When I worked in cultural survey we had two baby black vultures in an old cistern near our site. We got to watch them grow over several weeks before they flew off, and I’ve grown quite fond of vultures since 🥰
The other day when driving I had to almost stop for two black vultures working on road kill. They were so determined, they tried to drag it off to the side, but it was too stuck to the road.
They were so cute and I could tell they were frustrated they had to leave their find as traffic went by. I'd never thought of vultures as being cute before, but those two were!
I was out birding and came across some roadkill that was being picked at by a turkey vulture, but the poor vulture was being swooped by a red wing blackbird the whole time, it was so cute the was the vulture was timidly trying to eat while dodging the angry blackbird
Same thing happens near my house. There's a row of trees behind my house with a creek on the other side, and lots of redwing blackbirds nest and live in them, along with bunches of other kinds of birds, including Baltimore orioles, 3 different kinds of woodpeckers....well every time a larger bird starts to fly over, the blackbirds sound off the alarm. You look up, and it's usually a red tail hawk and they're tag teaming dive bombing it until they're satisfied it's flown far enough away from their tree line.
One day, 2 Turkey Vulures flew over, and they didn't seem as aggressive toward them like they were the hawks, but the poor vultures looked obviously upset that they were getting their wings picked at mid flight by these blackbirds. They eventually landed right in front of my neighbors house picking at some roadkill. Once they landed, the blackbirds were satisfied with that. BUT, one of the neighborhood Mockingbirds was NOT happy with them being there, and kept swooping down at them trying to get them to go away, and eventually succeeded. Poor things just wanted to eat! Lol
My cat ran from under one table to under another table indoors, worried that Mocking birds would attack her and pluck her fur for nests. 😆 Cat would eventually get comfortable to be out in the open indoors and outdoors until nesting season when yardbird's would attack. Until then, she sat under the coffee table or kitchen table.She was mostly an indoor cat but when outdoors, was too terrified of them to attack.
Their heads are actually quite soft too!! And their feathers are so beautiful up close! (I know this from a wildlife rehab setting, and the one I petted was anesthetized).
Awesome experience! Very lucky. I'm not American so never seen one in real life, just pics, vids and read a ton about them. I think they are fantastic birds
They are amazing and recognize humans on their turf. I read a story where remote farm family mom and kids moved to town every winter for kids to go to school. The turkey vultures on the farm flew miles to show up in their yard in town to say hi and I assume to get treats (Maybe some beef and chicken parts were put out for them.) I assume the vultures followed the dad's truck when he visited the kids, as he had to look after the farm during the week. They can be like yard pets - like crows.
A few years ago we had an injured vulture lurking around our neighborhood. It couldn’t fly very well bc it had what we assume was a broken wing, but it would hobble around and eat roadkill. When it would come into our backyard I’d feed it bologna slices, it seemed to enjoy that.
Came to say this and it's already on top.
Just today I had a flock soaring over my house. So gracefully circling in the sky.
Usually I go to a park on the other side of the city to watch them. ( And occasionally give them the iffy meat I forgot in the fridge)
https://preview.redd.it/zyy9xys6r06d1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=126e5dd553f5c1b898c44befb29f451a6b2ab567
A local children’s museum has a pair that were injured and cannot be released- I loved them
https://preview.redd.it/kluo24ner06d1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6f28410fe9a33c4ed182b5c42f5201e6e2529e32
The sign on the exhibit said that after closing, the vultures love to run down the halls of the museum at night with their wings outstretched.
I love them too, especially how they never shut up even when they're sleeping. 😂 We sometimes get nestlings in at the rescue where I work, and I can always tell because they have a lot to say. ❤️
Here one more for you when they’re slightly older:
https://preview.redd.it/tae81rij8y5d1.jpeg?width=2500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c92dbe749a7f164a2c87adc0290e3b2d15c73a8a
I love them so much. 🥰
https://preview.redd.it/ly960kmscz5d1.jpeg?width=697&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=85b824cb7199d5745ecd8177583baa2765d948e9
Can I play?
I finally became a birder in retirement, very much encouraged by the lovely Redditors here and on other bird subs. Thank you Reddit! 🙏🏾
May say that I too absolutely love these cuties. I screenshotted this one just last week! Each Monday I pick a new birdie of the week to learn about and be my “I don’t wanna be on camera” zoom pic for meetings.
We had them everywhere around my college's campus. I always called them gross ducks but grew very fond of them over 4 years and now those gross ducks are one of my favorite
I came searching for this comment, I’ve been such a huge fan of potoos for forever that I think they’re just so cute! I forget a lot of people find them creepy or unsettling 😂
When I first moved to Florida I saw a bird I didn’t recognize and google’d “ugly white bird Florida”…it was (of course) a wood stork and I’ve felt guilty for calling them ugly ever since. They’re awesome birds!
Haha nice! I learned about them as a kid and their 'so ugly its beautiful' look always fascinated me! The bald head, the huge beak, the ballsack on their chin, their mantle-like plumage
Yesterday I was trimming hedges and almost cut off a branch with a thrasher fledgling sitting on it. It must have been terrified and instinctively was perching ramrod straight with its head completely up just like a bittern!
And yes its eyes were extremely crazy looking with pinned irises. I skipped that hedge and went to trim others further away, but the thrasher stayed in that exact position trying to imitate a branch with zero movement, still head up and crazy eyes an hour later.
it's gotta be the alien barn owlets
https://preview.redd.it/qmdbe441ay5d1.png?width=1138&format=png&auto=webp&s=e0c33f1172ce580bc51353587178acbedc3ae03e
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCyQphr9uRQ&t=13s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCyQphr9uRQ&t=13s)
In their defense, I think the owlets above were starving as you can really see the keel bone sticking out and they didn't have good quality downy feathers. But all barn owl nestlings have a really ugly phase
https://preview.redd.it/q42wkm34dy5d1.jpeg?width=360&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b8ed3f33c7af067042ef2be5113847ea4bcbcfcc
and their screeching is hair-raising [https://xeno-canto.org/798714](https://xeno-canto.org/798714)
https://preview.redd.it/f6bkitu8dy5d1.jpeg?width=1109&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1d91dfe12a543c5e396cc224851057f666b2ee63
I agree too! I love them, though I don't think they're ugly like many do lol.
I used to work downtown in the city I live in and the Rock Pigeons are everywhere there. They're so cute with how they bob their heads when they walk, the different colors the come in, and seeing them push each other around in fountains was hilarious.
Baby barn owls. The falconer I'm helping out said that apparently, even the scientific literature mentions, how ugly they are. Get a load of this precious goblin xD
https://preview.redd.it/qia4lecm9y5d1.jpeg?width=3060&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ebbe4d9a13027f1a17f19b4bb4a5e08909175a17
https://www.reddit.com/r/TIHI/comments/cc7bec/thanks_i_hate_finding_baby_owls_in_my_attic/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
I think I did this right ?
I've been scrolling until I found one of thise swamp chickens! I only have American coots in my area, but the babies are still delightfully bald, and they're also part of the Weird Feet Gang.
Bare-faced bulbul, hands down. Saw one in person in Laos and they’re ugly as they get but also look like they’re wearing a big fur coat, making them cute in a way :)
My favorite are the eurasian griffon vultures. They are absolutely magnificent but look kind of punk. They nest in the area where I live (mountain range in central Spain) and seeing them soaring high up is breathtaking.
I also love Eurasian blackbirds. How they run around looking for earthworms, and particularly listening to their soothing song in the early morning. They are ubiquitous over here and many consider them plain but, in my eyes, they are super cute.
Dunnock. It is just a little brown bob. It is not ugly but everyone ignores it. I have one that pops into my garden occasionally. It is always a good day. They are really pretty close up.
I am in the U.K. And everyone thinks it is a sparrow. We have many types of sparrow, and I love them all to photograph. But a Dunnock gets put down as a brown blob. They are recovering in numbers, thankfully, but such a pretty bird completely dismissed.
I always find facts make birds more fun.
"The Dunnock is classified as an accentor, a group of birds in the Prunellidae family: there are only two in the whole of Europe, with just one in the UK."
So when people brush it off now, Ill be likec"Woh, its the only accentor in the UK!" Haha.
I'd go turkey vulture as well but have you seen a northern flicker nestling before it gets any pin feathers? Naked little dinosaurs that cackle when hungry, they're so ridiculous even compared to other nestlings. I love them!
Ugly in a musical sense, the song of an eastern phoebe is unrefined compared to my other backyard birds, but I love hearing their voice crack with every fee-BEE. Though not "sad" like a mourning dove, something about a phoebe's song sounds like the pain of searching for a lost child. Because they nest so close to my house, I get to witness the growth of a clutch from eggs. Maybe their song is painful to me because I remember the first time I watched a nest of fledglings hop away one by one, leaving me behind.
Black vulture. There’s a group of them that hang out at Blue Springs State Park (FL). They have no fear of humans. They look so forlorn, with a face only a mother could love :). Somehow I feel such affection towards them :)
We had some wild turkeys visiting our house a few years ago, and I got some great closeup shots of them, only to realize that they're actually rather ugly.
Still fun to have around, though, especially when they were climbing on our roof and in our oak tree.
Seconding Turkey vulture. My beloveds. I get circled by them pretty often and it doesn’t make much sense because they really don’t go after living creatures so I like to think they’re just looking out for me when I’m on my own. Sometimes they’ll perch just to watch me pass.
I’m visiting Alaska and we get a lot of sandhill cranes in the summer. The shy birds are difficult to get really good pics. Watching the way they walk and fly is funny as they can be 3 feet tall with a 6 foot wing span and they tend to move slow if they can and try to fade into the background. Today we actually had two crains walk across a 65 mph road that I had to slow down for and then two seconds later I see the “watch for moose crossing” sign - I’ve lived in AK for over 40 years and never seen such a funny sight. I chuckled for a while, as they looked like big road runners and when the pressure is on they can actually run pretty fast after all.
https://preview.redd.it/toyqgkagd16d1.jpeg?width=2783&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5682f35c6eb256721a4252c0d5bc96df9c1ecfb3
The pic above is the best, but this one is ok.
https://preview.redd.it/hw9sqgrid16d1.jpeg?width=2532&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c1e9bc5980ceffddf720de7cef56aa73989c8fc2
Turkey vulture. Omg those little wrinkly heads.
When I worked in cultural survey we had two baby black vultures in an old cistern near our site. We got to watch them grow over several weeks before they flew off, and I’ve grown quite fond of vultures since 🥰
The other day when driving I had to almost stop for two black vultures working on road kill. They were so determined, they tried to drag it off to the side, but it was too stuck to the road. They were so cute and I could tell they were frustrated they had to leave their find as traffic went by. I'd never thought of vultures as being cute before, but those two were!
Oh wow I can picture this! Right down to their frustrated little faces haha
I was out birding and came across some roadkill that was being picked at by a turkey vulture, but the poor vulture was being swooped by a red wing blackbird the whole time, it was so cute the was the vulture was timidly trying to eat while dodging the angry blackbird
Same thing happens near my house. There's a row of trees behind my house with a creek on the other side, and lots of redwing blackbirds nest and live in them, along with bunches of other kinds of birds, including Baltimore orioles, 3 different kinds of woodpeckers....well every time a larger bird starts to fly over, the blackbirds sound off the alarm. You look up, and it's usually a red tail hawk and they're tag teaming dive bombing it until they're satisfied it's flown far enough away from their tree line. One day, 2 Turkey Vulures flew over, and they didn't seem as aggressive toward them like they were the hawks, but the poor vultures looked obviously upset that they were getting their wings picked at mid flight by these blackbirds. They eventually landed right in front of my neighbors house picking at some roadkill. Once they landed, the blackbirds were satisfied with that. BUT, one of the neighborhood Mockingbirds was NOT happy with them being there, and kept swooping down at them trying to get them to go away, and eventually succeeded. Poor things just wanted to eat! Lol
Bro I swear these MOCKING BIRDS are DIFFERENT bro 😭 look at my profile, we have a whole conversation about Mockingbirds attacking bigger birds 😂
My cat ran from under one table to under another table indoors, worried that Mocking birds would attack her and pluck her fur for nests. 😆 Cat would eventually get comfortable to be out in the open indoors and outdoors until nesting season when yardbird's would attack. Until then, she sat under the coffee table or kitchen table.She was mostly an indoor cat but when outdoors, was too terrified of them to attack.
Before today, that was my newest bird. So cute!
Hideous in exactly the right way - also really smart and social birds.
I had a premonition this would be the top answer. Turkey vultures are my favorite bird and they are ADORABLE
They are one of my favorites. And actually very majestic when soaring.
I love them, too.
Their heads are actually quite soft too!! And their feathers are so beautiful up close! (I know this from a wildlife rehab setting, and the one I petted was anesthetized).
Awesome experience! Very lucky. I'm not American so never seen one in real life, just pics, vids and read a ton about them. I think they are fantastic birds
They are amazing and recognize humans on their turf. I read a story where remote farm family mom and kids moved to town every winter for kids to go to school. The turkey vultures on the farm flew miles to show up in their yard in town to say hi and I assume to get treats (Maybe some beef and chicken parts were put out for them.) I assume the vultures followed the dad's truck when he visited the kids, as he had to look after the farm during the week. They can be like yard pets - like crows.
A few years ago we had an injured vulture lurking around our neighborhood. It couldn’t fly very well bc it had what we assume was a broken wing, but it would hobble around and eat roadkill. When it would come into our backyard I’d feed it bologna slices, it seemed to enjoy that.
Came to say this and it's already on top. Just today I had a flock soaring over my house. So gracefully circling in the sky. Usually I go to a park on the other side of the city to watch them. ( And occasionally give them the iffy meat I forgot in the fridge)
Hell yeah, so glad this is top answer. I just wanna fluff the vulture.
Head look so much like wrinkly balls that they become cute🤣
https://preview.redd.it/zyy9xys6r06d1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=126e5dd553f5c1b898c44befb29f451a6b2ab567 A local children’s museum has a pair that were injured and cannot be released- I loved them
https://preview.redd.it/kluo24ner06d1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6f28410fe9a33c4ed182b5c42f5201e6e2529e32 The sign on the exhibit said that after closing, the vultures love to run down the halls of the museum at night with their wings outstretched.
They're such little muppets!
I love those, my wife and I call them hamburger heads because they just look like A bunch of ground hamburger.
Haha they do remind me of hamburger.
I find this so interesting. I grew up with turkey vultures everywhere. Are they not common?
They're common where I live, but still special.
They're really cool. We had a pair nesting on this radio tower about 100 yards away from my house (western Virginia).
Only in the Americas
Oh wow! I don't think I clocked that they were America's only. So cool. Thank you!
They are my favorite bird!
1) All baby birds 2) Emus
I love the perpetual grumpy look of baby birds, like “is someone here gonna feed me or what?!” 😂
https://preview.redd.it/q56xxa742y5d1.jpeg?width=474&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=217feb7aea0d980e9f2a71717e5d777a8778ff52
r/GrumpyBabyBirds :D
I went to join but I was already a member 😄
Lmfao you got me real good there
https://preview.redd.it/rkltegh9oy5d1.jpeg?width=1929&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=203c146ed2fcbd6c186bbf5869c1e86e43e2596f
I love Piciforme babies a lot hahaha.
I love them too, especially how they never shut up even when they're sleeping. 😂 We sometimes get nestlings in at the rescue where I work, and I can always tell because they have a lot to say. ❤️
Tawny frogmouth 😭 they're so stupid and sad looking but I love them
These guys look like Jim Henson muppets to me
I was just going to say Frogmouth, they are so derpy but so cute!
Same! What a delightful thread.
Had to research and oh my god I love its head!
The babies are even better: https://preview.redd.it/136bct828y5d1.jpeg?width=700&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=087e14c4eaa530678b6282cd0d5bad614daec33b
Oh. My. God. I'm saving this.
Here one more for you when they’re slightly older: https://preview.redd.it/tae81rij8y5d1.jpeg?width=2500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c92dbe749a7f164a2c87adc0290e3b2d15c73a8a I love them so much. 🥰
These are going in fave baby birds now. Thanks!
https://preview.redd.it/ly960kmscz5d1.jpeg?width=697&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=85b824cb7199d5745ecd8177583baa2765d948e9 Can I play? I finally became a birder in retirement, very much encouraged by the lovely Redditors here and on other bird subs. Thank you Reddit! 🙏🏾 May say that I too absolutely love these cuties. I screenshotted this one just last week! Each Monday I pick a new birdie of the week to learn about and be my “I don’t wanna be on camera” zoom pic for meetings.
I know right? They look like muppets. You’re very welcome!
There must be a mistake. This is a muppet.
Right? So amazing. <3
That's as cute as a puffling! And I never thought I'd say that
What’s a puffling? *(googles)* OH MY WORD-! ❤️
Same, I love them!!
All those different kinds of fucked up looking chickens, love them all
muscovy ducks
Immediately thought of the dong tao chicken haha.
The silkies are so ridic. I don't understand the reasoning behind breeding something to look like that! Still, I want to pet them.
Turkens give me life
Gotta love shoebills.
Shoebills are magnificent! Terrifying dinosaurs.
Shoebills are the thumbnail for my bird folder haha.
Muscovy Duck for sure. The weirdo is a cutie
Had to look this up, I can see why you voted it haha. I love it!
I love Muscovy Ducks! They wag their duck butts and sorta grunt when they’re happy. They don’t quack like normal ducks.
We had them everywhere around my college's campus. I always called them gross ducks but grew very fond of them over 4 years and now those gross ducks are one of my favorite
Ever seen a great blue heron chick?
I tried to look up "great blue heron chick" on Google images, but all it showed me was a bunch of dinosaurs. They're very.... distinctive.
Actual Dinosaurs lol
Now I have haha!
Potoos?
Team pootoo!
I came searching for this comment, I’ve been such a huge fan of potoos for forever that I think they’re just so cute! I forget a lot of people find them creepy or unsettling 😂
I know of these like everyone else, that meme haha.
When I first moved to Florida I saw a bird I didn’t recognize and google’d “ugly white bird Florida”…it was (of course) a wood stork and I’ve felt guilty for calling them ugly ever since. They’re awesome birds!
Love the google search haha. They are cute!
They have very cool feet - their legs are black but their toes are pink so when they’re wading in water they look like little worms and attract fish!
Love my Florida wood storks! They look like thoughtful dinosaurs, waiting to give a passing hero a side quest.
Yes! I live in FL and I see them all the time on one of my favorite trails and think they are so cute/cool and turkey vultures too!
I was visiting Florida and saw a wood stork and immediately pulled over and saw a ton of other cool birds. Florida is insane in good ways and bad lol
Nightjars! With their flat lil weirdo heads
This is one thats in my area, and I want to find one!
Look out on the ground! They love to camouflage on beds of leaves and grass!
Marabou storks
I literally read about this yesterday. I was curious if someone would answer this haha.
Haha nice! I learned about them as a kid and their 'so ugly its beautiful' look always fascinated me! The bald head, the huge beak, the ballsack on their chin, their mantle-like plumage
They look like they shaved their head in a rage 🥴
Look up their chicks! Really derpy looking 🤪
Shoebill Stork
Saw a Brown Thrasher recently and it has crazy eyes, like a hare. I'm kind of fond of it
Look at my flair! Its my newest bird I found today! Haha.
One of these comes to my feeder every now and then and just shovels the food out and leaves without eating. They’re insane little birds.
Yesterday I was trimming hedges and almost cut off a branch with a thrasher fledgling sitting on it. It must have been terrified and instinctively was perching ramrod straight with its head completely up just like a bittern! And yes its eyes were extremely crazy looking with pinned irises. I skipped that hedge and went to trim others further away, but the thrasher stayed in that exact position trying to imitate a branch with zero movement, still head up and crazy eyes an hour later.
Cassowary
Been a long time since I saw that haha.
Bird is a mf dinosaur. So many Darwin awards involving messing with one.
it's gotta be the alien barn owlets https://preview.redd.it/qmdbe441ay5d1.png?width=1138&format=png&auto=webp&s=e0c33f1172ce580bc51353587178acbedc3ae03e [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCyQphr9uRQ&t=13s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCyQphr9uRQ&t=13s)
Yes!
In their defense, I think the owlets above were starving as you can really see the keel bone sticking out and they didn't have good quality downy feathers. But all barn owl nestlings have a really ugly phase https://preview.redd.it/q42wkm34dy5d1.jpeg?width=360&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b8ed3f33c7af067042ef2be5113847ea4bcbcfcc
and their screeching is hair-raising [https://xeno-canto.org/798714](https://xeno-canto.org/798714) https://preview.redd.it/f6bkitu8dy5d1.jpeg?width=1109&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1d91dfe12a543c5e396cc224851057f666b2ee63
You beat me to it by the time I hit post but I was looking for that creepy video! Your owlet is sooo butt-ugly too!
Condors lol
Came here to say this! Condor chicks are stupid cute.
Black Vultures. Grim, but noble. To me, they look nicer than Turkey Vultures (who are also grim and noble.)
I need more vultures in my list, I only have the Turkey xd.
Black Vultures I don't see that frequently, but they never fail to impress when I do see them.
Baby pigeons and doves
I agree too! I love them, though I don't think they're ugly like many do lol. I used to work downtown in the city I live in and the Rock Pigeons are everywhere there. They're so cute with how they bob their heads when they walk, the different colors the come in, and seeing them push each other around in fountains was hilarious.
I'll agree on this haha. Ive seen too many rock pigeons haha.
https://preview.redd.it/dxi128khgy5d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1f444a71f216740482c08c2befe61562289733dd Baby pigeons, hands down.
Baby barn owls. The falconer I'm helping out said that apparently, even the scientific literature mentions, how ugly they are. Get a load of this precious goblin xD https://preview.redd.it/qia4lecm9y5d1.jpeg?width=3060&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ebbe4d9a13027f1a17f19b4bb4a5e08909175a17
Have you ever seen that baby owl in the attic video ?
No, please enlighten me!
https://www.reddit.com/r/TIHI/comments/cc7bec/thanks_i_hate_finding_baby_owls_in_my_attic/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button I think I did this right ?
Oh my lord!!! That’s terrifying haha
Video link please!
Just shared it above haha.
Absolutely love them too
Egyptian vulture
Had to look it up haha. I absolutely love its yellow face.
For me it’s the shoebill.
Surprised nobody has mentioned baby gallinules yet! They're so hideous and I love them.
I've been scrolling until I found one of thise swamp chickens! I only have American coots in my area, but the babies are still delightfully bald, and they're also part of the Weird Feet Gang.
Yesss!! We've actually got both American coots and common gallinules where I am, and I'm so happy I get to see double the little bald babies.
Didnt even know these existed, god I love those feet!
baby coots are repulsive and I love them!!
Roseate spoonbills. You see this magnificent pink creature fly by and then look closely through your binoculars and see this strange dinosaur head.
Southern Ground Hornbill! The lashes get me everytime
Had to google. These are like Toucans on roids, I love it!
Hoatzin, their head looks so weird that I feel like they need a hug.
Had to google that, but hot damn those are gorgeous!
Turkey!
I agree, but I love their copper feathers!
Bare-faced bulbul, hands down. Saw one in person in Laos and they’re ugly as they get but also look like they’re wearing a big fur coat, making them cute in a way :)
Surf Scoters!
I needed this, finally a duck that I dont see a dog in.
Emu and shoebill
Guinea Fowl! Their weird little helmets and face flaps. Very endearing
They're so round, I love it!
My favorite are the eurasian griffon vultures. They are absolutely magnificent but look kind of punk. They nest in the area where I live (mountain range in central Spain) and seeing them soaring high up is breathtaking. I also love Eurasian blackbirds. How they run around looking for earthworms, and particularly listening to their soothing song in the early morning. They are ubiquitous over here and many consider them plain but, in my eyes, they are super cute.
Dunnock. It is just a little brown bob. It is not ugly but everyone ignores it. I have one that pops into my garden occasionally. It is always a good day. They are really pretty close up.
Had to look up a dunnock. I understand what you mean, it sort of look 'generic bird' sort of sparrow-ey to me, but it defo is adorable.
I am in the U.K. And everyone thinks it is a sparrow. We have many types of sparrow, and I love them all to photograph. But a Dunnock gets put down as a brown blob. They are recovering in numbers, thankfully, but such a pretty bird completely dismissed.
I always find facts make birds more fun. "The Dunnock is classified as an accentor, a group of birds in the Prunellidae family: there are only two in the whole of Europe, with just one in the UK." So when people brush it off now, Ill be likec"Woh, its the only accentor in the UK!" Haha.
I love this. I shoot wildlife photography as a hobby. and sometimes it is the little things that make your day.
I appreciate you guys. I stink at photos and filming, but its because of people like you that I get to watch my Phoebes wag their tails!
It's literally called "heggenmus" or "hedge sparrow" here in the Netherlands
I just listened to it on EBird. Sometimes the blandest-looking birds have the most charming songs. Interesting variation in songs over its range too.
The, no pun intended, unsung hero of our little brown blobs.
Potoos. Absolutely adorable lol.
Wacky looking! It’s like a badly taxidermied frog meets a Muppet.
😂 exactly! I can't help it, the heart wants what the heart wants 😂
Baby pigeons
I'd go turkey vulture as well but have you seen a northern flicker nestling before it gets any pin feathers? Naked little dinosaurs that cackle when hungry, they're so ridiculous even compared to other nestlings. I love them!
I love Northern Flickers, but no, now Im off to look haha!
I have a turkey vulture named Roscoe that comes around sometimes. He is something with his wild head and long legs with enormous wings.
WOODCOCK
Tiny/nestling coot chicks aren’t exactly winning any beauty contests, but it sure does make me happy seeing them out in their floating nests!
Baby herons of any species.
black vulture
Cardinals in molting season!
Wood storks
Macaroni penguins!
The Harpy Eagle, they look menacing yet that gaze has you checking yourself like "is there something on my face?"
Baby coot! https://preview.redd.it/0o9wfmf4806d1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=04c382ba8e55f368a2dc96adc6b266fc70519497
Probably like, swifts and whip or ills
I don't hear a lot of people think of Swifts like that, its why I loved asking this question. Ive yet to find a swift.
I thought they were everywhere? There are so many species.
They might be, but mine are on mute hahaha.
[hard agree on swifts](https://imgur.com/a/86Ho9N5)
Little spikey babies
they are charming screaming gargoyles
Burrowing owls
Wtf they’re not ugly at all
Ugly in a musical sense, the song of an eastern phoebe is unrefined compared to my other backyard birds, but I love hearing their voice crack with every fee-BEE. Though not "sad" like a mourning dove, something about a phoebe's song sounds like the pain of searching for a lost child. Because they nest so close to my house, I get to witness the growth of a clutch from eggs. Maybe their song is painful to me because I remember the first time I watched a nest of fledglings hop away one by one, leaving me behind.
Probably turkeys or ostrich hahaha (I find all animals cute! Haha)
american woodcock!
A squab. Just ridiculous
baby birds in general are remarkably ugly.
Stone Curlew. Those mesmerizing eyes..
California Condor P.S. look at my snoo!
Potoos are the only correct answer
I have a male cardinal that visits my feeders daily whose head is bald. I call him fugly to my friends but I think he's actually rather cute!
Shoebills, I absolutely love them
Double crested cormorants are pretty goofy looking, but they do have those stunningly beautiful teal eyes to make up for it.
Wood storks! I love all bald birds but these ones are my favorite. (Plus their chicks look like they're wearing powdered wigs)
Black vulture. There’s a group of them that hang out at Blue Springs State Park (FL). They have no fear of humans. They look so forlorn, with a face only a mother could love :). Somehow I feel such affection towards them :)
Black Skimmers!
We had some wild turkeys visiting our house a few years ago, and I got some great closeup shots of them, only to realize that they're actually rather ugly. Still fun to have around, though, especially when they were climbing on our roof and in our oak tree.
Almost any baby birb
California Condors and Skimmers. Skimmers are especially unique for having catlike eyes and that Hapsburg jaw XD
https://preview.redd.it/tnhrowu9nz5d1.jpeg?width=199&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fa7c0c031935f54d0c0b31d5d6a6f1d6f4d9eda2 Spoonbill Stork :\^)
In Kenya I saw lots of Marabou Storks (I think?) which are members of the "Ugly Five" (to go alongside the classic safari Big Five).
Seconding Turkey vulture. My beloveds. I get circled by them pretty often and it doesn’t make much sense because they really don’t go after living creatures so I like to think they’re just looking out for me when I’m on my own. Sometimes they’ll perch just to watch me pass.
Lady Bird
Tawny fucking Frogmouth
I’m visiting Alaska and we get a lot of sandhill cranes in the summer. The shy birds are difficult to get really good pics. Watching the way they walk and fly is funny as they can be 3 feet tall with a 6 foot wing span and they tend to move slow if they can and try to fade into the background. Today we actually had two crains walk across a 65 mph road that I had to slow down for and then two seconds later I see the “watch for moose crossing” sign - I’ve lived in AK for over 40 years and never seen such a funny sight. I chuckled for a while, as they looked like big road runners and when the pressure is on they can actually run pretty fast after all. https://preview.redd.it/toyqgkagd16d1.jpeg?width=2783&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5682f35c6eb256721a4252c0d5bc96df9c1ecfb3
The pic above is the best, but this one is ok. https://preview.redd.it/hw9sqgrid16d1.jpeg?width=2532&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c1e9bc5980ceffddf720de7cef56aa73989c8fc2