News and notes from Reston (tm).

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Reston: The Official Bird

What birdOur Facebook BFFs at Friends of Reston have launched a campaign to designate an "official Reston bird" to celebrate our earth-toned community's 50th anniversary. There's a fancy online survey where you can vote, and everything!

Sadly, the five nominated birds -- the American Goldfinch, Barred Owl, Eastern Bluebird, Great Blue Heron, and Pileated Woodpecker -- don't quite capture the je ne sais quoi of Reston, in our humble opinion.

Fortunately, the online survey has a write-in category, and we humbly suggest the following possibilities:

BrownThe elusive, yet DRB-friendly, Russet Brown Bird.

PlaneWe know this one by its scientific name: Dullesum Conversatium Interruptus.

TitmouseThe Titmouse, because of 1) reasons and 2) we're secretly 14 years old.

GD58 Pink Flamingo Chorus Line 33548Sadly, the last of these majestic beasts was banded and relocated in the Great Covenants Migration of 1964.

SatNot-so-far-away West Virginia may consider the satellite dish its official flower, but you still see plenty of its stealthier, more neutrally toned cousins discretely lining appropriately shingled rooftops across Reston.

GooseThe humble goose, whose soothing cries and ubiquitous droppings make any walk around one of Reston's lakes an adventure.

Dodo birdThe Dodo (usually only seen around the Tall Oaks and Lake Anne village centers).

ParrotAnother specimen known best by its scientific name: DRBus Nightmareus.


Voting continues until September 30. Have at it.

14 comments:

  1. Hey Friends of Reston....one of your bird nominees, the woodpecker, has established itself in the woods behind my residence, in all his Pileated Magnificence. His constant rat-tat-tat-ting is driving me crazy. Even on my roof! Even on my down spouts! This critter makes Woody Woodpecker look like a model citizen by comparison. If he doesn't quit it, I am going to take my Reston-unapproved shotgun and blow his pileated butt to kingdom come...

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    1. You can purchase a woodpecker repeller with a computer chip that broadcasts woodpecker distress calls and the sounds of an impending raid by enemy birds of prey. Rotates every seven minutes, solar powered, and good for an acre. Look online.

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    2. The shotgun is more fun. For me, anyway.

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  2. Why not the Fairfax County Police helicopter? That whirly-bird spends more time in the Reston skies than anything else.

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    1. I second the Ghetto Bird. Given its ability to chase down creepers hiding in the woods, it's attractive and functional to boot.

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  3. I vote for the ever-present Goose. They are the only creature that brings traffic to a stop when they decide to cross Reston Parkway.

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  4. I suspect that as the population and the traffic grows unabated, I would wager that we will start seeing an increase of the domesticated Screwius Youse bird in the wild as more and more irritated drivers, in an effort to vent their frustrations, release their pet avian as other drivers watch, in an act called "Flying the Bird".

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    1. The Bird may already be seen in great numbers along Reston Parkway and other popular byways at rush hour. No chance that this particular avian specialty will ever make anyone's endangered specie list!

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  5. Too bad wallabies aren't birds!

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  6. Middle Earth deserves nothing less (or more) than an updated version of the classic local avian nemesis, the flamingo: FLAMINGO DRONES! They could double as Amazon.com and USPS carriers in a neo-post modern 21st-century hipster vein...

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  7. Peasant From Less Sought After South RestonMay 24, 2014 at 11:03 AM

    Personally, given my well known love of Bambi, I vote for the killdeer.

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    1. I love Bambi too.

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    2. Does Godzilla count as an undocumented alien? He sure doesn't look like he is from here....

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  8. Walter Pidgeon, Taylor Swift and Atticus FinchMay 28, 2014 at 4:02 PM

    With all his hilarious well-placed shots at the RA I'm guessing Restonian's official avian is the mockingbird.

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