Back in June we introduced the Birdorable Tree Sparrow. The Eurasian Tree Sparrow is a small passerine bird related the the House Sparrow. Tree Sparrows live across much of Europe and Asia, although numbers are declining in some parts of western Europe.

Tree Sparrows are unfortunately on the decline in the United Kingdom - up to 50% in some areas. Research is being done to determine the cause of the decline as well as track current successful sparrow habitat and breeding grounds. Sightings of Tree Sparrows can be submitted to researchers online at TreeSparrows.com. The website's newsletter provides updated information on the research project and national sightings. Swag to show your support is also available.

This week's featured t-shirt is our brand-new embroidered Birdorable Cardinal on this Ladies Polo Shirt. We're proud to announce our first Birdorable bird presented in beautiful embroidery! The stitched Northern Cardinal is also available on jackets & hats. You can even customize the design and add your own embroidered text! How cool is that?

Here are two new Birdorable coloring pages for some cute coloring fun. This time it's the turn of our Birdorable Rock Pigeon and American Robin. Go to Coloring Pages to download these two new PDFs and check the Meet the Birds page to check the colors.

These downloads will be available until 15 December 2009. Check here for more coloring pages. Subscribe to the Birdorable Blog by RSS feed or by email to get notified when new downloads like this are added.

This week's featured t-shirt is this New Zealand Save the Kakapo design. Birdorable is proud to support Kakapo conservation: 30% of the retail price of every Birdorable Kakapo product sale will be donated to the Kakapo Recovery Programme in New Zealand. For more information see our Save the Kakapo page.

Do you think this parrot looks cute? Don't let the cute big eyes fool you. This parrot is a killer! The Kea is native to the South Island of New Zealand and is one of only a few parrots in the world that lives in alpine regions. They to used to be killed by farmers for they preyed on livestock, especially sheep. Can you believe this cute parrot would attack a sheep?

The above drawing from 1882 shows a Kea on the back of a sheep. The birds have the reputation for pecking through the skin of a sheep to take fat from around the kidneys. This usually does not immediately kill the animal, but often a fatal blood infection follows. A bounty was placed on the birds that caused a heavy reduction in their numbers, but now they are a protected species. Here is a shocking clip from Animal Planet narrated by David Attenborough. Warning: this video is not for the faint of heart

The kea is the 213th bird species we've cutified as a Birdorable. It's available on customizable t-shirts and gifts. For more cute parrots and parakeets see Meet the Birds.

The Kakapo, also called the Owl Parrot, is a large flightless parrot endemic to New Zealand. This species is critically endangered; as of April 2009 there were only 125 living individuals known. The BBC recently posted this funny Kakapo video that's been making the rounds on the web. Actor Stephen Fry and zoologist Mark Carwardine travel to New Zealand for the program Last Chance To See to look for Kakapos in the wild. During their encounter, Carwardine gets more than he bargained for:

Inspired by this funny video and several customer requests, we've added the Kakapo to Birdorable! Our cute Kakapo products are available via Zazzle, which allows customization. This means that you can choose from hundreds of apparel styles and colors, and you can add text to Birdorable designs as you see fit! Just pick any Kakapo shirt and then click on Customize it! Here are some Kakapo shirts to which I've added custom text. Why don't you go ahead and give it a try! You can play with the customization with no obligation to buy.

This week's featured t-shirt is this new I Can Has Roadkill? design with our Birdorable Turkey Vulture. It's not a lolcat but a lolvulture! It's a funny spoof of I Can Has Cheezburger, which is one of our favorite websites. For more funny Birdorables see our other Funny Designs.

Here are two new Birdorable coloring pages of the Birdorable Ibis and Andean Cock-of-the-Rock. You can color the first one as a Scarlet Ibis, Glossy Ibis or White Ibis. Check the Meet the Birds page to check the colors. You can download these from the new Coloring Pages page, which collects all available downloads. Please note that from now on some coloring pages will be available for a limited time only.

Subscribe to the Birdorable Blog by RSS feed or by email to get notified of new Birdorable coloring pages.

1. The Cattle Egret has gone through one of the most rapid natural expansion of any bird. Originally native to Africa and Asia, it has expanded its range around the world. It reached the Americas in the late 19th century when it was first found in Guiana and Suriname in 1877, and Australia in the 1940s.^[1]
2. It arrived in the United States in 1941 and has since occurred all the way to Alaska and Newfoundland and has bred in nearly all fifty states. ^[2]
3. Cattle Egret are opportunistic feeders and follow large animals or farm machines around to catch insects. It is estimated that they gather 50% more food using only two-thirds as much energy when feeding with livestock. ^[3]
4. Cattle Egret are known to come in from far to catch insects fleeing from a fire. ^[4]
5. The Cattle Egret sometimes adds birds to its diet. At Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas, just off the coast of Florida, Cattle Egrets have been observed catching warblers because of a lack of insects on the island! ^[5]
6. Cattle Egrets have been seen at airports waiting for airplanes to pass and blow insects out of the grass. ^[6]
7. Its Arabic name Abu Gerdan (أبو قردان), means 'father of ticks', a name derived from the large number of parasites found in its breeding colonies. ^[7]
8. Cattle Egrets greatly reduce the number of flies that bothers cattle by pecking them off their skin, as found by a study in Australia. ^[8]
9. In 1959, the Hawaiian Board of Agriculture released 25 Cattle Egrets on Kaua'i to help control the flies and other insects plaguing cattle. ^[9]
10. Its range is estimated globally at 10 million square kilometers with a global population of up to 6.7 million individuals. ^[10]

References

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_egret
2. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Cattle_Egret/lifehistory
3. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Bubulcus_ibis.html
4. http://www.treknature.com/gallery/photo46938.htm
5. http://research.myfwc.com/engine/download_redirec...
6. http://www.enature.com/flashcard/show_flash_card.asp?recordNumber=BD0109
7. http://www.oaklandzoo.org/animals/birds/cattle-egret/
8. http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Cattle_Egret
9. http://savekauai.org/community/island-history
10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_egret

The Buff-faced Pygmy Parrot was recently filmed for the first time in the wild by a BBC film crew. These parrot are tiny - measuring just 9cm long as adults! They live in the rain forests of Papua New Guinea and may very well be the cutest parrots on earth! Here's a screen shot from one of the clips: Read all about it at the BBC and watch both impossibly cute videos too!