I'm Veery, Veery Sorry! Veery V.S. Gothic Oven Bird

I've made a mistake. I was wrong. Yup. You heard me. I know that sounds preposterous, but it's true. I committed a grievous error in my previous post "Last Call-Final Call." I posted a photograph of a bird I identified as an Oven Bird, but it was a Veery. This was pointed out by an observant and attentive reader whom I would thank if I actually knew who it was! I'm Veery, Veery sorry if my credibility has tanked and for the confusion and consternation I have caused. I know how seriously matters birding are for many people, especially when salient points of identifications are grossly overlooked. There is no margin for error nor forgiveness. I am planning on crawling on my knees all the way to Aspen when we go in October to visit my son. Swear I am. It will be a pilgrimage of penance for my ornithological sin. Side by side, perhaps you can see what my temptation was. The birds are nearly the same size, a close color on the back and chest with speckling about the chest. The Oven Bird, however, has a pronounced eye ring which the Veery does not . The Oven Bird also has an orange cap and stripes the length of its head which the Veery does not. The underside of the Veery is pristine white where the Oven Bird has a distinct yellow cast.   Oven Birds, a type of Warbler are in the photos on the left. A Veery, a type of Thrush is in the photo on right. By the way, the Oven Bird was given that name because its nest, made of grass and lined with hair, is dome shaped with the opening on the side resembling an oven. It is built on the ground, not in trees. I like to imagine the nests lined with the dog hair I put outside and that from my own head. I have a habit of standing on the deck in the cool air of night brushing my hair which gets caught in the breeze and carried away. Other parts of me get carried away often in my enthusiasm, also. I apologize for that, too. The Oven Bird has a two part call that sounds like 'teeeeeeeeeacher, teeeeeeeacher' and is frequently heard coming from the woods all summer. The bird is rarely seen though. Unfortunately, I've seen numerous of them in their Gothic demise, and now, sadly, I have to add another species, the Veery to my window mortality count. I think I'll go beat myself with a stick now.

To hear the song of the Oven bird, copy and paste this link into your browser:    http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?allSpecies=y&searchText=oven%20bird&curGroupID=1&lgfromWhere=&curPageNum=1                                                                         

Last Call - Final Call, Gothic Oven Bird

The fall migration of birds has barely begun and already, two Oven Birds have committed suicide on my living room windows. I only see them in the fall and only after they've tried flying through a window. I don't know what possesses them. I have tried to prevent this with hanging plants and branches nailed to the house in front of the windows. I also have those tacky decals on the glass meant to deter birds, but to no avail. It breaks my heart to find them broken on the ground like this one. Though dead, they are, nonetheless breathtakingly beautiful. To me, they are no less beautiful than this Yellow warbler, another seasonal migrant here. They make almost biblical subjects to photograph. However, it is against the law to keep them, or even possess them, according to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. The MBTA was enacted to stop over-hunting of many birds which was resulting in decimation
of their populations. A loop hole closure in the law says that migratory birds on the list can not even be possessed dead. This is intended to stop a perpetrator that claims "Well, geez Officer, I found the Dodo Bird dead on the side of the road. I didn't kill it, honest." Where upon, the Officer says "Ya well, pal, you're the Dodo Bird and you're comin' with me!" Thus, someone such as myself (neither a Dodo nor in possession of one) who does not have some sort of license must either take a bird to someone who does (and hope they don't get busted while transporting said bird) or toss it onto the compost pile. To unceremoniously fling a thing of such gentle beauty as if tainted garbage is sacrilege. I'm not sure it's even legal for me to photograph them, which to me is to honor them. But rest assured, after I do, I get rid of them. Swear on a stack I do.


For more information on the MBTA of 1918, see these links:

http://www.fws.gov/laws/lawsdigest/migtrea.html
http://en.wikipedia.org wiki/Migratory_Bird_Treaty_Act_of_1918