BIRDS WITH GREEN FEATHERS – Lisa’s Bird Challenge of the week

/ Margaret

Lisa (from Florida) sets a weekly bird ‘challenge’ which I haven’t responded to for the last few weeks. This week, it is BIRDS WITH GREEN FEATHERS.

 

Although it’s taken me hours, I have really enjoyed going through hundreds of my photos today picking out birds with green  – such an amazing variety and many great memories. So, thank you Lisa for the prompt, giving plenty of scope and releasing these beautiful birds from the confines of my computer to share their splendour with others. Hopefully, you can find some time to sit down and enjoy them all. Be warned, there are a lot of them!

I will start with birds in our small garden in the UK. I wonder why it is that of the 60+ birds we have seen in, or flying over, our garden over the 20 years we have lived here, those with green feathers are so few and far between?

 

And now for some photos of birds with green feathers that I have seen around the world in the past 15 years – there are more than I had expected! But it has made me reflect on the fact that none of them comes from seaside habitats. And I have seen many more birds with green feathers in tropical (or semi-tropical) environments – there seems to be a dearth of green feathers in temperate regions. Perhaps it’s not surprising that so many of them live in forests or woodlands.

 

And lastly, two birds with “Green” in their names which puzzles me. It is not just that the photos don’t look green or that they were wrongly identified – they didn’t look green to me in real life!

10 thoughts on “BIRDS WITH GREEN FEATHERS – Lisa’s Bird Challenge of the week”

  1. What a wonderful range of birds, beautifully photographed and named, from so many countries and environments. Must bring back happy memories enjoying the wonders of creation over many years. Thank you for sharing.

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    • Thank you for looking through them all! Made me want to put together a photobook! One day I will. It is awesome what I have seen over the years. Very privileged. I am sure you have also seen many of them.

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  2. Wow! You really outdid yourself this week. Such a wonderful gallery and I for one appreciate the effort in giving us a wide array of green feathered birds in different areas. So glad to see you back this week! I know how great I feel when I go through my archives, remembering fun times! 😊💜

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      • You probably already know about this which I have just read. Sounds tragic.

        Mass bird death in New Mexico
        Thousands of migrating passerines have been found dead in New Mexico, USA, in recent days.

        New Mexico State University Professor Martha Desmond told local media that the reason for the mass die off is a mystery but could be tied to smoke from wildfires, or the recent cold weather. The number of birds that have died may now be in the “millions”, she said.

        Birds are dying in their thousands across New Mexico and parts of Colorado and Texas, and no one is sure why (Allison Salas / New Mexico State University.

        State biologists have asked people to report sightings of dead birds for further research to be conducted. Some birds were seen acting strangely before their deaths, according to witnesses. “It’s devastating. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything this horrible in my life,” Prof Desmond, who works for the university’s department of fish, wildlife, and conservation ecology, told KRQE-TV.

        “When you’re there, you know, picking them up off the ground and seeing the extent of it and then looking at all these carcasses come in,” she continued. Neighbouring south-west states such as Colorado, Arizona, and Texas have also reported increased numbers of bird deaths.

        Smoke from wildfires is thought to have affected the birds lungs, or forced them to change migratory routes. Recent snows in Colorado could also be a culprit, Prof Desmond said, adding that more will not be known until the animals carcasses can be studied.

        Meanwhile, the US Forest Service in the Santa Fe National Forest have appealed for public help. In a tweet on Friday, the agency wrote that “unexplained songbird mortality has wildlife biologists in NM very concerned,” and asked people to collect data from birds that they find.

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      • I had not heard about this but I haven’t watched the news or so much as looked at the news in a couple of weeks. I’ve had my head buried in the Etsy shop just like an Ostrich. I just read about it. That is horrible! The wildfires have been worse this year than in many years. We were supposed to be in Seattle this month but cancelled when the lockdown happened & I lost my job. We were glad that we didn’t go because the air quality was so bad.

        They may have just not been able to find food & water due to the drought.

        I had tears in my eyes seeing the video that was posted on The New York Times just now when I saw it. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/15/us/dead-birds-new-mexico-colorado.html

        Thanks for letting me know. I may have to say something in Bird Weekly this week.

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