Come Tuesday, She’ll Take a Different Route

by Prongs on November 23, 2009

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.

{ 61 comments }

1 Courtney S. 11.23.09 at 11:15 am

I can see their birdie tonsils!
Wait…do birds have tonsils? Well, I can see their metaphorical tonsils.

2 Katiedid 11.23.09 at 11:25 am

I donno why but the first picture reminds me of grumpy old politicians, murmuring and mumbling among themselves…

3 Saffron 11.23.09 at 11:25 am

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… :P )

4 AuntieMame 11.23.09 at 11:26 am

Those construction workers…so rude. LOL! :D

5 kittyadventures 11.23.09 at 11:28 am

LOL Baby Blue Jays .. sooo soo Rude HEhehehe!

6 Vivi 11.23.09 at 11:30 am

I feel like this also qualifies for a “Disapproval” tag.

[OK - Ed.]

7 hyura 11.23.09 at 11:31 am

hilarious picture.

8 Holly 11.23.09 at 11:32 am

They do look grumpy! Hmmph! *wngs crossed*

9 Illise 11.23.09 at 11:34 am

lol lovely pics i have to agree they look like they are watching a game

10 Grace 11.23.09 at 11:35 am

Those are juvenile swallows. They have white lines around their mouths as many baby birds do.

11 Paunchie 11.23.09 at 11:55 am

Put fud here —-> gaping maw

they do look grumpeh!

12 Birdcage 11.23.09 at 11:56 am

Awwwww ….. bebeh birdies are HUNGRY!!!!

13 chanpon 11.23.09 at 11:59 am

Yipes, Harpies!!

14 eastiegirl 11.23.09 at 12:01 pm

@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

15 StormCat 11.23.09 at 12:02 pm

Oh my… The disapproval reviles the Bunneh’s disapproval!! Should we have a “disapproval meter”?

16 Agent 99 11.23.09 at 12:12 pm

Silence of the Mocking Birds

17 nano's mom 11.23.09 at 12:17 pm

The first shot made me think of “The Mad Bluebird”

18 doggabone 11.23.09 at 12:21 pm

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.

19 Theresa 11.23.09 at 12:26 pm

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.

20 DaytimeDeb 11.23.09 at 12:45 pm

Agent 99 (#16) LOL. “Put the wormies in the basket.”

21 Dash 11.23.09 at 12:49 pm

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.

22 Solveig Eva 11.23.09 at 12:50 pm

came here because of a mystery google order :)

23 Rachael 11.23.09 at 12:58 pm

Clarice Starling *giggle*

24 ceejoe 11.23.09 at 1:00 pm

Dash – I do, I do! Before the days of Vanna… :o )

25 ButtaRumCake 11.23.09 at 1:01 pm

*Googles Carol Merrill*

26 ButtaRumCake 11.23.09 at 1:02 pm

OOOOOooooooooh oookaaaay (@ Carol Merrill reference)

27 Natalie 11.23.09 at 1:07 pm

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.

28 TheTinyTortie 11.23.09 at 1:11 pm

Mock (Yeah) ing (Yeah) Bird (Yeah)

Birdies disapprove of your singing :-(

29 wendy 11.23.09 at 1:13 pm

LOVE the Emmett Otter reference, yay!!!

30 crackjob 11.23.09 at 1:37 pm

What darling little boids!

31 Wend 11.23.09 at 2:10 pm

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.

32 doggabone 11.23.09 at 2:11 pm

@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.

33 baileysgrandmom 11.23.09 at 2:47 pm

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.

34 resriechan 11.23.09 at 2:57 pm

(And these guys at the construction site….They sure are some focussed, dedicated, hard-WORKIN’ guys, too, , eh??)

35 baileysgrandmom 11.23.09 at 3:19 pm

They’re called VOGONS!

36 Toki 11.23.09 at 3:23 pm

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.

37 Lerrinus 11.23.09 at 4:47 pm

Um, darling starlings?

…can’t think….long day…! :-|

38 kat 11.23.09 at 4:47 pm

tarsus? mandible? what’s with the medical terms??!? me likey tho :D

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!!

39 Juniper Jupiter 11.23.09 at 4:48 pm

Wow! They look like they got their feathers ruffled!!! :D

“Good day, Sir!”

“I SAID, ‘GOOD DAY!!!!’”

40 VentureSister 11.23.09 at 5:00 pm

Am I the only one who can’t stop staring in the bird-mouth-hole things?! O.o

41 doggabone 11.23.09 at 5:35 pm

@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!!)

42 opossum 11.23.09 at 5:43 pm

Anyone else frightened?! :o

43 Teresa 11.23.09 at 8:14 pm

GIGGLE :lol: Those baby birds are saying “FEED US NOW, MOM!” :lol:

44 Alerleilalujah 11.24.09 at 2:56 am

I just never thought that I would be seeing a Silence of the Lambs reference on Cute Overload.

The cutest of hecklers!

45 Elisha B. 11.24.09 at 6:54 am

One minute its all cute, fluffy and sweet then the next minute its “scare the livin’ daylights out of ya”. Wildlife, who knew?

46 Katrina 11.24.09 at 7:44 am

Never let a Vogon recite poetry at you!

Beautiful boids. Somebody please feed them!

47 RosiePosie 11.24.09 at 8:58 am

Emmet Otter reference for the win!

48 Babs 11.24.09 at 9:01 am

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. :D )

49 Cori 11.24.09 at 9:06 am

Reminds me of the commercial…. “It’s My Money and I Want It Now”!!!!!

50 BJinCA 11.24.09 at 9:11 am

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!

51 Debbe 11.24.09 at 10:22 am

All I could think of seeing the 2nd pic was a loud “LAAAAAAAAH!!!!” cause they look liek a burdie chorus.

52 Joools 11.24.09 at 11:33 am

@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.

53 Susan 11.24.09 at 11:47 am

Birds + politicians = Parliament of Fowls.
OK, English majors!!!

54 Samantha 11.24.09 at 2:14 pm

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.

55 Carolyn 11.24.09 at 6:00 pm

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!!!

56 Teresa 11.24.09 at 8:56 pm

@BJinCA :lol: Poor mom swallow :lol: having to feed not one but four babies :lol:

57 Tyler 11.25.09 at 3:57 pm
58 JuliaJolie 11.25.09 at 5:00 pm

I like scrolling up and down (using PigUp & PigDown) just to do a flipbook-style animation of the two pictures. Hee hee :)

59 Teresa 11.25.09 at 6:57 pm

@BJinCA :) Mom and Dad swallow must of built a nest nearby and they will return year after year if no one bothers them :)

60 Rika 11.25.09 at 9:49 pm

What’s with the morbid Silence of the Lambs reference? The detective’s name WAS Clarice Starling.

61 Jackie 12.05.09 at 5:37 am

LoL, mockingbirds.

Seriously though, fat jokes are so 2nd grade.

Comments on this entry are closed.

Previous post:

Next post: