Perhaps looking somewhat thuggish, they still seemed gentlemanly enough, so when Clarice Starling spotted them on her way to work, she didn’t think twice about it.
As she passed them, she gave them a shy smile. And when she received a smirk in return, she realized the worst: They were mockingbirds. Roosting over a construction site.
“Hey, chick! Nice flanks – they could kind of use some work, dontcha think? And what kind of flight feathers are those? You know, in some human worlds, they’d call your tarsus a cankle! Anyone ever tell you your rump is bigger than a toucan’s mandible?”
Eating crow is hard to swallow, B.J. P.
I can see their birdie tonsils!
Wait…do birds have tonsils? Well, I can see their metaphorical tonsils.
I donno why but the first picture reminds me of grumpy old politicians, murmuring and mumbling among themselves…
Looks like they are watching football game with concern and…
)
HEY WHAT A STUPID CALL! What! Going for it on fourth and two yards to go!?!?!?
(sorry…a still upset Pats fan here…
Those construction workers…so rude. LOL!
LOL Baby Blue Jays .. sooo soo Rude HEhehehe!
I feel like this also qualifies for a “Disapproval” tag.
[OK - Ed.]
hilarious picture.
They do look grumpy! Hmmph! *wngs crossed*
lol lovely pics i have to agree they look like they are watching a game
Those are juvenile swallows. They have white lines around their mouths as many baby birds do.
Put fud here —-> gaping maw
they do look grumpeh!
Awwwww ….. bebeh birdies are HUNGRY!!!!
Yipes, Harpies!!
@Saffron – Shhh…we don’t need to bring that up. I’m trying to forget! (I’m another upset Pats fan.)
Those are some angry looking birds! I do have to agree with others about it looking like they’re watching a game. haha
Oh my… The disapproval reviles the Bunneh’s disapproval!! Should we have a “disapproval meter”?
Silence of the Mocking Birds
The first shot made me think of “The Mad Bluebird”
Baby Blue Jays … must be a baseball game. “Fowl?? That was on the line!! Fair ball, ump, fair ball!!”
Whatever they’re watching, those are the grouchiest, most disapprovingest birds I have ever seen.
Hilarious! I think these are swallows, which are very tough little birds.
PS, Catcalling guys, while annoying, very rarely tell you what’s wrong with you– they just react to your body parts jiggling.
Agent 99 (#16) LOL. “Put the wormies in the basket.”
Indeed, Paunchie in comment #11,
*scrolls up to double check and then scrolls back down*
If ever there was a post that illustrated the concept of ‘gaping maw,’
this would be that, er, thus would be there, uh, that would . . .
Well, these guys do a pretty good job of it!
I bet the photographer saw them sitting there quietly
*waves arm in Carol Merrill motion over photo one*
and asked them politely:
*clears throat to do photographer impression*
“I’m doing a project to illustrate the dictionary, so could you fellas help me by demonstrating ‘gaping maw’ I’d surely be grateful . . . ”
And there you have it . . .
*waves arm in Carol Merrill motion over photo two*
*Looks around room to see if anyone knows who Carol Merrill is*
*waits patiently*
*shifty eyes*
Sigh.
came here because of a mystery google order
Clarice Starling *giggle*
Dash – I do, I do! Before the days of Vanna…
)
*Googles Carol Merrill*
OOOOOooooooooh oookaaaay (@ Carol Merrill reference)
Wow, it takes me a while to get Prongs’ humor. Multiple viewings, in fact. My first thought was “Jodie Foster doesn’t have cankles…” OHHH. Starling. I get it.
I’m not much of a bird fan, but still, that level of dullness on my part is unacceptable.
Mock (Yeah) ing (Yeah) Bird (Yeah)
Birdies disapprove of your singing
LOVE the Emmett Otter reference, yay!!!
What darling little boids!
I agree with the call for a disapproval tag.
Baby swallows always look grumpy… even when they’ve just been fed… and the noise that comes out of those “gaping maws”… OH, MY… it’s got Ecedrin (spelling?) written all over it.
@Dash: I’ll make you a deal … oh, I got no punchline.
@Theresa: I had no idea that barn swallows were blue! And homigosh, do they look like a grouchy bunch of flockers.
Well, if you’ve ever seen “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” the first row of birdies reminds me of the Bureaucrats in that movie –all huge and pompous and harrumphing and and and …words fail me. Were I as talented as some other folks on this site, I would include a link to a scene from the movie, but that ain’t happenin’ with this rusty old brainlet.
(And these guys at the construction site….They sure are some focussed, dedicated, hard-WORKIN’ guys, too, , eh??)
They’re called VOGONS!
I just love their giant maws! It looks like they could swallow a golf ball made entirely of squirmy-worms and still look for more nomables. My Society Finches sometimes have expressions like this, but typically only when angry at an intruding hand.
Um, darling starlings?
…can’t think….long day…!
tarsus? mandible? what’s with the medical terms??!? me likey tho
i was actually stumped on tarsus – never heard that one before…and i’ve had 3 anatomy classes! so CO is not only my daily dose of antidepressant (which i take at least BID
) but educational too!!
Wow! They look like they got their feathers ruffled!!!
“Good day, Sir!”
“I SAID, ‘GOOD DAY!!!!’”
Am I the only one who can’t stop staring in the bird-mouth-hole things?! O.o
@VentureSister: They do look a little as though they’re all struggling to gulp down (pun avoided!) tiny, tiny bugles.
We’ve started to use the expression “That gets 4 swallows of disapproval!!!” already. (pun brandished!!)
Anyone else frightened?!
GIGGLE
Those baby birds are saying “FEED US NOW, MOM!” 
I just never thought that I would be seeing a Silence of the Lambs reference on Cute Overload.
The cutest of hecklers!
One minute its all cute, fluffy and sweet then the next minute its “scare the livin’ daylights out of ya”. Wildlife, who knew?
Never let a Vogon recite poetry at you!
Beautiful boids. Somebody please feed them!
Emmet Otter reference for the win!
Heehee, Saffron, I thought of sports fans too. (And BTW, I may or may not be an Indy native. Well, more like may. So I rather liked that call.
)
Reminds me of the commercial…. “It’s My Money and I Want It Now”!!!!!
Teresa got it right…they were sitting on our deck rail waiting for their Mom to come feed them – which she did mid-air. They were there ALL DAY….and for several days to follow, with Mom making take out food deliveries about every two minutes. Video would show that they looked like they were at a tennis match….every bird that flew over got their attention as they waiting for Mom to come back..and their little necks cranes in unison at every one. Much wing flapping and screeching when Mom finally made her appearance.
SOOOOO cute!
All I could think of seeing the 2nd pic was a loud “LAAAAAAAAH!!!!” cause they look liek a burdie chorus.
@crackjob – reminds me of a rhyme I learned at my daddy’s knee
(read outloud in outrageous Bronx accent):
Toity poiple boids
Poiched on a coibstone
Choipin’, and boipin’,
and eatin’ doity woims.
Birds + politicians = Parliament of Fowls.
OK, English majors!!!
I like how they instantly de-puff as soon as those mouths open. Like they have to store up all that squawking before they let it loose.
Birdy tonsils? Maybe the white-ish patches on the sides of their mouths… but there’s a hole visible at the end of the first swallow’s tongue- that’s actually the opening to their esophagus (wind pipe) where they breathe. That’s why feeding baby birds can be so tricky- they choke very easily.
<3 These pictures!!!
@BJinCA
Poor mom swallow 
having to feed not one but four babies 
I like scrolling up and down (using PigUp & PigDown) just to do a flipbook-style animation of the two pictures. Hee hee
@BJinCA
Mom and Dad swallow must of built a nest nearby and they will return year after year if no one bothers them 
What’s with the morbid Silence of the Lambs reference? The detective’s name WAS Clarice Starling.
LoL, mockingbirds.
Seriously though, fat jokes are so 2nd grade.