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Steve McKerrall @photosteve.bsky.social

California Quail going full borb #birds #borb

A California quail standing on a large rock amidst brown grass. Its head is tucked in and it looks like a large round orb
aug 27, 2025, 10:27 pm β€’ 209 34

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Marina Mueller πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦ @marinamueller935.bsky.social

Awesome photo, Steve πŸ‘πŸ»

aug 27, 2025, 11:34 pm β€’ 1 0 β€’ view
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Steve McKerrall @photosteve.bsky.social

Thanks Marina, always love a quail!

aug 28, 2025, 12:01 am β€’ 1 0 β€’ view
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Steve McKerrall @photosteve.bsky.social

This was fun to run into on a hike, a whole troop of a male, female, and a bunch of juveniles.

A female California quail walking along the end of a dirt trail with brown grass in the background. A California quail walking through short brown grass.
aug 27, 2025, 10:27 pm β€’ 14 0 β€’ view
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Horrified, Lydia @lfillingham.bsky.social

Inflatable borb, looking good!

aug 28, 2025, 6:27 am β€’ 1 0 β€’ view
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Steve McKerrall @photosteve.bsky.social

Other birds use the borb technique when it’s cold, but the quail is a borb for just the love of the game πŸ˜‚

aug 28, 2025, 3:18 pm β€’ 1 0 β€’ view
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Horrified, Lydia @lfillingham.bsky.social

But only the male. His looks and his borbableness make him look so vain.

aug 28, 2025, 5:26 pm β€’ 1 0 β€’ view
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Steve McKerrall @photosteve.bsky.social

Yea this is so true, they just love to stand on top of wooden fences and show off πŸ˜‚

aug 28, 2025, 5:35 pm β€’ 1 0 β€’ view
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Maximus @maximustm.bsky.social

My Quaker is going through tail regrowth, and he's looking a lot like this CQ rn.

aug 28, 2025, 2:22 am β€’ 1 0 β€’ view
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Steve McKerrall @photosteve.bsky.social

πŸ˜‚ Tailless birds always look pretty odd. I spotted it his song sparrow lacking its tail a little while back (I think it managed to survive a run-in with a Cooper’s hawk 😱)

A song sparrow standing on the ground, looking towards the camera. It is lacking its long tail feathers, probably after surviving an encounter with a predator.
aug 28, 2025, 3:51 pm β€’ 0 0 β€’ view
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Maximus @maximustm.bsky.social

Lucky birb. A tail is a small price to pay.

aug 28, 2025, 4:15 pm β€’ 1 0 β€’ view
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Steve McKerrall @photosteve.bsky.social

Indeed! A little time and it’ll be back to normal

aug 28, 2025, 4:31 pm β€’ 1 0 β€’ view
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Jerica Winters @jericawinters.bsky.social

Great photo.

aug 27, 2025, 10:40 pm β€’ 1 0 β€’ view
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Steve McKerrall @photosteve.bsky.social

Thanks! πŸ™

aug 27, 2025, 10:41 pm β€’ 0 0 β€’ view
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Dave Bryant πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡Έ @davebspain.bsky.social

That no neck borb look is something else! πŸ˜‚ Great shots Steve.

aug 28, 2025, 6:23 am β€’ 2 0 β€’ view
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Steve McKerrall @photosteve.bsky.social

They are peak borb. Really makes you appreciate how little birds are inside those feathers. I need this breakdown of more birds

A diagram showing the body side of a great grey owl inside of its feathers. The owl’s body takes up less than 1/4 of the volume of the feathers.
aug 28, 2025, 3:20 pm β€’ 8 0 β€’ view
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Dave Bryant πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡Έ @davebspain.bsky.social

Oh yes, owls are just feathers! Be interesting to see others. Amazing really.

aug 28, 2025, 8:12 pm β€’ 1 0 β€’ view
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KB @sorrykb.bsky.social

Almost absolute unit levels of borb.

aug 28, 2025, 2:02 am β€’ 2 0 β€’ view
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Steve McKerrall @photosteve.bsky.social

Oh yea quail can borb with the best of them

aug 28, 2025, 2:06 am β€’ 1 0 β€’ view
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Rob Crank Photography @robcrank68.bsky.social

Nice capture Steve

aug 28, 2025, 8:57 am β€’ 1 0 β€’ view