tackedtothewall:

chaointe:

bigtallhouse:

fat-birds:

naamahdarling:

elodieunderglass:

ursulavernon:

funnywildlife:

Gossamer Wings by William Dalton on Flickr.

Legends say that hummingbirds float free of time, carrying our hopes

for love, joy and celebration. Like a hummingbird, we aspire to hover

and savor each moment as it passes; embrace all that life has to offer

and to celebrate the joy of every day. The hummingbird’s delicate

grace reminds us that life is rich, beauty is everywhere, every

personal connection has meaning and that laughter is life’s sweetest
creation. –Papyrus

I…Ah…hmm.

Look, it’s a great photo. The photographer kicked butt. They should be very proud of this photo.

But hummingbirds are not carrying your hopes for joy around. I am sorry. Have you met hummingbirds? Hummingbirds believe strongly that they should be eighteen feet tall and have flamethrowers. They are a half ton of pugnacious wrapped up in a half ounce of feathers. Given the choice, hummingbirds would fly around with “Ride of the Valkyries” blasting out of tiny speakers on their wings, putting the eyes out of their enemies.

They do not fear humans, but if they learn that humans will provide feeders, they will become very demanding. They are fiercely territorial. They are…kind of jerks, actually.

Also, there are papers indicating that female hummingbirds engage in what can only be termed “nectar-based prostitution” where they trade sexual favors to males in return for access to particularly rich nectar sources. 

If your hopes for love involve nectar and your hopes for joy involve crushing your foes, seeing them driven before you, hearing the lamentations of their nestlings, etc, then possibly the hummingbird may carry them around, otherwise…uh…have you considered vultures? Vultures are very pleasant, affectionate, and social birds. You should probably give them your hopes and dreams. They would be better at it. 

Did I mention it’s a great photo?

VULTURES, NOW.

this is Jack.

Jack (full name: Jack Sparrow) lives at the Hawk Conservancy. (He’s missing some toes because he was rescued from Vulture Smugglers.)

When you interact with Jack, you can tell he’s at about the level of … something between a ferret and a dog. Funny short little attention span, and a weird face to look at, but a human reads him as curious, friendly and interested in people.

When you meet a working vulture, you realize that they are definitely a wild predatory animal and very instinctive, but with a
consciousness that extends to interest in their surroundings; like, he’s
very much focused on THE SNACK, but before and after the SNACKTIME he
also wants to have a chat about your day and look at your face and peer into your camera and ask to look at the pictures you took and then say “hey now take one where I’m doing duckface” and you’re like “ok Jack go ahead”

Contrast with owls, which are typically pretty, but which are basically as interactive as a pop-up ad. They exist to land on things and eat them. They are not complicated. Vultures are hey-whatcha-doin. They’re yeah I’m a psychopomp but my real hobby is DJ-ing. They’d like to couchsurf next time they’re in town. You’d let them.

I would give Jack my dreams to carry. He would hold them well, in his big black lovely inky eyes, in his broken gentle feet.

Why is the last line making me tear up?

What a sweet vulture.

This is the best thing I have read today tbh

Haven’t reblogged this in a while. Jack is awesome.

Jack, Jack of my heart.

Vultures are AMAZING. They can be sweet, kind, sociable fluffernutters. 

I follow a vulture on Facebook, actually. His name’s Bob, he lives in Nepal, and his human housemates try to raise awareness about the importance of vultures and conservation work.