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:
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)
Already 1 year ago I went to the Grevelingen in the Netherlands to finally see a group of flamingos that hibernate here. It was on my list for years but the weather was always an obstacle to go there because it is a long drive from my home and predictions were most of the time too unstable. But this day the predictions were unclouded for the whole day.
So although it was rather cold, I stayed there the whole day, making shot after shot, and although I didn't plan to stay there I finally waited for the sunset to create this wonderful extra pink on the feathers. I guess I came home with ca 500 shots of a group of flamingos that first were sleeping for a few hours, and then started to awaken and show their natural behaviour in the hours that followed.
A wonderful experience!
A black Swan attacking a Muscovy duck.
Hope you will enjoy this shot.
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).
A Red-tailed Hawk mantling a lure at the Northwest Raptor Center.
The adrenaline involved in taking down prey/lure is such that after landing it takes a good five or more minutes for the raptor to let go of it's catch. Mantling hides their catch from other predators while they recuperate from the hunt and eat.
As the hawk landed near the edge of the flying field, just in front of me, I didn't think twice about laying down in the dirt to capture this behaviour.
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs, etc. without my permission.
I was observing a group of sea gulls next to the Yarra River when I took this shot.
I am sure you would have seen these postures and calls before.
I was also curious about these postures and their meanings.
Here you can see two common postures.
The gull in the front is showing the Forward Posture.
As the name implies, this posture is all about displaying a forward motion by holding the body roughly horizontal or slightly diagonally with the neck kinked characteristically.
The tail can sometimes be spread; the bill is either slightly opened or closed.
The Forward posture is used in the following situations:
1) hostile encounters
2) pair formation sequences
3) as a response to a bird approaching in flight
When used in hostile encounters on land, it often includes running towards an opponent, whereas in a pair formation sequence both gulls move parallel to each other
The Gull behind is doing the Mew Call
The Mew call is accompanied by a characteristic Arch-posture in which the head is held down and the wings are held slightly away from the body.
It is usually performed while walking but can be performed while standing, flying, or swimming as well.
The Mew call is used in both aggressive and non-aggressive situations:
Aggressive
1) In defense of food or territory, aimed at an opponent
2 )To attract a mate for support in territory defense
Non-aggressive
1) To attract a partner (also for courtship)
2) To call chicks that have wandered too far from the nest
3) To gather chicks for feeding or after they have been hiding after a disturbance
4) As a nest-relief invitation
5) As a call performed upon landing.
Many thanks for your visit, comments, invites and faves...it is always appreciated...
Peaceful Sunday
Barn Owl - Tyto Alba
Norfolk
Like most owls, the barn owl is nocturnal, relying on its acute sense of hearing when hunting in complete darkness. It often becomes active shortly before dusk and can sometimes be seen during the day when relocating from one roosting site to another. In Britain, on various Pacific Islands and perhaps elsewhere, it sometimes hunts by day. This practice may depend on whether the owl is mobbed by other birds if it emerges in daylight. However, in Britain, some birds continue to hunt by day even when mobbed by such birds as magpies, rooks and black-headed gulls, such diurnal activity possibly occurring when the previous night has been wet making hunting difficult. By contrast, in southern Europe and the tropics, the birds seem to be almost exclusively nocturnal, with the few birds that hunt by day being severely mobbed.
Barn owls are not particularly territorial but have a home range inside which they forage. For males in Scotland this has a radius of about 1 km (0.6 mi) from the nest site and an average size of about 300 hectares. Female home ranges largely coincide with that of their mates. Outside the breeding season, males and females usually roost separately, each one having about three favoured sites in which to conceal themselves by day, and which are also visited for short periods during the night. Roosting sites include holes in trees, fissures in cliffs, disused buildings, chimneys and haysheds and are often small in comparison to nesting sites. As the breeding season approaches, the birds move back to the vicinity of the chosen nest to roost.
Once a pair-bond has been formed, the male will make short flights at dusk around the nesting and roosting sites and then longer circuits to establish a home range. When he is later joined by the female, there is much chasing, turning and twisting in flight, and frequent screeches, the male's being high-pitched and tremulous and the female's lower and harsher. At later stages of courtship, the male emerges at dusk, climbs high into the sky and then swoops back to the vicinity of the female at speed. He then sets off to forage. The female meanwhile sits in an eminent position and preens, returning to the nest a minute or two before the male arrives with food for her. Such feeding behaviour of the female by the male is common, helps build the pair-bond and increases the female's fitness before egg-laying commences.
Barn owls are cavity nesters. They choose holes in trees, fissures in cliff faces, the large nests of other birds such as the hamerkop (Scopus umbretta) and, particularly in Europe and North America, old buildings such as farm sheds and church towers. Buildings are preferred to trees in wetter climates in the British Isles and provide better protection for fledglings from inclement weather. Trees tend to be in open habitats rather than in the middle of woodland and nest holes tend to be higher in North America than in Europe because of possible predation.
This bird has suffered declines through the 20th century and is thought to have been adversely affected by organochlorine pesticides such as DDT in the 1950s and '60s.
Nocturnal birds like the barn owl are poorly monitored by the Breeding Bird Survey and, subject to this caveat, numbers may have increased between 1995-2008.
Barn owls are a Schedule 1 and 9 species.
Population:
UK breeding:
4,000 pairs
Europe:
110-220,000 pairs
Just returned from a wonderful break in Yorkshire where I got the opportunity to capture some of the wonderful seabirds nesting on the cliff edges.
Sadly so many have been lost to Avian Flu and this one may have been a survivor, as it's once pale blue eyes, are now black
We spent numerous hours watching their behaviour, constantly seeking materials for their nests and food trips.
They have excellent binocular vision and can reach speeds of 100kmph when diving
The average life span is 17years, although the maximum age known is 37years
They are monogamous and remain with the same partner for several seasons, if not for life.
It amazed us how such large birds managed to nest on such small precarious ledges.
Watching their landings was quite humorous and if they misjudged the first attempt, they would just circle and try again
I think I got a little too close, as one decided to poop all over me lol!
For a first go at bird photography, barr the ones from our garden, I was really pleased with the results
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).
Sitting on 5 eggs.....Fingers x'd!
Great Crested Grebe - Podiceps Cristatus
The great crested grebe has an elaborate mating display. Like all grebes, it nests on the water's edge, since its legs are set relatively far back and it is thus unable to walk very well. Usually two eggs are laid, and the fluffy, striped young grebes are often carried on the adult's back. In a clutch of two or more hatchlings, male and female grebes will each identify their 'favourites', which they alone will care for and teach
Unusually, young grebes are capable of swimming and diving almost at hatching. The adults teach these skills to their young by carrying them on their back and diving, leaving the chicks to float on the surface; they then re-emerge a few feet away so that the chicks may swim back onto them.
The great crested grebe feeds mainly on fish, but also small crustaceans, insects small frogs and newts.
This species was hunted almost to extinction in the United Kingdom in the 19th century for its head plumes, which were used to decorate hats and ladies' undergarments. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds was set up to help protect this species, which is again a common sight.
The great crested grebe and its behaviour was the subject of one of the landmark publications in avian ethology: Julian Huxley's 1914 paper on The Courtship‐habits of the Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus).
Population:
UK breeding:
4,600 pairs
UK wintering:
19,000 individuals
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)
RKO_8179. A pelican showing its catch!
Copyright: Robert Kok. All rights reserved! Watermark protected.
More of my work and activities can be seen on:
Please do not use my photos on websites, blogs or in any other media without my explicit permission.
Thanks for visiting, commenting and faving my photos. Its very much appreciated!
Flamingos usually stand on one leg, with the other being tucked beneath the body. The reason for this behaviour is not fully understood. One theory is that standing on one leg allows the birds to conserve more body heat, given that they spend a significant amount of time wading in cold water. However, the behaviour also takes place in warm water and is also observed in birds that do not typically stand in water. An alternative theory is that standing on one leg reduces the energy expenditure for producing muscular effort to stand and balance on one leg. A study on cadavers showed that the one-legged pose could be held without any muscle activity, while living flamingos demonstrate substantially less body sway in a one-legged posture. As well as standing in the water, flamingos may stamp their webbed feet in the mud to stir up food from the bottom. This one I found at the Houston Zoo.
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.
It is not just the boys that enjoy singing in the springtime.
However, the tune and the volume is a little softer.
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
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.
The name kestrel is given to several members of the falcon genus, Falco. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour which is to hover at a height of around 10–20 metres over open country and swoop down on prey, usually small mammals, lizards or large insects. Other falcons are more adapted to active hunting in flight. Kestrels are notable for usually having mostly brown in their plumage.
First photo : a juvenile nutri in high resolution going out of water, you can notice the dark fur and the open eyes.
(_DSC0042_DxO-4K-N)
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!
** Please read **
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.
A pair of Northern Gannets at their nest.
The male on the left had just returned and the female started to shake her head from side to side as if saying "Where have you been for all this time?"
The male then started to dart forward excitedly towards the female, beak agape,but never got too close.!
A few days later the female laid her first egg in the nest.
The head shaking is behaviour I have seen before but I have never managed to capture it on camera!.
Taken at RSPB Bempton.
RKO_9069.
Copyright: Robert Kok. All rights reserved! Watermark protected.
More of my work and activities can be seen on:
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Grebes are wonderful birds. This is off course a well known subject, their mating behaviour sharing 'presents'.
Upon seeing this one I had to think of a painting by Salvador Dali that I saw a long time ago. In this painting you can see swans in a lake and their reflection resulting in elephants (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swans_Reflecting_Elephants), IMO a brilliant thought.
It is the combination of the weed (resembling trunks) and how they expand their neck feathers (could be their ears), for sure they look like elephants :).
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"
Courtship behaviour of the great crested grebe.
great crested grebe
Haubentaucher
[Podiceps cristatus]
a Bee-fly (Bombylius major) in action
... Major but minor in size :)
A serie of 6 photos to show its behaviour on flowers.
It looks like a bee and behaves like a butterfly.
This is a 100% cropped view in 3K => Zoom in for more details
Sony A7R-III
Tamron 150-600
LA-EA3 Adapter
_DSC0645-denoise154500-DN1500LL-SH6750msk-crop3K+crb+SH4040msk
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
I first saw this behaviour earlier in the year. On that occasion the adult spent ages trying to get to the flesh of the starfish.
This youngster once it had seen off all it's rivals didn't mess about and simply swallowed the starfish whole.
Starfish - Asteroidea
Herring Gull - Larus Argentatus
Oban Bay Scotland
Many thanks to all those who take the time to look at fave and comment on my photos. Although I do not reply to each and everyone they are all truly appreciated and welcome.
Die Stare sammeln sich an Vorsammelplätzen, meist auf exponierten Strukturen wie hohen Bäumen oder Stromleitungen. Von dort fliegen sie dann in Trupps oder größeren Schwärmen geschlossen zum eigentlichen Schlafplatz. Kleinere Trupps fliegen den Schlafplatz meist niedrig an. Große Schwärme mit mehreren Tausend Individuen bilden über dem Schlafplatz häufig eine Wolke, aus der die Stare dann schlauchförmig nach unten fliegen, auf größere Entfernung ähnelt das Erscheinungsbild einem Tornado. Nachts werden gemeinsame Schlafplätze genutzt, diese Schlafplätze liegen vor allem in größeren Schilfgebieten, aber auch in Baum- und dichten Strauchgruppen.
Many thousand common starlings form flocks just before sundown. These flocks are commonly called murmurations. Although flock size is highly variable, huge, noisy flocks - murmurations - may form near roosts. These dense concentrations of birds are thought to be a defence against attacks by birds of prey such as peregrine falcons or Eurasian sparrowhawks.[32][33] Flocks form a tight sphere-like formation in flight, frequently expanding and contracting and changing shape, seemingly without any sort of leader. Each common starling changes its course and speed as a result of the movement of its closest neighbours. Their swarm behaviour creates complex shapes silhouetted against the sky, a phenomenon known locally as sort sol ("black sun").
(Wikipedia)
The Orange Ladybird (Halyzia sedecimguttata) on a maze-like porous surface of the Lumpy Bracket (Trametes gibbose) growing on live beech tree (Fagus sylvatica). Orange ladybirds feed on mildew on trees, so it might be the reason it visited this fungus. Beechwood. Lansdown, Bath, BANES, England, U.K.
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-...
An adult Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus) in breeding plumage on a small urban in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
In the new housing developments in Edmonton, they have enacted a policy of building small wetlands to act as severe storm water retention ponds. These ponds will fill with excess water from the roadways and then slowly release water into drainage systems to the river.
This provides not only a temporary basin to save flooding of people's homes but provides wetlands for wildlife, including nesting bird species, as well as natural parks to walk through and enjoy in the residential neighbourhoods.
It has also provided me with many hours of peaceful observation to view and photograph courtship and family rearing behaviour of a number of waterbird species.
14 May, 2015.
Slide # GWB_20150514_2896.CR2
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© Gerard W. Beyersbergen - All Rights Reserved Worldwide In Perpetuity - No Unauthorized Use.
The nestlings keep begging and the parents keep foraging. This one has a few bugs and will soon head down to the nest in long grass on the ground.
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.
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.
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 :)
Many thanks for your visits, faves and comments. Cheers.
Brolga
Grus rubicunda
Gruidae
One of the most obvious features of the Brolga’s behaviour is its courtship display, an elaborate dance. The dance begins with a pair of birds picking up grass, tossing it into the air and catching it again. This is followed by the birds repeatedly leaping a metre into the air with wings outstretched, followed by stretching their necks upwards, bowing to one another, bobbing their heads, walking about and calling. Sometimes the dance is done alone or in a group, with the birds lining up opposite one another.
Description: The Brolga is a large grey crane, with a featherless red head and grey crown. The legs are grey and there is a black dewlap under the chin. Females are shorter than males. The energetic dance performed by the Brolga is a spectacular sight. Displays may be given at any time of the year and by birds of any age.
Similar Species: The Sarus Crane, G. antigone, another species of crane found in Australia, can be identified by its dull pink legs and the red of its head extending down the neck.
Distribution: The Brolga is found across tropical northern Australia, southwards through north-east and east central areas, as well as central New South Wales to western Victoria.
Habitat: The Brolga inhabits large open wetlands, grassy plains, coastal mudflats and irrigated croplands and, less frequently, mangrove-studded creeks and estuaries. It is less common in arid and semi-arid regions, but will occur close to water.
Feeding: Brolgas are omnivorous (feeding on both vegetable and animal matter), but primarily feed upon tubers and some crops. Some insects, molluscs, amphibians and even mice are also taken.
Breeding: Brolgas probably mate for life, and pair bonds are strengthened during elaborate courtship displays, which involve much dancing, leaping, wing-flapping and loud trumpeting. An isolated territory is established, and is vigorously defended by both partners. The white (blotched with brown and purple) eggs are laid in a single clutch. The nest is a large mound of vegetation on a small island in a shallow waterway or swamp. Both adults incubate the eggs and care for the young birds.
(Source: www.birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/brolga)
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© Chris Burns 2022
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