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www.texastargetbirds.com

 

This past Thursday I had an opportunity to catch up with a friend while birding around the Bolivar Peninsula and during our travels we kept hearing the familiar wichity-wichity-wichity calls of the Common Yellowthroat. Eventually we came across this guy who just seemed to want to have his photo taken. Spring is definitely in the air.

 

Geothlypis trichas

 

_MG_0973-web

Cuckoo - Cuculus Canorus

 

Norfolk

 

The common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, Cuculiformes, which includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals.

 

This species is a widespread summer migrant to Europe and Asia, and winters in Africa. It is a brood parasite, which means it lays eggs in the nests of other bird species, particularly of dunnocks, meadow pipits, and reed warblers. Although its eggs are larger than those of its hosts, the eggs in each type of host nest resemble the host's eggs. The adult too is a mimic, e that species is a predator, the mimicry gives the female time to lay her eggs without being seen to do so.

The English word "cuckoo" comes from the Old French cucu and it first appears about 1240 in the poem Sumer Is Icumen In - "Summer has come in / Loudly sing, Cuckoo!" in modern English.

The scientific name is from Latin. Cuculus is "cuckoo" and canorus, "melodious ".

 

A study using stuffed bird models found that small birds are less likely to approach common cuckoos that have barred underparts similar to the Eurasian sparrowhawk, a predatory bird. Eurasian reed warblers were found more aggressive to cuckoos that looked less hawk-like, meaning that the resemblance to the hawk helps the cuckoo to access the nests of potential hosts. Other small birds, great tits and blue tits, showed alarm and avoided attending feeders on seeing either (mounted) sparrowhawks or cuckoos; this implies that the cuckoo's hawklike appearance functions as protective mimicry, whether to reduce attacks by hawks or to make brood parasitism easier.

 

The common cuckoo is an obligate brood parasite; it lays its eggs in the nests of other birds. At the appropriate moment, the hen cuckoo flies down to the host's nest, pushes one egg out of the nest, lays an egg and flies off. The whole process takes about 10 seconds. A female may visit up to 50 nests during a breeding season. Common cuckoos first breed at the age of two years.

 

More than 100 host species have been recorded: meadow pipit, dunnock and Eurasian reed warbler are the most common hosts in northern Europe; garden warbler, meadow pipit, pied wagtail and European robin in central Europe; brambling and common redstart in Finland; and great reed warbler in Hungary.

 

Studies were made of 90 great reed warbler nests in central Hungary. There was an "unusually high" frequency of common cuckoo parasitism, with 64% of the nests parasitised. Of the nests targeted by cuckoos, 64% contained one cuckoo egg, 23% had two, 10% had three and 3% had four common cuckoo eggs. In total, 58% of the common cuckoo eggs were laid in nests that were multiply parasitised. When laying eggs in nests already parasitised, the female cuckoos removed one egg at random, showing no discrimination between the great reed warbler eggs and those of other cuckoos.

 

It was found that nests close to cuckoo perches were most vulnerable: multiple parasitised nests were closest to the vantage points, and unparasitised nests were farthest away. Nearly all the nests "in close vicinity" to the vantage points were parasitised. More visible nests were more likely to be selected by the common cuckoos. Female cuckoos use their vantage points to watch for potential hosts and find it easier to locate the more visible nests while they are egg-laying.

  

Waiting for something tasty to drop

Common nightingale or simply nightingale, also known as rufous nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos). sevastopol, Crimea, RF.

Соловей южный (западный).

Wishing you all a very happy Bengali New Year !!

A common Blue Tiger butterfly in Botanical Garden, Howrah, West Bengal, India

A female Common Merganser departing. Kane County, Illinois

Standing still long enough to get a portrait.

Wikipedia: Neurothemis fluctuans, the red grasshawk, common parasol or grasshawk dragonfly, is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is widespread in many Asian countries.

 

Conservation status: Least Concern

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurothemis_fluctuans

Close up shot of a common house gecko or house lizard(Hemidactylus frenatus). I took this shot in our house.

Ketenkuşu » Linaria Cannabina

It was a beautiful morning to be at sea today and it was lovely to find myself among a pod of Common Dolphins off Crabrock Point between Brixham and Dartmouth.

279) Common Moorhen

Common Moorhen, Swamp Chicken, Gallinula chloropus, Tiong Air

The common moorhen lives around well-vegetated marshes, ponds, canals and other wetlands. They gives a wide range of gargling calls and will emit loud hisses when threatened. This species will consume a wide variety of vegetable material and small aquatic creatures. They forage beside or in the water, sometimes walking on lilypads or upending in the water to feed. They are often secretive, but can become tame in some areas. Despite loss of habitat in parts of its range, the common moorhen remains plentiful and widespread.

Normally these flit off at high speed but this one allowed me to take it with the macro lens

This was taken last summer at a local park. These birds should be arriving sometime soon if they haven't already.

 

Thank you for your views and comments, much appreciated! Have a wonderful day!

Common Loon flapping its wings. Indian River Inlet, Delaware.

Bucharest Botanical Garden, Romania

Slimbridge Aviary (captives)

www.texastargetbirds.com

 

This Common Yellowthroat popped up unexpectedly during our brief visit to Ohio last month. As we were walking through the park he popped up on a locust tree and gave us a brief look. I wonder if he may have been a migrant as I usually see Common Yellowthroats around water but as far as I could tell there was none around when this one showed up.

 

Geothlypis trichas

 

_MG_9051-web

Taken at our local nature reserve , early in the morning.

This is an irruption winter for Common Redpolls in our area. It's great to see them after an absence of several years. This one is gritting along the side of the road.

Gallinago gallinago

 

Tophill Low, Yorkshire

Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus)

15 May 2019

Cuttle Pool Nature Reserve, Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, Temple Balsall

Warwickshire Wildlife Trust

Common redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) male perched on a lichen-covered branch.

 

Samiec pleszki (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) siedzący na pokrytej porostami gałęzi.

...........been looking forward to meeting up with these friendly guys again. E-M1 MK11/100-400mm.

Common Eider Ducks: One baby Eider duck and the other a female adult

   

New Britain Pa.

 

Many thanks to all who take the time to view, comment and fave my images. Enjoy the day.

Common sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) standing on a floating tree.

Common treeshrew feeding on a caterpillar, i had quite some difficulties to find the name of that species as i was looking for a squirrel species but it turned out to be a member of the shrew family. Found many of these guys while exploring Benchakitti forest park in Bangkok, Thailand

(Geothlypis trichas) -- Common Yellowthroat

 

A broad black mask lends a touch of highwayman’s mystique to the male Common Yellowthroat. Look for these furtive, yellow-and-olive warblers skulking through tangled vegetation, often at the edges of marshes and wetlands. Females lack the mask and are much browner, though they usually show a hint of warm yellow at the throat. Yellowthroats are vocal birds, and both their witchety-witchety-witchety songs and distinctive call notes help reveal the presence of this, one of our most numerous warblers.

 

Read more at:https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Yellowthroat/overview

 

Common Redpoll (Carduelis flame) in the boreal woods in the foothills region along the Rocky Mountains north of Hinton, Alberta, Canada.

 

3 March, 2016.

 

Slide # GWB_20160303_6959.CR2

 

Use of this image on websites, blogs or other media without explicit permission is not permitted.

© Gerard W. Beyersbergen - All Rights Reserved Worldwide In Perpetuity - No Unauthorized Use.

 

@Urasa

Have a Happy Friday!

Manatee County, Florida

March 26, 2020

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