Nicobar Pigeon The Coolest Pigeon in the World

Nicobar pigeon is the closest living relative to the extinct Dodo Bird with stunning colorful iridescent feathers. It’s absolutely stunning even they’re relatives, looks nothing like the Dodo. Nicobar’s luminous colors is the only difference, has reddish legs, a while tail and well covered in blue, copper, and green feathers. The Nicobar Pigeon is located at coastal regions from the Nicobar Islands. The bird’s vibrant colorful characteristics aren’t many natural predators that the pigeons would need to conceal themselves from. 

The Nicobar Pigeon is considered “near threatened” in the IUCN list. The dodo bird has been long extinct, but Nicobar pigeon is the closest living connection the famous flightless bird. The stunning colorful Nicobar pigeon resides in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, from the Indian Nicobar Islands eastward to places like Thailand and Papua New Guinea. The precise population is not confirmed, however its numbers are declining due to deforestation and release of non-native predators.  The Nicobar species nests in dense forest on offshore islets, habitually in large colonies. It builds a loose stick nest in a tree. It lays one elliptical faintly blue-tinged white egg. 

This species roams in flocks from island to island, habitually sleeping on offshore islets where no predators take place and spends the day in areas with healthier food availability, even not shying away from areas inhabited by humans. The Nicobar food consists of seeds, fruit and buds, and it is attracted to areas where grain is available. Nicobar is a large pigeon, measuring 40 cm in length and it is a very vocal species, giving a low-pitched repetitive call.

The Golden-Hooded Tanager

The Golden-Hooded Tanager also called Tangara Larvata is a medium sized passerine bird, is a resident breeder from Southern Mexico South to Western Eucador. The adult bird is about 13cm long and weigh is 19 g. The male bird has a golden head with a black eyemask edged with violet blue above and below, however upperparts is black apart from turquoise shoulders, rump and edgings of the wings and tail. Therefore, the flanks are blue and central belly is white. Hence, female bird is greenish tinge to the head, and black speckling on the crown, and white underparts. The infant bird is much duller, with a green head, dark grey upperparts, off white underparts and little blue in the plumage. 

This species is available in very large numbers, and does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation. So, the Golden-hooded Tanager is listed as a bird of Least Concern by the IUCN. The population estimate around 50,000-499,999 individuals and it is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

 The song of Golden-Hooded Tanager is tuneless rattled series of tick sounds, but its call is sharp tsit. The bird normally lives 1,500 m altitude in the canopy of dense forests and semi open areas like clearings, second growth and well vegetated gardens. The Golden-hooded Tanager is habitually perched on branches or twigs, and often forages for arthropods with aerial sallies.  The beautiful Golden-Hooded tanagers occur in pairs, family groups or as part of a mixed-species feeding flock. The bird likes to eat certain small fruit e.g. of Trophis racemosa (Moraceae) typically swallowed whole, berries and insects are also taken. 

The Golden-Hooded Tanager built nesting usually in a tree fork or in a bunch of green bananas. The clutch contains 2 brown-blotched white eggs. The nest, usually constructed by both parents, built with fine plant fibers, dead leaves, and cobwebs. The both sexes take 4 to 6 weeks in building nest, around 1.5-15 above the ground. The female bird incubates for 13 to 15 days, and male birds takes care while incubates the eggs. The young juvenile stay in the nest for 14 to 16 days before fledging. Habitually two broods are raised in a season, but three have been documented. This bird is often double-brooded, and the young birds first clutch assist with feeding the second brood of chicks. 

Golden-hooded Tanagers have been observed chasing one another for 15 to 30 min, though repeatedly reiterating ticking noises. Abruptly, the birds fly off in pairs in two different directions. The Golden-Hooded Tanager is recognized with different names in different languages, like in French: Calliste à coiffe d’or German: Purpurmaskentangare Spanish: Tangara Cabecidorada
Other common names: Golden-headed/Golden-masked Tanager, Hooded Tanager. 

The King of Saxony Bird-of-Paradise

The King of Saxony or Alberti has described in the 1894 bulletin of the British Ornithologist’s club by Adolf Bernard Meyer of Dresden Museum.  The bird name was given in the honor to the King of Saxony, Albert of Saxony, whose wife gave her name to the Queen Carola’s Parotia. The King of Saxony bird-of-paradise is about 22 cm long, referred to as "Kiss-a-ba" by the natives of Papua New Guinea and Western New Guinea, as a human interpretation of the male's loud call.

The male bird is black and yellow with dark brown iris, brownish grey legs a black bill with bright aqua-green gape and two long 50cm scallped, enamel-blue brow-plumes, which can be independently erected at the bird’s will. The male’s bird ornamental head plumes are so unusual that, when it was first specimen brought to Europe, it was thought to be a fake. However, the female is greyish brown with barred underparts. The King of Saxony bird-of-paradise likes to eat mainly fruits, false figs, berries, insects and arthropods. King-of-Saxony birds-of-paradise communicate with vocalizations, body posturing and movements. The male’s song is radio-static hiss, simultaneously last 4 to 5 seconds.  Moreover male birds are courting females perform elaborate movements with their occipital plumes during their songs, as well as varying posture to better attract the female’s attention. 

The King of Saxony bird-of-paradise, inhabits the montane forests of New Guinea, and distributed from the Weyland Mountains in Western New Guinea to the Kratke Range in Papua New Guinea. The birds is habitually inhabits usually 1500 to 2500 meters above sea level. The adult males are territorial; guard its territory from perches places in the tops of tall trees and sings to compete with males in neighboring territories. David Attenborough first time filmed the bird’s footage of mating ritual of the bird in 1996. There’s no known predator to King-of-Saxony birds-of-paradise however, humans being are notorious to hunt them for their exquisite plumage. The bird ecosystem role is likely to aid in seed dispersal of the fruits they eat. The adult male birds are forage mostly in the upper canopy, but females and males with female-plumage have been spotted in all levels of forest growth. 

The Male Moulted head-plumes are also hunted for their highly prized long plumes used by natives for ceremonial decoration, but regardless of this the species remains fairly common in parts of its range. It is considered to be of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The male birds habitually moves his occipital plumes while singing. The King of Saxony bird-of-paradise population has not been quantified but in large numbers and does not approach the thresholds for vulnerable under the range size criterion. In spite of facts, the population seems to be decreasing and decline 30% in more than 10 years of three generations. However, the bird is evaluated as least concern and reported to be widespread and common. The King of Saxony bird skulls have small depressions behind the occipital cavity to let for the musculature essential to control the occipital plumes. Moreover The New Guinea people of Wola imitate the courtship displays of P. alberti in their ritualistic dances; and use the occipital plumes in traditional headdresses.

Courtship displays and nesting of Pteridophora alberti take place between September and April. Only one egg is laid per clutch; and incubation of this single egg appears to last longer than 22 days. Morever age of sexual maturity is also unknown for this species, but sexual maturity usually takes 1 to 2 years for most birds of paradise.

Ribbon-Tailed Astrapia The Bird of Paradise

One of the most outstanding birds of paradise, the male Ribbon-tailed Astrapia has the longest tail feathers in relation to body size of any bird, over three times the length of its body. The nature most beautiful bird “The Ribbon-Tailed Astrapia” is also recognized as “Shaw Mayer’s Astrapia” (Astrapia Mayeri) can be easily called the bird of paradise. One of the most remarkable birds-of-paradise, the male ribbon-tailed Astrapia has the longest tail feathers in relation to body size of any bird, over three times the length of its body. The ribbon-tailed Astrapia is the most recently discovered bird-of-paradise. This stunning bird is distributed and endemic to subalpine forests in western part of the central highlands of Papua New Guinea. However, similar to other ornamental bird-of-paradise, the male is polygamous.

This species is likely to have a moderately small population within its small range. Hence, the bird is listed as near threatened on the ICUN Red list of Threatened species due to habitat lost and hunted for its plumes. The terrifically long tails of male Ribbon-tailed Astrapia’s sometimes have to pause to untangle their tails before they can fly away not a survival advantage. But the tails also help them to entice females. And by carefully choosing their mates, the females determine which males' genes and what kinds of tails survive to the next generation.

 In 1938, the great naturalist Fred Shaw Mayer, discovered the bird, however several believed explorer Jack Hides discovered the bird first, and later on Shaw Mayer became interested in it.  The Ribbon-Tailed Astrapia is medium sized bird; up to 32 cm long excluding his tail, which is approximately I meter long. The body is normally velvet black, though the male has an iridescent olive green and bronze plumage with adorned with ornamental “ball” plume above its bill and two extremely long, ribbon like tail feathers. Therefore, the female bird is a brown with an iridescent head; hybrids between this species and the Stephanie’s Astrapia in the small area where their ranges overlap have been named Barnes Astrapia. The bird common call is a loud clear "waugh", or "wock, whit-whit".

 The Ribbon-Tailed-Astrapia diet consist of fruits, especially from the Umbrella Tree, and insects, spiders and frogs and also likes to upper montane and subalpine moss forests and forest edges; 1800-3450 m, mainly above 2450m. The birds commonly display occur during June, August, and December forms leks in which male bird displays from traditional perches, jumping back and forth between branches with erect, arched tail feathers. The recorded breeding seasons is March till May when females build and attend nests alone repeatedly builds nest in the same spot and site. The incubation period normally 21 days, and nestling period is 25 to 29 days. 

Source: Charismtic Planet