the quirks of Boreal Owl parenting

August 15, 2022 10:07 AM

The treasure trove of Birds Online videos and projects is available online at birdsonline.cz. Since developing the Smart Nest Box, which furtively films its tenants, ecologist Markéta Zárybnická has had a front seat to the daily dramas of avian families...for example, a Eurasian Blue Tit removing a fecal pellet from a nestling’s bottom. One female Boreal Owl had a particular interior design aesthetic; she arranged dead mice and voles in neat rows, placing the heads in the corners of the nest box. In contrast, a European Starling spruced up a bed of grass with a buttercup.
posted by spamandkimchi (2 comments total)

I am surprised no one has commented yet! This is great stuff. It strikes me as not only behavior of bird species but also personalities of individual birds. Fascinating stuff.
posted by Silvery Fish at 3:46 PM on August 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

I've watched a bunch of these and they're really interesting!

I thought that some of the photo captions on this page might work well as particularly macabre writing prompts, like this one:

"Dad is back again, this time with another dead songbird for the family."
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:00 AM on August 17, 2022