I would love a shot like this...

[calzephyr]

Originally posted by onetouchspark at swans

Comments

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Swans get such a bad rap. They're so beautiful, and their behavior is entirely predictable. I've had them eat cracked corn out of my hand. (In case you're not familiar with cracked corn, it's dried individual kernels of corn, requiring the swan/goose/duck to nibble the kernels out of your hand without taking your fingers/hand along too.)

Part of why reading my birds' body language has always been so easy for me is that I grew up feeding waterfowl cracked corn. (It's supposed to be healthier for them than bread, so when my father and I made a hobby of feeding birds, he decided to go for the corn.) Swans don't really find children that threatening based on their size, so I already had an advantage there, and I observed how they reacted to me, other children, and adults, and quickly learned what was acceptable behavior to them, and when I should back off. They have such a reputation for being aggressive, but really the key is just to be calm and non-threatening, and if some reason they do take offense at you (or anyone near you) to just quickly back away. There was a nesting pair I visited every summer, and they'd even let their little downy babies come eat cracked corn from my hand.

[calzephyr77.livejournal.com]

So true! It's the same with Canada geese. I know a lot of people find birds scary, and unpredictable, but it's all in body language. People seem to lack respect for them too. I guess learning their body language just comes naturally to bird nerds like us!

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

For me I think it's more that this's part of what made me into a bird nerd. :)

When it comes to Canada geese though, something like 1 in 20 has this really horrible attitude where he's perpetually angry at everyone and attacks all other geese, ducks, and humans within a 20 foot radius. You can tell which one it is because he's the one walking around with his beak wide open and his tongue waggling in the middle and walks around hissing with his neck straight towards the closest animal. I've seen one of those alpha geese grab a mallard so hard that the duck's feathers got ripped out as it tried to escape the goose.

[calzephyr77.livejournal.com]

Yikes! That's one angry bird. I love this attitude somewhat though - it's like when Muffin bites me - as if they have some sort of dinosaur soul still in them. "I may be 2' tall, but you will FEAR ME! RAWR! HISS!"