Bird Behaviour in Action
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Dove and Red-headed Finch.
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Guillemot /Murre - Uria aalge
The common murre or common guillemot (Uria aalge) is a large auk. It is also known as the thin-billed murre in North America. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea, only coming to land to breed on rocky cliff shores or islands.
Common murres have fast direct flight but are not very agile. They are more manoeuvrable underwater, typically diving to depths of 30–60 m (98–197 ft). Depths of up to 180 m (590 ft) have been recorded.
Common murres breed in colonies at high densities. Nesting pairs may be in bodily contact with their neighbours. They make no nest; their single egg is incubated on a bare rock ledge on a cliff face. Eggs hatch after ~30 days incubation. The chick is born downy and can regulate its body temperature after 10 days. Some 20 days after hatching the chick leaves its nesting ledge and heads for the sea, unable to fly, but gliding for some distance with fluttering wings, accompanied by its male parent. Chicks are capable of diving as soon as they hit the water. The female stays at the nest site for some 14 days after the chick has left.
Both male and female common murres moult after breeding and become flightless for 1–2 months. In southern populations they occasionally return to the nest site throughout the winter. Northern populations spend the winter farther from their colonies.
Some individuals in the North Atlantic, known as "bridled guillemots", have a white ring around the eye extending back as a white line. This is not a distinct subspecies, but a polymorphism that becomes more common the farther north the birds breed.
The common murre nests in densely packed colonies (known as "loomeries"), with up to twenty pairs occupying one square metre at peak season.[citation needed] Common murres do not make nests and lay their eggs on bare rock ledges, under rocks, or the ground. They first breed at four to nine years old, but most individuals recruit into the breeding population at ages six or seven, although birds may disperse (permanently depart their natal colony) if space is limited. Annual survival probability for birds aged 6–15 is 0.895, and average lifespan is about 20 years. Breeding success increases with age up to age 9-10 to 0.7 fledglings per pair, then declines in the oldest age birds, perhaps indicating reproductive senesence.
High densities mean that birds are close contact with neighbouring breeders. Common murres perform appeasement displays more often at high densities and more often than razorbills.
Allopreening is common both between mates and between neighbours. Allopreening helps to reduce parasites, and it may also have important social functions. Frequency of allopreening a neighbour correlates well with current breeding success.
Allopreening may function as a stress-reducer; ledges with low levels of allopreening show increased levels of fighting and reduced breeding success.
Alloparenting behaviour is frequently observed. Non-breeding and failed breeders show great interest in other chicks, and will attempt to brood or feed them. This activity is more common as the chicks get older and begin to explore their ledge. There has also been a record of a pair managing to raise two chicks. Adults that have lost chicks or eggs will sometimes bring fish to the nest site and try to feed their imaginary chick.
At time of extreme food stress, the social activity of the breeding ledge can break down.
On the Isle of May colony in 2007, food availability was low. Adults spent more of their time-budget foraging for their chicks and had to leave them unattended at times. Unattended chicks were attacked by breeding neighbour which often led to their deaths. Non-breeding and failed breeders continued to show alloparental care.
In areas such as Newfoundland, the birds, along with the related thick-billed murre, are referred to as 'turrs' or 'tuirs', and are consumed. The meat is dark and quite oily, due to the birds' diet of fish. Eggs have also been harvested.
Eggers from San Francisco took almost half a million eggs a year from the Farallon Islands in the mid-19th century to feed the growing city.
Population:
UK breeding:
950,000 pairs
This Female Great Spotted Woodpecker had just landed on this small branch when the male came in above her and she suddenly dropped down and adopted this remarkable pose,flicking her tail up & down..behaviour that I have never seen before.
Taken in my local woods in Devon.
From the "senses" series: Vision
If someone sees something, they react. Cause-effect. According to Pavlov, reflexes could be conditioned. If you don't see, you don't react. But if vision is deprived from you and you know and watch that you don't see because someone doesn't want you to see, you react. Cause-effect.
RKO_9069.
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Although they are not the only birds to engage in similar behaviour, gannets are famous for "billing" or “mutual fencing.” While it can happen any time both birds from a mated pair are at their nest site, it is quite routine when one bird returns to the nest after foraging for food or nesting material. The two gannets will face each other, often touching and calling. They then shake their heads side to side with their bills clacking together. They often bow, rub necks, and preen each other’s neck before taking up the more mundane activities of nesting in colonies, such as bickering and fighting with neighbors.
Newly hatched spiderlings of the European garden spider (Araneus diadematus) keep themselves in a tight yellow-orange ball. When in danger the ball falls apart very quickly and then they re-assembled back. I have seen this behaviour before, but with sharp showers on the day I was intrigued whether this little nursery would survive in the open without any roof. A see-through, full of holes web blanket seemed hold up. Taken in the garden, Bath, BANES, England, UK.
a Bee-fly (Bombylius major) in action
... Major but minor in size :)
A serie of 6 photos to show its behaviour on flowers.
It looks like a bee and behaves like a butterfly.
This is a 100% cropped view in 3K => Zoom in for more details
Sony A7R-III
Tamron 150-600
LA-EA3 Adapter
_DSC0645-denoise154500-DN1500LL-SH6750msk-crop3K+crb+SH4040msk
Courtship behaviour of the great crested grebe.
great crested grebe
Haubentaucher
[Podiceps cristatus]
I first saw this behaviour earlier in the year. On that occasion the adult spent ages trying to get to the flesh of the starfish.
This youngster once it had seen off all it's rivals didn't mess about and simply swallowed the starfish whole.
Starfish - Asteroidea
Herring Gull - Larus Argentatus
Oban Bay Scotland
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Spyder turning his head upside down as I sweet talk him into taking his photo, behaving ever so bashful!
Posted for the Happy Caturday theme: "Behaviour"
The Indian pangolin, thick-tailed pangolin, or scaly anteater (Manis crassicaudata) is a pangolin found on the Indian subcontinent. It is not common anywhere in its range. Like other pangolins, it has large, overlapping scales on its body which act as armour. It can also curl itself into a ball as self-defence against predators such as the tiger. The colour of its scales varies depending on the colour of the earth in its surroundings.
It is an insectivore, feeding on ants and termites, digging them out of mounds and logs using its long claws, which are as long as its fore limbs. It is nocturnal and rests in deep burrows during the day.
The Indian pangolin is threatened by hunting for its meat and for various body parts used in traditional medicine.
The Indian pangolin is a solitary, shy, slow-moving, nocturnal mammal. It is about 84–122 centimetres (33–48 in) long from head to tail, the tail usually being 33–47 cm long, and weighs 10–16 kg. Females are generally smaller than the males and have one pair of mammae. The pangolin possesses a cone-shaped head with small, dark eyes, and a long muzzle with a nose pad similar in color, or darker than, its pinkish-brown skin. It has powerful limbs, tipped with sharp, clawed digits. It is an almost exclusive insectivore and principally subsists on ants and termites, which it catches with a specially adapted long, sticky tongue.The pangolin has no teeth, but has strong stomach muscles to aid in digestion. The most noticeable characteristic of the pangolin is its massive, scaled armour, which covers its upper face and its whole body with the exception of the belly and the inside of the legs. These protective scales are rigid and made of keratin. It has 160–200 scales in total, about 40–46% of which are located on the tail. Scales can be 6.5–7 cm long, 8.5 cm wide, and weigh 7–10 grams. The skin and scales make up about one-fourth to one-third of the total body mass of this species.
The Indian pangolin has been recorded from various forest types, including Sri Lankan rainforest and plains to middle hill levels. The animal can be found in grasslands and secondary forests, and is well adapted to desert regions as it is believed to have a tolerance to dry areas, but prefers more barren, hilly regions. This pangolin species may also sometimes reach high elevations, and has been sighted in Sri Lanka at 1100 meters and in the Nilgiri mountains in India at 2300 meters. It prefers soft and semi-sandy soil conditions suitable for digging burrows.
Pangolin burrows fall into one of two categories: feeding and living burrows. Feeding burrows are smaller than living burrows (though their sizes vary depending on the abundance of prey) and are created more frequently during the spring, when there is a greater availability of prey. Living burrows are wider, deeper, and more circular, and are occupied for a longer time than feeding burrows, as they are mainly used to sleep and rest during the day. After a few months, the pangolin abandons the burrow and digs a new one close to a food source. However, it is not uncommon for the pangolin to shift back to an old burrow.
Unlike its African counterpart, the Indian pangolin does not climb trees, but it does value the presence of trees, herbs, and shrubs in its habitat because it is easier to dig burrows around them. Features that promote an abundance of ants and termites (grasses, bare grounds, bases of trees, shrubs, roots, leaf litter, fallen logs and elephant feces) are often present in pangolin habitats.
Few details are known about the breeding behaviour of the Indian pangolin. During the animal's mating period, females and males may share the same burrow and show some diurnal activities. Males have testes in a fold of the skin located in their groin areas. The female's embryo develops in one of the uterine horns. The gestation period lasts 65–70 days; the placenta is diffuse and not deciduate. Usually, a single young is born, but twins have been reported in this species. The young weigh 235–400 g at birth and measure roughly 30 cm. The newborn animals have open eyes, and soft scales with protruding hairs between them. The mother pangolin carries her young on her tail. When the mother and young are disturbed, the young pangolin is held against its mother's belly and protected by the mother's tail.
I made a quick trip to the nature reserve after work and met this beautiful and friendly girl. After moving to a very photogenic spot on the grass she spent several minutes turning, preening and generally showing off all her best sides for the camera! It was hard to pick a shot in the end :)
It was late afternoon and Linus was sitting on his outdoor scratchpost on the terrace and waiting for the THE BIRDS who are usually quite active shortly before sunset. At the moment I really wish he would watch birds more often. As Fynn is sick and not very willing to play and I spend most of my time taking care of Fynn, Linus feels neglected. That leads to a behaviour which is very exhausting (not for Linus but for me). He is very "creative" when it comes to getting my attention and the innocent facade is definitely an illusion.
Not sure what,s going on here.At first i thought the ants were moving their larvae to another location,but the first larvae is clearly a plant hopper nymph! So moving plant hopper larvae for security,or food?
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Welcome to the Looney Bin! One male in hot pursuit of another. In all my years of Common Loon watching I have never witnessed this behaviour. Usually when loons have a turf war they do it under water and come up for a powerful wing smack. They just flapped above the water right past me and continued on down the whole length of the lake while the female watched from the sidelines. I'm not even sure why the loon being chased didn't fly away. I admired their stamina from my kayak, It had to be exhausting. Even though the wind wouldn't die down It was so good to see my loon pair again and take time from my many jobs.
First is a Cinnabar Moth Caterpillar, next a Soldier Beetle, then a Ladybird and a Hoverfly. Please try viewing large. Thank you....
Eurasian Jays have very particular and interesting behaviours, and some of them make them excellent forest gardeners.
Examples include the use of gifts provided by males for females in mating rituals. This behaviour is performed by a few species. In most cases, it means that the species understands the desires of other individuals, which is quite complicated.
Their most important and interesting behaviour is their ability to store seeds, especially acorns or nuts. They do this to prepare themselves for the cold season and the harsh months that await them.
Experts suspect that this behaviour may be much more complicated than it seems. They proved, through different experiments, that the Eurasian Jay’s habit of keeping food is due to its ability to plan for the future, something experts thought that only humans could do.
This behaviour is what makes it a very important animal for our forests. In many cases, these birds don’t consume all their stores, or they just forget about them.
Thus, the seeds germinate and the forests expand as they move these heavy nuts and seeds, which can hardly be spread otherwise.
Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius) flight_w_2278
Mala Mala Game Reserve
Kruger National Park
South Africa
Happy Caturday!!
The leopard (Panthera pardus) is one of the five species in the genus Panthera, a member of the Felidae. The leopard occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia and is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because leopard populations are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation and are declining in large parts of the global range.
Contemporary records suggest that the leopard occurs in only 25% of its historical global range. Leopards are hunted illegally, and their body parts are smuggled in the wildlife trade for medicinal practices and decoration.
Compared to other wild cats, the leopard has relatively short legs and a long body with a large skull. It is similar in appearance to the jaguar, but generally has a smaller, lighter physique. Its fur is marked with rosettes similar to those of the jaguar, but the leopard's rosettes are smaller and more densely packed, and do not usually have central spots as the jaguar's do. Both leopards and jaguars that are melanistic are known as black panthers.
The leopard is distinguished by its well-camouflaged fur, opportunistic hunting behaviour, broad diet, and strength (which it uses to move heavy carcasses into trees), as well as its ability to adapt to various habitats ranging from rainforest to steppe, including arid and montane areas, and its ability to run at speeds of up to 58 kilometres per hour (36 mph). – Wikipedia
Plant and they will come!
This is just a record shot (I'd have liked to have gotten more of the wing in focus), as she wasn't for staying still, of the first common blue butterfly to visit my garden last year, after I planted bird's foot trefoil for my 'resident' leafcutter bees, and to attract common blue butterflies.
I was thrilled to watch her lay lots of eggs, which you can see her doing in this photo, all over the bird's foot trefoil ... and what amazing little structures the eggs are too---that's tomorrow's upload!
Press L to enjoy the details
The Blue Tiger (Tirumala limniace) is a butterfly found in India that belongs to the Crows and Tigers, that is, the Danaid group of the Brush-footed butterflies family. This butterfly shows gregarious migratory behaviour in southern India.
Blue tiger butterfly is distributed throughout Southeast Asia, India, Sri Lanka, and Western China. The Blue Tiger is one of the butterflies found commonly throughout most of India,
The combination of isolation, attacks on the Evans Cherry Tree community and adolescent cherry testosterone has led to an increase in incidents of bizarre and freakish behaviour.
One example of this increase in cherry rage was this past Sunday at the C.F.L. (Cherry Football League) game. A small group of adolescent cherries got into a fight which resulted in some sliced cherries, one to the pit. Thank goodness the injuries were not life threatening.
A tip through Cherry Stoppers led the authorities to the alleged instigator of the fight, which in turn led to a key witness having to identify the sour cherry.
This freak behaviour has to stop. It's time to make Sundays great again and put the cherry on top.
Take care and stay safe
At the same day that I saw the horned grebes (flickr.com/photos/115540984@N02/54816867871/in/dateposted), there were a lot of Common Goldeneyes swimming around, and they gave me a great show!
The males clearly were bothered by their hormones, which resulted in threatening behaviour towards other males, but towards the females they were very courteous. They made very funny sounds too, another sign they were in the mood for love.
The females were off course very critical/choosy, and ignored most of the time the males. it was still rather early in spring and they hadn't decided yet which Casanova to date.
But thanks to all the hormones flying around, they hadn't the least interest in me, and they came very close. It resulted in many wonderful pictures. This is one of them.
OBSERVE Collective
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