(Source - wikipedia)
1) Humming Bird:
Hummingbirds drink nectar, a sweet liquid inside flowers. Like bees, they are able to assess the amount of sugar in the nectar they eat; they reject flower types that produce nectar that is less than 10% sugar and prefer those whose sugar content is stronger. Hummingbirds have long lifespans for organisms with such rapid metabolisms. Though many die during their first year of life, especially in the vulnerable period between hatching and leaving the nest (fledging), those that survive may live a decade or more. Among the better-known North American species, the average lifespan is 3 to 5 years.
2) Ethiopian lammergeier
The Lammergeier or Bearded Vulture, Gypaetus barbatus ("Bearded Vulture-Eagle"), is an Old World vulture, the only member of the genus Gypaetus. It breeds on crags in high mountains in southern Europe, Africa, India, and Tibet, laying one or two eggs in mid-winter which hatch at the beginning of spring. The population is resident. The Lammergeier has been successfully re-introduced into the Alps, but is still one of the rarest raptors in Europe.[2]
Like other vultures it is a scavenger, feeding mostly from carcasses of dead animals. It usually disdains the rotting meat, however, and lives on a diet that is 90% bone marrow. It will drop large bones from a height to crack them into smaller pieces. Its old name of Ossifrage ("bone breaker") relates to this habit. Live tortoises are also dropped in similar fashion to crack them open.
Like other vultures it is a scavenger, feeding mostly from carcasses of dead animals. It usually disdains the rotting meat, however, and lives on a diet that is 90% bone marrow. It will drop large bones from a height to crack them into smaller pieces. Its old name of Ossifrage ("bone breaker") relates to this habit. Live tortoises are also dropped in similar fashion to crack them open.
3) Red Billed Tropic Bird
The Red-billed Tropicbird, Phaethon aethereus, also known as the Boatswain Bird is a tropicbird, one of three closely related seabirds of tropical oceans. It occurs in the tropical Atlantic, eastern Pacific and Indian Oceans.The Indian Ocean race of the Red-billed Tropicbird, P. a. indicus, was at one time considered a full species, the Lesser Red-billed Tropicbird from Pakistan and the western Republic of India.The Red-billed Tropicbird breeds on tropical islands laying a single egg directly onto the ground or a cliff ledge. It disperses widely when not breeding, and sometimes wanders far, including an amazing record from Great Britain. One has recently been found in eastern Nova Scotia, Canada. They feed on fish and squid, but are poor swimmers.
The frigatebirds are a family, Fregatidae, of seabirds. There are five species in the single genus Fregata. They are also sometimes called Man of War birds or Pirate birds. Since they are related to the pelicans, the term "frigate pelican" is also a name applied to them. They have long wings, tails and bills and the males have a red gular pouch that is inflated during the breeding season to attract a mate.
Frigatebirds are pelagic piscivores which obtain most of their food on the wing. A small amount of their diet is obtained by robbing other seabirds, a behavior that has given the family its name, and by snatching seabird chicks. Frigatebirds are seasonally monogamous, and nest colonially. A rough nest is constructed in low trees or on the ground on remote islands. A single egg[citation needed] is laid each breeding season. The duration of parental care in frigatebirds is the longest of any bird.
5) Bower BirdsFrigatebirds are pelagic piscivores which obtain most of their food on the wing. A small amount of their diet is obtained by robbing other seabirds, a behavior that has given the family its name, and by snatching seabird chicks. Frigatebirds are seasonally monogamous, and nest colonially. A rough nest is constructed in low trees or on the ground on remote islands. A single egg[citation needed] is laid each breeding season. The duration of parental care in frigatebirds is the longest of any bird.
The catbirds are monogamous and raise chicks with their mate, but all other bowerbirds are polygynous, with the female building the nest and raising the young alone. These latter species are commonly sexually dimorphic, with the female being more drab in color. Female bowerbirds build a nest by laying soft materials, such as leaves, ferns, and vine tendrils, on top of a loose foundation of sticks. They lay one or two eggs, which hatch after 19 to 24 days, depending on the species.[1]
The most notable characteristic of bowerbirds is their extraordinarily complex courtship and mating behaviour, where males build a bower to attract mates. There are two main types of bowers. One clade of bowerbirds build so-called maypole bowers that are constructed by placing sticks around a sapling, in some species these bowers have a hut-like roof. The other major bowerbuilding clade builds an avenue type bower made of two walls of vertically placed sticks. In and around the bower the male places a variety of brightly colored objects he has collected. These objects — usually different among each species — may include hundreds of shells, leaves, flowers, feathers, stones, berries, and even discarded plastic items, coins, nails, rifle shells, or pieces of glass. The males spend hours arranging this collection. Bowers within a species share a general form but do show significant variation, and the collection of objects reflects the biases of males of each species and its ability to procure items from the habitat, often stealing them from neighboring bowers. Several studies of different species have shown that colors of decorations males use on their bowers match the preferences of females.
6) Red KnotThe most notable characteristic of bowerbirds is their extraordinarily complex courtship and mating behaviour, where males build a bower to attract mates. There are two main types of bowers. One clade of bowerbirds build so-called maypole bowers that are constructed by placing sticks around a sapling, in some species these bowers have a hut-like roof. The other major bowerbuilding clade builds an avenue type bower made of two walls of vertically placed sticks. In and around the bower the male places a variety of brightly colored objects he has collected. These objects — usually different among each species — may include hundreds of shells, leaves, flowers, feathers, stones, berries, and even discarded plastic items, coins, nails, rifle shells, or pieces of glass. The males spend hours arranging this collection. Bowers within a species share a general form but do show significant variation, and the collection of objects reflects the biases of males of each species and its ability to procure items from the habitat, often stealing them from neighboring bowers. Several studies of different species have shown that colors of decorations males use on their bowers match the preferences of females.
In the breeding season the Red Knot has a circumpolar distribution in the high Arctic, then migrates to coasts around the world from 50° N to 58° S. The exact migration routes and wintering grounds of individual subspecies are still somewhat uncertain. The nominate race C. c. canutus breeds in the Taymyr Peninsula and possibly Yakutia and migrates to the Western Europe and then down to western and southern Africa. C. c. rogersi breeds in the Chukchi Peninsula in eastern Siberia, and winters in eastern Australia and New Zealand. Small and declining numbers of rogersi (but possibly of the later described piersmai) winter in the mudflats in the Gulf of Mannar and on the eastern coast of India. The recently split race C. c. piersmai breeds in the New Siberian Islands and winters in north-western Australia.C. c. roselaari breeds in Wrangel Island in Siberia and north-western Alaska, and it apparently winters in Florida, Panama and Venezuela. C. c. rufa breeds in the Canadian low Arctic, and winters South America, and C. c. islandica breeds in the Canadian high Arctic as well as Greenland, and winters in Western Europe.
Birds wintering in west Africa were found to restrict their daily foraging to a range of just 2–16 km2 of intertidal area and roosted a single site for several months. In temperate regions such as the Wadden Sea they have been found to change roost sites each week and their feeding range may be as much as 800 km2 during the course of a week.
Birds wintering in west Africa were found to restrict their daily foraging to a range of just 2–16 km2 of intertidal area and roosted a single site for several months. In temperate regions such as the Wadden Sea they have been found to change roost sites each week and their feeding range may be as much as 800 km2 during the course of a week.
7) Birds of Paradise (Papua New Guinea Birds)
(source - Nat Geo)
The birds-of-paradise are members of the family Paradisaeidae of the order Passeriformes. The majority of species in this family are found on the island of New Guinea and its satellites, with a few species occurring in the Moluccas of Indonesia and eastern Australia. The family has forty species in 13 genera. The members of this family are perhaps best known for the plumage of the males of most species, in particular highly elongated and elaborate feathers extending from the beak, wings or head. For the most part they are confined to dense rainforest habitat. The diet of all species is dominated by fruit and to a lesser extent arthropods. The birds-of-paradise have a variety of breeding systems, ranging from monogamy to lek based polygamy.
8) Clarks Grebe (see the video)
8) Clarks Grebe (see the video)
Clark's Grebe (Aechmophorus clarkii) is a North American species in the grebe family. Until the 1980s, it was thought to be a pale morph of the Western Grebe, which it resembles in size, range, and behavior. Intermediates between the two species are known.
Clark's Grebe is black-and-white, with a long, slender, swan-like neck. It ranges in size from 22–29 inches (56–74 cm). Among its distinguishing features is its bill, which is slightly upturned and bright yellow, whereas the Western Grebe's bill is straight and greenish-yellow. It shows white around its eyes, whereas black appears around the eyes of the Western Grebe. The downy young are white, not gray.
Clark's Grebe is black-and-white, with a long, slender, swan-like neck. It ranges in size from 22–29 inches (56–74 cm). Among its distinguishing features is its bill, which is slightly upturned and bright yellow, whereas the Western Grebe's bill is straight and greenish-yellow. It shows white around its eyes, whereas black appears around the eyes of the Western Grebe. The downy young are white, not gray.
