The Crested Kingfisher (Megaceryle lugubris) Male

The Crested Kingfisher is (Megaceryle Lugubris, Other common names: Himalayan Pied Kingfisher) a very large kingfisher that is mostly native to Southern Asia and Japan.  The Crested Kingfisher is a species of bird in the Alcedinidae family. This bird is mainly found in Mountain Rivers and larger rivers in the foothills of mountains. The bird is forms a species complex with the other three Megaceryle species. It is resident in the Himalayas and mountain foothills of northern India, Bangladesh, northern Indochina, Southeast Asia, Japan and Russia. This eye-catching kingfisher is easily recognized from its shaggy crest when at rest. The upper body is barred black and white and has a white collar. The distinctive large kingfisher has long crest feathers and average size is 41-43, 230-280 g.

The large black and white kingfisher with evenly barred wings and tail, and lacks a supercilium and has a spotted breast, which is sometimes mixed with rufous. This kingfisher has loud “ket ket” in flight, also loud “ping”, deep croaks between paired birds, and raucous grating. The kingfisher likes to eat fish, and crayfish, and perches on an overhanging branch, partly submerged log or rock, occasionally bobbing head. A notable decline has been observed in China, due to habitat destruction. Moreover, it is not globally threatened. Although widespread and common in some areas, but numbers have declined sharply during 20th century in Hokkaido, and also in Hong Kong. Whether traveling by wing or by wheel, this attractive kingfisher is pleased to perch anywhere in your home. Therefore, lifelike markings are meticulously painted with latex enamel on poplar wood that has been carved with a band saw. Each is unique and will vary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Schalow's turaco (Tauraco schalowi)

The Schalow's turaco (Tauraco schalowi) is a frugivorous bird in the Musophagidae family. The bird is named after Herman Schalow, actually a mature birds have, on average, the longest crests of any turaco species. The attractive colors that pattern the plumage of Schalow’s turaco are derived from two unique copper pigments within its feathers, unidentified in any other bird family. This bird's common name and Latin binomial commemorate the German banker and amateur ornithologist Hermann Schalow. The Schalow’s turaco is found in the forested uplands and wooded inland plateaus of south central Africa. The bird is replaced in the eastern lowlands by Livingstone's turaco, which is similar in appearance and behavior. Like other turacos, it is a medium-sized bird, with short, rounded wings, a long tail, and a stout, curved bill.

An extremely prominent, white-tipped crest adorns the head, while a ring of bare red skin surrounds the eye, delicately bordered with fine, black and white stripes. The upperparts are largely green, but noticeably darker over the mantle and wings. Moreover the bird size is 41-44 cm, an average weight of 208 – 267 g. In spite of being poor fliers, the forest turacos seldom descend to the ground. Instead, these shy but gregarious birds utilize their extraordinary climbing skills to navigate the tree canopy, skipping nimbly from branch to branch. When unassailable gaps do eventually necessitate flight, they take to the air with a few earnest flaps to the next tree, before clambering back up into the leafy crown.

It is mainly distributed in Zambia, central Angola, the southern DRC, and the uplands of southern Kenya, northern and western Tanzania and western Malawi. The bird occurs very locally in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe, where it frequents riparian habitats of the Zambezi and Cuando Rivers.  Moreover during flight its feathers are crimson, and the tail is deep, bluish black to violet. In common with all turacos, the feet have a distinct joint that lets the outer toe to move either forward or backward, an attribute that enables this bird to move dextrously through vegetation. Schalow’s turaco was formerly believed to be a subspecies of Tauraco persa, along with T. livingstonii and T. corythaix.

Furthermore, just like other turacos species, it feed mainly on fruit, though the young are perhaps fed a protein rich diet of invertebrates. Nevertheless turacos generally forage in groups; breeding is a solitary affair, with monogamous pairs fiercely defending their territories. The bird courtship includes much calling, chasing and general exhibition, with spreading their wings to display the striking crimson patches. The bird nest is mostly flimsy is a shallow platform of loose twigs, positioned 3-10 metres above the ground in thick foliage. Moreover, a clutch size of two is typical, and the downy chicks hatch after an incubation period of 20 to 22 days, devotedly taken care by both sexes. The precocious chicks do not linger long in the nest, and within 2 to 3 weeks, are clambering through the branches of the nest tree, a full week or two before they learn to fly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Red-naped Trogon (Harpactes kasumba)

The Red-naped Trogon (Harpactes kasumba) is a species of bird belongs to Trogonidae family. The bird is mostly found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Currently, tt is threatened by habitat loss. The male red-naped trogon is actually defined by a black head and upper breast, blue bill and eye ring with a bright blue colored face. The bird has yellow-brown upperparts and upper tail with black outlines, a white breast-line, bright red underparts and the under-tail is black and white. The most defining physical characteristic of the red-naped trogon is a band of bright red feathers around the back of the head, which gives the species its name. The red-naped trogon is a sturdily sexually dimorphic species, with the females usually being duller than the males. Both male and female have a life span of approximately 7.3 years. The females are blander in color than the males, containing of a grey-brown head and upper breast with yellow underparts.

Both the male and female grow in height up to 32 centimeters, or 12.5 inches. However, their legs and feet are short and feeble which makes them inept to walk; in its place they are limited to the occasional shuffle along a branch. The ratio of leg muscle to body weight in all Trogonidae species is only 3%, the lowest known ratio of any bird. Moreover, the arrangement of the toes on Trogonidae species feet is very rare among birds and is arranged with the third and fourth toes projecting forward and the first and second toes projecting backwards, an arrangement recognized as heterodactylous. Because of this arrangement, the red-naped trogon is unable to turn around on a branch if its wings are not aiding the movement.

Both sexes have compact bodies, short wings and a long tail. However the wings are short, they’re quite strong, with the wing muscle ratio being approximately 22% of the body weight. In spite of their strength of flight, red-naped trogons do not fly great distances, generally flying no more than a few hundred metres at a time. The red-naped trogon's song voice is very sluggish, sad-sounding 5 to 8 note “pau pau pau pau pau.” Each short note slightly down slurred (1.5-1.2 kHz) and delivered at a rate of c.1 note/s. Moreover, to the territorial and breeding calls given by males and females during the breeding seasons, though, red-naped trogons have also been recorded as having aggression and alarm calls.

Red-naped trogons are usually inactive outside of their consistent feeding patterns. Because of this, birdwatchers and biologists have observed that apart from their overall attractiveness, they’re infamous for their lack of other immediately engaging qualities. Their lack of activity has been considered a defence against predation. Moreover, high rates of deforestation in the Sundaic lowlands have been very fast, owing to the escalation of illegal logging and land conversion that targets all remaining stands of valuable timber. Furthermore, another impact has also been forest fires that have had a serious damaging effect. Because of these threats, the red-naped trogon has been ranked by Birdlife as a near threatened species (NT). As with other Trogonidae species, red-naped trogons have been reported to shift along branches to retain their dull colored backs turned towards observers, while their heads, which can rotate at 180 degrees similar to owls, are turned to keep watch on any possible predators. They’re preyed upon by hawks and predatory mammals.

European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

The European Goldfinch is a small passerine bird in the finch family that is native to Europe, North Africa and western Asia and has been introduced to other areas including Australia, New Zealand and Uruguay. This beautiful small bird is found in open, partially wooded lowlands and is a resident in the milder west of its range, but migrates from colder regions. The goldfinch will also make local movements, even in the west, to escape bad weather. The bird is breeds in mixed woodland, orchards, parks, commons, gardens and pine plantations where there are thistles and other plants that produce seeds. The goldfinch size is about 12 to 13 cm long with a wingspan is 21 to 25 cm and a weight of 14 to 19 gram.

The both sexes are broadly akin, however the goldfinch has a red face and a black-and-white head and back and flanks are buff or chestnut brown. Moreover the black wings have a broad yellow bar. The tail is black and the rump is white. Therefore, the female bird is very alike to the male but has a slightly smaller red area on the face. Goldfinches will display to each other during spring by singing and swaying their wings from side to side. The song is an enjoyable silvery twittering, however the call is a melodious tickeLLIT, and the song is a pleasant tinkling medley of trills and twitters, but always including the trisyllabic call phrase or a teLLLIT-teLLIT-teLLLIT. The Male goldfinches are the only birds that can extract seeds from teasel heads by clinging to the stem and probing with their long, pointed bill. Thus, females have shorter beaks and so they are unable to exploit teasel heads.

In the autumn, when seed heads are common, goldfinches have a broad diet, feeding on groundsels, ragworts and dandelions as well as the favorite teasels and knapweeds. Therefore, outside of the breeding season, goldfinches travel in flocks in search of food during the day. The goldfinch is habitually depicted in Italian renaissance paintings of the Madonna and Child. Antonio Vivaldi composed a Concerto in D major for Flute "Il Gardellino" where the singing of the goldfinch is imitated by a flute. The goldfish is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List and included in the Birds of Conservation Concern Amber List (medium conservation concern).

Chamaeza Ruficauda Vocal (Tovaca-de-rabo-vermelho)

Long considered to be conspecific with the Schwartz’s Antthrush of northern South America, whilst simultaneously confused with the locally sympatric Such’s Antthrush (Chamaeza meruloides), which shares much of the same geographic range as the present species, but is usually found at marginally lower elevations. The Rufous-tailed Antthrush ranges from southeast Brazil to northeasternmost Argentina, where it is confined to the province of Misiones, and is generally found above 1000 m altitude. The species is most easily detected by its distinctive voice, which is a short, hollow-sounding trill, in complete contrast to the gradually quickening and prolonged song of the Such’s Antthrush, with which it was so long confused. Its plumage is broadly similar to those of congenerics; brown above, becoming only slightly more rufous over the rump and tail, with scallop-patterned underparts, and white throat, malar line, and supercilium.