bird returns home after telling police his address

A budgerigar Budgie (not the one in the picture) shocked police officers after it started speaking.

The brainy bird escaped from its home in the Sagamihara district of Yokohama on Sunday morning after darting out an open window.

It seemed the pet budgerigar would never be seen again after it made a break for it while its 64-year-old owner was away.

The budgie had been on the run for over three days before it checked into a hotel after landing in the room and onto a guest's shoulder. It was then handed over to the police who were able to track its owner, Fumie Takahashi, after being given an unexpected lead in the case.

Under intense questioning from officers the budgie recited its full address, even including its house number and post code. An officer said: 'We had not expected his owner to be identified in this manner.'

Ms Takahashi was surprised to see her pet again and even more shocked by its sudden new found ability to talk.

from http://snipr.com/23dlmta   [www_metro_co_uk] 

(For more stories of amazing animal stuff, click the "animal" label below.)

bird signs

first two of these via

very cool transformer owl

Watch the video. The coolest part is nearer the end. The explanation for those of us who speak English is below...:)


How cool was that? While I'm not certain what the exact species of owl this is (while it looks kind of like a North American screech owl, I think it's a scops owls based on pictures on the Owl Pages) I know exactly what this little "Transformer owl" is doing.

You might not know that small owl species are sometimes on the menu for larger owl species. When faced with the barn owl, which is only slightly larger than itself, the Transformer owl puffs itself up to look as big as possible in an effort to scare the barn owl away. When faced with the second, much larger owl, however, it does the exact opposite. By elongating its body, flattening its feathers and squinting its eyes, this little owl mimics a dead branch in the hopes of camouflaging itself from the larger bird.
http://blogs.discovery.com/animal_oddities/2010/05/transformer-owl.html

pelican attacks weatherman

Groucho: one amazing parrot

given away by bird poop

This week, Sony Dong, 46, arrived from Vietnam at the Los Angeles International Airport. As usual, he had to pass through US Customs before entering the country.

He had passed through the required metal detectors without any problem. Baggage checks also revealed no need for concern.

However, what made Customs officials suspicious was the feathers and bird poop they saw on Sony's socks.

Lifting his pant legs higher revealed that Sony was attempting to smuggle 14 live birds under his pants. He had attached the birds to two strips of cloth that he had wrapped around his calves.

The birds can be purchased on the street in Vietnam for around $20 each and can be sold to collectors for nearly $400 in the States.

http://bit.ly/SnXSx
http://bit.ly/hqjdV

(for another bird in pants story, see http://bit.ly/nMLkl )
(for more weird smuggler stories, click label below)

if a bird in the hand is worth two in a bush, what are two birds in the pants worth?

Two stories of bird-in-pants: Last week, a man in Australia tried to enter the country smuggling two pigeons in his pants. He was discovered because customs officials found the eggs in canister in his pocket... and then searched him (look closely to see the bird heads) . http://tinyurl.com/au7fwm

Here is a similar story that involved less planning....

aviary apartment

The reason that most bird owners place newspapers on the floor of a bird cage is because birds poop. Indeed, they poop regularly and often.

Most bird owners also keep their birds in a cage (most of the time) because a bird flying around the house can be quite unsanitary.

That is, most bird owners.

Last week, city officials in Berlin investigated complaints of bird noises emanating from the apartment of 60-year-old retired man.

Upon entering the two-bedroom apartment, they were surprised to find un-caged birds. Not one or two. Not five or six. Not one or two hundred. They found 1,700 parakeets (budgerigars) flying free in the apartment. The birds were living on perches that the man had placed along the walls.

As you might expect, the floor was saturated with bird poop, as was nearly everything else in the apartment.

The man said that he had started with two birds because he was lonely... then they started to create little birds.

The parakeets are being relocated. Birdman's apartment has been ruled "unfit for human habitation" and he has been forced to leave.

http://tinyurl.com/5e6jjw

that will teach you to keep your mouth shut

this is a repost from a year ago, but it fit so well with the other post today :)

very cool: a bird that moonwalks

stress exercise

Feeling stressed? Try this simple short exercise. It really does work.

1. Picture yourself near a stream.

2. Birds are chirping in the crisp, cool mountain air.

3. Nothing can bother you here. No one knows this secret place.

4. You are in total seclusion from that place called "the world". The soothing sound of a gentle waterfall fills the air with a cascade of serenity.

5. The water is clear.

6. You can easily make out the face of the person whose head you're holding under water.

7. there now... feeling better?

man fails to smuggle 277 birds... on his bike

smug·gle
v. smug·gled, smug·gling, smug·gles
1. To import or export without paying lawful customs charges or duties.
2. To bring in or take out illicitly or by stealth.

Most of us are aware that the concept of smuggling is based on stealth. sneaking, or cheating in some way. Unfortunately, this concept escaped a young man who was foiled this week in a spectacularly inept smuggling attempt.

The incident happened on Tuesday at a border crossing between Ukraine and Belarus.

The unknown young man approached the border crossing at Dubki, apparently hoping that the guards would not ask him questions about the cargo that he was carrying on his bicycle.

And what was he trying to smuggle? 277 live parrots.

He had surreptitiously placed the birds into six cages; each cage contained between 40 and 50 birds.

"The cages were fixed to an ordinary bicycle. The parrots were stuffed inside like sardines..." said Alexander Tischenko, spokesman for the border police.

When confronted by guards, the young man left bike and birds behind and ran back into his homeland.

The birds were taken to veterinary inspectors who will offer them to pet shops. Two of the birds died in the smuggling attempt.

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN2363197820080123

"If we hadn't stuffed in those extra 7 birds, I mighta made it."

strange Christmas traditions

In honor of Christmas Day, here are a few strange/unusual Christmas traditions that are practiced around the world.--

In Greenland, the Christmas feast includes Kiviak. Kiviak is a delicacy made from the raw meat of an auk (a diving bird of the North Atlantic-- see picture). Sounds yummy? Ah but wait! Kiviak isn't ready until the bird meat has been buried under a stone encased in a sealskin for a few months. "Good" Kiviak is in an advanced state of decomposition and smells like old blue cheese.

In Japan, they never send red Christmas cards because that is the usual color of funeral notices.

In Yugoslavia, on the second Sunday before Christmas, children tie their mother to a chair. They shout "Mother's Day, Mother's Day what will you pay to get away?" The mother gives them some gifts. On the Sunday before Christmas, the kids play a prank on their father... who again, responds with giving more presents.

Some Portuguese people celebrate a special feast on Christmas morning that is called "consoda." The table is set with extra seats for the souls of the dead. They are offered food in hopes that the dead souls will bring the family good luck.

In Caracas, Venezuela, the streets are closed on Christmas morning so that people can roller-skate to church.

In Britain, it is thought that if the Christmas pudding is sirred clockwise, it might cause a wish to come true.

In Norway, brooms are hidden in order to keep witches from flying around and disturbing Christmas Eve.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!
(next new post on the 27th... ummmm, or maybe the 26th if I feel motivated :) )

http://www.strangecosmos.com/content/item/25266.html
http://www.raisingkids.co.uk/fea/fea_90_xmas.asp