Bird Cams Around the World

So cute, sleeping side by side

Nice portrait of the two of them :)

Video: Big Bites, Please – I’m Hungry!

Mom hesitates before feeding Phoenix? Is she giving Phoenix a chance to feed himself/herself?

Video: Fresh Fish Delivery

Wow, what a variety of sounds Phoenix has! Lots of "squeehonks," as Sparkle says. Recorded from a Hot Spot set by Sparkle.

I tried to take a picture of the parent’s landing, which is very aerodynamic. Note the head and feet thrust forward. The wings angled to slow the speed. And the beautiful white tail spread out. The tail is used as a rudder, and when it is turned downward, it acts as a brake.

Do you think feathers grow all over a bird? The entire body of the bird appears to be covered with feathers. But this is not true. Feathers grow in certain areas called feather tracks. In between the feather tracks are down feathers.

Video: Watch Out Below!

Sparkie has set so many fine hot spots. I became very curious. Who is Sparkie? A gremlin? An eagle-addict? A sharp eye? I decided to find out. After extensive research, I finally came across a picture.


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Now if we can only figure out the other fella in the picture…

And yes, the video is from a hot spot set by sparkie

Thanks Beans! I love watching this nest. The sounds, the interactions between parent and child are just amazing.

Thank you, Susan.

It amazes me to see how close these eaglets get to the edge of the nest, and yet they don't fall over the side. It also amazes me that I got up so early this morning to record some clips... I have miles of clips! After all of that, this clip is my favorite. (No, I did not go back to bed.)



Video: Wingersizes, Squeals, and a Pooopshot

That little squeak s/he makes when aiming one of the side of the nest is endearing.

Have you ever noticed how solidly these eagles land on the nest? If we, as humans, made those landings, we'd probably have fractures. So how do the eagles (and other birds) do this over and over without injuring themselves?

Note that the Phoenix is "up on his toes," like an adult. To understand the structure of a bird’s leg, take look at the following picture:


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First of all, a bird's skeleton is both lightweight and strong. To keep his center of balance when walking, the bird's equivalent of our thigh is held permanently close to the body. The leg does not start to extend out from the body until after the knee joint (which is never seen). The backward bending leg joint that you see in a bird's legs when he is walking is the equivalent of our ankle. A bird's foot is the equivalent of the tips of our toes. The part of a bird's leg that looks like its shin is actually the equivalent of the arch of our foot.

The stresses involved in landing and taking off, in running and in hunting mean that a variety of birds have relatively heavy and strong leg bones. Large raptors such as Eagles kill their prey with their feet and carry the prey considerable distances. When you look at a skeleton of an Eagle it is surprising how large the legs are. The fundamental bones of a bird's leg are the femur, fibula, tibiotarsuss and tarsometatarsus. These are also called the femur, tibia and tarsus respectively in an external view of a bird's anatomy. Most birds have four toes.

The femur is hidden by the wings. The only time you'll see it is when the bird's wings are spread and the legs stretched out. Our own femurs, set into our hip joints, have quite a range of motion. Just sitting in your chair, you can comfortably move your femur (thigh) out about 45%, sitting with your knees apart. Not so with birds. Their femurs don't have that range of motion. But they can certainly stretch their legs.

Click on the picture below of Pale Male to see how long raptor legs really are.


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This screenshot from June 1 shows Phoenix sitting on his "insteps" (metatarsi) and Mom standing on her toes. Young raptors also walk on their metatarsi.

The bones in all bird legs are fused, to give them extra strength for landing and take off.

Do you know how they keep from falling off a limb when they are sleeping?

When a bird lands on a perch, a tendon in the back of its leg tightens so the toes lock. This involuntary reflex keeps a sleeping bird from falling off a perch. The bird simply stands up and straightens its legs to unlock the tendon.

---> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdxC00trb7I

so beautiful

Such great videos and pictures

Video Hornby Tussle

Poor Dad! He delivers a fish and almost loses his balance as Mom tries to take it to feed to Phoenix.