Birds: an Unendingly Interesting Ecological Puzzle Piece

To me, it has been a long and exciting road, one with many names. Sometimes I might talk about my 'permaculture journey', or our Homesteading Experience, or even I might just consider my marriage, which has also underpinned this adventure of more than a decade.

One interesting element that I can use to analyze these years and this journey is Birds. This is a class (Aves) of vertebrate (Chordata) animals (Animalia). They are pretty much everywhere in the world (even many of the oceans!), which means they are doing pretty good at this evolutionary game.

And thinking of it from an evolutionary standpoint, feathers are very interesting, compared to fleshy flight. Check out this interesting review about flight in dinosaurs, marvel at the presenter's appearance if you like. I wonder if she considers this professional dress? For a male bird it might be!

I didn't start interested in birds, at all. I think I absorbed it mostly from my wife. I have turned into quite a great assistant, spotting birds with a spyglass or binoculars for her to zoom in on with her camera. When we go places, we often look for birds to boost her list, and this involves nature walking and being outdoors - which I like anyway.

I was more interested in trees and other plants when we got started, but over time I have learned the names of many birds, seemly by accident.

Here's some interesting discussion starters from a birding perspective; many of these topics like people being jerks and invasive species are interesting issues coming from many different perspectives.

The thing about birds is, they can be so uniquely alive. They have their own behaviors, personalities and songs. They stay for awhile, then disappear for months.

You might think we know everything there is to know about birds, but its just not the case. Many species don't even have great pictures, including what they eat (diet), where they nest and what materials they use for their nest and how they mate.

Bird behavior seems almost as widely varied as human behavior - and they provide plently of opportunities for anthropomorphism.

Below is one of my favorite birds to watch around our farm, the Pico de Plata, or Crimson-backed Tanager - Ramphocelus Dimidiatus - this guy is a ravenous insect hunter who has never accepted a days wages for cleaning out many different types of insects throughout our farm. His bright silvered beak shines in the morning sun.

When I moved to the farm, I knew that I wanted to work with plants to restore natural ecosystems, but I did not anticipate the level with which birds would come in to help in that. Thankfully I have been able to learn a lot through osmosis from my wife, @ecoinstante - who has become on of the top birders of Tolima, Colombia.

Many people in the local 'tourism' accelerator program have identified birds and birding as a possible activity where our area has a huge value. I have a new candidate for HIVE onboarding who is a great photographer and prolific birder as well.

Birds have been an unexpected connecting fiber in everything we are doing. How interesting!

Freedom and Friendship