The Marvellous Spatuletail

The nature’s most beautiful bird is The Marvellous Spatuletail “Loddigesia Mirabilis” is just a 15cm long bird. The medium size hummingbird adorned with different colors, white green and bronze with blue crest feathers, and a brilliant turquoise gorget and black line on its white underparts. The bird is sexually dimorphic and only member of the monotypic genus Loddigesia. This bird can be found at the forest edges of Rio Utcubamba region in Peru. This Peruvian endemic bird was first discovered in 1835 by the bird collector Andrew Matthews for George Loddiges, after whom the genus is named. The bird is extremely unique in just having four feathers in its tail. However, male bird is having two long racquet-shaped outer tail feathers that cross each other and end in large violet-blue discs or “spatules”. The breeding season starts from late October to early May, which coincides with rainy season. 

The marvellous spatuletail is unique among birds in having just four feathers in its tail. Its most remarkable feature is the male's two long racquet-shaped outer tail feathers that cross each other and end in large violet-blue discs or "spatules". The marvellous spatuletail bird can move them independently. The population of Marvellous Spatuletail in limited numbers and it is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.  The population is estimated to fall between 300 to 1000 mature individuals and equivalent to 375-1,499 individuals in total, rounded here to 350-1,500 individuals. Another threat to this species is hunting by locals, who believe that the male marvellous spatuletail’s heart is an aphrodisiac and this may account for the skewed sex ratio in this species, as adult males are habitually killed with slingshots and so are greatly outnumbered by females and immature males. 

The bird call has been described as a thin, sweet, rising ‘wsst’, however displaying to the female the male marvellous spatuletail produces a snapping sound. The Marvellous Spatuletail has been featured in the PBS TV series Nature and the BBC TV. The BBC camera team was also the first to record the male marvellous spatuletail hummingbird displaying to a female, and his whole mating display from start to finish. The male marvellous spatuletail displays to a female by hovering in front of her, waving his tail feathers. Therefore, the courtship display of the male Marvellous Spatuletail is so energetically demanding that it can only be performed for very short periods. The Marvellous Spatuletail feeds consist on nectar, red-flowered lily, Bomarea formosissima. This is a solitary bird for most of the year, and moves around continually throughout the day, flying through dense thickets faster and with greater maneuverability than other hummingbirds.

Therefore, in 2006 American Bird Conservancy provided support to protect and manage 100 acres of significant habitat for jewel of this bird. They’ve planed more than 30,000 saplings of native trees and bushes to increase the bird’s numbers, which is best of its in Peru. The Marvellous Spatuletail hummingbird is among the rarest and striking of birds and uncommon due to its extreme mating behavior. The bird body size is slightly fluffy ping-pong ball, and beak in the size of matchstick. Source: Charismatic Planet

Baglafecht Weaver (Ploceus baglafecht) in Ethiopia by Paul van Giersbergen.

Ashy Prinia (Prinia socialis) courtship dance, in Rajasthan India by Ains Priesty.

Amur Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone incei) family in Malaysia by Lawrence Neo.

American Robin (Turdus migratorius) in New-Mexico, USA by James Ownby.

Amazing close-up of Purple-bibbed Whitetip (Urosticte benjamini) in Ecuador by Larry Gridley.

Allen's Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin) in California, USA by Chai Dai.

African Golden Weaver (Ploceus subaureus) in Tanzania by Paul van Giersbergen.

African Emerald Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx cupreus) in Uganda by Tadeusz Rosinski.

African Emerald Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx cupreus) by Hugh Chittenden.

A Royal Sunangel Hummingbird (Heliangelus regalis)

A pair of Red-backed Fairywren (Malurus melanocephalus) in Australia by Graeme Toft

Blue-Footed Booby

Blue-footed boobies take great pride due to their marvelous feet. During mating rituals, male birds normally show off their feet to prospective mates with a high stepping strut. The blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii) is a marine bird in the family Sulidae, which includes ten species of long-winged seabirds. Therefore the bluer the feet, the mate considered more attractive.  The booby species are thought to take their name from the Spanish word (bobo), means “stupid, clown, and Fool”.  Because the blue-footed booby is clumsy on land regarded as foolish for their apparent fearlessness of humans. Blue feet also indicate the current health condition of a booby, thus, the feet are rapid and honest indicators of a booby's current level of nourishment. The blue feet are signs that reliably point toward the immunological and health condition of a booby, coloration is favored through sexual selection.

These impressively beautiful feet birds live off the western coasts of central and South America.  The Galápagos Islands population includes about half of all breeding pairs of blue-footed boobies. The female bird is somewhat larger than the male and can measure up to 90 cm long with a wingspan of up to 1.5 m. Similar to other boobies the blue-foot nest on land at night. The boobies are flew in search of seafood, may fly far out to sea keeping an eye for schools of small fish in cooperative groups such as sardines, anchovies, mackerel, and flying fish.  These seabirds are exceptional divers, fold their long wings back around their streamlined bodies and plunge into the water from as high as 24 meters and swimming underwater in search of its prey. Even, they can also dive from a sitting position on the water’s surface. These birds hit the water around 97 km/h and have ability to go to depths of 25 meters below the water surface.

Both sexes start breeding between 1 to 6 years. The blue-footed booby usually lays 1-3 eggs at a time, and they’re very caring to their chicks, use their webbed feet to cover and keep them warm. Both male and female take turns incubating the eggs, and the incubation period is falling between 41–45 days. Both male and female birds share parental responsibilities. The male will provide food for the young and chicks feed off the regurgitated fish in the adult's mouth. The boobies’ natural breeding habitats are tropical and subtropical islands of Pacific Ocean. The blue-footed booby wings are brown color, neck and head are light brown with white streaks, belly and underside full white plumage. The boobies’ are having distinctive yellow color eyes with excellent binocular vision.

 The blue-footed booby's hunts singly, in pairs, or in larger flocks. Blue-footed boobies make raucous or polysyllabic grunts or shout and thin whistling noises and their ritual displays are also a form of communication, hence mates can identify each other by their calls. The blue-footed booby population appears to having trouble breeding and thus is slowly declining. The decline is feared to be long-term, but annual data collection is needed for a firm conclusion that this is not a normal fluctuation. Food problems may be the cause of an observed failure of the birds to even try to breed.

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.