Our Friend The Turkey (Ornicopia 10)

432.Which bird in the United States has the largest tail?   

Many birds haveextremely long tail feathers, both in proportion to their bodies and in actuallength.  The ring-necked pheasant, brought to American from Europe andnaturalized, has the longest tail feathers.  Its relative, the goldenpheasant, often raised by pheasant fanciers, has an even longer tail.  Of the native birds,the wild turkey has the longest tail feathers while thescissor-tailed flycatcher has the longest in relation to its body length. Inall these instances, it is the male bird of the species that shows the extremelength of the retrices.

435. How do birds with extremely long tailssuch as the pheasant or very broad tails like those of the turkey controlthem?   

Among the multitude ofskin muscles of a bird are many that control the tail making instantaneous workof extreme adjustment whether tilting, fanning or contraction.

365.  Is it true that some birds produce musical sounds with their wingfeathers?  

Goldeneye ducks areoften called whistlers by hunters because of the whistling sounds produced bytheir wing feathers as they fly.  Similar sounds are produced by the wingfeathers of other birds, among them mourning doves, as they fly.

Many birds producesounds deliberately with their wing feather.  Among such birds are theruffled grouse, which makes booming sounds, turkeys that make clicking sounds,and woodcock, which, with wing feathers having special development, plungedownward through the night, causing the air to whistle through them.

366.  Does thesound made by the wing feathers serve any purpose?   

The sounds produced bythe wing feathers of grouse, turkeys and woodcock all play a part in courtshipactivities.

NOTE:  This post isdedicated to my mother, Joan Brown Roberts, who really loved the wild turkeys wholived in her meadow in Tuxedo Park, New York and made us love and appreciatethem also.  Here's one (link).


From: 1001 Questions Answered About Birds by Allan D.Cruickshank and Helen G. Cruickshank (Toronto, General Publishing Company,1958)

Mourning Doves Nesting At Our Window

 

          Currently, we have a pair of mourning doves nesting outside our kitchen window.  They're very peaceful and beautiful.  Their nest is also a thing of beauty composed of twigs and bits of twine they gathered from somewhere in the neighborhood.

        We've read that the nesting season will only last a few weeks, but it's an exquisite sight. 

         Caroline's reading up on how to encourage the doves to nest in a different window in the future (one outside the garage), which is a less active space that they might find more restful. 

          But the place they've chosen is fairly well hidden and the birds blend in almost invisibly to the house. 

          Two small white eggs with a violet sheen form the "clutch", as I've read is common.  How these birds can stand the yapping dachshunds I have no idea, but I guess they're used to the mixed sounds of nature and culture.

Photography: Jane Roberts, Strange Phase Studios 
(Please mouse-click on photos to enlarge.)

For more on the mourning dove, please see here.

Ornicopia 2: Is it true that a woodcock sings with its wings?

    

American Woodcock

 

578.  Is it true that a woodcock sings with its wings?

Many birds produce very musical sounds with their wings.  A mourning dove generally leaves its perch with loudly whistling wings, and a duck called the goldeneye produces such a loud sweet sound with its wings that hunters call it the "whistler".  The woodcock has an elaborate flight song and a good part of the twittering musical sounds are actually produced by air rushing through the special stiff, attenuated outer wing feathers.

Goldeneye Duck


 

Mourning Dove

579.  What bird sings with its tail? 

One may say the common snipe sings with its tail.  On rapidly vibrating wings, it gives its flight song high above the marsh.  It circles around and around, periodically dashing downward and producing an eerie ventriloquistic sound, as the air rushes past its unique rigid outer tail feathers.

Common Snipe

From:  1001 Questions Answered About Birds by Allan D. Cruickshank and Helen G. Cruickshank (Toronto, General Publishing Company, 1958)

Goldeneye family crossing the road



Video: The Lovely Goldeneye Courtship
Video: Common Snipe In Regent's Park
Video: American Woodcock (Move It, Move It)
Video: Mourning Dove on a brisk winter's day