Say Ahhh!

People say I am fascinated with bird tongues. I say I am merely intrigued. Whatever the level of interest, here are a few.

Dave

Here's another hummer.

Had to crop this one so you could see it.

My favorite, the red-bellied WP He sticks his tongue out all the time.

Another angle

Next the Downy

OK Last one for tonight. This is just to show how long the red-bellied's tongue is and how he is able to get to the worms when other birds his size can't. . Sorry the bowl is so dirty. But you can see his tongue reaches all the way to the worms which he stabs and pulls out . I might add that the bowl is about 6 inches inside the cage. You can't tell that from the camera angle.

Dave

This message was edited Feb 27, 2008 1:13 AM

Pretty amazing!! Imaginative camera work, too.

Yep, woodpeckers have very long tongues so they can reach all the way down insect boreholes in wood to get at the larvae. When not extended, the tongue slots back into a socket round the back of the head.

Resin

Hmmm. RBW's eat mealworms? I didn't realize that. Guess mine's been too busy with the suet cakes I doctor up.
I have, however, had a fat robin scarfing up worms at the mealie feeder. Lazy bum.

amazing photos

Great photos!

Mighty fine photos there, Dave. Great photography. What camera are you using and to get those wonderful closeups? I'd love to see more. Laverne

Great photos again Dave...and an interesting subject!

Super shots Dave!

Glad that I'm not the only one intrigued with these sort of things!! LOL

I really need to proofread before I send!! edited for spelling, as usual...

This message was edited Feb 27, 2008 10:02 PM

I'm glued to my seat!

OK I continue to look for more. Here's the Northern Mockingbird.

To answer your question, Laverne. Most of these were shot with a Canon EOS 1D Mark II, using a 300mm lens.

And yes, Judy, they do eat mealworms. And they carry them back to their nestlings. Like so.

gross. lol

LOL, Dave is that the mama or is that the Papa? He/she does know how to take care of the young! lol.

Dave,

That last pic is very funny looking! LOL

That is the Papa. The top of Mama's head is gray.

It's an interesting arrangement but the male scours around looking for the food for the nestlings and most likely Mama.. Mama must stick around the nest. I'll post one of the female later.

Here is another tongue shot. This time he's reaching into a different style mealworm feeder.

Here he's checking to see if the girl is wooden. She's not

Back to the wire cage feeder.

OK here's the female showing off for the camera. She usually completes this trick... but not always

Two

Three

Oops!

Wait, wait, I need to borrow your wp to take it to "Banihana of Tokyo" Where the Japanese chef always plays this tricks on us customers....we rarely catch the foods he flipped up on the air at the Hibachi table....I bet your woodpecker will put us all into shame by catching the foods. ROFL

Maybe so, Lily love.

OK now some more silliness Have you ever watched a red-bellied whe he ruffles his feathers on a hot day?

Well, just for reference, let's first look at how he usually appears.

Same bird

Same bird Different day.

OK three more and I'll let it go.

Back to normal (whatever normal is).

Oh I just looked over these and see where one did not post as it was supposed to. To get the desired effect, I am going to repost the before shot too. Sorry.

After

Nice shots, Gary .......... good stop-action.

LOL, they are quite they comedians if you really watch them! Great thread, dave!

Is it just me or do others have a problem posting images here?

I bring them up for preview and send them and it says the were posted. But who knows where. I guess they're somewhere out in cyberspace. Here is one that was supposed to have been posted. I will try it again.