12 Exotic Birds - Part Two ! 7. The Lears Macaw: Anodorhynchus leari, or the Lear’s Macaw, also known as the Indigo Macaw, is a large, blue Brazilian parrot that is a member of a large group of Neotropical parrots known as macaws. Charles Lucien Bonaparte first described it in 1856. The Lears Macaw weighs around 950 g. (2.1 lb.). It is metallic blue with a faint, often barely visible tinge of green, and a yellow patch of skin at the base of the heavy, black bill. This macaw is rare with a highly restricted range. 8. The Kingfisher: Stork-billed Kingfishers mainly feed on fish, using their large heavy bills effectively to catch and kill their prey. From their perch, usually about 2-4 meters above the water, they plunge into it catch their prey. They also eat crabs, insects, frogs, mice, lizards, and birds, along with their eggs. Prey is brought back and whacked senseless against the perch. They usually hunt near freshwater and along coasts and mangroves, particularly in habitats with suitable perches. Unlike the Collared, Stork-billed Kingfishers are rarely found near urban areas. 9. Peacocks: Peacocks are large, colorful birds most commonly known for their iridescent tails. These tail feathers spread out in a distinctive train that is more than 60 percent of the birds total body length and flaunt colorful eye markings of blue, gold, red, and other hues. The large train is used as part of their mating rituals and courtship displays. It can be arched into a magnificent fan that reaches across the birds back and touches the ground on either side. Females are believed to choose their mates according to the size, color, and quality of these gorgeous feather trains. 10. The Northern Cardinal: The male Northern Cardinal may be the reason for more people opening up a field guide than any other bird. Theyre a perfect combination of familiarity, prominence, and grace: a shade of red you cant take your eyes off. Even the brown females sport a sharp crest and warm red accents. Cardinals dont migrate and they dont flake into a dull plumage, so theyre still breathtaking in winters snowy backyards. 11. The California Condor: The California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) is predominantly a vulture, and is the largest North American land bird. It is known to inhabit northern Arizona and southern Utah (including the Grand Canyon area and Zion National Park), the coastal mountains of central and southern California, and northern Baja California. Although other fossil members are known, it is the only surviving member of the genus Gymnogyps. 12. The African Crowned Crane: The Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum) is a bird in the crane family Gruidae. It inhabits the dry African savannah south of the Sahara, although it prefers to nest in comparatively wetter environments. They can also be found in marshes, cultivated areas and grassy flatlands near rivers and lakes from Kenya to South Africa. There are two subspecies. The East African B. r. gibbericeps (Crested Crane) can be found from the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo through Uganda, where it is the national bird, and from Kenya to eastern South Africa. It has a larger area of bare red facial skin above the white patch than the smaller nominate species, B. r. regulorum (South African Crowned Crane), which breeds from Angola down to South Africa.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 23:05:59 +0000
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