Palm Cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus) in West-Papua New Guinea by Lars Petersson.
Reed Warbler Feeding a Common Cuckoo Chick
Reed Warbler feeding a Common Cuckoo chick by Per Harald Olsen. Some species of birds thrive not by carefully rearing their own young, but by pawning that task off on adults of other species. This is called Brood Parasitism.
The Great Tit (Parus major)
The Great Tit (Parus major) is a widespread and common species throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central and Northern Asia, and parts of North Africa. Photo: Pleskonics Ferenc.
Common Green Magpie (Cissa chinensis) in India by Omprakash Hatua.
OMG!!! It is not a common magpie it is a gorgeous magpie !!
Male Golden-winged Manakin
Male Golden-winged Manakin (Masius chrysopterus) trying to impress a female. This manakin is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.Posted by Birds on Thursday, February 4, 2016
Male Golden-winged Manakin (Masius chrysopterus) trying to impress a female. This manakin is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
Narcondam Hornbill
Narcondam Hornbill (Rhyticeros narcondami) by Niranjan Sant. This
hornbill is endemic to the Indian island of Narcondam in the Andamans.
The island is small, covering an area of approximately 6.8 square
kilometres (2.6 square miles), so this hornbill has the smallest home
range out of all the species of Asian hornbills.
The Red-billed Streamertail
The
Red-billed Streamertail (Trochilus polytmus), also known as the Doctor
Bird, is indigenous to Jamaica, where it is the most abundant and
widespread member of the hummingbird family. While most authorities now
consider it a separate species, some (including the American
Ornithologists' Union) continue to consider it conspecific with the
Black-billed Streamertail. The Red-billed Streamertail is the national
bird of Jamaica.
Exceptionally Rare Multicolored Bird Sighting in New York Attracts Crowds of Avian Enthusiasts
Well,
nature is fully covered with beautiful things. No matter whatever things on
planet earth, everything is beautiful and playing their role. Just like a
particularly rare sightings of a male Painted Bunting in Brooklyn, New York's
Prospect Park are ruffling the feathers of bird fanatics everywhere. The
beautiful avian is naturally found around Florida and Texas, spending winters
in Mexico; very very rarely does it come as far north as New York. In fact,
according to data on record, this is the “first male Painted Bunting that’s
ever had a recorded visit to Brooklyn” making sightings of this little guy
about as common as catching a glimpse of a unicorn.
Therefore,
this explains why the little fellow is causing hundreds of bird watchers and
avian lovers to flock to the park, in hopes of a valuable look as his colorful
plumage. It is most likely that a wind blew him up north, and he was tempted to
stay due to the unusually warm November the city experienced. Therefore, with
his vivid blue head and bright yellow shoulders that fade into a delicate
green, the Painted Bunting is an extremely beautiful well deserving of the
celebrity status he has gained in New York. Source: Charismaticplanet.com
Tickell's Blue Flycatcher
The Tickell's Blue Flycatcher (Cyornis tickelliae) is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family. This is an insectivorous species which breeds in tropical southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka to Indonesia. They are blue on the upperparts and the throat and breast are rufous. They are found in dense scrub to forest habitats.
Dunlin & Sanderling
The dunlin and sanderling are small, gregarious waders often
seen on our mudflats and long sandy beaches in winter. The dunlin is one of our smallest wading
birds, at a length of about 18cm (7in) or so. Moreover throughout the year it
can be seen at almost any estuary, muddy beach or harbor. Inland, it is surprisingly
common; sewage farms, flooded fields and the shores of reservoirs are good
places to see dunlin in winter, and in summer it can be found in the moorland
areas where it breads. Therefore, dunlin is easy to recognize in the summer
because it has a characteristic black patch on its belly. The upperparts are a
rich Rufous brown streaked and spotted with black. The breast is heavily
streaked with brown. In the autumn, the dunlin moults to its winter plumage,
losing both its body and wing feathers in spring, when it regains its breeding
plumage, only the body feathers are moulted and replaced. The dunlin’s winter plumage
is quite drab and inconspicuous, the upperparts being grey brown and the
underparts a dull white.
Dark-shouldered sanderlings, the sanderling are slightly
larger than the dunlin and usually inhabit sandy estuaries and ling sandy
beaches. In Britain, it is most often seen in its winter plumage, which is much
more striking than that of the dunlin. Its underparts and much of its head are
pure white and its back and wings are pale grey. Often, there is a dark patch
on the shoulder of the wing, mostly called the wrist. Like the dunlin, the sanderling moults its
body feathers in the spring. Its summer plumage resembles that of the dunlin,
except that it has a white belly. The best chance of seeing a sanderling in
full breeding plumage is in spring, when many birds migrate north along our
coasts, having just grown a new set of body feathers.
Beak differences a good way to tell the difference between
the dunlin and the sanderling is to look at the beak. British dunlins have
downward curving beaks about 3cm (1-4/5) long, whereas the sanderling has a
shorter (2.5cm/1in), straight beak. There is considerable variation in beak
lengths among dunlins, the British birds in general having shorter beaks than
those breeding further north. For example, Canadian dunlins have beaks
averaging about 4.5cm.
The beaks of these two species are different because they
have different methods of feeding. The dunlin, when feeding, walks with a
purposeful air, head held low, constantly pecking at the surface of the mud and
probing for tiny molluscs. The tip of its beak is particularly sensitive and
allows the bird to detect, by touch food lying below the surface of the mud.
The sanderling, on the other hand, feeds at the water’s edge, hurrying back and
forth like a clockwork toy following each wave as it breaks and recedes. It can
be seen skillfully snatching small creatures such as san hoppers from the edge
of the surf. The dunlin and sanderling both in summer and winter plumages, in
flight, both show a white wing-bar throughout the year; though on the
sanderling it is much more prominent. In winter, flocks of dunlin can be seen
flying along the coast and flashing grey or white as the bird’s man-oeuvre in
unison.
Both dunlins and sanderlings feed until high tide and then
fly off to special roosting sites on shingle banks and marshes or sometimes, on
grassy fields. There the birds gather in their thousands for two or three hours
until the tide has retreated and they can return to feed. Both on the ground
and in flight the two species form their own groups. In the winter, a large
flock of dunlin’s flying to or from the feeding and roosting areas can be a
marvelous spectacle. Each bird in the flock flies in precise formation only a
few inches from its neighbor, and with each change of direction the color of
the flock changes.
First you see the bird’s dark upperparts then as they swerve
to one side, the dark changes to the white of their underparts. Migration routes are normally seen in Britain, and all
sanderlings are winter visitors or passing migrants. Migrating sanderlings
arrive in the British Isles each July and August from their breeding grounds in
Greenland and Siberia. Some spend the winter here and the remainders fly on
South to France, the Iberian Peninsula and Africa. In May, our wintering
sanderlings return to their summer grounds, joined by migrants passing through Britain
from further south. Britain is one of the few countries in the world with both
breeding and wintering dunlins, so their passage throu\gh Britain is not as
distinct as sanderling migrations. Nevertheless, dunlins breeding in Greenland,
Iceland the Netherlands and around the Baltic
Sea all migrate through Britain on their way to or from their wintering areas
in southern Europe and North Africa.
Dunlins breeding here also fly south for
the winter, but this loss is more than compensated for by the arrival in
Britain for the winter of large numbers of dunlin from Scandinavia and Russia.
As hard weather sets in further north, so more and more dunlin arrives on our
coasts; their numbers usually reach a maximum in January. In spring our
wintering dunlins return to their breeding grounds, to be replaced by our own
breeding population. Most of our breeding dunlins settle in Scotland and
Northern England, but a few nests in Wales and Ireland and there are even some
on Dartmoor the most southerly breeding dunlins in the world.
Moreover, the breeding season for dunlins usually starts in
April or May. A typical site is a damp, peaty, upland moor, though some nest
beside lakes and others in salt marshes. The nest is a tiny hollow, hidden among
heather or a grassy tussock to provide shelter. The female lays four eggs the
typical number for a wader at the rate of one every day or two. Both parents
help to incubate the eggs until they hatch after about three weeks. Dunlin
chicks are superbly well camouflaged with yellow, butt, black and white down.
When danger threatens they lie down and become almost invisible. They feed
mainly on midges and crane fly larvae, which are plentiful at the time of year.
The chicks grow quickly and can fly after about 25 days, when they leave for
the coastal feeding sites.
Occasionally, dunlins manage to raise two broods
in a season, but this is rare. The sanderling on the other hand, normally
succeeds with two broods by laying one clutch of eggs in a first nest, followed
immediately by another clutch in a second nest. Both clutches contain four
eggs; one is incubated by the female and the other by the male. Sanderling
chicks have the same camouflaged down as dunlin chicks and they fledge in much
the same length of time. Soon after, they begin their long migration south.
Some of the birds still have their winter plumage but most have moulted ready
for the breeding season. Soon they will be migrating to their breeding grounds
far to the north. Source: Charismatic Planet.com
White-Faced Buffalo-Weaver
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