Month: February 2014

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)

small animal is the only species of hummingbird that regularly nests east of the Mississippi River in North America.


The species is sexually dimorphic. The adult male has a gorget (throat patch) of iridescent ruby red bordered narrowly with velvety black on the upper margin and a forked black tail with a faint violet sheen. The red iridescence is highly directional and appears dull black from many angles. The female has a notched tail with outer feathers banded in green, black, and white and a red throat that may be plain or lightly marked with dusky streaks or stipples. Males are smaller than females and have slightly shorter bills. Juvenile males resemble adult females, though usually with heavier throat markings. The plumage is molted once a year, beginning in late summer.


The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is migratory, spending most of the winter in southern Mexico and Central America, as far south as extreme western Panama, and the West Indies. It breeds throughout the eastern United States, east of the 100th meridian, and in southern Canada in eastern and mixed deciduous forest. In winter, it is seen mostly in Mexico.

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are solitary. Adults of this species are not social, other than during courtship (which lasts a few minutes); the female also cares for her offspring. Both males and females of any age are aggressive towards other hummingbirds. They may defend territories, such as a feeding territory, attacking and chasing other hummingbirds that enter.

As part of their spring migration, portions of the population fly across the Gulf of Mexico. This feat is impressive, as a 800 km (500 mi), non-stop flight over water would seemingly require a caloric energy that far exceeds an adult hummingbird’s body weight of 3 g (0.11 oz). However, researchers discovered the tiny birds can double their lean mass in preparation for their Gulf crossing. The additional mass, stored as fat, provides enough energy for the birds to achieve the flight.

They feed frequently while active during the day. When temperatures drop, particularly on cold nights, they may conserve energy by entering hypothermic torpor.



Horned Parakeet (Eunymphicus cornutus)

The Horned Parakeet (Eunymphicus cornutus), is a species of parrot in the genus Eunymphicus, in the Psittaculidae family. Eunymphicus cornutus is a largely green parakeet endemic to New Caledonia. It is called Horned because it has two black feathers that protrude from the head and have red tips. This parakeet has a yellowish nape with a black and red face and bluish wings and tail. It makes a nasal “kho-khoot” contact call and also makes a wide range of shrieks and chuckles.

The species has a preference for natural forests and laurel forest habitat. The Horned Parakeet lives humid pine forests on New Caledonia, especially when Agathis and Araucaria pines are present. They live in pairs or small flocks and forage for seedsand nuts in the canopy. It nests both on the ground and in trees.

This bird has declined since the 1880s, but it is still found in some range on New Caledonia and recent population estimates believe that there are over 2500 birds left. Eunymphicus cornutus is declining by poaching and habitat destruction. This bird has habitat fragmented into distinct subpopulations. The total population is small, and it is restricted to single subpopulations which is suspected to have declined owing to habitat degradation, and it therefore qualifies as Vulnerable. Eunymphicus cornutus have undergone a decline over the past three generations (from 1988) owing to habitat degradation also predation by invasive species.

Secretary Bird (Sagittarius serpentarius)



First described by English illustrator John Frederick Miller in 1779, the Secretarybird was soon assigned to its own genus, Sagittarius, by French naturalist Johann Hermann in his Tabula Affinatum Animalium. It was not until 1935 that the species was moved to its own family, distinct from all other birds of prey—a classification confirmed by molecular systematics.[4] Recent cladistic analysis has shown Sagittariidae to be an older branch of the diurnal birds of prey thanAccipitridae and Falconidae, but a younger divergence than Cathartidae. Sometimes, the enigmatic bird Eremopezus is classified as an early relative of the Secretarybird, though this is quite uncertain as the bird is only known from a few fragmentary body parts such as the legs. The earliest fossils associated with the family are two species from the genus Pelargopappus. The two species, from the Oligocene and Miocene respectively, were not discovered in Africa butFrance. The feet in these fossils are more like those of the Accipitridae; it is suggested that these characteristics are primitive features within the family. In spite of their age, it is not thought that the two species are ancestral to the Secretarybird.

Its common name is popularly thought to derive from the crest of long quill-like feathers, lending the bird the appearance of a secretary with quill pens tucked behind his or her ear, as was once common practice. A more recent hypothesis is that “secretary” is borrowed from a French corruption of the Arabic saqr-et-tair or “hunter-bird.”

The generic name “Sagittarius” is Latin for “archer,” perhaps likening the Secretarybird’s “quills” to a quiver of arrows, and the specific epithet “serpentarius” recalls the bird’s skill as a hunter of reptiles. Alternatively, the name could refer to the last two constellations in the Zodiac, Sagittarius and Serpentarius (now known as Ophiuchus).



Northern Carmine Bee-eater (Merops nubicus)

The Northern Carmine Bee-eater (Merops nubicus) is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. Alternative common names include the Carmine Bee-eater or the Nubian Bee-eater. It is native to Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal,Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda. It occurs as a vagrant in Burundi.

This species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly colored, slender bird, predominantly carmine in color, except for a greenish blue head and throat and distinctive black mask. This species has red eyes, a black, pointed, decurved beak, and elongated central tail feathers.

The sexes are similar in appearance, and the juveniles can be distinguished from adults by their lack of elongated central tail feathers and the pinkish brown coloration of their mantle, chest to belly, and flanks.

They nest in large colonies in cliffs, usually near river banks, where they use their bills to dig long horizontal nesting tunnels, often eight feet or more in length. Three to five eggs are laid per clutch.

Their diet is made up primarily of bees and other flying insects, such as grasshoppers and locusts. The main hunting strategy of bee-eater is to keep watch for flying insects from a perch, and then snatch them out of the air using their beaks, before returning to the perch.

The call is a deep, throaty tunk in flight; a series of rik notes when perched.

Booted Racket-tail (Ocreatus underwoodii)



Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja)

The Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) (sometimes placed in its own genus Ajaja) is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. It is a resident breeder in South America mostly east of the Andes, and in coastal regions of the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, the Gulf Coast of the United States and on Central Florida’s Atlantic coast[4] Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge adjoined with NASA Kennedy Space Center.

A 2010 study of mitochondrial DNA of the spoonbills by Chesser and colleagues found that the Roseate and Yellow-billed Spoonbills were each other’s closest relative, and the two were descended from an early offshoot from the ancestors of the other four spoonbill species. They felt the genetic evidence meant it was equally valid to consider all six to be classified within the genus Platalea or alternatively the two placed in the monotypic genera Platibis and Ajaja, respectively. However, as the six species were so similar morphologically, keeping them within the one genus made more sense.

The Roseate Spoonbill is 71–86 cm (28–34 in) long, with a 120–133 cm (47–52 in) wingspan and a body mass of 1.2–1.8 kg (2.6–4.0 lb). The tarsus measures 9.7–12.4 cm (3.8–4.9 in), the culmen measures 14.5–18 cm (5.7–7.1 in) and the wing measures 32.3–37.5 cm (12.7–14.8 in) and thus the legs, bill, neck and spatulate bill all appear elongated. Adults have a bare greenish head (“golden buff” when breeding) and a white neck, back, and breast (with a tuft of pink feathers in the center when breeding), and are otherwise a deep pink. The bill is grey. There is no significant sexual dimorphism.


This species feeds in shallow fresh or coastal waters by swinging its bill from side to side as it steadily walks through the water, often in groups. The spoon-shaped bill allows it to sift easily through mud. It feeds on crustaceans, aquatic insects, frogs, newts and very small fish ignored by larger waders. In the United States a popular place to observe Roseate Spoonbills is “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. Roseate Spoonbills must compete for food with Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, Tricolored Herons, and American White Pelicans.

The Roseate Spoonbill nests in shrubs or trees, often mangroves, laying 2 to 5 eggs, which are whitish with brown markings. Immature birds have white, feathered heads, and the pink of the plumage is paler. The bill is yellowish or pinkish.

Information about predation on adults is lacking. Nestlings are sometimes killed by turkey vultures, bald eagles, raccoons, and fire ants. In 2006, a 16-year-old banded bird was discovered, making it the oldest wild individual.

Ocellated Turkey (Meleagris ocellata)








The voice is similar to the northern species: the male making the “Gobbling” sound during the breeding season, while the female bird makes a “clucking” sound.


Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)


The Mute Swan was first formally described by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin as Anas olor in 1789, and was transferred by Johann Matthäus Bechstein to the new genus Cygnus in 1803. It is the type species of the genus Cygnus.[5]Both cygnus and olor mean “swan” in Latin; cygnus is related to the Greek kyknos.[6][7]

Despite its Eurasian origin, its closest relatives are the Black Swan of Australia and the Black-necked Swan of South America, not the other Northern Hemisphere swans.[2] The species is monotypic with no living subspecies.

Mute Swan subfossils, 6,000 years old, have been found in post-glacial peat beds of East Anglia, Great Britain.[8] They have also been recorded from Ireland east to Portugal and Italy,[9] and from France, 13,000 BP (Desbrosse and Mourer-Chauvire 1972–1973).[full citation needed] The paleosubspecies Cygnus olor bergmanni, which differed only in size from the living bird, is known from fossils found in Azerbaijan.[citation needed]

Fossils of swan ancestors more distantly allied to the Mute Swan have been found in four U.S. states: California, Arizona, Idaho and Oregon.[10] The timeline runs from the Miocene to the late Pleistocene, or 10,000 BP. The latest find was in Anza Borrego Desert, a national park in California.[10] Fossils from the Pleistocene include Cygnus paloregonus from Fossil Lake, Oregon, Froman’s Ferry, Idaho, and Arizona, referred to by Howard in The Waterfowl of the World as “probably the mute type swan”.

Adults of this large swan typically range from 140 to 160 cm (55 to 63 in) long, although can range in extreme cases from 125 to 170 cm (49 to 67 in), with a 200 to 240 cm (79 to 94 in) wingspan.[4][12] Males are larger than females and have a larger knob on their bill. On average, this is the second largest waterfowl species after the Trumpeter Swan, although male Mute Swans can easily match or even exceed a male Trumpeter in mass.[4][13] Among standard measurements of the Mute Swan, the wing chord measures 53–62.3 cm (20.9–24.5 in), the tarsus is 10–11.8 cm (3.9–4.6 in) and the bill is 6.9–9 cm (2.7–3.5 in).

The Mute Swan is one of the heaviest flying birds, with males (known as cobs) averaging about 11–12 kg (24–26 lb) and the slightly smaller females (known as pens) weighing about 8.5–9 kg (19–20 lb).[4][14]While the top normal weight for a big cob is 15 kg (33 lb), one unusually big Polish cob weighed almost 23 kg (51 lb) and this counts as the largest verified weight for a flying bird, although it has been questioned whether this heavyweight could still take flight.

Young birds, called cygnets, are not the bright white of mature adults, and their bill is dull greyish-black, not orange, for the first year. The down may range from pure white to grey to buff, with grey/buff the most common. The white cygnets have a leucistic gene. All Mute Swans are white at maturity, though the feathers (particularly on the head and neck) are often stained orange-brown by iron and tannins in the water.[citation needed]

The morph immutabilis (“Polish Swan”) has pinkish (not dark grey) legs and dull white cygnets; as with white domestic geese, it is only found in populations with a history of domestication.

Long-tailed Broadbill (Psarisomus dalhousiae)

The Long-tailed Broadbill (Psarisomus dalhousiae) is a species of broadbill that is found in the Himalayas, extending east through Northeastern India to Southeast Asia. It is the only bird in the genus Psarisomus. The Long-tailed Broadbill is about 25 cm (10 inches) in length and weighs between 50 and 60 grams. It can be identified by its shrill call.



Malagasy Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone mutata)

The Malagasy Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone mutata) is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is found in Comoros, Madagascar, and Mayotte. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

When Carl Linnaeus first described the Malagasy Paradise Flycatcher in 1766, he assigned it to the genus Muscicapa, which contained many of the Old World flycatchers. The species remained in that genus until 1827, when Constantin Wilhelm Lambert Gloger created the genus Terpsiphone for the paradise-flycatchers.[2] The genus name Terpsiphone comes from the Greek words terpsi, meaning “delighted in” (from terpo, “to delight”) and phone, meaning “voice”.[3] Thespecies name, mutata is Latin for “changed” or “different”.[4]

The Malagasy Paradise Flycatcher is thought to have evolved from African ancestors, as it appears to be more closely related to the African Paradise Flycatcher than the Asian Paradise Flycatcher.[5] There are six recognized subspecies, which differ only slightly in appearance.[2]

T. m. singetra, described by Finn Salomonsen in 1933, is found in northern, western and southern Madagascar.[2]
T. m. mutata, described by Linnaeus in 1766, is found in the east and on the High Plateau of Madagascar.[2]
T. m. comorensis (sometimes misspelled comoroensis), described by Alphonse Milne-Edwards and Émile Oustalet in 1885, is found on Grand Comoro.[2]
T. m. voeltzkowiana, described by Gustav Stresemann in 1924, is found on Mohéli.[2]
T. m. vulpina, described by Edward Newton in 1877, is found on Anjouan.[2]
T. n. pretiosa, described by René Primevère Lesson in 1847, is found on Mayotte.[2]