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:
Seagulls are fondly remembered in Utah for helping Mormon settlers deal with a plague of crickets. The seagull is now the state bird of Utah and a monument in Salt Lake City commemorates the event, known as the ‘Miracle of the Gulls’. Seagulls are very clever. They learn, remember and even pass on behaviours, such as stamping their feet in a group to imitate rainfall and trick earthworms to come to the surface. Seagulls’ intelligence is clearly demonstrated by a range of different feeding behaviours, such as dropping hard-shelled molluscs onto rocks so that they break open so they can eat them, and following ploughs in fields where they know upturned grubs and other food sources will be plentiful.
GAMBIA FEB 2019
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NORMALLY VERY PLACID HERON, with no neck showing, but something came near, did not see what it was, it reeled out its neck , with a feather duster look, with a loud grunting type call, was quite taken back with its very long neck behaviour. Have shown the normal pose thirty seven images back, if you want to compare
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Lesser Tenrecs will self-anoint/nuzzle or "scent-mark", usually after vivarium cleaning, introduction of new objects like in this situation, but they will also self anoint on parts of a human body such as the hand.
This is Azizi (left) and Boo (right)
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).
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.
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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).
This very small nutria was walking silently in the shadow, that's why I had to use high ISO. Zoom in for more details.
As you can see his fur has a lot of different shades of brown.
And as you can see he was very young : big head and small body
(_DSC0025_DxO-2048N)
Birds of prey are fascinating and majestic animals. They can generally be defined as birds that feed on animals that they catch alive. Representatives of these two orders can be found almost everywhere in the world. Although these groups are distantly related, the behavioural and anatomical characteristics they share appear to be mainly the result of parallel evolution.
Curlew are very large, tall waders, about the same size as a female pheasant. Curlew are mottled brown and grey with long, bluish legs and a long, down-curved bill that is pink underneath. It can be distinguished from the smaller whimbrel by the longer bill and plain head pattern. When they fly, curlew have a white wedge on the rump.
Behaviour
The haunting sound of the curlew’s display call (‘Cur-lee’) is unmistakeable and can be heard from February through to July on its breeding grounds: wet grasslands, farmland, heath and moorlands. From July onwards coastal numbers start to build up and peak in January.
It is not just the boys that enjoy singing in the springtime.
However, the tune and the volume is a little softer.
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.
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
The grasshopper is an insect of the suborder Caelifera in the order Orthoptera. To distinguish it from bush crickets or katydids, it is sometimes referred to as the short-horned grasshopper. Species that change colour and behaviour at high population densities are called locusts.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Taken a few months back in the Kent coastal town of Whitstable. In general seagulls in the British coastal resorts have a bad reputation for their aggressive behaviour, well deserved I should add. Should you just be tucking into your lovely bag of chips (fries) you'd better beware that if you take your attention away for even a second then chances are one of these guys will be swooping in for a free meal. It can scare the bejesus out of you! And if they don't steal your food they just might leave you with something else in the form of an embarrassing white streak down your back, or heaven forbid, on your head!
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I'm going to be leaving this message on my next few posted images. This is to let the photographers that I follow know that due to the immense amount of time it takes me to go through all the photos that appear in my Flickr stream each day I am setting my stream to show only one image per day per person. It's either that or get Flickr burn-out. Apologies in advance if your photos don't get as much of my attention as they used to. Hopefully people will understand my reasons for doing so. Thanks.
When the berry crop fails or is just exhausted, waxwings become highly nomadic and desert their Scandinavian home patch to fly south and west in search of a food source. Thus, the eastern side of Ireland can expect a few exotic looking visitors in mid-winter. In so called Waxwing winters, many hundred birds arrive and their presence is usually noticed quickly due to the birds showy looks and their feeding behaviour. Sometimes only one or two arrive which make the bird very special.
juvenile marsh harrier (up) squawking at it's mum (down) for the moorhen chick in her claws. I don't know what I was doing with my shutter speed so excuse the quality lol but it shows some good behaviour. I'll be posting the mid air swap from the rear in about a week
RKO_9069.
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On this day 11 years ago I noticed this Goanna lizard hanging out at a popular picnic spot. Goannas are one of several species of lizards of the genus Varanus found in Australia and Southeast Asia.
Being predatory lizards, Goannas are often quite large, with sharp teeth and claws. They survive on smaller prey, but combine predatory and scavenging behaviour, which is why they are attracted to places where people gather and may feed them.
Like most lizards, goannas lay eggs. Most lay eggs in a nest or burrow, but some species lay their eggs inside termite mounds. This offers protection and incubation; additionally, the termites may provide a meal for the young as they hatch. Unlike some other species of lizards, Goannas do not have the ability to regrow limbs or tails.
The second side of Timmy is the tender cuddler who likes to lie in my arm in bed and lay his head in my hand.
Happy Caturday 2.10.2021 "Signature behaviour"
Feeding behaviour - Typically forages in shallow water. Often feeds very actively, sometimes running after minnows. May forage by walking forward while swinging its head back and forth with the tip of the bill in the water.
AHP East, Ottawa.
With the Barred Owl resting at the top of this old pine tree and branches everywhere I wasn't going to take any photos... until...we noticed the squirrel curiously sneaking up behind the owl. :)
Thank you for viewing
This little guy is very entertaining and knows no fear of humans. He took nuts from my hand, climbed into my bag to look for more food and played with my shoe laces to get my attention. This kind of behaviour is rather unusual, even for the squirrels at Monrepos who are all used to people.
Winter blues got you down? Let these summer blues cheer you up. This image show the adult male bluebird hovering over some vegetation with the juvenile following. I believe the dad was showing the youngster how to find moths/butterflies/bugs in the grasses. There was communication going on for sure based on the sequence of behaviours.
One side of Timmy is the adventurer: today a wall was newly concreted at the construction site at the creek behind the house. Two hours later Timmy checked the quality of the work. Fortunately, the concrete was already solid enough so that he did not leave paw prints :-)))
Happy Caturday 2.10.2021 "Signature behaviour"
see all photos: meine.stimme.de/heilbronn/kultur-freizeit/das-maeuerchen-...
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.
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 :)
For the last few late fall migration seasons, a flock of American à Wigeon have stayed on Mud Lake for a week or two, even longer if the food and weather hold. The flocks have been a great way to observe transitional behaviour - males coming into breeding plumage, courtship battles starting - and the array of plumage, as first year birds mix with adults of both sexes.
The birds move around the Lake looking for the vegetation they depend on. Their short bills are effective at ripping weeds from below the surface, and their faces are often buried in the water. Although they are not at skittish as Hooded Mergansers, for example, they are often out in the larger bays, farther from people. And they don’t seem to get alone particularly well with the resident Mallards.
But as luck would have it, on one of the few birding trips I was able to make in the last couple of weeks, several of the Wigeons decided to visit the small bay I was observing them from. I was pleased with the location I had staked out: sitting in damp shoreline, but with the Lake lit up with the reflected colours of fall foliage, the light working out. I was pretty excited at their approach.
And then they came closer, and closer, and pretty soon I was pulling back from the edge of the water to get at least a decent frame. This image of a male, with the sun lighting up both the duck and the leaves reflecting in the water, is an uncropped record.
On a side note: given that I use a lens that allows me to reduce the focal length, giving me the ability to expand the frame, I could have tried to get more Wigeon in the image. But in the moment, as I was tracking the approaching bird (it was moving toward and then along the shoreline), I am found myself trying to maximize the opportunity I had. On a stationary target I would be more inclined to explore focal lengths, but here I was locked on the eye, and working to get the field marks of the bird into the frame.
Image 2 for the life in Autumn series - 'Grey Days'
Even as the nights get longer and the days colder this rosebush continues to produce rosebuds. Heavily pruned earlier this year this rosebush has flowered three times during this summer /autumn.
Very strange events /plant behaviour in the garden in 2020 but an extremely productive, edible and beautiful year of growing.
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.
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?
Thanks for your comments and faves,they are truly appreciated.
Swallow Tanager is an unusual species and the only member of its genus. (It was formerly placed in a family of its own.) It is unique among tanagers in the behaviour of sometimes digging a nesting hole in a bank. It is primarily frugivorous but will also sweep out (swallow-like) after insects. This is a male with a black mask and mainly blue plumage with white breast. It was seen near the town of Minca in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia, South America.