bird Archives - Page 8 of 23

Ruffled

The Goliath Heron has a height of 135 cms and weighs around 4300 gms. The head is coloured chestnut while the bill is coloured black. The Goliath Heron is found in the Southern African wetlands, riverine forests and moist grasslands. The bird is at home in riverine forests and close to water bodies such as lakes, dams and streams. You can see the Goliath Heron bird on coastal regions and on the seashore where the bird will be foraging with other birds. This bird forages for food on the ground. This bird has a specially adapted bill which helps it hunt for fish, crabs, shrimp and other aquatic animals in the water. This bird eats insects such as butterflies, bees, wasps, locusts and ants. These invertebrates are usually hawked aerially, killed and then eaten.
Info source: http://www.birdsinsa.com/birds/ardeagoliath.htm

15 April 2019Picture of the day, Wildlife

Solo

The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds, with 64 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Although herons resemble birds in some other families, such as the storks, ibises, spoonbills, and cranes, they differ from these in flying with their necks retracted, not outstretched. They are also one of the bird groups that have powder down. Some members of this group nest colonially in trees, while others, notably the bitterns, use reed beds. The herons are medium- to large-sized birds with long legs and necks. The necks are able to kink in an S-shape, due to the modified shape of the cervical vertebrae, of which they have 20–21. The neck is able to retract and extend and is retracted during flight, unlike most other long-necked birds. The neck is longer in the day herons than the night herons and bitterns. The legs are long and strong and in almost every species are unfeathered from the lower part of the tibia (the exception is the zigzag heron). In flight, the legs and feet are held backwards. The feet of herons have long, thin toes, with three forward-pointing ones and one pointing backwards.
Info source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heron

29 March 2019Picture of the day, Wildlife

Scarlet

The Southern Red Bishop is a common and widespread resident and local nomad in marshy grassland, savanna and fields, usually associated with water. They favour breeding in reed beds, and sometimes also in crops. They are highly gregarious and sedentary, and feeds, roosts and breed in flocks. Their distribution is from Angola, Uganda and Kenya, south to the whole of Southern Africa; mainly near perennial water and less common in the dry west. Locally common to abundant, the females outnumber males at a ratio of 3 to 2. Longevity is 12 years. Their general habitat is open grassland, marshes and cultivated areas, typically with close access to perennial water. They are gregarious year-round, form large flocks during the non-breeding season, often with other granivores, and roost in reed beds. It regularly drinks water by sipping, then tips the bill to swallow.

19 March 2019Nature, Picture of the day