Bird Behaviour in Action
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the horbills are quite large birds used to feed on fruit and mainly insects,arachnids and small vertebrates.
but they are not used to kill aduld birds.
in this case an African Grey Hornbill (tockus nasutus) has cought and killed a social weaver.
"a strange behaviour"
Etosha National Park ,Namibia
original 3K file here:
Black Redstart - Phoenicurus ochruros
The black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros) is a small passerine bird in the redstart genus Phoenicurus. Like its relatives, it was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family (Turdidae), but is now known to be an Old World flycatcher (Muscicapidae). Other common names are Tithy's redstart, blackstart and black redtail.
It is not very closely related to the common redstart. As these are separated by different behaviour and ecological requirements.
It is a widespread breeder in south and central Europe and Asia and northwest Africa, from Great Britain and Ireland (where local) south to Morocco, east to central China. It is resident in the milder parts of its range, but northeastern birds migrate to winter in southern and western Europe and Asia, and north Africa. It nests in crevices or holes in buildings.
In Britain, it is most common as a passage and winter visitor, with only 20–50 pairs breeding.
On passage it is fairly common on the east and south coasts, and in winter on the coasts of Wales and western and southern England, with a few also at inland sites. Migrant black redstarts arrive in Britain in October or November and either move on or remain to winter, returning eastward in March or April. They also winter on the south and east coasts of Ireland.
The species originally inhabited stony ground in mountains, particularly cliffs, but since about 1900 has expanded to include similar urban habitats including bombed areas during and after World War II, and large industrial complexes that have the bare areas and cliff-like buildings it favours; in Great Britain, most of the small breeding population nests in such industrial areas.
Population:
UK breeding:
19-44 pairs
UK wintering:
400 birds
A black Swan attacking a Muscovy duck.
Hope you will enjoy this shot.
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©Elsie van der Walt, all rights reserved. Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. If you are interested in using one of my images, please send me an E-mail (elsie.vdwalt@gmail.com).
It is always interesting to watch birds' behaviour. This image is from the archives.....this sea gull was preening itself and I saw a piece of leaf sticking out of the water that look like one of its' black feather....that's when I clicked...
Best view enlarged.
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Peaceful Sunday
A long billed Corella bird with a surprised facial expression captured at the Kings Domain , Melbourne. It's head was down digging for bulbs and when it raised its head...I am much nearer !
Best view enlarged for details of the face.
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Happy Sunday
I was observing a group of sea gulls next to the Yarra River when I took this shot.
I am sure you would have seen these postures and calls before.
I was also curious about these postures and their meanings.
Here you can see two common postures.
The gull in the front is showing the Forward Posture.
As the name implies, this posture is all about displaying a forward motion by holding the body roughly horizontal or slightly diagonally with the neck kinked characteristically.
The tail can sometimes be spread; the bill is either slightly opened or closed.
The Forward posture is used in the following situations:
1) hostile encounters
2) pair formation sequences
3) as a response to a bird approaching in flight
When used in hostile encounters on land, it often includes running towards an opponent, whereas in a pair formation sequence both gulls move parallel to each other
The Gull behind is doing the Mew Call
The Mew call is accompanied by a characteristic Arch-posture in which the head is held down and the wings are held slightly away from the body.
It is usually performed while walking but can be performed while standing, flying, or swimming as well.
The Mew call is used in both aggressive and non-aggressive situations:
Aggressive
1) In defense of food or territory, aimed at an opponent
2 )To attract a mate for support in territory defense
Non-aggressive
1) To attract a partner (also for courtship)
2) To call chicks that have wandered too far from the nest
3) To gather chicks for feeding or after they have been hiding after a disturbance
4) As a nest-relief invitation
5) As a call performed upon landing.
Many thanks for your visit, comments, invites and faves...it is always appreciated...
Peaceful Sunday
Dove and Red-headed Finch.
Many thanks to everyone who chooses to leave a comment or add this image to their favorites, it is much appreciated.
©Elsie van der Walt, all rights reserved. Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. If you are interested in using one of my images, please send me an E-mail (elsie.vdwalt@gmail.com).
Arañero corona rojiza / Brown-capped Redstart
(Myoborus brunniceps)
📷 Canon 80D + Sigma 150-600 Contemporary
Reserva Quebrada de las Higueritas, San Luis, Argentina. 🍃🌿🌱
Copyright © María Cecilia Rey 2022
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.
I post this photo for the Happy Caturday theme "Behaviour". Generally Sethi's behaviour is that of most outdoor cats, he loves to roam the neighbourhood, to hunt and to fight. When he is at home he is a different cat, quite peaceful and cuddly and he can look incredibly innocent. What always makes me smile is the way he sticks the tip of his tongue out when he is focused on something interesting, this is so typical Sethi.
Happy Caturday !
RKO_9069.
Copyright: Robert Kok. All rights reserved! Watermark protected.
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A pair of Northern Gannets at their nest.
The male on the left had just returned and the female started to shake her head from side to side as if saying "Where have you been for all this time?"
The male then started to dart forward excitedly towards the female, beak agape,but never got too close.!
A few days later the female laid her first egg in the nest.
The head shaking is behaviour I have seen before but I have never managed to capture it on camera!.
Taken at RSPB Bempton.
Typical Cormorant pose as it dries out after a dive.
When they dive for a fish, their wings become saturated and heavy which actually helps them to dive quicker. However, they are unable to fly like this so "hang themselves out to dry."
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.
Courtship behaviour of the great crested grebe.
great crested grebe
Haubentaucher
[Podiceps cristatus]
Mud-puddling is a feeding behaviour displayed by butterflies. Although they primarily feed on nectar they seek out other essential nutrients including minerals and amino acids in moist substances such as rotting plant matter and mud. Where the conditions are suitable, butterflies form aggregations while mud-puddling.
There are six species of butterflies in this photo taken at Phnom Kulen National Park, Cambodia. I have identified two species. The large butterflies are yellow helens, Papilio nephelus. The white butterfly in flight is the same as the yellow and white butterflies with a dark edge at the edge of their wings. They are chocolate albatrosses, Appias lyncida.
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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
Many thanks to all those who take the time to look at fave and comment on my photos. Although I do not reply to each and everyone they are all truly appreciated and welcome.
I've just got back from spending a long weekend in the company of foxes. It was a fantastic experience and seeing behaviour like this was amazing to see.
It looks far more violent than it actually was, as for most of the time these two vixens were quite happy in each other's company.
Another side of the Northern Gannet's behaviour. The pairs are extremely tender with each other what is really touching to watch.
American Robin adapted to winter. Worms in the summer and minnows in the winter for the ones that stick around. Interesting but not such a rare behaviour as we might think.
The Eagles are spacing themselves along the riverbanks waiting for the remains of a salmon to wash up or float by.
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.
A few more to come from this awesome experience!
All from the same session, taken at a public site at a distance so as not to disturb the birds or alter their behaviour.
Strange behaviour a male Blue Tailed Damselfly trailing his tail in the mud,
View LARGE
Many Thanks for all your views, faves and very kind comments.
To me, darters always look happy, and this cheery-looking chappy is no exception.
The farmer helpfully dug a small pond next to our house about two years ago, and the common darters didn't take long to find it (also saw common hawker this year!).
I do find these very tricky subjects, because they are either zipping about and never landing (when it's sunny), or completely hidden (when it's cooler). In my few attempts, I haven't found any willing to pose this year ... so here's a shot from last September of a male resting on a post.
Stag frantically digging up mud at the edge of a lake to cover its antlers before dressing them in vegetation. Not sure if this is to impress the ladies or threaten other males in the rut.
This Crow was laying in a patch of grass, rolling around and preening. If you look closely it is covered with ants!! "Anting" is a bird behaviour where they will passively allow ants to crawl on them by laying in an area of ant hills. They even have been seen to catch the ants in their beak and rub them on their body. Biologists feel that this is a way to help control mites and possibly help to alleviate skin issues from moulting or from irritation / infestation.
Meg & Jess, I still miss them, we walked through life together for some 14 years, I did research into their obvious behaviour's but most of all I grew to love them, I miss them both dearly,,......Best Wishes Tim.
First is a Cinnabar Moth Caterpillar, next a Soldier Beetle, then a Ladybird and a Hoverfly. Please try viewing large. Thank you....
It's always nice to observe social behaviour. And these days that almost invariably means catching people using their smart phones.
One of my photographs, “The Conversation of Art” from last year’s show, was used by the John Glover Society to promote this year’s event.
www.johnglover.com.au/event/glover-prize-2021-exhibition-...
www.flickr.com/photos/luminosity7/51041329941/in/album-72...
The rook (Corvus frugilegus) is a member of the family Corvidae in the passerine order of birds. It is found in the Palearctic, its range extending from Scandinavia and western Europe to eastern Siberia. It is a large, gregarious, black-feathered bird, distinguished from similar species by the whitish featherless area on the face. Rooks nest collectively in the tops of tall trees, often close to farms or villages, the groups of nests being known as rookeries.
Rooks are mainly resident birds, but the northernmost populations may move southwards to avoid the harshest winter conditions. The birds form flocks in winter, often in the company of other Corvus species or jackdaws. They return to their rookeries and breeding takes place in spring. They forage on arable land and pasture, probing the ground with their strong bills and feeding largely on grubs and soil-based invertebrates, but also consuming cereals and other plant material. Historically, farmers have accused the birds of damaging their crops, and have made efforts to drive them away or kill them. Like other corvids, they are intelligent birds with complex behavioural traits and an ability to solve simple problems.
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Northern gannets (Morus bassanus or Sula bassana) in courtship on Helgoland.
Males and females bond for life.
Since 1991, the Northern Gannet inhabits the rocky cliffs of this tiny island in the North Sea. The birds can be observed throughout the breeding season and display their behaviour without feeling threatened by the visitors.
Submitted: 13/03/2025
Accepted: 17/03/2025
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!