DAY 274: THE LITTLE OWL FROM QATAR

TIRED LITTLE OWL!

 PHOTOS BY PAUL GIULLET
 

Sometimes pictures speak louder than words......

NOSY  LITTLE OWL!

BRAVE  LITTLE OWL!

DAY 273: BEAUTIFUL WHOOPER SWANS IN JAPAN

 

                                 Photograph by Stefano Unterthiner, National Geographic

Innocence, purity, peace. The color white evokes images of everything from brides to blizzards, from cleanliness to a blank canvas. Its meaning in culture and custom throughout history is as varied as its range of shades.

Here, whooper swans take flight above a frozen landscape in Japan. The swans take off mostly on water, but can also do so on solid ground, using a short run & beating their massive wings to achieve liftoff.

DAY 272: LET ME IN - ITS RAINING!

She was awakened early in the morning by a violent knocking on the porch door. 
There was a violent thunderstorm going on at the time. Her first thought was that someone had had an accident out on the highway. She grabbed her boots and flashlight and rushed to the door,  only to find her daughter's goose standing on the top step rapping on the door with her beak to be let in. 

When she was a baby (gosling) she lived in the house and only went out when the weather was nice. If it started to rain the daughter always brought her in. So she must have felt justified that this storm was bad enough for her to be let in!  As soon as the storm passed she was ready to go back outside.

Sensible goose.......

DAY 271: PROTECT YOUR PASSWORD!

Meet TWEETS - The Green Mouth!

The other day, a woman came home from work and her son told her he had bid successfully on eBay for something. He said he had gone ahead and logged onto Paypal and made payment. She asked how he had gained access to the password protected area and he replied "Oh, Tweets told me." 

He said he had been trying to get onto the site and using all the phrases he thought she would use. No luck. Then the bird climbed up on his shoulder and started chattering a phrase. Realizing what the bird was saying, he entered that phrase and bingo, he was in. 

Mom realized that the bird is usually on her shoulder when she is on the computer and that she probably says the phrase when logging onto Paypal. He made the connection between the screen image and what she said, and then ratted on her!  Little stinker!  

She has since changed the password and will be more careful in future not to use it around 'The Green Mouth!'

DAY 270: CHICKEN ANCESTRY

The Red Jungle Fowl can be seen foraging for food near the edges of forests in South East Asia and some parts of East Asia. Its food consists of seeds from wild grasses, small fruits, tender shoots, invertebrates and various insects. The nest is built on concealed ground with luxuriant vegetation, slight depression and laid with fallen leaves and wild grasses.

The important role that the Red Jungle Fowl plays in the ecology of its surrounding environment should not be underestimated. It fills an important niche by controlling the population of bugs at ground level. The bird's droppings are a rich source of organic fertilizer.

Common consensus seems to accept that the Red Jungle Fowl is the ancestor of the domestic chicken. It has been described as a near-living dinosaur that is the subject of much scientific interest. The bird belongs to the family of Phasianidae, which includes partridge and pheasant. Domestication started in present day Thailand and Vietnam. Most likely, domestication began with the use of the bird for religious ceremonies, followed by cockfighting and eventually poultry as a source of food. Whether in the wild or domesticated, the bird never fail to arouse deep emotional response from man.

In spite of being outlawed, long held traditions of cockfighting in many cultures refuse to die out. Secret matches are stlll held, with money changing hands at the outcome of the match. Even up to this day, debate is still going on whether the bird should be allowed to roam freely or cooped up and how 

densely the birds be squeezed in the cage...

Try thinking about these issues next time you chew on chicken bones!

DAY 269: HOW DID THE BLACK COCKATOO GET ITS COLOUR?

How did the Black Cockatoo get his colour - & become a red-tailed one? 

Once a very clever white cockatoo was the only creature that had fire, & being a very greedy cockatoo, he refused to share his fire with the other creatures that had to huddle together to keep warm during cold nights.

One day a small robin decided to steal the fire from the unsuspecting cockatoo, but when he flew away with the fire, he became scared when he realised the much bigger cockatoo was chasing him.  He dropped the fire to the ground.  The dry grasses below quickly ignited, & as the cockatoo flew down to retrieve his much prized fire, his beautiful white feathers were scorched black by the flames from the burning grass…..& that’s the story of how the black cockatoo got his colour! 

An Aboriginal dreaming tale.

DAY 268: HAVING A (DUST) BATH

A dust bath is an unusual type of bath – this sounds like a paradoxical statement because dust is not a term we normally associate with cleansing.     But it is believed that birds participate in dust baths to help them get rid of parasites.

A bird dust bath is really dry soil that we term dust.  The birds perform this bathing ritual by flinging loose dry dirt over themselves.  They look just as if they are bathing in water!  Testing the dust, splashing, and fluttering, etc.

www.the-scoop-on-wild-birds.com

DAY 267: WHY DOES THE EARLY BIRD CATCH THE WORM?

Many small birds scout for food in the morning but only return to eat it in late afternoon to maximise their chances of evading predators in the day without starving to death overnight, Oxford University research has found.  Birds have to store body fat to avoid starving during the cold winter nights, but this can make them slower and less manoeuvrable so that they are more likely to be caught by predators.  So there is a trade-off, where birds need to remain lean enough in order to "outrun" their predators, or at least the next slowest bird, during the day but also store enough fat to survive each night.

New tracking technologies were used to investigate how birds balance the competing risks of predation and starvation.....results show that these birds display very different patterns of food discovery in the morning and afternoon – very few new food sources were found during the afternoon, whereas nearly every new food source put out during the morning was quickly discovered. It supports the idea of an "early bird" strategy of scouting for food early on so that they can return to feast a couple of hours before dusk in preparation for a long winter's night.

Winter is a tough time for small garden birds as not only is there less natural food available but their predators, such as the sparrowhawk, are keen to stock up their own fat reserves and so are hunting every day. The short days and long cold nights mean that small birds can lose around 10% of their body weight over a single night so that individuals failing to pile on the grams on even one day can starve and won't be around to pass on their genes the next summer.

Tweet

DAY 266: BERRYPECKER - GOING HIGHER UP THE MOUNTAIN

Many tropical mountain birds, like this Berrypecker, are shifting their ranges upslope to escape warming temperatures that disrupt their way of life, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

But there’s only so much room on these mountains. Climate change predictions suggest that before the end of this century, global warming will push at least four of these species into localized extinctions.  Research demonstrates that no matter where you are on earth, even a tropical wilderness island in the South Pacific, climate change is happening and having tangible impacts.

In this case, the activities of industrialized nations causing climate change are impacting birds in remote New Guinea, deep in tropical mountain forests, causing them to move up the slopes to find their preferred habitat.

We always hear about polar bears being affected by large temperature changes in the Arctic, but many tropical birds are attuned to small microclimates, and so they are just as much affected by the smaller-scale change happening in tropical climates, and because a mountain is like a pyramid, there’s less area for habitat available as they move up the mountain. They’re being squeezed both by temperatures and for space.

DAY 265: PTARMIGAN - QUICK-CHANGE ARTIST

  The Ptarmigan is a type of grouse living in the far north, in Alaska, northern Canada, Greenland, Scandinavia and Siberia. In summer, its feathers are brown and mottled like the tundra it lives in. Like many other bird species, it uses brownish camouflage to hide from predators.

But the Ptarmigan spends its winters farther north than any other bird. Snows soon blanket its home – brown feathers would be too obvious against the white landscape. So the Ptarmigan moults into brilliant white feathers in winter. This makes the bird almost invisible in its snowy home. Fluffy white feathers even cover the Ptarmigan’s feet – keeping them warm and turning their feet into wide snowshoes.

The Ptarmigan is also unusual in having three different camouflages: Summer-Brown, Winter-White, and in spring, the Ptarmigan becomes a patchy half-brown, half-white. This springtime coat helps hide the Ptarmigan when the tundra is patchy with melting snow.

Even more incredible: the females moult into summer-brown sooner than the males. By late spring, the females are hiding on their nests, in the brown tundra. But the males are still defending their territory- some flashy white can help the males stand out. The Ptarmigan’s moults are perfectly coordinated with the northern seasons.

There are three species of Ptarmigan: the Willow, Rock, and White-tailed. Each has many subtle subspecies. For instance, the “Red Grouse” of Britain is actually a type of Willow Ptarmigan. Since it lives farther south, in regions with little snow, it does not need to turn white in the winter.

www.birds.com

DAY 264: WHAT'S WITH THE CAMO?

There are hard-core birders that feel they need to dress up like a supporting player in a Rambo movie in order to get deep in to the bird’s environment. As a result, you see quite a few bird enthusiasts dressed up in camouflage pants and shirts, their faces smeared with green grease paint. It’s no wonder they aren’t scaring away the very birds they are hoping to see in the first place.

This all begs the question, “Do birdwatchers really need to dress like they are playing war games in order to watch our feathered friends?” Of course, the answer is “No”. The better question may be to postulate whether birds can see colour and if they can try to understand what they are seeing in the first place.

Let’s establish first that birds do indeed see colour. Birds have colour vision and their vision is pretty darn good. Much better in fact, than the vision of humans. Up until the early 1970′s it was widely thought that birds had trichromatic colour vision comparable to that of humans – the ability to break things down into three basic colours. Later in the mid-1970′s it was discovered that birds can see light in the near-ultraviolet (uv) range and that spurred on even more study. Today it is widely accepted that the avian eye, not the human eye, is the superior colour vision system. It is now believed that birds see more colours (hues) than we do and the colours also appear more saturated to birds than do ours to us.

It’s accepted that birds probably do see colours similar to the way we see them, although not in exactly the same hue. A green field jacket is probably a richer shade of green through the bird’s eyes than what we are actually seeing. The important issue here, is that bird can see you. And thanks to their heightened sense of hearing, they can hear you jostling around behind that bush.

Standing still with tree limbs sticking out of your hat will not endear you any more or less to the bird. Staying still and being patient will earn you more bonus points that if you look like you’re going to a carnival in Brazil!

So in the final analysis, it is not so much what you wear, but how you conduct yourself that will bring you the most bird-watching satisfaction. Want to dress like Rambo? Go for it. But while you’re at it, stay hidden behind that tree so the rest of the birdwatchers can enjoy the scenery as well.

www.birds.com

DAY 263: BABY STORKS - FUSSY EATERS!

Surely you don't still believe that old story about the stork bringing the baby?
No, I thought not; and just as well!  

Scientists in Spain have discovered that around 40 percent of European White Stork nestlings run away from home - abandoning their parents part way through development, and sneaking into a neighbouring stork family's nest.

Why?  They were apparently dissatisfied with their parents' hunting skills & preferred the meals being served in other parts of the neighbourhood!

Shades of 'the grass is always green on the other side!'

DAY 262: ONE CLICK & YOU'RE HISTORY!

The Tawny Frogmouth is a bizarre Australian bird that inhabits Eucalyptus woodlands, where prey is abundant.

Frogmouths resemble owls, but are in fact giant, awesome & rather creepy relatives of the Swift family.  They don't actively hunt, but rather stand upright on a tree, perfectly resembling an old branch - then when a small bird, frog, lizard or dragonfly approaches, the enormous gaping mouth expands open, quickly drawing in the hapless animal. Within a fraction of a second, the massive bill snaps shut with a loud CLICK that can be heard 100 meters away!  The prey is then forced back & swallowed whole.

The Tawny Frogmouths don't actually do anything except remain invisible & snap shut like a Venus Flytrap - making them among the creepiest birds on earth!

DAY 261: CHICKADEE - CUTE LITTLE BIRD OR BAD TEMPERED KILLER?

Chickadees are tiny yet intelligent garden songbirds, smaller than a sparrow, and with a cheerful, innocent appearance.  However, one would be advised to reconsider these tiny birds:

European Chickadees have been observed entering hollow trees & bludgeoning roosting bats to death, before dragging them out to eat.  The bats had their heads pecked open, and were mostly targeted during the winter months.

This extreme predatory behaviour is nothing short of incredible for a tiny colourful European garden songbird - proving that many weird & creepy mysteries may be hidden behind the appearance of any apparently innocent little songbird!

DAY 260: WHALE-EATING GULLS

We normally think of Seagulls as coastal birds that eat fish, & at times may be a minor nuisance, or a fascination to birders who take great pleasure in sorting out obscure gull species.

In Argentina, however, gulls are more than living up to their scary depiction in Alfred Hitchcock's movie 'The Birds' - by targeting much larger prey than herring.

Giant Right Whales that measure over 50ft in length are being repeatedly targeted by increasing populations of Kelp Gull - a massive fish-eating species with ominous dark plumage.  As the whales surface, the gulls have learned to swoop down & shear large pieces of flesh & blubber out of the whales - in a horror movie-like scene.

Human garbage disposal has been blamed for the population expansion, but cannot fully explain these terrifying actions......

DAY 259: HARPY EAGLE.........RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!

The Harpy Eagle is pretty much as powerful as you can get while still being able to fly. 

It has a crushing grip of 530ls per sq.inch.   

If that's a meaningless number to you, let's put it like this: 

The average man has a grip of about 60lbs. 

The typical dog bite clocks a mere 320. 

Freaking wolves can only chew you at a 400lbs.per square inch. 

But this bird beats them all.

But surely, even a bird with a grip that can shame the jaws of a feral canine is still just a bird? What could it do to a full-grown man? 

Tear off a finger with its little claws?  

Quite a bit more than that, actually, considering that its talons are the same size as those of a Grizzly Bear!

The Harpy Eagle applies its horror grip via 5-inch talons that it can sink into pretty much anything it wants. And let's not forget that it also has a razor-sharp beak that would make a Japanese swordsman hang his tools in shame and retire to a quiet life running a small sake bar.

To drive the point home, the Harpy Eagle likes to show off its power by crushing the skulls of monkeys, then eating them. 

And you thought 'What a cute little face it has......'

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/article_19483_5-birds-with-abilities-that-put-superheroes-to-shame.html#ixzz2y8eI9fk7

DAY 258: OWLS WITH SATELLITE DISHES BUILT INTO THEIR FACES.....

What's special about owls?

They can turn their heads all the way around?

They can swallow mice whole?

Besides having the best night vision of all birds, owls also have a satellite dish built into their face. The circular pattern of feathers on there? That acts as a dish, focusing the sound and giving them what may be the best directional hearing in the world. And even weirder, those feather patterns can also, no kidding, be individually adjusted to increase reception.

How well does this work? Let's put it this way: An owl can hear a mouse stepping on a twig from 75 feet away. Owls also have an incredible sense of sound elevation, meaning they can detect the height from which sound is emanating, because one ear hole is placed higher than the other. All of this is to pinpoint the exact location of the owl's prey, which in fact works so well that the bird can make in-flight course corrections to strike at its victim.

And keep in mind, we're talking about a nocturnal hunter -- they're using this finely tuned sense of hearing to take down prey that the owl can't even see. So, basically we're looking at a flying Daredevil but with a slew of built-in razor blades on its hands a la Wolverine.

To make matters even worse for the criminal element, owls also happen to have special serrated feathers that allow them to fly silently like a stealth fighter. Furthermore, they have the lowest wing-loading ratio of any bird, meaning they can fly extremely slow if they need to, or carry large loads. The owl superhero wouldn't need to zoom in like Superman or swing around like Spider-Man -- he'd just slowly, silently glide over the area, hearing everything and casting an ominous shadow in the night sky.

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/article_19483_5-birds-with-abilities-that-put-superheroes-to-shame.html#ixzz2y8eI9fk7

DAY 257: ANOTHER HUMMINGBIRD STORY!

One day a terrible fire broke out in a forest - a huge woodlands was suddenly engulfed by a raging wild fire. Frightened, all the animals fled their homes and ran out of the forest. As they came to the edge of a stream they stopped to watch the fire, feeling very discouraged and powerless. They were all bemoaning the destruction of their homes. Every one of them thought

there was nothing they could do about the fire, except for one little hummingbird.

This particular hummingbird decided it would do something. It swooped into the stream and picked up a few drops of water and went into the forest and put them on the fire. Then it went back to the stream and did it again, and it kept going back, again and again and again. All the other animals watched in disbelief; some tried to discourage the hummingbird with comments like, "Don't bother, it is too much, you are too little, your wings will burn, your beak is too tiny, it’s only a drop, you can't put out this fire."

And as the animals stood around disparaging the little bird’s efforts, the bird noticed how hopeless and forlorn they looked. Then one of the animals shouted out and challenged the hummingbird in a mocking voice, "What do you think you are doing?" And the hummingbird, without wasting time or losing a beat, 

looked back and said, "I am doing what I can."

Makes one think, doesn't it!

DAY 256: HUMMERS 2, ON PIGGYBACK

Do hummingbirds migrate by riding "piggyback" on other birds?
This persistent bit of folklore - usually citing geese as the carrier - must date from an earlier period, before much at all was known about hummingbird migration. Someone wrote:

"I believe it was John J. Audubon, the 17th century French ornithologist & artist who, if not started, helped to strengthen this myth.  As you may or may not know, he shot and ate many of the birds he painted!  He reports shooting a goose and upon retrieval, turning it over and out flew a hummingbird. I'm afraid I don't have the book in hand nor the source, but I do recall reading this either from his journals or another creditable source citing Audubon. Therefore, this "myth" may have been started by the namesake of the major bird society in this country."

There is not a shred of evidence to support this whimsical concept, however colorful the idea may be. [humor alert!] Perhaps, as one wag postulated, a hummingbird was once seen carrying a goose back to the nest in her talons, to feed her hungry chicks.

EXTRA:
Last night I was watching a recent broadcast of 'WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE' and the final million pound question was 'what was the field of interest of John J. Audubon?'

Blow me down.....I had just done this post about old Audubon, and that was the right answer - the competitor got it, and won the moolah!   It could have been yours truly.....