Some photos of Purple Pipers at Jones Beach, NY, last Saturday (Feb. 28).

Unusually there were dozens if not more of these shorebirds present, and not only on their favored rocky habitats, but running around on the beach in multitudes with Sanderlings and Dunlins. I suspect the intense cold and snow storms we've had over the past two months affected their food supply on the jetties, leading them to forage with their cousins. These birds nest in the Arctic tundra and overwinter in our middle latitudes. In a sense, by favoring the expansion of the polar vortex, climate change was bringing the Arctic conditions they migrate away from right to them.
#birds #birding #birdphotography #birdsofmastodon #biodiversity #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #winterbirds #shorebirds #peeps #PurpleSandpiper

Super-Floof: a fat little robin in Ukraine! Look at that expression. 🤣 🤎 🧡 🤍 🩶 🖤 ❄️ 🇺🇦 🌻

Photographer - Petro Katerynych

#Birds #BirdsOfMastodon #FloofyBirds #Borbs #UkraineBirds #EuropeanRobin #WinterBirds

### Video Description

This YouTube video titled **“Hýl obecný”** (Czech for *Common Bullfinch*) was uploaded by **Michal Jakubek** on March 13, 2019. It has gained over **893,000 views** and around **22,000 likes**. There is no official description, but from the content and the comments it is clear that this is a short clip showing a **round, fluffy bullfinch** eating right after “waking up” from what looks like hibernation — although **bullfinches do not truly hibernate**, the bird appears sleepy and exhausted.

The bird is filmed in close-up and looks like a perfect sphere — users in the comments call it a **“borb”** (#borb, from *bird + orb*), praising its **cuteness**, **carefree attitude**, and even its **“legendary”** status. Some viewers suggest the bird might be **ill** (#avianflu), since it barely moves, has a dirty beak, and shows little self-preservation instinct. The comments are multilingual (#English, #Czech, #Russian, #German), and the video went **viral** thanks to the bird’s comical appearance (#viralvideo, #cuteanimals).

### Bird Description: Common Bullfinch (*Pyrrhula pyrrhula*)

The **Common Bullfinch** is a small finch found across **Europe**, **Asia**, and parts of **Ukraine** (#ornithology, #EuropeanBirds, #UkrainianWildlife), inhabiting forests, parks, and gardens. Key features include:

* **Size**: Body length **17–19 cm**, wingspan about **27 cm**, weight around **25 g** (#smallbirds).
* **Appearance**: A stocky, rounded body with a short, powerful beak. The male has a bright red belly and cheeks, a gray back, a black cap, and white wing and tail markings; the female is duller, pinkish-gray (#birdphotography, #bullfinch).
* **Behavior**: A quiet, trusting bird that lives in forests and often moves closer to human settlements in winter, visiting feeders (#winterbirds, #birdfeeding). Feeds on seeds, buds, and berries; its call is soft and melodic (#birdsong).
* **Trivia**: In Czech, *“hýl”* can imply naivety, as the bird is easy to catch (#etymology). In Ukraine, bullfinches are strongly associated with **winter**, standing out vividly against the snow (#winternature).

Here are a few images of bullfinches for visual reference — especially **plump individuals** similar to the one in the video (#fluffy, #roundbirds).

https://bastyon.com/pureaceton?ref=PDQmXtWJfd8f6fMtwaxzCuqvLpoN3KbS4o

Video: https://bastyon.com/post?s=317b0004a09e35b2fa8e5a50d1ca330096d294477b5d2965b5b5bd5910976ac4&ref=PDQmXtWJfd8f6fMtwaxzCuqvLpoN3KbS4o