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:
A black Swan attacking a Muscovy duck.
Hope you will enjoy this shot.
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©Elsie van der Walt, all rights reserved. Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. If you are interested in using one of my images, please send me an E-mail (elsie.vdwalt@gmail.com).
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).
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!
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.
RKO_9069.
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Although they are not the only birds to engage in similar behaviour, gannets are famous for "billing" or “mutual fencing.” While it can happen any time both birds from a mated pair are at their nest site, it is quite routine when one bird returns to the nest after foraging for food or nesting material. The two gannets will face each other, often touching and calling. They then shake their heads side to side with their bills clacking together. They often bow, rub necks, and preen each other’s neck before taking up the more mundane activities of nesting in colonies, such as bickering and fighting with neighbors.
Courtship behaviour of the great crested grebe.
great crested grebe
Haubentaucher
[Podiceps cristatus]
We just couldn't believe this!
Many of you would have seen adult Grebe's doing the Weed Dance., an elaborate and beautiful 'Courtship' ritual
But what we have here are two Grebe chicks from the same family spontaneously performing (with all the same complex moves) the very same dance
They are young and immature., so this cannot be 'learnt behaviour' but instead somehow engrained into their DNA
We were taken by surprise and It was wonderful to watch!
Thanks for looking, comments and faves. Much appreciated!
Surtout, ne m'imitez pas, hein, car ce sont des baies d'if, mortelles en 5-10 min. si on croque dans la graine. Moi, comme je n'ai pas de dents, je l'avale tout rond et ainsi, je ne risque rien !
De nombreux humains et animaux (chevaux, vaches, lapins, etc) sont morts après avoir mangé des baies d'if !!!
Don't make the same as me. These are yew berries. If you crunch the seed, hidden into the berry, you will die very quickly ! For me, as I haven't any teeth, I swallow it without chewing it !
A lot of humans and animals (horses, cows, rabbits, etc) have died after having eaten yew berries !!!
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
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.
One of the first local bird species to engage in mating behaviours is the Downy Woodpecker, though the Hairy and Pileated Woodpeckers are also pretty active at the same time. Chasing, calling, and scrapping (between competing males or females) is a behavioural backdrop in the woods around Ottawa.
I am not often lucky with opportunities for photography with Woodpeckers during this time. They move quickly, and often are chased higher up. It was fun to come across this male, busily digging into the bark, early one morning. He noticed me, but returned to his business pretty quickly. A few minutes later a female flew in and off they went.
His business was at the junction of the trunk and the branch coming off to the left. He was about six feet off the ground, and I was able to stay behind a tree nearby to leave him in peace while I secured an image.
To me, darters always look happy, and this cheery-looking chappy is no exception.
The farmer helpfully dug a small pond next to our house about two years ago, and the common darters didn't take long to find it (also saw common hawker this year!).
I do find these very tricky subjects, because they are either zipping about and never landing (when it's sunny), or completely hidden (when it's cooler). In my few attempts, I haven't found any willing to pose this year ... so here's a shot from last September of a male resting on a post.
Stag frantically digging up mud at the edge of a lake to cover its antlers before dressing them in vegetation. Not sure if this is to impress the ladies or threaten other males in the rut.
I made a quick trip to the nature reserve after work and met this beautiful and friendly girl. After moving to a very photogenic spot on the grass she spent several minutes turning, preening and generally showing off all her best sides for the camera! It was hard to pick a shot in the end :)
First is a Cinnabar Moth Caterpillar, next a Soldier Beetle, then a Ladybird and a Hoverfly. Please try viewing large. Thank you....
Came across this bruin in the arctic, he was feeding on a musk ox calf. His eyes tell the story, stay away! Taken from inside a truck on a gravel road. Decided to heed his eyes and stay in the truck with minimal movement. (The photographer didn't get this old being stoopid!) I have had very close encounters with Grizzly Bears while hiking and have been bluff charged and followed for miles before. One thing that is important is to read the animals behaviour. This one is quite obvious, wouldn't you say?
These birds were nesting and this one was showing off to a female. The straw he picked up was too big for the nest, but then size matters here!
This is the typical courting behaviour of the Silverbills - carry a supersized straw and dangle in front the female with some kind of special moves to woo her. There were several suitors, but the large straw gives him a better chance of wooing the female. Once accepted, the male brings nesting materials to the female, while the female builds the nest - a small cup in the bushes.
These are resident birds - around 10-14 cms - found throughout the country easily in the countryside. The birds are always seen in flocks and found together around other munias like Scaly Breasted and Tri-colored.
Thanks in advance for your views and feedback. Much appreciated.
The rook (Corvus frugilegus) is a member of the family Corvidae in the passerine order of birds. It is found in the Palearctic, its range extending from Scandinavia and western Europe to eastern Siberia. It is a large, gregarious, black-feathered bird, distinguished from similar species by the whitish featherless area on the face. Rooks nest collectively in the tops of tall trees, often close to farms or villages, the groups of nests being known as rookeries.
Rooks are mainly resident birds, but the northernmost populations may move southwards to avoid the harshest winter conditions. The birds form flocks in winter, often in the company of other Corvus species or jackdaws. They return to their rookeries and breeding takes place in spring. They forage on arable land and pasture, probing the ground with their strong bills and feeding largely on grubs and soil-based invertebrates, but also consuming cereals and other plant material. Historically, farmers have accused the birds of damaging their crops, and have made efforts to drive them away or kill them. Like other corvids, they are intelligent birds with complex behavioural traits and an ability to solve simple problems.
Not sure what,s going on here.At first i thought the ants were moving their larvae to another location,but the first larvae is clearly a plant hopper nymph! So moving plant hopper larvae for security,or food?
Thanks for your comments and faves,they are truly appreciated.
I was photographing a small flock of feeding dowitchers on the shore of a small, shallow lake when they started to move towards me as they probed the mud for worms and other invertebrates. They kept getting closer and closer. This one paused for a stretch right in front of me and filled the frame as it tilted forward and stretched out its leg and wing. A small movement from me sent the flying a little ways down the shore. It was pretty neat watching their behaviour that close up.
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.