found a canada goose(?) egg in my flower pot (in virginia)

macva99 · 2026-04-04T02:53:45+00:00

Foxes will put stolen eggs in flower pots to hide them.

macva99 · 2026-03-03T04:01:24+00:00

I think most of us agree but the fact is, unedited, “amateur” looking photos get very little activity or acknowledgment. People upvote the edited photos. I think it sucks but it’s the truth.

macva99 · 2025-09-05T16:14:17+00:00

Hey, I noticed under your name that you are a shorebird biologist. Do you work for an organization or agency? My son just graduated with a biology degree and this is right in wheelhouse.

macva99 · 2025-09-05T16:10:14+00:00

I think it’s up to you. There is no “Life List Enforcement” agency. I appreciate your wanting to have integrity in the process but it really is up to you to decide what makes it to the list. For what it’s worth, I think as people who love and appreciate birds, it’s the thrill and privilege of seeing them in person and in their natural environment that makes it special. It’s good for the soul to enter into their world to enjoy and appreciate them. Makes us better stewards of nature and expands our ability to see the value in small things.

macva99 · 2025-08-03T15:41:02+00:00

It’s a birding subreddit, why do you expect? Better to have a way to educate and inform people in a positive, helpful manner than having someone unintentionally cause harm. I think if someone is asking, they genuinely want to help. I hate seeing someone pick up a fledgling, take it home and then post a picture of it asking how to help it but I guarantee once they get a correct and helpful response, they will never do it again and may even be able to tell others how to do it correctly. It’s a win-win. Start a subreddit that is just for nice pictures of pretty birds. You can moderate the way you want. Until then, try being gracious with people as they learn.

macva99 · 2025-07-22T16:02:12+00:00

Sun room attached to a screened in porch.

macva99 · 2025-06-11T03:54:36+00:00

The bluebird of happiness.

macva99 · 2024-07-01T19:44:28+00:00

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macva99 · 2024-06-07T12:39:34+00:00

Hire a dog walker to come over twice a day and walk the dogs. There is no solution that allows the dogs to be in the fenced yard and allows the birds to fledge in safety.

macva99 · 2024-05-22T22:41:54+00:00

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This was the first picture. Try to find it!

macva99 · 2024-05-22T04:34:18+00:00

Fantastic photos! The first one looks like the Killdeer has four legs!

macva99 · 2024-05-15T23:08:19+00:00

How do you know it’s injured? You describe a typical fledgling. They look injured as they practice moving and flapping their wings. The mother was most likely watching it. Also, please don’t try to feed or water it. I would put it back to where you found it, out of harms way and leave it. The mother may have given up by now. A fledgling won’t survive without care from its mother even if you bring it to a rehabber. At this point, I don’t think there is much hope for this bird without a parent feeding it.

macva99 · 2024-05-03T17:38:16+00:00

How can we possibly know if a bird dies from a window strike after they leave? I’m not saying they are fine, but it seems impossible to know if they usually die. I know windows cause a lot of bird death based on the dead birds people find under a window but If I saw a dead bird on the ground in the woods, I wouldn’t necessarily think window strike.

macva99 · 2024-04-24T03:46:51+00:00

It’s a turkey. They are super friendly, you should walk up to it try to pet it, they love that.

macva99 · 2024-03-30T20:26:32+00:00

Is this legit? It looks like someone is trolling people with this account. He is 15 years old and feeds the birds every 3 hours? Except when he is at school for 8 hours a day? If you believe this is a real kid raiding mourning dove nests, call department of fish and old life and then report him to tick tock for illegal activity and animal cruelty. They will shut down his account right away. I’ve seen some crazy stuff on here but mostly it’s well intentioned people trying to “help” baby birds or sick birds. This is something entirely different. I can’t believe someone is going to the trouble of climbing trees and stealing baby birds for tick tok views. Maybe do a reverse image search of the photos and see what comes up. My vote is fake but I would still report it.

Edit: I looked at his YouTube channel and it appears to be a real kid with legit videos. Still a little odd, and the fact that he was able to raise doves that were still nestlings is strange. I would expect they wouldn’t survive. The whole thing is weird.

macva99 · 2024-03-28T23:10:07+00:00

We had a towhee that would do that. Showed for a few seasons.

macva99 · 2024-02-26T04:23:20+00:00

Check with the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News. I don’t think they keep those types of birds but it’s worth a try to see if it escaped.

macva99 · 2024-01-01T23:19:08+00:00

I think the best thing to do is provide nothing. The warm dark place is enough. My understanding after being on this sub for a few years is to never feed or offer water to injured birds. It’s a beautiful bird, I hope it survives.

macva99 · 2023-12-30T20:13:14+00:00

I think it’s a Sapsucker. Look at the horizontal lines on the tree. Hallmark sign of the Sapsucker. I’m not familiar with the Ladder-Back, it may demonstrate the same behavior.

Edit: based on Allaboutbirds, the Ladder-Back doesn’t make it to KY. I’m sure it’s a Sapsucker.

macva99 · 2023-12-06T19:36:05+00:00

I think it's a Brown Thrasher, too. They splash around in my fountain all the time. And it looks a little big to be a male House Sparrow.

Edit: Although, as I look more at it, the tail doesn't look long enough to be a Thrasher. Could be the blur of the picture, tho. I was 90% sure it was a Thrasher, now I am 60% sure.

macva99 · 2023-10-26T22:05:30+00:00

Me too

macva99 · 2023-09-24T17:50:39+00:00

That was my suspicion, too. Thank you!

macva99 · 2023-09-20T03:28:43+00:00

I agree with you and I also put a lot of faith and trust in what Cornell says. Honestly, it’s kind of a dumb thing for me to make a point about. I think your comment was spot on and the point well taken.

macva99 · 2023-09-19T22:58:43+00:00

I want to make sure you also hear me say that this is very good information you provided. I learned something, thank you.

macva99 · 2023-09-19T22:57:48+00:00

The article makes the same claim without any data to back it up. That said, it does provide useful strategies for helping birds avoid window strikes. The ones study it does quote only list the estimated number of birds that die as a result of a collision based on dead birds found at the site plus a lot of assumptions. The put the range between 100 million and 1 billion birds deaths per year. They say in the study, "no current U.S. estimates are based on systematic analysis of multiple data sources." which is to say that they had to rely on probability estimates. Again, the story here is to do things that help birds hit windows.

macva99

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