U and X Birds–You’ll Have To Read The Blog To Find Out Who Is Who

Look what I did today!!! There will one more to post tomorrow–it’s ALMOST finished–and the alphabet will be done.

Both the birds I painted today were challenging letters.  I decided to go with a domesticated (at least in the US) bird for my U–the Umbrella Cockatoo.

U is for Umbrella Cockatoo
U is for Umbrella Cockatoo

It’s always a challenge to paint a bird that is one solid color–white in particular.  I must say, I kinda like the way it turned out.

For the letter X, I was going to do something creative like paint a bird dropping and write something like X marks the spot where a bird was–but that was a cop out.  Instead I went the scientific name approach.  Here you have the Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus, better known as the Yellow-Headed Blackbird.

I know only a little about these birds.  Although I do see them at the Ridgefield Wildlife refuge along with the Red-Winged Blackbird, they are not nearly as prolific, especially along the side of the road.  One thing I do know about them, they don’t have a pretty singing voice.  In fact, it’s rather harsh and annoying.  Like the Red-Winged Blackbird they nest in freshwater marshes, forage for food in farm fields and open country and hang out with other blackbirds in the fall and winter.

X is for Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus--Yellow-Headed Blackbird.
X is for Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus–Yellow-Headed Blackbird.