DAY 281: THE PURPLE DUCKLING EATER

Photo by Brian Culver

The Purple Swamphen is a large rail. It is mainly dusky black above, with a broad dark blue collar, and dark blue to purple below. As it walks, it flicks its tail up and down, revealing its white undertail. The bill is red and robust, and the legs and feet orange-red. For such a bulky bird, the Swamphen is an accomplished flier and will readily take to the air to escape danger. In flight, the long legs and elongated toes trail behind or hang underneath the body. Purple Swamphens are proficient swimmers, but prefer to wander on the edges of the water, among reeds and on floating vegetation. They     are found around freshwater swamps, streams & marshes.

The Purple Swamphen eats the soft shoots of reeds and rushes and small animals, such as frogs and snails. However, it is a reputed egg stealer and will also eat ducklings when it can catch them. The Purple Swamphen uses its long toes to grasp food while eating.

Purple Swamphens are generally found in small groups and studies have shown that these consist of more males than females. More than one male will mate with a single female. All family members, and occasionally the young from a previous brood, share in incubation and care of the young. The nest consists of a platform of trampled reeds with the surrounding vegetation sometimes being used to form a shelter. Often two broods will be raised in a year.

DAY 280: BATELEUR - STREET PERFORMER

"Bateleur" is French for "street performer" - & those artists included performers such as acrobats & tight-rope walkers.  The name implies the bird’s characteristic habit of rocking its wings from side to side when gliding, as if catching its balance.  The scientific name for Bateleur: "Terathopius Ecaudatus" means pretty face without a tail!
 

Extremely large wingspan and a short tail give this eagle a unique flying style: it turns by banking like an aircraft, rather than using its tail as a steering rudder
• it hunts on the wing, soaring above the ground before spiraling down to strike its prey
• it indulges in dramatic courtship flights — the male makes spectacular 360° rolls in midair.

Whether hurtling down upon a live victim, descending to feed on carrion, or ambushing other scavengers and stealing their kill, the Bateleur is a master opportunist, attacking anything from grasshoppers to small species of antelope. Groups of up to 50 juveniles gather to feast on winged termites emerging from their nests, and adults hunt birds as big as guinea fowl.This eagle also takes carrion and even snatches carcasses from vultures and other scavengers in bold, piratical attacks.

Small mammals are probably the Bateleur’s favorite prey, which it hunts on the wing from a height. Gliding back and forth, it watches for any movement that could betray a grass rat, a Dik-dik or a gazelle fawn. On spotting a victim, it corkscrews down in a spiral, slamming into its target with its talons. It then tears the carcass with its sharp, powerful & murderously hooked bill.

The long wings and short tail of the Bateleur are an adaptation for soaring and gliding. Lacking an effective rudder, the Bateleur turns by banking from side to side. It stays aloft for most of the day, soaring in circles on thermals (warm, rising air currents) with its wingtips splayed to reduce air turbulence. Between thermals it glides fast and straight with its wingtips swept back. Adults usually remain in large territories, but nomadic juveniles wander more widely, often covering 180 miles or more a day.


 

DAY 279: THE SECRETARY BIRD

Do you know how the Secretary Bird got its name?

Long ago, secretaries wrote and copied letters by hand. They stuck quill pens behind their ears when they weren’t using them. The black plumes of this bird reminded people of quill pens. So they named the bird the secretary bird.

Secretary birds live on grassy plains in parts of Africa. These birds are tall, and have much longer legs than other birds of prey. They run through the grass, attacking prey with their feet and wings. Secretary-birds catch and eat large insects, snakes, small mammals, and lizards. They also eat the eggs of other birds. 

When it’s time to nest, secretary birds build unusual homes. They use sticks, leaves, and grass to make a kind of platform. Both parents incubate the eggs and share in feeding the chicks.

DAY 278: COMMON KESTREL FROM KENYA

The Kestrel is a type of Falcon - and this one has found breakfast and is
probably on its way back to its nest to feed its young.

                           This flight mode is interestingly known as 
                                                   "Holy Spirit"

DAY 277: JAVA SPARROW

These birds of Indonesia are found in meadows, fields and cultivated land on the islands of Java and Bali.


The striking plumage of the Java sparrow has resulted in this bird being introduced all over the world as a consequence of the cage-bird trade. 

The Java sparrow has largely pearly-grey plumage, turning pinkish on the belly and white towards the tail. The head is black, which contrasts with the sharply defined white cheeks and large, vivid pink bill. The rump and tail are also black. 

The song of the Java sparrow begins with single notes, somewhat like a bell, developing into a continuous trilling and clucking, interspersed with high-pitched and deeper notes.

DAY 276: SNOWY EGRET

The Snowy Egret is a middle-sized, white heron with a thin, black bill, legs of black and yellow feet. The upper part of their bill, in front of the eyes, is yellow but turns red during the breeding season.

Extremely lovely plumes are present on the back during the breeding season. The Snowy Egret is much smaller than the Great Egret, but its plumage is lovely. 

Like other egrets, the Snowy Egret was once killed for its feathers. Its population was seriously damaged in the 1800's. It has made a recovery and is no longer hunted.

DAY 275: CRESTED HAWK EAGLE

The Crested Hawk Eagle (CHE) is a raptor that is a widespread resident of India; its a shy bird of prey and rarely sits in an open perch. It will allow humans as close as 30-50 feet, before getting spooked, except when it is hunting.

This is the experience of people travelling on a jeep safari into the Bandipur Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka, India:

We had this rare encounter with the CHE. It was during one of the morning safaris where we had a good sighting of Asiatic Elephants, the Indian Gaur, a couple of species of Woodpecker and a Crested Serpent Eagle. We had almost reached the end of the safari, and were on our way back, when suddenly this CHE came flying past our jeep and landed on a tree, by the side of the tracks, about 75 feet from us. As our jeep was getting closer to the CHE, it descended on the forest floor at the base of a tree. 

A CHE on the ground is not something seen very often and we took the opportunity to get to as close as within 20-25 feet (way inside the comfort zone of Raptors). All the cameras in the jeep were firing away. The CHE completely ignored us and was intently looking into a hollow at the base of the tree – laying in wait for its prey! We were sure that there was a small mammal in the tree hollow that had rushed there seconds before, trying to escape the claws of the CHE. We were fortunate to witness this hustling behavior of this majestic raptor. It kept alternating between sitting on a low-hanging branch of the tree intently looking into the tree hollow and then descending on it and trying to find a way to get into it. Then finally after 15 minutes into the routine, with no signs of the prey coming out, it gave up the hunt and flew away.

From www.walkthewilderness.net