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A while ago I woke up from a half dream with the words, "nightjar weasel" echoing through my head. So today I set aside time to paint something up!

It's just. So cute. I'm calling it a Nightweasel. Please enjoy, and if you like it enough you could buy it on a bunch of stuff at my Redbubble, Teepublic, or Threadless!

Flamingos can survive in low oxygen, high altitude, high temperatures, low temperatures, high alkaline, they can and will drink boiling water and they can be completely frozen at night and still get up the next morning

(animal death) this is a real undoctored photograph (*though the body was stood up for the shot) of a dead flamingo on the surface of lake natron, a lake so salty and so alkaline that it’s naturally carbonated like soda and would eat through your stomach lining if you drank from it.

When this photo went viral years ago, most people assumed this poor flamingo must have been killed by the lake.

It is actually the lake where 75% of its global population are hatched. This is a photo from the same lake:

RATING: RELIABLE

Flamingos can survive in high altitudes, hypersaline conditions, and caustic lakes.

Source: ‘All flamingo species have evolved to live in some of the planet’s most extreme wetlands, like caustic “soda lakes”, hypersaline lagoons or high-altitude salt flats.’

They can survive water so alkaline it burns human skin.

Source: ‘More than a million lesser flamingos breed in Tanzania’s Lake Natron, for instance, a lake fed by hot springs with water so alkaline that it can strip away human skin (one pioneering flamingo researcher named Leslie Brown spent months in Nairobi General Hospital after burning his legs wading out to observe where the birds nested).’

They can drink water at near-boiling temperatures.

Source: ‘They can drink water at near boiling point to collect freshwater from springs and geysers at lake edges. If no freshwater is available, flamingos can use glands in their head that remove salt, draining it out from their nasal cavity.’

The lakes they inhabit can freeze overnight, and the flamingos can survive once it thaws in the morning.

Source: ‘The birds may seem to epitomize the tropics, but they also live in the Andes, 15,000 feet above sea level, where they rest on lakes that freeze around them overnight.

“You’ll see them sitting there like snowballs, frozen on ice,” Dr. Arengo said. “And as the temperature warms up, they thaw out, fluff themselves up and go about their business.”’

The photo is indeed from Lake Natron, taken by photographer Nick Brandt. The content of the lake chemically preserves animal corpses that die there. You can see more photos of this here.

It is also true that 75% of Lesser Flamingos are hatches on Lake Natron.

Source: ‘The lake’s landscape is surreal and deadly—and made even more bizarre by the fact that it’s the place where nearly 75 percent of the world’s lesser flamingos are born.’

Some species of Flamingo eat cyanobacteria or algae.

Um.

But - and I admit heavy nostalgia - Cody and Malahute bonding has lived in my head rent-free for thirty-six years and this scene has yet to beat on how damn majestic, thrilling (it's probably the closest to giving me an adrenaline rush involving flight since I'm otherwise terrified of heights), and beautiful it still is.

As you may already know... ornithological authorities (such as the AOS and ABA) in North America have decided, for a variety of reasons, to rename all of the birds that have been named after people.

Some examples: Lewis's Woodpecker, Smith's Longspur, MacGillivray's Warbler...

I thought it would be fun for us to come up with some ideas for new common names here on Tumblr.

Here are some criteria for re-naming that might appeal to ornithologists and birdwatchers:

Habitat and geographical range

Physical characteristics

Call/song characteristics

Behavior

PLEASE MAKE YOUR NAMING SUGGESTIONS IN THE COMMENTS, REBLOG, OR TAGS.

We'll take the best ideas, and put them in a poll by the end of the week! (I and an esteemed panel of ornithological tumblererrsssres will make the decisions).

WEEK 14 - LeConte's Sparrow

LeConte's Sparrow (Ammospiza leconteii), family Passerellidae, order Passeriformes

Breeds/nests in the North central US, central Canada, as well as other various isolated areas of Canada.

Overwinters in the South-central US.

This species is usually found in grasslands, such as prairie, meadow, grassy wetlands, and agricultural fields.

They prefer moderately wet grassy areas with dense vegetation and open bare ground.

While the warm orangey-buff coloration of the bird often set it apart, there are other similar looking sparrows in the same grassland habitats. (Many sparrows may be hard to identify in the field unless the observer gets a really good look at the bird, which doesn't always occur).

This bird is particularly beloved by birdwatchers for its warmer colors (amongst sparrows).

They are relatively elusive/secretive, and are not seen often.

Length: 4.7 in/12 cm, Wingspan: 7.1 in/18 cm

The bird is usually seen feeding and foraging on the ground, but will occasionally perch up and move through tall grasses.

In the warmer months, they feed mainly on insects. In the winter they feed mainly on seeds (especially grass seeds).

Not sexually dimorphic.

Mother incubates eggs, both parents feed chicks.

Nests made with grasses and occasionally animal hair, attached to tall grasses and sedges.

Hear the calls here: LeConte's Sparrow Sounds, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

photograph by Laura Erickson & Jeff Timmons

SD, USA - photograph by Terry Sohl

photograph by Erin Prokopanko

Australian Ringneck