What is your favourite bird of all time? (1 Viewer)

Bob Fitzclark · Feb 27, 2003

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering what people's favourite bird was. I recently met Bill Oddie and he told me his favourite bird was a Fairy Tern. His answer was so delightful it got me thinking. Mine is a Hoopoe.

On a not wholly unreated topic, I thought it would interest my fellow birders to learn that Michael Crawford (of Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em fame) is to be back on the BBC doing an hour-long one-off special about Condors (a subject close to his heart ever since making Condor Man in the 1970s). He visits both their habitats in California and the Andes, mixing his amicable presenting style with some hard-hitting facts about the decline of this mangificent bird. I think it's scheduled for some time around Christmas, so should be good!

Anyway, what's your favourite bird?

Tammie · Feb 27, 2003

My favorite bird would have to be the Whiskey Jack (Gray Jay). They are quite plain to look at but boy, they sure do make up for it with personality plus! When you can hand feed them, they come when you call them and one will sit right beside your foot and peck your toes if you don't feed him fast enough... gotta love 'em!!

Eva · Feb 27, 2003

Hi Bob,
that question is not easy to answer.
Thinking about it I could name two:
first of all the red kite. Whenever I see one I am absolutely taken by its elegance and beauty.
Second comes the tree sparrow. I know they are not very spectacular but in their own way they are beautiful.

I know why your favourite is the hoopoe, they are brilliant to watch.
As I said that is a hard question, I could lots of favourites.

Eva

Dave Smith · Feb 27, 2003

I would agree this is not an easy question.
My favourite common bird could be the goldfinch, or perhaps a wren, maybe the goldcrest, or should it be jay . . . . . I could keep on and probably not settle on one answer

Of less common birds the waxwing would take some beating, but then the lesser spotted woodpecker is very cute and smart. But what about a male smew (designer duck?) or the longtailed duck?

I mustn't forget the owls (especially after seeing Nigel's photos)

Sorry I cannot decide - they are all favourites in different ways.

Edward · Feb 27, 2003

My favourite bird in Iceland is probably Great Northern Diver (Common Loon). It's stunning plumage and one of the wildest, eeriest sounding calls in nature make it very special. Drake Harlequin Ducks are also fabulous to look at.

European Roller is one that really grabs my attention although I've yet to see one - hope to catch up with it in mid-Spain at Easter.

I can understand why you chose Hoopoe as its such a bizarre, unique looking bird. I've only had quick glimpses of them in Turkey but they are superb things.

nigelblake · Feb 27, 2003

I think you all probably know what my favourite bird is.
joint second is Dipper, Lapwing and Robin

A clue if you havn't guessed yet, Its got big eyes and it lives in barns.

LuBird · Feb 27, 2003

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are my fav. Although I count the Tree Swallow a close runner-up:gh:

columbidae · Feb 27, 2003

I think my favorite of the birds that I've seen is the mourning dove. I know it is very common, but I love their call, and just their nature in general.

Of birds that I have yet to see, the American bittern is my favorite.

Paul Rule · Feb 27, 2003

Difficult one this. My nominations are Little Owl, Long Tailed Tit and Treecreeper.

And the winner is.........LTT.

I never get tired of watching these birds, and I will never forget finding my first LTT nest as a small boy (oh! so long ago), and being amazed at the shear beauty of it.

Andrew · Feb 27, 2003

There are too many birds for me to single out as a fave. I love all the birds I see.

Nigel, are you referring to Worzel Gummidge?

steve_nova · Feb 27, 2003

Everyone is probably going to think I'm mad but the House Sparrow is one of my very favourite birds. They have so much character and have their own subtle beauty.
Then there's the Tit family.....

Sal · Feb 28, 2003

How difficult to select! Like Paul, I think I must nominate:

1.The bateleur (or wedge-tailed eagle as I think it may be known) - for its effortless, elegant flight, its beautiful colouring and that fact that one always seems to meet me when I enter Kruger Park.

2. The Giant Eagle owl for its pink eyelids and lovely deep call

3. The pearl spotted owl for its tiny size, wonderful camouflage and the fact that it really started me birding.

4. The pygmy goose because it is so exquisitely marked, so tiny and yet seems to think it is just a big old goose.

5. The bronze mannikin because of their habit of cuddling up to one another all along a branch when they roost, the outer ones hopping over the backs of the inner ones from either side and squidging down in the middle when they get cold and because you can watch their feeding antics for ever.

And the winner is: - . . . . . . . .do I really have to choose???

Bob Fitzclark · Feb 28, 2003

Hi guys, thanks for your interest,

I've got a couple more celebrity birdlovers for your interest:

I met Dave Eggers and Nick Hornby (both famous novelists, if you don't know of them) earlier this week, and asked them, as is my wont, what their favourite birds were as they autographed my books. Dave's, a resident of San Francisco, was the brown pelican, whilst Nick's (who lives in North London) is the Grey Heron. Cool, huh?

I've got to also tell you abot my friend Geoff who met Angelina Jolie as she spent an hour signing autographs before the BAFTAs here in London. She said, after a sizeable pause, that her favourite bird was a Macaroni Penguin!! Bizarre!

Do any of you know of celebrity's favourite birds?

seb_seb · Feb 28, 2003

im always pleased to see a wren

Reader · Feb 28, 2003

As many others have stated before me, singling out one bird as your favorite, for me, is impossible. There are so many differerent reasons why I like specific birds. I suppose that high on my most liked bird in Britain would be the Kingfisher, but our beautiful Robin would be in there somewhere as well. The Marsh harrier takes some beating for its elegance in flight when quatering the reed beds and for basically the same reason for the Barn Owl. The Red Kite is such an impressive bird that you can't fail to admire its beauty.

Abroad the Shrike family (especially the Woodchat Shrike) always have impressed me. The Great Bustard is a massive bird but what a bird to watch. Honey Buzzards when they hover just above your head are awe inspiring. Short toed Eagles dropping onto their prey are something else that brings me out in goose bumps. There are many many more.

One bird that I suppose that everyone overlooks is the Stormie (Storm Petrel). This little bird battles against the hardest elements and it is amazing how it survives. For sheer courage in the face of adversity perhaps I should give this bird my vote.

sva · Feb 28, 2003

I will wote for male smew becuse of contrast (black/white) and its differents outlooks. Have a look at:
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2169&papass=&sort=1

nigelblake · Feb 28, 2003

I assume seb_seb means the bird and not women in uniforms!!!
Andrew you are right first time, may the pitch forks be with you.

peter hayes · Feb 28, 2003

Bob

I'm not sure I ever welcomed you to BF! Let me rectify that now- it's good to have you with us, especially someone else form London.

My favourite bird has to be the Kingfisher. Why, because it often so illusive and because of its fantastic colours. The faster is whizzes by, often just a flash, the more I want to see it!

Of the rarer variety, it has to be the Glossy Ibis. That's the bid that started me birding and it's still around at my favourite hide - Bowling Green Lane in Devon.

simontucker · Feb 28, 2003

The bird that started me birding seriously was a Siberian White Crane that turned up near Diss in Norfolk in 1979 when I worked on a pig farm there between Diss and Redgrave. "Have you seen this bird?" was on the front page of the local paper. The answer is yes - it was on the field at the bottom of our lane for two days feeding on worms in the slurry that we had been spreading.

All hands were on pain of dismissal if we revealed its whereabouts because the farm manager had been spreading the slurry within about 20 feet of the River Waveney - a site for rare Raft Spiders.

I don't think it was ever accepted by the BBRC, probably because it was never written up and submitted (I might have done so if I had been more clued up in those days). Provenance was difficult - it wasn't ringed and it is not a common bird in the wild or in collections.

robinm · Feb 28, 2003

In Britain kingfisher gets my vote. But I just loved watching displaying male great bustards.

Really it's an impossible question - perhaps the answer is the last bird I saw.

Robin

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