Thunder Birds

You know how you see birds hang around on telephone poles or high power wires and they never get electrocuted? I mean when was the last time you went outside and saw a cloud of smoke and feathers? Probably never right? I always see birds hanging around high power wires and there's one question that's on my mind: how do birds sit around on high voltage power lines without getting electrocuted!? I've seen birds on power lines all my life, but this question never seemed to be so important until I started this project.

This week I also saw a squirrel run up a telephone pole. I immediately thought, "Okay, there's some sort of secret that no one has told me yet. How come birds and squirrels can go up on telephone poles without getting electrocuted?" I was really intrigued by this and researched the topic. I found a scientific explanation to this little question.

I found Wonderopolis and found an answer. "Electricity flows by the movement of electrons through conductors," says Wonderopolis. "Electricity flows along the path of least resistance." Electricity needs to keep flowing constantly, so it needs a conductor to interrupt the flow and that's when something gets electrocuted; birds aren't good conductors of electricity. "Their cells and tissues do not offer electrons an easier route than the copper wire they’re already traveling along," (Wonderopolis). Since the birds don't provide the electrons with an easier route, the flow of electricity stays uninterrupted and it keeps flowing as normal.

Through my journey of finding out an answer to this, I found a cool video! This video is really unbelievable. It's a short part of the song, "Birds on the Wires," by Jarbas Agnelli. He created this while, "Seeing a picture of the birds and decided to see what music the birds were creating," explains Agnelli. If this video caught your attention and you want to see the whole thing, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkRg_FZdLgw.

Agnelli is really creative! I liked the idea of making music out of where the birds were sitting on the wire. They really look like music notes when you think about it. I couldn't have thought of doing something like that. I just can't get over the idea that someone can create music from seeing birds hang around. Now that I see this, I wonder if birds are trying to give us the gift of music; after all, their chirping is really pleasant to hear. 

Work Cited

"Do Birds Get Shocked When They Sit on Wires?" Wonderopolis. Verizon Foundation. n. d. Web. 8        Nov. 2014.

It's All About The Hoppers

As the weather starts getting colder and colder, I've noticed people stay indoors more than usual. The cold weather makes everyone stay indoors because no one wants to be freezing outside when they can be warm and toasty inside. Birds migrate to warmer climates, bears hibernate and humans stay indoors for longer periods of time. So why don't some birds migrate?

I always thought birds migrated so they wouldn't be cold here in Sparks. I always saw flocks of ducks flying south and thought they were tired of the cold so they moved to a warmer climate. Then, I would see other ducks stay here and struggle to stay warm, but I never had an answer to why they stayed here if they were always so cold. I always wondered this, but I never seemed to care enough to find an answer. It's not that only ducks do this, but they are the only birds I saw do this.

Now with the observations I'm doing with this project, I've noticed that kestrels do this too. I never understood why birds didn't simply migrate to a warmer climate instead of staying in cold ones. I saw my kestrel just sitting there in its nest and thought to myself, "why doesn't she migrate to a warm climate and come back when spring begins here?" I researched this and it turns out they stay where their food supply's at not because it's warmer where they migrate to. "Birds migrate to follow the availability of food," says Simmons, on Audubon Magazine, "their movements are driven by where they can find the food that they are designed to eat and compatible habitat." 

It's a lot like what people do; they move to where the money's at. Money is human's grasshopper. Kestrels love to eat large grasshoppers as much as most people like having money. Money turns the world for people and grasshoppers turn it for kestrels. It's funny how something can be so valuable for someone and other things for others. 

Work Cited

Simmons, Hugh. "Why Do Some Birds Migrate, and Others Don't?" Audubon Magazine. N. p. 9              Nov. 2012. Web. 1 Nov. 2014.

Little Players

My kestrel hasn't been around much this week. I was starting to get nervous because I didn't know if it had left me. I started thinking, "If my kestrel leaves, what will become of my blog and my grade?" My bird came back this week, but I thought it was strange of this bird to do that. It had done that in the past and I thought it was a bit strange. Then I started to research this about my kestrel. It turns out it's some sort of seasonal thing they do; they leave the nest once in awhile and come back later.

I can finally sleep well knowing my kestrel will be there. Anyway, while I was researching this, I came upon something quite interesting. Remember how on an earlier post I mentioned that kestrels have multiple partners? Well according to the University of Minnesota, kestrels don't mate for life. "However during the breeding season they are monogamous. If they are successful they may both return to the same site next year." (University of Minnesota).

I thought this was really interesting because the more I research these bird, the more I find that humans have a lot in common with these animals. They have one partner one mating season, but can have another one next season. I don't know about you, but this sounds a lot like a human to me. We can have multiple partners before we settle for just one. The only difference is that the kestrel has sex with its partner and then decides if it'll stay with it and humans date a person before deciding.

In the summer I always saw my kestrel with a mate, but later in fall or winter I would see her all by herself. Maybe she hasn't found that special someone yet. Or maybe they go their separate ways and meet up later for mating season. I don't know, but I hope her the best.

My next really intriguing question that I've had since forever was how do birds mate? I think most people have asked themselves that at some point in their lives. I Googled that question and found this picture of the kestrels.

anderslundberg.no/galleries/portugal-campo-branco

It looks a lot like two people having sex. I was totally shocked when I saw this; I have no idea how this can happen when I don't see a sexual organ on any bird.

Work Cited

University of Minnesota. "Kestrel Watch". University of Minnesota. N. p. n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.            "<http://kestrelwatch.ahc.umn.edu/kestrel_faq.cfm>."

fast lil guys

Ever since my last blog, I've been trying to get a video with a kestrel hunting. I've looked at a couple, but it doesn't really show a good image of the kestrel hunting. This following video show a good view of the kestrel hunting. It's really cool. Watch it! They are really fast hunters and...well, just watch it first and I'll keep writing when you finish the video.

http://youtu.be/2GFnInTVbq4

Did you see this little guy catch the katrina? I didn't even see what it was trying to catch the first time I watched this video. I had to watch it a couple times and then the slow-mo really helped me see the katrina.  

These are some fast flying birds. It reminds me of how short people tend to be really fast. This is mostly true because in most soccer teams I've been on, the shortest people are really fast. I should know, since I was really short and fast before I hit a growth spurt; I earned the nickname, "Speedy," from Speedy Gonzales. I thought this was only true for humans; I never would have guessed it also applied for the animal kingdom. 

Kestrels are relatively small; their wingspan is 23 inches and their length is 10 inches. By watching this video above, you may realize that it has a really fast acceleration; they also flap their wings at a fast pace when they hunt. 

Small, But Fierce

This kestrel is super amazing! The more I research it the more I find this bird to be more and more awesome! I was researching more on what they eat and its hunting techniques to see if they hunt specifically on a set time. I was surprised at what I found about these crazy birds.

When I think of a bird's prey, I usually think of worms, insects, and if they're more aggressive and vicious, rodents. That's what most people think right? Well in fact, these birds eat other types of small birds and some very dangerous insects.

Apparently kestrels prey upon small birds such as European starlings, house sparrows and songbirds. I was actually shocked when I found out about this because I had never heard of birds eating other birds, but apparently there is such a thing as that. At first I thought it was some sort of cannibalism or something like that...then I looked up the definition of "cannibalism." It turns out that it's only considered "cannibalism" if they eat their own species.

Anyway, my English teacher, Farias, recommended me to watch this following video of starlings. This is truly unbelievable! I can't imagine seeing this in person. Just all those birds flying all at once in perfect coordination so they don't crash amongst themselves, is just insane. You must check this out! I don't know if it's just me, but as I was watching this video, I noticed that at times the little starlings were making figures as they all flew in perfect harmony. Watch it.

Just imagine a few kestrels in there; I think that would make them really happy. So changing topics here a bit, kestrels may be small, but they are fierce little guys. I had no idea they preyed on scorpions! What the heck!? Considering their size, I didn't know they could take on scorpions. The scorpion can just strike with its poisonous tail and kill the bird, but instead it's the bird that prevails and kills the scorpion. After reading kestrels did that, I thought they were way cool. Then, I read they also had snakes on their diet. This was it, this bird is just unbelievably awesome! When I read this, it reminded me of the bird on the Mexican flag eating the snake on a cactus. I still can't believe little birds can do that to snakes. They are some fierce little guys.

Realization

Ever since my last entry, I've noticed so many amazing things about this cool American kestrel. To start off I figured out the sex of this bird! It turns out it’s a female. Female kestrels have more of a falcon look (left) and male kestrels have some blue feathers on its wings (right).

American Kestrel

According to identifywhatbird.com the females arrive first on their winter range and establish their territories in the preferred open areas. The males, arriving later are forced to use areas with more trees." "Maybe this explains why girls are always saying they're smarter than guys.

The American kestrel is considered a falcon even though it acts like a hawk, falcon and an accipiter at times. It's an exceptional hunter. I remember last summer, I would always find pieces of what seemed to be some sort of creature. I could never make out make creature it was but it seemed to be different every time.I figured they ate insects, maybe rodents, but never in a million years would I've know they ate other birds! They hunt House Sparrows and European Starlings. I don't know about you, but that's really unusual for me. I never knew birds could eat other birds.

I also found another weird but yet interesting fact about these amazing birds. "American Kestrel: Female is promiscuous, mating with two or three males prior to settling with a single mate." (Identifying What Bird) When I first found out about this my first impression was, "What's the point of doing this? Is she trying to figure out who does it better?" (I'll have to keep researching this and I'll let you know on a future blog).

Paying Attention

I've watched this nest many times through the window of my dining room, but nothing interesting seemed to be happening. Ever. Before being forced to do this I had watched it for a few seconds a day to see if something new was there, nothing. I think what I needed to do was watch this more thoroughly and carefully. I just looked at this bird and thought, “What’s so special about this bird?” I had no information on this bird; I didn't know its species, what they eat, its sex, I didn't know anything at all.

American Kestrel

I started researching this bird and it turns out they're more interesting than I gave them credit for. “The American Kestrel is the most common falcon in North America.” -whatbird.com identifywhatbird.com

I didn't know these birds were in the falcon family! I find that really amazing. The nest is something good to look at too. When I think of a nest I imagine a really well crafted nest like the ones in cartoons, but the American kestrel keeps it simple. They simply find a hole-like structure that seems comfy and put some twigs, grass, and shoves them in the cavity to make a nest for itself. I guess they like to keep it simple. I still don't know if this bird in my house is a male or a female (I have to research that).