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:
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after a quick lunch on some insects this african hoopoe (upupa africana) began to dance like a crazy :-)
it's probably something like a "display" behaviour.
hoopoe was in to the shadow and "dancing" 1/1600 isnt enough in these situations.but digital noise is lurking so we have to find a compromise.
although 4000iso here the 3K HD file:
www.flickr.com/photos/187458160@N06/49703926807/sizes/o/
Kruger national park ,SA
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
I was observing a group of sea gulls next to the Yarra River when I took this shot.
I am sure you would have seen these postures and calls before.
I was also curious about these postures and their meanings.
Here you can see two common postures.
The gull in the front is showing the Forward Posture.
As the name implies, this posture is all about displaying a forward motion by holding the body roughly horizontal or slightly diagonally with the neck kinked characteristically.
The tail can sometimes be spread; the bill is either slightly opened or closed.
The Forward posture is used in the following situations:
1) hostile encounters
2) pair formation sequences
3) as a response to a bird approaching in flight
When used in hostile encounters on land, it often includes running towards an opponent, whereas in a pair formation sequence both gulls move parallel to each other
The Gull behind is doing the Mew Call
The Mew call is accompanied by a characteristic Arch-posture in which the head is held down and the wings are held slightly away from the body.
It is usually performed while walking but can be performed while standing, flying, or swimming as well.
The Mew call is used in both aggressive and non-aggressive situations:
Aggressive
1) In defense of food or territory, aimed at an opponent
2 )To attract a mate for support in territory defense
Non-aggressive
1) To attract a partner (also for courtship)
2) To call chicks that have wandered too far from the nest
3) To gather chicks for feeding or after they have been hiding after a disturbance
4) As a nest-relief invitation
5) As a call performed upon landing.
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Peaceful Sunday
Dove and Red-headed Finch.
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Very interesting behaviour - this LEO was hunting at 10AM (and was very successful at it!) Not typical behaviour for a dusk hunter. My hypothesis is that it was taking advantage of the people / dog activity in the local park, what I mean is that because of it’s proximity to a busy trail, dogs in particular spook mice and other rodents. If I was a betting person I’d say this is an example of a hunter adapting to it’s circumstances!
Gonepteryx rhamni (known as the common brimstone) is a butterfly of the family Pieridae. It lives throughout the Palearctic zone and is commonly found across Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Across much of its range, it is the only species of its genus, and is therefore simply known locally as the brimstone.
The brimstone relies on two species of buckthorn plants as host plants for its larvae; this influences its geographic range and distribution, as these plants are commonly found in wetlands. The adult brimstone travels to woodland areas to spend seven months overwintering. In spring when their host plants have developed, they return to the wetlands to breed and lay eggs.[4] Both the larval and adult forms of the common brimstone have protective coloration and behaviour that decreases their chances of being recognised and subsequently preyed upon.
The adult common brimstone has sexual dimorphism in its wing coloration: males have yellow wings and iridescence while females have greenish-white wings and are not iridescent. This iridescence is affected by environmental factors
Australian pelicans have a really fascinating behaviour. We watched a group of them in the bird park Walsrode, and their many different faces were amazing!
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Puffins mating and courtship ritual, the puffins will pair up before they come onto land from the sea. Once they are on land, the pair may perform billing, a behaviour where puffins rub their beaks together. There numbers are falling because of global warming and this year bird flue.
I had a day in Ottawa between work in Vancouver, and took a few hours to visit some wetlands. This bird was extremely well-sheltered from the shore, enabling it to hunt and rest without disturbance. Because it was pretty intent on the water, which it observed from a dead tree trunk, I was able to crawl through some bushes and young trees and park myself in a way it couldn’t see me. I had just enough space to set up my monopod and find a clean line through branches.
The Night-Herons around here have a way of hunting in deeper water that involves launching or pouncing off a branch or a dead tree trunk. They enter the water feet and bill first, with a great splash, and try to ambush their prey. (I have a few images of that I may post later).
The bird was successful, and emerged with a pretty decent-sized Catfish. What I hadn’t realized at that moment was that, around a small bay from where I sat enclosed in branches, there was a prospective mate. What followed was an amazing twenty minutes of this bird displaying mating behaviours, including a fairly flashy ‘watch me swallow this food that I can catch for all of us’ dance.
I will post more of those images as well.
Halcyon senegalensis
L'offrande de nourriture du mâle à la femelle est un comportement très fréquent... avant les choses plus sérieuses...
Parc national Kruger, Afrique du Sud
The offering of food by the male to the female is a very frequent behaviour... before more serious things happen...
Kruger National Park, South Africa
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-...
Wasn't sure whether to post this or not! Bit of a crop and the sky was very white/bright,which posed lots of problems,but hey ho it is Hobbys. This is a dragonfly pass from the adult to the young bird. I was very fortunate to witness this let alone get any shots of the behaviour!.................Len.
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 :)
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Grey-headed Flying-fox
Scientific Name: Pteropus poliocephalus
The Grey-headed Flying-fox is one of the largest bats in Australia with a wingspan of over 1 m.
Identification: The Grey-headed Flying-fox is mostly dark brown, except for a grey head and orange-red mantle encircling the neck.
Habitat: The Grey-headed Flying-fox urban areas, forests and woodlands, intertidal mangroves.
Distribution: The Grey-headed Flying-fox is found in eastern Australia, including Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.
Feeding and diet: At night the Grey-headed Flying-fox searches for food and may travel 50 km to its feeding areas. It eats fruit from a range of native and introduced species, particularly figs, and for this reason it is sometimes called 'Fruit Bat'. It also feeds on nectar and pollen from native trees, especially gum trees.
Other behaviours and adaptations: The Grey-headed Flying-fox spends much of its time hanging from the branches of trees in forests or mangroves. Groups known as 'camps' can be made up of many thousands of animals.
Life history cycle: The young Grey-headed Flying-foxs are usually born in September to October and are carried by the mother for the first three weeks, clinging to her teat with their special curved milk teeth and gripping her fur with their strong claws. As they grow larger and become too heavy to carry on feeding expeditions, they are left behind in special 'creches' in the maternity camp. After about three months the young are able to fly and by five to six months of age they begin to feed independently.
(SOURCE: australianmuseum.net.au/learn/animals/bats/grey-headed-fl...)
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First is a Cinnabar Moth Caterpillar, next a Soldier Beetle, then a Ladybird and a Hoverfly. Please try viewing large. Thank you....
Eurasian Jays have very particular and interesting behaviours, and some of them make them excellent forest gardeners.
Examples include the use of gifts provided by males for females in mating rituals. This behaviour is performed by a few species. In most cases, it means that the species understands the desires of other individuals, which is quite complicated.
Their most important and interesting behaviour is their ability to store seeds, especially acorns or nuts. They do this to prepare themselves for the cold season and the harsh months that await them.
Experts suspect that this behaviour may be much more complicated than it seems. They proved, through different experiments, that the Eurasian Jay’s habit of keeping food is due to its ability to plan for the future, something experts thought that only humans could do.
This behaviour is what makes it a very important animal for our forests. In many cases, these birds don’t consume all their stores, or they just forget about them.
Thus, the seeds germinate and the forests expand as they move these heavy nuts and seeds, which can hardly be spread otherwise.
Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius) flight_w_2278
Ontario Red Squirrel ... An Artistic oil paint portrait version of my little buddy "Red" who shows up to my backyard from our local park.
Edited with a white matte frame.
Nobody has ever described a red squirrel as laid-back and casual. They seem to live with the accelerator nailed to the floor, zipping around trees and through branches with blinding speed.
Nor are they the fast but silent type. They may be the smallest squirrels in Ontario, but they don’t seem to know that. Any black squirrel that is perceived as an intruder will be chased away in a flurry of chattering and squeaking, every sound accompanied by a stomping of tiny feet and a flick of the tail. The same goes for gray jays and other Ontario birds, small dogs, and even owls: anything that might pose a threat is chased away.
That’s just standard red squirrel behaviour. And come spring, they ramp that up a few notches.
Not sure what,s going on here.At first i thought the ants were moving their larvae to another location,but the first larvae is clearly a plant hopper nymph! So moving plant hopper larvae for security,or food?
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This Little Egret, one of three seen at Titchfield Haven, was very entertaining as it repeatedly tried to send off the Black-headed Gull which constantly harassed it from above. Wing flapping, bouncing and quacking, its fine repertoire of behaviours finally paid off and it was left in peace.
Posting tonight as I am hoping to get away early tomorrow if conditions allow.
The last post had a House Finch and House Sparrow, both young and getting along well in the rain. Here an older sparrow has caused a bit of a rucus as a House Finch appears to be thinking, "Hey buddy, what's up? I have not done anything." At least that is the way I saw it. The House Finch was simply perched besides the House Sparrow.
Even though the tail feathers are clipped here, I am thrilled to have got this shot. So much better than a simple static shot (although I like them as well, but not as much) Action and behaviour, in my opinion can be of poor technical quality as long as the behaviour is interesting. I would love to hav emore shots like this, behavioural shots that is, not necessarily shots with an aggressor.
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Guides in the Kwara Concession call this resident male cheetah Mr Special because of his special behaviour of climbing tall trees like a leopard.
The Cheetah is the fastest land mammal and one of the most endangered species in the world! Although cheetahs can swim they usually avoid water. When we spotted him in the golden afternoon light he had obviously been in the water as his fur was wet.
Okavango Delta, Botswana
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