q: Can owls turn their heads in a 360 degree angle?
A: No , but they have many neck bones which gives them almost a 360 degree angle.
Q : Can they see in the dark?
A : Yes very well, their eyes are huge which lets in more light.

This is for Jeremy ,

Q: I want to hear about fish owls!

A: Go to wikipedia and type in "fish owls". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blakiston%27s_Fish-owl

GREAT HORNED OWL

2007-11-03T06:53:00.000-07:00

Today on bird files : GREAT HORNED OWL

Great horned owls are my favorite owl because they are the third largest owl in North America and their wingspan can be 36 to 60 in. across which is huge . They are mostly nocturnal ,they become active in dusk, but amazingly will sometimes hunt during the day! They are called the "great horned" owl because of the large ear tufts on their head and "great" because as I mentioned earlier they are quite large. Their scientific name is Bubo Virginianis the genus "Bubo", is also the genus of the fish owls and the eagle owls,( my dad's favorite owl ). Join us tommorow for : SNOWY OWL.

EASTERN SCREECH OWL

2007-11-02T17:11:00.001-07:00

Today on bird files:EASTERN SCREECH OWL

What I find intresting about this bird is that when waiting for prey ( or hiding from a predator ) they will close their bright eyes to blend in with with their bodies and they have the ability to flatten thier ear tufts , which other owls such as great horned , long eared owls etc. can not. Although they may be small, they can grow up to 8 to 10 in. while other owls such as elfin owls, pygmy owls , flammulated owls, are smaller than it ,it is still quite large. Join us tommorow for the GREAT HORNED OWL.