A genius by accident is still a genius

Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus), in transitional plumage, family Phasianidae, Alaska

photograph by Kristina Ellis

I need to tell you, the sound is VERY important, and the final frame of the video is 👌👌👌.

𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟓 : 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞

people dont fear herons as much as they should

why?

their entire hunting strategy is making their bodies into spears. basically they can extend their necks super fast at prey and stab them hard enough to the point they can have a hard time getting their prey off of their beaks by themselves

you can see here in this x ray that one vertebra in their necks is elongated right at the s-curve, and this is what makes them crazy efficient hunters. the elongated vertebra allows them to basically launch their heads at prey incredibly fast where they stab it with their sharp beaks. like any animal herons aren't going to hesitate to defend themselves if they have do and it would probably suck to get stabbed by a bird. even bitterns can do a lot of damage like this, plus bitterns have a tendency to go for the eyes

also they can and will snatch gophers right out of the ground. they'll eat pretty much anything they can fit down their throats (which is way bigger than you think. their esophaguses are very elastic)

i'm not saying you should be scared of a heron or anything but people dont realize how much damage they can do

if this guy wants, he can skewer you. remember this

fun fact there's a pretty good body of work suggesting that azdarchid pterosaurs used essentially the same kind of predation model as herons

except. well. they were the size of giraffes.

(image courtesy of Mark Witton)

do you have the good sense to fear the heron now?!

[help]

Blue herons at least, are frighteningly huge up close too

My mom once went down to a local park that was partially flooded after a storm, just to see how bad it was. She was walking along, and suddenly there was a heron right in front of her, about ten feet away. They made eye contact. And then my mom just slowly walked away, greatful to not be speared for her effort. Also, there is a heron who lives on a lake near me that I've named Clive. I just thought everyone should know.

convergent evolution is crazy. and Nature is Scary

WELCOME BACK LITTLE GUYS!!! conservation DOES have meaning even in a struggling world, and we still have the opportunity to make a difference

front facing egrets making me lose control of everything

sweet baby

Sound on

(via)

A crested myna investigating a peach

English added by me :)

coo

Two crows were observed perched silently atop a street light during a misty morning in coastal California. ♡

Pyrrhuloxia aka Desert Cardinal (Cardinalis sinuatus), male, fluffin and rufflin, family Cardinalidae, order Passeriformes, Lomita Wildlife Photography Ranch, Uvalde, TX, USA

Photograph by Laura Lee Baker Barfield

This tiny Tawny Frogmouth chick arrived at the Wildlife Hospital at only a few days old and needed some expert care to prepare for adulthood without his parents.

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Dinosaurs went and got like that

^w^

That’s not a bird. That is a Muppet.

@scavenger-toll

It is Soup’s birthday! He is two years old now!