Your new avatar is beauty to a birder. Wonderful. May I steal it? Short story:
Male pyrrhuloxias and female Cardinals look so much alike that only a birder, and an observant one, would know the difference. I had never seen a male Pyrrhuloxia in Arizona except once at the Desert Sonoran museum outside of Tucson (It's not a museum, it's a stunning zoo of southwestern wildlife located inside of the Sajuaro National monument area).
About seven years ago, at our home against the national forest in the foothills north of Scottsdale, I looked out my study window and saw a male Pyrrhuloxia and a female Cardinal on my closest bird feeder at the same time, cracking sunflower seeds.
And it was during the winter bird count. We took pictures, emailed them asap to the Audubon bird count leader in Carefree and he freaked. The Pyrrhuloxia was north of all previous sightings of his range. Too cool.
Turns out other confirmed sightings of Pyrrhuloxias have begun occurring in the years since.
I want your avatar. Please.
Male pyrrhuloxias and female Cardinals look so much alike that only a birder, and an observant one, would know the difference. I had never seen a male Pyrrhuloxia in Arizona except once at the Desert Sonoran museum outside of Tucson (It's not a museum, it's a stunning zoo of southwestern wildlife located inside of the Sajuaro National monument area).
About seven years ago, at our home against the national forest in the foothills north of Scottsdale, I looked out my study window and saw a male Pyrrhuloxia and a female Cardinal on my closest bird feeder at the same time, cracking sunflower seeds.
And it was during the winter bird count. We took pictures, emailed them asap to the Audubon bird count leader in Carefree and he freaked. The Pyrrhuloxia was north of all previous sightings of his range. Too cool.
Turns out other confirmed sightings of Pyrrhuloxias have begun occurring in the years since.
I want your avatar. Please.
