Intermission while I change the litterbox (truly a lively Christmas Day task!), visit my cat sitting clients, and then head to the holiday dinner! #12DaysOfBirdmas will resume later today!

Since the flu laid all of my holiday #BirdGlamour plans to waste, I'm reposting the 2022 #12DaysOfBirdmas!
On the 1st Day of Birdmas my true love gave to me a Partridge in a Pear Tree! Gray Partridge aren't found in pear trees in North America, where they were introduced in the early 1900s. 🧪🐡🐦

On the 2nd Day of Birdmas my true love gave to me Two Turtle Doves! Calling Europe, Africa & Asia home, Turtle Doves are vulnerable due to changes in farming practices (fewer weeds & seeds) and hunting pressure. The name "turtle" is onomatopoeic of their call! 🧪🐡🐦 #12DaysOfBirdmas #BirdGlamour

On the 3rd Day of Birdmas my true love gave to me 3 Fancy Hens! The Sri Lankan Junglefowl is very closely related to the Wild Junglefowl from which our domesticated chickens came! These junglefowl are polyandrous, with one female linked to two or three males. #BirdGlamour #12DaysOfBirdmas 🧪🐡🐦

On the 11th Day of Birdmas my true love gave to me 11 Pipers Piping! Piping Plover males make display nest scrapes to impress the ladies during breeding season. Nesting on beaches of Atlantic Coast, Great Plains, and Great Lakes, they're threatened due to habitat loss.
#BirdGlamour #12DaysOfBirdmas

On the 12th Day of Birdmas my true love gave to me 12 Drummers Drumming! The Golden-fronted Woodpecker lives in the southern US, Mexico & Central America. They love both fruit and insects, and their faces will be stained purple from eating prickly pear cactus fruit. #BirdGlamour #12DaysOfBirdmas 🧪🐡🐦

I'm back with #12DaysOfBirdmas! On the 4th day of Birdmas my true love gave to me 4 Calling Birds! "Calling" is likely a later version of the song: one of the earlier published versions is "colly" which is an Old English term for "black as coal." I chose the Red-winged Blackbird! #BirdGlamour 🧪🐡🐦

On the 9th Day of Birdmas my true love gave to me 9 Ladies Dancing. Many birds do elaborate dances, and Hooded Grebes are very fancy! Critically endangered with > 1000 individuals left, Hooded Grebe nest at basaltic lakes in Patagonian steppes 500–1,200 m elevation. #BirdGlamour #12DaysOfBirdmas 🧪🐡🐦

On the 7th Day of Birdmas my true love gave to me 7 Swans Swimming! The Tundra Swan breeds in the remote Arctic and have to defend their nests from many different mammal and bird predators. Tundra Swans mate for life and form permanent pair bonds at 2-3 years old. #BirdGlamour #12DaysOfBirdmas 🧪🐡🐦

On the 6th Day of Birdmas my true love gave to me 6 Geese A-Laying! Snow Geese come in two morphs: the dark Blue Morph and the White Morph. During migration from southern North America to the tundra breeding habitat they stop over in open fields in massive flocks. #BirdGlamour #12DaysOfBirdmas 🧪🐡🐦

On the 10th Day of Birdmas my true love gave to me 10 Lords A-Leaping, and no one leaps quite like the Southern Cassowary! Found in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, & northeastern Australia, the Southern Cassowary has a 2 meter high leap and an inner stabbing claw. 🧪🐡🐦
#BirdGlamour #12DaysOfBirdmas

On the 8th Day of Birdmas my true love gave to me 8 Maids Milking! Did you know that some birds make "milk?" Flamingos & pigeons do! The milk is a fat & protein rich fluid secreted by the birds' crops that it uses to feed the babies, and is made by both males & females! #BirdGlamour #12DaysOfBirdmas

On the 5th Day of Birdmas my true love gave to me 5 Golden Rings...Ring-necked Pheasants, that is! Originally from Asia and Europe, they were introduced as game birds to North America in 1773, they are now common in open fields in southern Canada and the US. #BirdGlamour #12DaysOfBirdmas