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Birb Time - Blog Posts
every single day I think about how american black vultures are known for engaging in interspecific allopreening (preening between different species)
and they have a specific relationship with crested caracaras, in which the black vultures assist them by not only preening them after meals but also leading them to food in the first place, while the caracaras assist the black vultures by acting as a warning signal in case of danger
and while this is more typical of black vultures, this is not common at all for any member of the falconidae family— it’s a special bond!
yet another post in favor of vultures everyone , hope you enjoy:) and I implore you to do some more research on these incredible birds !!
EDIT: I meant interspecific allopreening! excuse my typo!
EDIT 2: black vultures do not have a superior sense of smell to caracaras, sorry for the misunderstanding!
mtp characters as birds (2)
a follow-up to this post (part 1).
and in this part it's gonna be the rest of the moriarty's party + even more fun facts about birbs~
MORAN: a steppe eagle. these birds are large and formidable birds of prey that both hunt live game and don't shy away from scavenging for carrion. and that's exactly the line of thought that i used for an association here. moran, as william's right-hand man, matches this description well: he both hunts down those who are not needed alive anymore, and clears william's path of any filth that could lead to the lord of crime and get in their way. tbh initially he was meant to be an eastern imperial eagle, but i settled for a steppe eagle purely because in my mind, it matches moran's appearance more (as its plumage is quite darker than that of an eastern imperial eagle).
FRED: a shrike! these little cuties look harmless and defenseless, but in reality they're as much fierce hunters as any preying bird. shrikes can eat about anything from insects to vertebrates, including other birds as well, and are known to hunt prey even larger than themselves. but their uniqueness comes from their hunting technique. as shrikes are not true birds of prey (they're passerines), lacking assets that those guys have (like sharp talons), they stalk their prey and ambush it in one swift strike, using their beaks to break victim's neck. and when it comes to killing prey bigger than themselves, they often impale it by carrying and throwing it at sharp barbs or thorns. all in all, they're such cool birdies lol.
anyway, all that yap is just to say that fred's fighting skills and his general role as a spy that hide behind his quiet and kind character (or is it the other way around?) remind me a lot of shrike's behavior and its deceptive nature.
BONDE: right after william, he was the second one with whom i struggled the most, but eventually i've settled on a european bee-eater for him. it's a very beautiful and colorful little bird that imo perfectly reflects james' charm and charisma. but another noticeable thing about bee-eaters (as it's evident from their name lol) is their diet, which consists mostly of, well, bees. sadly, for that reason some beekeepers would often kill them thinking they ruin their hives (which is not the case at all). in a way, that somewhat reminds me of irene adler's fate as well, considering how they endangered themselves for so long while working for a good cause, but then got involved in something far bigger than themselves and just... couldn't handle it, because, despite how talented they are, they're but a human being after all (or a bird being in case of bee-eaters ig).
JACK: ok, it seems like this fancy old man is actually the only one who gets two picks from me lol. you see, i just can't imagine him in his youth and him in his old age to be the same bird. idk, he's like a totally different person, and that's it.
alright, so, the first one, corresponding to his youth, would be a golden eagle. this apex predator perfectly describes jack at his prime, with him being feared by both his foes and allies alike.
the second pick, matching his old butler persona, would be a white stork. tbh it should've been a black stork, as i think its shy and reclusive nature better reflects jack's retirement and living for years as a simple butler, severing any possible connection to his past. and, uhh, bc how could i not include a black stork in a bird list of mine.... my friends would be shocked if they heard about it lool. but then i kinda looked again at this old man and thought that he's. um. if he's old, let him... be old. and look just as glorious for his age even as a bird. :p
MONEYPENNY: a short-eared owl! just... dang. look at how gorgeous these birds are and tell me that moneypenny isn't just as gorgeous as them. honestly, it's one of the few characters/birds where i went mostly by vibe and somewhat by appearance, but gosh that owl looks just like her incarnate, and i can't see it any other way.
VON HERDER: a proud example of a true magpie! he's sooo magpie-coded lol. again, as yet another corvid, magpies are intelligent birds that are also quite playful and energetic. even though them liking shiny/metal things is actually a myth, they're still fond of collecting some little trinkets for building their nests. and i can't help but think of von herder who always does as he pleases and invents all kinds of stuff from nothing. i bet if you give him one day, a can of trash, and leave him in a basement, he'll make you an endless engine because he got too bored. and him loving those strange metal puzzles? so cute. so magpie.
mtp characters as birds (1)
so, one day i woke up and thought to myself: what kind of birds mtp characters would've been?
and, well. at that point, there really was no going back.
anyway, now that i have some time to put it onto my virtual paper, here's my little rant on the matter. i typed all characters that i could remember, but in this part there're only moriarty & holmes brothers + john.
WILLIAM & LOUIS: i'll be honest here—of all mtp characters, william was the hardest one to name for me. also, initially the brothers had different species assigned to them (which kinda did pair up pretty well tho), but as i had trouble envisioning will as one, i scrapped it and went with the second option. and for the better ig as it makes much more sense now.
so, all that said, my pick for both william and louis is a pair of barn owls.
ngl, barn owls are one of the long-standing favorites of mine. it was kinda natural for me to associate them with a pair of my favorite mtp characters lol. although initially that association hadn't extended to william, upon some thought i've seen the hidden appeal, and now can't imagine him as anything but a barn owl.
these ethereal birds have a lot of symbolic meaning attached to them, the most prominent being that of darkness, doom, and death. being the lord of crime, both william and louis reflect upon those ideas throughout the story a lot. but another meaning, derived from the owl's ability to see through darkness, is that of wisdom, perception, and introspection, and these fit brothers even more so. also, as the lord of crime, they match another motif connected to barn owls—transformation. this one mirrors william's desire to change his country, and louis' determination to change himself for william's sake and the world that william wanted him to see.
lastly, barn owls are simply beautiful birds, and i just think it would've been neat to include them in the list fsjkfsnkjs
ALBERT: 100% a dove. an instant pick here lol (that actually has little to do with charlie). doves as well carry a lot of symbolic meaning, such as peace, purity, freedom, and love. funny enough, albert shares none of those qualities—save for one. he rejected peace once he decided to follow william to the end. he lost his purity when he took the life of his mother. he refused freedom to atone for his (and william's) sins. love is the only thing that albert has left in abundance.
but that is not the line of thinking that i used here. actually, albert being a dove in my mind is more due to his noble status that he hates than anything else. at first, i imagined him as a white dove, one of those specially bred over the centuries kinds. perhaps, even one of the breeds that have suffered some unsavory consequences of inbreeding. but then my eyes fell upon a luzon bleeding-heart, and—
oh. my. god.
that has to be The One.
the feathers on their chests have a bright red coloration that indeed reminds of a bleeding heart. and that's— just such a fascinating piece of symbolism? that fits albert perfectly??
so beautiful.
SHERLOCK: another instant pick— none other than a crow. crows are highly intelligent birds that are also known for their mischievous and playful nature. they're quite undemanding birds that, being opportunistic eaters, can eat almost anything and thrive almost anywhere around the globe.
when a crow, or one of its flockmates, is disturbed, they'll go to no end in holding a grudge against a person who did so. although sherlock isn't the kind of person to hold grudges, he's still quite fierce when it comes to protecting those dear to him, and hunting down criminals in a fit of hyperfixation on a mystery. moreover, crows are not just intelligent, but very curious creatures too, which, again, is yet another scherlock's important characteristic.
so, all things considered, including sherlock's chaotic yet kind and loyal nature, i can't see him as anything but a crow.
JOHN: he's a cute little goldfinch! tbh i went mostly by vibe and appearance here. but i find the symbolism quite fitting as well, as these cuties are most often associated with joy, cheerfulness, persistence, and light-heartedness. and, well, who could've been the embodiment of these qualities if not john?
there's also a profound religious meaning tied to goldfinches, as they are often connected to the image of christ. as i have no real knowledge of theology or religious art, i can't give any commentary on the matter. but i still wanted to mention this fact, because imo someone who could deal with pre-time skip sherlock on daily basis must truly be a saint lol.
MYCROFT: matching sherlock's crow, he's, of course, a raven. but there's more to that decision than me wanting them to resemble each other.
actually, i think there's no one more fitting to be a raven than mycroft, as ravens are the birds that to this day are used to guard the buckingham palace. specifically, they hunt down vermin that dare to stick their noses into the royal domain. to me, that sounds a lot like our lovely government guy here!
royal associations aside, these birds are usually much calmer than crows and generally have a somewhat cooler vibe around them. and, of course, they're intelligent as hell. sherly and mycky really do enhance each other as a pair of a crow and a raven in my eyes, just like william and louis do as a pair of barn owls.
that's it for now! hopefully i'll come back to make other parts as well and share all these beautiful photos of birbs hidden in my stash too...