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Instead of going on about zip lines and other modern, adventure tourism attractions, the birding crowd talks about taking photos of Resplendent Quetzals , seeing dozens of hummingbird species, and the seemingly odd absence of raptors in Costa Rica but nope, we don’t really talk about extinction. Resplendence.
The Cuckoo Cuculus canorus has a bad reputation because of its habit of laying its eggs on the nests of other birds, who then raise their young. The White-rumped Swift Apus caffer , a tropical African breedingspecies, was only discovered breeding in Europe in the 1960s. Curiously, they also breed in Iberia today.
Unlike the more common American Goldfinch, the Lesser Goldfinch’s ( Spinus psaltria ) plumage does not change color during breeding season. The female Lesser Goldfinch can sometimes be confused with the female American Goldfinch in breeding plumage. Both of these species show gregarious flocking behavior except when nesting.
With birds bedecked in their breeding best and filling the air with song, this is migration at its loveliest. A wonderful variety of bird species are waiting to be seen and among them are many a birder’s favorite avian group, the wood-warblers. In the birding world, May is the beautiful time. Great Green Macaw!
As the boreal migrants head north, breeding season for the residents and austral migrants is beginning to pick up. There are other austral migrants breeding here, however – I’ve found two separate nesting sites of the incredulous looking Swallow Tanager thus far. I cannot verify or deny his success.
But no, my story today is about the birds that come in to breed on the heather moorland which dominates the high ground. It’s quite amazing how birds that we are used to seeing much of the year on coastal mudflats, exploiting the intertidal, change their habits and take to the hills to raise their young.
This year we have continued to monitor the breeding of several pairs of Pied Oystercatchers along the coast in Broome from Gantheaume Point to Willie Creek on the south side. This species are long living and so the population appears to be sustainable at this stage despite the predation. Pied Oystercatcher family searching for food.
Like any birder visiting a new place, I had a target species list I was hoping to seek out during the one day I had available between business commitments. The climatic changes set in motion by the Industrial Revolution are now proceeding at a pace far greater than many species and ecosystems can adapt to naturally.
The Florida sub-species of Burrowing Owl is now classified as a threatened species in Florida and it is one of the rarest sub-species of Burrowing Owls. Loss of habitat due to development, disturbance at burrows and negative interactions with humans are some of the threats facing this charismatic species.
Fish and Wildlife Service has listed the “Rufa” population of Red Knot ( Calidris canutus rufa ) as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The other sub-species, Calidris canutus roselaari , migrates along the Pacific Coast and breeds in Alaska and the Wrangel Island in Russia. Photo: Ron Knight.
And much of that time is spend loafing around the breeding colonies trying to pair off and engaging in silly-looking behaviours referred to as dancing by scientists. It can take over a year to raise a chick for the larger species, and even species that can fit their entire breeding cycle into one year tend not to breed in consecutive years.
They migrate north through the Western United States, breeding in pockets all the way up through Canada. No matter how many times I see them, this particular species remains breathtaking. Soon they will disappear, stretching wide wings and taking to the skies in search of breeding grounds farther north.
You could raise an eyebrow that at a time of cuts and austerity measures across a range of environment services and departments to be able to find £375k in support of a non-native species that is reared specifically to be killed anyway is a little astonishing. of nearly 500 radio-tagged releases).
Serbia holds 13 per cent of the European breeding population of this “electrified” species which is not only Endangered in Europe but also listed as Globally Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Raising the binoculars to teary eyes, I am trying to see the bird in the nest on a nearby pylon.
It’s a bang-up breeding year for super-endangered birds! The species, which migrates from the Russian Arctic to Southeast Asia, is down to about 200 breeding pairs in the wild, due to habitat loss and poaching. For the past several years, getting the birds to breed has been an exercise in futility.
While I’ve heard and seen both species multiple times, these atmospheric songs in the humid dawn, with songs of other species and the sound of water dripping through the foliage in the background, was already a highlight of the day. Common Nightingales and Common Cuckoos where calling everywhere.
The species that manage to colonize these islands evolve in competition with relatively few other species, developing survival strategies based on interdependence, co-evolution, and mutualism rather than adapting to deal with a broad range of predators and competitors. A species, wiped off the earth, never to exist again.
The story of the White-winged Guan , in some ways resembles the re-discovery of some species thought to be extinct. The decades of storage in a museum came after it was regarded as an extinct species. This flock is composed of about 54 birds including nine breeding pair. A species, wiped off the earth, never to exist again.
“The birds” as a whole will be “fine” but many individual species will not. Their remarkable survival skills, evolved over thousands of years, rely on a chain of stopover feeding grounds and habitats for breeding and raising young – but break any one link and the survival of the entire species is threatened.
Eagle Lake, Lake Almanor and Clear Lake have all been identified as Audubon California Important Bird Areas (IBA), meaning that they provide essential habitat for breeding, wintering, and migrating birds. Like the breeding activity of many species this spring, the grebes were late, probably due to the unseasonable weather.
Predators that rely on lemmings, like the Snowy Owl , took advantage of the bounty and had great breeding success, raising large broods which, after the lemming population crashes, dispersed far and wide. And while I haven’t made it over their yet I hope to before they disperse into breeding territories.
For mankind to snatch away a species’ very existence is wrong on so many levels that I can’t begin to explain them. However, despite our best efforts to wipe them off the face of the earth, some of the more vulnerable species have managed to hang on. this speciesbreeds. this speciesbreeds.
Black Drongos must be breeding here – this juvenile was terrorizing his parents with constant calls for food. Presumably, the parents of black drongo chicks sometimes meet with Red-billed Starlings to sympathize with each other about the challenges of raising chicks these days. Black-tailed Gulls , I think.
Typical of the species. Both species seemed content to observe each other though. Bon voyage , friend, may you traverse the next two thousand miles safely, may you not encounter any glass windows and may you find a mate and breed successfully! Hopefully they found a suitable place nearby to raise the next generation!
We hypothesized that trends in waterfowl hunter numbers, as indicated by Federal Migratory Bird Hunting Conservation Stamp (duck stamp) sales, have become independent of breeding duck populations, and we assess the impacts on habitat conservation. 4 0.81) and 1995–2008 (r 1?4
And now we get to the part of the post in which I briefly and unscientifically mention a few research papers on the species to have a reason to post a few more of my photos. However, some swans claim that the views are much better in the highland habitat, and others are not that keen on raising chicks anyway.
This year is the eighteenth year since we discovered our first Pied Oystercatcher nest on Cable Beach in Broome and it didn’t take us long to realise that they are not at all successful at raising young due to egg and chick predation. He last raised a chick successfully in 2016 and has nested in this area since 2008.
Whilst enjoying the Magpie Geese breeding around Broome recently we also noticed a Magpie-lark nest close to the highway in one of the very few trees beside the road. The Magpie-larks diet consists of mainly insects and there are currently numerous grasshopper species about after the recent rains and also a huge variety of dragonflies.
They breed up here, and spend their winters (usually) in the lower reaches of the Arctic and near polynyas (year round ice free waters) such as the North Water Polynya between Ellesmere Island and Groenland. They are able to breed at the age of 5-6 weeks so it is easy to see, given the right conditions how quickly their population can grow.
But, as with so many other species, these birds have been left to do their own whistle blowing. West Indian Whistling Ducks are the largest of the eight different whistling duck species. The whistling duck call carries with it the crimes of big business, the failures of governments and the ignorance of irresponsible hunters.
Counting the Birds I was in my teens when I undertook my first bird-survey: it was field work for the British Trust for Ornithology’s The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland. The breeding and wintering birds of Britain and Ireland. Published in 1976, The Atlas was, I believe, the very first work of its kind.
Paging through a fieldguide, it’s always with a sense of dismay and sadness that I come across reference to an extinct species. Madagascar, however, has had more than its fair share of extinct or lost species and Madagascar Pochard was firmly on this list. Then in 1991, a fisherman on the lake caught a male in his fishing net.
Once again Pied Oystercatcher breeding season is fast approaching in Broome and we can expect the first batch of eggs to be laid within the next few weeks. Due to the longevity of this species it appears that they are able to maintain their population. They do not react to Lesser Frigatebirds when they are in pairs and breeding.
After a very good Wet Season with substantially more rain than normal over the first few months of 2017 the land was flooded and a huge variety of birds arrived in the Broome area to take advantage of the ideal conditions for breeding. This was the exact scenario when we accidentally flushed a pair of Australian Painted Snipe recently.
We were in the remote Amazonian forests and not a sound was to be heard except for the rhythmical dripping of water from the raised paddles. I mean, we as a species are today basically everywhere. But still new species are found. The Cocha Antshrike was one of these species not long ago. Finally the species was complete.
Over the past few months there have been a lot of birds breeding around Broome with the excellent rain events that we have been having and the vegetation is at long last revived. The grass is green, the wildflowers are spectacular and now we have numerous species of dragonfly to enjoy as the season starts to change.
Those of us who were raised in the four-season north (here in Michoacán one could define, at the most, three seasons) tend to think of avian migration in terms of seasonal temperatures. For us, it’s all about birds moving north during the warm season to breed, and south to escape the winter cold.
Even the Latin species name soror (“sister”) indicates the similarity to another pitta species (blue-naped). The eBird description of the Small Niltava starts with the surprisingly dull statement that “size distinguishes this species from other niltavas” Who would have thought.
The HBW even mentions the importance of Ruoergai for this species: “Key sites for migrants include the Ruoergai Plateau (China), which is also an important breeding area” Common Mergansers also seem to use these wetlands as breeding area. Understated elegance is also something the White-browed Tit is rather good at.
But names aren’t everything and there is plenty to say about this species. Male Brown Teal showing some breeding plumage. Females and non-breeding males look similar The Brown Teal is endemic to New Zealand, and was once lumped with two closely related island forms, the Auckland Island Teal and the Campbell Teal.
If you’ve read my posts before you’d know I’ve written at length about the devastating effects of introduced mammals in New Zealand, and also of the ways that New Zealanders have been working to save their species from those same mammals. If the money is raised he will match it to get the work underway.
This map shows the distribution of the World’s bird species, based on overlying the breeding and wintering ranges of all known species. And it raises a question: if all the birds are having a party over there, am I in the wrong spot? And a mere 120 bird species would be a good reason not to take Polynesia as an option.
Which these days involves a frenzy to breed and raise a brood. I discovered that one of the Pacific Loons was back, and the first breeding plumaged Purple Sandpiper I’ve seen (having only seen them on fall migration), and Arctic Hare cavorting in their changing coats. In breeding plumage! And now mergansers.
Out of the approximately 26 species of snipes worldwide, two have been recorded on Trinidad. The trouble begins with the recognition of the fact that both species of snipe were formerly part of a single species – Common Snipe ( Gallinago gallinago ). Any snipe is a good snipe, they say. Only one has been seen on Tobago.
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