Flight of Fancy:  Photoshop Strikes Again  9-31

cryptids_by_heavymetalartwork-d6oi4ibCryptozoology lovers may be surprised to hear that cryptids aren’t the only ones misrepresented by Photoshop users. This latest example shows just how persuasive these bogus reports can be!

The Christmas season has come to a close and now, instead of red and green, my thoughts turn back to my favorites, pink and purple! So when I saw this beautiful bird on Facebook, I was enchanted. Isn’t it pretty?

PurpleBird

I noticed a comment below the picture that named the bird, so I looked it up. Guess what? It isn’t purple at all – it’s a beautiful blue! (See photo below by Anna Solisia.) The bird is named the Azure Tit (Cyanistes cyanus). It’s gorgeous just as it is, so I have to wonder why someone felt the need to tamper with it.

AzureTitAnnaSolisia

This happens to us in the cryptid world all the time. People create bizarre monsters and claim they’re real. Bigfoot hoaxers and UFO hoaxers are just out of control. It’s so hard to know what to believe anymore. But now they’re tampering with known animals?!!

Real Ones

There are a lot of incredibly beautiful purple birds in our world already, and I thought I’d share them with you just for fun.

Let’s start with the Purple Honeycreeper, Cyanerpes caeruleus  (photo by James Ownby):

Purple-Honeycreeper01JamesOwnby

Many people already know about Purple Martins, Progne subis. (Photo from Purple Martin Roost on Blogspot.com.)

 

PurpleMartinPurpMartRoostBlogspotcom

Here’s the Varied Bunting, Passerina versicolor . (Photo left by George Armistead; photo right by Larry Thompson.)

Varied-Bunting-George-Armistead

 

 

 

VariedBuntingLarryThompson

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love this next one! The Splendid Sunbird,  Cinnyris coccinigastrus . (Photo left by Rosa Giamboras, photo right by MP Goodey.)

Splendid-SunbirdMPGoodey SplendidSunbirdbyRosaGiamboras

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe this is my favorite! Here is the Violet Backed Starling, Cinnyricinclus leucogaster.  (First photo by Gerrit Lotz, the second by Peetvan Schalkwyk.)

Violet-Backed-StarlingGerritLotz

VioletBackedStarlingPeetvanSchalkwyk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ooooo, here’s the Violet Crowned Woodnymph, Thalurania colombica.  (Photo by Larry Thompson.)

Thalurania_colombica,Violet-crowned_WoodnymphLarryThompson

 

How magnificent is the Purple Grenadier?! Uraeginthus ianthinogaster. (Photographers unknown.)

purplegrenadier01

PurpleGrenadier02

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now THIS may be my favorite! The Violet Capped Woodnymph, Thalurania glaucopis. (Photo by Rancho Naturalista.)

VioletWoodnymphRanchoNaturalista01

Aren’t they great? Which is your favorite?

9-31

5 comments

  1. The Violet Backed Starling is my favorite, too, even though I hate the blackish brown Starlings we have here in Ct. They are bullies. When we had our feeders they would come in groups like a bunch of Gypsies, cause a lot of commotion, chase the other birds away so they could have the feeders to themselves. Then they would poop everywhere. And I mean everywhere! But I would have loved to see one of these purple beauties at my feeders.

  2. The birds in this article are just a small sampling of Avian beauty this world has to offer.
    With the way breeders are manipulating the colors of animals these days it wouldn’t surprise me to see a “Lavender” Azure Tit in pet stores in a few years.
    I feed birds in my backyard and often see as many as 15 different species at one time. It’s always a pleasure to see so many different colors, and kinds beautifying my trees and yard.

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