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This is very simple! Find a picture or take a photo of a bird or group of birds. Then post it along with it's name, short information about it and photo credit if available.
A gorgeous Dwarf Kingfisher enjoying the rain.
Credit: Rahul Belsare Photography.
The Oriental dwarf kingfisher (Ceyx erithaca), also known as the black-backed kingfisher or three-toed kingfisher, is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae. A widespread resident of lowland forest, it is endemic across much of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
@DaveMcK, I love your pics as usual. Isn't it amazing what God can do with neutral colors?
Just beautiful!
THE
AUSTRAILIAN
KING PARROT
Watch live-action video:
THE AUSTRAILIAN KING PARROT
The Australian king parrot (Alisterus scapularis) is endemic to eastern Australia ranging from Cooktown in Queensland to Port Campbell in Victoria. Found in humid and heavily forested upland regions of the eastern portion of the continent, including eucalyptus wooded areas in and directly adjacent to subtropical and temperate rainforest. They feed on fruits and seeds gathered from trees or on the ground.
Adults of both sexes are about 43 cm (17 in) in length, including the long, broad tail. The adult male has a red head, breast, and lower undersides, with a blue band on the back of the neck between the red above and green on the back, the wings are green and each has a pale green shoulder band, the tail is green, and the rump is blue. The male has a reddish-orange upper mandible with a black tip, a black lower mandible with an orange base, and yellow irises. The plumage of the female is very different from the male having a green head and breast, a grey beak, and the pale shoulder band is small or absent. Juveniles of both sexes have brown irises and a yellowish beak, and otherwise resemble the female.
In their native Australia, king parrots are occasionally bred in aviaries and kept as calm and relatively quiet household pets if hand-raised. They tend to be selective in their choice of seeds they eat and tend not to ingest small seeds in pre-packaged retail bags. They are relatively unknown outside Australia. As pets, they have limited "talking" ability and normally prefer not to be handled, but they do bond readily to people and can be very devoted. Life expectancy in the wild is unknown, but some pets have been known to live up to 25 years.
If we continue our current rate of greenhouse gas emissions, American Goldfinches are projected to disappear from 23 states including New Jersey, Illinois, Texas, Arizona, and the Dakotas.
Audubon's new, ground-breaking report, Survival by Degrees: 389 Bird Species on the Brink, shows that two-thirds of North American bird species are at risk of extinction from climate change. But if we act quickly to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we can help improve the chances for the overwhelming majority of species at risk.
Right now, Congress is considering a bill that would help us switch from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy sources. Ask your members of Congress to support the Better Energy Storage Technology Act of 2019!
Photo: Lynn Cleveland/Audubon Photography Award
Join me in supporting our feathered friends and providing them with a safe and healthy environment! I hope you all have enjoyed this series about our feathered friends!
The red-crested turaco (Tauraco erythrolophus) is a turaco, a group of African Otidimorphae birds. It is a frugivorous bird endemic to western Angola. Its call sounds somewhat like a jungle monk
Description
The red-crested turaco weighs 210-325 g and is 45-50 cm long. It looks similar to the Bannerman's turaco, but differs in crest and face colors. Both sexes are similar.
Behavior
They are seen in flocks of up to 30 birds, or in pairs. They usually remain in trees, only coming down to eat or drink.
VoiceA deep barking call. the female's call is slightly higher-pitched than the male's. They are highly vocal, particularly at dawn.[2]
ReproductionRed-crested turacos are monogamous. Both mates build a flimsy nest 5 to 20 meters above the ground in dense foliage. After laying eggs, both birds incubate the eggs. The young leave the nest at 4-5 weeks old.
As a national bird
The national bird of the Angola nation. It occurs quite commonly along the length of the Angolan escarpment and adjacent forested habitats.
This is a real rare bird!
An extremely rare cardinal has birders and biologists flocking to Shelby County, Alabama this week, as images of a yellow cardinal have circulated around social media.
Auburn University biology professor Geoffrey Hill said the cardinal in the photos is an adult male in the same species as the common red cardinal, but carries a genetic mutation that causes what would normally be brilliant red feathers to be bright yellow instead.
There is no more appropriate fowl to cover their story in the Fall than the migratory Canadian Geese! Canada Goose
Branta canadensis
Conservation statusFamilyHabitat
| Species as a whole probably still increasing: responds well to management on wildlife refuges, and has become a common resident of city lakes and parks in many areas. Some distinctive populations are scarce or declining. |
| Ducks and Geese |
| Lakes, ponds, bays, marshes, fields. Very diverse, using different habitats in different regions; always nests near water, winters where feeding areas are within commuting distance of water. Nesting habitats include tundra, fresh marshes, salt marshes, lakes in wooded country. Often feeds in open fields, especially in winter. In recent years, also resident in city parks, suburban ponds. |
This is the Nicobar Pigeon
Nicobar pigeon
The Nicobar pigeon is one of the closest living relatives to the dodo, a bird which is now extinct.
This pigeon is found on the small islands and coastal regions from the Nicobar Islands, east through the Malay Archipelago, to the Solomons and Palau. The Nicobar is nomadic and they commute from island to island in flocks of up to 85 birds, to find food.
Belfast Zooโs Nicobar pigeons live in the rainforest house.
Animal class
Bird
Habitat
Forest
Diet - Omnivore
Nicobar pigeons eat seeds, often from harvested grain, fruit and some invertebrates.
Size
These pigeons can measure up to 40 centimetres long and weigh up to one pound.
Location
The species can be found in dense forest on small islands and in coastal regions from the Nicobar Islands located in Southeast Asia.
Conservation status
The IUCN believes that Nicobar pigeons will face extinction in the near future.
Threats
The biggest threats facing Nicobar pigeons are habitat destruction and being trapped or hunted for the food and pet trades.
Current population
The Nicobar pigeon population is declining but the species remains numerous at present.
Zoo population
There are currently 1,600 Nicobar pigeons living in zoos within Europe.
A truly beautiful and unusual bird
The red-tailed black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii) also known as Banksian- or Banks' black cockatoo, is a large black cockatoo native to Australia. Adult males have a characteristic pair of bright red panels on the tail that gives the species its name. It is more common in the drier parts of the continent. Five subspecies are recognised, differing most significantly in beak size. Although the more northerly subspecies are widespread, the two southern subspecies, the forest red-tailed black cockatoo and the south-eastern red-tailed black cockatoo are under threat.
The species is usually found in eucalyptus woodlands, or along water courses. In the more northerly parts of the country, these cockatoos are commonly seen in large flocks. They are seed eaters and cavity nesters, and as such depend on trees with fairly large diameters, generally Eucalyptus. Populations in southeastern Australia are threatened by deforestationand other habitat alterations. Of the black cockatoos, the red-tailed is the most adaptable to aviculture,[2]although black cockatoos are much rarer and much more expensive in aviculture outside Australia.
Beautiful...........................
Peacocks
COMMON NAME: Peacocks
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Afropavo, Pavo
TYPE: Birds
DIET: Omnivores
GROUP NAME: Muster, ostenstation, pride
SIZE RELATIVE TO A 6-FT MAN:
ABOUT PEACOCKS
Peacocks are large, colorful pheasants (typically blue and green) known for their iridescent tails.
Distinctive Tail Feathers
These tail feathers, or coverts, spread out in a distinctive train that is more than 60 percent of the birdโs total body length and boast colorful "eye" markings of blue, gold, red, and other hues. The large train is used in mating rituals and courtship displays. It can be arched into a magnificent fan that reaches across the bird's back and touches the ground on either side. Females are believed to choose their mates according to the size, color, and quality of these outrageous feather trains.
Males vs. Females
The term "peacock" is commonly used to refer to birds of both sexes. Technically, only males are peacocks. Females are peahens, and together, they are called peafowl.
Suitable males may gather harems of several females, each of which will lay three to five eggs. In fact, wild peafowl often roost in forest trees and gather in groups called parties.
Population
Peacocks are ground-feeders that eat insects, plants, and small creatures. There are two familiar peacock species. The blue peacock lives in India and Sri Lanka, while the green peacock is found in Java and Myanmar (Burma). A more distinct and little-known species, the Congo peacock, inhabits African rain forests.
Peafowl such as the blue peacock have been admired by humans and kept as pets for thousands of years. Selective breeding has created some unusual color combinations, but wild birds are themselves bursting with vibrant hues. They can be testy and do not mix well with other domestic birds.
Penguins (order Sphenisciformes, family Spheniscidae) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere, with only one species, the Galapagos penguin, found north of the equator. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have evolved into flippers. Most penguins feed on krill, fish, squid and other forms of sea life which they catch while swimming underwater. They spend roughly half of their lives on land and the other half in the sea.
Although almost all penguin species are native to the Southern Hemisphere, they are not found only in cold climates, such as Antarctica. In fact, only a few species of penguin live so far south. Several species are found in the temperate zone, and one species, the Galรกpagos penguin, lives near the equator.
The largest living species is the emperor penguin(Aptenodytes forsteri๐[1] on average, adults are about 1.1 m (3 ft 7 in) tall and weigh 35 kg (77 lb). The smallest penguin species is the little blue penguin (Eudyptula minor), also known as the fairy penguin, which stands around 40 cm (16 in) tall and weighs 1 kg (2.2 lb). Among extant penguins, larger penguins inhabit colder regions, while smaller penguins are generally found in temperate or even tropical climates (see also Bergmann's rule). Some prehistoric species attained enormous sizes, becoming as tall or as heavy as an adult human. These were not restricted to Antarctic regions; on the contrary, subantarcticregions harboured high diversity, and at least one giant penguin occurred in a region around 2,000 km south of the equator 35 mya, in a climate decidedly warmer than today.
I love this little fella's feet! But they just don't look like they go with the rest of him. Look's like he's wearin' a tuxedo with a pair of gym shoes. lol
These are Shoebill Storks. The shoebill is a tall bird, with a typical height range of 110 to 140 cm (43 to 55 in) and some specimens reaching as much as 152 cm (60 in). Length from tail to beak can range from 100 to 140 cm (39 to 55 in) and wingspan is 230 to 260 cm (7 ft 7 in to 8 ft 6 in). The shoebill (Balaeniceps rex) also known as whalehead, whale-headed stork, or shoe-billed stork, is a very large stork-like bird. It derives its name from its enormous shoe-shaped bill. It has a somewhat stork-like overall form and has previously been classified with the storks. However, genetic evidence places it with the Pelecaniformes. The adult is mainly grey while the juveniles are browner. It lives in tropical east Africa in large swamps from Sudan to Zambia.
Please check out the video below of a Shoebill Stork with his handler:
https://hayhogi.vn/?qa=5070dce0330ace31/shoebill-stork-greeting-its-handler
Glossy of bird terms
External anatomy (topography) of a typical bird: 1 beak, 2 head, 3 iris, 4 pupil, 5 mantle, 6 lesser coverts, 7 scapulars, 8 coverts, 9 tertials, 10 rump, 11 primaries, 12 vent, 13 thigh, 14 tibio-tarsal articulation, 15 tarsus, 16 feet, 17 tibia, 18 belly, 19 flanks, 20 breast, 21 throat, 22 chin, 23 eyestripe
The following is a glossary of common English language terms used in the description of birdsโwarm-blooded vertebrates of the class Aves, characterized by feathers, the ability to fly in all but the approximately 60 extant species of flightless birds, toothless, beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart and a strong yet lightweight skeleton.
Among other details such as size, proportions and shape, terms defining bird features developed and are used to describe features unique to the classโespecially evolutionary adaptations that developed to aid flight. There are, for example, numerous terms describing the complex structural makeup of feathers (e.g., barbules, rachides and vanes); types of feathers (e.g., filoplume, pennaceous and plumulaceous feathers); and their growth and loss (e.g., colour morph, nuptial plumage and pterylosis).
There are thousands of terms that are unique to the study of birds. This glossary makes no attempt to cover them all, concentrating on terms that might be found across descriptions of multiple bird species by bird enthusiasts and ornithologists. Though words that are not unique to birds are also covered, such as "back" or "belly", they are defined in relation to other unique features of external bird anatomy, sometimes called "topography". As a rule, this glossary does not contain individual entries on any of the approximately 9,700 recognized living individual bird species of the world.
Link: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_bird_terms
I'm not a chicken!!
The brahminy kite (Haliastur indus), also known as the red-backed sea-eagle in Australia, is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors, such as eagles, buzzards, and harriers. They are found in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Australia. They are found mainly on the coast and in inland wetlands, where they feed on dead fish and other prey. Adults have a reddish-brown body plumage contrasting with their white head and breast which make them easy to distinguish from other birds of prey.
Could these seven reasons make you love seagulls?
Chip thieves. Noisy chip thieves. Noisy chip-stealing winged evil. Seagulls donโt have the best reputation. Seen by many as a blight wherever theyโre found, theyโd probably make a lot of peopleโs top ten things they could do without. However, they do have their fans. There is, after all, the Mobile Gull Appreciation Unit, a kitsch coastal treasure that celebrates all things gull. In an attempt to balance the scales against that one time a gull stole your lunch, here are seven reasons why seagulls are actually not all that bad.
Mark Dion, Mobile Gull Appreciation Unit, commissioned by the Creative Foundation for Folkestone Triennial 2008.
1. They keep rats at bay
If it werenโt for gulls eating our waste, weโd probably have a lot more rats and rodents.
2. They provide a soundtrack to our memories
Even if their bolshiness isnโt appreciated, many people still love the sound of gulls at the seaside. Think of the herring gulls calling over the crashing waves in the Desert Island Discs signature tune.
3. They are highly adaptable
Gulls are masters of adaptability: that is why they have colonised our cities so successfully while struggling at the coast.
Where their natural habitat has declined and food has diminished, seagulls are suffering. However those gulls which have migrated to cities, which provide safety as well as an abundance of food, have managed to thrive.
Gulls are the kickass entrepreneurs of the avian world.
Brett Westwood follows gulls away from the sea and explores how they thrive in cities and at the landfill sites where birders gather to watch and ring them.
4. They have admirable traits
Even though gulls display many emotions which we would see as positives in a person (competitive spirit, willing to seize an opportunity), we disparage them for these traits. While itโs never a pleasant experience to have your lunch dive-bombed, maybe we should look at it from their point of view.
5. Spot the difference
Gull species are extremely complicated to tell apart and mastering it is the bird-watching equivalent of being able to distinguish fine wines.
6. They are more sinned against than sinning
In a study of human/gull interactions, it was found that a human was far less likely to be "attacked" โ ie chip stealing โ by a gull than a gull was to be attacked by a human. One man in Bath was regularly seen standing naked on his balcony swinging a samurai sword to deter gulls from nesting near his flat โ a technique researchers said would probably work in the short term but is legally dubious having in mind the indecent exposure; and, of course, the fact that nesting gulls are protected by law. Not many people know that...
7. Yes, they can actually be cuddly
Gull imagery is also commonly used in sports: teams such as Torquay United and Brighton & Hove Albion have them as mascots (Gilbert the Gull and Gully the Seagull, respectively). Others including Blackpool Seagulls and the Helsinki Seagulls name entire teams after them.
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 โhatchโ 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 heโs alone than while heโs with his mate. Thatโs 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 heโs 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 โ too many for it to be eating them all โ 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.
Dear @l483260l ,
Here's an answer for your question:
White-breasted Nuthatches are small, insectivorous bark gleaners which also eat plant materials such as acorns and nuts. Although the species is generally resident, northern and western populations may irrupt in some years (Pravosudov and Grubb 1993). This nuthatch breeds in northeast Texas and the mountains of the Trans-Pecos with only one confirmed breeding record between, in the eastern Panhandle. These eastern and western population apparently belong to different groups described in the AOU Checklist of North American birds which identifies 3 groups (eastern, interior montane and Pacific Coast) with vocal, morphological and ecological differences (Am. Ornithol. Union 1998).
DISTRIBUTION. During the 1987-1992 field work of the TBBA project, volunteers found most White-breasted Nuthatches in Texas breed in the Pineywoods, (mostly north and central parts) and adjacent portions of the Post Oak Savannah regions (see the region map in Lockwood and Freeman [2004]). Breeding was also confirmed in the Davis and Guadalupe mountains of the TransโPecos and in the eastern Panhandle. North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data from 13 routes produce a map similar to the TBBA map with the highest relative abundance (1-3 nuthatches per route) in east Texas and averages of <1 per route around the area of highest abundance and in the Trans-Pecos mountains (Sauer et al. 2005).
Texas is the southeast corner of this species range in eastern North American which extends west from Nova Scotia to Manitoba and south to the Gulf Coast states. In western North America this species breeds from the Pacific Coast east to the Black Hills of South Dakota and the Rocky Mountains and south to northern Baja California and though the highlands of mainland Mexico to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (Howell and Webb 1995, Sauer 2005).
SEASONAL OCCURRENCE. White- breasted Nuthatches are resident in their limited breeding areas in this state. The breeding season is from early March to late June, perhaps later. Eggs have been collected from March 26 to April 2 (Oberholser 1974). TBBA atlasers found recently fledged young as early as March 27 in east Texas. .
In contrast to this data from the east, in Arizona atlasers found breeding evidence for this nuthatch mostly between late April and the end of July (Spence 2004), suggesting the possibility eastern and western populations of this nuthatch have different breeding phenologies and that White-breasted Nuthatch in the Trans-Pecos mountains may breed at a different time than in the Pineywoods.
BREEDING HABITAT. Oberholser (1974) reports this nuthatch breeds from low elevations to as high as 2700 m (8500 ft) in Texas. In eastern North America, this species nests in deciduous or mixed deciduous/coniferous woodlands, often at edges or openings (Pravosudov and Grubb 1993). In the interior west in Arizona 70% o breeding records for this species came from coniferous forest habitats and 18% came from deciduous woodlands (Spence 2005), while in Colorado about 68% of breeding evidence came from coniferous habitats and 19% came from deciduous habitats (Kuennin 1998).
White-breasted Nuthatches breed in natural cavities in trees, old woodpecker holes and occasionally nest boxes. The cavity is lined with various materials such as bark shreds, twigs, grasses, hair and feathers. In the cup she has formed, the female usually lays 7-8 (range 5-10) white eggs, usually spotted with reds or browns. The eggs look like those of the Red-breasted Nuthatch (S. canadensis) but are larger. The female, fed by the male, incubates the eggs for 12-14 days and the young leave the nest 26 days after hatching and then stay with their parents for several weeks. Only one brood is raised per year and brood parasitism is rare (Harrison 1979, Pravosudov and Grubb 1993).
STATUS. The species formerly bred on the Edwards Plateau and in the Big Bend area as well as further west and south in eastern Texas. Much of this range contraction apparently occurred before 1950 (Oberholser 1974). Currently White-breasted Nuthatch is considered locally uncommon in northeast Texas and common to uncommon in the Trans-Pecos mountains (Lockwood and Freeman 2004).
BBS data from Texas are too limited to provide a robust population trend estimate for 1980-2005, but data from 26 routes in adjacent Oklahoma produce a statistically significant +5.0% annual population change for that period. The statistically significant population trends derived from 1248 routes in eastern North America and 1824 across the United States and Canada are more modest, +1.1% and 1.3%, respectively, for the same period (Sauer et al. 2005). These figures suggest the current status of this species in Texas is probably at least stable.
Text by Robert C. Tweit (2006)
Literature cited:
American Ornithologistsโ Union. 1998. Checklist of North American birds, 7th ed. Am, Ornithol. Union, Washington, DC.
Harrison, H. H. 1979. A field guide to western birdsโ nests. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA.
Howell, S. N. G. and S. Webb. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, New York.
Kuenning, R. R. 1998. White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis). In Colorado breeding bird atlas, pp. 358-359 (H. E. Kingery, ed.). Colorado Bird Atlas Partnership, Denver.
Lockwood, M. W. and B. Freeman. 2004. The TOS handbook of Texas birds. Texas A&M University Press, College Station.
Oberholser, H. C. 1974. The bird life of Texas. University of Texas Press, Austin.
Pravosudov, V. V. and T. C. Grubb, Jr. 1993. White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis). In The birds of North America, No. 54 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.
Sauer, J. R., J. E. Hines, and J. Fallon. 2005. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, results and analysis 1966-2005. Version 6.2 2006. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel MD < http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs>
Spence, J. R. 2005. White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis). In Arizona breeding bird atlas. pp. 396-397 (T. E. Corman and C. Wise-Gervais, eds.). University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.
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