Ornithologically Biased

Field ornithologist, queer, he/him. Here for conservation musings, cool critters, queer theory, etc. (loxia-contorta = an invented scientific name made up of the genus name for crossbills and the species name for Lodgepole Pine)

[greater-than-the-sword]

When you're a kid you just take trees for granted. Then when you get to be an adult you realize that a fully mature tree cannot be created in an amount of time that fits in a convenient landscaping timeframe for love nor money nor all the powers of science. Then you realize that people are very very very cavalier about chopping them down

[riverwindphotography]

Harlequin ducks are quite interesting to observe.

(c) gifs by riverwindphotography, May 2026

[apricops]

*trying to pitch public transportation to Americans* it’s like a legal form of texting while driving

[holopics]

turkey vulture

[coast-modern]

isn't it kind of crazy that for any moving vehicle you need to wear a seatbelt but then on buses they're just like fuck it stand up whatever

[sixty-silver-wishes]

sorry america but you’ve been really mean. and I don’t want to go to your birthday party in two days

[maidthings]

perhaps the mother loves the cuckoo chick. perhaps the cuckoo chick loves her mother. have you not considered this?

[errorschacha]

The entire point of, OK, my phone really wants to call it Anastasia so I guess we’re doing that? The entire point of Anastasia (as administered by a board-certified Anastasiologist) during sugary. Sugary? Haven’t I suffered enough? The entire point of Anastasia during augury. Jesus Christ. Hold up. You know what, augury is preferable to sugary. Augury is obviously performed by an auger (makes sense if you give it a think) whereas sugary is performed by…? A sugardaddy? NO THANK YOU. Anyway. The entire point of Anastasia is so that you don’t know what music your sturgeon. Fuck right off. Was playing. While you were under. You’re not supposed to wake up from Anastasia and immediately realize you managed to get earwormed by Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades” during your sugary.

[greycatbird]

Ladies get off tiktok we need you over on ebird

[softwaring]

wow i’ve taken some insane photos…

[wreegis]

there was an incident at work today

[cerceos-deactivated20160308]

Calvin and Hobbes - It’s July Already

[goodpark]

Jungsun Jung: Garden Nasturtium quilt

[thelethalsilence]

Whitebark pine, Pinus albicaulis, on the way to Mt. MacClure/MacClure Glacier

Yosemite National Park, CA, USA

June 2026

[c0nji]

[chungledown-bimothy]

bodies should have crash logs. why the fuck did that just happen.

[byjove]

I do not agree with veganism as a moral standard. If it is your personal moral stance, that is fine. If you think humans eating meat is inherently immoral, I don’t want to deal with you, you’re hopeless. Vegan ideology behaves more like a sect of evangelical Christianity than a dietary choice.

[literallycrashingoutrn]

Veganism is better for the environment, but claiming that it's a morally superior choice ignores cultural and economic factors that make people eat animal products.

[byjove]

It is not inherently better for the environment. That is the thing. When you begin trying to explain that local, sustainably sourced animal protein is better for the environment than imported plant proteins that are farmed 3,500 miles away using slave labor, they start tuning you out. Down is better for the environment than polyester stuffing, leather is better for the environment than pleather. We should work on making animal agricultural practices more sustainable instead of trying to shame everyone into eating plant products that are also farmed unethically and unsustainably.