Eric the Emu is Alive!!!!

[subhanalah]

Scar schmar. The behaviour speaks loudest!

I agree.

 

[briefvisit]

Well, guys, here's the first Formal Bit in a Long Time:

apart from the fact that I love hangin' out with everyone here, my situation -- only person 'with' wild birds -- has made our work really valuable.

And recognising individual birds has been a bugbear from Day One.

Sassybird/Number One is a case in point. I felt silly silly silly that I was unsure.

Well, Eric the Emu furnished a ton of great data for us.So -- although we can enjoy having these wild birds talked 'on' BYC -- we would be making a real mistake to just lable This Bird as Eric: then the data would be worthless.

Report:

never seen the birds so hungry!! Running to get at a handful of wheat. Not even pretending to graze for hours on end.

Back tomorrow.

se

 

[heartsizedfarm]

I get that. I respect that. My daughter works for the Lab of Ornithology at Cornell University in Ithaca New York. So I have lived with a scientist. And I totally appreciate your data parameters. And I still think there is a fascinating story there because it seems to me, for some weird reason, that the world is half science, half stories.

 

[yinepu]

Well, guys, here's the first Formal Bit in a Long Time:

apart from the fact that I love hangin' out with everyone here, my situation -- only person 'with' wild birds -- has made our work really valuable.

And recognising individual birds has been a bugbear from Day One.

Sassybird/Number One is a case in point. I felt silly silly silly that I was unsure.

Well, Eric the Emu furnished a ton of great data for us.So -- although we can enjoy having these wild birds talked 'on' BYC -- we would be making a real mistake to just lable This Bird as Eric: then the data would be worthless.

Report:

never seen the birds so hungry!! Running to get at a handful of wheat. Not even pretending to graze for hours on end.

Back tomorrow.

se

is it possible that this bird is one who visited you as a "chick" (chick, older chick or young adult) and wasn't named?.. one who observed you feeding the others and "knows" you as not being a threat?

 

[The Sheriff]

Hi Mark! This is like a mystery novel. I can tell my emus apart but my husband can't. He knows the females from the males when they strut but that is about it. Even if I didn't know their distinguishing physical traits I know their personalities. Yes, I believe well loved, spoiled pet emus have different personalities.

Stuart has an awesome hair-do which sets him apart.







Loca has the bluest neck of the two girls.

 

[briefvisit]

Hi, Yinepu! Hi, Sheriff!

Well, I saw 'Eric' run away from another bird yesterday -- not the Eric I know and love!!]

But I have seen 'Eric' (a) standing a couple of feet into the carport, and (b) hopping over the low point of the fence, and (c) coming through the side gate but not the top gate -- well, that's all 'Real Eric' stuff.

You are right, Sheriff, in that emus are remarkably different. Ya jus' gotta take the time to figure it out.

My case is odd though. The changes in colour is a tough one if there aren't fences to 'tell' you that Freddy Bird really IS Freddy Bird!! My eyes are making it all too hard to get data. With the binoculars, you can get really specific data.

And it's fun to think back: 'Patches,' 'Audacious Emu' -- only had one eye; Greedy has an identifying mark; so does Felicity; so does/did Eric; Speckles' patch of speckles was unique. I recall one bird with a physical handicap! a 'tic' in its leg!! Beyond that, it's always been behaviour and partners. Flimsy stuff.

And I think we can note here that Things really are gettin' tough, guys. This may be a bad breeding-season. Males would usually be bulking up on autumn grass. But these birds aren't even pretending to graze. There's just nothing to graze on. It's shockingly dry.

Yinepu, I think you are right. I think it a combination of past knowledge and present hunger.

Bottom Line: perhaps SE sounds like a silly; but our principle is that a tespoon of quality data is better than an ocean of poor 'data.'

se

 

[briefvisit]

I wish you guys could see this. I have never seen anything like it. The pair just climbed over the concrete top of the septic tank, into a corner by the old lav, surrounded by fences and walls, greatly constrained -- not just the 'familiar' bird, guys, but a truly wild bird.
Why?
There's a tiny tiny bit of green where the water dripped off the eaves.
Eric's scar was a beauty. With an exposed vein in it. It's been prominent since May, 2008, when I got here.
Just saw 'Eric' lead the wild female through the 'top' gate.
Can't work it out. Can someone tell me if the birds grow pin feathers on their necks as part of the 'darkening' in breeding-season thing?
Why? well, there's a 'half' a pattern of speckles on the male's neck. 'Speckles'? He was always a cheeky cheeky character.
se

 

[Ellamumu]

mine grew thick neck feathers this winter, I thought it was for the cold weather. Now they're all falling out and their blue is coming back.

 

[subhanalah]

I can't wait to see what happens next!

 

[briefvisit]

Well, I see no emoos here this morning -- but there was a blessing in the car port.

Gee, guys, in six years, only two birds have ever come into the carport: Felicity and Eric.

And:

blessing, as you all know, are fine data. This blessing, folks, indicates that things are bad. It's almost all dirt. I saw Sassybird scoffing wheat from her own blessing a week ago. I see magpies pulling the grains from her blessings. Things are gettin' ugly.

Mark