sanguinarysanguinity:collapsinghorizons:burdnurd:fun morning doodle based off a tweet on my feed thi
sanguinarysanguinity:collapsinghorizons:burdnurd:fun morning doodle based off a tweet on my feed this morning lol i like how this headline presents itself as if cardinals aren’t 100% one of the “worst” birds to get in a net because one, they have the second strongest bite of any north american songbird(the first being grosbeaks), and two, every single cardinal you ever get out of a mist net WILL bite you. Repeatedly. They will bite anything that goes near their beak. The band pliers. The steel bands that are specifically only for cardinals because the aluminum ones that other songbirds get are too weak, because cardinals will amputate their own legs in an attempt to pry the bands off, and the aluminum ones will crumple. The pen you are using to try and write down their age/stats. The pen cap you eventually give it to bite so that it will stop YELLING and biting, your fingers if you are dumb enough to not hold it properly. Your fingers erven if you AREN’T dumb enough to not hold it properly.There’s a reason I have a tattoo of an angry female cardinal behind my ear, and it is because lady cardinals have 0 time for your science shit, they have babies to feed, and you *will* suffer for your assumptions.((I frequently was the only one in our twenty-ish band of people who would get cardinals untangled from the nets without a fuss, because I also dealt with them in wildlife rehab for years and cardinal bites are nothing compared to like. Seagulls. Or pelicans. Or being footed by a bird of prey.)) Audubon Bird Note: An Old Feisty Female Cardinal Bit the Same Scientist, Eight Years StraightDuring spring breeding season, Eric and his team capture and band birds at the marsh. They’re part of an important study, because the north end of this 270-acre tidal marsh is a remediated Superfund site. For eight years in a row, Eric caught the very same female cardinal. Eight years – that’s about twice the average age of an adult cardinal. This aggressive female didn’t just peck at the banders’ fingers like other captured birds, but clamped its strong bill on to the soft flesh between his thumb and first finger. And held on tight. Ouch! Each year that Eric re-caught the bird, he dreaded the experience, yet admired this particular Northern Cardinal. She wasn’t “just another pretty face,” but a feisty survivor. -- source link