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James Hunt was notorious for his unconventional behaviour on and off the track, which earned him a reputation for cavalier indulgence in both alcohol and sex. Having been part of Formula One when the series was consolidating its global popularity, Hunt's image was the epitome of the unruly, playboy driver, with a touch of English eccentricity (which included dining with his pet German Shepherd, Oscar, at expensive Mayfair restaurants).
Early in their careers Hunt and Niki Lauda were friends off the track. Lauda occasionally stayed at Hunt's flat when he had nowhere to sleep for the night. In his autobiography To Hell and Back, Lauda described Hunt as an "open, honest to God pal." Lauda admired Hunt's burst of speed while Hunt envied Lauda's capacity for analysis and rigour. In the spring of 1974, Hunt moved to Spain on the advice of the International Management Group. Whilst living there as a tax exile, Hunt was the neighbour of Jody Scheckter, and they also came to be very good friends, with Hunt giving Scheckter the nickname Fletcher after the crash-prone bird in the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Another close friend was Ronnie Peterson. Peterson was a quiet and shy man, whilst Hunt was exactly the opposite, but their contrasting personalities made them very close off the track. It was Hunt who discovered Gilles Villeneuve, whom he met after being soundly beaten by him in a Formula Atlantic race in 1976. Hunt then arranged for the young Canadian to make his Grand Prix debut with McLaren in 1977.
Source: Wikipedia
The budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus), also known as the common parakeet, shell parakeet or budgie (/ˈbʌdʒi/ BUJ-ee), is a small, long-tailed, seed-eating parrot. Budgies are the only species in the genus Melopsittacus. Naturally, the species is green and yellow with black, scalloped markings on the nape, back, and wings.[5] Budgies are bred in captivity with colouring of blues, whites, yellows, greys, and even with small crests. Juveniles and chicks are monomorphic, while adults are told apart by their cere colouring, and their behaviour.
The species is the only member of the genus Melopsittacus, which is the only genus in the Melopsittacini tribe.
The origin of the budgerigar's name is unclear. First recorded in 1805, budgerigars are popular pets around the world due to their small size, low cost, and ability to mimic human speech. They are likely the third most popular pet in the world, after the domesticated dog and cat. Budgies are nomadic flock parakeets that have been bred in captivity since the 19th century. In both captivity and the wild, budgerigars breed opportunistically and in pairs.
They are found wild throughout the drier parts of Australia, where they have survived harsh inland conditions for over five million years. Their success can be attributed to a nomadic lifestyle and their ability to breed while on the move. The budgerigar is closely related to lories and the fig parrots.
Etymology
Pair of budgerigars
Several possible origins for the name budgerigar have been proposed. One origin could be that budgerigar may be a mispronunciation or alteration of the Gamilaraay word gidjirrigaa (Aboriginal pronunciation: [ɡ̊iɟiriɡaː]) or gijirragaa from the Yuwaalaraay. Another possible origin is that budgerigar might be a modified form of budgery or boojery (Australian English slang for "good") and gar ("cockatoo"). While many references mention "good" as part of the meaning, and a few specify "good bird", it is quite possible that reports by those local to the region are more accurate in specifying the direct translation as "good food".
Alternative spellings include budgerygah and betcherrygah, the latter used by Indigenous people of the Liverpool Plains in New South Wales.
Alternative names for the budgerigar include the shell parrot or shell parakeet, the warbling grass parakeet, the canary parrot, the zebra parrot, the flight bird, and the scallop parrot. Although more often used as a common name for small parrots in the genus Agapornis, the name "lovebird" has been used for budgerigars, because of their habit of close perching and mutual preening, and their long term pair-bonds.
Taxonomy
Evolutionary history
parrots
Lories and lorikeets
Budgerigar
Fig parrots
genera Cyclopsitta & Psittaculirostris
... other parrots
Phylogenetic chart
The budgerigar was first described by George Shaw in 1805, and given its current binomial name by John Gould in 1840. The genus name Melopsittacus, from Ancient Greek, means "melodious parrot". The species name undulatus is Latin for "undulated" or "wave-patterned".
The budgerigar was once proposed to be a link between the genera Neophema and Pezoporus, based on the barred plumage. However, recent phylogenetic studies using DNA sequences place the budgerigar very close to the lories (tribe Loriini) and the fig parrots (tribe Cyclopsittini).
Description
Wild budgerigars average 18 cm (7 in) long,[6] weigh 30–40 grams (1.1–1.4 oz), 30 cm (12 in) in wingspan, and display a light green body colour (abdomen and rumps), while their mantles (back and wing coverts) display pitch-black mantle markings (blackish in fledglings and immatures) edged in clear yellow undulations. The forehead and face is yellow in adults. Prior to their adult plumage, young individuals have blackish stripes down to the cere (nose) in young individuals until around 3–4 months of age. They display small, iridescent blue-violet cheek patches and a series of three black spots across each side of their throats (called throat patches). The two outermost throat spots are situated at the base of each cheek patch. The tail is cobalt (dark-blue); and outside tail feathers display central yellow flashes. Their wings have greenish-black flight feathers and black coverts with yellow fringes along with central yellow flashes, which only become visible in flight or when the wings are outstretched. Bills are olive grey and legs blueish-grey, with zygodactyl toes.
In their natural Australian habitat, budgerigars are noticeably smaller than those in captivity. This particular parrot species has been bred in many other colours and shades in captivity (e.g. blue, grey, grey-green, pieds, violet, white, yellow-blue). Pet store individuals will commonly be blue, green, or yellow. Like most parrot species, budgerigar plumage fluoresces under ultraviolet light – a phenomenon possibly related to courtship and mate selection.
The upper half of their beaks is taller than the bottom half, covering the bottom when closed. The beak does not protrude much, due to the thick, fluffy feathers surrounding it, giving the appearance of a downward-pointing beak that lies flat against the face. The upper half acts as a long, smooth cover, while the bottom half is just about a half-sized cup-piece. These beaks allow the birds to eat plants, fruits, and vegetables.
The colour of the cere (the area containing the nostrils) differs between the sexes, being a lavender/baby blue in males, pale brownish/white (non breeding) to brown (breeding) in females, and pink in immature birds of both sexes (usually of a more even purplish-pink colour in young males). Some female budgerigars develop brown cere only during breeding time, which later returns to the normal colour. Young females can often be identified by a subtle, chalky whiteness that starts around the nostrils. Males that are either albino, lutino, dark-eyed clear or recessive pied (Danish pied or harlequin) retain the immature purplish-pink cere colour for their entire lives.
Behaviours and head shape also help indicate sex. Veterinarians can determine the sex of a bird by invasive examination or samples of blood, feather, or eggshell.
Mature males usually have a cere of light to dark blue, but in some particular colour mutations it can be periwinkle, lavender, purplish or pink – including dark-eyed clears, Danish pieds (recessive pieds) and inos, which usually display much rounder heads. The behaviour of males can distinguish them from females. Males are typically cheerful, extroverted, highly flirtatious, peacefully social, and very vocal.
Female ceres are pinkish while immature. As they age, they move from being beigeish or whitish outside breeding condition into brown (often with a 'crusty' texture) in breeding condition and usually display flattened backs of heads (right above the nape). Females are more dominant and less socially tolerant. This behavior is more pronounced around other females than with males.
Budgerigars have tetrachromatic colour vision, although all four classes of cone cells will not operate simultaneously unless under sunlight or a UV lamp. The ultraviolet spectrum brightens their feathers to attract mates. The throat spots in budgerigars reflect UV and can be used to distinguish individual birds. While ultraviolet light is essential to the good health of caged and pet birds, inadequate darkness or rest results in overstimulation.
Ecology
Budgerigars are nomadic and flocks move on from sites as environmental conditions change. Budgerigars are found in open habitats, primarily in scrublands, open woodlands, and grasslands of Australia. The birds are normally found in small flocks, but can form very large flocks under favourable conditions. The nomadic movement of the flocks is tied to the availability of food and water. Budgerigars have two distinct flight speeds which they are capable of switching between depending on the circumstance. Drought can drive flocks into more wooded habitat or coastal areas. They feed on the seeds of spinifex and grass, and sometimes ripening wheat.
Outside of Australia, the only long-term establishment of naturalised feral budgerigars is a large population near St. Petersburg, Florida. Increased competition for nesting sites from European starlings and house sparrows is thought to be a primary cause of the Florida population declining from the 1980s. The more consistent, year-round conditions in Florida significantly reduced their nomadic behaviour.
The species has been introduced to various locations in Puerto Rico and the United States.
Budgerigars feed primarily on grass seeds. The species also opportunistically depredates growing cereal crops and lawn grass seeds.[35] Due to the low water content of the seeds they rely on the availability of freshwater.
Behaviour
Breeding in the wild generally takes place between June and September in northern Australia and between August and January in the south, although budgerigars are opportunistic breeders and respond to rains when grass seeds become most abundant. Budgerigars are monogamous and breed in large colonies throughout their range. They show signs of affection to their flockmates by preening or feeding one another. Budgerigars feed one another by eating the seeds themselves, and then regurgitating it into their flockmate's mouth. Populations in some areas have increased as a result of increased water availability at farms. Nests are made in holes in trees, fence posts or logs lying on the ground; the four to six eggs are incubated for 18–21 days, with the young fledging about 30 days after hatching.
In the wild, virtually all parrot species require a hollow tree or a hollow log as a nest site. Because of this natural behaviour, budgerigars most easily breed in captivity when provided with a reasonable-sized nest box.
The eggs are typically one to two centimetres long and are pearl white without any colouration if fertile. Female budgerigars can lay eggs without a male partner, but these unfertilised eggs will not hatch. Females normally have a whitish tan cere; however, when the female is laying eggs, her cere turns a crusty brown colour. Certain female budgies may always keep a whitish tan cere or always keep a crusty brown cere regardless of breeding condition. A female budgerigar will lay her eggs on alternating days. After the first one, there is usually a two-day gap until the next. She will usually lay between four and eight eggs, which she will incubate (usually starting after laying her second or third) for about 21 days each. Females only leave their nests for very quick defecations, stretches and quick meals once they have begun incubating and are by then almost exclusively fed by their mate (usually at the nest's entrance). Females will not allow a male to enter the nest, unless he forces his way inside. Clutch size ranges from 6 to 8 chicks. Depending on the clutch size and the beginning of incubation, the age difference between the first and last hatchling can be anywhere from 9 to 16 days. At times, the parents may begin eating their own eggs due to feeling insecure in the nest box.
There is evidence of same-sex sexual behaviour amongst male budgerigars. It is originally hypothesised that they did this as a form of "courtship practice" so they were better breeding partners for females, however an inverse relationship exists between participation in same-sex behaviour and pairing success.
Chick health
Breeding difficulties arise for various reasons. Some chicks may die from diseases and attacks from adults. Other budgerigars (virtually always females) may fight over the nest box, attacking each other or a brood. Another problem may be the birds' beaks being under-lapped, where the lower mandible is above the upper mandible.
Most health issues and physical abnormalities in budgerigars are genetic. Care should be taken that birds used for breeding are active, healthy and unrelated. Budgerigars that are related or have fatty tumours or other potential genetic health problems should not be allowed to breed. Parasites (lice, mites, worms) and pathogens (bacteria, fungi and viruses), are contagious and thus transmitted between individuals through either direct or indirect contact. Nest boxes should be cleaned between uses.
Splay leg is a relatively common problem in baby budgerigars and other birds; one of the budgerigar's legs is bent outward, which prevents it from being able to stand properly and compete with the other chicks for food, and can also lead to difficulties in reproducing in adulthood. The condition is caused by young budgerigars slipping repeatedly on the floor of a nest box. It is easily avoided by placing a small quantity of a safe bedding or wood shavings in the bottom of the nest box. Alternatively, several pieces of paper may be placed in the box for the female to chew into bedding.
Development
Eggs take about 18–20 days before they start hatching. The hatchlings are altricial – blind, naked, unable to lift their head and totally helpless, and their mother feeds them and keeps them warm constantly. Around 10 days of age, the chicks' eyes will open, and they will start to develop feather down. The appearance of down occurs at the age for closed banding of the chicks.
They develop feathers around three weeks of age. (One can often easily note the colour mutation of the individual birds at this point.) At this stage of the chicks' development, the male usually has begun to enter the nest to help his female in caring and feeding the chicks. Some budgerigar females, however, totally forbid the male from entering the nest and thus take the full responsibility of rearing the chicks until they fledge.
Depending on the size of the clutch and most particularly in the case of single mothers, it may then be wise to transfer a portion of the hatchlings (or best of the fertile eggs) to another pair. The foster pair must already be in breeding mode and thus either at the laying or incubating stages, or already rearing hatchlings.
As the chicks develop and grow feathers, they are able to be left on their own for longer periods of time. By the fifth week, the chicks are strong enough that both parents will be comfortable in staying out of the nest more. The youngsters will stretch their wings to gain strength before they attempt to fly. They will also help defend the box from enemies, mostly with their loud screeching. Young budgerigars typically fledge (leave the nest) around their fifth week of age and are usually completely weaned between six and eight weeks old. However, the age for fledging, as well as weaning, can vary slightly depending on the age and the number of surviving chicks. Generally speaking, the oldest chick is the first to be weaned. Although it is logically the last one to be weaned, the youngest chick is often weaned at a younger age than its older sibling(s). This can be a result of mimicking the actions of older siblings. Lone surviving chicks are often weaned at the youngest possible age as a result of having their parents' full attention and care.
Hand-reared budgies may take slightly longer to wean than parent-raised chicks. Hand feeding is not routinely done with budgerigars, due to their small size and because young parent raised birds can be readily tamed.
Relationship with humans
Aviculture
The budgerigar has been bred in captivity since the 1850s. Breeders have worked to produce a variety of colour, pattern and feather mutations, including albino, blue, cinnamon-ino (lacewing), clearwing, crested, dark, greywing, opaline, pieds, spangled, dilute (suffused) and violet.
"English budgerigars", more correctly called "show" or "exhibition budgerigars", are about twice as large as their wild counterparts and have puffier head feathers, giving them a boldly exaggerated look. The eyes and beak can be almost totally obscured by these fluffy head feathers. English budgerigars are typically more expensive than wild-type birds, and have a shorter life span of about seven to nine years. Breeders of English budgerigars show their birds at animal shows. Most captive budgerigars in the pet trade are more similar in size and body conformation to wild budgerigars.
Budgerigars are social animals and require stimulation in the shape of toys and interaction with humans or with other budgerigars. Budgerigars, and especially females, will chew material such as wood. When a budgerigar feels threatened, it will try to perch as high as possible and to bring its feathers close against its body in order to appear thinner.
Tame budgerigars can be taught to speak, whistle and play with humans. Both males and females sing and can learn to mimic sounds and words and do simple tricks, but singing and mimicry are more pronounced and better perfected in males. Females rarely learn to mimic more than a dozen words. Males can easily acquire vocabularies ranging from a few dozen to a hundred words. Pet males, especially those kept alone, are generally the best speakers.
Budgerigars will chew on anything they can find to keep their beaks trimmed. Mineral blocks (ideally enriched with iodine), cuttlebone and soft wooden pieces are suitable for this activity. Cuttlebones also supply calcium, essential for the proper forming of eggs and bone solidity. In captivity, budgerigars live an average of five to eight years, but life spans of 15–20 years have been reported. The life span depends on breed, lineage, and health, being highly influenced by exercise and diet. Budgerigars have been known to cause "bird fancier's lung" in sensitive people, a type of hypersensitivity pneumonitis. Apart from a handful of illnesses, diseases of the species are not transmittable to humans.
Colour mutations
Main article: Budgerigar colour genetics
All captive budgerigars are divided into two basic series of colours; namely, white-based (blue, grey and white) and yellow-based (green, grey-green and yellow). Presently, at least 32 primary mutations (including violet) occur, enabling hundreds of possible secondary mutations (stable combined primary mutations) and colour varieties (unstable combined mutations).
Mimicry
Main article: Talking bird
Male specimens of budgerigars can be skilled at mimicking human speech.
Puck, a male budgerigar owned by American Camille Jordan, holds the world record for the largest vocabulary of any bird, at 1,728 words. Puck died in 1994, with the record first appearing in the 1995 edition of Guinness World Records.
In 2001, recordings of a budgerigar called Victor got some attention from the media. Victor's owner, Ryan B. Reynolds of Canada, stated Victor was able to engage in contextual conversation and predict the future. Although some believe the animal was able to predict his own death as was claimed, further study on the subject is difficult without the bird. As of 2001, the recordings still remain to be verified by scientific analysis. Critics argue Victor's speech in the recordings is not coherent enough to be determined as spoken in context.
The budgerigar "Disco" became Internet famous in 2013. As of 2023, Disco had been viewed over 24,198,346 times on his YouTube channel. Some of Disco's most repeated phrases included, "I am not a crook" and "Nobody puts baby bird in a corner!". Disco died in 2017.
In popular culture
Small bathing suits for men, commonly referred to as togs or "Speedos", are informally called "budgie smugglers" in Australia. The phrase is humorously based on the appearance of the tight-fitting cloth around the male's genitals looking like a small budgie. The phrase was officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2016
Not the best lighting but happy to capture the action - the courtship display of the Pin-tailed Whydah or King of Six. The female seems to get in the spirit of things a bit more than some other species.
Nature in Focus ~ 500px ~ G+ ~ Redbubble
We had a lovely day out with friends today at a local farm. Last time the children were rather startled by the livestock, but today they had a fab time!
Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com
The Moorhen is a common bird of most waterways, ponds and lakes in Ireland. Usually quite secretive, but can also be seen out in the open on water sides and even out in open fields. A dark pigeon sized bird with long sturdy legs. The adult has a red bill and fore crown, the bill is tipped yellow. Has a white line along the flanks and white sides to its under tail. The under tail is east to see as it carries its tail high. The upperparts are brownish and the underparts are blue-grey. Juveniles lack any red in the bill and crown and are have greyish-brown plumage Moorhens are usually seen on the ground or in the water. If the bird is walking about look out for the long yellow/green legs with the very large toes; the legs project out from the tail in flight. (Birdwatch Ireland)
Taken on a Canon 7D Mark II in the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland.
Given our current weather, I thought that it would in context to explore the exquisite arrangements of clusters of minute water droplets (nominally <0.5 mm in diameter) resting on orchid flower petals. The petal surfaces are clearly hydrophobic in that they repel water, forcing the water droplets to take on spherical shapes with the smaller drops generally approaching spherical perfection. What’s more interesting to me is the fact that large clusters of touching droplets remained stable for considerable lengths of time, being “hydrophobic” to one another, with their individual surface tensions prevailing over their affinity to merge into larger drops. Indeed, they were more incline to evaporate rather than joining; their small sizes inhibiting coalescence.
This little juvenile howler monkey (Allouatta palliata) was feeling too lazy to go find his friends. He was part of a group I was doing a behavioural study on with the Maderas Rainforest Conservancy on Ometepe Island in Nicaragua.
More low light badger photos from my little woodland hide. I wish he'd appear a wee bit earlier, but great to see nonetheless.
A common red soldier beetle (a vegetarian as far as I'm aware) trying to pull apart a mating pair of dock bugs in New Ferry Butterfly Park.
I'm always fascinated by observing human behaviour, particularly how it varies across cultures. It struck me that certain postures are more prevalent in specific regions. For instance, squatting is a common resting position in many parts of Asia and Africa. Yet, it's far less common in Europe, where people typically sit on chairs, and many struggle to even get into a squat.
Interestingly, I've identified another global posture that transcends cultural boundaries: the phone hunch. No matter where you go, you'll see people hunched over their smartphones, engrossed in the digital world. This modern posture is a testament to our universal connection to technology, yet it also serves as a reminder of the physical impact our digital habits have on our bodies.
My father, Johannes Kuilman (Herwen en Aerdt, 25 November 1905 - Amsterdam, 19 Febr. 1982), was a (political) prisoner of the camp. Unfortunately, he never communicated of the experience and I never asked. So a kind of mystery remained over the years in the war. Some evidence pointed to an 'unloyal' behaviour (cartoon of Hitler) during his job as a tax-collector in Amsterdam. Subsequent punishment (in a meeting with Lages, see below) resulted in his imprisonment. These events must have happened in the later part of the year 1943. My fathers actual imprisonment in Vught lasted from 6 - 29 January 1944.
The so-called Bunker tragedy happened in the night of 15th - 16th January 1944 at concentration camp Vught in the Netherlands.
In that night 74 women were held for 14 hours in 1 cell. 10 women died. My father never mentioned this event, although he was inmate at the time.
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SS-Sturmbannführer Adam Grünewald was in charge at that time, following SS-Hauptsturmführer Karl Chmielewski who was in charge from January 1943 .
My father was released three weeks later due to the generous act of a lady (we don't know her name, but it could have been Truus Wijsmuller?) who had saved a German soldier from drowning in a canal (Nassaukade?). As gratitude, she was granted a favour by the German authorities for the release of a random prisoner. Somebody overheared this curious conversation in a bakery shop in Amsterdam Oost and suggested my father. So he was released from Camp Vught - as one of the very few. He never mentioned the Bunker tragedy.
The near absolute silence of my father about this story (and other war stories for that matter) is still puzzling. It must have been a life-treatening and morally damaging event.
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Ferdinand Hugo (Ferdy) aus der Fünten (Mülheim an der Ruhr, 17 december 1909 – Duisburg, 19 april 1989) was een ter dood veroordeelde Duitse oorlogsmisdadiger die tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog de feitelijke leiding gaf aan de deportatie van tienduizenden Joden, met name vanuit Amsterdam. Tevens was hij betrokken bij talrijke razzia's. Hij behoorde tot de Vier van Breda, nadien tot de Drie van Breda en uiteindelijk tot de Twee van Breda. Hij zat na gratie een levenslange gevangenisstraf uit voor oorlogsmisdaden en werd in januari 1989 vrijgelaten.
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Truus Wijsmuller Geertruida (Truus) Wijsmuller-Meijer (Alkmaar, 21 april 1896 – Amsterdam, 30 augustus 1978) was een Nederlandse verzetsvrouw die voor en in de Tweede Wereldoorlog Joodse kinderen en volwassenen in veiligheid bracht. Ze ontving van Yad Vashem de onderscheiding Rechtvaardige onder de Volkeren. Samen met anderen die voor het vooroorlogse Kindertransport werkten, heeft ze de levens van meer dan 10.000 Joodse kinderen, op de vlucht voor antisemitisme, gered.
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Kamp Vught (officieel Duits: Konzentrationslager Herzogenbusch) was een van de drie Duitse concentratiekampen in Nederland tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog. De andere twee zijn de doorgangskampen Amersfoort en Westerbork. Kamp Vught bevond zich in de Noord-Brabantse plaats Vught nabij de recreatieplas de IJzeren Man. Het heeft ruim anderhalf jaar als concentratiekamp gefunctioneerd.
De bouw van het kamp werd in 1942 gestart, naar model van Konzentrationslager in nazi-Duitsland en in door dat land geannexeerde gebieden, omdat Kamp Westerbork en Kamp Amersfoort niet genoeg capaciteit meer hadden. Het Duitse Wirtschaftsverwaltungshauptamt (WVHA), de economische poot van de SS in Berlijn gaf daartoe de opdracht. Het WVHA haalde zijn inkomsten door kampgevangenen te werk te stellen bij bedrijfsvestigingen vlak bij de kampen. De bouw werd gefinancierd door Liro, de Duitse roofbank waarin de tegoeden van gedeporteerde Nederlandse Joden waren ondergebracht. Toen de eerste gevangenen uit kamp Amersfoort aankwamen, was het kamp nog niet klaar. De gevangenen moesten het zelf afbouwen. Er werd om het kamp door de gevangenen een gracht gegraven en om de 100 meter een wachttoren gebouwd. Het kamp was 1 kilometer lang en 350 meter breed. De nominale maximale capaciteit van het kamp bedroeg 15.000 mensen.
Organisatie en leiding
Kamp Vught stond onder beheer van de SS, in tegenstelling tot de andere Nederlandse kampen (waar overigens vaak wel SS'ers werkten, zoals in Kamp Amersfoort). De ligging was mede bepaald door de nabijheid van 's-Hertogenbosch, reden waarom het kamp door de Duitsers werd aangeduid als Konzentrationslager Herzogenbusch. In 's-Hertogenbosch bevond zich een aantal landelijke Duitse instellingen, terwijl het kamp ook nabij goede wegen en spoorwegen lag. Het kamp moest als 'modelkamp' dienen en is qua opzet, uitvoering en grootte te vergelijken met concentratiekamp Dachau. De wachttorens langs het met dubbele prikkeldraad omheinde kamp werden de klok rond met merendeel Nederlandse SS'ers bemand.
Het kamp had tijdens de oorlog drie commandanten:
SS-Hauptsturmführer Karl Chmielewski vanaf januari 1943 tijdens de eerste maanden van het kamp (see below)
SS-Sturmbannführer Adam Grünewald van oktober 1943 tot januari 1944
SS-Sturmbannführer Hans Hüttig van februari 1944 tot de sluiting van het kamp
Gevangenen
In totaal werden er ruim 31.000 mensen in het kamp gedetineerd waaronder 12.000 Joden en verder politieke gevangenen, Roma en Sinti, verzetsstrijders, Jehova's getuigen, homoseksuelen, zwervers, criminelen en zwarthandelaren. Gevangenen waren onderverdeeld in verschillende kamponderdelen:
Schutzhaftlager
Judendurchgangslager
Studentenlager
Geisellager
Frauenkonzentrationslager
Polizeiliches Durchgangslager
In het kamp zelf zijn zeker 735 mensen om het leven gekomen, onder wie 36 Belgen. Het aantal sterfgevallen in Kamp Vught lag veel lager dan in de kampen in Duitsland, namelijk 749 in totaal, door allerlei oorzaken, omgerekend ongeveer een op vijftig gevangenen. In Dachau was dit op een totaal van 200.000 gevangenen ruim 40.000, dus een op de vijf. Vanuit Vught werden echter onder meer 15.000 Joden gedeporteerd, van wie bijna niemand de oorlog overleefde.
Enkele gevangenen, onder wie David Koker, Klaartje de Zwarte-Walvisch en Helga Deen hielden een kampdagboek bij dat bewaard is gebleven. Ze zijn alle drie omgekomen na transport naar andere concentratiekampen.
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Karl Chmielewski (16 July 1903 – 1 December 1991) was a German SS officer and concentration camp commandant. Such was his cruelty, he was dubbed Teufel von Gusen or the Devil of Gusen.
Chmielewski joined the SS whilst unemployed in 1932 and joined the Nazi Party the following year. After initially serving in the office of Heinrich Himmler, he was transferred to the Columbia concentration camp in 1935, before moving to Sachsenhausen concentration camp the following year. He was promoted to Untersturmführer in 1938 and attached to the Schutzhaftlagerführung"", the 'Protective custody' units of the SS-Totenkopfverbände.
From 1940 to 1942 Chmielewski, by then a Hauptsturmführer, served as Schutzhaftlagerführer at Gusen concentration camp, and it was there that he developed a reputation for extreme brutality. He then became commandant of the newly established Herzogenbusch concentration camp in the Netherlands, where he further developed a reputation for cruelty.
Amongst the claims made against him was that during inspections he ordered the drowning of prisoners in buckets of water. Fellow camp commandant Franz Ziereis claimed after the war that Chmielewski had used the skin of prisoners to make things such as wallets and book bindings, something Ziereis claimed was strictly forbidden by the Nazi authorities.
During his reign at Herzogenbusch, Chmielewski gained a reputation for corruption, and he was eventually tried for personally enriching himself through stealing diamonds from prisoners. He was deprived of his position and rank in 1943, being succeeded as commandant by Adam Grünewald. In 1944, an SS court sentenced Chmielewski to 15 years in prison for rape and embezzlement. He spent the rest of the war as an inmate at Dachau concentration camp.
Chmielewski disappeared into Austria after the war. By 1953, he was back in Germany, under an assumed identity, where he had taken up farming. He was tried in that year for perjury, fraud and bigamy, and sentenced to a year in prison. After his real identity was established, he was arrested by West German police in January 1959, accused of nearly two hundred counts of murder. At his trial in 1961, he was found guilty of causing the deaths of prisoners through his brutality, and was sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour. The court pronounced him a sadist who took pleasure in killing prisoners, whom he did not see as human, by scalding them with boiling water.
He was released from prison in March 1979, on mental health grounds, and spent his last years in a care institution at Chiemsee.
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Adam Grünewald (20 October 1902 – 22 January 1945) was a German Schutzstaffel officer and Nazi concentration camp commandant.
The son of a carpenter who died when he was 8, Grünewald apprenticed as a baker but found work difficult to come by when the First World War ended and the demobilised soldiers entered the labour market. Attracted to the nationalist propaganda prevalent at the time Grünewald joined the Freikorps before signing on with the army for a 12-year stint. Leaving the army as a staff sergeant in April 1931 Grünewald again struggled to find employment and so joined the Sturmabteilung. He rose to the rank of Obersturmbannführer in the SA before switching to the SS shortly after the Night of the Long Knives.
In 1943, Grünewald succeeded Karl Chmielewski as commandant of Herzogenbusch concentration camp (aka Kamp Vught). However, like his predecessor he was also removed. He was found guilty of excessive cruelty to prisoners for his role in the Bunker Tragedy in January 1944. Grünewald was investigated by SS judge Georg Konrad Morgen. Oswald Pohl, the head administrator of the Nazi concentration camp system, told Morgen not to bother with a court-martial, saying the lives of the women were meaningless in comparison to the many German women who had died in Allied bombing raids. However, Morgen proceeded with his investigation, which Pohl unsuccessfully attempted to block. Part of the reason Morgen was allowed to continue the investigation was that the incident was linked to the Dutch public. The regime figured that punishing Grünewald would most likely soften public anger over the incident.
Before the court-martial reached its verdict, it decided to define the limits of "disciplinary authority" of camp commanders. "In the case the situation required it", camp commandants were authorized to carry out the punishments that "may significantly harm physical well-being." Under those circumstances, such punishments were legal and "can never be punished as abuse." However, in Grünewald's case, they said he went too far.
"The disciplinary measures led to the health damage that exceeded the legalized scope. A detention of a big number of prisoners in one cell with extraction of possibility to seat and sleep might still be seen as a measure that is necessary under certain circumstances. However, if the punished prisoner is not physically able to take the punishment without suffering a significant health damage then it exceeds the permitted measure."
Grünewald was found guilty of 10 counts of manslaughter and sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for 10 counts of manslaughter.[ He was spared a harsher sentence on the grounds of his military service and the court accepting his claim that he "didn't wish for the death of ten women." The court found that his crimes "did not come in the slightest out of dishonorable motives."
In March 1944, after serving nearly a month in prison, Grünewald was pardoned, but stripped of his rank and ordered to fight on the Eastern Front as a common soldier. He finished the war with the 3rd SS Division Totenkopf and died during a German counteroffensive in the siege of Budapest. His final rank was SS-Sturmbannführer.
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He's going to be the spokesperson for my contest :P. I wanted to get a good image for a banner or a layout, but I think I have to keep on trying.
What drives me nuts is his blushing..the coverage didn't turn out that great, so I think I'm going to try to add some more layers on. If it gets ruined, I'll just redo him completely ^^;.
The breeding behaviour of kestrels is a fascinating process that typically takes place in spring and is strongly influenced by their adaptation to human settlements as building-nesting birds. Key aspects of their breeding behaviour:
Breeding season: The breeding season usually begins in late March to early April.
Nest location: As building-nesting birds, they use niches in church towers, old buildings and high-rise blocks, or readily accept nest boxes. They do not bring in nesting material, but use the existing substrate.
Clutch & egg-laying: The female usually lays 3 to 6 eggs at intervals of one to two days.
Breeding behaviour: The incubation period lasts around 28 to 30 days. During this time, the female incubates the eggs almost exclusively, whilst the male provides her with food.
Rearing: After hatching, the chicks are kept warm by the mother (brooding), whilst the male hunts. After about four weeks, the young falcons leave the nest, but are often still fed for some time afterwards.
Kestrels are site-faithful breeders and often return to the same nesting site. Their main food source during the breeding season is small rodents.