The Golden-Breasted Starling

The golden-breasted starling has been called the most beautiful starling in the world.  The golden-breasted starling (Lamprotornis regius) is a medium-sized, up to 35 cm long, passerine in the starling family. The Golden Breasted Starling is also known as royal starling and a social animal, living in groups of 3 to 12 individuals. The bird diet comprises mostly of insects and termites and some fruit of Commiphora and Dobera, though adult birds catch insects in flight and dig up termite mounds to find prey. They spend most of their time on the ground, running or hopping in their hunt for insects. To catch termites, they use rapid flicks of the bill to dig down to their tunnels. When disturbed, they will fly to the next bush. They infrequently fly above three metres.

The golden-breasted starling molts once a year, after the breeding season. The female usually lays between 3 to 5 pale green color eggs with red speckles.  The birds habitually make nests in tree holes which are made from leaves, roots, straw and other vegetation. Moreover the whole family groups cooperate in raising young by gathering food and nesting materials. The bird likes the rainy season for breeding, i.e. March to May and November to December. Therefore, during the hotter daylight hours, golden-breasted starlings will chatter away in a subdued voice with their mates. Their flight or contact call is cheeo cheeo. When signaling danger, they use chiar chiar.

The stunning golden-breasted starling is widely distributed in the grassland, savannah and shrub-land of East Africa, from Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and northern Tanzania. Furthermore, this species and L. unicolor sometimes placed in a separate genus, appears inseparable from birds in rest of species' range. Moreover, just like all starling species, golden-breasted starlings are highly social birds, noisy and garrulous when together. They gather in pairs or groups of up to a dozen. Though, during breeding season, group members assist with nest building and feeding. 

The both sexes are similar; however the young are duller than the adult. The adult bird has a metallic green head and upper back, bright golden yellow breast and belly, dark bill and legs, white iris and metallic violet blue on wings, back, neck and its long tail feathers. The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as locally common. The population trend appears to be stable, and it is widespread throughout its habitat range; hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion. The bird is evaluated as being of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Unluckily due to its stunning colorations makes it easy for the wild bird trade to create a market for it. So, “Cosmopsarus regius” populations have come under pressure in some areas due to large-scale capturing. 

The bird tail is 60% of bird length would usually be its main feature, however starling coloration and vivid golden yellow covers the rest of the underparts including the thighs and under-tail coverts. Legs are black. This species is also known as the superb starling. Source: Charismatic Planet

The Channel-Billed Toucan

The Channel-billed Toucan (Ramphastos vitellinus) is a toucan that found on the Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana and in tropical South America, in the southeastern Amazon, as far south as southern Brazil, north-western Venezuela and central Bolivia. Normally they found in the forest and woodlands areas, extend into drier regions particularly along water ways. Moreover they can also found in lowlands areas, but may wander up to an altitude of 1700 meters. The Channel-Billed Toucan upper plumage, abdomen, tail and bill are black; however upper-tail and under-tail feathers are red. Moreover, the bare eye-patch, bill base are blue and throat is white, and chest is yellow-orange fading to white on the sides. The irises are dark brown and lower chest sharply contrast with a broad red band. The mating ritual is a fun-loving affair for toucans, as they throw fruit to one another.

Just like others toucans, the channel-billed has huge bill, typically 48 cm long and 9 to 14 cm bill and 300 to 430 g weighs. It is very akin to Cuvier’s Toucan (Ramphastos tucanus cuvieri) make you confused. The Channel-Billed likes to eat fruit, but can intake insects, tiny reptiles, eggs, and frogs. Vocally, the channel-billed toucan is very conspicuous bird. Its call is a repeated, high pitched single note and it can be described like a croak or yelping sound cree-op cree-op cree-op. As it makes each note of sound, it lifts and drops its head while holding its tail feathers erect and making side to side movements on its perch and pairs of channel-billed toucans tend to communicate vocally in an irregular chorus. The Channel-Billed fairly long-lived with a lifespan is 20 years. The captive toucans cannot learn to talk like parrots, but they are very much quieter and friendly and easy tamed. So far, global population size has not been quantified, but this species is described as “fairly common”.

The male and female birds are very active in raising the newborns. The Channel-billed Toucan breeds between March and June and during breeding season, one of these Toucans would lay between two and four eggs which are incubated by both the male and female in a high unlined tree cavity, have generation period of 18 days, and incubate for 15 to 16 days. Although in some cases, they can be impatient sitters, often leaving their eggs uncovered for hours at a time. The newborn channel-billed is blind and naked at birth and open their eyes after three weeks. Moreover breeding in captivity requires attention to a number of details; even successful breeder’s rates as low as 30% for the incubation of eggs.

The young channel-billed remain in the nest after hatching and have short bills and specialized pads on their heels to protect them from rough floor of the nest. Their feathers do not start appearing until 4 weeks old. Moreover, they’re stranded and unable to leave the nest for about 8 weeks, dependent upon both parents to feed them. After this, the young can care for themselves. They start to leave the nest after 40 to 50 days, depending on bird size. Channel-billed toucans reside in small families including of two parents and young. They may also form small flocks numbering 3 to 12 individuals. Oftentimes they’ve joined groups of other bird species including other toucan species to feed. When travelling, they mostly fly alone, in pairs or in straggling groups arranged in single file.

Amusingly, the babies are born with a smaller bill which takes more than a few months to reach full size. Thus, not only has the Toucan amazed the world with its majestic beauty but it has also mystified the world. For long times biologists have been captivated by the Toucan’s outstanding beak. Why was it so large? Therefore, some advised that it aided in the picking of fruit, while the others, that it was a deterrent to competition. Thus, a new research has revealed that the beak in fact supports regulate the Toucan’s body temperature. This species is suspected to lose population due to its extent of appropriate habitat in the Amazonian portion of its range over 35 years. By taking the pessimistic scenario of forest loss and factoring in the species’ susceptibility to hunting, fragmentation and edge-effects, it is suspected to decline by 32.1% over three generations from 2000.Source: Charismatic Planet

 You can find more detail about toucans at Wikipedia Click Here.

Hooded Pitohui The First Documented Poisonous Bird

The hooded pitohui (Pitohui dichrous) is a pitohui of New Guinea is one of few recognized poisonous birds in the world. Both male & female have black and orange patches in their plumage. This bird is normally placed in the family Oriolidae, and its close relatives are variable pitohui and rusty pitohui. The bird, hooded pitohui is about the size of a blue jay and is familiar to local villagers and ornithologists alike. But only now have scientists learned that the bird harbors a poison. Pitohuis are normally about 23 cm long with strong legs and a powerful beak.  

Therefore, the first known poisonous bird is “common quail” that cause coturnism. So, neurotoxin named “homobatrachotoxin”, found in the birds' skin and feathers, causes numbness and tingling in those touching the bird. It is believed, that bird has taken poisons from their diet, which is mainly comprises of Choresine beetles of the Melyridae family. These exclusive beetles are probably source of lethal batrachotoxins found in Colombia’s poison dart frogs. Moreover this species population is not quantified but believed not approaching thresholds for vulnerable. The hooded pitohui is common and widespread in New Guinea and is evaluated as least concern on the IUCN Red list of Threatened Species. 

This is unbelievable that a bird had never before found an example of a bird using a chemical defense against its enemies. However, fish, amphibians, insects, and reptiles are well equipped with noxious compounds that make them repugnant, but birds were thought to rely on fast flight to escape being eaten. Indisputably, there are other bird species that have chemical self-defense mechanisms to stop predators from eating them, but to date, this is the only bird found to actually be poisonous to humans. However, the natives of New Guinea do eat them, but tip off they must be prepared very prudently, including skinning. So the bird has been labeled to the venomous creatures of the earth.

The Fire-tailed Sunbird

Some birds are extremely eye-catching to see, and the first word you say “Wow”. The Fire-tailed sunbird is among those birds which have stunning colors of nature. The fire-tailed sunbird “Aethopyga ignicauda” is a species of sunbird in the Nectariniidae family mostly seen in northern parts of Indian subcontinent, and Himalayas and also in some adjoining regions in Southeast Asia i.e., occurs in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Tibet. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

The male bird is 15 cm long, including their long tail, while female bird is about 2/3 in length. The Fire-tailed sunbird likes to live in conifer forests at altitudes upto 4,000 meters descending into the valleys during the cold season. The bird’s foods consist of insects, nectar, etc. and both parents take part in feeding the young. The birds population in large numbers and hence does not reach the thresholds for vulnerable and trend appears to be stable. Therefore, population has not been quantified, though only 10% reduction in last ten years. For these reasons the species is evaluated as least concern.