Friday, January 27, 2012

Real Red Bird: Northern Cardinal

Real Angry Birds – There are several species of birds used in the game Angry Bird. At the initial level, the red bird is the only one available. Each stage of the game, bird species will increase, some bird species are more effective against certain ingredients or have special abilities that are activated after the bird is launched. For example, a blue bird can be split into three small birds, yellow birds that can increase the speed and destructive force, a black bird that could explode, and the white bird egg can drop bombs. Pigs also appear in different sizes. Small pigs are relatively weak and easily destroyed either by a direct hit or by debris from damaged buildings, bigger pigs are able to defend themselves from a lot of damage. Also, several pigs wearing steel helmets, making them more resistant to damage the structure, while the pig with a crown at most can withstand damage. And there are the Real Angry Birds, in real life, check it out!

The Northern Cardinal is a mid-sized songbird with a body length of 20–23 cm (7.9–9.1 in) and a wingspan of 25–31 cm (9.8–12 in). It weighs about 45 g (1.6 oz). The male is slightly larger than the female.[6] The male is a brilliant crimson red with a black face mask over the eyes, extending to the upper chest. The color is dullest on the back and wings.[7] The female is fawn, with mostly grayish-brown tones and a slight reddish tint on the wings, the crest, and the tail feathers.[8] The face mask of the female is gray to black and is less defined than that of the male. Both sexes possess prominent raised crests and bright coral-colored beaks. The beak is cone-shaped and strong.[7] Young birds, both male and female, show the coloring similar to the adult female until the fall, when they molt and grow adult feathers.[9] They are brown above and red-brown below, with brick-colored crest, forehead, wings, and tail.[4] The legs and feet are a dark pink-brown. The iris of the eye is brown.[4] The plumage color of the males is produced from carotenoid pigments in the diet.[10] Coloration is produced from both red pigments and yellow carotenoid pigments.[11] Northern Cardinal males possess the ability to metabolize carotenoid pigments to create plumage pigmentation of a color different from the ingested pigment. When fed only yellow pigments, males become a pale red color, rather than a yellow.[

Stork Billed Kingfisher

Eastern Asia is where you might come across the truly gorgeous Stork-billed Kingfisher, a wonderfully colourful tree-dweller that once more demonstrates the wonder of nature. A big bird for its type, at around 14in long, the strutting male shows off green, blue, grey, buff, and bright red body parts to female onlookers in yet another fabulous display. These birds live in a variety of well-wooded habitats near lakes, rivers and coasts, and are territorial enough to chase away eagles and other intruders.

This is a very large kingfisher, 35 cm in length. The adult has a green back, blue wings and tail, and grey head. Its underparts and neck are buff. The very large bill and legs are bright red. The flight of the Stork-billed Kingfisher is laboured and flapping, but direct. Sexes are similar. There are 15 races, mostly differing in plumage detail, but P. c. gigantea of the Sulu Islands has a white head, neck and underparts. The call of this noisy kingfisher is a low and far reaching peer-por-por repeated every 5 seconds or so as well cackling ke-ke-ke-ke-ke-ke.
Stork-billed Kingfisher is a species of a variety of well-wooded habitats near lakes, rivers or coasts. It perches quietly whilst seeking food, and is often inconspicuous despite its size. It is territorial and will chase away eagle and other large predators. This species hunts fish, frogs, crabs, rodents and young birds.
Stork-billed Kingfisher digs its nest in a river bank, decaying tree, or a tree termite nest. A clutch of two to five round white eggs is typical.

The red-and-green macaw

This really colorful macaw is a close relative of the scarlet macaw. They are both very beautiful birds, and the most significant difference in their appearance is the different colors of the upper wing covert feathers (green at the red-and-green macaw and yellow at the scarlet macaw) and the little red lines around the eyes, on a white area. They are very popular pets, but their natural habitat is represented by the Amazonian jungle, where their number sadly started to decline.

BIOMETRICS:
Length: 90-95 cm
Wingspan: 125 cm
Weight: 1050-1700 g

LONGEVITY: Up to 60-80 years

DESCRIPTION:
Very similar to the Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao), the Red-and-Green Macaw has darker red plumage and green upperwing, instead of yellow. In addition, the white face shows red feathered lines. It is the second largest parrot after the Hyacinth Macaw.
Adult male has red head and mantle. Median wing-coverts, scapulars and tertials are green. Back, rump and uppertail coverts are blue. The long tail is red with blue tips.
The underparts are dark red, except the blue undertail coverts.
The head is red with white bare face, showing red-feathered lines. The strong, hooked bill has horn-coloured upper mandible, with blackish sides of base. The lower mandible is blackish. The eyes are pale yellow. Legs and feet are grey.
Both sexes are similar.

VOICE:
Red-and-Green Macaw utters raucous “raw-aawk” repeated, and also screeching “ree-eeah”. It gives sometimes corvid-like calls ‘kraaah”.
When alarmed, it flies off while giving loud screeches.

HABITAT:
Red-and-Green Macaw lives in the forested areas of northern South America, such as rainforest in tropical northern areas, and deciduous and gallery forests along watercourses in southern parts.
This species needs large trees and cliff faces for nesting. It can be found up to 500 metres of elevation, sometimes up to 1500 metres in Panama.

RANGE:
Red-and-Green Macaw is found in the Orinoco and Amazon Basins, occupying almost the half north of South America, except the coastal regions. It lives in Central and South America, including Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, Guyana, Brazil and Trinidad.

BEHAVIOUR:
Red-and-Green Macaw is often seen alone, or in pairs, and also in small family groups. However, great numbers gather at clay-licks with other species. In some parts of the range, such as in south-eastern Peru, there are exposed banks of clay in the forest. Several species of parrots scrape off fine particles of clay with the bill, and swallow them. The clay helps these birds to detoxify themselves against the toxic substances included in seeds and unripe fruits which are their main food.

The Bali Bird of Paradise

There are many kinds of bird-of-paradise, all of which have truly beautiful displays, and most are found on the island of New Guinea. Forty types are known to biologists, all highly memorable because the plumage of the male birds is so wonderfully colourful. Particular kinds have highly elongated and elaborate feathers extending from the beak, wings and head, and give mating displays that can take your breath away. You are only ever likely to see them on film, though, because they mostly live in inaccessible, dense rainforest habitats.
The Greater Bird-of-paradise is the largest member in the genus Paradisaea, with males measuring up to 43 cm (17 in) (excluding the long twin tail wires). The female is smaller, at only 35 cm (14 in). The plumage of this species is also sexually dimorphic. The male has an iridescent green face and a yellow glossed with silver iridescence crown, head and nape. The rest of the body plumage is maroon-brown. The flank plumes, used in displays, are yellow at the base, turning white and streaked with maroon. The female has unbarred maroon brown plumage. In both sexes the iris is yellow and the bills blue

Griffon Vulture

Order: Falconiformes.

Family: Accipitridae. (Old World vulture).

Scientific Name: Gyps fulvus.

Common Names: Eurasian Griffon or Griffon Vulture.

Conservation Status: Threatened. Reduction in numbers due primarily to a lack of food. Still reasonably abundant in Spain; virtually extinct in Sicily. Balkan numbers have also diminished greatly.
The Griffon Vulture is 93–110 cm (37–43 in) long with a 2.3–2.8 m (7.5–9.2 ft) wingspan. In the nominate race the males weigh 6.2 to 10.5 kg (14 to 23 lb) and females typically weigh 6.5 to 11.3 kg (14 to 25 lb), while in the Indian subspecies (G. f. fulvescens) the vultures average 7.1 kg (16 lb). Extreme adult weights have been reported from 4.5 to 15 kg (9.9 to 33 lb), the latter likely a weight attained in captivity.[2] Hatched naked, it is a typical Old World vulture in appearance, with a very white head, very broad wings and short tail feathers. It has a white neck ruff and yellow bill. The buff body and wing coverts contrast with the dark flight feathers.

Like other vultures, it is a scavenger, feeding mostly from carcasses of dead animals which it finds by soaring over open areas, often moving in flocks. It grunts and hisses at roosts or when feeding on carrion.

The maximum lifespan recorded for the Griffon Vulture is 41.4 years, for a specimen in captivity.[3]

It breeds on crags in mountains in southern Europe, north Africa, and Asia, laying one egg. Griffon Vultures may form loose colonies. The population is mostly resident.
Fa

The Rainbow Lorikeet

The Rainbow Lorikeet is very colourful – almost every colour of the rainbow can be found on their feathers. Lorikeets are parrots from Australasia, which can be found found on many Pacific islands, and are common along the eastern seaboard of Australia and Tasmania. Usually found in rainforest, coastal bush and woodland areas, they are one of the most visually attractive birds in the world.

Lesser-Bird of Paradise

The Lesser Bird-of-paradise is medium-sized, up to 32 cm-long, maroon-brown with a yellow crown and brownish-yellow upper back. The male has a dark emerald-green throat, a pair of long tail-wires and is adorned with ornamental flank plumes which are deep yellow at their base and fade outwards into white. The female is a maroon bird with a dark-brown head and whitish underparts. Further study is required, but it seems likely that birds of paradise also possess toxins in their skins, derived from their insect prey..
It resembles the larger Greater Bird-of-paradise, but the male of that species has a dark chest, whereas the female is entirely brown (no whitish underparts).
The birds of paradise are members of the family Paradisaeidae of the order Passeriformes. They are found in Australasia regions of eastern Indonesia, New Guinea and northeastern Australia. The members of this family are perhaps best known for the striking plumage possessed by the male of most species, which are used in courtship displays in order to attract females. Many species also have highly elongated and elaborate feathers extending from the tail, wings or head. Despite this extravagant plumage, they are anatomically among the most primitive songbirds.
Most species of bird of paradise have elaborate mating rituals, with the Paradisaea species having a Lek-type mating system. Others, such as the Cicinnurus and Parotia species, have highly ritualized mating dances, with Parotia species presenting ballet tutu-like display plumage in a dance that is among the most astounding behaviors of all birds due to its completely accidental, but nonetheless uncanny resemblance to hula and limbo dances.

American Kestrel

The American Kestrel is a small falcon. This bird was colloquially known in North America as the “Sparrow Hawk”. This name is misleading because it implies a connection with the Eurasian Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus, which is unrelated; the latter is an accipiter rather than a falcon. Though both are diurnal raptors, they are only distantly related.

Cocatoo

A cockatoo is any of the 21 species belonging to the bird family Cacatuidae. Along with the Psittacidae and the Strigopidae , they make up the parrot order Psittaciformes. Placement of the cockatoos as a separate family is fairly undisputed, although many aspects of the other living lineages of parrots are unresolved

African Crowned Crane bird

The Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum) is a bird in the crane family Gruidae. It occurs in dry savannah in Africa south of the Sahara, although it nests in somewhat wetter habitats.

Cardinal

The northern cardinal is so well loved that it has been named the official bird of no fewer than seven U.S. states. Bright red cardinals are easily identified by even casual bird watchers, and are often seen frequenting backyards and bird feeders. When foraging elsewhere the birds eat insects, seeds, grain, fruit, and sap.
Cardinals are active songbirds and sing a variety of different melodies.
Males can be aggressive when defending their territory, and they frequently attack other males who intrude. This tendency sometimes leads cardinals to fly into glass windows, when they charge an "intruding bird" that is really their own reflection.
Cardinals are fairly social and join in flocks that may even include birds of other species. During mating season, however, groups dissolve into pairs. Male birds feed their monogamous partners as they incubate clutches of eggs—typically three per season.

Goldeneye

The common goldeneye is a medium-sized sea duck found in in the lakes and rivers of boreal forests across Canada and the northern United States, Scandinavia and northern Russia. This one was photographed in Finland.

Beautiful Birds