1John5918
For the first Bird of the Month of the new year I choose another extinct bird, the great auk (Pinguinus impennis). Despite its Latin name, it is not closely related to the modern penguin, which were discovered later by Europeans and so named by sailors because of their physical resemblance to the great auk, which were called penguins. The razorbill is the closest living relative of the great auk, which was also related closely to the little auk or dovekie. The great auk was 75-85 cm tall and weighed about 5 kg. The wings were only 15 cm long, rendering the bird flightless, but the great auk was a powerful swimmer, a trait that it used in hunting. Its favourite prey were fish and crustaceans.
The great auk was an important part of many Native American cultures, both as a food source and as a symbolic item. Early European explorers to the Americas used the great auk as a convenient food source or as fishing bait, reducing its numbers. The bird's down was in high demand in Europe, a factor that largely eliminated the European populations by the mid-16th century. Scientists soon began to realise that the great auk was disappearing and it became the beneficiary of many early environmental laws, but these proved ineffectual. On 3rd June 1844, the last two confirmed specimens were killed on Eldey, off the coast of Iceland.
The great auk was found in the cold North Atlantic coastal waters along the coasts of Canada, the northeastern United States, Norway, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Ireland, Great Britain, France, and the Iberian Peninsula. Pleistocene fossils indicate the great auk also inhabited Southern France, Italy, and other coasts of the Mediterranean basin. It was common on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. It left the North Atlantic waters for land only to breed, even roosting at sea when not breeding. The rookeries of the great auk were found from Baffin Bay to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, across the far northern Atlantic, including Iceland, and in Norway and the British Isles in Europe. For their nesting colonies the great auks required rocky islands with sloping shorelines that provided access to the sea. These were very limiting requirements and it is believed that the great auk never had more than 20 breeding colonies. The nesting sites also needed to be close to rich feeding areas and to be far enough from the mainland to discourage predators such as humans and polar bears. The localities of only seven former breeding colonies are known.
They had few natural predators, mainly large marine mammals, such as the orca, and white-tailed eagles, and of course polar bears. Reportedly, this species had no innate fear of human beings, and their flightlessness and awkwardness on land compounded their vulnerability. Great auks reacted to noises, but were rarely frightened by the sight of something. Their lifespan was 20 to 25 years.
Text from Wikipedia, images from Wikipedia and Audubon.
The great auk was an important part of many Native American cultures, both as a food source and as a symbolic item. Early European explorers to the Americas used the great auk as a convenient food source or as fishing bait, reducing its numbers. The bird's down was in high demand in Europe, a factor that largely eliminated the European populations by the mid-16th century. Scientists soon began to realise that the great auk was disappearing and it became the beneficiary of many early environmental laws, but these proved ineffectual. On 3rd June 1844, the last two confirmed specimens were killed on Eldey, off the coast of Iceland.
The great auk was found in the cold North Atlantic coastal waters along the coasts of Canada, the northeastern United States, Norway, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Ireland, Great Britain, France, and the Iberian Peninsula. Pleistocene fossils indicate the great auk also inhabited Southern France, Italy, and other coasts of the Mediterranean basin. It was common on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. It left the North Atlantic waters for land only to breed, even roosting at sea when not breeding. The rookeries of the great auk were found from Baffin Bay to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, across the far northern Atlantic, including Iceland, and in Norway and the British Isles in Europe. For their nesting colonies the great auks required rocky islands with sloping shorelines that provided access to the sea. These were very limiting requirements and it is believed that the great auk never had more than 20 breeding colonies. The nesting sites also needed to be close to rich feeding areas and to be far enough from the mainland to discourage predators such as humans and polar bears. The localities of only seven former breeding colonies are known.
They had few natural predators, mainly large marine mammals, such as the orca, and white-tailed eagles, and of course polar bears. Reportedly, this species had no innate fear of human beings, and their flightlessness and awkwardness on land compounded their vulnerability. Great auks reacted to noises, but were rarely frightened by the sight of something. Their lifespan was 20 to 25 years.
Text from Wikipedia, images from Wikipedia and Audubon.
2John5918
And let me repeat my perennial invitation for members to do Bird of the Month from time to time - hopefully with more extant rather than extinct birds! Currently only myself, Tess and NorthernStar are doing it. It's not difficult and you don't have to be an expert, as all the information is available online. Remember that a favourite bird which you think is common and uninteresting in your area will probably seem rare and exotic to those of us from other areas, as this is a global group. If you're interested, contact me or Tess either in this thread or by private message. Let me wish you all a happy new year, with lots of interesting bird sightings!
3NorthernStar
>1 John5918: thanks for another interesting bird of the month. It makes me sad, though, to know that no one will ever see one of these alive again.
4TempleCat
>3 NorthernStar: Sad, yes. The Guardian newspaper ran an article today with the headline "'Grief is a rational response': the 21 US species declared extinct this year". This brings up so many emotions that go well beyond sadness.
5Tess_W
Here is the "list" and a picture of the Bachman Warbler
The extinct species include:
Eight Hawaiian honeycreeper birds (forest birds)
Bridled white-eye bird of Guam
Mariana fruit bat of Guam
San Marcos gambusia, a one-inch long fish from Texas
Scioto madtom, a small catfish found exclusively in the Big Darby Creek in Ohio
Bachman's warbler, a black and yellow songbird found in several Southern states and Cuba
Eight freshwater mussels: the flat pigtoe, green-blossom pearly mussel, southern acornshell, stirrupshell, tubercled-blossom pearly mussel, turgid-blossom pearly mussel, upland combshell and yellow-blossom pearly mussel
The extinct species include:
Eight Hawaiian honeycreeper birds (forest birds)
Bridled white-eye bird of Guam
Mariana fruit bat of Guam
San Marcos gambusia, a one-inch long fish from Texas
Scioto madtom, a small catfish found exclusively in the Big Darby Creek in Ohio
Bachman's warbler, a black and yellow songbird found in several Southern states and Cuba
Eight freshwater mussels: the flat pigtoe, green-blossom pearly mussel, southern acornshell, stirrupshell, tubercled-blossom pearly mussel, turgid-blossom pearly mussel, upland combshell and yellow-blossom pearly mussel
6varielle
>2 John5918: I would be willing to do a bird of the month if you need someone else. 🐦
7John5918
>6 varielle:
Thank you! After appealing for more than a year I now have two offers within the same day! Can I suggest that you, varielle, do a Bird of the Month in February 2024, and then new member JerBa, who has also volunteered, can do March? Then, if there are no other new offers, NorthernStar, Tess and myself can join the roster again in April, now with five of us contributing rather than just three.
Thank you! After appealing for more than a year I now have two offers within the same day! Can I suggest that you, varielle, do a Bird of the Month in February 2024, and then new member JerBa, who has also volunteered, can do March? Then, if there are no other new offers, NorthernStar, Tess and myself can join the roster again in April, now with five of us contributing rather than just three.
8JerBa
>7 John5918: Almost like buses... Yes, March is fine.
9varielle
>7 John5918: Perfect. I have my bird picked out. I will send you a pm.
10NorthernStar
Lovely to have new contributors!
12John5918
And we now have a third new volunteer, MeegsC! We'll slot them in later in the year - April maybe?
13varielle
ETA -Due to my inability to post the picture I finally got it to show up in a separate if you will scroll down a few posts.
The February bird of the month is the roseate spoonbill. Varielle lives near a rookery where they roost so they fly over the house all the time. It’s funny to watch them eat. They don’t have many feathers on their heads because they stick that spoony bill in the muck and shake it back and forth to get food. Their babies will be hatching in April. Funny looking babies have a round fuzzy body with long legs and neck sticking out. They look like tinker toys. Photo courtesy of LT member samthepaintman.
The following is Info from the Friends of the Crystal River State Park Facebook page:
What’s not to love about a big pink bird? With those gorgeous pastel feathers, you can almost overlook . . . that big, honkin’ beak!
Almost.
That spectacular spatulate bill comes in really handy for foraging in shallow, muddy water. The spoon-shaped tip of the bill lets it slice easily through the mud without catching on anything while bird sweeps it from side to side. When it senses a food item, it snaps it shut. Spoonbills eat small fish, worms, shrimp, crayfish, mollusks, and aquatic insects. They get their pink color from the crustaceans they eat that contain pigments called carotenoids that give their feathers a rosy hue.
Spoonbills usually nest in colonies, often in mangroves, about 5 to 15 feet above the water or ground.
But what about that unusual species name, Platalea ajaja? Platalea is Latin for “spatula” (think platypus…) and ajaja means “pink” in the Tupi language of Brazil.
Pink spatula! Perfect.
Watch for Roseate Spoonbills, Platelea ajaja, in shallow brackish or salt water throughout the Crystal River Preserve State Park, or maybe just flying by! ~Heather
#Pink #NativeBird #RoseateSpoonbill #FLStateParks #CrystalRiverPreserveStatePark #RealFlorida #NatureCoast
The February bird of the month is the roseate spoonbill. Varielle lives near a rookery where they roost so they fly over the house all the time. It’s funny to watch them eat. They don’t have many feathers on their heads because they stick that spoony bill in the muck and shake it back and forth to get food. Their babies will be hatching in April. Funny looking babies have a round fuzzy body with long legs and neck sticking out. They look like tinker toys. Photo courtesy of LT member samthepaintman.
The following is Info from the Friends of the Crystal River State Park Facebook page:
What’s not to love about a big pink bird? With those gorgeous pastel feathers, you can almost overlook . . . that big, honkin’ beak!
Almost.
That spectacular spatulate bill comes in really handy for foraging in shallow, muddy water. The spoon-shaped tip of the bill lets it slice easily through the mud without catching on anything while bird sweeps it from side to side. When it senses a food item, it snaps it shut. Spoonbills eat small fish, worms, shrimp, crayfish, mollusks, and aquatic insects. They get their pink color from the crustaceans they eat that contain pigments called carotenoids that give their feathers a rosy hue.
Spoonbills usually nest in colonies, often in mangroves, about 5 to 15 feet above the water or ground.
But what about that unusual species name, Platalea ajaja? Platalea is Latin for “spatula” (think platypus…) and ajaja means “pink” in the Tupi language of Brazil.
Pink spatula! Perfect.
Watch for Roseate Spoonbills, Platelea ajaja, in shallow brackish or salt water throughout the Crystal River Preserve State Park, or maybe just flying by! ~Heather
#Pink #NativeBird #RoseateSpoonbill #FLStateParks #CrystalRiverPreserveStatePark #RealFlorida #NatureCoast
14TempleCat
>13 varielle: It took me several attempts before I got a picture to display also! Here are the steps I follow:
1. load your image into your junk drawer
2. click on/select/open (whichever your operating system provides) the postage stamp rendering of your image in your junk drawer. The bigger, actual sized image should appear.
3. copy the address of this large image into your paste buffer. (On my iPad I press and hold on the image and a menu pops up from which I select 'copy'.)
4. Back in your entry here, type <img src="url">
where url is the address of the pic that you copied into your paste buffer. Simply paste it in the command between the quotes. Be sure to include the double quotes in your command as well.
Then check the preview of your post just to confirm that everything works the way you wanted. Good luck!
1. load your image into your junk drawer
2. click on/select/open (whichever your operating system provides) the postage stamp rendering of your image in your junk drawer. The bigger, actual sized image should appear.
3. copy the address of this large image into your paste buffer. (On my iPad I press and hold on the image and a menu pops up from which I select 'copy'.)
4. Back in your entry here, type <img src="url">
where url is the address of the pic that you copied into your paste buffer. Simply paste it in the command between the quotes. Be sure to include the double quotes in your command as well.
Then check the preview of your post just to confirm that everything works the way you wanted. Good luck!
15varielle
>14 TempleCat: Thanks. I've been trying to work from an iPhone 13 without luck but will try again when I can get to a full-sized computer.
16TempleCat
Interesting ... Using Safari, I just loaded a pic into my junk drawer, then loaded its address into the img src="..." command on my iPad, and those instructions worked fine. Then I deleted the image in my junk drawer and tried the whole process again using Safari on my iPhone SE with the same instructions and picture and it failed! I'm getting the same results as you - a tiny picture of a question mark. Both my phone and pad are using the same version of ios, too - 17.2.
Then, just to see if the image loaded into the junk drawer is the culprit, if there is something different about the address if it's loaded into the junk drawer by the iPhone as opposed to the iPad, I uploaded the pic into my junk drawer on my iPhone and then, on my iPad, copied that image's address into my paste buffer and pasted it into that img src="..." command. It worked fine and used the exact same address as my iPhone uses - the exact same string is pasted into the command. But on the iPad the command displays the image properly and on the iPhone it doesn't.
This is either a LibraryThing or a Safari bug. Do you want to report it to LibraryThing, since you uncovered it, or shall I?
Then, just to see if the image loaded into the junk drawer is the culprit, if there is something different about the address if it's loaded into the junk drawer by the iPhone as opposed to the iPad, I uploaded the pic into my junk drawer on my iPhone and then, on my iPad, copied that image's address into my paste buffer and pasted it into that img src="..." command. It worked fine and used the exact same address as my iPhone uses - the exact same string is pasted into the command. But on the iPad the command displays the image properly and on the iPhone it doesn't.
This is either a LibraryThing or a Safari bug. Do you want to report it to LibraryThing, since you uncovered it, or shall I?
17varielle
>16 TempleCat: Go ahead. I think this has been a longstanding problem with Safari. I will try using chrome. ETA chrome didn’t work. Tried from an iPad and that didn’t work either.
18TempleCat
>17 varielle: Again - interesting! Why does it work on my iPad and doesn't work on yours? Mine's an older model - a 10½" iPad Pro from 1917, running ios 17.2. What's yours? (I'll put all this in the bug report.)
19varielle
>18 TempleCat: mine is an iPad os 17.2 from 2019.
20varielle
Finally! There is our Spoonbill. Looking a bit pensive. Maybe there was too much text in the previous posting.???
21John5918
Interesting bird and wonderful picture! Thanks, varielle.
We have spoonbills in Africa but not as spectacularly hued. Ours are plain white with a red patch on the face.
We have spoonbills in Africa but not as spectacularly hued. Ours are plain white with a red patch on the face.
22TempleCat
>20 varielle: So what platform were you using to finally get the picture to display? Did you follow the process I outlined or did you do something different to get it to work?
23varielle
>22 TempleCat: I did it through Safari but on a full sized computer. Even though the code looked exactly the same I ended up pasting an unrelated picture previously used elsewhere which worked. Then inserted the image address for the spoonie and it took. Makes no sense but whatever works.
24perennialreader
I saw my first roseate spoonbill this past January in the Everglades in Florida. Just west of the Oasis Visitors Center in a swampy area beside the road (Hwy 41). I want to go back next year after I save up some money. :) Gorgeous birds!
25NorthernStar
Nice bird, thank you! Are you in Florida?
26varielle
>25 NorthernStar: I’m in Florida unless you were asking perennialreader.
28varielle
>22 TempleCat: TempleCat I think I figured out the problem. From my iPhone typing the quotes marks “” they appeared slanted. If I copy and paste straight ones (as in perpendicular) that were previously used it corrects the problem. Mystifying. 🧐
29John5918
As we approach the end of February, just a reminder that JerBa has volunteered to do March, and MeegsC is lined up for April. There's still plenty of opportunity for other new volunteers to follow them!
30TempleCat
>28 varielle: Wow, you've got good eyes! You're right, my iPhone also gives the slanted quotes and my iPad the straight vertical quotes. These have different ascii values and that's what the computer goes by, so it makes sense one set would work and the other wouldn't.
I haven't logged the problem as a bug - been too busy - life intervenes just when you've made other plans! Now, thanks to your fine detective work, I'd say it probably isn't actually a bug, but that the explanations of how to use html in LibraryThing posts should be updated to include your new info. Kudos!
--- Edit --
Actually, that explanation is already in this set of LibraryThing instructions on using HTML,
so I guess everything is copacetic, if definitely obscure!
I haven't logged the problem as a bug - been too busy - life intervenes just when you've made other plans! Now, thanks to your fine detective work, I'd say it probably isn't actually a bug, but that the explanations of how to use html in LibraryThing posts should be updated to include your new info. Kudos!
--- Edit --
Actually, that explanation is already in this set of LibraryThing instructions on using HTML,
so I guess everything is copacetic, if definitely obscure!
31JerBa
Here goes with a first attempt at a bird of the month.
A very quick introduction: I work as a biologist for a planning consultancy in southern Germany, am British born & bred and have been birding for almost all of my 46 years. I lead regular bird walks on a couple of local nature reserves throughout the year, where I try to help people identify the birds around them, and to appreciate a bit more about their ecology & biology.
I thought I'd start small, and here it doesn't really come smaller than this: the nose-to-tail 8cm of the Firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla). This is – along with the widespread and closely-related Goldcrest, and the much less widespread and even more closely-related Madeiran Firecrest – the smallest breeding bird we have in Europe. These birds are from a small family, the Kinglets (Regulidae) with a couple of cousin species found in North America and one in eastern Asia. With the small stature comes a light weight: between 4.5 and 5.5g in total: about the same as a 2p coin, or for a pretty fat Firecrest about the same as a US quarter.
The scientific name ignicapilla refers, like the English name, to the bright orange central crown feathers which are raised and fanned a little during excitement displays.
(Image by Markxmlx, Wikipedia)
They can be found through much of Europe in the summer, but retreat towards the west and south over winter to escape the coldest winter weather. As the bill suggests, they are insectivorous, so heading for warmer climes over winter makes a lot of sense. They breed in wooded habitats, often with a small conifer element among deciduous trees and appear to be profiting from increasingly warmer summers, spreading north and west (they colonised Great Britain a few decades back, took a long while to get a foothold and are now suddenly spreading rapidly there).
This is one of a handful of birds that people on my walks often struggle to find. They are small, they move rapidly and they aren't the loudest: a short, high-pitched see-see-see call only a semitone lower than a Goldcrest and a rather dry song best described as szee-szee-szee-szee-SZEE. Not the easiest for older ears to pick up! A key identification feature when you see one is the white supercilium (eyebrow), which the Goldcrest lacks.
You can have a look at the European Breeding Bird Atlas breeding distribution map here.
The song links point to xeno-canto.org, which began life as an online database of bird song and calls to which anyone can contribute, and now has a wider remit of wildlife sound recordings. I'm not affiliated with them in any way; just find the resource both fascinating and incredibly useful.
A very quick introduction: I work as a biologist for a planning consultancy in southern Germany, am British born & bred and have been birding for almost all of my 46 years. I lead regular bird walks on a couple of local nature reserves throughout the year, where I try to help people identify the birds around them, and to appreciate a bit more about their ecology & biology.
I thought I'd start small, and here it doesn't really come smaller than this: the nose-to-tail 8cm of the Firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla). This is – along with the widespread and closely-related Goldcrest, and the much less widespread and even more closely-related Madeiran Firecrest – the smallest breeding bird we have in Europe. These birds are from a small family, the Kinglets (Regulidae) with a couple of cousin species found in North America and one in eastern Asia. With the small stature comes a light weight: between 4.5 and 5.5g in total: about the same as a 2p coin, or for a pretty fat Firecrest about the same as a US quarter.
The scientific name ignicapilla refers, like the English name, to the bright orange central crown feathers which are raised and fanned a little during excitement displays.
(Image by Markxmlx, Wikipedia)
They can be found through much of Europe in the summer, but retreat towards the west and south over winter to escape the coldest winter weather. As the bill suggests, they are insectivorous, so heading for warmer climes over winter makes a lot of sense. They breed in wooded habitats, often with a small conifer element among deciduous trees and appear to be profiting from increasingly warmer summers, spreading north and west (they colonised Great Britain a few decades back, took a long while to get a foothold and are now suddenly spreading rapidly there).
This is one of a handful of birds that people on my walks often struggle to find. They are small, they move rapidly and they aren't the loudest: a short, high-pitched see-see-see call only a semitone lower than a Goldcrest and a rather dry song best described as szee-szee-szee-szee-SZEE. Not the easiest for older ears to pick up! A key identification feature when you see one is the white supercilium (eyebrow), which the Goldcrest lacks.
You can have a look at the European Breeding Bird Atlas breeding distribution map here.
The song links point to xeno-canto.org, which began life as an online database of bird song and calls to which anyone can contribute, and now has a wider remit of wildlife sound recordings. I'm not affiliated with them in any way; just find the resource both fascinating and incredibly useful.
32clamairy
>31 JerBa: What a gorgeous bird!
Thank you.
Thank you.
34JerBa
Very welcome - the singing firecrest on this morning's walk caused no difficulty for anyone present, fortunately. They are very fine little birds!
35perennialreader
Beautiful bird. Thanks for posting!
37birder4106
Goldcrest (Regulus regulus, ger. Wintergoldhähnchen) and Firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla, ger. Sommeregoldhähnchen) are the two smallest bird species in Europe.
They are very similar and often occur next to each other and in very similar habitats.
They are somewhat easier to distinguish in their songs.
The biggest difference is their migration behavior. The goldcrest often stays in its territory all year round and exhibits mostly shorter autumn and winter migrations. The summer goldcrest migrates to areas south of the Alps from September to February and is only found in exceptional cases in the northern Alpine region.
Since their singing consists of high tones, they can serve as a hearing test for those who know their voices. If you can still hear their voices in field conditions, your hearing is ok. If this is no longer possible, it is worth having your hearing examined by a doctor and asking yourself whether it might make sense to purchase a hearing aid.
They are very similar and often occur next to each other and in very similar habitats.
They are somewhat easier to distinguish in their songs.
The biggest difference is their migration behavior. The goldcrest often stays in its territory all year round and exhibits mostly shorter autumn and winter migrations. The summer goldcrest migrates to areas south of the Alps from September to February and is only found in exceptional cases in the northern Alpine region.
Since their singing consists of high tones, they can serve as a hearing test for those who know their voices. If you can still hear their voices in field conditions, your hearing is ok. If this is no longer possible, it is worth having your hearing examined by a doctor and asking yourself whether it might make sense to purchase a hearing aid.
39NorthernStar
>31 JerBa: Thank you - lovely bird! Resembles the kinglets we get here (northern Canada) in summer, and it sounds like they are related.
40JerBa
>39 NorthernStar: they are lovely birds! Close relatives of Golden-crowned Kinglet and almost as close to Ruby-crowned - that's apparently recently been separated off into a genus of its own, basal to the other species in Regulus.
>37 birder4106: thanks for the additions :)
I did a search for winter Firecrest records in Germany on ornitho.de, asking for all records between 01.11 and 31.01, 1958-2024. The older the record, the yellower the point (yes, the data is biased in all sorts of ways, but still) - a screenshot below:
It looks as though the migration strategy is gradually changing - hardly surprising in the face of milder winters. Nowhere near as abundant as in summer and with obvious concentrations of records in the mildest areas of the country over winter, but impressively widespread nonetheless.
I find that their habitat preferences are subtly different, at least here in the southern lowlands. Goldcrests are more tied to conifers, especially spruce, where Firecrests are more a species of mixed or broadleaf woodland. It's not a hard and fast rule by any means though.
>37 birder4106: thanks for the additions :)
I did a search for winter Firecrest records in Germany on ornitho.de, asking for all records between 01.11 and 31.01, 1958-2024. The older the record, the yellower the point (yes, the data is biased in all sorts of ways, but still) - a screenshot below:
It looks as though the migration strategy is gradually changing - hardly surprising in the face of milder winters. Nowhere near as abundant as in summer and with obvious concentrations of records in the mildest areas of the country over winter, but impressively widespread nonetheless.
I find that their habitat preferences are subtly different, at least here in the southern lowlands. Goldcrests are more tied to conifers, especially spruce, where Firecrests are more a species of mixed or broadleaf woodland. It's not a hard and fast rule by any means though.
41John5918
As we come towards the end of March, let me just remind everyone that MeegsC has offered to do April.
Any offers for May and beyond? I'll do it if nobody else pops up, but it would be nice to see more new volunteers.
Any offers for May and beyond? I'll do it if nobody else pops up, but it would be nice to see more new volunteers.
45John5918
As we come towards the end of April I'm not sure what has happened to MeegsC. They told me they were travelling but would be back in time for April. But in any case let me take the liberty of doing an impromptu Bird of the Month. If MeegsC reappears before the end of the month we can have two Birds of the Month for April; if not, we'll slot them in again after varielle for May and JerBa for June.
I would like to showcase the White-headed Buffalo-Weaver (Dinemellia dinemelli). They hang around in groups of up to a dozen or so in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda in a variety of open and savanna habitats and shrublands, but especially dry brush and acacia thickets. It forages on the ground for insects, especially beetles and butterflies, fruits, and seeds, and the buffalo part of its name derives from its habit of following the African buffalo, feeding on disturbed insects. It is 170 to 190 mm in length and 57 to 85 g in weight. In addition to its white head and underparts, it has a vivid orange-red rump and undertail coverts. The photos don't do it justice; when you see them in bright sunshine in the bush the red flash is really eye-catching.
We were in a wildlife conservancy in the Taita Hills in February, and we saw many of these birds there. Not the first time I've seen it, but it certainly made a greater impression on me this time. It's only found up to an altitude of 1,400 m so we don't see it at home (1,900 m) even though our vegetation here is similar to its habitat. There are northern and southern varieties with minor differences, but in Taita we were in the twilight zone between the two so I'm not sure which one we saw.
Talking of altitude, one of our neighbours recently spotted a one metre long Black-Throated Monitor (a reptile, not a bird!) in her garden (see photo below). On checking with the Florida Museum of Natural History, it turns out that this is a new altitude record (1,917.8 m) for this monitor in Kenya, where it has never before been spotted above 1,500 m. They speculate that this may be a result of global warming. If wildlife in Kenya is being driven higher, maybe one day we'll see White-headed Buffalo-Weavers in our garden!
Text from Wikipedia, eBird and various field guides. Photos from Wikipedia, observation.org and Deborah Thiele.
I would like to showcase the White-headed Buffalo-Weaver (Dinemellia dinemelli). They hang around in groups of up to a dozen or so in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda in a variety of open and savanna habitats and shrublands, but especially dry brush and acacia thickets. It forages on the ground for insects, especially beetles and butterflies, fruits, and seeds, and the buffalo part of its name derives from its habit of following the African buffalo, feeding on disturbed insects. It is 170 to 190 mm in length and 57 to 85 g in weight. In addition to its white head and underparts, it has a vivid orange-red rump and undertail coverts. The photos don't do it justice; when you see them in bright sunshine in the bush the red flash is really eye-catching.
We were in a wildlife conservancy in the Taita Hills in February, and we saw many of these birds there. Not the first time I've seen it, but it certainly made a greater impression on me this time. It's only found up to an altitude of 1,400 m so we don't see it at home (1,900 m) even though our vegetation here is similar to its habitat. There are northern and southern varieties with minor differences, but in Taita we were in the twilight zone between the two so I'm not sure which one we saw.
Talking of altitude, one of our neighbours recently spotted a one metre long Black-Throated Monitor (a reptile, not a bird!) in her garden (see photo below). On checking with the Florida Museum of Natural History, it turns out that this is a new altitude record (1,917.8 m) for this monitor in Kenya, where it has never before been spotted above 1,500 m. They speculate that this may be a result of global warming. If wildlife in Kenya is being driven higher, maybe one day we'll see White-headed Buffalo-Weavers in our garden!
Text from Wikipedia, eBird and various field guides. Photos from Wikipedia, observation.org and Deborah Thiele.
48clamairy
>45 John5918: What a beauty.
49varielle
Photo courtesy of LT member samthepaintman. It was taken on the Matanzas River.
The bird of the month is The American white ibis. They hang out in varielle’s yard frequently and leave a mess which is very tempting for little dogs to try and eat to their owner’s dismay.
The following is from Wikipedia
The American white ibis (Eudocimus albus) is a species of bird in the ibis family, Threskiornithidae. It is found from Virginia via the Gulf Coast of the United States south through most of the coastal New World tropics.2 This particular ibis is a medium-sized bird with an overall white plumage, bright red-orange down-curved bill and long legs, and black wing tips that are usually only visible in flight. Males are larger and have longer bills than females. The breeding range runs along the Gulf and Atlantic Coast, and the coasts of Mexico and Central America. Outside the breeding period, the range extends further inland in North America and also includes the Caribbean. It is also found along the northwestern South American coastline in Colombia and Venezuela. Populations in central Venezuela overlap and interbreed with the scarlet ibis. The two have been classified by some authorities as a single species.
American white ibis
Their diet consists primarily of small aquatic prey, such as insects and small fishes. Crayfish are its preferred food in most regions, but it can adjust its diet according to the habitat and prey abundance. Its main foraging behavior is probing with its beak at the bottom of shallow water to feel for and capture its prey. It does not see the prey.
During the breeding season, the American white ibis gathers in huge colonies near water. Pairs are predominantly monogamous and both parents care for the young, although males tend to engage in extra-pair copulation with other females to increase their reproductive success. Males have also been found to pirate food from unmated females and juveniles during the breeding season.
Human pollution has affected the behavior of the American white ibis via an increase in the concentrations of methylmercury, which is released into the environment from untreated waste. Exposure to methylmercury alters the hormone levels of American white ibis, affecting their mating and nesting behavior and leading to lower reproduction rates.
50John5918
>49 varielle:
Thanks! That's a spectacular bird. We have ibis - glossy, sacred and hadada - but they're all fairly nondescript compared to this. Does yours have a very loud and annoying call like ours?
Thanks! That's a spectacular bird. We have ibis - glossy, sacred and hadada - but they're all fairly nondescript compared to this. Does yours have a very loud and annoying call like ours?
51perennialreader
>49 varielle: Beautiful bird.
52varielle
>50 John5918: They are pretty squawky. It’s hard to describe.
