Blackburnian Warbler At Bridle Path ,reservoir ,Central Park.

https://twitter.com/whoisif/status/1546749320711458816?s=21&t=4zbgj6WfbYp0huLyhihydA

Is there a bird out there that looks remotely SciFi 🤔 there's gotta be one fella out there with some pattern on them...

So I think you probably want a very futuristic spacey bird, but I'd also like to add some fellas that could easily wander on and about on some alien world and totally fit in Let’s do a list thingy! Four sci-fi birds, whether it’s because they look alien, like a spacecraft or just generally fit the vibe!

1. The Black heron

The black heron, is a member of the Ardeidae occurring in Africa, well known for its peculiar feeding habit, which professionally is referred to as “canopy feeding”. When it does that it uses its wings like an umbrella, creating shade and in turn attracting fish and other prey items. More importantly, its metallic plumage makes it look like a funky UFO.

2. The Andean cock-of-the-rock

First of all here’s what some journalist has to say on these birds (ʰᶦⁿᵗ: ᵗʰᵉʸ’ʳᵉ ʳᶦᵍʰᵗ)

Now, there’s so much to say about cocks-of-the-rock; why they’re called that, why they sound so weird, whatever is going on with their head? Let’s only focus only the latter for this one. First of all, Andean cocks-of-the-rock are sexually dimorphic and while females still look weird,  it’s much less extreme on them than it is with males. The thing on their head is a crest, much like that of a tufted titmouse or Eurasian hoopoe, just that it’s shaped like a disk. Overall they’re just fantastic aliens.

3. Any Hornbill

The “horn” on the huge beak of a hornbill, called a casque (not to be confused with the cacique) is there to add strength and/or counterweight to the bills (which is needed, or at the very least helpful when chiselling in bark or hard soil), sometimes also acting as sound chambers to augment vocalisations. Also, considering that casques are usually larger on males than they are on females, and that they can take several years to reach full size, they may be a sign of sexual maturity or status. This - in addition to the many colours a hornbill can have and the wattle makes earth look quite ✨extra-terrestrial✨ (ʸᵉˢ ᴵ ᵏⁿᵒʷ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᶦˢ ᶜᵒⁿᵗʳᵃᵈᶦᶜᵗᵒʳʸ).

4. The Metallic starling

The metallic starling is an Australasian bird that from a far may seem like just another black bird, however given the right angle and light they show a stunning array of purple and green iridescence. Another very notable feature are their brilliant black eyes. Definitively very spacey, 10/10 birds, would take over a planet if they’d were to try.

Also you asked for patterns! I didn’t include them but perhaps, golden pheasants, sunbitterns or wilson's bird-of-paradise could be of interest to you!

Photo credits: ATLAS1GP, ryanacandee, Bernard DUPONT, Leon Molenaar, TOONMAN_blchin, Jim Boud, cuatrok77, Art G.

Sources: Audubon Society - Watch a Black Heron Fool Fish by Turning Into an Umbrella, Wikipedia The Free Encyclopaedia - Andean cock-of-the-rock, Birdwatching: Your source of becoming a better birder - Julie Craves explains the purpose of hornbills’ huge bills, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Animals & Plants - Metallic Starling

birb

European Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

© Pam Parsons

Adelie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae)

© Phillip Edwards

marshmallow contemplates

Solis Lacus: The Eye of Mars : As telescopes around planet Earth watch, Mars is growing brighter in night skies, approaching its 2020 opposition on October 13. Mars looks like its watching too in this view of the Red Planet from September 22. Mars’ disk is already near its maximum apparent size for earthbound telescopes, less than 1/80th the apparent diameter of a Full Moon. The seasonally shrinking south polar cap is at the bottom and hazy northern clouds are at the top. A circular, dark albedo feature, Solis Lacus (Lake of the Sun), is just below and left of disk center. Surrounded by a light area south of Valles Marineris, Solis Lacus looks like a planet-sized pupil, famously known as The Eye of Mars . Near the turn of the 20th century, astronomer and avid Mars watcher Percival Lowell associated the Eye of Mars with a conjunction of canals he charted in his drawings of the Red Planet. Broad, visible changes in the size and shape of the Eye of Mars are now understood from high resolution surface images to be due to dust transported by winds in the thin Martian atmosphere. via NASA

2 college students accidentally miss the math final exam

The next day they both went to plead with their professor. He was feeling pretty good that day so he allowed them to retake it. He told them to both come back tomorrow for an oral exam. When they both showed up he told one of them to wait outside while he tests the other. So one enters and the other puts his ear to the door to listen. The professor begins asking the question:

“You are riding in a train cart and you get too hot. What do you do?”

The student replies “I open the window.”

“Ok. Now that window is 2 feet wide and 3 feet high. The train is traveling 50 mph going north and the wind is blowing at 15 mph due east. How long will it take for new air to replace the old air in the cart?”

The student is clearly confused at this impossible question and just answers “I don’t know”. So the professor gives him an F, dismisses him, and calls in his friend.

He begins asking his friend “you are riding in a train cart and it gets too hot. What do you do?

He says “I take my jacket off.”

“Ok. But its still too hot. What do you do?”

“I take my shirt off.”

“I understand but its very, very hot.”

“I will just get naked.”

“Ok. But there’s a guy in front of you getting a hard on by watching you strip naked!”

The student replies: “Professor, the entire train can fuck me in the ass I am NOT opening that window!”

unflattering paparazzi shot 6/18

Tandövala Nature Reserve, Dalarna, Sweden (June, 2021).