The orange-breasted sunbird is a small passerine
sunbird endemic to South Africa, and is found in shrubland or heathland
vegetations called fynbos. Orange-breasted sunbird males average 17 cm
long and females 13 cm long. The male's head, throat, and mantle are
bright metallic green and the rest of the upper parts are olive green.
The upper breast is metallic violet and the rest of the under-side is
shades of orange. The female is olive-green on the top-side and
olive-yellow on the under-side. These birds have long down-curved bills
and brush-tipped tubular tongues. Both of these are adaptations for
nectar feeding, the orange-breasted sunbird's primary food source.
However, the bird also feeds on insects.
Red-bellied Woodpecker
The red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) is a
medium-sized woodpecker of the Picidae family. It breeds in southern
Canada and the northeastern United States, ranging as far south as
Florida and as far west as Texas. Its common name is somewhat
misleading, as the most prominent red part of its plumage is on the
head; the red-headed woodpecker, however, is another species that is a
rather close relative but looks quite different. It was first
described in Linnaeus' Systema Naturae, as Picus carolinus. The type
locality is given simply as "America septentrionalis" (North America)
Crimson Breasted Shrike
The crimson-breasted shrike (Laniarius atrococcineus) or the crimson-breasted gonolek, ('gonolek' - supposedly imitative of its call),is a southern African bird. The species is closely related to two other bushshrikes, the yellow-crowned gonolek (Laniarius barbarus) and the black-headed gonolek (Laniarius erythrogaster) of East Africa.
Regent Bower Bird
The regent bowerbird (Sericulus chrysocephalus) is a medium-sized, up to 25 cm long, sexually dimorphic bowerbird. The male bird is black with a golden orange-yellow crown, mantle and black-tipped wing feathers. It has yellow bill, black feet and yellow iris. The female is a brown bird with whitish or fawn markings, grey bill, black feet and crown.
Flame Robin
The flame robin is a small passerine bird native to
Australia. It is a moderately common resident of the coolest parts of
south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Like the other two
red-breasted Petroica robins—the scarlet robin and the red-capped
robin—it is often simply called the robin redbreast. Like many brightly
coloured robins of the Petroicidae, it is sexually dimorphic. Measuring
12–14 cm long, the flame robin has dark brown eyes and a small thin
black bill. The male has a brilliant orange-red chest and throat, and a
white patch on the forehead above the bill. Its upper parts are
iron-grey with white bars, and its tail black with white tips. The
female is a nondescript grey-brown. Its song has been described as the
most musical of its genus.
Hawk Headed Parrot
Hawk-heads have been described as endearing, mischievous, adventuresome,
and fearless. This bird is intelligent and its personality has many
facets. A wonderfully entertaining bird, the Hawk-Headed parrot will
forever amuse you with new antics; a clown in its play. Some behaviors
and movements are so bizarre it is mesmerizing.
Diamond Firetail
The diamond firetail is a species of estrildid finch that is endemic to Australia. The
diamond firetail is a finch that has a fiery red bill, eyes, and rump.
Just below the throat, it has a thick black band that extends
horizontally until it reaches the lower part of the wings which are also
black with white spots. There is also a black eye band that starts at
the beak and ends right at the eye. The bird's tail is also black. The
rest of the wings are a slightly tan, light brown colour. Its head and
back is light grey and its belly and chin are white. The colour of the
egg is also white. This bird is considered one of the smallest of the
finches
.
Scientific name: Stagonopleura guttata
Rank: Species
Higher classification: Stagonopleura
.
Scientific name: Stagonopleura guttata
Rank: Species
Higher classification: Stagonopleura
Turquoise-browed Motmot (Eumomota superciliosa)
A colourful, medium-sized bird of the motmot family,
Momotidae. It inhabits Central America from south-east Mexico (mostly
the Yucatán Peninsula), to Costa Rica, where it is common and not
considered threatened. It lives in fairly open habitats such as forest
edge, gallery forest and scrubland. It is more conspicuous than other
motmots, often perching in the open on wires and fences. From these
perches it scans for prey, such as insects and small reptiles. White
eggs (3–6) are laid in a long tunnel nest in an earth bank or sometimes
in a quarry or fresh-water well. Its name originates from the turquoise
color of its brow.
Smooth-Billed Ani
I finally found this bird, the Smooth-billed Ani at
ARM-Lox where I spent a few unsuccessful days searching. It was very hot
and humid and I couldn't stay for too long. When we lived in Honduras,
there were Anis all over the place but then I wasn't into wildlife
photography yet.
Striped Manakin
The striped manakin is a small South American species
of bird in the Pipridae family. Its distribution is highly disjunct: The
nominate subspecies is found in Atlantic Forest in eastern Brazil,
while ... the striolatus group is found in forests in western Brazil,
northeastern Peru, eastern Ecuador, Colombia, and western and southern
Venezuela. Males of the former group have redder underparts than males
of the latter, and the two are sometimes treated as separate species,
the eastern striped manakin (M. regulus) and the western striped manakin
(M. striolatus). In both, the males have a bright red crown, which the
female lack.
Like many other manakins, the males cluster in a leks to attract females. After mating, the females rear the chicks on without the help of the males.
Scientific name: Machaeropterus regulus
Rank: Species
Higher classification: Machaeropterus
Like many other manakins, the males cluster in a leks to attract females. After mating, the females rear the chicks on without the help of the males.
Scientific name: Machaeropterus regulus
Rank: Species
Higher classification: Machaeropterus
Yellow-Fronted Woodpecker
The yellow-fronted woodpecker is a species of bird in
the Picidae family. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its
natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and
heavily degraded former forest.
Scientific name: Melanerpes flavifrons
Rank: Species
Higher classification: Melanerpes
Scientific name: Melanerpes flavifrons
Rank: Species
Higher classification: Melanerpes
Rufous-backed Kingfisher
The rufous-backed kingfisher is a species of bird in the Alcedinidae
family. It is found in Brunei, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, and Thailand in tropical lowland forests near lakeshores
and streamsides. The small bird is solitary and hunts from a low perch
over the water by diving for insects and frogs. It is sometimes
considered a subspecies of the Oriental dwarf kingfisher.
The Yellow Finch
The yellow finch, or Spinus tristis, is also known as
the American goldfinch because this bright yellow and black-trimmed bird
is found in North America. Like most finches, it prefers open spaces
over the heavily wooded forest, but makes its home wherever temperatures
are amenable and food is readily available.
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