Vol. 1 // Welcome to The Flyer, a new weekly newsletter for bird lovers 🦜

Found in Indonesia, New Guinea and Australia, Cassowaries have earned a reputation as the most dangerous birds in the world. There’s been more than 200 recorded Cassowary attacks against humans, and they’re classified as Class II wildlife, alongside alligators.

The giant, flightless bird, which can be five feet tall and weigh 160 pounds, most recently killed a Florida man in 2019. The bird’s 75-year-old owner, a breeder who raised the cassowary from birth, fell to the ground before the cassowary attacked him with its long claws, and then it was too late.

These birds have heads that look straight out of Jurassic Park — blue skin, red eyes, and a mohawk-like casque — plus razor sharp, four-inch claws on their inner toes.

Our advice? Steer clear of them!

Fun fact: Cassowaries can run 31 miles per hour, jump seven feet in the air, and are skilled swimmers. Impressive!

Give a Hoot

Three birding bits you should know about this week.

🎶 Songs for a cause
Songs by threatened birds beat Abba to No. 5 spot on Australian music charts
Songs of Disappearance, a collaboration between multimedia duo the Bowerbird Collective and David Stewart, who has been recording the sounds of Australian birds for over four decades, features the calls and songs of 53 threatened species.

🐦 Birds exist... right?
Birds Aren’t Real, or Are They? Inside a Gen Z Conspiracy Theory
“My favorite way to describe the organization is fighting lunacy with lunacy.”

📜 Birds in history
Humans may have kept dangerous Cassowaries as pets 18,000 years ago
New research shows that the cassowary may have been one of the first animals domesticated and raised by humans around 18,000 years ago

A Product We Love

Unique and worthy products from the wide world of birding you might enjoy.

🏠 Collidescape’s window tape helps birds avoid running into your windows and hurting themselves. Stay safe out there!

Your Shot

An amazing bird photo taken by one of our community members. Submit yours to hello@flyingcolors.co to be considered for an upcoming edition!

About Us

Flying Colors makes premium organic wild bird food, offering ethically sourced, toxin-free seeds and nuts of the highest quality to nourish wild birds of all types and inspire birders of all ages. Each specialty blend and single origin creation is rigorously sourced & researched, and every jar is produced with love & packaged by hand in small batches in New York's Hudson Valley and tested in our own backyards.

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Questions? Ideas? Epic bird photos? Reach out at hello@flyingcolors.co