The Indian vulture collapse is one of the worst wildlife disasters in history, and I meet people all the time who have never heard of it. In a few decades, India lost nearly all of its vultures. That cascaded into hundreds of thousands of human deaths, billions of dollars in damage, and a cultural loss that can't even really be measured.

My latest for the Washington Post is about the value of vultures, in hopes that we appreciate ours a little more.

#birds #vultures

https://wapo.st/4elK4Sn

NO FISHING

A kingfisher shows its disdain for pettifogging rules in Kidderminster, UK

Photograph: Lee Hudson/Alamy Live News

@photography
#birds
#kingfishers

Brussels, #Belgium

‘A new neighbour? Brussels is home to many parrots, it must be the chocolate and beer.’

Photograph: Robert

@photography
#birds
#parrots

Suffolk, #UK

‘One evening, this barn owl was standing at the entrance to her nest, waiting for the rain to stop. It felt like a rare opportunity to see this. Photo taken in Great Livermere.’

Photograph: Mara Puiu

@photography
#birds
#owls

Headless.

#birds #birding #birdwatching #birdphotography #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #travel #asia #travelphotography #korea #southkorea #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography #photography

The nest and eggs of a Bokmakierie bird.

Photograph: Jonathan E Jackson/© the Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London

@photography
#birds
#nests
#eggs

#Flamingos wade in a lake in Ankara, #Turkey. The chicks were born in spring in Lake Tuz, Lake Düden and other lakes and ponds around Ankara which host flamingo colonies. The hatchlings have reached maturity and, after receiving flying lessons from their parents, are ready to migrate

Photograph: Anadolu/Getty

@photography
#birds

A robin lands on top of a garden robin ornament in Macclesfield, England

Photograph: Paul Beech/SWNS

@photography
#birds

Male ruby-throated #hummingbird visiting a flowerhead of our Lazarus globe amaranth plant.

#birds #hummingbirds #photography #birdphotography #backyardbirds #nature #naturephotography

another new family in the neighborhood 🐥

#Jacksonville #Florida #Nature #AmateurPhotography #Pixelfed #StreetPhotography #Wildlife #UrbanExploration #GalaxyS23+ #Ducks #Birds #Muscovy #Ducklings

Flame-faced Tanager (Tangara parzudakii), family Thraupidae, order Passeriformes, Parque Verde y Agua, Colombia

photograph by eobandogphnature

https://www.instagram.com/ernestoobandog/

via herpsandbirds

@photography
#birds

Andean Cock-of-the-Rock (Rupicola peruvianus), male, family Cotingidae, order Passeriformes, found in the Andean cloud forests of South America

photograph by James Gan

via herpsandbirds

@photography
#birds

A lonely looking overwintering kuaka (bar-tailed godwit) this morning. Not much longer to wait for more company. The flock will be heading back to Aotearoa from Alaska sometime in the next week or two.

#birds #bird #BirdPhotography #BirdPhoto #BirdsOfMastodon #wildlife #photography

Bee Eater

https://www.instagram.com/samsomphotography/

via pangeen

@photography
#birds

Elegance

One sunny afternoon in early winter, Australian pelicans balanced on granite rocks at Encounter Bay. They preened and stretched their massive wings and legs with strength and grace.

Ngarrindjeri Country, Encounter Bay, South Australia

Photograph: Maya Hughes

@photography
#Australia
#birds
#pelicans

Precious Rocks by Samual Stone from UK shows a jackdaw bringing stones to its nest in Bushy Park, London.

Photograph: Samual Stone

@photography
#birds

Museum of Leaving the Nest shows two tawny owlets in a Munich park. Take by Sasha Jumanca from Germany/Romania.

Photograph: Sasha Jumanca/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/PA

@photography
#birds
#owls

Owl close-up

jennilsphotography

https://www.instagram.com/jennilsphotography/?e=824ddb16-365f-4985-97a9-2454961dde1c&g=5

via maureen2musings

@photography
#birds
#owls

Adélie Penguin

#penguin #wildlife #bird #birds#wildlifephotography
#nature #birdsofmastodon

Seekirchen am Wallersee, Austria

Northern bald ibises migrate from Austria to the Orbetello lagoon in Tuscan, Italy, as foster parents of the birds support them in their journey from a microlight.

Photograph: AP

Soar Alongside Migrating Birds—and the Man Who Flies With Them | National Geographic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QAjfH05IUE

@photography
#birds
#conservation
#microflight

We have 3 families of Apostle birds that come in to be fed cheese.
They never take the biscuits and they don't like wine 🤔.
Some of them like to hang around for a chat after.

#Birds #FeedingTime #CheeseMonsters

Ruby - throated Hummingbird by Steve Vetter

via s-usans-blog

@photography
#birds
#hummingbird

"S" ... wie Schwan

#schwan #swan #face #closeup #olympus #bird #birds #birdsofmastodon #birdphotography #photo #photographer #photography #foto #fotografie #natur #nature #naturephotography

Asleep

via s-usans-blog

@photography
#birds
#owls

Thought I'd test my reflexes today, Barn Swallows were flying low over the saltmarsh on the Duddon Estuary. Pleased to get this juvenile feeding up before the long journey South.

#birds #BirdsOfMastodon #nature #wildlife #darktable

We have learned nothing (part #4327)

#US undercounts #birdflu in #cattle as #farmers shun testing

#H5N1 #virus's jump from #birds to #cows heightened concerns that it could adapt to spread among humans. Scientists warn limited surveillance could weaken US' ability to respond to further human spread.
"While we have nine official positives, there are many, many, many more farms that are impacted or infected that are just not testing," said veterinarian and cattle expert
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-undercounts-bird-flu-cattle-farmers-shun-testing-2024-08-15/

A young Icelander releases a puffling from a cliff in Vestmannaeyjar, an archipelago to the south of Iceland. Thousands of #pufflings are rescued by locals in an annual tradition as they become misguided by city lights during their first flight.

Photograph: Micah Garen/Getty Images

@photography
#Iceland
#birds
#conservation

A great spotted #woodpecker in Ankara, Turkey.

Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

@photography
#birds

A #kingfisher perched at RSPB Rainham Marshes Nature Reserve in Purfleet, UK.

Photograph: Action Foto Sport/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock

@photography
#birds

Primatologist, ethologist and anthropologist #JaneGoodall participates in the reintroduction of birds, including this rather reluctant #owl, at the Temaikèn Foundation near Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Photograph: Irina Dambrauskas/Reuters

@photography
#birds
#conservation

A #hummingbird perches on a branch in Mindo, #Ecuador

Photograph: José Jácome/EPA

@photography
#birds

A black #swan cools off in Kuğulu park on a hot summer day in Ankara, Turkey.

Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

@photography
#birds