Greater Blue Eared Starling, The Gorgeous Mystery Bird

The greater blue-eared starling or “greater blue-eared glossy-starling” (Lamprotornis chalybaeus) are so spectacular to look at that the birder totally forgets about all identification clues as soon as he or she gets her bino’s onto the bird. The bird adopts seasonal migration and common species of open woodland bird.  When you see this bird, first you’ll look at his eyes, a vivid and psycho looking orange eye captivate your notions for a while. 

The bird is 22-cm long short tailed bird, and glossy blue-green bird with a purple-blue belly and blue ear patch its iris is bright yellow or orange. Both male and female are same however; juvenile is duller and has blackish brown underparts. Sometimes the bird is considered to be a separate subspecies, L. c. sycobius.  Therefore, the lesser blue-eared starling is alike to this species, nonetheless the blue of the belly does not extend forward of the legs. The starling blue eared bird has a musical or grating calls, however, the most familiar is a nasal squee-ar. Both male and female built the nests comprising of a simple pad of dry grass and feathers placed in a tree cavity, either natural or an old woodpecker or barbet hole.

The birds naturally have nests in holes in trees, either natural or excavated by woodpeckers or barbets. The nest normally have 3 to 5 eggs, mostly greenish blue with brown or purple spots and hatch in 13 to 14 days. The chicks leave the nest normally in 23 days after hatching. This attractive bird is parasitised by the great spotted cuckoo and occasionally by the greater honeyguide. Though the global population size has not been measured, but the species is reported to be common to abundant. 

Moreover, this greater blue-eared starling is highly outgoing and will form big flocks, often with other starlings. However, its roosts, in reedbed, thorn bushes, or acacia, may also be shared. The greater blue eared starling is an omnivore, taking invertebrates seeds and berries, particularly figs, but is diet is mainly insects taken from the ground. Furthermore, it will perch on livestock, feeding on insects disturbed by the animals and sporadically removing ectoparasites. The birds are native to the following countries, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegambia (Senegal and Gambia), Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Greater Blue-eared Glossy Starling resembles the related Lesser Blue-eared Glossy Starling. 

Crimson Rosella and female King Parrot dispute in Australia by J4C1ND4 on Flickr.

Lemon-throated Barbet (Eubucco richardsoni) in Manu National Park by Peru Wild.

Lemon-throated Barbet
Lemon-throated Barbet (Eubucco richardsoni) in Manu National Park by Peru Wild.
Posted by Birds on Monday, February 29, 2016

Booted Racket-tail (Ocreatus underwoodii) in Ecuador by Andy Morffew.

Green-headed Tanager (Tangara seledon) in Brazil by Aisse Gaertner.

Indian Roller a.k.a. Indian Blue Jay

Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) is a medium-sized hummingbird native to the west coast of North America. Photo Vivek Tiwari.

Male Long-tailed Minivet (Pericrocotus ethologus) in India by Debapratim Saha

Red-billed Blue Magpie (Urocissa erythroryncha) in India by Soumyadeep Chatterjee.

Great Blue Turaco (Corythaeola cristata) by Lawrence Neo. As its name suggests this is the largest species of turaco in Africa.

Livingstone's Turaco (Tauraco livingstonii) by Margaret Westrop on flickr. This Turaco inhabits montane and coastal forests, from sea level to 2500m in southern and east Africa.

Paradise Tanager (Tangara chilensis). This Tanager is found throughout much of the Amazon basin, where it forages in the canopy of lowland evergreen forests and at forest edge.

Magnolia Warbler is one of more than 25 migratory ‪#‎warbler‬ species that gained more protected winter habitat via a recent land purchase in Guatemala.

Java Sparrow (Padda oryzivora) is a member of the finch family.

Two male Wire-tailed Manakins (Pipra filicauda) in Brazil by Anselmo d Affonseca.

Indian Golden Oriole (Oriolus kundoo) by Satisha Sarakki.

Black-chinned Mountain-Tanager (Anisognathus notabilis), at Paz de Las Aves, Ecuador by Clayton Burne.

Black-chinned Mountain-Tanager.
Black-chinned Mountain-Tanager (Anisognathus notabilis), at Paz de Las Aves, Ecuador by Clayton Burne.
Posted by Birdwatching on Sunday, February 28, 2016

Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans) in Australia

Crimson Rosella
Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans) in Australia
Posted by Birds on Monday, February 8, 2016

The Red-billed Streamertail

The enchanting red-billed streamertail or “Trochilus polytmus,” is also known as the doctor bird, scissor-tail or scissors tail hummingbird, is indigenous to Jamaica.  The Red-billed Streamertail is most abundant and widespread member of the hummingbird family. This is national bird of Jamaica, and many authorities considers a separate species, however some conspecific with the black-billed streamertail. Jamaica is the only place in the world where the Red-billed Streamertail can be found the splendor of this marvelous hummingbird.

The bird is stunning creation of God and mostly found in the line from Morant Bay following the Morant River and Ginger House and the Middle of Rio Grande to Port Antonio.  The Red-billed is the most easily observable Jamaican endemic bird and is well represented in Jamaican folklore, and killing these birds is considered to bring bad fortune on one’s self in most parts of rural Jamaica. The male hummingbird outermost rectrices is six to seven in long, for longer than its bearer’s body.  The female bird lack the elongated rectrices and largely white below.

Though, trailing behind the flying hummingbird like thin black streamers, these feathers make a humming sound. The bird feed is mainly nectar from flowers with the help of long extendable tongue or catch small insects on the wing. This is most beautiful bird in Jamaica, and some say the most beautiful bird in the world, is the streamer-tail or doctor humming-bird. The male bird is 4.5 inches without streamers while crown and tail are black. The body is a bright iridescent green, however female’s crown neck and back are pale green. Moreover the lores are pale brown, the wings dark brown, and the tail black with outer feathers tipped with white. The underparts are white. The bill has a dark brown upper mandible and pinkish-brown lower mandible.

The bird voice is loud, metallic-sounding ‘ting, ting, ting’ repeated several times or a prolonged “tee-tee-tee…” often heard as a distress call. Normally bird nest is compact build with plant materials, spider web and camouflaged with lichens. The breeding season round the year however, October to March is the key months. The bird is most abundant in closed forest, but is a common garden bird and a popular garden-feeder species. The bird likes to eat nectar, spiders and small insects.   Source: Charismatic Planet

The Vulturine Guineafowl

The vulturine guineafowl (Acryllium vulturinum) is the largest extant species of guineafowl. Systematically, it is only distantly related to other guineafowl genera. Its closest living relative, the white breasted guineafowl, Agelastes meleagrides inhabit primary forests in Central Africa. It is a member of the bird family Numididae, and is the only member of the genus Acryllium. It is a resident breeder in northeast Africa, from southern Ethiopia through Kenya and just into northern Tanzania.

The Knysna Turaco (Tauraco corythaix)

The Knysna Turaco (Tauraco corythaix), or, in South Africa, Knysna Lourie is a resident breeder in the mature evergreen forests of southern and eastern South Africa, and Swaziland.

Inca Tern: The Magnificent Moustache Bird

Birds are beautiful creations of God, enticing human beings by vibrant colors. Every bird is special because of diverse attractions, colors, calls, tails, etc. Here we’re introducing you a unique bird which has Moustache. The bird name is Inca Tern with splendid Moustache might be the one with dark grey plumaged Inca tern of the family Sternidae that sports the most splendid whiskers. The Moustache bird is a seabird is the only member of the genus Larosterna.

The Bougainville Moustached kingfisher features a pair of attractive Dali-like white handlebar moustache of specialized feathers that grow out from the fleshy yellow gape at the corners of its dazzling red beak. The interesting point is that, the dashing moustache is not male oriented also shared by females as well. The exclusive bird tends to breed along the west coast of South America from northern Peru to central Chile. This was the region once ruled by the valiant Inca Empire which gives the species its name. It's a gregarious species, nesting in colonies of quite a lot of thousand birds elaborate courtship includes a "high flight" with the male nippily ascending to several hundred feet, pursued by the female bird. Hence, they often return to the same nest site for several years in a row, and both parents incubate and care for the chicks.

However, a strange ornament and matter of pride the bird’s moustache length is reliable signal of its body condition. The longer moustache refers to healthier the birds. Thus, the longer moustaches tend to mate together and have more and larger chicks. Moreover, the cold nutrient-rich Humboldt Existing flows just off-shore, carrying with it swarms of small ocean fish such as anchovies which the bird feeds on. The Inca Tern spots its prey from the air, and then dives into the water to grab foods with its pointed beak. The majestically beautiful birds also scavenge scraps from sea lions, dolphins, and fishing boats, but small fishes are its main diet.

Therefore, decline of anchovy stocks due to commercial fishing and too much guano harvesting finishes breeding ground has led to major drop in population of the Inca tern. However, the bird was in great numbers in the millions, however, due to above facts, the existing population assessment is just over 150,000 birds, and the endanger species is now listed as near threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Though fishing for anchovies has been banned in Peru, and guano harvesting is also regulated, but natural factors such as recurring cyclones and predators such as rats and cats on some islands can also prevent nesting or decrease breeding success.

Unique Andean Chocó

Jewel of the forest: At ‪‎Tanagers‬ Reserve in Colombia, unique Andean Chocó rainforest shelters not just rare tanagers but more than 250 other ‪#‎bird‬ species, including the gem-colored Velvet-purple Coronet, a species of ‪ ‎hummingbird‬.

Greater Blue-eared Starling (Lamprotornis chalybaeus) in Uganda by Frederic Pelsy.