First and foremost, I want to wish all of my faithful readers and bloggers in the United States, a Happy Thanksgiving Day. For you who live all of those other 116 countries, please have a Happy Day.
In my post about the Eastern and Spotted Towhees, check out this AOU link. The American Ornithologists Union is the official authority about classifications of birds. The are responsible for the renaming of the species as they see fit. As I was saying in that post, the two above species were once one, the Rufous-sided Towhee.
Another bird that causes similar confusion is the Tufted Titmouse, or the Black-crested Titmouse that is found here in the western United States. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology says on it’s AllAboutBirds website, “The Black-crested Titmouse of Texas and Mexico has at times been considered just a form of the Tufted Titmouse. The two species hybridize where they meet, but the hybrid zone is narrow and stable over time. They differ slightly in the quality of their calls, and show genetic differences as well.”
I would have liked to have had a nice photograph of a tom turkey, posed in it’s strutting position, with all of those tail feathers spread out, but I only have one it it’s normal pose. Well, okay, I lied. I do have one in the mating pose, but the light was bad and it isn’t as great as I would have liked. I’ll show you both.
Wild Turkey - male strutting
Wild Turkey - male
Now, how about a little turkey humor to give you a little chuckle. You all know about Chicken Little and her sky is falling tale. Well, Mrs. Turkey Little was walking along and she saw a man dropping from the sky in a parachute. She yells, “This guy is falling, this guy is falling!!” 🙂
Okay, I know you’re saying, “Bob, where in the heck do you come up with this stuff?” Heck, I don’t know. My imagination partly, and partly stealing jokes from other people. But I do know that if you smile, you will live longer. 🙂
So keep on smiling along with me, and we’ll be blogging for many years to come. 🙂
Texas Tweeties by Bob Zeller 