Balaeniceps rex: Shoebill

These birds might just be the most amazing birds ever. They look like something straight out of Jim Hensen's Creature Shop... hmmm... I wonder if the Shoebill ever inspired anything out of Jim Hensen's Creature Shop...

He has a funky topknot, long gangly legs and that wonderful bill, which looks like it should be too heavy for the bird to hold up its head. But it works. The Shoebill is an African bird, very tall (4.5 ~ 5 feet), and the only species in the family Balaenicipitidae.

Awesome. (I think the word 'awesome' was created for just these situations.)

The Houston Zoo posted a video of their pair on YouTube:

Whee!

Doodled from a photo uploaded to the Wikipedia entry for the Shoebill.

Modern Game Chicken

A good source of entertainment when I'm feeling down: Extraordinary Chickens, by Stephen Green-Armytage. Makes me laugh every time.


Not that I'm depressed. I'm not... today I was looking for "3 French Hens," and Extraordinary Chickens seemed like a good place to start...

Doodled from a photo in Extraordinary Chickens.

Cochlearius cochlearius: Boat-billed Heron

I love the way these birds look - I would say that they're weirdly beautiful.

They live in Central America, they're nocturnal, and in many photos you can't see the crest.


Doodled from a photo in Gerald Carter's flickr photostream.

And because this is one of those birds that's "so nice they named it twice," here's a photo from a different angle so you can get a real sense of what the bill looks like.

Photo from the Wikipedia page for the Boat-billed Heron.

Sula dactylatra: Masked Booby

There was a fantastic article in The New York Times yesterday, Half a Lifetime Spent in Pursuit of Waterbirds, that profiled Theodore Cross, a birder who just released a new book.

The Times article says that Waterbirds "... is part visual encyclopedia, part memoir of a nearly half-century pursuit of birds." The photos featured with the story are breathtaking.

Cross is 85 now, and after spending the last half of his life photographing birds he says "the memories of them help me accept the brevity of the time that lies ahead.” Grace.

Doodled from one of Mr. Cross's photos featured in The New York Times article.

Upopa epops: Hoopoe

Found in Europe and Asia, this funny bird has a funky crest. I read somewhere that it only displays its crest when it's landing, but I don't know if that was an accurate account.

Wild.

Podargus strigoides: Tawny Frogmouth

This may be my new favorite bird: the Tawny Frogmouth. They're from Australia, and if the photos from Flikr are any indication, they don't really have a problem with people. Apparently it's not unheard of for one to come into the yard and land on somebody's head... that (and cockatoos) make fleeing to Australia seem like a grand idea.

They're pretty large, at 13 - 21 inches, and they can weigh almost a pound. Another big-headed bird, they have a huge gape for eating insects, fish and small mammals.

They look a little bit like owls, but they're not. Their feet are smaller and weaker, their beaks are are broader and their hunting style is more passive.

Alcedo cristata: Malachite Kingfisher

Another cute bird with a crest: the Malachite Kingfisher. Kingfishers are fun, with their big beaks and stubby tails.

I'm constantly surprised by the variation in bird forms, their bodies, beaks, feet and tails.

Doodled from thundafunda.com.

Fratercula arctica: Atlantic Puffin

Some very sketchy doodles of the Atlantic Puffin, a clown-like, very cute bird.

As you can see, some of my sketchy doodles work out better than others... little dude in the top right corner isn't working out at all... such is life.

Indian Runner Duck

If I were going to keep ducks, these would be the ducks I would keep. From what I've read about them, they're quieter than other ducks and they lay lots and lots of eggs. Their legs are situated far back on their bodies, so they walk (run, actually) almost completely upright.

Cracks. Me. Up.

Doodled from Koi Craze at Welch Farms. His neck is a little short and his head is a little bit too big, but the posture looks about right.

Pinguinus impennis: Great Auk

The Great Auk stood ~ 30 inches tall and lived on islands in the North Pacific. It is the only species of giant auk to survive to modern times.

Great Auks apparently had no fear of humans, so (surprise, surprise) were hunted to extinction by the mid-19th Century. Grrr...

Doodled from a photo of a stuffed Great Auk.