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smoking baby part 2, and like a few hours after i took this picture we were walking around manhatten and stumbled upon a thrift store which just so happens to sell a toy called the smoking baby...i never even knew it existed
Effi self-grooming
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“M” Group, Greystoke Mahale, Mahale National Park, Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania, November 2021
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Grooming behavior is common among primates. Grooming promotes personal hygiene, strengthens social bonding, and is simply a pleasant way to pass the time. Among chimpanzees, grooming behaviors play a part in political maneuvering as well. Males vying for alpha status will curry favor and/or cement allies’ allegiance by who they groom. However, chimps being fickle, calculating, or just plain devious will engage in “fake” grooming to lower a rivals’ suspicions and catch him off guard when the inevitable betrayal occurs.
CALIFORNIA SEA OTTERS
Animal Classification
Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris)
Description
Sea otters are members of the weasel or mustelid family. Like other members of this family, they have very thick fur. In fact, at 850,000 to one million hairs per square inch, they have the thickest fur of any mammal. Their fur actually consists of two layers, an undercoat and longer guard hairs. This system traps a layer of air next to their skin so their skin does not get wet. Sea otters are usually dark brown, often with lighter guard hairs. Alaskan sea otters tend to have lighter fur on their heads. Sea otters are the smallest marine mammals. In California adult females weigh 35-60 pounds (16-27 kg); males reach up to 90 pounds (40 kg). Alaskan sea otters are bigger with males weighing up to 100 pounds (45 kg).
Range/Habitat
Sea otters once ranged from Mexico to Alaska and even to Japan. Currently, the California population numbers around 2,800 and is found from Half Moon Bay to Morro Bay. There is a much larger population in Alaska, and sea otters are still found in Russia. Sea otters inhabit shallow coastal areas and prefer places with kelp. The kelp acts as an anchor that the sea otters use to wrap themselves in when they are resting.
Mating/Breeding
Females give birth to one pup and usually have their first pup at the age of four or five. Their pregnancies last four to five months. Pups can be born any time of year, but in California most are born between January and March, and in Alaska most are born in the summer. When born, the pups weigh from three to five pounds.
Behavior
Sea otters are social animals, with females and pups spending time together in one group and males in another. Pups stay with their mothers for the first eight months of their life. The pups' fur traps so much air that they actually cannot dive under water. When mothers leave the pups wrapped in kelp to hunt, pups bob on the surface of the ocean like a cork. Mothers spend much time grooming pups and often carry them on their chests. Pups begin to learn to swim at around four weeks of age. Sea otters are one of the few animals to use tools. They eat animals with shells, like clams and abalone, and use a stone to break open the shells. When sea otters are under water searching for food, they store what they have found in the loose skin folds at their armpits. Adult sea otters can eat 25%-30% of their body weight in one day!
Status
Sea otters in California are a threatened species due to past over hunting for their beautiful fur. Although sea otters are protected now, they remain vulnerable, especially to oil spills. Unlike other marine mammals, sea otters do not have a blubber layer. Therefore, they rely on their fur to keep warm. If their fur is oiled, it loses its insulating qualities and the sea otters soon chill. Otters are also affected by the oil fumes or poisoned by eating food exposed to oil. Most sea otters quickly die in an oil spill. Several thousand sea otters died in the 1989 Exxon oil spill in Valdez, Alaska. Other threats to sea otters include infectious diseases, parasites, boat strikes, entanglements, and toxins.
At The Marine Mammal Center
The Marine Mammal Center began rehabilitating sea otters in 1995. Since that time, we have rescued up to 207 sea otters.
Want to learn more about marine mammals?
SOURCE: www.marinemammalcenter.org/
2011-10-25 师父开示
Messages from Osifu：Be a Real Practitioner
October 25th, 2011
近阶段是三日开示一次，将来的某个时空点还会调整至七日开示一次。师父的开示法会会越来越少。
Recently Osifu gives teachings every three other days, and it will be adjusted to every seven other days at some spatiotemporal stage in the future. Osifu’s Teachings Assemblies are getting less and less.
从2008年建网络道场开始讲法以来，已经讲的太多了。
Osifu has been talking too much since the establishment of online ashram in 2008.
师父一直有记笔记的习惯，今年特别繁忙，节奏太快了。以至于都无暇记笔记，昨日略有闲暇准备补一补笔记，一看笔记本已经用完了。
Osifu always has a habit of taking notes. But he is so busy this year and everything is moving so fast that even no time can be used to take notes. Yesterday Osifu had some spare time and decided to make up the diary, but seeing that the notebook had no space for notes at all.
昨天下午买了一个笔记本，从2011年9月1日补起，然后一页两天提前排版好。
Osifu bought a new notebook at yesterday afternoon and typeset in advance by every two days in one page since the date of Sep. 1st, 2011.
师父从9月1日一口气排列下去，写完最后一页，不多不少，排列到2012年12月31号笔记本正好用完。
Starting from the date of Sep. 1st Osifu finished the notebook typesetting in one breath till it arrived at the last page, and it was coincidently used up by the date of Dec. 31st, 2012.
这个笔记本将刚刚好记录到2012年12月31号，真是巧合，呵呵。
无处不巧合呀！
The notebook will take records just right till Dec.31 2011. What a coincidence! There can be a coincidence anywhere!
但大家不要过于担忧恐惧2012会发生什么灾劫或者是世界末日，恐惧是负能量负信息负密码，尔等不要恐惧，不要怖畏，真修行人会遇难呈祥、逢凶化吉的。
But we should not be too much fear if any disasters will happen in 2012 or it may be the end of the world. Fear or worries are the negative energy, negative information and negative secret code. All of you don’t need to worry about the disasters and a real practitioner will always be free from misfortunes and always turns bad luck into good!
是的！真修行人会遇难呈祥、逢凶化吉的。
Yes, a real practitioner will always be free from misfortunes and always turns bad luck into good!
弟子们！
My disciples!
要做一个真修行人。
Be a real practitioner!
弟子们！
My disciples!
要做一个真正的修心修行修炼人！
Be a real practitioner of mind discipline, cultivation and practice!
当然，很多自我标榜为学佛人的并不是真正的修心修行修炼人！
Surely, there are many people who label themselves as the Buddhism practitioners are not real practitioners.
当然，很多自我标榜为修道人的并不是真正的修心修行修炼人！
Surely, there are many people who flaunt themselves as the Taoism practitioners are not real practitioners.
当然，很多高人、法师、活佛并不是真正的修心修行修炼人！
Surely, there are many experts, masters and Living Buddhas are not real practitioners.
当然，很多大学者、大居士、大法王并不是真正的修心修行修炼人！
Surely, there are many great scholars and great kulapats s as well as great Dharma Kings are not real practitioners.
那么谁才是真正的修心修行修炼人呢？
Then who is a real practitioner?
佛知晓
Buddha knows!
那么谁才是真正的修心修行修炼人呢？
Then who is a real practitioner?
天知道
Heaven knows!
那么谁才是真正的修心修行修炼人呢？
Then who is a real practitioner?
地明了
Earth knows!
那么谁才是真正的修心修行修炼人呢？
Then who is a real practitioner?
明白者明白
Anyone who understands it knows!
那么谁才是真正的修心修行修炼人呢？
Then who is a real practitioner?
知道者知道
Anyone who realizes it knows!
那么谁才是真正的修心修行修炼人呢？
Then who is a real practitioner?
得道者会心一笑
Anyone who attains the Way smiles knowingly.
真正的修心修行修炼人深信因果。
A real practitioner has strong and firm faith in karma.
真正的修心修行修炼人深信佛法。
A real practitioner has strong and firm faith in Buddha Dharma.
真正的修心修行修炼人深信道法。
A real practitioner has strong and firm faith in Taoism.
真正的修心修行修炼人深信规律。
A real practitioner has strong and firm faith in the laws.
真正的修心修行修炼人深信法则。
A real practitioner has strong and firm faith in the rules.
真正的修心修行修炼人深信科学。
A real practitioner has strong and firm faith in science.
真正的修心修行修炼人诸恶莫作。
A real practitioner doesn’t conduct anything evil.
真正的修心修行修炼人众善奉行。
A real practitioner nurtures every good deed.
真正的修心修行修炼人自净其心。
A real practitioner purifies his own mind.
真正的修心修行修炼人舍离五欲。
A real practitioner forsakes the five desires.
真正的修心修行修炼人修心圣道。
A real practitioner cultivates his mind in the manner of Sages.
真正的修心修行修炼人志心出离。
A real practitioner resolves to get out of the Three Realms.
真正的修心修行修炼人自利利他。
A real practitioner benefits himself as well as others.
真正的修心修行修炼人自觉觉他。
A real practitioner enlightens himself as well as others.
真正的修心修行修炼人自化化他。
A real practitioner transforms himself as well as others.
真正的修心修行修炼人自度度他。
A real practitioner rescues himself as well as others.
真正的修心修行修炼人广行六度。
A real practitioner universally practices the Six Perfections.
真正的修心修行修炼人四无量心。
A real practitioner cultivates the Four Boundless Minds.
真正的修心修行修炼人慈悲喜舍。
A real practitioner is compassionate and joyous giving.
真正的修心修行修炼人以身演道。
A real practitioner demonstrates the Way by his own virtuous behaviors.
真正的修心修行修炼人化导沉沦。
A real practitioner guides those who indulge themselves in the illusions.
真正的修心修行修炼人大愿大乘。
A real practitioner practices the Mahayana Buddhism with his great vows.
真正的修心修行修炼人菩提妙心。
A real practitioner possesses wonderful Bodhi Minds.
真正的修心修行修炼人模范德行。
A real practitioner illustrates the model of virtuous behaviors.
真正的修心修行修炼人和谐人群。
A real practitioner harmonizes folks.
真正的修心修行修炼人爱国爱民。
A real practitioner loves the country and the people.
真正的修心修行修炼人遵纪守法。
A real practitioner obeys the laws and rules.
真正的修心修行修炼人奉献社会。
A real practitioner contributes his devotion to the society.
真正的修心修行修炼人道德楷模。
A real practitioner acts as the moral model.
真正的修心修行修炼人入世出世。
A real practitioner attains liberation from birth and death, and then comes back to help those who don’t.
真正的修心修行修炼人脚不染泥。
A real practitioner’s feet are not tainted by mud.
真正的修心修行修炼人身不沾尘。
A real practitioner’s body is not stained by dust.
真正的修心修行修炼人心不妄动。
A real practitioner’s mind is not moved by illusion.
真正的修心修行修炼人无我如法。
A real practitioner is non-self and complies with the Law.
真正的修心修行修炼人无为顺道。
A real practitioner is in an unconditioned mind state and conforms to the Way.
真正的修心修行修炼人清静自然。
A real practitioner is pure and behaves himself naturally.
真正的修心修行修炼人承运奉天。
A real practitioner follows the luck tendency and obeys the providence.
真正的修心修行修炼人明觉本源。
A real practitioner is aware of the original source.
真正的修心修行修炼人无二无别。
A real practitioner doesn’t distinguish and is always in oneness.
真正的修心修行修炼人平等同观。
A real practitioner treats people equally and respects the differences.
真正的修心修行修炼人正觉了凡。
A real practitioner has proper enlightenment and severs the worldliness.
真正的修心修行修炼人以法了缘。
A real practitioner puts his karma to an end in the means of Dharma.
真正的修心修行修炼人守道心安。
A real practitioner cultivates the Way with a peaceful mind.
真正的修心修行修炼人习气磨断。
A real practitioner grinds off his own bad habits.
真正的修心修行修炼人戒定慧全。
A real practitioner completely practices precepts and Samadhi power as well as wisdom.
真正的修心修行修炼人华彩灿然。
A real practitioner is brilliant and resplendent.
真正的修心修行修炼人九祖轻安。
A real practitioner relieves their ancestral family dependents.
真正的修心修行修炼人步步高天。
A real practitioner ascends himself to the high-dimension step by step.
真正的修心修行修炼人直指心源。
A real practitioner directs himself right to the mind source.
善哉 善哉
Wonderful, wonderful!
我佛慈悲！
Buddha is so compassion!
《落玉盘》
--〇
宙心之光落九天，
飘飘洒洒润尘凡。
心光化作语万千，
大珠小珠落玉盘。
Falling into a Jade Plate
--By Osifu
The light from the Cosmic Center has settled in the higher Heaven.
It drifts and floats down to the earth moistening the mundane land.
Mind light has transformed into endless speeches.
The larger and smaller pearls are falling into a jade plate.
2011-10-25 7:48:50，赠弟子有缘人参悟。
7:48:50, Oct.25th, 2011. A verse is presented to the disciples and predestined friends for reference and reflection.
MSN:chicheng1980@hotmail.com, osifu@hotmail.com
Held Thursday 09/14/2017, the Center on Finance, Law, and Policy hosted a symposium discussing behavioral finance. This event included keynote speakers, interdisciplinary panel discussions, and an interactive audience experiment, exploring topics of technological progress in our overall economy.
Details: fordschool.umich.edu/events/2017/behavioral-finance-sympo...
Available for free download under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license. Mandatory attribution can be listed as: Peter Smith / Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Photo from an exhibition at The Cooper Union (Oct. 4 – Nov. 18, 2022), curated by Anyone Corporation.
"Crown" Subway Entrance and Kiosk, Salzburg Mirabellplatz S-Link Competition (2021) by Reiser + Umemoto RUR
Currently considered a subspecies of White Wagtail, Motacilla alba. A vagrant at Pismo Creek Mouth, Pismo Beach, CA.
To promote forest health and reduce hazardous buildups of brush, branches, and needles that could result in a catastrophic wildfire, the Airport Road South Prescribed Fire was conducted on May 11, 2016, by the BLM Carson City District-Sierra Front Field Office. This photo shows low fire consuming needles, brush, and branches, making more room for the Jeffrey pines to grow and reducing the chances of wildfire.
A main whale food source on the Stellwagen bank is the sand eel, a bottom feeder, hence the abrasions on her right upper jaw. The Humpbacks show preferences, right or left, in their feeding behavior.
Held Thursday 09/14/2017, the Center on Finance, Law, and Policy hosted a symposium discussing behavioral finance. This event included keynote speakers, interdisciplinary panel discussions, and an interactive audience experiment, exploring topics of technological progress in our overall economy.
Details: fordschool.umich.edu/events/2017/behavioral-finance-sympo...
Available for free download under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license. Mandatory attribution can be listed as: Peter Smith / Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Kentucky behavioral health professionals participate in Operation Immersion at Wendell H. Ford Regional Training Center in Greenville, Ky., Nov. 14-16, 2012. The goal of the event was to reduce stigmas attached to Service Members receiving behavioral health care and increase the quality of such care in Kentucky. (Kentucky National Guard photo by Cody Stagner, KYNG Medical Outreach Coordinator/Released)
Every time my flash went off, this fellow tipped his body to one side and directed his abdomen towards me and flashed back...one of those awesome moments in nature. The return flash is overwhelmed by the electronic flash, but one can see the response emanating from what appears to be a structure, clearly visible in all images, in the third segment in from the end of the abdomen.
Fireflies seem to have emerged a month late in this year of the COVID plague...
As many as seven Large Carpenter Bees (Xylocopa virginica) were attracted to this one spot at the edge of a beaver pond. The gray mass that appears to be their target is a goose dropping and the white material covering the leaves is also bird caused. However, the whole pond shore was cover with droppings and this was the only one being targeted. What is going on? I do not have a clue. Also note the smaller bee that also seems either interested in the same spot or in the larger bees. Fort Frederick State Park, Maryland.
Yellow-billed stork
Geelbek ooievaar
Nimmersat
(Mycteria ibis)
The yellow-billed stork (Mycteria ibis), sometimes also called the wood stork or wood ibis, is a large African wading stork species in the family Ciconiidae. It is widespread in regions south of the Sahara and also occurs in Madagascar.
The yellow-billed stork is closely related to 3 other species in the genus Mycteria: the American woodstork (Mycteria americana), the milky stork (Mycteria cinerea) and the painted stork (Mycteria leucocephala). It is classified as belonging to one clade with these 3 other species because they all display remarkable homologies in behavior and morphology. In one analytical study of feeding and courtship behaviours of the wood-stork family, M.P. Kahl attributed the same general ethology to all members of the genus Mycteria, with few species-specific variations. These four species are collectively referred to as the wood-storks, which should not be confused with one alternative common name (wood-stork) for the yellow-billed stork.
Before it was established that the yellow-billed stork was closely related to the American woodstork, the former was classified as belonging to the genus Ibis, together with the milky stork and painted stork. However, the yellow-billed stork has actually long been recognised as a true stork and along with the other 3 related stork species, it should not strictly be called an ibis.
It is a medium-sized stork standing 90–105 cm (35–41 in) tall. The body is white with a short black tail that is glossed green and purple when freshly moulted. The bill is deep yellow, slightly decurved at the end and has a rounder cross-section than in other stork species outside the Mycteria. Feathers extend onto the head and neck just behind the eyes, with the face and forehead being covered by deep red skin. Both sexes are similar in appearance, but the male is larger and has a slightly longer heavier bill. Males and females weigh approximately 2.3 kg (5.1 lb) and 1.9 kg (4.2 lb) respectively.
Colouration becomes more vivid during the breeding season. In the breeding season, the plumage is coloured pink on the upperwings and back; the ordinarily brown legs also turn bright pink; the bill becomes a deeper yellow and the face becomes a deeper red.
Juveniles are greyish-brown with a dull, partially bare, orange face and a dull yellowish bill. The legs and feet are brown and feathers all over the body are blackish-brown. At fledging, salmon-pink colouration in the underwings begins to develop and after about one year, the plumage is greyish-white. Flight feathers on the tail and wing also become black. Later, the pink colouration typical of adult plumage begins to appear.
These storks walk with a high-stepped stalking gait on the ground of shallow water and their approximate walking rate has been recorded as 70 steps per minute. They fly with alternating flaps and glides, with the speed of their flaps averaging 177–205 beats per minute.They usually flap only for short journeys and often fly in a soaring and gliding motion over several kilometres for locomotion between breeding colonies or roosts and feeding sites. By soaring on thermals and gliding by turns, they can cover large distances without wasting much energy. On descending from high altitudes, this stork has been observed to dive deeply at high speeds and flip over and over from side to side, hence showing impressive aerobatics. It even appears to enjoy these aerial stunts.
This species is generally non-vocal, but utters hissing falsetto screams during social displays in the breeding season. These storks also engage in bill clattering and an audible “woofing” wing beat at breeding colonies Nestlings make a loud continual monotonous braying call to beg parental adults for food.
The yellow-billed stork occurs primarily in Eastern Africa, but is widely distributed in areas extending from Senegal and Somalia down to South Africa and in some regions of western Madagascar. During one observation of a mixed species bird colony on the Tana River in Kenya, it was found to be the commonest species there, with 2000 individuals being counted at once.
It does not generally migrate far, at least not out of its breeding range; but usually makes short migratory movements which are influenced by rainfall. It makes local movements in Kenya and has also been found to migrate from North to South Sudan with the rainy season It may also migrate regularly to and from South Africa. However, little is actually known about this bird’s general migratory movements. Due to apparent observed variation in migratory patterns throughout Africa, the yellow-billed stork has been termed a facultative nomad. It may migrate simply to avoid areas where water or rainfall conditions are too high or too low for feeding on prey. Some populations migrate considerable distances between feeding or breeding sites; usually by using thermals to soar and glide. Other local populations have been found to be sedentary and remain in their respective habitats all year round.
Its preferred habitats include wetlands, shallow lakes and mudflats, usually 10–40 cm deep but it usually avoids heavily forested regions in central Africa. It also avoids flooded regions and deep expansive bodies of water because feeding conditions there are unsuitable for their typical grope and stir feeding techniques.
This species breeds especially in Kenya and Tanzania. Although it is known to breed in Uganda, breeding sites have not been recorded there. It has been found to breed also in Malakol in Sudan and often inside walled cities in West Africa from Gambia down to northern Nigeria. Still other breeding sites include Zululand in South Africa and northern Botswana,[12] but are rarer below northern Botswana and Zimbabwe where sites are well-watered. Although there is no direct evidence of current breeding in Madagascar, young birds unable to fly have been observed near Lake Kinkony during October.
Their diet comprises mainly small, freshwater fish of about 60-100mm length and maximally 150g, which they swallow whole. They also feed on crustaceans, worms, aquatic insects, frogs and occasionally small mammals and birds.
This species appears to rely mainly on sense of touch to detect and capture prey, rather than by vision. They feed patiently by walking through the water with partially open bills and probe the water for prey. Contact of the bill with a prey item is followed by a rapid snap-bill reflex, whereby the bird snaps shut its mandibles, raises its head and swallows the prey whole. The speed of this reflex in the closely related American woodstork (Mycteria americana) has been recorded as 25 milliseconds and although the corresponding reflex in the yellow-billed stork has not been quantitatively measured, the yellow-billed stork’s feeding mechanism appears to be at least qualitatively identical to that of the American woodstork.
In addition to the snap-bill reflex, the yellow-billed stork also uses a systematic foot stirring technique to sound out evasive prey. It prods and churns up the bottom of the water as part of a “herding mechanism” to force prey out of the bottom vegetation and into the bird’s bill. The bird does this several times with one foot before bringing it forwards and repeating with the other foot. Although they are normally active predators, they have also been observed to scavenge fish regurgitated by cormorants.
The yellow-billed stork has been observed to follow moving crocodiles or hippopotami through the water and feed behind them, appearing to take advantage of organisms churned up by their quarry. Feeding lasts for only a short time before the bird obtains its requirements and proceeds to rest again.
Parents feed their young by regurgitating fish onto the nest floor, whereupon it is picked up and consumed by the nestlings. The young eat voraciously and an individual nestling increases its body weight from 50 grams to 600 grams during the first ten days of its life. Hence, this species has earned the German colloquial common name “Nimmersatt”; meaning “never full”.
Breeding is seasonal and appears to be stimulated by the peak of long heavy rainfall and resultant flooding of shallow marshes, usually near Lake Victoria. This flooding is linked to an increase in prey fish availability; and reproduction is therefore synchronised with this peak in food availability. In such observations near Kisumu, M.P. Kahl’s explanation for this trend was that in the dry season, most prey fish are forced to leave the dried-up, deoxygenated marshes that cannot support them and retreat to the deep waters of Lake Victoria where the storks cannot reach them. However, fish move back up the streams on the onset of rain and spread out over the marshes to breed, where they become accessible to the storks. By nesting at this time and providing that the rains do not end pre-maturely, the storks are guaranteed a plentiful food supply for their young.
The yellow-billed stork may also begin nesting and breeding at the end of long rains. This occurs especially on flat extensive marshlands as water levels gradually decrease and concentrate fish sufficiently for the storks to feed on. However, unseasonal rainfall has also been reported to induce off-season breeding in northern Botswana and western and eastern Kenya. Rainfall may cause local flooding and hence ideal feeding conditions. This stork appears to breed simply when rainfall and local flooding are optimal and hence seems to be flexible in its temporal breeding pattern, which varies with rainfall pattern throughout the African continent.
As with all stork species, male yellow-billed storks select and occupy potential nest sites in trees, whereupon females attempt to approach the males. The yellow-billed stork has an extensive repertoire of courtship behaviours near and at the nest that may lead to pair formation and copulation. Generally, these courtship behaviours are also assumed to be common to all Mycteria species and show remarkable homology within the genus Mycteria. After the male has initially established at the nesting-site and the female begins to approach, he displays behaviours that advertise himself to her. One of these is the Display Preening, whereby the male pretends to strip down each of his extended wings with the bill several times each side and the bill does not effectively close around the feathers. Another observed display among males is the Swaying-Twig Grasping. Here, the male stands on the potential nesting-site and bends over to gently grasp and release underlying twigs at regular intervals. This is sometimes accompanied by side-to-side oscillations of the neck and head and he continues to pick at twigs in between such movements.
Reciprocally, approaching females display their own distinct behaviours. One such behaviour is the Balancing Posture, whereby she walks with a horizontal body axis and extended wings toward the male occupying the nesting-site. Later, when the female continues to approach or already stands near an established male, she may also engage in Gaping. Here, the bill is gaped open slightly with the neck inclined upward at about 45o . and often occurs in conjunction with the Balancing-Posture. This behaviour ordinarily continues if the male accepts the female and has allowed her to enter the nest, but the female usually closes her wings by this time. The male may also continue his Display-Preening when standing next to the female in the nest
During copulation, the male steps onto the female’s back from the side, hooks his feet over her shoulders, holds out his wings for balance and finally bends his legs to lower himself for cloacal contact, as happens in most birds. In turn, the female holds out her wings almost horizontally. The process is accompanied by bill clattering from the male as he regularly opens and closes his mandibles and vigorously shakes his head to beat his bill against the female’s. In turn, the female keeps her bill horizontal with the male’s or inclined downward at approximately 45 degrees.] Average copulation time in this species has been calculated as 15.7 seconds.
The male and female build the nest together either in high trees on dry land away from predators, or in small trees over water. Nest building takes up to 10 days. The nest may be 80–100 cm in diameter and 20–30 cm thick. The female typically lays 2-4 eggs (usually 3) on alternate days[ and average clutch size has been recorded as 2.5. The male and female share duties to incubate the eggs, which takes up to 30 days. As in many other stork species, hatching is asynchronous (usually at 1- to 2-day intervals), so that the young in the brood differ considerably in body size at any one time. During food shortage, the smaller young are at risk of being outcompeted for food by their larger nest-mates.
Both parents share duties of guarding and feeding the young until the latter are about 21 days old. Thereafter, both parents forage to attend to the young’s intense food demands. Alongside parental feeding by regurgitation of fish, parents have also been observed to regurgitate water into the open bills of their nestlings, especially on hot days. This may aid the typical thermoregulatory strategy of the young (common to all stork species) to excrete dilute urine down their legs in response to hot weather. Water regurgitated over the young serves as a water supplement in addition to fluid in their food, so that they have sufficient water to continue urinating down their legs to avoid hyperventilation. Additionally, parents sometimes help keep the young cool by shading them with their open wings.
The nestlings usually fledge after 50–55 days of hatching and fly away from the nest. However, after leaving the nest for the first time, the offspring often return there to be fed by their parents and roost with them for another 1–3 weeks. It is also thought that individuals are not fully adult until 3 years old and despite lack of data, new adults are thought to not breed until much later than this.
Fledglings have also been observed to not differ considerably in their foraging and feeding strategies from adults. In one investigation, four adult, hand-reared yellow-billed storks kept in captivity showed typical grope-feeding and foot stirring shortly after they were introduced to bodies of water. Hence, this suggests that such feeding techniques in this species are innate.
These birds breed colonially, often alongside other species; but the yellow-billed stork is sometimes the only occupant species of a nesting site. A subset of up to 20 individuals may nest close together in any one part of a colony; with several males occupying potential nest sites all in the same place. If many of these males do not acquire mates, the whole group moves on with the unpaired females to another tree. These “bachelor parties” are a noticeable feature of colonies of this species and usually consist of 12 or more males and at least as many females. As many as 50 nests have been counted all at once in a single breeding area.
Despite their gregariousness during breeding, most individuals generally ignore each other outside nesting-sites; although some hostile encounters may occur. Some of these encounters involve one individual showing an unambiguous attack or escape response if there is a large difference in social status between the two individuals. However, if two individuals are equally matched, they slowly approach each other and show a ritualised display called the Forward Threat. Here, one individual holds its body forward horizontally and retracts the neck so that it touches the crown, with the tail cocked at 45 degrees and all feathers erect. It approaches the opponent and points its bill at it, sometimes gaping. If the opponent does not capitulate, the attacker may grab at it with its bill and the two may briefly spar with their bills until one retreats in an erect stance with compressed plumage.
Hostility can also arise between opposite sexes when a female approaches a male on a potential nest site. Both sexes may display a similar aforementioned Forward Threat, but clatter their bills after grabbing with them at the other stork and extend their wings to maintain balance. Another hostile behaviour between sexes is the Snap Display,whereby they snap horizontally with their bills while standing upright. This may occur during and immediately after pair formation, but subsides later in the breeding cycle as the male and female become familiar with each other and it eventually disappears.
Nestlings show remarkable behavioural transformations at 3 weeks of age. During the constant parental attendance before this time, the young show little fear or aggression in response to intruders (such as a human observer), but are found to merely crouch low and quietly in the nest. After this time, when both parents go foraging and leave the young in the nest, a nestling shows strong fear in response to an intruder. It either attempts to climb out of the nest to escape or acts aggressively toward the intruder.
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The 3rd Brigade Combat Team Behavioral Health Clinic, located next to Olive Gym, held an open house for the 3BCT Leadership Oct. 20. Leaders from around the Brigade were given a rundown on the services that the clinic provides, and how good mental health keeps the Soldiers of the unit ready to fight. (Photos by Staff Sgt. Cody Harding, 3BCT Public Affairs)
Michelle Fyrer and Shannon Dannible of Northeast Behavioral Health, with Joel Swets, executive director of Cummings Foundation
This digital art was generated from a color photo of a man. All my digital art is generated from "normal" photos of real guys. Usually it is a guy I consider sexy but sometimes not. Sometimes the original photo would be considered "X." But you can't tell that, now can you? I consider most of my digital art to be "shoegaze."
"Range
Australia, New Guinea, Indonesia and its surrounding islands
Habitat
Primarily in lowland forested regions but also in mountainous areas. Will colonize man-made habitats such as orchards, coconut plantation, and suburban gardens; prefers edges or clearings rather than interiors of closed rainforests.
Distinguishing Characteristics
Brightly colored bird with red, yellow, and green plumage and a long tapering tail. Geographical variations exist with varying colors of the head and breast.
Dietary Classification
Diet in the Zoo: nectar and fruits
Diet in the Wild: pollen, nectar, fruits, berries, seeds, leaf buds and some insect larvae
Behavior/Adaptations
Lorikeets have developed a highly specialized “brush-tipped” tongue covered in tiny papillae which allows them to “brush” pollen and nectar out of flowers.
Generally monogamous birds; pairs are readily recognized in flocks.
Status
CITIES Appendix II; generally common and locally plentiful but trade is controlled"
Quoted text taken from www.nashvillezoo.org/animals/birds/rainbow-lorikeet as it appeared on 07-17-2014.
Something that the pickers and/or model collectors would relish,these old kits and models were found in an upstairs closet.