I live in an apartment on the third floor, and have a cat. She loves watching birds from our balcony, so we got her a bird-feeder to put in our balcony.

It has done a great job of bringing in more birds (primarily finches and sparrows) for her to watch, except the sunflower seeds we got for it result in an extreme mess all over the balcony and I worry our downstairs neighbors likely hate us as a result, so we’ve taken it down.

Wondering if anyone has recommendations for a bird feeder or bird seed that would be less messy? Or should this just turn into a “when we move to a first-floor apartment or a house” sorta dream.

Unfortunately, my wife is allergic to peanuts, so any bird seed that is made with peanuts (and from what we’ve seen, almost all are) is not an option.

The European Central Bank is giving people the chance to vote on the design of future banknotes.

You can find more info and an overview of the designs on this page.

And you can vote directly on the survey here.

I'm quite touched that they picked birds for half of the designs. One design even has the migratory path, footprints and sonogram for each species, which I think is pretty cool. Not trying to sway anyone to vote for a particular design, just happy birds are getting some *more recognition :)

So last night at around 11pm, my partner and I ended up with an European goldfinch - most likely a fledgling - sitting on our balcony, backed into a corner and in a total state of shock. My theory is that it couldn't fly properly, and hit the floor hard enough to cause a serious concussion, then tried to stay as safe as it could while it recovered.

We had zero idea how to handle the situation, and it was too late to call anyone, so we heeded the internet's advice and set up a safe shelter for it - a shoebox with some holes punched into it and a towel laid down, which we took inside and placed in a dim, quiet place, in hopes the bird was just lightly concussed and would be able to sleep it off.

That wasn't the case - in the morning we found the bird awake, huddled in the corner of the box, puffed up and unresponsive. I took the box outside next to a tree where some sparrows usually love to sit, and lifted the lid. After a few minutes it started looking around, but would not move from the corner of the box at all. I waited for 10 more minutes to see if it would try anything, and saw that it had no plans of leaving the box, so I covered it back up and took it back inside.

Plan B was to seek professional help immediately, and that's what I tried to do.

However, it turns out the Romanian government has no resources to rescue and treat injured wildlife. Unless it's large-scale animal abuse or environmental damage, there is no one to call.

So I turned to the NGOs and volunteer groups. I reached out to all the resources available in my area, hoping someone would have the time, capacity and desire to take the poor bird in and give it the help it desperately needed.

One doctor was unfortunately out of the country, and his clinic didn't have capacity to help, especially in his absence. A second doctor never returned my call or responded to my message.

I reached out to the emergency number of a wildlife rehabilitation center, and heard nothing for hours. I called a different center, and got a response, but their only contact in my area was the doctor that is currently out of the country; their center was 3 hours away by train, too stressful for both me and the bird. I called a veterinary clinic, and got a quote for ~25 euro, for a consultation with a spot at 2pm.

I then finally got an answer from the first rehab center, who asked me to try to take the bird outside again. However, at 1:30pm I checked the box, trying to follow the instructions I was given, and I was met with a bird that unfortunately passed away.

It really sucks - I tried to help this poor critter but there just aren't sufficient resources; wildlife is the least of the government's priorities, and NGOs by their nature are never sufficiently staffed nor have the funds and capacity to sustain the demand. Especially with the heatwaves hitting Europe, I'm sure my bird wasn't the only one having accidents this week.

Nobody is at fault here - it just was the wrong timing for everyone involved - but I can't help but feel guilty anyway.

I don't even know what the point of this post is besides to complain, and I guess to grieve a tiny soul that deserved more. Maybe we should all take a moment and appreciate the birds chirping outside. They're beautiful, and we should protect them as much as we can.

Rest in peace, little bird.

I feel like seeing dead birds was very rare before but it feels quite common this year. Maybe I'm just driving more in a different area this year and the rate was surprisingly low last year, but I really feel like I'm constantly seeing dead birds over the last few weeks.

I've been working on an ocean life repository website for work, and I found myself randomly rambling about sharks because they've always been such a fascinating example to me of how evolution can keep a very recognizable blueprint while splitting into a ridiculous range of lifestyles.

A whale shark, a thresher shark, an angelshark, a tiger shark, a goblin shark, and a reef shark all still read instantly as "shark", and yet they're doing such different things that it almost feels wrong. Filter-feeding giants, ambush predators, open-water hunters, deep-sea weirdos, tail-whip specialists. All while still sticking to this unmistakable shark... ness?

I've been trying to pin down what I even mean by that "blueprint". Not just body shape exactly, but some deeper structural identity that survives a lot of diversification. Other groups feel a bit like this too. Felines, canines, birds… they can branch into very different niches, sizes, and behaviors while still feeling strongly constrained by a common template. A tiger, a lynx, and a house cat are all very clearly "cat". Wolves, foxes, and chihuahuas are very clearly "dog". Canaries, hawks, parrots, and hummingbirds are all still "bird".

It fascinates me how common this is in evolution: nature finding one robust structure and then radiating outward in very different directions without losing the core design. Not the most morphologically extreme variation possible, maybe, but variation under a very conserved plan.

Sharks just feel like one of the wildest examples of that.

So: what's everyone's favourite shark, and why?

Mine is probably either the lemon shark or the thresher shark because of how smart they are. Lemon sharks are fascinating for their social behavior and learning, then threshers are incredible both for that absurd tail and for feeling like such a weirdly specialized, clever branch of the shark blueprint.