Blue-bellied Roller Coracias cyanogaster

Are you already Halloween'd out? Do you need something to take your mind off of the incessant political noise, the robocalls and the negative vicious and vacuous advertising?

Well take a look at these beauties. Rest for a moment and ponder what marvels of evolutionary construction these creatures posses. Millions of years of specialized adjustments have given us nearly uncountable examples of beauty. Birds fascinate us. They inspire us. They are vehicles for the muses that drive our creativity. They are beautiful.

But there is some latent mystery, some collective memory in the murky recesses of our synapses that points to something dangerous if not sinister. For birds, you see, are some of the closest things we have that point to those ages long past that saw a world with terrible lizards preeminent. It's not just the present day winged raptors that hearken back. Those beautifully crested blue jays are voracious predators as well, robbing nests of other species of the newly hatched. Imagine, if you can, your favorite bird—the object of your Peterson Field Guide life list quest. Imagine that bird without feathers. What you'll see is a smaller version of the denizens of that prehistoric ancien régime. Those originals of Nature, red in tooth and claw—Velociraptors, Allosaurs, Tyrannosaurs and on and on.

Look back at that lead image at the top of the page. Look how comfortable and proud his is of his own beauty. If you look at the original size, seen here, you'll see some incredible details in his crown and chest feathers. His kind is usually found in the plains of eastern Africa. This handsome fellow resides in a local aviary. I have mixed emotions about zoos in general, but there is no discounting the joy and education of seeing animals close up and personal, especially if the habitat is thoughtfully and lovingly rendered His name refers to the acrobatics he displays in flight—rolling, falling, soaring in what must be the simple joy of flying.

The top image is actually a crop I made of the original shot to take out some of the background bokeh, changing a landscape shot into a portrait. The original is below.

And now for some whimsy.

Vulturine Guineafowl Acryllium vulturinum

I can imagine that some would find it hard to find beauty in this fellow above. But speaking as someone who used to be cute, I can relate, though I still retain a full head of hair. I think the Vulturine Gunieafowl has a tenured look, somewhat professorial in a tonsured way. They are friendly birds and easily tamed. My late father in law had gunineafowl, though a different species, as a young boy on the homestead. They provided comic relief and companionship in his chore-filled world.

African Grey Parrot Psittacus erithacus

Don't you think he's imitating Dr Evil from Austin Powers?

Speckled Pigeon Columba guinea from South Africa

I think this epitomizes how we all feel after a red-eyed transcontinental flight.

Military Macaw on the left Ara militaris, Scarlet Macaw on the right Ara macao

Here we have the bride annoying the spouse by trying to do the Twisting Bird of Paradise yoga pose without enough room. But they soon return to behaving themselves.

And now to return to our feathered dinosaur theme, we have this South African gem—the Hamerkop:

Hamerkop Scopus umbretta Larger version here.

You can see the cognate form of the dinosaur in the shot above. Just a wonderful looking bird. This shot in particular is dedicated to my friend Susan Mitchell, bird-lover extraordinaire. Look at a larger size here.

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy yourself this weekend. 

And get out there and vote!

Some of my previous bird posts and images:

to all the birds I've loved…

of what do flamingos dream?

who's a pretty boy?

for some friends, here on OS and elsewhere

drive-by shooting

fish fail!

all photos © 2010 barry b. doyle · all rights reserved 

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