Fur-birds?
Last spring at the Plainsboro Preserve I noticed a couple of unusual "birds" at their bird feeders [1]. What was especially unusual about these birds was that their wings looked more like forelegs, and that their plumage had a furriness that you rarely see in adult birds [2]. I'm still struggling to ID them [3].
Okay, enough of that. These are pictures of a Gray Squirrel and a Woodchuck (aka Groundhog) that were raiding the bird feeders. I asked at the desk whether they do anything to discourage these guys from eating food intended for birds, and they said they don't.
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April 20, 2023 at the Plainsboro Preserve Photo 272673902, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) |
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April 20, 2023 at the Plainsboro Preserve Photo 272674231, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) |
[1] They obviously had to be birds since it would be unethical for non-birds to eat at bird feeders.
[2] Some birds have a fluffy look when very young, but these birds had obviously fledged and were out foraging for food.
[3] I'm fairly sure they're different species of birds, though sometimes sexual dimorphism can make species of the opposite sex look surprisingly different.
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