eBirdseed.com Wild Bird Feeding Blog

There! Do you see that? Do you see that creature above? That's the difference twixt yours truly and the rest of the world. The wife correctly identified the bird as a coot. I guess the proper name would be "American Coot". That's what people call it... In Fred J.Alsop III's "Birds of New England", he writes that this fellow is "a close relative of the gallinules and the moorhens."

Well La-Tee-Da...

I say that we stop all the pretentious stuff and call the bird what it should be called - "That Ducky Thing Over There". Other truly appropriate names might include: "Beaker" (in honor of the great lab assistant to Dr. Bunsen Honeydew), "Torpedo Bird", and the all-too-obvious "Dive! Dive! Dive! Bird". I mean, if the wife and I and a few common-folk friends (my friends, not hers) are out on the water and she "pointingly"* gesticulates, "Look, a coot!", we ain't going to be looking for any bird... In befuddlement, we'd be looking at her and not any feathered thing. However, if she "pointingly"* gesticulated "Look, a Quacky Flappy Thingy over there!", well, everybody would gaze in wonder at the "Dive! Dive! Dive! Bird".

Why is life so difficult? Fast food for dinner should consist of a couple of Slim Jims and pretzels... Nobody should tailgate on the highway... And we should start naming birds in a sensible manner... Did you know that according to Mr. Alsop the III, there are 35 types of warblers in New England alone? Why if I were King, I'd simplify that roll call down to one, and I'd...

Why do I get this eerie feeling that you readers out there are labeling me an "Old Coot"?

See you by the straight-forward feeders,

CapeCodAlan

* Yeah, I know "pointingly" isn't a word, but it should be. Grumble, grumble, grumble...

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