Satin Bowerbird

Male Satin Bowerbird

Phylum : Chordata
Class : Aves
Order : Passeriformes
Family : Ptilonorhynchidae
Genus : Ptilonorhynchus
Species : P. violaceus

IUCN Status : Least Concern

Cripes! I've never written about a Bowerbird! These birds, found in Australia and New Guinea, may not be as crazy looking as some of the other natives, (I'm looking at you Birds of Paradise) but they have a fantastic skill-set all their own!

Satin Bowerbirds are medium size birds found in Eastern Australia. Adult males are a shiny blueish-black color with blue eyes, while females and younger males have green plumage.

Bower

What makes this birds so interesting is the intricate procedure that they go through before mating. Males build two parallel structures out of twigs and grasses, and then decorate around them with colorful blue and yellow bits and objects, including flowers, berries, and even made made materials like pens and bottle caps. Females come to inspect these bowers, and at that point the males put on an elaborate dance. If the female is impressed, they mate and she leaves to lay the eggs and incubate them on her own. The male gets back to work to find more receptive females.

Satin Bowerbird

Male Satin Bowerbird

Phylum : Chordata

Class : Aves

Order : Passeriformes

Family : Ptilonorhynchidae

Genus : Ptilonorhynchus

Species : P. violaceus



IUCN Status : Least Concern



Cripes! I've never written about a Bowerbird! These birds, found in Australia and New Guinea, may not be as crazy looking as some of the other natives, (I'm looking at you Birds of Paradise) but they have a fantastic skill-set all their own!



Satin Bowerbirds are medium size birds found in Eastern Australia. Adult males are a shiny blueish-black color with blue eyes, while females and younger males have green plumage.

Bower

What makes this birds so interesting is the intricate procedure that they go through before mating. Males build two parallel structures out of twigs and grasses, and then decorate around them with colorful blue and yellow bits and objects, including flowers, berries, and even made made materials like pens and bottle caps. Females come to inspect these bowers, and at that point the males put on an elaborate dance. If the female is impressed, they mate and she leaves to lay the eggs and incubate them on her own. The male gets back to work to find more receptive females.

Orchard Oriole

Male Orchard Oriole

Phylum : Chordata
Class : Aves
Order : Passeriformes
Family : Icteridae
Genus : Icterus
Species : spurius

Length : 7in (18cm)
Wingspan : 10in (25cm)

IUCN Status : Least Concern

Sometimes I randomly ask my acquaintances to "name an animal that isn't a mammal." I get some strange responses sometimes (Antlion for example), and usually I've already written about many of the suggestions. Yesterday though, response number one was "Oriole," a songbird that I haven't yet written about! Imagine my excitement!

...But I had no idea that there were around 30 species of Oriole, so I just had to pick one. When faced with such a decision I tend to go toward extremes, so today we have the smallest Oriole species in North America; the Orchard Oriole.

Female Orchard Oriole

The Orchard Oriole can be found throughout Eastern North America and Central America, depending on the time of year. One interesting tidbit about them is that they migrate to their summer grounds in late spring, but some birds return to their winter homes very quickly, as early as mid-July! In their winter grounds they are important pollinators for many tropical trees, as they feed off of nectar and pollen and move it from plant to plant.

Orchard Orioles vary in color depending on sex. Males are the characteristic orange and black, with the orange sometimes being very dark. Females and young males are a bright yellowish green.

King of Saxony Bird-of-Paradise

Male King of Saxony Bird-of-Paradise

Phylum : Chordata
Class : Aves
Order : Passeriformes
Family : Paradisaeidae
Genus : Pteridophora
Species : alberti

Body Length : 8.5in (22cm)
Plume Length : 20in (50cm)

IUCN Status : Least Concern

The King of Saxony Bird-of-Paradise is a little bird with a HUGE name... and some pretty long feathers to match. Females are brownish-gray and plain, which helps to camouflage them, but males of the species are colorful and have some incredible headgear- long plumes that appear to stick out from their ears! These scalloped, iridescent feathers can stick up at will, and are used in their mating displays.They are so strange looking that when the first specimens were brought back to Europe, many believed them to be fake!

Males are territorial. They call and sing songs to lure in potential females, and wow them with their plume movements. After mating, the female leaves and the male works to attract more females. Females lay one egg, which she alone cares for.

King of Saxony's live in New Guinea, and are one of several "Bird-of-Paradise" species, though they are the only member of their specific genus. They are named for Albert, a late 19th century King of Saxony.

Chatham Black Robin

(Image Source)

Phylum : Chordata
Class : Aves
Order : Passeriformes
Family : Petroicidae
Genus : Petroica
Species : traversi

Height : 4in (10cm)

IUCN Status : Endangered

The Chatham Black Robin is found only on the Chatham Islands, which are situated east of New Zealand. Like many island species, the Chatham Black Robin became threatened by the introduction of invasive predators, most notably rats and cats. By 1980 there were only 5 Chatham Black Robins left.

Of these five, there was only one female capable of reproduction, "Old Blue." It is from Old Blue and her mate, Old Yellow, that all current Chatham Black Robins are descended. What is so amazing about this is that Old Blue was already nine years old when the conservation project remained, far beyond the typical four-year life expectancy!

Old Blue

In order to save the species, scientists employed a conservation method called "cross-fostering." When the Robins laid eggs, the first clutch was taken away and cared for for another bird species. Losing their eggs caused the Robin pair to produce a second clutch, doubling their offspring output each year. There are now over 200 Chatham Black Robins, confined to the islands of Mangere and Rangatira which are free of rats cats. Their conservation is a great success story, and the population continues to increase.

Pairs mate for life, and normally produce one clutch each year. They live in forested areas on lower tree branches in an effort to stay away from the high winds that hit the Chatham Islands. Black Robins are carnivores that feed off of a variety of invertebrates, including roaches, worms, and wetas.

Red-Billed Quelea

Male in Breeding Plumage

Phylum : Chordata

Class : Aves

Order : Passeriformes

Family : Ploceidae

Genus : Quelea

Species : quelea

Length : 5in (12.5cm)

Weight : 15-20g

IUCN Status : Least Concern

The Red-Billed Quelea is the most abundant species of bird on the planet. The estimation is that there are over 1.5 billion of these guys flying around Sub-Saharan Africa. They inhabit grass and woodlands, and live in nomadic flocks that number well into the thousands, if not hundreds of thousands.

Red-Billed Queleas have actually benefitted from human encroachment. Farming has led to more grain crops which the birds enthusiastically feed off of. They are considered to be major pests throughout most of their range, as their sheer flock size can completely devastate crops. There have been efforts to control the Quelea population, but the birds are so numerous that even killing a few million has had little effect. There has even been a downside to these measures, as other species have been affected.

Quelea Flock

Red-Billed Queleas are a dull beige color, though during the breeding season males take on a more colorful plumage, and females' bills shift to a more yellow hue. Prior to breeding males begin weaving a nest that the prospective females evaluate. If the female approves, the pair finishes the nest together. 2-4 eggs are laid at a time, are incubated for 12 days, and the hatch. Young birds leave the nest after only two weeks, and themselves become sexually mature after a year. Red-Billed Queleas age quickly and have a short lifespan of only 2-3 years.

Western Tanager

(Image Source)

Western Tanagers (Piranga ludoviciana) are very bright songbirds found in Western North America. They are migratory, and spend their summer breeding at very high latitudes compared to others in their family. Some birds breed as far north as 60 degrees in the Canadian Northwest Territories. Western Tanagers measure about 7.5in(19cm) long.

Western Tanagers are rather interesting in that the bright red on their heads is not part of their "natural" coloration. The birds are not able to produce the pigment, known as rhodoxanthin, by themselves. Instead, it comes from the insects that they eat, who in turn get it from plants.

Insects make up a large bulk of their diet, followed by fruits. They live in groups of up to 30 birds, and between 1 and 5 eggs are laid in cup sized nests. Western Tanagers are preyed upon by a variety of raptor species.

Interestingly, Western Tanagers are in a state of taxonomic confusion. They once belonged to the actual Tanager family, Thraupidae, but have since been moved to Cardinalidae, which is the home of the Cardinals. Some locations still list them in their previous family.

American Goldfinch

Male (right) and Female (left)

Sorry for the completely last post today. I'm snowed in and everything is white, so today I felt like writing about an animal with some color: the American Goldfinch. As their name might suggest, there songbirds are native to North America, and can be found throughout at varying points of the year. Some populations remain in place year round, while others are migratory, moving between Canada and the Northern USA, down to the South and Mexico. They are found in brushy, mostly open habitats.

Both male and female Goldfinches are yellow, though the males are far more vibrant, especially during the breeding season. They are the only finch species to molt twice a year, and breed relatively late for a songbird.

American Goldfinches are notable for their very strict vegetarian diet. While many bird species feed on the occasional insect, Goldfinches eat exclusively seeds. This has an interesting affect on the Brown-Headed Cowbird. These birds sometimes lay eggs in Goldfinch nests, but the hatchlings are unable to survive due to the all-seed diet the Finches provide for their young.

Goldfinches are not a threatened species. They have a massive range spanning some 5 million square miles (about 8 million square km).

European Starling

(Image Source)

Outside of my building there is a flock of birds. There are hundreds, if not thousands of them. They hide in a huge tree, making horrible, scary noises that can be heard from blocks away. And they make it impossible to park on that side of the street for all of the warm weather months. Meet the European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), one of the most "successful" invasive species in North America.

There are over 200 million of these birds, and they are one of the most numerous species on the entire continent... and they are all descended from a hundred or so birds brought here in 1890 by a man named Eugene Schieffelin. You see, Schieffelin felt that North America should have all of the birds that are found in the works of Shakespeare. Thanks Henry IV, Part I, and bravo Mr. Schieffelin. Within 75 years they covering the continent, though their genetic diversity is quite low.

Starlings compete for nests with native species, (though luckily most have been holding their own against them) destroy crops, and are carrier of a handful of harmful diseases that affect humans, including Histoplasmosis. Starlings also like to roost near Airports, which has caused numerous problems, including a crash that resulted in the death of 62 people.

(Image Source)

Let's move away from the negatives now and just get into a few facts about the species itself. European Starlings are highly gregarious birds, flocking together in roosts that number up to over a million. When these groups travel, it forms a large black blob shape that is actually pretty interesting to look at. They will eat almost anything, from plants and berries, to vertebrates and invertebrates. The Starlings are also exceptionally vocal, and can mimic around twenty calls from other birds and animals.

Black-capped Chickadee

(Image Source)

The Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) is a cute little bird that I'm sure many of us see each and every day. Chickadees are common across the Northern United states and Canada, and are found in forests, open woodlands, and in suburban areas.

The Black-capped Chickadee is characterized by its small body, short neck, and large head. The head is black with white cheeks, the back and wings are a light grey, and the underside ranged from cream to white. They have short beaks and long, (for their size) narrow tails. They are very active, social birds. They live in flocks that often intermingle with other species, and have a wide variety of calls that they use when communicating.

Black-capped Chickadees are monogamous birds, typically for life. They build their nests in pre-existing cavities, and lay 8-12 eggs which hatch nearly two weeks later. The female is the sole incubator, and the male provides food.

Insects and Seeds make up a majority of the Black-capped Chickadee's diet. They will hide seeds for later consumptions, placing them in secret spots that they come back to later. Chickadee's can remember thousands of different hiding spots!

Northern Mockingbird

Northern Mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos) are native to the United States and Mexico where they live year round in a wide variety of habitats. They are medium sized, slender songbirds, with a brown and grey coloration.

Image Source

Mockingbirds are very aggressive. They don't take kindly to birds that invade their territory, and will guard it vigilantly. They feed off of a variety of things including insects, crustaceans, and fruits. Mockingbirds nest in shrubs and trees and lay 2-6 eggs at a time. They may raise multiple broods in a season.

Mockingbirds are extremely vocal, can mimic many other bird species, and continue to add new songs throughout their lifetime. An adult male may learn up to 200 songs throughout its life. One recording of a Northern Mockingbirds showed that it could imitate the calls of 36 other bird species. They sing both night and day, depending on if they have a mate or not. Females also sing, though they are less loud.

American Robin

The American Robin can be found all over North America, and is an extremely common bird. They are also teh state bird of three US States! They live in a wide variety of habitats from tundras to farm fields.  They are larger songbirds, with wingspans of up to 16in. Robins have very characteristic coloration, with both the males and females being brownish-black and sporting a reddish-orange breast. Females are slightly duller in color than the males.

Image Source

Robins also have very colorful eggs! After partnering up for each breeding season, females robins lay several clutches of 3-5 blue eggs. Both her and her mate will take care of the new chicks until they fledge and a new brood is born. Sadly, only 25% of all robins will make it to their first winter. Most Robin populations are migratory, and they are diurnal birds.

American Robins are omnivores. They consume a wide variety of fruits and insects. They are commonly seen eating worms (hence the phrase). Unfortunately, pesticides and other chemicals have been affecting the Robins, and their numbers have been declining over the past forty years. Robin eggs, young, and adults are preyed upon by many other animals, including squirrels, hawks, cats, and snakes.

Red Winged Blackbird

Male Red Winged Blackbird (Source)

I chose today's animal because I quite like it. I grew up seeing them everywhere, and I've always loved their striking wing colors. Red Winged Blackbirds live all over North America in marshes, fields and meadows. They are one of the most abundant bird species on the continent, with numbers of nearly 200 million.

One thing I have learned in writing this post is that only the males of the species have the distinguishable red and yellow band. Females aren't even black! They have a brown, mottle appearance, which aids to camouflage them and is a coloration found in several other species of bird. Juveniles also have a similar coloration to the adult females. Red Winged Blackbirds vary in color based upon their location. For example, in areas where they overlap with a similar looking species, the Tricolored Blackbird, males have lost their yellow band. They feed off of insects, seeds, and grains.

Female (Source)

Some populations are migratory, but others remain in their habitats year round. While making their migration, Red Winged Blackbirds can travel at speeds of about 30mph. During the breeding season males fiercely defend their territory, and will mate with multiple females within it. Each partnering produces 2-3 chicks per season. Both parents protect the nesting area. Outside of the breeding season they live in large flocks that sometimes intermingle with other species and number into the thousands.

Common Raven

Corvus corax is an extremely widespread species of bird, and can be found throughout the Northern Hemisphere.  They are one of several species of Raven within the Corvus genus, and, due to their extensive range, they are one of the most recognizable. Common Ravens live in just about any non-rainforest habitat, though they prefer open areas. They are also the second largest of all the "Perching Birds," members of the order Passeriformes.

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Ravens are extremely intelligent. They work in pairs to effectively hunt and capture prey, and have a complex system of calls. They have been studied by scientists for years and are now known to be excellent mimics, tool users, and problem solvers. Unfortunately, their place as "Einstein of the Bird Family," has caused problems. Common Ravens are able to get into a wide variety of containers... which is an issue for livestock pens, campsites, and the family cooler that is left out while picnicking. They are omnivores and highly opportunistic feeders.

Common Ravens are symbolic in many cultures. They are prominent in the mythologies of many Pacific Northwestern Native Tribes. Two Ravens, Huginn and Munnin, serve as news-bringers to the Norse god Odin. The additionally appears in Celtic and Greek tales, among many others. They serve a variety of roles, as tricksters, as guides, and in modern England, they are "responsible" for holding the monarchy together! Legend goes that Charles II wished to have the Ravens removed from the Tower of London, where they were becoming a nuisance. He was told that at least six Ravens should always remain, otherwise the entire monarchy would fall. Currently there are seven Ravens living at the Tower, overseen by their very own Raven Master. Though Ravens tend to live about a decade in the wild, Tower Ravens have lived over 40 years!

Pitohui

I feel like I've been writing a lot about poison and neurotoxins lately, but hey, interesting! Pitohuis (pronounced pit-oo-eey) are the six species found within the genus Pitohui. (clever) They are all brightly colored songbirds endemic to New Guinea. They are also among the most toxic birds in the world. One species, the Hooded Pitohui (Pitohui dichrous) takes the top prize as the most poisonous bird on earth! (It is also interestingly the first poisonous bird ever discovered)

Hooded Pitohui from Smithsonian

Pitohuis do not actually produce their own poison. They consume beetles of the Choresine genus, who themselves produce high amounts of batrachotoxins (BTX), a type of neurotoxin. This is the same substance that makes Poison Dart Frogs so dangerous, and the word batrachotoxin itself comes from the Greek for "Frog" and "Poison." Anyway, after beetle consumption the toxin then finds its way into the skin and feathers of the Pitohuis, and serves to detract predators. The toxin is pretty dangerous, it "depolarizes nerve and muscle membranes by binding and activating voltage-dependent sodium channels." (SOURCE)

The man who first discovered the toxicity of these birds actually did so because he got scratched and bit by a specimen, and then put his finger in his mouth.... and then his tongue and lips went numb. Just touching the feathers of a Hooded Pitohui can cause eye irritation and sneezing. A rather interesting study was done on Pitohuis and Chewing Lice (the source I linked to above) that shows lice prefer to live in feathers that do not contain the toxin. So not only does it protect from larger predators that may want to eat the bird, but it protects them for parasites as well.

But now enough about the poison and on to some other information. As previously mentioned, Pitohuis consume beetle, though they also consume other insects, and will also eat fruits and seeds. All six species are brightly colored, typically with various shades of orange, red, and black. They lay 1-2 eggs at a time, and grow up to about 24cm in length.

Thanks again to Jon for the suggestion!