Iowa's
Ring-neck Pheasant in my mind is Iowa's most beautiful bird, slightly ahead of the Wood Duck. The
Ring-necks are elusive and when they see a car or a person, they head for cover, and often slink down like a stealthy cat and then get away. This male was
scurrying into the cover of the grass but enough of his body and color is visible to make it interesting.
The
Turkey Vulture has a face that only its mother can love! Their red skinned and featherless head allows them to get into the carcass of dead animals and eat without getting their feathers messy....slightly gross, but amazing. Equally amazing is their warm up routine in the morning before they launch to the sky to fly and glide most of the day. On sunny days they stretch their wings out to their full length of nearly six feet, to absorb as much heat from the sun as they can to warm up their muscles, and soon after, off they go! On cloudy days, they just must launch to the sky a bit more slowly!! I just happened upon this one and another along the lower Ledges road last week, and they put on this little warm up show for me that lasted about 15 minutes. (More
here.)
Iowa's Ring-neck Pheasant in my mind is Iowa's most beautiful bird, slightly ahead of the Wood Duck. The Ring-necks are elusive and when they see a car or a person, they head for cover, and often slink down like a stealthy cat and then get away. This male was scurrying into the cover of the grass but enough of his body and color is visible to make it interesting.
The Turkey Vulture has a face that only its mother can love! Their red skinned and featherless head allows them to get into the carcass of dead animals and eat without getting their feathers messy....slightly gross, but amazing. Equally amazing is their warm up routine in the morning before they launch to the sky to fly and glide most of the day. On sunny days they stretch their wings out to their full length of nearly six feet, to absorb as much heat from the sun as they can to warm up their muscles, and soon after, off they go! On cloudy days, they just must launch to the sky a bit more slowly!! I just happened upon this one and another along the lower Ledges road last week, and they put on this little warm up show for me that lasted about 15 minutes. (More here.)
3 comments:
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I love the ring-necked pheasant.
The first time I saw pheasants were driving to the market in Jersey, and the red in their feathers is so noticeable that I had to run back home and ask my neighbors what the heck it was...I am from Texas, and have not lived here to long, so I see more wild life than in the big city of Dallas.
Love the part about 'only a face the mother could love', that is the truth!
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