Re: "Terror" Birds

[stargatedalek]

You don't toy with the geese....

They have big spurs, both wild ones and domesticated ones. That guy was lucky he didnt get stabbed or lacerated. Geese are jerks by the way. That video showed some pretty normal behavior for wild "lawn geese" They come to AK by the thousands during the summer months

Canada geese are really odd that way. The subspecies we get is canadenais, which are almost never seen outside of mated pairs once they fully mature. They are territorial but once they leave their territory they tend to be calmer. I assume in Alaska you would be getting fulva and occidentalis, which I presume are more gregarious and prone to traveling?

[soft tissue]

is there no spoiler bbcode on this site? peep the links.
http://scienceblogs.com/zooillogix/wp-content/blogs.dir/253/files/2012/04/i-e6425acbe9d18274be6f4b676bd7084e-Heron%201.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/10/28/article-0-15B9AE7E000005DC-17_634x949.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/bb/e9/2d/bbe92dbfc66c0cb56e0ab53124aef616.jpg
http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5241aaa069bedde57dab8321/rare-photos-capture-a-golden-eagle-attacking-a-deer.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/e6/fa/35/e6fa35733b80ec0e4187d48b8d9ce351.jpg
http://www.traveladventures.org/countries/south-georgia-and-south-sandwich-islands/images/saint-andrews-bay15.jpg

[Faelrin]

Just the other day when I was going link from link on that tvtropes swan link, I ended up watching this really graphic video of giant petrels slaughtering and eating a poor penguin while it was still alive. So brutal and terrifying. Are there predatory birds that actually kill their prey before feasting on it?

On the subject of geese though, my parents used to be harassed by Canadian Geese (I think) when they would visit the farm my mother's horse was on. They would even get bold enough to attack their car and chase after it while they drove. Glad I wasn't around or born yet for those times. Although when I was about 11 or 12 I did encounter a (Canadian) goose mother with her young that hissed at me while I was on this bridge above this pond they were at, while walking back from school. First time I ever learned that they aren't as sweet and cute as they seemed. It actually really scared me too because I was by myself and wasn't sure what to do. I got away unscathed thankfully.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Don't those eagles toss prey from a cliff before eating them?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz7FFlFy8eM

[Neosodon]

Don't those eagles toss prey from a cliff before eating them?

That last drop looked brutal but not as bad as being eaten alive by pelicans.

[Archinto]

You don't toy with the geese....

They have big spurs, both wild ones and domesticated ones. That guy was lucky he didnt get stabbed or lacerated. Geese are jerks by the way. That video showed some pretty normal behavior for wild "lawn geese" They come to AK by the thousands during the summer months

Canada geese are really odd that way. The subspecies we get is canadenais, which are almost never seen outside of mated pairs once they fully mature. They are territorial but once they leave their territory they tend to be calmer. I assume in Alaska you would be getting fulva and occidentalis, which I presume are more gregarious and prone to traveling?

We get four different types that come here. Out in the aleutians they get Aleutian Canada geese (B.c. leucopareia), and around the more interior and coastal areas theres Taverner's (B.c. taverneri) and lesser Canada geese, Dusky Canada geese (B.c. occidentalis) & Vancouver Canada geese (B.c. fulva) this one being the largest, and typically found in southeast and BC.

The big ones come into anchorage in the summer, but really you see all types together. They love the big lawns at the library and some of the parks and the cemetary downtown. Theres also a lot of lakes and ponds here

[Tyto_Theropod]

Good to see this has its own thread now. I look forward to contributing further. While we don't want to paint them blacker than we are and make them into Hollywood monsters, it's fun to talk about how stereotypically dinosaur-y today's dinosaurs can be.