List of bird facts I had wrong for a while (1 Viewer)

[JoeGBirder]

there are quite a lot of bird facts i always thought were a certain way, and assumed- sometimes even shared, for quite a while. so i'll keep track here.
feel free to share yours below!

• I thought the Pileated Woodpecker was the world's largest extant species of woodpecker. It's actually the third, the Black Woodpecker in second and Great Slaty Woodpecker in first. I mean, it's in my username. How did I mess this up?!
• I thought nuthatches were the only birds that could climb down a tree while facing down as well. Actually, there are species that can do this, but nuthatches are the only entire group of species that can.
• I thought grackles were corvids. I didn't realize otherwise until earlier today.
• I thought that Bald Eagles had huge babies. I don't know where I got this idea from. They sure aren't small, but I thought they were, like, the size of hawks. This isn't true.
• I thought that Eastern Bluebirds were only native to New York. This was before I was a birder- I mixed it up with the fact that they're New York's state bird.
• I thought birds couldn't smell at all. Although many species have poor smell, there are many that have wonderful senses of smell.
• I called gulls "seagulls." The shame.
• I thought that American Robins were real robins. And the only kind of robin. Actually, they are a thrush, and there are several species of robin, the most well-known one being the Robin in Europe.

again, feel free to share yours below.

 

[MJB]

there are quite a lot of bird facts i always thought were a certain way, and assumed- sometimes even shared, for quite a while. so i'll keep track here.
feel free to share yours below!

• I thought the Pileated Woodpecker was the world's largest extant species of woodpecker. It's actually the third, the Black Woodpecker in second and Great Slaty Woodpecker in first. I mean, it's in my username. How did I mess this up?!

The White-bellied Woodpecker is the same size (body length 40-48cm) as the Pileated...

I've seen White-bellied in Brunei (a pair), using the same tree as Great Slaty, but not at the same time...
MJB

 

[delia todd]

<Blushing>

Way back in the early 70's (I think) a Wallcreeper hit the news, and I told someone it was a joke as there was no such bird.

Perhaps someone can remember if one was in the UK at the time, perhaps the Scillies?

 

[dantheman]

there are quite a lot of bird facts i always thought were a certain way, and assumed- sometimes even shared, for quite a while. so i'll keep track here.
feel free to share yours below!

• 
  
• I thought that Bald Eagles had huge babies. I don't know where I got this idea from. They sure aren't small, but I thought they were, like, the size of hawks. This isn't true.

Not sure if you are wrong on this one? - like most babies they start off small, but get bigger ... ;-)

Before fledging a lot of immature birds in the nest are bigger than the parents in terms of their fluffy loose feathers at least (I forget which now but some species leave their young in the nest at a weight more than the parents until they are forced to leave or starve)*


*(unless I've got that wrong lol)

 

[Merlin]

<Blushing>

Way back in the early 70's (I think) a Wallcreeper hit the news, and I told someone it was a joke as there was no such bird.

Perhaps someone can remember if one was in the UK at the time, perhaps the Scillies?

Delia

Thank you for bringing back my memories of the Wallcreeper in Somerset, although I have seen many since, I still dream about this one.

best regards
Merlin

 

[JoeGBirder]

Not sure if you are wrong on this one? - like most babies they start off small, but get bigger ... ;-)

Before fledging a lot of immature birds in the nest are bigger than the parents in terms of their fluffy loose feathers at least (I forget which now but some species leave their young in the nest at a weight more than the parents until they are forced to leave or starve)*


*(unless I've got that wrong lol)

i thought they started huge

 

[KenM]

i thought they started huge

When it comes to being bigger than the “parents”…….Cuckoo’s take the biscuit…and a bit more.😂

 

[KC Foggin]

Most, new to actually birding, all went through a lot of statements on your list.
Growing up I only new Gulls as Seagulls and several other items stated.
We're never too old to learn new thinks

 

[dantheman]

i thought they started huge

Ah. That runs into physical/biological improbabilities perhaps ...


Our elderly neighbour in France told us that Jackdaws were baby Rooks. (They are different species of course).

 

[Jos Stratford]

Way back in the early 70's (I think) a Wallcreeper hit the news, and I told someone it was a joke as there was no such bird.

I am sure there are quite a few in the UK that would agree with you 🙂

 

[MJB]

i thought they started huge

That's the case only for the Ooyah Bird, Dolor crucians...
MJB

 

[Maggiefan]

there are quite a lot of bird facts i always thought were a certain way, and assumed- sometimes even shared, for quite a while. so i'll keep track here.
feel free to share yours below!

• I thought the Pileated Woodpecker was the world's largest extant species of woodpecker. It's actually the third, the Black Woodpecker in second and Great Slaty Woodpecker in first. I mean, it's in my username. How did I mess this up?!
• I thought nuthatches were the only birds that could climb down a tree while facing down as well. Actually, there are species that can do this, but nuthatches are the only entire group of species that can.
• I thought grackles were corvids. I didn't realize otherwise until earlier today.
• I thought that Bald Eagles had huge babies. I don't know where I got this idea from. They sure aren't small, but I thought they were, like, the size of hawks. This isn't true.
• I thought that Eastern Bluebirds were only native to New York. This was before I was a birder- I mixed it up with the fact that they're New York's state bird.
• I thought birds couldn't smell at all. Although many species have poor smell, there are many that have wonderful senses of smell.
• I called gulls "seagulls." The shame.
• I thought that American Robins were real robins. And the only kind of robin. Actually, they are a thrush, and there are several species of robin, the most well-known one being the Robin in Europe.

again, feel free to share yours below.

Love this! Thanks so r sharing!!

 

[JoeGBirder]

i also learned too late:

• grasshopper sparrows and florida grasshopper sparrows are not the same when it comes to status. i didn't know the florida subspecies was a seperate species
• you can't count captive birds like pets at someones house or in a rehabilitation center towards your life list
• migration happens the same seasons for almost all birds. i thought it depended on the bird family

 

[Derbyfella]

that white fronted geese arent white fronted. the front being basically the face...