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 beautiful woodpecker that is found in a small part of the country - in parts of South India and the Himalayan forests. It has a rich yellow and green mixed color which I found to be spectacular. The bird is a tad bigger than many of the other woodpeckers I have seen. This is my second sighting and from what I could see during the short duration, the behaviours are similar to the other woodpeckers. The birds do come down to the middle canopy and that is where we shot them.
We sighted both the pair on this day, but this male was more active and visible, while the female stayed in the upper canopy. The woodpecker pair tends to stick together much of the time and this was same case here as well.
Thanks so much in advance for your views, faves and feedback.
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)
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).
Black Redstart - Phoenicurus ochruros (M)
The black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros) is a small passerine bird in the redstart genus Phoenicurus. Like its relatives, it was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family (Turdidae), but is now known to be an Old World flycatcher (Muscicapidae). Other common names are Tithy's redstart, blackstart and black redtail.
It is not very closely related to the common redstart. As these are separated by different behaviour and ecological requirements.
It is a widespread breeder in south and central Europe and Asia and northwest Africa, from Great Britain and Ireland (where local) south to Morocco, east to central China. It is resident in the milder parts of its range, but northeastern birds migrate to winter in southern and western Europe and Asia, and north Africa. It nests in crevices or holes in buildings.
In Britain, it is most common as a passage and winter visitor, with only 20–50 pairs breeding.
On passage it is fairly common on the east and south coasts, and in winter on the coasts of Wales and western and southern England, with a few also at inland sites. Migrant black redstarts arrive in Britain in October or November and either move on or remain to winter, returning eastward in March or April. They also winter on the south and east coasts of Ireland.
The species originally inhabited stony ground in mountains, particularly cliffs, but since about 1900 has expanded to include similar urban habitats including bombed areas during and after World War II, and large industrial complexes that have the bare areas and cliff-like buildings it favours; in Great Britain, most of the small breeding population nests in such industrial areas.
Population:
UK breeding:
19-44 pairs
UK wintering:
400 birds
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
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.
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!
Sometimes I think birds want to just play with each other. While one of these Sandpipers was resting on a beautiful perch, the other just came and disturbed it. They demonstrated some aggressive behaviour briefly, but then this aggressor quickly left the perch and landed in the wet paddy field before.
Thanks in advance for your views and feedback.
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.
I find the behaviour of these Woodpeckers very interesting. A friend Flickr met in California, explained to me that these Woodpeckers stock acorns of oak by hiding them in old trunk of dead tree. I spotted two places where the woodpeckers took turns hiding their treasure.
Je trouve le comportement de ces pics tellement intéressants. Un ami Flickr rencontré en Californie, m'explique que ces pics font provision de glands de chêne en les cachant dans de vieux tronc d'arbre mort. J'ai repéré deux endroits ou les pics venaient à tour de rôle cacher leur butin.
San Francisco Bay, CA USA
This juvenile is very different from the others.
He has always eyes closed
He is all white
He always stay hidden (very hard to do few photos)
This is the first Albino Nutria that I have ever seen.
Saddly the only opportunity I had to see this animal was during a bad end of afternoon.
(_DSC0089_DxO-2048N_2 )
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.
I post this photo for the Happy Caturday theme "Behaviour". Generally Sethi's behaviour is that of most outdoor cats, he loves to roam the neighbourhood, to hunt and to fight. When he is at home he is a different cat, quite peaceful and cuddly and he can look incredibly innocent. What always makes me smile is the way he sticks the tip of his tongue out when he is focused on something interesting, this is so typical Sethi.
Happy Caturday !
This is the oldest piece of jewelry in my family! A handcrafted silver necklace, which has been getting passed down from one generation to the next for years and years! It's my Mom's most delicate possession and therefore remains secure and untouched in its velvet-lined case to be admired but not worn anymore... I'm still surprised she allowed me to take it out for this week's theme (on the promise of excellent behaviour, of course ;D) Thank you Mom!!!
Happy Macro Monday and a very happy new week to all :)))
Newly hatched spiderlings of the European garden spider (Araneus diadematus) keep themselves in a tight yellow-orange ball. When in danger the ball falls apart very quickly and then they re-assembled back. I have seen this behaviour before, but with sharp showers on the day I was intrigued whether this little nursery would survive in the open without any roof. A see-through, full of holes web blanket seemed hold up. Taken in the garden, Bath, BANES, England, UK.
Courtship behaviour of the great crested grebe.
great crested grebe
Haubentaucher
[Podiceps cristatus]
Common redshanks in breeding plumage are a marbled brown color, slightly lighter below. In winter plumage they become somewhat lighter-toned and less patterned, being rather plain greyish-brown above and whitish below. They have red legs and a black-tipped red bill, and show white up the back and on the wings in flight.
Mating lasts less than five minutes in banded demoiselles, though can take longer in other damselfly and dragonfly species. Afterwards the pair separate, but the male guards the female from rivals while she lays her eggs. The female pushes these into plants in the water, so searching for patches of emergent vegetation in slow-flowing waterways is often the best way to spot this fascinating behaviour.
Source: BBC Wildlife magazine.
The breeding season for the North American Elk (Cervus canadensis) is in September and at this time, bulls fight to establish supremacy and breeding rights of the harems they establish. This bull is checking the receptive condition of the female for mating. There is a large population of these majestic animals in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada.
18 September, 2016.
Slide # GWB_20160918_4170.CR2
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Spyder turning his head upside down as I sweet talk him into taking his photo, behaving ever so bashful!
Posted for the Happy Caturday theme: "Behaviour"
American Robin adapted to winter. Worms in the summer and minnows in the winter for the ones that stick around. Interesting but not such a rare behaviour as we might think.
The great thing about RSPB Bempton is that there are areas that you can get extremely close to the seabirds and capture some of their intimate behaviour.
Taken on my recent trip to Yorkshire.
Winter blues got you down? Let these summer blues cheer you up. This image show the adult male bluebird hovering over some vegetation with the juvenile following. I believe the dad was showing the youngster how to find moths/butterflies/bugs in the grasses. There was communication going on for sure based on the sequence of behaviours.
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-...
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.
It's interesting watching the pecking order in the bird bath. The two caught here share a similar level, happily warding off finches and thornbills, but deferring to robins. The New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae ) on the left is keeping an eye on me, but the White-browed Scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis ) is not confident about entering the water, however the NHH soon took a very quick drink and left the bath to the scrubwren.
HD PENTAX-D FA 150-450mm f4.5-5.6
First is a Cinnabar Moth Caterpillar, next a Soldier Beetle, then a Ladybird and a Hoverfly. Please try viewing large. Thank you....
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.
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.
Plant and they will come!
This is just a record shot (I'd have liked to have gotten more of the wing in focus), as she wasn't for staying still, of the first common blue butterfly to visit my garden last year, after I planted bird's foot trefoil for my 'resident' leafcutter bees, and to attract common blue butterflies.
I was thrilled to watch her lay lots of eggs, which you can see her doing in this photo, all over the bird's foot trefoil ... and what amazing little structures the eggs are too---that's tomorrow's upload!
(Egretta garzetta) This is not the most technically perfect shot but it did take me a while to get it! This was taken in a tidal inlet and the tide was very low. I was watching this little egret fishing and I kept hearing massive splashes around me. This huge sea bass had obviously become trapped and he was busy catching smaller fish all around me. I had no idea where he was going to pop up next so I concentrated on the egret and hoped the fish would eventually come up somewhere near him - and it did! If you look closely you can see smaller fish scattering around the sea bass. I saw another picture very similar to this one in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards this morning so I am really pleased with this one!