Faith without works…
Faith without works is like a bird without wings; though she may hop with her companions on earth, yet she will never fly with them to heaven.
A Francis Beaumont quotation
Identify this bird
Great Skua
The Great Skua is a large seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae. In Britain, it is sometimes known by the name Bonxie, a Shetland name of unknown origin.
Identification Tips:
• Length: 17.5 inches Wingspan: 16 inches
• Sexes similar
• Large, heavyset, thick-necked with broad-based wings
• Thick, heavy bill
• Broad white patch at base of primaries
• Short broad tail
• Sometimes chases other birds to steal their food
• Juveniles take several years to reach adult plumage
• Most often seen far offshore
Behavior: In appearance as well as in habits the skua seems to share the attributes of the Raptores and the Laridae. Its strong hooked bill and its sharp curved claws enable it to stand upon and rend asunder the victims of its rapacious habits. The Great Skua’s flight is also somewhat hawk-like. Yet it stands horizontally and runs about nimbly like a gull. Morris (1903) says that it “soars at times at a great height, and flies both strongly and rapidly, in an impetuous, dashing manner.
Breeding range: Islands of the North Atlantic Ocean, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe and Shetland Islands. Said by Kumlien the Great Skua breeds at Lady Franklin Island north of Hudson Strait.
Winter range: The North Atlantic Ocean, occasionally reaching land. From the Great Banks, off Newfoundland, and Georges Bank, off Massachusetts, to New York (Long Island). In Europe from the British Isles and Norway south to Gibraltar. Occasional in the Mediterranean Sea and on inland waters.
Faith without works is like a bird without wings; though she may hop with her companions on earth, yet she will never fly with them to heaven.
By Francis Beaumont
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Faith is the bird…
Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark.
A Rabindranath Tagore quotation
Identify this bird
Northern Jacana
The American … are now split into three species and three additional subspecies. They are widely distributed throughout the American Tropics. These are conspicuous and unmistakable birds, with all three races being very similar. They are 17–23cm long, but the females are larger than the males.
The birds food is insects, other invertebrates and seeds picked from the floating vegetation or the water’s surface.
The bird is a wader which is a resident breeder from coastal Mexico to western Panama, and in Cuba, Jamaica and Hispaniola. It sometimes breeds in Texas, and has also been recorded as a vagrant in Arizona.
Identification Tips:
• Length: 7 inches
• Large shorebird
• Fairly short, yellow bill and frontal shield
• Long toes
• Pale green flight feathers
• Rare in south Texas
These are a group of wetland birds, which are identifiable by their huge feet and claws which enable them to walk on floating vegetation in the shallow lakes that are their preferred habitat. They are found worldwide within the tropical zone.
Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark.
By Rabindranath Tagore
Bird Quotation Popularity Poll
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