Six foot sea scorpions! Man, I want to go diving (dying, most likely) in ancient oceans.
YAY nightjar! I got most interested in them when I learned that people believed that they would swallow your soul. This little bristly insectivore with a creepy mouth, so cute.
Nightjars are the cutest! The first night I heard one was also the first time I saw the aurora borealis (up in Wisconsin), pretty much the most surreal experience ever.
Apparently great tits and blue tits are common foci of ecology research in Europe, so the evolution jobs listserv keeps popping up listings for, e.g., "ASSISTANT NEEDED: TITS" or "UK TIT BEHAVIOR."
I love goatsuckers! Such a huge mouth with their little bristles. I also love the "bowmp" noise that common nighthawks make when they're doing their little mating dance.
Dickcissel is another awkward bird name. Ah, ornithologists and their dirty minds.
Aw look at the little nightjar. Who's a pretty nightjar? You are, yes you are. Who looks like they're having their guts squeeze out through their eyeballs and a mouth that swallows the mortal souls of men? You are yes, yes you are you little ... uh hm ... yes well they are very ... nice looking ... ... ... whiskers :3.
Thanks for doing the oarfish. It looks wonderful. I bow to your superior water painting skills. If I did it it would look like a large shapeless black blob on the paper. Curse you watercolors and your tendency to go the last place I don't want you to be!
I used to hear chuck-will-widows outside at night when I grew up in South Carolina. They, and common nighthawks were the only two goatsuckers in the area. Occasionally, on a warm summer night you'll see several of them just sitting in the middle of a paved road. I don't know why they do that, maybe they are just warming themselves, but their eyeshine is red.
Another interesting note: goatsuckers are often closer to you than you think. They often sound far away, but I remember hearing a chuck that I thought was perhaps 40 or 50 feet away from me. I took a few steps, and flushed the bird! It was really only 3 to 4 feet away. Odd vocal talent...
I nominate the Great Tit as the bird with the most embarrassing name. The Bushtit is second. I could see the Great Tit as the name for a stripper joint for ornithologists to patronize after a difficult day's work.
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YAY nightjar! I got most interested in them when I learned that people believed that they would swallow your soul. This little bristly insectivore with a creepy mouth, so cute.
I enjoy yelling I LOVE TITS while birdwatching.
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Apparently great tits and blue tits are common foci of ecology research in Europe, so the evolution jobs listserv keeps popping up listings for, e.g., "ASSISTANT NEEDED: TITS" or "UK TIT BEHAVIOR."
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Another unfortunate name for an even less sentient living organism: Caucasian Wingnut (it's a tree).
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Dickcissel is another awkward bird name. Ah, ornithologists and their dirty minds.
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Thanks for doing the oarfish. It looks wonderful. I bow to your superior water painting skills. If I did it it would look like a large shapeless black blob on the paper. Curse you watercolors and your tendency to go the last place I don't want you to be!
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Another interesting note: goatsuckers are often closer to you than you think. They often sound far away, but I remember hearing a chuck that I thought was perhaps 40 or 50 feet away from me. I took a few steps, and flushed the bird! It was really only 3 to 4 feet away. Odd vocal talent...
I nominate the Great Tit as the bird with the most embarrassing name. The Bushtit is second. I could see the Great Tit as the name for a stripper joint for ornithologists to patronize after a difficult day's work.
Note: Chupracabra also means "goatsucker".
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