NEW TOPIC: "FOR THE BIRDS"!

This is a.......

KOOKABURRA also known as the Laughing Kookaburra.  Here's why:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXA0-YAoo9Q

ABOUT THE LAUGHING KOOKABURRA

I have been seeing this bird in my neighborhood so frequently, I thought I'd look it up and write        about it.  So here goes:

   

 

Feeding Behavior

Forages actively in weeds, shrubs, and trees, often climbing about acrobatically on plants such as thistles to reach the seeds. Except during breeding season, usually forages in flocks. Commonly comes to feeders for small seeds.

 

 

Eggs

4-6, sometimes 2-7. Pale bluish white, occasionally with light brown spots. Incubation is by female only, about 12-14 days. Male feeds female during incubation. Young: Both parents feed nestlings. At first male brings food, female gives it to young; then both parents feed; role of female gradually declines, so that male may provide most food in later stages. Young leave nest about 11-17 days after hatching.

Young

Both parents feed nestlings. At first male brings food, female gives it to young; then both parents feed; role of female gradually declines, so that male may provide most food in later stages. Young leave nest about 11-17 days after hatching.

Diet

Mostly seeds, some insects. Diet is primarily seeds, especially those of the daisy (composite) family, also those of weeds and grasses, and small seeds of trees such as elm, birch, and alder. Also eats buds, bark of young twigs, maple sap. Feeds on insects to a limited extent in summer. Young are fed regurgitated matter mostly made up of seeds.

Nesting

Nesting begins late in season in many areas, with most nesting activity during July and August. In courtship, male performs fluttering flight display while singing. Nest: Usually in deciduous shrubs or trees, sometimes in conifers or in dense weeds, usually less than 30' above the ground and placed in horizontal or upright fork. Nest (built by female) is a solid, compact cup of plant fibers, spiderwebs, plant down (especially from thistles); nest is so well-made that it may even hold water.

 

Seven Colored Tanager

The Seven-colored Tanager is decked out in eye-catching shades of turquoise, green, blue, yellow, and orange. It resembles the Green-headed Tanager, a species confusingly known as the Seven-colored Tanager (saíra-sete-cores) in Portuguese. The Seven-colored Tanager is found only in northeast Brazil and is closely related to other colorful birds found in that area, including the Gilt-edged Tanager.

This tanager has a small, fragmented range and a declining population, due to continued habitat lossand capture for the cage bird trade.

Seven-colored Tanagers are usually seen in pairs or groups of up to four individuals, often in mixed-species flocks that forage through the forest canopy. Like other tropical tanagers, their diet is primarily made up of small fruits, berries, and seeds, plus the occasional insect.

Fragmented Forest

The Seven-colored Tanager's favored habitat is humid Atlantic coastal forests in northeastern Brazil, but this habitat has become quite rare. Eighty-five percent of the original Atlantic Forest has been cleared, and what remains exists only in small fragments.

Other remnants of Atlantic Forest habitat are home to critically endangered birds found nowhere else, including Stresemann's Bristlefront and Banded Cotinga.

Fortunately, the Seven-colored Tanager seems to adapt to secondary forest—sites where forests have been cut down and are now re-growing. But overall, the decline of the Seven-colored Tanager is an indicator of the poor state of the Atlantic Forest, where the species is thought to have once been much more abundant.

--American Bird Conservancy

THE BLACK HERON

The black heron is a medium-sized (42.5–66 cm in height), black-plumaged heron with black bill, lores, legs and yellow feet. In breeding plumage it grows long plumes on the crown and nape.

Distribution and Habitat

The black heron occurs patchily through Sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal and Sudan to South Africa, but is found mainly on the eastern half of the continent and in Madasgacar. It has also been observed in Greece and Italy.

It prefers shallow open waters, such as the edges of freshwater lakes and ponds. It may also be found in marshes, river edges, rice fields, and seasonally flooded grasslands. In coastal areas, it may be found feeding along tidal rivers and creeks, in alkaline lakes, and tidal flats.

Habits

The black heron uses a hunting method called canopy feeding—it uses its wings like an umbrella, creating shade that attracts fish.

WATCH:  The video below describes what the heron is doing in the picture above:

https://www.audubon.org/news/watch-black-heron-fool-fish-turning-umbrella

This technique was well documented on episode 5 of the BBC's The Life of Birds .  Some have been observed feeding in solitary, while others feed in groups of up to 50 individuals, 200 being the highest number reported. The black heron feeds by day but especially prefers the time around sunset. It roosts communally at night, and coastal flocks roost at high tide. The primary food of the black heron is small fish, but it will also eat aquatic insects, crustaceans and amphibians.

The nest of the black heron is constructed of twigs placed over water in trees, bushes, and reed beds, forming a solid structure. The heron nests at the beginning of the rainy season, in single or mixed-species colonies that may number in the hundreds. The eggs are dark blue and the clutch is two to four eggs.

The mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) is a member of the dove family, Columbidae. The bird is also known as the American mourning dove or the rain dove, and erroneously as the turtle dove, and was once known as the Carolina pigeon or Carolina turtledove.[2] It is one of the most abundant and widespread of all North American birds. It is also a leading gamebird, with more than 20 million birds (up to 70 million in some years) shot annually in the U.S., both for sport and for meat. Its ability to sustain its population under such pressure is due to its prolific breeding; in warm areas, one pair may raise up to six broods of two young each in a single year. The wings make an unusual whistling sound upon take-off and landing, a form of sonation. The bird is a strong flier, capable of speeds up to 88 km/h (55 mph). It is the national bird of the British Virgin Islands.

Like other columbids, the mourning dove drinks by suction, without lifting or tilting its head. It often gathers at drinking spots around dawn and dusk.

Mourning doves sunbathe or rainbathe by lying on the ground or on a flat tree limb, leaning over, stretching one wing, and keeping this posture for up to twenty minutes. These birds can also waterbathe in shallow pools or bird baths. Dustbathing is common as well.

Mourning doves are light grey and brown and generally muted in color. Males and females are similar in appearance. The species is generally monogamous, with two squabs (young) per brood. Both parents incubate and care for the young. Mourning doves eat almost exclusively seeds, but the young are fed crop milk by their parents.

The ranges of most of the subspecies overlap a little, with three in the United States or Canada.[6]The West Indian subspecies is found throughout the Greater Antilles.[7] It has recently invaded the Florida Keys.[6] The eastern subspecies is found mainly in eastern North America, as well as Bermuda and the Bahamas. The western subspecies is found in western North America, including parts of Mexico. The Panamanian subspecies is located in Central America. The Clarion Island subspecies is found only on Clarion Island, just off the Pacific coast of Mexico.[7]

The mourning dove is sometimes called the "American mourning dove" to distinguish it from the distantly related mourning collared dove(Streptopelia decipiens) of Africa.[4] It was also formerly known as the "Carolina turtledove" and the "Carolina pigeon".[8] The genus name was bestowed in 1838 by French zoologist Charles L. Bonaparte in honor of his wife, Princess Zénaide, and macroura is from Ancient Greek makros, "long" and oura, "tail".[9] The "mourning" part of its common name comes from its call.

Great video of this amazing bird!

Link:  https://m.facebook.com/groups/146392852645831?multi_permalinks=398469317438182%2C398469137438200%2C398469074104873%2C398468984104882%2C398468704104910&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic&notif_id=1561828890363092&ref=m_notif#

Pigeons and doves constitute the animal family Columbidae and the order Columbiformes, which includes about 42 genera and 310 species. They are stout-bodied birds with short necks, and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily feed on seeds, fruits, and plants. Pigeons and doves are likely the most common birds in the world; the family occurs worldwide, but the greatest variety is in the Indomalaya and Australasia ecozones.

The distinction between "doves" and "pigeons" in English is not consistent, and does not exist in most other languages. In everyday speech, "dove" frequently indicates a pigeon that is white or nearly white; some people use the terms "dove" and "pigeon" interchangeably. In contrast, in scientific and ornithological practice, "dove" tends to be used for smaller species and "pigeon" for larger ones, but this is in no way consistently applied. Historically, the common names for these birds involve a great deal of variation between the terms. The species most commonly referred to as "pigeon" is the species known by scientists as the rock dove, one subspecies of which, the domestic pigeon, is common in many cities as the feral pigeon.

Pigeon is a French word that derives from the Latin pipio, for a "peeping" chick,[2] while dove is a Germanic word that refers to the bird's diving flight.[3] The English dialectal word "culver" appears to derive from Latin columba.[2]

Doves and pigeons build relatively flimsy nests, often using sticks and other debris, which may be placed on trees, ledges, or the ground, depending on species. They lay one or two eggs at a time, and both parents care for the young, which leave the nest after 7–28 days.[4] Unlike most birds, both sexes of doves and pigeons produce "crop milk" to feed to their young, secreted by a sloughing of fluid-filled cells from the lining of the crop. Young doves and pigeons are called "squabs".

The subject here is The Owl.  Here are some quick-facts:

• There are around 200 different owl species as we can see from the small sampling above.

• Owls are active at night (nocturnal).

• A group of owls is called a parliament.

• Most owls hunt insects, small mammals and other birds.

• Some owl species hunt fish.

• Owls have powerful talons (claws) which help them catch and kill prey.

• Owls have large eyes and a flat face.

• Owls can turn their heads as much as 270 degrees.

• Owls are farsighted, meaning they can’t see things close to their eyes clearly.

• Owls are very quiet in flight compared to other birds of prey.

• The color of owl’s feathers helps them blend into their environment (camouflage).

• Barn owls can be recognized by their heart shaped face.

The sounds of various owls:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezaBqCf0hv0

Owls in flight:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pWub12DUoU

The White-Breasted Nuthatch

A common feeder bird with clean black, gray, and white markings, White-breasted Nuthatches are active, agile little birds with an appetite for insects and large, meaty seeds. They get their common name from their habit of jamming large nuts and acorns into tree bark, then whacking them with their sharp bill to “hatch” out the seed from the inside. White-breasted Nuthatches may be small but their voices are loud, and often their insistent nasal yammering will lead you right to them.

The White-breasted Nuthatch is normally territorial throughout the year, with pairs staying together. The male has to spend more time looking out for predators when he’s alone than while he’s with his mate. That’s the pattern for most birds, and one reason why birds spend so much time in flocks. But the female nuthatch has to put up with the male pushing her aside from foraging sites, so she spends more time looking around (for him) when he’s around than when she is alone.

In winter, White-breasted Nuthatches join foraging flocks led by chickadees or titmice, perhaps partly because it makes food easier to find and partly because more birds can keep an eye out for predators. One study found that when titmice were removed from a flock, nuthatches were more wary and less willing to visit exposed bird feeders.

If you see a White-breasted Nuthatch making lots of quick trips to and from your feeder – too many for it to be eating them all – it may be storing the seeds for later in the winter, by wedging them into furrows in the bark of nearby trees.

The oldest known White-breasted Nuthatch was at least 9 years, 9 months old when it was found in Colorado.

Could these seven reasons make you love seagulls?