#BirdGlamour will be on hiatus for January for planning, Glamming, and recovering from the #12DaysOfBirdmas !

On the 12th Day of Birdmas #BirdGlamour gave to me 12 Drummers Drumming...with the Golden-fronted Woodpecker! These southern US, Central, and South American woodpeckers are very active with drumming in the morning and take a break in the heat of the afternoon. They also eat fruit: their faces will be stained purple from prickly pear cactus fruits! #12DaysOfBirdmas #SciArt #scicomm

On the 12th Day of Birdmas #BirdGlamour gave to me 12 Drummers Drumming...with the Golden-fronted Woodpecker! These southern US, Central, and South American woodpeckers are very active with drumming in the morning and take a break in the heat of the afternoon. They also eat fruit: their faces will be stained purple from prickly pear cactus fruits! #12DaysOfBirdmas #SciArt #scicomm

The final #12DaysOfBirdmas #BirdGlamour will be posted later today: I have my appointment to get the skin check/arm lesion biopsy after work!

The final #12DaysOfBirdmas #BirdGlamour will be posted later today: I have my appointment to get the skin check/arm lesion biopsy after work!

Plover males make a show nest during their mating display! Females chose their mates based on the nest-building skills displayed by the male! Piping Plovers are a Red List species: please don't disturb their sandy beach nesting sites! There are only 8400 Piping Plovers estimated to be left in the whole world, so they need us to make good decisions.
#12DaysOfBirdmas #scicomm #sciart #BirdGlamourOfNorthAmerica

On the 11th Day of Birdmas #BirdGlamour gave to me 11 Piping Plovers! Piping Plover males make a show nest during their mating display! Females chose their mates based on the nest-building skills displayed by the male! Piping Plovers are a Red List species: please don't disturb their sandy beach nesting sites! There are only 8400 Piping Plovers estimated to be left in the whole world, so they need us to make good decisions.
#12DaysOfBirdmas #scicomm #sciart #BirdGlamourOfNorthAmerica

On the 10th Day of Birdmas #BirdGlamour gave to me 10 Lords A-Leaping, and the Southern Cassowary has an impressive leap of up to 7 feet! The inner toe sports a dagger-like claw up to 12 cm long! They are excellent swimmers and can sprint up to 30 kmph! Please do not feed or harass cassowaries: they are very protective of their young, and humans have been attacked by cassowaries when birds have been harassed, threatened, or not given food when they wanted it! #12DaysOfBirdmas #scicomm #sciart

On the 10th Day of Birdmas #BirdGlamour gave to me 10 Lords A-Leaping, and the Southern Cassowary has an impressive leap of up to 7 feet! The inner toe sports a dagger-like claw up to 12 cm long! They are excellent swimmers and can sprint up to 30 kmph! Please do not feed or harass cassowaries: they are very protective of their young, and humans have been attacked by cassowaries when birds have been harassed, threatened, or not given food when they wanted it! #12DaysOfBirdmas #scicomm #sciart

I am SUPER excited to launch today's #12DaysOfBirdmas #BirdGlamour !

I am SUPER excited to launch today's #12DaysOfBirdmas #BirdGlamour !

On the 9th Day of Birdmas #BirdGlamour gave to me 9 Ladies Dancing...like the dance of the Hooded Grebe! These Critically Endangered grebes are only found in remote basaltic lakes and Atlantic estuaries of southern Argentina. Their numbers are difficult to determine due to their remote habitats, with a maximum estimate of 3000-5000 individuals (in 1997), Mated pairs have extremely elaborate dance displays! #12DaysOfBirdmas #GlamorousByNature #sciart #scicomm

On the 9th Day of Birdmas #BirdGlamour gave to me 9 Ladies Dancing...like the dance of the Hooded Grebe! These Critically Endangered grebes are only found in remote basaltic lakes and Atlantic estuaries of southern Argentina. Their numbers are difficult to determine due to their remote habitats, with a maximum estimate of 3000-5000 individuals (in 1997), Mated pairs have extremely elaborate dance displays! #12DaysOfBirdmas #GlamorousByNature #sciart #scicomm

On the 8th Day of Birdmas #BirdGlamour gave to me 8 Maids A-Milking...Greater Flamingos, that is! Greater Flamingos are known for their diet-based pink feathers from the carotenoids in their prey items, but did you know they also make "milk"? They secrete a substance from the esophagus that is rich in fat and protein for their young! Pigeons are another bird that also makes "milk," called crop milk. #12DaysOfBirdmas #SciArt #scicomm

On the 8th Day of Birdmas #BirdGlamour gave to me 8 Maids A-Milking...Greater Flamingos, that is! Greater Flamingos are known for their diet-based pink feathers from the carotenoids in their prey items, but did you know they also make "milk"? They secrete a substance from the esophagus that is rich in fat and protein for their young! Pigeons are another bird that also makes "milk," called crop milk. #12DaysOfBirdmas #SciArt #scicomm

On the 7th Day of Birdmas #BirdGlamour gave to me 7 Tundra Swans a-swimming! These Arctic nesting swans stay in flocks until they start breeding. Swans have to be tough: there are a lot of egg and nestling predators like foxes, weasels, wolves, bears, and several species of sea birds! #12DaysOfBirdmas #BirdGlamourOfNorthAmerica #Sciart #scicomm

On the 7th Day of Birdmas #BirdGlamour gave to me 7 Tundra Swans a-swimming! These Arctic nesting swans stay in flocks until they start breeding. Swans have to be tough: there are a lot of egg and nestling predators like foxes, weasels, wolves, bears, and several species of sea birds! #12DaysOfBirdmas #BirdGlamourOfNorthAmerica #Sciart #scicomm

On the 6th Day of Birdmas #BirdGlamour gave to me 6 Snow Geese laying! In Canada, we see Snow Geese as they migrate from their winter territories in the US & Mexico to their Arctic breeding grounds. Migrating and winter flocks have lookouts to watch for predators while the rest of the flock forages and rests. Snow Geese chicks are well-developed when hatched, and are able to maintain their own body temperature just a few days after hatching! #12DaysOfBirdmas #BirdGlamourOfNorthAmerica #SciArt

On the 6th Day of Birdmas #BirdGlamour gave to me 6 Snow Geese laying! In Canada, we see Snow Geese as they migrate from their winter territories in the US & Mexico to their Arctic breeding grounds. Migrating and winter flocks have lookouts to watch for predators while the rest of the flock forages and rests. Snow Geese chicks are well-developed when hatched, and are able to maintain their own body temperature just a few days after hatching! #12DaysOfBirdmas #BirdGlamourOfNorthAmerica #SciArt

On the 5th Day of Birdmas #BirdGlamour gave to me 5 Golden...Ring-necked Pheasants! A popular gamebird, they were introduced to North America in 1773 and are now found in the Midwest, Plains states, Canada, and Mexico. They're gorgeous pheasants, but they do compete with local game birds, including nest parasitism in grey partridges, prairie chickens, several duck species, rails, grouse, and turkeys.
#12DaysOfBirdmas #BirdGlamourOfNorthAmerica #scicomm #sciart