This is the 15th year of continuous daily publication for 365Caws. All things considered, it's likely it will be the last year as it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to find interesting material. However, I hope that I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world with my natural history posts, or encouraged a novice weaver or needleworker. If so, I've done what I set out to do.
Thursday, March 28, 2019
There's Always One
Day 166: There's always one. Every spring, I'll have at least one Towhee whose tailfeathers have gone missing all at once. Now whether this phenomenon is due to the natural moulting process (and feasibly, it could be) or to somebody waiting just a little too long to fly away from a stealthy predator is not something I can confirm with any conviction. Certainly, Towhees are not precisely the sharpest crayons in the box, but they are also predominantly ground-feeders, which leaves them more vulnerable to a hunter with a taste for fowl. In any event, I always wind up with at least one unfortunate and embarrassed Stubby and, forgive me, they always make me laugh.
Labels:
Pipilo maculatus,
Spotted Towhee,
Stubby,
tailfeathers,
yard
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