View allAll Photos Tagged behaviour
"Did you see him", said a voice as a couple passed me on a walk along the beach? Odd how behaviour changes when others see you carrying a camera and lens. Suddenly their willing to communicate and let you know of something they saw, you may have missed.
"Thank you, yes I did", was my reply as they quickly walked away. A Heron was perched at just the right place for my longer lens to capture this wonder of nature. He sat stoically, while the tides gently rolled in, and the clouds lay heavily overhead.
This is a companion piece to yesterday's shot of the parent bird trying to distract me. I shot from the rolling red Toyota blind - saw some movement in the grass, and there it was! It took one look back at me and then scurried away, into the concealing grasses. I don't know if it had surviving siblings. Only after I had spotted this little one and made a few shots did the parent birds appear, making a great fuss and show to draw me away. I made a few shots of this behaviour, wished the little family well and then vacated the area. I felt that staying any longer would be too disruptive. And I want them to come back next year!
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2025 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
I photographed this beauty resting on a bench with her newly cut leaf, at Mill of Benholm, Kincardineshire. I saw a couple of these lovely bees there. One was nesting in a rotten post, and the leaves of a nearby sapling sycamore had lots of tell-tale semicircular chunks missing.
When I posted this on Facebook, Darek Ogrodnik commented that her stinger is out---interesting! I guess that's something to do with her having just laid an egg, or preparing to lay another?
A gorse shieldbug trying its best to hide ... and giving me an unusual view that piqued my interest. Are those black dots spiracles? Yes, said Google!
Being the open end of tubes (trachea) within the insect's body, the spiracles allow air to enter the tubes, from where it diffuses into the body---the insect respiratory system!
Behaviour:
White-tailed eagles spend much of their day perched on trees or crags, and may often not move for hours. Perhaps up to 90% of a day may be spent perched, especially if weather is poor. Also, they will alternate periods of soaring with perching, especially flying over water or well-watered areas, but do considerably less soaring on average than do golden eagles. Pairs regularly roost together, often near to their nest, either on a crag or tree or crevices, overhung ledges or small isolated trees on a crag.
White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) Apetlon, Burgenland Austria_7512
The Great Spotted Cuckoo (Clamator glandarius) is a fascinating bird known for its specialised brood parasitism and unique survival strategies. Unlike many other cuckoos, this species uses sophisticated, sometimes "vengeful" tactics to ensure its young are raised by unsuspecting foster parents, primarily Eurasian magpies.
If a magpie recognises the strange egg and removes it, the Great Spotted Cuckoo pair might destroy the host's nest in return. They have been observed returning to the scene to peck or destroy the magpie’s eggs, a "vengeful" behaviour rarely seen in other bird species.
Great Spotted Cuckoo chicks are highly unique because they release a foul-smelling, noxious liquid from their cloaca when threatened by predators. This chemical acts as a repellent, protecting not only the cuckoo chick but also the host's own chicks in the nest.
Great Spotted Cuckoo (Clamator glandarius) adult Spring Spain_1678
Alongt the Des Moines River, western bank, south of Saylorville Dam, Saylorville, Iowa.
According to Merlin Bird ID, yellow-billed cuckoos are stealthy and shy and tend to live mainly in dense forests and riparian areas, which perfectly describes the area where this bird was spotted. It was not, however, sitting motionless. It flew onto this branch and moved around for a few minutes and then disappeared deeper into the woods.
Walking through the busy streets in Chichester town centre, I came across this canine character. A good tip on dog behaviour, don't stare at them unless you want them to bark and scare the living day lights out of you.
Think it was a Hungarian Vizsla. Gorgeous dog which had to be photographed.
Visarend - Western Osprey (Pandion haliaetus).
Once more backlit alas.
NB Hovering is called praying (bidden) in Dutch.
The common kestrel (torenvalk) is the most typical bird of prey showing this behaviour often.
Stockentenpaar | Pair of mallards
Their behaviour is described in the well-known German children's song ‘Alle meine Entchen’. Here are the lyrics:
Alle meine Entchen
Schwimmen auf dem See
Schwimmen auf dem See
Köpfchen in das Wasser
Schwänzchen in die Höh'
My translation:
All my little ducklings
Are swimming on the lake
Are swimming on the lake
Their heads are in the water
Their tails up in the air
This song has the simplest melody imaginable: upload.wikimedia.org/score/0/q/0ql2zr3n5lzbcbfxcl5w8mssf9...
I took this photo in the Floridsdorfer Wasserpark in Floridsdorf, the 21st district of Vienna.
A group of visitors momentarily framed as the exhibit, pressed up against glass that inverts the usual roles of observer and observed. The image plays on the quiet absurdity of the zoo experience, where containment and curiosity work both ways. For a moment, the animals are elsewhere.
The crested pigeon has successfully made the transition from an inland bird to an urban bird. Once restricted to arid and semi-arid zones of this country inland - it is now also seen as a feature of our towns and cities.
Their most distinctive behaviour is the beating and whistling sound their wings make when they take off. I learned that the sound is produced by the air passing over a modified primary feather on the wing. This could be an alarm system to other pigeons in regard any predators or danger within the vicinity.
30 cm in length.
© All rights reserved.
Another shot of rut behaviour, as the big Mule Deer buck (see yesterday's post) senses an opportunity, and the other deer scatter. The two foreground deer are fawns; not sure about the one near the top left - possibly a small doe. Viewing them was like watching a chess match where all the pieces were moving simultaneously. Chaos!
I have probably grouped too many deer shots here, but there's one more to come - tomorrow - before I move on to some different prairie critters.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2017 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
I have failed in my efforts to name the specific kind of Tachinid, but there are thousands, and the spiked bristles and the pollinating behaviour are two key field marks.
Not in the image is their other key behavioural marker: they are parasitoid, meaning their larva are parasites that feed by killing their host. Different species of Tachinid game this out differently: some lay their eggs on flowers known to be visited by a desired host for their young, while others drop eggs directly on species of caterpillar.
As you can imagine this behaviour is both revered (with agricultural pests)and reviled (with more appealing creatures like Monarch Butterflies).
This creature was working a small patch of wild daisies near one of our local wetlands.
...after you smell your own bottom.
Little Africa was grooming herself and was at the bathroom end when she got a whiff of, well herself.
"The flehmen response is an animal behavior in which the animal curls back the upper lip. This exposes the front teeth and gums of the animal. This is actually a means through which the pheromones and certain scents are transferred into the vomeronasal organ."
Snapped this fella in the back garden, a male blackbird (Turdus merula) feasting on holly berries, he would dive in the bush and jump around like a banshee, and then emerge with a berry, perhaps the holly leaves were a bit sharp, but he stuck at it though, must have been worth it as he cleared it of all the berries over a couple of weeks. East sussex, UK.
Holly berries are important and great late winter food for birds, especially blackbirds and thrushes.
Mallotus villosus, know in eastern Canada as capelin, breed on the stony beaches of Newfoundland each summer. They 'roll' up onto the beaches on the incoming waves in massive numbers to lay their eggs, after which they catch the next wave back into the ocean.
However, some do get stranded too high on the beach. The fish will then flip and flop to try getting back down to where the water is. Some fail. There are three basic techniques they seem to use. Some will twist/roll. Others employ a 'moonwalk' technique where they undulate their bodies, tail first, down the beach. They will also pivot on their nose, as shown in this image.
The fish prefer to breed on beaches with smaller gravel, like this one. All the little whitish/brownish balls you see, that looks almost like sand, are eggs, but the individual in the photo is a male so it only contributed the milk that contains the spermatozoa that fertilizes the eggs. The males develop stronger colours on their back and enlarged pelvic fins. Females are more silver/white on the sides and will have a swollen abdomen due to all the eggs. If conditions are not right, they will also breed off-shore.
The photo isn't the best, but does illustrate most of the points noted above.
I was photographing one Heron when suddenly another Heron swooped in and attacked. Lucky for me I was on auto ISO. I wound the speed up and managed to freeze the action on these two, toe to toe Herons.
Not seen this behaviour before. I have seen them have little ariel battles.
With only one week of winter left, this snowy will return to the tundra from visiting the prairies-safe travels
These twelve images, out of about 150 frame sequence I captured, shows the basics of a great grey owl as it eats a dietary staple, a vole.
1. This great grey owl has a vole trapped in its talons down in the grass and is now looking around for anything threatening.
2. Proof that it has indeed captured the vole.
3. Giving the rodent a little squeeze to damage it sufficiently so that it dies or becomes otherwise inert.
4. Next is to reposition the vole so it can be swallowed headfirst.
5. The first part of swallowing smaller prey whole is to lean over, quickly open the beak, and thrust the head down over it.
6. Typically, this motion is done two to three times.
7. Once about halfway in, the owl will typically tip its head back a bit, and open wide.
8. Between gravity and swallowing actions, the prey is pulled fully into the throat.
9. Well, except for the tail and possibly a leg, as in this case.
10. Job done! But what to do with that dried grass?
11. Open wide, give the head a shake and swallow a few more times to try to ingest or dislodge the grass.
12. Finally, give a satisfied smirk to the photographer. That last bit of grass can be dealt with later.
And that, my Flickr Friends, is how it is done. You are now fully versed in the process, so feel free to try this at your convenience at home.
I've no idea what's going on in this pic, other than the awesome behaviour of nature and what's going on inside the camera — particularly the strobe-like artefacts, but mostly the bounce!
a drop of rainwater from a drainpipe into a water butt outside Rob's
This Arctic Tern in flight with a fish was one of a pair engaged in courtship behaviour — see this image www.flickr.com/photos/luminouscompositions/54524503244/in...
This was at a small pebbly beach in the town of Húsavík on the north coast of Iceland, in the region of Norðurland eystra.
Seen at the fringe of a shallow lagoon, a favoured habitat. Here on their winter holidays, Eurasian avocets breed from temperate Europe through to Central Asia.
The feeding behaviour is distinctive: the bird sweeps its tip-tilted bill from side to side through the shallow water to capture small aquatic invertebrates (insects, crustaceans, worms).
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A pretty little duck, this individual was happily foraging for vegetation along a shallow slope, which allowed for a photo that is close to eye-level. We were not supposed to crouch to get images with a low POV.
Another yellow-billed bird, a teal, has established itself on South Georgia (presumably via the Falklands), starting in the 1970's. From a distance it would be easy to confuse the two, but up close they differ in a few areas - size, plumage, and bill (no black strip on the teal).
Hi There!
I wouldn't have believed it until I saw this happen, but the parent physically corrected this very cheeky gosling not once, but twice, the second time causing the gosling to fall over. I am not certain what the gosling did wrong, but it was certainly something very naughty. I've always been fascinated by bird and animal behaviour, so it was fascinating to watch all of this transpire.
After the two "adjustments," the gosling looked as cheeky as ever, but kept its distance from the family. I guess this was the "Wild Child!"
I want to thank you for your views and your comments. I do love hearing from you! Have a great weekend!
©Copyright - Nancy Clark - All Rights Reserved
I photographed this Desert Bighorn Sheep while hiking near the Living Desert attraction in Palm Desert, California.
Bighorn sheep are named for the large, curved horns borne by the rams (males). Ewes (females) also have horns, but they are shorter with less curvature. Male bighorn sheep have large horn cores, enlarged cornual and frontal sinuses, and internal bony septa. These adaptations serve to protect the brain by absorbing the impact of clashes with other males.
The desert bighorn sheep subspecies are indigenous to the hot desert ecosystems of the Southwestern United States and Mexico. Bighorn sheep inhabit alpine meadows, grassy mountain slopes, and foothill country near rugged, rocky cliffs and bluffs. Since bighorn sheep cannot move through deep snow, they prefer drier slopes, where the annual snowfall is less.
Bighorn sheep are highly susceptible to certain diseases carried by domestic sheep and additional mortality occurs as a result of accidents involving rock falls or falling off cliffs (a hazard of living in steep, rugged terrain). Bighorns are well adapted to climbing steep terrain, where they seek cover from predators.
The courting behaviours of bighorn sheep are complex and highly orchestrated, and have been the subject of many studies.
This male Common Goldeneye actually dove under the shelf of ice overhanging open water during its foraging for food, a seemingly risky action but this diving duck seemed comfortable with the maneuver and did it repeatedly. This surprising behaviour happened in Dale Hodges Park in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Dione moneta
(The Mexican Silverspot / Pasionaria Mexicana)
In my garden. La Ceja, Colombia.
Dione moneta occurrs from the southern USA to Peru, Bolivia and northern Argentina.
This species is migratory in behaviour so can be found in almost any habitat, and at any altitude from 0-3500 metres. It is most frequent between 1800-2800m and is most often encountered in open sunny areas - these typically include riverbanks, rocky slopes, pastures and roadsides - in fact anywhere where there is an abundance of nectar sources. Both sexes nectar at a wide variety of flowers.
www.learnaboutbutterflies.com/Andes - Dione moneta.htm
According to Museums Victoria Collections "Sharp-tailed sandpipers breed from to June to August in the short Siberian summer, making shallow, hollow, lined nests made of leaves and grass." Australia is one their wintering grounds. I observed this vigorous male displaying his energy to the females thus contradicting all the information concerning this species, although some sources state that "Little is known about the specific behaviour of the sharp-tailed sandpiper, but generally its behaviour and structure are most similar to the pectoral sandpiper."
Oh well, who cares about science when the sun is shining and there's food all around.
(Calidris acuminata)
If a mate can't walk on water he will be out of luck.
A combination of up to 20 steps per second, forceful slaps on the water’s surface with splayed feet, and an unusual stride help these grebes defy gravity
Isle Lake
Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire, UK. The gannet on the right has black eyes, indicating that it survived the devastating (and ongoing) bird flu pandemic. This physical change following recovery in gannets has only recently been noted, and in some ways is very positive for conservation, as this survivor has successfully paired up.