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![Monk Parakeets
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus), also known as the Quaker parrot, is a small, bright-green parrot with a greyish breast and greenish-yellow abdomen. In most taxonomies, it is classified as the only member of the genus Myiopsitta. It originates from the temperate to subtropical areas of Argentina and the surrounding countries in South America. Self-sustaining feral populations occur in many places, mainly in North America and Europe.
Description[edit]
Female pet monk parakeet
The nominate subspecies of this parakeet is 29 cm (11 in) long on average, with a 48 cm (19 in) wingspan, and weighs 100 g (3.5 oz). Females tend to be 10–20% smaller, but can only be reliably sexed by DNA or feather testing. It has bright-green upperparts. The forehead and breast are pale gray with darker scalloping and the rest of the underparts are very light-green to yellow. The remiges are dark blue, and the tail is long and tapering. The bill is orange. The call is a loud and throaty chape(-yee) or quak quaki quak-wi quarr, and screeches skveet.[2][3]
Domestic breeds in colors other than the natural plumage have been produced. These include birds with white, blue, and yellow in place of green. As such coloration provides less camouflage, feral birds are usually of wild-type coloration.
Systematics and taxonomy[edit]
Myiopsitta monachus is usually the only widely accepted member of the genus Myiopsitta. However, the cliff parakeet is sometimes considered a distinct species.[2] The cliff parakeet's altitudinal range apparently does not overlap, and that it is thus entirely, but just barely, allopatric.[3] The American Ornithological Society has deferred recognizing the cliff parakeet as distinct "because of insufficient published data".[4]
Three subspecies are recognized:[2][3]
M. m. monachus (Boddaert, 1783) – Argentina from southeastern Santiago del Estero Province throughout the Río Salado and lower Paraná basins to Buenos Aires Province and Uruguay
The largest subspecies
M. m. calita (Boddaert, 1783) – Andean foothills up to 1,000 m ASL, from southeastern Bolivia (Santa Cruz and Tarija departments) to Paraguay and northwestern Argentina, then west of the range of monachus, extending into the lowlands again in Río Negro and possibly Chubut provinces.
Smaller than monachus, wings more prominently blue, gray of head darker.
M. m. cotorra (Finsch, 1868) – southwestern Brazil (Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, possibly Rio Grande do Sul)[5] throughout the Río Paraguay and middle Paraná basins as well as the Gran Chaco.
Essentially identical to calita but reported as less yellow below and brighter overall.
The subspecies' ranges meet in the general area of Paraguay, and there they are insufficiently delimited. The distinctness and delimitation of M. m. calita and M. m. cotorra especially require further study.
Like the other neotropical parrots, the monk parakeet is usually placed in the tribe Arini, which might warrant elevation to subfamily rank as the Arinae. M. monachus belongs to the long-tailed clade of these – macaws and conures, essentially, which would retain the name Arini/Arinae if this polyphyletic group were split.
Ecology and behaviour[edit]
Nests in Zaragoza, Spain
Birds and their nest in Santiago, Chile
The monk parakeet is globally very common,[6] and even the rather localized cliff parakeet is generally common.[2] In Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, monk parakeets are regarded as major agricultural pests (as noted by Charles Darwin, among others). Their population explosion in South American rural areas seems to be associated with the expansion of eucalyptus forestry for paper pulp production, which offers the bird the opportunity to build protected nests in artificial forests where ecological competition from other species is limited. The cliff parakeet occasionally plunders maize fields, but it is apparently not considered a major pest as no serious persecution is done.[2]
The monk parakeet is the only parrot that builds a stick nest, in a tree or on a man-made structure, rather than using a hole in a tree. This gregarious species often breeds colonially, building a single large nest with separate entrances for each pair. In the wild, the colonies can become quite large, with pairs occupying separate "apartments" in nests that can reach the size of a small automobile. These nests can attract many other tenants including birds of prey such as the spot-winged falconet (Spiziapteryx circumcincta), ducks such as the yellow-billed teal (Anas flavirostris), and even mammals. Their five to 12 white eggs hatch in about 24 days.
The cliff parakeet, as its name implies, nests in cliff crevices. This subspecies rarely builds communal nests, but individual pairs still prefer to nest in close association.[2]
Unusually for a parrot, monk parakeet pairs occasionally have helper individuals, often grown offspring, which assist with feeding the young (see kin selection).
The lifespan of monk parakeets has been given as 15–20 years[7] or as much as 25–30 years;[8] the former might refer to typical lifespans in captivity and/or in the wild, while the latter is in the range of maximum lifespans recorded for parakeets.
As pets[edit]
Baby monk parakeet perched in a Christmas tree
Pet with rope and parrot toys
Monk parakeets are highly intelligent, social birds. Those kept as pets routinely develop vocabularies of scores of words and phrases.[9] Due to this early speaking ability, it is overtaking the cockatiel as the favorite bird to teach to talk. Another contributing factor to growing popularity is that this bird has a shorter lifespan and lower price than African grey parrots.
Because of monk parakeets' listing as an agricultural pest, California, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Hawaii, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wyoming, and Western Australia[10] outlaw sale and ownership. In Connecticut, one can own a monk parakeet, but cannot sell or breed them. In New York and Virginia, it is possible to own a monk parakeet with banding and registration. In Ohio, owning one is legal if the bird's wings are clipped or it is incapable of free flight.[11][12]
As an introduced species[edit]
Monk parakeets in Parc de la Ciutadella of Barcelona, Spain
Self-sustaining feral populations have been recorded in several U.S. states and various regions of Europe (namely Spain, Portugal, Azores, Madeira, Balearic Islands, Gibraltar, France, Corsica, Malta, Cyprus, Sardinia, Italy, Channel Islands, Great Britain, Ireland, and Belgium), as well as in British Columbia, Canada,[13] Brazil, Mexico, Israel, Bermuda, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Easter Island, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and Japan. As it is an open-woodlands species, it adapts readily to urban areas.
Monk parakeet in San Juan, Puerto Rico
In areas where they have been introduced, some fear they will harm crops and native species. Evidence of harm caused by feral colonies is disputed, and many people oppose killing this charismatic bird. However, local bans and eradication programs exist in some areas of the U.S. Outside the U.S., introduced populations do not appear to raise similar controversy, presumably because of smaller numbers of birds, or because their settlement in urban areas does not pose a threat to agricultural production. The U.K. appears to have changed its view on its feral populations and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is planning to remove monk parakeets from the wild, as it believes that they threaten local wildlife and crops.[14]
Feral populations are often descended from very small founder populations. Being as social and intelligent as they are, monk parakeets develop some cultural traditions, namely vocal dialects that differ between groups. In populations descended from a large number of birds, a range of "dialects" will exist. If the founder population is small, however, a process similar to genetic drift may occur if prominent founders vocalize in an unusual "dialect", with this particular way of vocalizing becoming established in the resulting feral colony. For example, no fewer than three different "dialects" occur among the feral monk parrots of the Milford, Connecticut, metropolitan area.[15]
Brazil[edit]
The species has in recent years expanded its range in Brazil, where a self-sustaining population occurs in the downtown area of Rio de Janeiro. Since this population occurs far from the bird's original range in Brazil – it was only found in the far south and southwest – it is most probably a consequence of escapees from the pet trade. In Rio de Janeiro, the bird can be easily seen at the Aterro do Flamengo gardens – where it nests on palm trees and feeds on their fruit; the Rio birds seem to favor nesting amid the leaves of coconut palm trees, as well as in the vicinity of the neighboring domestic flight terminal, the Santos Dumont Airport and in the gardens of Quinta da Boa Vista, where communal nests roughly 1 m in diameter have been seen.[16] In Santa Catarina State, probable escapees have been reported on occasion for quite some time, and a feral population seems to have established itself in Florianópolis early in the first decade of the 21st century when birds were observed feeding right next to the highway in the Rio Vermelho-Vargem Grande area.[5]
Mexico[edit]
The monk parakeet was first recorded in Mexico City in 1999.[17] Records exist from seven other locations, including the cities of Puebla, Morelia, Celaya, Oaxaca, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Hermosillo, and Mexicali, and the mouth of the Loreto River in Baja California Sur.
Nesting populations are known in Mexico City and Oaxaca. A small but growing population has also been established in the southern part of the city of Puebla, Puebla, in the surroundings of the city's aviary, which they are known to visit frequently, and where they can often be seen clinging to the outer side of its mesh walls. No studies have been made to assess the impact they might have on the relict populations of green parakeet that live in the same area and other well-wooded zones of the city.
Following the ban on the trade of native parrot species, local traditional bird sellers have now switched to the monk parakeet as their staple parrot, and that might have increased the number of escapees. Sometimes, the head and breast feathers of monk parakeets are dyed yellow to deceive uninformed buyers, mimicking the endangered yellow-headed amazon. The presence of this species in seven geographically distant and independent locations in Mexico indicates that the source of these individuals is most likely the pet trade.[17]
United States[edit]
Monk parakeets in Florida
Thousands of monk parakeets were imported to the United States between 1960s and 1980s as pets.[18] Many escaped or were intentionally released, and populations were allowed to proliferate. By the early 1970s, M. monachus was established in seven states, and by 1995, it had spread to eight more. In Florida alone, estimates range from 150,000 to 500,000.[19]
As one of the few temperate-zone parrots, the monk parakeet is more able than most to survive cold climates (partly because they build communal nests about heat-producing electrical equipment atop utility poles), and colonies exist as far north as New York City, Chicago, Dallas, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Louisville, Edgewater, New Jersey, coastal Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and southwestern Washington. This hardiness makes this species second only to the rose-ringed parakeet among parrots as a successful introduced species.
In 2012, a pair of monk parakeets attempted nesting in Watervliet, New York (about 150 miles north of New York City, near Albany, New York).[20] Prior to egg-laying, one bird was captured and the nest eventually was removed due to concerns that the nest built adjacent to an electrical transformer created a fire hazard.[21]
They have also found a home in Brooklyn, New York, after an accidental release decades ago of what appears to have been black-market birds[22] within Green-Wood Cemetery. The grounds crew initially tried to destroy the unsightly nests at the entrance gate, but no longer do so because the presence of the parrots has reduced the number of pigeons nesting within it. The management's decision was based on a comparative chemical analysis of pigeon feces (which destroy brownstone structures) and monk parakeet feces (which have no ill effect). The monk parakeets are in effect preserving this historic structure. Brooklyn College has a monk parakeet as an "unofficial" mascot in reference to the colony of the species that lives in its campus grounds. It is featured on the masthead of the student magazine. They have also made their homes in the lamp posts in Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. Most of these monk parakeet populations can be traced to shipments of captured birds from Argentina.[11]
In Chicago, the origin of the monk parakeets is unknown, but they may be escaped birds from O'Hare airport or unwanted pets.[23] The species first appeared in the 1960s and is continuing to thrive despite unusual bad winters that occurred in the 1980s and in 2014.[23] The birds are welcomed in the city especially by bird watchers and were involved in a 2012 ornithological study.[23] The population is estimated to be at 1,000 birds, with healthy colonies located in several of the city's parks.[23] Austin, Texas, also has a thriving monk parakeet population.[24]
Europe[edit]
Monk parakeets in Santa Ponsa, Majorca, Spain
Monk parakeets can be seen in Madrid, Barcelona, Cadiz, Seville, Torremolinos, Málaga, Nerja, Valencia, Tarragona, Roquetas de Mar (Andalusia), Zaragoza, the Canary Islands, and Majorca in Balearic Islands. They were first seen around 1985. In Madrid, they especially frequent the Ciudad Universitaria (Complutense university campus) and Casa de Campo park. They are a common sight in Barcelona parks, often as numerous as pigeons. They form substantial colonies in Parc de la Ciutadella, Parc de la Barceloneta, and in smaller city parks such as Jardins Josep Trueta in Poble Nou, with a colony as far north as Empuriabrava. They are more frequent in watered urban parks with grass areas and palm trees, near to a river or the sea. The monk parakeet, as an invasive species, has become a problem to local fauna such as pigeons and sparrows, but not yet so harmful to magpies. Parakeets have also caused trouble to agriculture near the cities. Barcelona has the greatest population of monk parakeets in Europe with 2500 parakeets as of February 2010.[25][26] As of 2013, the estimated population of monk parakeets in Madrid was 1768.[27]
The United Kingdom population in 2011 is believed to be around 150, in the Home Counties region. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced plans in 2011 to control them, countering the threat to infrastructure, crops, and native British wildlife by trapping and rehoming, removing nests, and shooting when necessary.[28]
Small groups of monk parakeets can be found in the Belgian capital city Brussels and its surrounding areas. They have been living in the wild at least since the 1970s.](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/01/18/77056640_medium.jpg)
![From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The scaly-breasted munia or spotted munia (Lonchura punctulata), known in the pet trade as nutmeg mannikin or spice finch, is a sparrow-sized estrildid finch native to tropical Asia. A species of the genus Lonchura, it was formally described and named by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Its name is based on the distinct scale-like feather markings on the breast and belly. The adult is brown above and has a dark conical bill. The species has 11 subspecies across their range and differ slightly in size and colour.
This munia eats mainly grass seeds apart from berries and small insects. They forage in flocks and communicate with soft calls and whistles. The species is highly social and may sometimes roost with other species of munias. This species is found in tropical plains and grasslands. Breeding pairs construct dome-shaped nests using grass or bamboo leaves.
The species is endemic to Asia and occurs from India and Sri Lanka east to Indonesia and the Philippines (where it is called mayang pakíng). It has been introduced into many other parts of the world and feral populations have established in Puerto Rico and Hispaniola as well as parts of Australia and the United States of America. The bird is listed as of Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Taxonomy[edit]
The scaly-breasted munia was one of the many bird species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in the 1758 10th edition of his Systema Naturae, where it was given the binomial name of Loxia punctulata. Sykes assigned it to the genus Lonchura in the combination Lonchura punctulata in 1823.[2]
Subspecies[edit]
Over its range the scaly-breasted munia has been assigned to 11 generally accepted subspecies. These include the nominate form found in the plains of the Indian Subcontinent, including Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The name lineoventer was formerly used for the Indian population. Other populations include subundulata from the eastern Himalayas, yunnanensis of southern China, topela of Thailand, cabanisi of the Philippines and fretensis of Singapore and Sumatra. Island populations include nisoria (Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa), particeps (Sulawesi), baweana (Bawean Island), sumbae (Sumba), blasii (Flores, Timor and Tanimbar)[3] and holmesi (Southeast Borneo).[4]
L. p. punctulata (Linnaeus, 1758) – Its range includes northern Pakistan, India (except northeast), Nepal terai and Sri Lanka.
L. p. subundulata (Godwin-Austen, 1874) – Its range includes Bhutan, Bangladesh, northeast India (Assam) and west Myanmar.
L. p. yunnanensis (Parkes, 1958) – Its range includes southern China (southeast Xizang, south Sichuan, Yunnan) and north – northeast Myanmar.
L. p. topela (Swinhoe, 1863) – Its range includes southern Myanmar, Thailand, southeast China (Taiwan), Hainan Islands, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
L. p. cabanisi (Sharpe, 1890) – Its range includes Philippines (Luzon, Mindoro, Calauit, Palawan, Panay, Negros, Cebu, Mindanao) and northern Borneo (coastal west Sabah and Brunei).
L. p. fretensis (Kloss, 1931) – Its range includes south Malay Peninsula, Singapore, Sumatra and Nias Islands.
L. p. nisoria (Temminck, 1830) – Its range includes southern Borneo (western & southern Kalimantan), Java, Bali, and western Lesser Sundas (Lombok, Sumbawa).
L. p. particeps (Riley, 1920) – Its range includes Sulawesi.
L. p. baweana (Hoogerwerf, 1963) – Its range includes Bawean Islands, off northeast Java.
L. p. sumbae (Mayr, 1944 ) – Its range includes Sumba, in western Lesser Sundas.
L. p. blasii (Stresemann, 1912) – Its range includes central & eastern Lesser Sundas (Flores East to Timor and Tanimbar Islands).
L. p. holmesi (Restall, 1992) – Its range includes southeastern Borneo
Description[edit]
Immature birds have a brownish underside (Kolkata, India)
The scaly-breasted munia is about 11–12 centimetres (4.3–4.7 in) long and weighs 12–16 grams (0.026–0.035 lb). The adult has a stubby dark bill typical of grain eating birds, brown upperparts and a dark brown head. The underparts are white with dark scale markings. The sexes are similar, although males have darker markings on the underside and a darker throat than females.[5]
Immature birds have pale brown upperparts, lack the dark head found in adults, and have uniform buff underparts that can be confused with juveniles of other munia species such as the tricoloured munia (Lonchura malacca) across the Asian and island populations and the black-throated munia (Lonchura kelaarti) in parts of India or Sri Lanka.[5][6] Populations within their wide distribution range show variations in plumage color and size.
Along with other Estrildines, these species are thought to have originated in Asia.[7] The species has been introduced to other parts of the world due to its popularity as a cage bird and populations have established in the wild.[8][9]
Behavior and ecology[edit]
Sociality[edit]
Scaly-breasted munias form flocks of as many as 100 birds. Individuals communicate with calls that include a short whistle, variations of kitty-kitty-kitty, and a sharp chipping alarm note.[6][9] They sometimes flick their tails and wings vertically or horizontally while hopping about. The tail flicking motion may have evolved from a locomotory intention movement. The exaggerated version of the tail flicking movement may have undergone ritualization. As a social signal, tail flicking in several other species acts as a signal indicating the intent to fly and helps keep flocks together.[9][10]
When roosting communally, scaly-breasted munia sit side-by-side in close contact with each other. The outermost bird often jostles towards the center. Birds in a flock sometimes preen each other, with the soliciting bird usually showing its chin. Allopreening is usually limited to the face and neck.[9] The scaly-breasted munia is rarely hostile but birds will sometimes quarrel without any ritualized posturing.[9]
The scaly-breasted munia produces vocalizations to communicate with its flock.
Breeding[edit]
The breeding season is during the summer rainy season (mainly June to August in India) but can vary. Laboratory studies have found that long day illumination and high humidity trigger gonadal growth.[11] The song of the male is very soft but complex and variable, audible only at close range. This song described as a jingle consists of a series of high notes followed by a croaky rattle and ending in a slurred whistle. When singing the male sits in what is called the slope posture—erect with the head feathers raised.[9]
There are two types of slope posture, a pre-copulatory one and an ordinary one. The pre-copulatory behavior of scaly-breasted munia includes a sequence of actions. The first involves either the male or female playing with nest-material. As soon as a bird has arranged the nest material in its bill, it begins to fly around in a zig-zag path. Once a bird lands close to its partner, the male bends towards the female and wipes its bill. The male then sings with movements of the body. The female invites mounting with tail quivering.[6][9]
Egg of Lonchura punctulata MHNT
The nest is a large domed structure loosely woven from blades of grass, bamboo or other leaves with a side entrance and is placed in a tree or under the eaves of a house. A study in southern India found the preferred nesting trees to be Toddalia asiatica, Gymnosporia montana and Acacia chundra, especially short and bushy ones in areas with low canopy cover. The nest opening is located to face downwind of the most frequent wind direction.[12] In northern India, they preferred isolated Acacia nilotica in non-urban areas but used Thuja orientalis and Polyalthia longifolia in urban gardens.[13]
Scaly-breasted munia clutches usually contain 4 to 6 eggs, but can contain up to 10. Both sexes build the nest and incubate the eggs, which hatch in 10 to 16 days.[14][15]
Food and foraging[edit]
Adult feeding young
Adult feeding
The scaly-breasted munia feeds mainly on seeds but also eats small berries such as those of Lantana.[16] Although the bill is suited for crushing small grains, they do not show lateral movements of the lower mandible which help European greenfinches in dehusking seeds.[17] Like some other munias, they may also feed on algae, a rich protein source, prior to the breeding season.[18][19]
The ease of maintaining these birds in captivity has made them popular for studying behavior and physiology. Feeding behavior can be predicted by the optimal foraging theory, where animals minimize time and energy spent to maximize food intake. This theory has been tested by studying the strategies used by scaly-breasted munias to increase their feeding efficacy.[20]
Flock size tradeoffs[edit]
Studies on foraging have examined the effect of group size in reducing time spent on predator vigilance, thereby increasing feeding efficiency. According to the "many-eyes" hypothesis,[21] a reduction in the individual time spent on vigilance against threats in larger groups allows for more time to be spent on searching for food and feeding. Vigilance is greatest among solitary individuals and reduces as the group size increases to about four. The birds collect seeds more quickly in larger groups, reflecting a decrease in individual vigilance, a decrease in handling time, and an increase in both search speed and focus when foraging.[22]
A foraging group
Individuals may also take advantage of group foraging by "joining" members that have found food. The options to seek food or to join others that have discovered food involves information sharing and has been studied through what are termed "producer-scrounger models".[23] A cost associated with group foraging is increased resource competition, which in turn may reduce anti-predatory vigilance due to the intensity of foraging.[24] Some studies show that increased competition results in a decreased feeding rate.[25]
Foraging models[edit]
ssp. topela
When foraging, scaly-breasted munia can search as individuals or search for others that have found food and join them. The economic consequences of the decision to join others has been modeled in two ways: the producer-scrounger model and the information sharing model. These models are based on hypotheses that differ in the degree of compatibility that is assumed between the two food and joining opportunity search modes.[26]
The information sharing model assumes that individuals search concurrently for finding and joining opportunities while the producer-scrounger model assumes that the search modes are mutually exclusive.[26] Hopping with the head facing up and downward are observed to be statistically associated with the frequencies of a bird's joining and finding, respectively. When the expected stable frequency of the scrounger tactic was altered by changing the availability of seeds, the relative frequency of hopping with the head up changed accordingly. When the seed distribution made the scrounger tactic unprofitable, the frequency of hopping with the head up diminished and appears to support the predictions of the producer-scrounger model.[27]
Studies show that scaly-breasted munias tend to adopt the scrounger tactic when food is more clumped and when the group size increases. When most foragers adopt scrounging, the time taken to discover new food patches is greater.[28]
Vigilance[edit]
Most social foragers must search for food while also avoiding predators. It has been suggested that individuals that play scrounger could also, by virtue of their head position, be alert for predators and hence contribute to antipredatory vigilance. If the scrounger tactic is compatible with antipredatory vigilance, then an increase in antipredatory vigilance should lead to the detection of more joining opportunities, and hence more joining. When stationary, the head-up tactic has been shown to be associated with antipredatory vigilance. However scanning while hopping does not aid in vigilance and it is thought that the scrounger tactic is incompatible with antipredatory vigilance in the scaly-breasted munia.[29]
Specialized foraging[edit]
Scaly-breasted munias have variable competitive behaviors that allow them to exploit scarce resources. There are two foraging alternatives: producers that make the food available and scroungers that steal food found by the producers. Studies show that these choices lead to a stable equilibrium within a group. When individuals are free to choose between producer and scrounger, frequency dependent selection results in a stable mixture of both behaviors where each receives similar payoff. Studies indicate that if most of the population consists of producers, then scrounging behavior is favored by natural selection because there is plenty of food to steal. On the other hand, if most birds exhibit scrounging then the competition for stealing is so great that producing is favored.[30][31]
A pair feeding on grains
Three hypotheses might account for consistent foraging specializations across individuals: food source variation, phenotypic differences, and frequency dependent-choice. The food source variation hypothesis predicts that individuals will specialize when the use of two skills is more costly than specialist foraging. The phenotypic differences hypothesis proposes that individuals differ in their ability to use each foraging skill and stably specialize on the most profitable one. The pattern of specialization is expected to be stable although the number of individuals that use a given skill depends on the phenotypic composition of the flock. The frequency dependent choice hypothesis also proposes that individuals specialize on the most profitable skill, but the profitability of each alternative decreases as the number of phenotypically identical foragers gradually specialize on each skill when initially given two equally profitable alternatives. At equilibrium, individual payoffs should be independent of the pattern of specialization. Individuals in flocks adjusted their use of the two skills and two birds in each flock specialized on a different skill resulting in a variant of both the food source variation hypothesis and frequency dependent choice hypothesis.[32]
Aviary experiments conducted with captive flocks of scaly-breasted munia have tested whether producers and scroungers reach the predicted stable equilibrium frequency (see Evolutionarily stable strategy) when individuals are free to choose either behavior. The numbers choosing either producers and scrounger strategies have been shown to converge on stable frequencies while demonstrating that variation in tactics arise through frequency dependent pay-offs from the choice of different feeding strategies.[33]
Furthermore, foraging birds may feed actively on the substrate or pick grains dropped on the ground and these strategies may be chosen according to the situation. Early departures occur more often when expected searching time decreases and when competition intensity increases. Competition intensity is expected to increase when more scroungers are present or when patches are smaller.[34]
Prey crypsis[edit]
Since producers search for food and scroungers wait for opportunities to join, prey crypsis imposes a producer specific cost that shifts the producer scrounger equilibria towards more scrounging. Prey crypsis resulted in increased latency to eat the seed and increased number of detection errors.[35] Moreover, the presence of a competitor negatively affected foraging efficiency under cyptic backgrounds. The foraging efficiency of individuals that had previously foraged with a competitor on cryptic seeds remained low even after the competitor had been removed. Thus, the costs of foraging on cryptic prey may be greater for social foragers than for solitary foragers.[36]
Resource defence[edit]
Recent models of economic defence in a group-foraging context predict that the frequency of aggressive interactions should decline as resource density increases.[37][38][39] Studies with scaly-breasted munia show that the intensity of aggressive encounters was highest when patch location was signaled, and the effect of changing resource density depended on whether patch location was signaled or not. Signaling patch location was equivalent to making the resources more spatially predictable. Changing patch density had no effect on the number of aggressive encounters when the location of food was not signaled. When food location was signaled, increasing patch density resulted in the predicted decrease in the number of aggressive encounters.[40]
Habitat and distribution[edit]
The scaly-breasted munia (subspecies topela[41]) has established in parts of eastern Australia such as Queensland
Scaly-breasted munias are found in a range of habitats but are usually close to water and grassland. In India, they are especially common in paddy fields where they are considered a minor pest on account of their feeding on grain. They are found mainly on the plains, but can be observed in the foothills of the Himalayas, in which they may be present at altitudes near 2,500 m (1.6 mi), and in the Nilgiris, where they are found at altitudes up to 2,100 m (6,900 ft) during the summer. In Pakistan, they are restricted to a narrow region from Swat in the west to Lahore, avoiding the desert zone, and then occurring again in India east of an area between Ludhiana and Mount Abu.[42] The species has also been observed in Kashmir, though this is rare.[14][43]
Outside their native range, escaped birds frequently establish themselves in areas with a suitable climate and can then colonize new areas nearby. Escaped cage-birds established in the wild and such populations have been recorded in the West Indies (Puerto Rico since 1971),[44] Hawaii (since 1883[45]),[46] Australia,[7] Japan[47] and southern United States mainly in Florida and California.[48][49] In Oahu, Hawaii, they compete for habitats with the tricolored munia and tend to be rare where this competitor is present.[46]
Status and conservation[edit]
Lonchura punctulata is an abundant species and classified as "Least Concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).[1] The species occupies an extremely large range, and its population, while still unquantified, is large and stable. The scaly-breasted munia is not globally threatened and is common to very common throughout most of its range. However, some populations, such as those in the Lesser Sunda Islands are scarce.[citation needed]
In many areas it is regarded as an agricultural pest, feeding in large flocks on cultivated cereals such as rice.[50] In Southeast Asia, the scaly-breasted munia is trapped in large numbers for Buddhist ceremonies, but most birds are later released.[3]](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/01/18/77055206_medium.jpg)
![From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The common ground dove (Columbina passerina) is a small bird that inhabits the southern United States, parts of Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. The common ground dove is considered to be the smallest dove that inhabits the United States. As its name suggests, the bird spends the majority of its time on the ground walking but still has the ability to fly.
Description[edit]
The common ground dove is North America's smallest dove and is one of the world's smallest by mass. This species ranges from 15–18 cm (5.9–7.1 in) in length, spans 27 cm (11 in) across the wings and weighs 26–40 g (0.92–1.41 oz).[3] The common ground dove has a yellow beak with a black tip. Feathers surrounding the beak are pink in colour. The feathers on the head and the upper breast have a scale like appearance. The tail feathers are very short and similar colour to the back. The plumage on the back of the bird is brown. The coverts and wing feathers are also brown but have black spotting on them. The common ground dove has chestnut primaries and wing borders, which can only been seen when the bird is flying. The common ground dove shows some sexual dimorphism in their plumage. The males have slate gray feathers on the top of their heads and pink-gray colouration on their belly. Females on the other hand are more gray than their male counterparts and are more evenly coloured.[4]
Taxonomy[edit]
The common ground dove is member of the genus Columbina, which are the new world ground doves. There are six other members in this genus including the Inca dove (Columbina inca) and the scaled dove (Columbina squammata). The genus Columbina is in the family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which are commonly known as the pigeons and doves.
There are also 15 different subspecies or races, which differ mainly in geographical location.[5]
The subspecies are as follows:
C. p. pallescens (Baird, 1860): Found in the southwest of the United States to central Texas and down through Mexico to Honduras. Males are considered to be paler and females have more white on their underbelly.
C. p. socorroensis (Ridgway, 1887): Found on Socorro Island near Mexico. They are darker brown than C. p. pallescens and have shorter wings as well.
C. p. neglecta (Carriker, 1910): From Central America specifically south Honduras to western Panama. They have darker feathers then C. p. pallescens.
C. p. passerina (Linnaeus, 1758): Found in the southeastern United States specifically southeast Texas to northern North Carolina. This is the typical common ground dove described above.
C. p. bahamensis (Maynard, 1887): Found in Bermuda and in the Bahamas.
C. p. aflavida (Palmer and Riley, 1902): Can be found in Cuba and the Isle of Pines. These doves are larger than usual with males having darker brown underparts. Also both males and females have darker bills.
C. p. insularis (Ridgway, 1888): Found on the Cayman Islands and Hispaniola. Both its back and chest are darker than C. p. bahamensis.
C. p. jamaicensis (Maynard, 1899): Found in Jamaica and has a pale beak with males being very dark on the underbelly.
C. p. umbrina (Buden, 1985): Found on Ile de la Tortue near Haiti. Darker on the back and the bottom part of their beak is darker.
C. p. exigua (Riley, 1905): Found only on Mona Island near Puerto Rico and Hispaniola.
C. p. portoricensis (Lowe, 1908): Found on Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Similar to C. p. nigrirostris but the lower part of the beak is red.
C. p. nigrirostris (Danforth, 1935): Found from The north part of the Lesser Antilles, Anguilla, Dominica and on St. Croix.
C. p. trochila (Bonaparte 1855): Found on St. Lucia and Martinique. These birds have a greyish green colouration on their chest and have chestnut tail feathers.
C. p. antillarum (Lowe, 1908): Found on St. Vincent Island, the Grenadines, Grenada, Barbados and the south Antilles.
Habitat and distribution[edit]
Common Ground Dove in Texas, 2005.
It is found in the southern tip of the United States, most of Mexico, parts of Central America, the Caribbean islands and the northern tip of South America. The common ground dove does not migrate and is a year-long resident in the areas they are found.[6]
The common ground dove lives in open areas that have trees and bushes. They are also found in forests with sandy areas, farmlands, and savannahs and near human infrastructure. Common ground doves seem to hold territories but they are rarely aggressive when dealing with intruders.[6]
Behaviour[edit]
Vocalizations[edit]
The common ground dove call can be described as soft whoops that increase in pitch. Often the call is heard in repetition, and is quite distinct.[4] To hear the call of the common ground dove see the external links for a link to a website.
Diet[edit]
The common ground dove is a ground gleaner; as such it forages on the ground feeding on vegetation, seeds and fruits. It can also feed on insects and will feed from bird feeders if available to them. They often eat while they are still moving and searching for other food items.[5] Common ground doves can suck water into their beak and swallow it by lifting their heads, which is a common feature shared with other members of its family.[5]
Reproduction[edit]
The common ground dove mates with its partner indefinitely. They build nests on the ground in vegetation or sometimes slightly off the ground in bushes. Their nests are quite simple, usually just a slight groove in the ground surrounded with plant material in a simple manner. The nests in bushes often are a simple structure of twigs and vegetation that are often fragile.[6] Common ground doves can become sexually active within 79 days after hatch.[7] Nesting can occur between February and October, however the peak nesting occurs between early April until mid May.[8] The common ground dove can have 2–3 broods in any given year. The common ground dove lays on average two white eggs that are incubated by both parents for 12–14 days. The hatchlings are altricial at birth and covered in a small amount of gray down feathers. The young birds can fledge in 11 days. Both parents feed the young birds until they are ready to feed themselves [5]](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/01/18/77055333_medium.jpg)
![From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The scaly-breasted munia or spotted munia (Lonchura punctulata), known in the pet trade as nutmeg mannikin or spice finch, is a sparrow-sized estrildid finch native to tropical Asia. A species of the genus Lonchura, it was formally described and named by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Its name is based on the distinct scale-like feather markings on the breast and belly. The adult is brown above and has a dark conical bill. The species has 11 subspecies across their range and differ slightly in size and colour.
This munia eats mainly grass seeds apart from berries and small insects. They forage in flocks and communicate with soft calls and whistles. The species is highly social and may sometimes roost with other species of munias. This species is found in tropical plains and grasslands. Breeding pairs construct dome-shaped nests using grass or bamboo leaves.
The species is endemic to Asia and occurs from India and Sri Lanka east to Indonesia and the Philippines (where it is called mayang pakíng). It has been introduced into many other parts of the world and feral populations have established in Puerto Rico and Hispaniola as well as parts of Australia and the United States of America. The bird is listed as of Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Taxonomy[edit]
The scaly-breasted munia was one of the many bird species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in the 1758 10th edition of his Systema Naturae, where it was given the binomial name of Loxia punctulata. Sykes assigned it to the genus Lonchura in the combination Lonchura punctulata in 1823.[2]
Subspecies[edit]
Over its range the scaly-breasted munia has been assigned to 11 generally accepted subspecies. These include the nominate form found in the plains of the Indian Subcontinent, including Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The name lineoventer was formerly used for the Indian population. Other populations include subundulata from the eastern Himalayas, yunnanensis of southern China, topela of Thailand, cabanisi of the Philippines and fretensis of Singapore and Sumatra. Island populations include nisoria (Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa), particeps (Sulawesi), baweana (Bawean Island), sumbae (Sumba), blasii (Flores, Timor and Tanimbar)[3] and holmesi (Southeast Borneo).[4]
L. p. punctulata (Linnaeus, 1758) – Its range includes northern Pakistan, India (except northeast), Nepal terai and Sri Lanka.
L. p. subundulata (Godwin-Austen, 1874) – Its range includes Bhutan, Bangladesh, northeast India (Assam) and west Myanmar.
L. p. yunnanensis (Parkes, 1958) – Its range includes southern China (southeast Xizang, south Sichuan, Yunnan) and north – northeast Myanmar.
L. p. topela (Swinhoe, 1863) – Its range includes southern Myanmar, Thailand, southeast China (Taiwan), Hainan Islands, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
L. p. cabanisi (Sharpe, 1890) – Its range includes Philippines (Luzon, Mindoro, Calauit, Palawan, Panay, Negros, Cebu, Mindanao) and northern Borneo (coastal west Sabah and Brunei).
L. p. fretensis (Kloss, 1931) – Its range includes south Malay Peninsula, Singapore, Sumatra and Nias Islands.
L. p. nisoria (Temminck, 1830) – Its range includes southern Borneo (western & southern Kalimantan), Java, Bali, and western Lesser Sundas (Lombok, Sumbawa).
L. p. particeps (Riley, 1920) – Its range includes Sulawesi.
L. p. baweana (Hoogerwerf, 1963) – Its range includes Bawean Islands, off northeast Java.
L. p. sumbae (Mayr, 1944 ) – Its range includes Sumba, in western Lesser Sundas.
L. p. blasii (Stresemann, 1912) – Its range includes central & eastern Lesser Sundas (Flores East to Timor and Tanimbar Islands).
L. p. holmesi (Restall, 1992) – Its range includes southeastern Borneo
Description[edit]
Immature birds have a brownish underside (Kolkata, India)
The scaly-breasted munia is about 11–12 centimetres (4.3–4.7 in) long and weighs 12–16 grams (0.026–0.035 lb). The adult has a stubby dark bill typical of grain eating birds, brown upperparts and a dark brown head. The underparts are white with dark scale markings. The sexes are similar, although males have darker markings on the underside and a darker throat than females.[5]
Immature birds have pale brown upperparts, lack the dark head found in adults, and have uniform buff underparts that can be confused with juveniles of other munia species such as the tricoloured munia (Lonchura malacca) across the Asian and island populations and the black-throated munia (Lonchura kelaarti) in parts of India or Sri Lanka.[5][6] Populations within their wide distribution range show variations in plumage color and size.
Along with other Estrildines, these species are thought to have originated in Asia.[7] The species has been introduced to other parts of the world due to its popularity as a cage bird and populations have established in the wild.[8][9]
Behavior and ecology[edit]
Sociality[edit]
Scaly-breasted munias form flocks of as many as 100 birds. Individuals communicate with calls that include a short whistle, variations of kitty-kitty-kitty, and a sharp chipping alarm note.[6][9] They sometimes flick their tails and wings vertically or horizontally while hopping about. The tail flicking motion may have evolved from a locomotory intention movement. The exaggerated version of the tail flicking movement may have undergone ritualization. As a social signal, tail flicking in several other species acts as a signal indicating the intent to fly and helps keep flocks together.[9][10]
When roosting communally, scaly-breasted munia sit side-by-side in close contact with each other. The outermost bird often jostles towards the center. Birds in a flock sometimes preen each other, with the soliciting bird usually showing its chin. Allopreening is usually limited to the face and neck.[9] The scaly-breasted munia is rarely hostile but birds will sometimes quarrel without any ritualized posturing.[9]
The scaly-breasted munia produces vocalizations to communicate with its flock.
Breeding[edit]
The breeding season is during the summer rainy season (mainly June to August in India) but can vary. Laboratory studies have found that long day illumination and high humidity trigger gonadal growth.[11] The song of the male is very soft but complex and variable, audible only at close range. This song described as a jingle consists of a series of high notes followed by a croaky rattle and ending in a slurred whistle. When singing the male sits in what is called the slope posture—erect with the head feathers raised.[9]
There are two types of slope posture, a pre-copulatory one and an ordinary one. The pre-copulatory behavior of scaly-breasted munia includes a sequence of actions. The first involves either the male or female playing with nest-material. As soon as a bird has arranged the nest material in its bill, it begins to fly around in a zig-zag path. Once a bird lands close to its partner, the male bends towards the female and wipes its bill. The male then sings with movements of the body. The female invites mounting with tail quivering.[6][9]
Egg of Lonchura punctulata MHNT
The nest is a large domed structure loosely woven from blades of grass, bamboo or other leaves with a side entrance and is placed in a tree or under the eaves of a house. A study in southern India found the preferred nesting trees to be Toddalia asiatica, Gymnosporia montana and Acacia chundra, especially short and bushy ones in areas with low canopy cover. The nest opening is located to face downwind of the most frequent wind direction.[12] In northern India, they preferred isolated Acacia nilotica in non-urban areas but used Thuja orientalis and Polyalthia longifolia in urban gardens.[13]
Scaly-breasted munia clutches usually contain 4 to 6 eggs, but can contain up to 10. Both sexes build the nest and incubate the eggs, which hatch in 10 to 16 days.[14][15]
Food and foraging[edit]
Adult feeding young
Adult feeding
The scaly-breasted munia feeds mainly on seeds but also eats small berries such as those of Lantana.[16] Although the bill is suited for crushing small grains, they do not show lateral movements of the lower mandible which help European greenfinches in dehusking seeds.[17] Like some other munias, they may also feed on algae, a rich protein source, prior to the breeding season.[18][19]
The ease of maintaining these birds in captivity has made them popular for studying behavior and physiology. Feeding behavior can be predicted by the optimal foraging theory, where animals minimize time and energy spent to maximize food intake. This theory has been tested by studying the strategies used by scaly-breasted munias to increase their feeding efficacy.[20]
Flock size tradeoffs[edit]
Studies on foraging have examined the effect of group size in reducing time spent on predator vigilance, thereby increasing feeding efficiency. According to the "many-eyes" hypothesis,[21] a reduction in the individual time spent on vigilance against threats in larger groups allows for more time to be spent on searching for food and feeding. Vigilance is greatest among solitary individuals and reduces as the group size increases to about four. The birds collect seeds more quickly in larger groups, reflecting a decrease in individual vigilance, a decrease in handling time, and an increase in both search speed and focus when foraging.[22]
A foraging group
Individuals may also take advantage of group foraging by "joining" members that have found food. The options to seek food or to join others that have discovered food involves information sharing and has been studied through what are termed "producer-scrounger models".[23] A cost associated with group foraging is increased resource competition, which in turn may reduce anti-predatory vigilance due to the intensity of foraging.[24] Some studies show that increased competition results in a decreased feeding rate.[25]
Foraging models[edit]
ssp. topela
When foraging, scaly-breasted munia can search as individuals or search for others that have found food and join them. The economic consequences of the decision to join others has been modeled in two ways: the producer-scrounger model and the information sharing model. These models are based on hypotheses that differ in the degree of compatibility that is assumed between the two food and joining opportunity search modes.[26]
The information sharing model assumes that individuals search concurrently for finding and joining opportunities while the producer-scrounger model assumes that the search modes are mutually exclusive.[26] Hopping with the head facing up and downward are observed to be statistically associated with the frequencies of a bird's joining and finding, respectively. When the expected stable frequency of the scrounger tactic was altered by changing the availability of seeds, the relative frequency of hopping with the head up changed accordingly. When the seed distribution made the scrounger tactic unprofitable, the frequency of hopping with the head up diminished and appears to support the predictions of the producer-scrounger model.[27]
Studies show that scaly-breasted munias tend to adopt the scrounger tactic when food is more clumped and when the group size increases. When most foragers adopt scrounging, the time taken to discover new food patches is greater.[28]
Vigilance[edit]
Most social foragers must search for food while also avoiding predators. It has been suggested that individuals that play scrounger could also, by virtue of their head position, be alert for predators and hence contribute to antipredatory vigilance. If the scrounger tactic is compatible with antipredatory vigilance, then an increase in antipredatory vigilance should lead to the detection of more joining opportunities, and hence more joining. When stationary, the head-up tactic has been shown to be associated with antipredatory vigilance. However scanning while hopping does not aid in vigilance and it is thought that the scrounger tactic is incompatible with antipredatory vigilance in the scaly-breasted munia.[29]
Specialized foraging[edit]
Scaly-breasted munias have variable competitive behaviors that allow them to exploit scarce resources. There are two foraging alternatives: producers that make the food available and scroungers that steal food found by the producers. Studies show that these choices lead to a stable equilibrium within a group. When individuals are free to choose between producer and scrounger, frequency dependent selection results in a stable mixture of both behaviors where each receives similar payoff. Studies indicate that if most of the population consists of producers, then scrounging behavior is favored by natural selection because there is plenty of food to steal. On the other hand, if most birds exhibit scrounging then the competition for stealing is so great that producing is favored.[30][31]
A pair feeding on grains
Three hypotheses might account for consistent foraging specializations across individuals: food source variation, phenotypic differences, and frequency dependent-choice. The food source variation hypothesis predicts that individuals will specialize when the use of two skills is more costly than specialist foraging. The phenotypic differences hypothesis proposes that individuals differ in their ability to use each foraging skill and stably specialize on the most profitable one. The pattern of specialization is expected to be stable although the number of individuals that use a given skill depends on the phenotypic composition of the flock. The frequency dependent choice hypothesis also proposes that individuals specialize on the most profitable skill, but the profitability of each alternative decreases as the number of phenotypically identical foragers gradually specialize on each skill when initially given two equally profitable alternatives. At equilibrium, individual payoffs should be independent of the pattern of specialization. Individuals in flocks adjusted their use of the two skills and two birds in each flock specialized on a different skill resulting in a variant of both the food source variation hypothesis and frequency dependent choice hypothesis.[32]
Aviary experiments conducted with captive flocks of scaly-breasted munia have tested whether producers and scroungers reach the predicted stable equilibrium frequency (see Evolutionarily stable strategy) when individuals are free to choose either behavior. The numbers choosing either producers and scrounger strategies have been shown to converge on stable frequencies while demonstrating that variation in tactics arise through frequency dependent pay-offs from the choice of different feeding strategies.[33]
Furthermore, foraging birds may feed actively on the substrate or pick grains dropped on the ground and these strategies may be chosen according to the situation. Early departures occur more often when expected searching time decreases and when competition intensity increases. Competition intensity is expected to increase when more scroungers are present or when patches are smaller.[34]
Prey crypsis[edit]
Since producers search for food and scroungers wait for opportunities to join, prey crypsis imposes a producer specific cost that shifts the producer scrounger equilibria towards more scrounging. Prey crypsis resulted in increased latency to eat the seed and increased number of detection errors.[35] Moreover, the presence of a competitor negatively affected foraging efficiency under cyptic backgrounds. The foraging efficiency of individuals that had previously foraged with a competitor on cryptic seeds remained low even after the competitor had been removed. Thus, the costs of foraging on cryptic prey may be greater for social foragers than for solitary foragers.[36]
Resource defence[edit]
Recent models of economic defence in a group-foraging context predict that the frequency of aggressive interactions should decline as resource density increases.[37][38][39] Studies with scaly-breasted munia show that the intensity of aggressive encounters was highest when patch location was signaled, and the effect of changing resource density depended on whether patch location was signaled or not. Signaling patch location was equivalent to making the resources more spatially predictable. Changing patch density had no effect on the number of aggressive encounters when the location of food was not signaled. When food location was signaled, increasing patch density resulted in the predicted decrease in the number of aggressive encounters.[40]
Habitat and distribution[edit]
The scaly-breasted munia (subspecies topela[41]) has established in parts of eastern Australia such as Queensland
Scaly-breasted munias are found in a range of habitats but are usually close to water and grassland. In India, they are especially common in paddy fields where they are considered a minor pest on account of their feeding on grain. They are found mainly on the plains, but can be observed in the foothills of the Himalayas, in which they may be present at altitudes near 2,500 m (1.6 mi), and in the Nilgiris, where they are found at altitudes up to 2,100 m (6,900 ft) during the summer. In Pakistan, they are restricted to a narrow region from Swat in the west to Lahore, avoiding the desert zone, and then occurring again in India east of an area between Ludhiana and Mount Abu.[42] The species has also been observed in Kashmir, though this is rare.[14][43]
Outside their native range, escaped birds frequently establish themselves in areas with a suitable climate and can then colonize new areas nearby. Escaped cage-birds established in the wild and such populations have been recorded in the West Indies (Puerto Rico since 1971),[44] Hawaii (since 1883[45]),[46] Australia,[7] Japan[47] and southern United States mainly in Florida and California.[48][49] In Oahu, Hawaii, they compete for habitats with the tricolored munia and tend to be rare where this competitor is present.[46]
Status and conservation[edit]
Lonchura punctulata is an abundant species and classified as "Least Concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).[1] The species occupies an extremely large range, and its population, while still unquantified, is large and stable. The scaly-breasted munia is not globally threatened and is common to very common throughout most of its range. However, some populations, such as those in the Lesser Sunda Islands are scarce.[citation needed]
In many areas it is regarded as an agricultural pest, feeding in large flocks on cultivated cereals such as rice.[50] In Southeast Asia, the scaly-breasted munia is trapped in large numbers for Buddhist ceremonies, but most birds are later released.[3]](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/01/18/77055398_medium.jpg)
![Chinese goose
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Chinese goose is a breed of domesticated goose descended from the wild swan goose. Chinese geese differ from the wild birds in much larger size (up to 5–10 kg in males, 4–9 kg in females), and in having an often strongly developed basal knob on the upper side of the bill. The knob at the top of the beak is more prominent on males than females. By 6–8 weeks of age, the knob is already pronounced enough that it can be used for determining gender. Chinese geese are a close cousin of the African goose, a heavier breed also descended from the swan goose.
Chinese geese appear in two varieties: a brown similar to the wild swan goose and white. While many domestic Chinese geese have a similar body type to other breeds, the breed standards as defined in the American Poultry Association's Standard of Perfection and other sources call for a slimmer, taller fowl.[1]
Chinese geese are among the better laying breeds of goose. A female Chinese goose can lay 50–60 eggs over the course of the breeding season (February to June), although there are reports of Chinese geese laying up to 100 eggs during that time.[2]](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/01/18/77054284_medium.jpg)
![From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The bronze mannikin or bronze munia (Lonchura cucullata) is a small passerine (i.e. perching) bird of the Afrotropics. This very social estrildid finch is an uncommon to locally abundant bird in much of Africa south of the Sahara Desert, where it is resident, nomadic or irruptive in mesic savanna or forest margin habitats.[5][6] It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 8,100,000 km². It is the smallest and most widespread of four munia species on the African mainland, the other being black-and-white, red-backed and magpie mannikin. It co-occurs with the Madagascan mannikin on the Comoro Islands, and was introduced to Puerto Rico. Especially in the West Africa, it is considered a pest in grain and rice fields. It is locally trapped for the pet bird trade.[4]
The bronze mannikin is one of the smallest munia species, measuring 9–10 cm in length and weighing 7–12 grams. The adult is a compact bird with a short black tail, and stubby black and pale grey (not distinctly bluish) mandibles. It is black to brownish black on the head, chin, throat and center of the chest, with some purple-green iridescence on the face and sides of the breast. It has greyish brown upper parts and white underparts with irregular barring on the flanks and rump. A small green iridescent patch is present on the outer scapular feathers, besides, especially in the western race, the sides of the lower breast. Wing coverts and remiges are bordered in a paler or warmer tone. The sexes are similar. Immature birds are dun brown above with buff head and underpart plumage. They moult into full adult plumage by age six months, when the males also begin to sing and exhibit breeding behaviour.[5]
Habits[edit]
The bronze mannikin is a tiny gregarious bird which feeds mainly on seeds, including wild grass seeds, millet, rice and grain. Alternatively termites, nectar or strands of algae may also be eaten. This species has a number of calls including a rreep-rreeep in flight, a twittering when perched, consisting of various wheezy or buzzing notes. The song is a concatenated and somewhat repetitive series of notes.[6] Before going to roost at nightfall, they usually visit a watering hole where vegetation is hanging into the water. They roost at night in ball-shaped nests, which in the non-breeding season are built solely for this purpose. These slovenly communal roosting nests are dismantled (for reuse of material) and rebuilt almost daily at the same or a new location, in a communal effort. Each party, numbering 8 to 20 birds, seems to be dominated by a single adult male.[6] The flock defends the immediate vicinity of a nest against intruders, but newcomers to a flock are easily accepted.[4] They may associate with waxbill or other mannikin species, and may also use their vacated nests. Pairs often allopreen.[6]
Habitat[edit]
They frequent areas near water, including mesic savanna, thornveld, edges of Afromontane or lowland forests, second-growth, marshes and swamp edges, existing and abandoned cultivation, or in parks, gardens and orchards.[5][6] They occur commonly from sea level to about 1,500 m, but in the tropics they may be found sparsely up to 2,150 m.[6] They may wander widely in search of food.
Nesting[edit]
They are incessant nest builders that may raise up to four broods a year, given favourable circumstances.[4][6] The nest is a large domed grass structure in a tree, into which 4 to 8 small, white eggs are laid. Incubation takes 12 days, and chicks fledge after three weeks, and are independent in another three weeks.[4] The chicks are reared on soft green seeds and insects.
Range and races[edit]
It is native to mainland Africa and the Bioko, Pemba, Zanzibar, Mafia and Comoro islands, and has been introduced to Puerto Rico, where it is established.[4] There are two accepted races,[6] but an extensive region around the upper Nile River is inhabited by birds with intermediate features. A proposed third race, L. c. subsp. tressellata Clancey, 1964 is not generally recognized.[4] The type was obtained in Senegal.[6]
Lonchura cucullata subsp. cucullata
Range: Senegal, eastwards to western Kenya and northwestern Angola[6] (or Gabon)[4]
Lonchura cucullata subsp. scutata (Heuglin, 1863)
Range: eastern Sudan and South Sudan to western Ethiopia, southwards to southern South Africa
Description: Barred in stead of bronzy green plumage at the junction of the lower breast and flanks. Rump and upper tail feathers only finely barred and almost uniformly dark.[6] These characters are however somewhat variable and unpredictable.
Phylogeny and origin[edit]
A phylogeny has been presented by Antonio Arnaiz-Villena et al.[7] Origin and phylogeny has been determined by Antonio Arnaiz-Villena et al.[8] Estrildinae may have originated in India and dispersed thereafter towards Africa and Pacific Ocean habitats.](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/01/13/76975049_medium.jpg)
![From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The gray kingbird or grey kingbird, also known as pitirre, petchary, or white-breasted kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis) is a passerine bird. It breeds from the extreme southeast of the United States, mainly in Florida, through Central America, from Cuba to Puerto Rico as well as eastward towards all across the Lesser West Indies, south to Venezuela, Trinidad, Tobago, the Guiana, and Colombia. Northern populations are migratory, wintering on the Caribbean coast of Central America and northern South America. Several vagrant populations are known to exist in the American Northeast.
This tyrant flycatcher is found in tall trees and shrubs, including the edges of savanna and marshes. It makes a flimsy cup nest in a tree. The female incubates the typical clutch of two cream eggs, which are marked with reddish brown.
The adult gray kingbird is an average-sized kingbird. It measures 23 cm (9.1 in) in length and weighs from 37 to 52 g (1.3 to 1.8 oz).[2] The upperparts are gray, with brownish wings and tail, and the underparts are white with a gray tinge to the chest. The head has a concealed yellow crown stripe, and a dusky mask through the eyes. The dark bill is heavier than that of the related, slightly smaller, tropical kingbird. The sexes are similar, but young birds have rufous edges on the wing coverts, rump and tail.
The call is a loud rolling trill, pipiri pipiri, which is the reason behind many of its local names, like pestigre or pitirre, in the Spanish-speaking Greater Antilles, or petchary in some of the English-speaking zones.
Gray kingbirds wait on an exposed perch high in a tree, occasionally sallying out to feed on insects, their staple diet.
Like other kingbirds, these birds aggressively defend their territory against intruders, including mammals and much larger birds such as caracaras, red-tailed hawks and broad-winged hawks.
It is found in increasing numbers in the state of Florida, and is more often found inland though it had been previously restricted to the coast. The species was first described on the island of Hispaniola, then called Santo Domingo, thus the dominicensis name.](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/01/13/76974752_medium.jpg)
![This Monk Parakeet is on a rail rather than on a tree or even the steps. They have made Puerto /Rico and South Florida their new home. This one was at Old San Juan Pier.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus), also known as the Quaker parrot, is a small, bright-green parrot with a greyish breast and greenish-yellow abdomen. In most taxonomies, it is classified as the only member of the genus Myiopsitta. It originates from the temperate to subtropical areas of Argentina and the surrounding countries in South America. Self-sustaining feral populations occur in many places, mainly in North America and Europe.
Description[edit]
Female pet monk parakeet
The nominate subspecies of this parakeet is 29 cm (11 in) long on average, with a 48 cm (19 in) wingspan, and weighs 100 g (3.5 oz). Females tend to be 10–20% smaller, but can only be reliably sexed by DNA or feather testing. It has bright-green upperparts. The forehead and breast are pale gray with darker scalloping and the rest of the underparts are very light-green to yellow. The remiges are dark blue, and the tail is long and tapering. The bill is orange. The call is a loud and throaty chape(-yee) or quak quaki quak-wi quarr, and screeches skveet.[2][3]
Domestic breeds in colors other than the natural plumage have been produced. These include birds with white, blue, and yellow in place of green. As such coloration provides less camouflage, feral birds are usually of wild-type coloration.
Systematics and taxonomy[edit]
Myiopsitta monachus is usually the only widely accepted member of the genus Myiopsitta. However, the cliff parakeet is sometimes considered a distinct species.[2] The cliff parakeet's altitudinal range apparently does not overlap, and that it is thus entirely, but just barely, allopatric.[3] The American Ornithological Society has deferred recognizing the cliff parakeet as distinct "because of insufficient published data".[4]
Three subspecies are recognized:[2][3]
M. m. monachus (Boddaert, 1783) – Argentina from southeastern Santiago del Estero Province throughout the Río Salado and lower Paraná basins to Buenos Aires Province and Uruguay
The largest subspecies
M. m. calita (Boddaert, 1783) – Andean foothills up to 1,000 m ASL, from southeastern Bolivia (Santa Cruz and Tarija departments) to Paraguay and northwestern Argentina, then west of the range of monachus, extending into the lowlands again in Río Negro and possibly Chubut provinces.
Smaller than monachus, wings more prominently blue, gray of head darker.
M. m. cotorra (Finsch, 1868) – southwestern Brazil (Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, possibly Rio Grande do Sul)[5] throughout the Río Paraguay and middle Paraná basins as well as the Gran Chaco.
Essentially identical to calita but reported as less yellow below and brighter overall.
The subspecies' ranges meet in the general area of Paraguay, and there they are insufficiently delimited. The distinctness and delimitation of M. m. calita and M. m. cotorra especially require further study.
Like the other neotropical parrots, the monk parakeet is usually placed in the tribe Arini, which might warrant elevation to subfamily rank as the Arinae. M. monachus belongs to the long-tailed clade of these – macaws and conures, essentially, which would retain the name Arini/Arinae if this polyphyletic group were split.
Ecology and behaviour[edit]
Nests in Zaragoza, Spain
Birds and their nest in Santiago, Chile
The monk parakeet is globally very common,[6] and even the rather localized cliff parakeet is generally common.[2] In Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, monk parakeets are regarded as major agricultural pests (as noted by Charles Darwin, among others). Their population explosion in South American rural areas seems to be associated with the expansion of eucalyptus forestry for paper pulp production, which offers the bird the opportunity to build protected nests in artificial forests where ecological competition from other species is limited. The cliff parakeet occasionally plunders maize fields, but it is apparently not considered a major pest as no serious persecution is done.[2]
The monk parakeet is the only parrot that builds a stick nest, in a tree or on a man-made structure, rather than using a hole in a tree. This gregarious species often breeds colonially, building a single large nest with separate entrances for each pair. In the wild, the colonies can become quite large, with pairs occupying separate "apartments" in nests that can reach the size of a small automobile. These nests can attract many other tenants including birds of prey such as the spot-winged falconet (Spiziapteryx circumcincta), ducks such as the yellow-billed teal (Anas flavirostris), and even mammals. Their five to 12 white eggs hatch in about 24 days.
The cliff parakeet, as its name implies, nests in cliff crevices. This subspecies rarely builds communal nests, but individual pairs still prefer to nest in close association.[2]
Unusually for a parrot, monk parakeet pairs occasionally have helper individuals, often grown offspring, which assist with feeding the young (see kin selection).
The lifespan of monk parakeets has been given as 15–20 years[7] or as much as 25–30 years;[8] the former might refer to typical lifespans in captivity and/or in the wild, while the latter is in the range of maximum lifespans recorded for parakeets.
As pets[edit]
Baby monk parakeet perched in a Christmas tree
Pet with rope and parrot toys
Monk parakeets are highly intelligent, social birds. Those kept as pets routinely develop vocabularies of scores of words and phrases.[9] Due to this early speaking ability, it is overtaking the cockatiel as the favorite bird to teach to talk. Another contributing factor to growing popularity is that this bird has a shorter lifespan and lower price than African grey parrots.
Because of monk parakeets' listing as an agricultural pest, California, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Hawaii, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wyoming, and Western Australia[10] outlaw sale and ownership. In Connecticut, one can own a monk parakeet, but cannot sell or breed them. In New York and Virginia, it is possible to own a monk parakeet with banding and registration. In Ohio, owning one is legal if the bird's wings are clipped or it is incapable of free flight.[11][12]
As an introduced species[edit]
Monk parakeets in Parc de la Ciutadella of Barcelona, Spain
Self-sustaining feral populations have been recorded in several U.S. states and various regions of Europe (namely Spain, Portugal, Azores, Madeira, Balearic Islands, Gibraltar, France, Corsica, Malta, Cyprus, Sardinia, Italy, Channel Islands, Great Britain, Ireland, and Belgium), as well as in British Columbia, Canada,[13] Brazil, Mexico, Israel, Bermuda, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Easter Island, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and Japan. As it is an open-woodlands species, it adapts readily to urban areas.
Monk parakeet in San Juan, Puerto Rico
In areas where they have been introduced, some fear they will harm crops and native species. Evidence of harm caused by feral colonies is disputed, and many people oppose killing this charismatic bird. However, local bans and eradication programs exist in some areas of the U.S. Outside the U.S., introduced populations do not appear to raise similar controversy, presumably because of smaller numbers of birds, or because their settlement in urban areas does not pose a threat to agricultural production. The U.K. appears to have changed its view on its feral populations and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is planning to remove monk parakeets from the wild, as it believes that they threaten local wildlife and crops.[14]
Feral populations are often descended from very small founder populations. Being as social and intelligent as they are, monk parakeets develop some cultural traditions, namely vocal dialects that differ between groups. In populations descended from a large number of birds, a range of "dialects" will exist. If the founder population is small, however, a process similar to genetic drift may occur if prominent founders vocalize in an unusual "dialect", with this particular way of vocalizing becoming established in the resulting feral colony. For example, no fewer than three different "dialects" occur among the feral monk parrots of the Milford, Connecticut, metropolitan area.[15]
Brazil[edit]
The species has in recent years expanded its range in Brazil, where a self-sustaining population occurs in the downtown area of Rio de Janeiro. Since this population occurs far from the bird's original range in Brazil – it was only found in the far south and southwest – it is most probably a consequence of escapees from the pet trade. In Rio de Janeiro, the bird can be easily seen at the Aterro do Flamengo gardens – where it nests on palm trees and feeds on their fruit; the Rio birds seem to favor nesting amid the leaves of coconut palm trees, as well as in the vicinity of the neighboring domestic flight terminal, the Santos Dumont Airport and in the gardens of Quinta da Boa Vista, where communal nests roughly 1 m in diameter have been seen.[16] In Santa Catarina State, probable escapees have been reported on occasion for quite some time, and a feral population seems to have established itself in Florianópolis early in the first decade of the 21st century when birds were observed feeding right next to the highway in the Rio Vermelho-Vargem Grande area.[5]
Mexico[edit]
The monk parakeet was first recorded in Mexico City in 1999.[17] Records exist from seven other locations, including the cities of Puebla, Morelia, Celaya, Oaxaca, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Hermosillo, and Mexicali, and the mouth of the Loreto River in Baja California Sur.
Nesting populations are known in Mexico City and Oaxaca. A small but growing population has also been established in the southern part of the city of Puebla, Puebla, in the surroundings of the city's aviary, which they are known to visit frequently, and where they can often be seen clinging to the outer side of its mesh walls. No studies have been made to assess the impact they might have on the relict populations of green parakeet that live in the same area and other well-wooded zones of the city.
Following the ban on the trade of native parrot species, local traditional bird sellers have now switched to the monk parakeet as their staple parrot, and that might have increased the number of escapees. Sometimes, the head and breast feathers of monk parakeets are dyed yellow to deceive uninformed buyers, mimicking the endangered yellow-headed amazon. The presence of this species in seven geographically distant and independent locations in Mexico indicates that the source of these individuals is most likely the pet trade.[17]
United States[edit]
Monk parakeets in Florida
Thousands of monk parakeets were imported to the United States between 1960s and 1980s as pets.[18] Many escaped or were intentionally released, and populations were allowed to proliferate. By the early 1970s, M. monachus was established in seven states, and by 1995, it had spread to eight more. In Florida alone, estimates range from 150,000 to 500,000.[19]
As one of the few temperate-zone parrots, the monk parakeet is more able than most to survive cold climates (partly because they build communal nests about heat-producing electrical equipment atop utility poles), and colonies exist as far north as New York City, Chicago, Dallas, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Louisville, Edgewater, New Jersey, coastal Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and southwestern Washington. This hardiness makes this species second only to the rose-ringed parakeet among parrots as a successful introduced species.
In 2012, a pair of monk parakeets attempted nesting in Watervliet, New York (about 150 miles north of New York City, near Albany, New York).[20] Prior to egg-laying, one bird was captured and the nest eventually was removed due to concerns that the nest built adjacent to an electrical transformer created a fire hazard.[21]
They have also found a home in Brooklyn, New York, after an accidental release decades ago of what appears to have been black-market birds[22] within Green-Wood Cemetery. The grounds crew initially tried to destroy the unsightly nests at the entrance gate, but no longer do so because the presence of the parrots has reduced the number of pigeons nesting within it. The management's decision was based on a comparative chemical analysis of pigeon feces (which destroy brownstone structures) and monk parakeet feces (which have no ill effect). The monk parakeets are in effect preserving this historic structure. Brooklyn College has a monk parakeet as an "unofficial" mascot in reference to the colony of the species that lives in its campus grounds. It is featured on the masthead of the student magazine. They have also made their homes in the lamp posts in Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. Most of these monk parakeet populations can be traced to shipments of captured birds from Argentina.[11]
In Chicago, the origin of the monk parakeets is unknown, but they may be escaped birds from O'Hare airport or unwanted pets.[23] The species first appeared in the 1960s and is continuing to thrive despite unusual bad winters that occurred in the 1980s and in 2014.[23] The birds are welcomed in the city especially by bird watchers and were involved in a 2012 ornithological study.[23] The population is estimated to be at 1,000 birds, with healthy colonies located in several of the city's parks.[23] Austin, Texas, also has a thriving monk parakeet population.[24]
Europe[edit]
Monk parakeets in Santa Ponsa, Majorca, Spain
Monk parakeets can be seen in Madrid, Barcelona, Cadiz, Seville, Torremolinos, Málaga, Nerja, Valencia, Tarragona, Roquetas de Mar (Andalusia), Zaragoza, the Canary Islands, and Majorca in Balearic Islands. They were first seen around 1985. In Madrid, they especially frequent the Ciudad Universitaria (Complutense university campus) and Casa de Campo park. They are a common sight in Barcelona parks, often as numerous as pigeons. They form substantial colonies in Parc de la Ciutadella, Parc de la Barceloneta, and in smaller city parks such as Jardins Josep Trueta in Poble Nou, with a colony as far north as Empuriabrava. They are more frequent in watered urban parks with grass areas and palm trees, near to a river or the sea. The monk parakeet, as an invasive species, has become a problem to local fauna such as pigeons and sparrows, but not yet so harmful to magpies. Parakeets have also caused trouble to agriculture near the cities. Barcelona has the greatest population of monk parakeets in Europe with 2500 parakeets as of February 2010.[25][26] As of 2013, the estimated population of monk parakeets in Madrid was 1768.[27]
The United Kingdom population in 2011 is believed to be around 150, in the Home Counties region. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced plans in 2011 to control them, countering the threat to infrastructure, crops, and native British wildlife by trapping and rehoming, removing nests, and shooting when necessary.[28]
Small groups of monk parakeets can be found in the Belgian capital city Brussels and its surrounding areas. They have been living in the wild at least since the 1970s.](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/01/13/76974317_medium.jpg)
![From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The gray kingbird or grey kingbird, also known as pitirre, petchary, or white-breasted kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis) is a passerine bird. It breeds from the extreme southeast of the United States, mainly in Florida, through Central America, from Cuba to Puerto Rico as well as eastward towards all across the Lesser West Indies, south to Venezuela, Trinidad, Tobago, the Guiana, and Colombia. Northern populations are migratory, wintering on the Caribbean coast of Central America and northern South America. Several vagrant populations are known to exist in the American Northeast.
This tyrant flycatcher is found in tall trees and shrubs, including the edges of savanna and marshes. It makes a flimsy cup nest in a tree. The female incubates the typical clutch of two cream eggs, which are marked with reddish brown.
The adult gray kingbird is an average-sized kingbird. It measures 23 cm (9.1 in) in length and weighs from 37 to 52 g (1.3 to 1.8 oz).[2] The upperparts are gray, with brownish wings and tail, and the underparts are white with a gray tinge to the chest. The head has a concealed yellow crown stripe, and a dusky mask through the eyes. The dark bill is heavier than that of the related, slightly smaller, tropical kingbird. The sexes are similar, but young birds have rufous edges on the wing coverts, rump and tail.
The call is a loud rolling trill, pipiri pipiri, which is the reason behind many of its local names, like pestigre or pitirre, in the Spanish-speaking Greater Antilles, or petchary in some of the English-speaking zones.
Gray kingbirds wait on an exposed perch high in a tree, occasionally sallying out to feed on insects, their staple diet.
Like other kingbirds, these birds aggressively defend their territory against intruders, including mammals and much larger birds such as caracaras, red-tailed hawks and broad-winged hawks.
It is found in increasing numbers in the state of Florida, and is more often found inland though it had been previously restricted to the coast. The species was first described on the island of Hispaniola, then called Santo Domingo, thus the dominicensis name.](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/01/13/76974054_medium.jpg)
![The Puerto Rican spindalis (Spindalis portoricensis) is a bird endemic to the island of Puerto Rico, where it is commonly known as reina mora. The species is widely distributed throughout the island and is an important part of the Puerto Rican ecosystem because of its help in seed dispersal and plant reproduction. The Puerto Rican spindalis has been proposed as the national bird[2] of the United States Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.[3]
Taxonomy[edit]
The Puerto Rican spindalis was originally classified as Spindalis zena portoricensis, making it a subspecies of the western spindalis (Spindalis zena). In 1997, an article was published which presented an extensive analysis of the genus Spindalis. The report concluded, based on differences in weight, color, pattern, distribution, and voice, that a split of S. zena was necessary. Four distinct species were identified—Spindalis dominicensis, Spindalis nigricephala, Spindalis portoricensis and Spindalis zena. S. zena was also subdivided into five subspecies: S. z. pretrei, S. z. salvini, S. z. benedicti, S. z. townsendi and S. z. zena. Specifically, the difference in vocalization, and morphology, distinguish S. portoricensis from S. dominicensis.[4]
Description[edit]
The Puerto Rican spindalis exhibits sexual dimorphism with males being brightly colored and females being dully colored. Males are green colored above with an orange neck and chest. They have a black head with two white stripes running across it, with one above and one below the eyes. The tail and wings are gray to black with small white stripes at the tips. In contrast, the female is a dull olive-green color with slightly noticeable white stripes.[5] Sexual dimorphism is also noticeable in weight and size. Females are slightly heavier but smaller in length than males. The male's weight ranges from 22.5 to 37.0 grams with an average of 30.8 grams while the female's ranges from 28.0 to 41.1 grams with an average of 33.5 grams. The length of the male's wings ranges from 82 to 88.5 mm with an average of 85.2 mm while the female's range from 80 to 85.5 mm with an average of 82.6 mm. The length of the male's tail ranges from 59 to 68 mm with an average of 63.3 mm while the female's range from 56 to 65.5 mm with an average of 60.6 mm.[4]
Distribution and habitat[edit]
Bird count of the Puerto Rican spindalis (2004)
The Puerto Rican spindalis is currently found more commonly in plantations than in their natural habitat, the forests of Maricao and the El Yunque National Forest.[6] It may also be found in gardens, scavenging for flower nectar, and other areas where fruits are grown. It can be attracted by a sugar solution. It is distributed throughout the entire main island of Puerto Rico and is rarely found above 1000 meters in elevation.
Ecology and behavior[edit]
The Puerto Rican spindalis are usually found in pairs but may travel in small flocks. These birds also engage in a behavior called mobbing. This is when a flock of birds, from one or more species, attack a known predator, usually to defend their eggs or hatchlings. Such behavior has been observed being directed against the Puerto Rican boa by immature Puerto Rican spindalis.[7]
External audio
Bird Call
Puerto Rican spindalis vocals[dead link]
The vocalization of the Puerto Rican spindalis is not as complex as that of other Spindalis species; only the songs of S. dominicensis are less elaborate. As with all Spindalis, the males emit high pitched sounds at 8 kHz or higher, usually from treetops high above the ground. Females, on the other hand, sing "whisper songs" usually from dense areas close to the ground. The most common vocalization is described as a "continuing series of high-pitched, thin, sibilant notes, given in a rhythmic pattern."[citation needed] Other vocalizations include a fast tweet and a short chi chi chi.[4]
Diet[edit]
The Puerto Rican spindalis is a frugivore. Common fruits eaten by this bird come from Schefflera morototoni, Cecropia schreberiana, Cordia sulcata, Ficus species, Phoradendron species and Inga vera trees, with fruit from S. morototoni being the most important.[8] Because of the difficulty of digestion and the small amount of energy that fruit and leaves provide, these birds also include insects and small lizards as part of their diet.
Reproduction[edit]
The Puerto Rican spindalis builds cup-shaped nests from various plant matter. Two to four eggs are laid at a time. Eggs are usually light blue in color with brown patches around the large end, but regional variations are known to exist. They measure, on average, 23.7 by 17.3 mm.[4]](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/01/13/76973970_medium.jpg)
![Yellow-shouldered Blackbird
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The yellow-shouldered blackbird (Agelaius xanthomus), also known as la Mariquita de Puerto Rico or capitán, is a diurnal blackbird endemic to the archipelago of Puerto Rico and one of the species belonging to the genus Agelaius of the family Icteridae. It has black plumage with a prominent yellow shoulder on its wing. Adult males and females are of similar appearance. The species is predominantly insectivorous.
Taxonomy[edit]
The nominate form of the yellow-shouldered blackbird (A. x. xanthomus) was first described from Puerto Rico and Vieques in 1862 by Philip Sclater as Icterus xanthomus. The species is closely related to, and possibly derived from, the red-winged blackbird (Agelaius pheoniceus). The tawny-shouldered blackbird (Agelaius humeralis), a species from Cuba and Haiti, is morphologically intermediate between A. xanthomus and A. humeralis. Until recently, some authors considered A. xanthomus as a subspecies of A. humeralis. The 1983 American Ornithologists' Union edition considered A. xanthomus, together with A. humeralis, a superspecies. The main physical difference between A. xanthomus and A. humeralis resides in their bills, with A. humerali's being broader toward the base.[3] The recognized subspecies A. x. monensis, or Mona yellow-shouldered blackbird, was described by Barnes in 1945 from the islands of Mona and Monito.[3]
Description[edit]
The yellow-shouldered blackbird, as its name implies, is a glossy black bird with a small yellow humeral patch around its "shoulders" outlined by a white margin. Immature individuals possess a duller coloration and a brown abdomen. Although plumage coloration is indistinguishable between the sexes, sexual dimorphism is present in this species with males being larger than females. Plumage abnormality is rare in this species. Adult individuals measure from 20–23 cm (7.9–9.1 in); on average, males weigh 41 g (1.4 oz) and females weigh 35 g (1.2 oz). Sexual categorization may also be made by measurement of the wings, with males' being 1.1 times larger and having a mean length of 102 cm (40 in), while females' wings have an average length of 93.3 cm (36.7 in).
Distribution and habitat[edit]
Puerto Rican dry forest in the island of Caja de Muertos off the southern coast of Puerto Rico, habitat of the yellow-shouldered blackbird.
The species was once commonly found in the coastal forests of the archipelago of Puerto Rico but during the early 20th century these forests were destroyed to allow for the development of sugarcane plantations. After the decline of the sugar industry after the 1930s the coastal areas were developed for housing. As a result, the species is now limited to three areas: the islands of Mona and Monito, where a subspecies developed (A. g. xmonensis); the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station area in eastern Puerto Rico; and the southern Puerto Rican dry forests and mangroves. Although all three locations are considered coastal subtropical dry forests, the species has been observed as far inland as the mountain town of Lares and in subtropical wet forests during the non-breeding season. The species has also been observed at the Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge. The destruction of habitat and brood parasitism by the shiny cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) led to a drastic population decline from the mid-1970s to early 1980s. In 1976, the population of the nominate form was estimated at 2000 individuals but in 1982 the population estimate dropped to 300 individuals. Conservation efforts have increased the population to 1250 pairs.
In 1976 Post and Wiley estimated the Mona subspecies population at 200 individuals.[4] Subsequent roost counts and studies from 1981 to 1995 estimated the population at anywhere between 220 and 400 individuals. Studies performed in the island of Monito, located 5 km (3.1 mi) northwest of Mona, revealed an average of 25 individuals with breeding being observed. The studies also revealed that birds traveled from the west coast of Mona to Monito.
Yellow-shouldered blackbirds are non-migratory birds, but a portion of the population of the nominate form moves from coastal areas to inland areas during the non-breeding season to feed.
Diet[edit]
Yellow-shouldered blackbirds are omnivorous, but are considered to be arboreal insectivores since the majority of their diet consists of insects. William Post performed studies to determine the dietary habits of the nominate form A. x. xanthomus. The studies analyzed samples of food parents brought to nestlings, and found evidence of consumption of insects belonging to the orders Lepidoptera, Orthoptera, Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, Dermaptera and Hymenoptera, arachnid material of the order Araneae, unidentified molluscs, and plant matter. Aside from natural material, the species also consumes processed food such as cattle ration, human food (cooked rice and sugar), dog food and monkey chow. Plant matter was acquired from processed foods while insects are gleaned from the canopy and sub-canopy layers of trees. During the nesting season their diet is composed of 90% arthropod material.[5]
Studies have not been performed to determine the dietary habits of the Mona subspecies, but consumption of insects, spiders, fruits from Pithecellobium species and the cacti Selenicereus species, Pilosocereus royenii, Harrisia portoricensis, and Opuntia species, seeds from gumbo limbo (Bursera simaruba) and Ficus species and nectar from Aloe vera, yucca and Croton discolor have been observed.
Reproduction and behavior[edit]
The yellow-shouldered blackbird breeding season commonly spans from April to August but breeding activity has been observed from February to November. The breeding season's start coincides with the start of the rainy season, thus explaining the fluctuation in the start and end of the breeding season. The species is believed to be monogamous with a single attempt at nesting per year and with nesting being performed in loose colonies. Nests of both the nominate form and the Mona subspecies contain from one to four eggs with an average of three. Eggs are blue-green with brown spots and are incubated for 13 days by the female. Both sexes reach sexual maturity at one year of age. As with other Agelaius species, it usually builds open, cup-shaped nests in trees, but nest locations and shapes may vary depending on location and availability of building materials. The Roosevelt Roads' population builds nests on hollows in dead mangroves, while the Mona subspecies builds nests in ledges or crevices near the coastal cliffs. In all, the species uses eight distinct nesting habitats: mudflats and salinas; offshore red mangrove cays; black mangrove forest; lowland pastures (dry coastal forest); suburban areas; coconut plantations; and coastal cliffs. Building of the nest is performed solely by females while feeding of the young is performed by both sexes. Nestlings leave the nest 13 to 16 days after hatching. Males defend small territories, usually around 3 metres, during the nesting period. Before the nesting period males defend slightly larger territories to repel other males.[6]
Yellow-shouldered blackbirds engage in anting, a rare behavior only observed in the Puerto Rican tanager among West Indian birds.[7] Individuals were observed applying Pheidole species ants to their body and feathers for a short period of time (8 minutes).
The species engages in mobbing, a behavior in which a pack of birds, from one or more species, attack a known predator (usually to defend eggs or hatchlings).
Threats and conservation efforts[edit]
Critical habitat in southwest Puerto Rico for the yellow-shouldered blackbird
The yellow-shouldered blackbird was listed as an endangered species on November 19, 1976 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.[8] Critical habitat was subsequently established for the entire Mona and Monito islands, the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Ceiba, an area expanding from Cabo Rojo to Guánica in the southwest region of Puerto Rico, and a small area in San Germán.
Diseases such as avian pox have been associated with extinction of bird populations such as Hawaiian honeycreepers. For this species only one type of parasite has been observed, the chewing louse (formerly classified as Mallophaga), with three species being observed: Philopterus agelaii; Machaerilaemus species; and Myrsidea species.[9] The parasites predominantly occur in the head area with adult males having the highest infestation percentage and juveniles having a lower infestation rate than adults. The mites Ornithonyssus bursa and Androlaelaps casalis have also been observed in nests, but the information presently available does not indicate they are a threat. Another disease commonly experienced by yellow-shouldered blackbirds is fowlpox, also known as avian pox. Lesions caused by this disease occur in exposed areas such as the legs and the bend of the wings.
Nest predation has been an important contributor to the decline of the yellow-shouldered blackbird. Known terrestrial predators include rats (Rattus rattus), mongooses and feral cats, all introduced species to Puerto Rico. Rats constituted the main nest predator eating both eggs and hacthlings. A 1983 report concluded that rat predation accounted for 48% of nest failures that year. The majority of the activity coincided with the recession of water from July to August which exposed the mangrove nesting area to dry land. Since the middle 1980s artificial PVC nesting structures have been created in mudflats surrounding mangrove forests to reduce rat predation. These structures replaced old wooden nesting boxes and were readily accepted by the species. Presently, few (one or two) natural nests are observed each year in the area.
The loss of feeding and breeding habitat and brood parasitism by the shiny cowbird are among other threats that limit and endanger the yellow-shouldered blackbird populations. Natural predators, such as the pearly-eyed thrasher (Margarops fuscatus), also represent a threat, although minor, to the populations. These animals have been reported to steal eggs and young from nests and to also destroy or steal nesting materials which in many cases leaves the young as prey for the predators.](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/01/13/76973702_medium.jpg)
![The black-and-white warbler (Mniotilta varia) is a species of New World warbler, and the only member of its genus, Mniotilta.[2]
Columbus Park - Chicago
It breeds in northern and eastern North America and winters in Florida, Central America, and the West Indies down to Peru. This species is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.[2]
This species is 12 cm (5 in) long and weighs 11 g (0.39 oz).[3][4] The summer male black-and-white warbler is boldly streaked in black and white, and the bird has been described as a flying humbug. Each wing is black with two white wing bars. Female and juvenile plumages are similar, but duller and less streaky than males.
Its song is a high see wee-see wee-see wee-see wee-see wee-see or weesa weesa weetee weetee weetee weet weet weet. It has two calls, a hard tick and a soft, thin fsss.[2][3]
It breeds in broadleaved or mixed forest, preferably in wetter areas. Black-and-white warblers nest on the ground, laying 4–5 eggs in a cup nest.[2]
This bird feeds on insects and spiders, and, unlike other warblers, forages like a nuthatch, moving up and down tree trunks and along branches.[3]
Relative to other New World warblers, it is not well studied.[4]](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2017/12/14/76578278_medium.jpg)
![From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Royal Tern)
Royal tern
Royal Tern.jpg
Winter plumage
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Laridae
Genus: Thalasseus
Species: T. maximus
Binomial name
Thalasseus maximus
(Boddaert, 1783)
Distribution map
Range of T. maximus
Synonyms
Sterna maxima
The royal tern (Thalasseus maximus) is a tern in the family Laridae. The genus name is from Ancient Greek Thalasseus, "fisherman", from thalassa, "sea". The specific maximus is Latin for '"greatest".[2]
This bird has two distinctive subspecies: T. m. maximus which lives on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the North and South America, and the slightly smaller T. m. albididorsalis lives on the coast of West Africa. The royal tern has a red-orange bill and a black cap during the breeding season, but in the winter the cap becomes patchy. The royal tern is found in Europe, Africa, the Americas, and the Caribbean islands. The royal tern lives on the coast and is only found near salt water. They tend to feed near the shore, close to the beach or in backwater bays. The royal tern's conservation status is listed as least concern.](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2017/11/05/75998214_medium.jpg)
![From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The superb starling (Lamprotornis superbus) is a member of the starling family of birds. It was formerly known as Spreo superbus.[2]
Distribution[edit]
This species has a very large range and can commonly be found in East Africa, including Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, and Tanzania.[2]
Habitat[edit]
These starlings live in savanna, in thornbush and acacia arid areas, open woodland, lakeshore woodlands, gardens and cultivated fields, at an elevation of 0–2,650 metres (0–8,694 ft) above sea level.[2][3]
Description[edit]
The striking colors of an adult Lamprotornis superbus
This species is 18 to 19 cm (7.1 to 7.5 in) long.[3] These small short-tailed starlings have a long narrow bill, robust bodies, strong feet and a distinctive plumage pattern.[2] Adults have black heads and iridescent blue-to-green back, upper breast, wings, and tail. The belly is red-orange, separated from the blue breast by a white bar. The undertail coverts and the wing linings are white.[2] Juveniles have duller plumage with no more than a suggestion of the white breast band. Their eyes are brown at first, later grayish white.
The superb starling has a long and loud song consisting of trills and chatters. At midday it gives a softer song of repeated phrases. There are several harsh calls, the most complex of which is described as "a shrill, screeching skerrrreeee-cherrrroo-tcherreeeeeet." [3]](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2017/10/27/75865108_medium.jpg)
![The king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) is a large species of penguin, second only to the emperor penguin in size. There are two subspecies: A. p. patagonicus and A. p. halli; patagonicus is found in the South Atlantic and halli elsewhere[where?].
King penguins eat small fish, mainly lanternfish, and squid. They are less reliant on krill and other crustaceans than most Southern Ocean predators. On foraging trips king penguins repeatedly dive to over 100 metres (300 ft), and have been recorded at depths greater than 300 metres (1,000 ft).[2]
King penguins breed on the subantarctic islands at the northern reaches of Antarctica, South Georgia, and other temperate islands of the region.](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2017/10/27/75864916_medium.jpg)
![From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The greater scaup (Aythya marila), just scaup in Europe or, colloquially, "bluebill" in North America,[3] is a mid-sized diving duck, larger than the closely related lesser scaup. It spends the summer months breeding in Alaska, northern Canada, Siberia, and the northernmost reaches of Europe. During the winter, it migrates south to the coasts of North America, Europe, and Japan.
Drake greater scaup are larger and have more rounded heads than the females; they have a bright blue bill and yellow eyes. Their heads are dark, with a green gloss; the breast is black, the belly white and the wing shows a white stripe. The females are mostly brown, again with white on the wing. They have dull blue bills and white on the face.
Greater scaup nest near water, typically on islands in northern lakes or on floating mats of vegetation. They begin breeding at age two, but start building nests in the first year. The drakes have a complex courtship, which takes place on the return migration to the summer breeding grounds and concludes with the formation of monogamous pairs. Females lay a clutch of six to nine olive-buff-colored eggs. The eggs hatch in 24 to 28 days. The down-covered ducklings are able to follow their mother in her search for food immediately after hatching.
Greater scaup eat aquatic molluscs, plants, and insects, which they obtain by diving underwater. They form large groups, called "rafts", that can number in the thousands. Their main threat is human development, although they are preyed upon by owls, skunks, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, and humans. Greater scaup populations have been declining since the 1980s; however, they are still listed as a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List.[2]
axonomy
The genus name Aythya is derived from the Ancient Greek aithuia which refers to a seabird mentioned by Aristotle and others and is thought to refer to a duck, auklet or other seabird. The species name marila is from the Greek word for charcoal embers or coal dust.[4] The greater scaup was first studied by Linnaeus in 1761.[5] Male greater scaup from America are distinguishable from those in Europe and Asia by the stronger vermiculations, worm-like carvings or marks[6] on the mantle and scapulars, and are considered a separate subspecies, A. m. nearctica.[7] Females of the two subspecies are indistinguishable.[8] Based on size differences, a Pleistocene paleosubspecies, Aythya marila asphaltica, has also been described by Serebrovskij in 1941 from fossils recovered at Binagady, Azerbaijan. The greater scaup's name may come from "scalp", a Scottish and Northern English word for a shellfish bed,[9] or from the duck's mating call: "scaup scaup".
A phylogenetic analysis of the diving ducks, examining the skeletal anatomy and skin, found that the greater and lesser scaups are each other's closest relatives, with the tufted duck as the next closest relative of the pair.[10]
Description
The adult greater scaup is 39–56 cm (15–22 in) long with a 71–84 cm (28–33 in) wingspan and a body mass of 726–1,360 g (1.601–2.998 lb). It has a blue bill and yellow eyes and is 20% heavier and 10% longer than the closely related lesser scaup.[11] The male has a dark head with a green sheen, a black breast, a light back, a black tail, and a white underside. The drake or male greater scaup is larger and has a more rounded head than the female. The drake's belly and flanks are a bright white. Its neck, breast, and tail feathers are a glossy black, while its lower flanks are vermiculated gray. The upper wing has a white stripe starting as the speculum and extending along the flight feathers to the wingtip. Legs and feet of both sexes are gray. The adult female has a brown body and head, with white wing markings similar to those of the male but slightly duller. It has a white band and brown oval shaped patches at the base of the bill, which is a slightly duller shade of blue than the drake's.[12] Juvenile greater scaup look similar to adult females. The greater scaup drake's eclipse plumage looks similar to its breeding plumage, except the pale parts of the plumage are a buffy gray.[13] Distinguishing greater from lesser scaups can be difficult in the field. The head of the greater tends to be more rounded, and the white wing stripe is more extensive.
Distribution and habitat
The greater scaup has a circumpolar distribution, breeding within the Arctic Circle both in the Old World (the Palearctic) and in North America (the Nearctic). It spends the summer months in Alaska, Siberia, and the northern parts of Europe. It is also found in Asia and is present in the Aleutian Islands year round.[14] The summer habitat is marshy lowland tundra and islands in fresh water lakes. In the fall, greater scaup populations start their migration south for the winter. They winter along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America, the coasts of northwest Europe, the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, the coast of Japan, Yellow Sea and East China Sea.[15] During the winter months, they are found in coastal bays, estuaries, and sometimes inland lakes,[16] such as the lakes of Central Europe and the Great Lakes.[15]
In Europe, the greater scaup breeds in Iceland, the northern coasts of the Scandinavian peninsula, including much of the northern parts of the Baltic Sea, the higher mountains of Scandinavia and the areas close to the Arctic Sea in Russia. These birds spend the winters in the British Isles, western Norway, the southern tip of Sweden, the coast from Brittany to Poland, including all of Denmark, the Alps, the eastern Adriatic Sea, the northern and western Black sea and the southwestern Caspian Sea.[17][18]
In North America, the greater scaup summers in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ungava Bay, Hudson Bay, Lake Winnipeg, northern Yukon, northern Manitoba, and northern Saskatchewan. It winters along the coasts of North America from northern British Columbia south to the Baja Peninsula and from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick south to Florida, as well as the shores of the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico.[15]
Behaviour
Breeding
Egg, Collection Museum Wiesbaden
Greater scaup breed in the tundra and the boreal forest; it is estimated that 75% of the North American population breed in Alaska. They typically nest on islands in large northern lakes. Greater scaup begin breeding when they are two years old, although they may start nesting at age one. Drake greater scaup have a soft, quick whistle they use to attract the attention of hens during courtship, which takes place from late winter to early spring, on the way back to their northern breeding grounds. Female greater scaup have a single pitch, a raspy “arrr-arrr-arrr-arrr-arrr” vocalization.[19] The courtship is complex and results in the formation of monogamous pairs.[20] Pairs nest in close proximity to each other in large colonies, usually near water, on an island or shoreline, or on a raft of floating vegetation. The nest consists of a shallow depression made by the female and lined with her down.[11] After the female lays the eggs, the drake abandons the female[20] and goes with other drakes to a large, isolated lake to molt. These lakes can be close to the breeding grounds or miles away. The lakes chosen are used yearly by the same ducks. The optimal molting lake is fairly shallow and has an abundance of food sources and cover.[21] The female lays six to nine olive-buff-colored eggs,[22] which she incubates for 24–28 days.[23] A larger clutch could indicate brood parasitism by other greater scaups or even ducks of other species.[24] Newly hatched chicks are covered with down and are soon able to walk, swim, and feed themselves; however, they are not able to fly until 40–45 days after hatching.[15][20] The vulnerable small chicks follow their mother, who protects them from predators.[20]
Feeding
Flock feeding in Tokyo bay, Japan
The greater scaup dive to obtain food, which they eat on the surface.[11] They mainly eat molluscs, aquatic plants, and aquatic insects.[19] During the summer months, the greater scaup will eat small aquatic crustaceans.[11] There is a report of four greater scaups in April near Chicago swallowing hibernating leopard frogs (with body length about 5 cm (2.0 in)), which they dredged out of a roadside freshwater pond.[25] In freshwater ecosystems, the greater scaup will eat seeds, leaves, stems and roots, along with sedges, pondweeds, muskgrass, and wild celery.[12] Owing to the greater scaup's webbed feet and weight, it can dive up to 6 metres (20 ft) and stay submerged for up to a minute, allowing it to reach food sources that are unobtainable to other diving ducks.[26] The greater scaup forms large flocks, some of which can contain thousands of birds. When flocks are on flowing water, they will face the current, and as the ducks float backwards, some fly to the front of the flock to maintain position.](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/04/10/78396205_medium.jpg)
![From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Black-necked swan
Black-necked Swan.jpg
Black-necked Swan at San Francisco Zoo, USA
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus: Cygnus
Species: C. melancoryphus
Binomial name
Cygnus melancoryphus
(Molina, 1782)[2]
Synonyms
Anas melancoripha (lapsus)
Molina, 1782[verification needed]
Sthenelides melancoryphus
Sthenelides melanocoryphus
(unjustified emendation)
Cygnus melancorypha
(a common lapsus)
Cygnus melanocoryphus
(unjustified emendation)
The black-necked swan (Cygnus melancoryphus) is a swan that is the largest waterfowl native to South America.
Description
Adults average 102 to 124 cm (40 to 49 in) and weigh 3.5 to 6.7 kg (7.7 to 14.8 lb).[3] The wingspan ranges from 135 to 177 cm (53 to 70 in).[4] The body plumage is white with a black neck and head and greyish bill. It has a red knob near the base of the bill and white stripe behind the eye. The sexes are similar, with the female slightly smaller. The Cygnet has a light grey plumage with black bill and feet. The black-necked swan was formerly placed in the monotypic genus, Sthenelides.
The smallest member in its genus, it is found in freshwater marshes, lagoon and lake shores in southern South America. The black-necked swan breeds in Chilean Southern Zone, Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego and on the Falkland Islands. In the austral winter, this species migrates northwards to Paraguay and southern Brazil.[3] The wetlands created by the Great Chilean earthquake like Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary in Cruces River have become important population centers for the black-necked swan.
In 2004 and 2005 thousands of black-necked swans in the Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary in Chile died or migrated away following major contamination by Valdivia Pulp Mill located on the Cruces River which feeds the wetlands. By August 2005 the birds in the Sanctuary had been "wiped out"; only four birds could be observed from a population formerly estimated at 5000 birds. Autopsies on dead swans attributed the deaths to high levels of iron and other metals polluting the water.[5]
The black-necked swan, like its nearest relatives the black and mute swan is relatively silent. Also, unlike most wildfowl, both parents regularly carry the cygnets on their backs. The female lays four to six eggs in a nest of vegetation mound. The diet consists mainly of vegetation, insects and fish spawn.
Widespread and common throughout its habitat, the black-necked swan is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.[1] It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/03/19/78033944_medium.jpg)
![Swans
Temporal range: Late Miocene-Holocene
Cygnus olor 2 (Marek Szczepanek).jpg
Mute swans
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Subfamily: Anserinae
Genus: Cygnus
Garsault, 1764
Type species
Cygnus cygnus
Linnaeus, 1758
Species
6–7 living, see text.
Synonyms
Cygnanser Kretzoi, 1957
Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus Cygnus. The swans' close relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae. There are six or seven species of swan in the genus Cygnus; in addition there is another species known as the coscoroba swan, although this species is no longer considered one of the true swans. Swans usually mate for life, though "divorce" does sometimes occur, particularly following nesting failure, and if a mate dies, the remaining swan will take up with another. The number of eggs in each clutch ranges from three to eight.
Etymology and terminology
The English word 'swan', akin to the German Schwan, Dutch zwaan and Swedish svan, is derived from Indo-European root *swen (to sound, to sing).[1] Young swans are known as swanlings or as cygnets; the latter derives via Old French cigne or cisne (diminutive suffix -et "little") from the Latin word cygnus, a variant form of cycnus "swan", itself from the Greek κύκνος kýknos, a word of the same meaning.[2][3][4] An adult male is a cob, from Middle English cobbe (leader of a group); an adult female is a pen.[5]
Description
A mute swan landing on water. Due to the size and weight of most swans, large areas of open land or water are required to successfully take off and land.
Swans are the largest extant members of the waterfowl family Anatidae, and are among the largest flying birds. The largest species, including the mute swan, trumpeter swan, and whooper swan, can reach a length of over 1.5 m (59 in) and weigh over 15 kg (33 lb). Their wingspans can be over 3.1 m (10 ft).[6] Compared to the closely related geese, they are much larger and have proportionally larger feet and necks.[7] Adults also have a patch of unfeathered skin between the eyes and bill. The sexes are alike in plumage, but males are generally bigger and heavier than females.[5]
The Northern Hemisphere species of swan have pure white plumage but the Southern Hemisphere species are mixed black and white. The Australian black swan (Cygnus atratus) is completely black except for the white flight feathers on its wings; the chicks of black swans are light grey. The South American black-necked swan has a white body with a black neck.[8]
Swans' legs are normally a dark blackish grey colour, except for the two South American species, which have pink legs. Bill colour varies: the four subarctic species have black bills with varying amounts of yellow, and all the others are patterned red and black. Although birds do not have teeth, swans have beaks with serrated edges that look like small jagged 'teeth' as part of their beaks used for catching and eating aquatic plants and algae, but also molluscs, small fish, frogs and worms.[9] The mute swan and black-necked swan have lumps at the base of their bills on the upper mandible.[10]
Distribution and movements
See also: List of Anseriformes by population
Whooper swans migrate from Iceland, Greenland, Scandinavia, and Northern Russia to Europe, Central Asia, China, and Japan
Swans are generally found in temperate environments, rarely occurring in the tropics. A group of swans is called a bevy or a wedge in flight. Four (or five) species occur in the Northern Hemisphere, one species is found in Australia and New Zealand and one species is distributed in southern South America. They are absent from tropical Asia, Central America, northern South America and the entirety of Africa. One species, the mute swan, has been introduced to North America, Australia and New Zealand.[7]
Several species are migratory, either wholly or partly so. The mute swan is a partial migrant, being resident over areas of Western Europe but wholly migratory in Eastern Europe and Asia. The whooper swan and tundra swan are wholly migratory, and the trumpeter swans are almost entirely migratory.[7] There is some evidence that the black-necked swan is migratory over part of its range, but detailed studies have not established whether these movements are long or short range migration.[11]
Behaviour
Swans feed in water and on land. They are almost entirely herbivorous, although they may eat small amounts of aquatic animals. In the water, food is obtained by up-ending or dabbling, and their diet is composed of the roots, tubers, stems and leaves of aquatic and submerged plants.[7]
Mute swan threatens a photographer in Toyako, Japan.
Mute swan and cygnets
Mute swan and nine cygnets
Black swan and cygnet
Although swans only reach sexual maturity between 4 and 7 years of age, they can form socially monogamous pair bonds from as early as 20 months that last for many years,[12] and in some cases these can last for life.[13] The lifespan of the mute swan is often over 10 years, and sometimes over 20, whereas the black-necked swan survives for less than a decade in captivity.[14] These bonds are maintained year-round, even in gregarious and migratory species like the tundra swan, which congregate in large flocks in the wintering grounds.[15] Their nest is on the ground near water and about a metre across. Unlike many other ducks and geese, the male helps with the nest construction. Average egg size (for the mute swan) is 113×74 mm, weighing 340 g, in a clutch size of 4 to 7, and an incubation period of 34–45 days.[16] With the exception of the whistling ducks they are the only anatids where the males aid in incubating the eggs.[17]
Swans are known to aggressively protect their nests. One man was suspected to have drowned in such an attack.[18][19]
Systematics and evolution
Black-necked swan at WWT London Wetland Centre
Black swan in Teresópolis, Brazil
Evidence suggests that the genus Cygnus evolved in Europe or western Eurasia during the Miocene, spreading all over the Northern Hemisphere until the Pliocene. When the southern species branched off is not known. The mute swan apparently is closest to the Southern Hemisphere Cygnus (del Hoyo et al., eds, Handbook of the Birds of the World); its habits of carrying the neck curved (not straight) and the wings fluffed (not flush) as well as its bill color and knob indicate that its closest living relative is the black swan. Given the biogeography and appearance of the subgenus Olor it seems likely that these are of a more recent origin, as evidence shows by their modern ranges (which were mostly uninhabitable during the last ice age) and great similarity between the taxa.
Phylogeny
Based on the Taxonomy in Flux from John Boyd's website.[20]
Cygnina
Sthenelides melancoryphus (Black-necked swan)
Cygnus
(Chenopis)
C. atratus (Latham, 1790) (Black swan)
(Olor)
C. olor (Gmelin, 1789) (Mute swan)
(Cygnus)
C. buccinator Richardson, 1832 (Trumpeter swan)
C. cygnus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Whooper swan)
C. columbianus (Ord, 1815) (Tundra swan)
Species
Genus Cygnus
Subgenus Olor
Mute swan, Cygnus olor, is a Eurasian species that occurs at lower latitudes than whooper swan and Bewick's swan across Europe into southern Russia, China and the Russian Maritimes. Recent fossil records, according to the British Ornithological Union, show Cygnus olor is among the oldest bird species still extant and it has been upgraded to "native" status in several European countries, since this bird has been found in fossil and bog specimens dating back thousands of years. Common temperate Eurasian species, often semi-domesticated descendants of domestic flocks, are naturalized in the United States and elsewhere.
Subgenus Chenopis
Black swan, Cygnus atratus of Australia, and introduced in New Zealand
†New Zealand swan, Cygnus atratus sumnerensis, an extinct subspecies of the black swan from New Zealand and the Chatham Islands
Subgenus Sthenelides
Black-necked swan, Cygnus melancoryphus of South America
Subgenus Cygnus
Whooper swan, Cygnus cygnus breeds in Iceland and subarctic Europe and Asia, migrating to temperate Europe and Asia in winter
Trumpeter swan, Cygnus buccinator is the largest North American swan. Very similar to the whooper swan (and sometimes treated as a subspecies of it), it was hunted almost to extinction but has since recovered
Tundra swan, Cygnus columbianus is a small swan that breeds on the North American tundra, further north than the trumpeter swan. It winters in the USA.
Bewick's swan, Cygnus (columbianus) bewickii is the Eurasian form that migrates from Arctic Russia to western Europe and eastern Asia (China, Korea, Japan) in winter. It is often considered a subspecies of C. columbianus, creating the species tundra swan.
Whistling swan, Cygnus (columbianus) columbianus may be used to refer specifically to the North American form.
The fossil record of the genus Cygnus is quite impressive, although allocation to the subgenera is often tentative; as indicated above, at least the early forms probably belong to the C. olor – Southern Hemisphere lineage, whereas the Pleistocene taxa from
An adult trumpeter swan in Jackson Hole, Wyoming
North America would be placed in Olor. A number of prehistoric species have been described, mostly from the Northern Hemisphere. Among them was the giant Siculo-Maltese C. falconeri, which was taller (though not heavier) than the contemporary local dwarf elephants (Elephas falconeri).
Fossil record
†Cygnus csakvarensis Lambrecht 1933 [Cygnus csákvárensis Lambrecht 1931a nomen nudum; Cygnanser csakvarensis (Lambrecht 1933) Kretzoi 1957; Olor csakvarensis (Lambrecht 1933) Mlíkovský 1992b] (Late Miocene of Hungary)
†Cygnus mariae Bickart 1990 (Early Pliocene of Wickieup, USA)
†Cygnus verae Boev 2000 (Early Pliocene of Sofia, Bulgaria)[21]
†Cygnus liskunae (Kuročkin 1976) [Anser liskunae Kuročkin 1976] (Middle Pliocene of W Mongolia)
†Cygnus hibbardi Brodkorb 1958 (?Early Pleistocene of Idaho, USA)
†Cygnus sp. (Early Pleistocene of Dursunlu, Turkey: Louchart et al. 1998)
†Giant swan, Cygnus falconeri Parker 1865 sensu Livezey 1997a [Cygnus melitensis Falconer 1868; Palaeocygnus falconeri (Parker 1865) Oberholser 1908] (Middle Pleistocene of Malta and Sicily, Mediterranean)
†Cygnus paloregonus Cope 1878 [Anser condoni Schufeldt 1892; Cygnus matthewi Schufeldt 1913] (Middle Pleistocene of WC USA)
†Dwarf swan Cygnus equitum Bate 1916 sensu Livezey 1997 [Anser equitum (Bate 1916) Brodkorb 1964; Cygnus (Olor) equitum Bate 1916 sensu Northcote 1988a] (Middle – Late Pleistocene of Malta and Sicily, Mediterranean)
†Cygnus lacustris (De Vis 1905) [Archaeocygnus lacustris De Vis 1905] (Late Pleistocene of Lake Eyre region, Australia)
†Cygnus sp. (Pleistocene of Australia)[citation needed][verification needed]
†Cygnus atavus (Fraas 1870) Mlíkovský 1992 [Anas atava Fraas 1870; Anas cygniformis Fraas 1870; Palaelodus steinheimensis Fraas 1870; Anser atavus (Fraas 1870) Lambrecht 1933; Anser cygniformis (Fraas 1870) Lambrecht 1933]
The supposed fossil swans "Cygnus" bilinicus and "Cygnus" herrenthalsi were, respectively, a stork and some large bird of unknown affinity (due to the bad state of preservation of the referred material). Anser atavus is sometimes placed in Cygnus.[citation needed]
The coscoroba swan (Coscoroba coscoroba) from South America, the only species of its genus, is apparently not a true swan. Its phylogenetic position is not fully resolved; it is in some aspects more similar to geese and shelducks.[22]](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/03/28/78190096_medium.jpg)
![From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus Cygnus. The swans' close relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae. There are six or seven species of swan in the genus Cygnus; in addition there is another species known as the coscoroba swan, although this species is no longer considered one of the true swans. Swans usually mate for life, though "divorce" does sometimes occur, particularly following nesting failure, and if a mate dies, the remaining swan will take up with another. The number of eggs in each clutch ranges from three to eight.
Etymology and terminology
The English word 'swan', akin to the German Schwan, Dutch zwaan and Swedish svan, is derived from Indo-European root *swen (to sound, to sing).[1] Young swans are known as swanlings or as cygnets; the latter derives via Old French cigne or cisne (diminutive suffix -et "little") from the Latin word cygnus, a variant form of cycnus "swan", itself from the Greek κύκνος kýknos, a word of the same meaning.[2][3][4] An adult male is a cob, from Middle English cobbe (leader of a group); an adult female is a pen.[5]
Description
A mute swan landing on water. Due to the size and weight of most swans, large areas of open land or water are required to successfully take off and land.
Swans are the largest extant members of the waterfowl family Anatidae, and are among the largest flying birds. The largest species, including the mute swan, trumpeter swan, and whooper swan, can reach a length of over 1.5 m (59 in) and weigh over 15 kg (33 lb). Their wingspans can be over 3.1 m (10 ft).[6] Compared to the closely related geese, they are much larger and have proportionally larger feet and necks.[7] Adults also have a patch of unfeathered skin between the eyes and bill. The sexes are alike in plumage, but males are generally bigger and heavier than females.[5]
The Northern Hemisphere species of swan have pure white plumage but the Southern Hemisphere species are mixed black and white. The Australian black swan (Cygnus atratus) is completely black except for the white flight feathers on its wings; the chicks of black swans are light grey. The South American black-necked swan has a white body with a black neck.[8]
Swans' legs are normally a dark blackish grey colour, except for the two South American species, which have pink legs. Bill colour varies: the four subarctic species have black bills with varying amounts of yellow, and all the others are patterned red and black. Although birds do not have teeth, swans have beaks with serrated edges that look like small jagged 'teeth' as part of their beaks used for catching and eating aquatic plants and algae, but also molluscs, small fish, frogs and worms.[9] The mute swan and black-necked swan have lumps at the base of their bills on the upper mandible.[10]
Distribution and movements
See also: List of Anseriformes by population
Whooper swans migrate from Iceland, Greenland, Scandinavia, and Northern Russia to Europe, Central Asia, China, and Japan
Swans are generally found in temperate environments, rarely occurring in the tropics. A group of swans is called a bevy or a wedge in flight. Four (or five) species occur in the Northern Hemisphere, one species is found in Australia and New Zealand and one species is distributed in southern South America. They are absent from tropical Asia, Central America, northern South America and the entirety of Africa. One species, the mute swan, has been introduced to North America, Australia and New Zealand.[7]
Several species are migratory, either wholly or partly so. The mute swan is a partial migrant, being resident over areas of Western Europe but wholly migratory in Eastern Europe and Asia. The whooper swan and tundra swan are wholly migratory, and the trumpeter swans are almost entirely migratory.[7] There is some evidence that the black-necked swan is migratory over part of its range, but detailed studies have not established whether these movements are long or short range migration.[11]
Behaviour
Swans feed in water and on land. They are almost entirely herbivorous, although they may eat small amounts of aquatic animals. In the water, food is obtained by up-ending or dabbling, and their diet is composed of the roots, tubers, stems and leaves of aquatic and submerged plants.[7]
Mute swan threatens a photographer in Toyako, Japan.
Mute swan and cygnets
Mute swan and nine cygnets
Black swan and cygnet
Although swans only reach sexual maturity between 4 and 7 years of age, they can form socially monogamous pair bonds from as early as 20 months that last for many years,[12] and in some cases these can last for life.[13] The lifespan of the mute swan is often over 10 years, and sometimes over 20, whereas the black-necked swan survives for less than a decade in captivity.[14] These bonds are maintained year-round, even in gregarious and migratory species like the tundra swan, which congregate in large flocks in the wintering grounds.[15] Their nest is on the ground near water and about a metre across. Unlike many other ducks and geese, the male helps with the nest construction. Average egg size (for the mute swan) is 113×74 mm, weighing 340 g, in a clutch size of 4 to 7, and an incubation period of 34–45 days.[16] With the exception of the whistling ducks they are the only anatids where the males aid in incubating the eggs.[17]
Swans are known to aggressively protect their nests. One man was suspected to have drowned in such an attack.[18][19]
Systematics and evolution
Black-necked swan at WWT London Wetland Centre
Black swan in Teresópolis, Brazil
Evidence suggests that the genus Cygnus evolved in Europe or western Eurasia during the Miocene, spreading all over the Northern Hemisphere until the Pliocene. When the southern species branched off is not known. The mute swan apparently is closest to the Southern Hemisphere Cygnus (del Hoyo et al., eds, Handbook of the Birds of the World); its habits of carrying the neck curved (not straight) and the wings fluffed (not flush) as well as its bill color and knob indicate that its closest living relative is the black swan. Given the biogeography and appearance of the subgenus Olor it seems likely that these are of a more recent origin, as evidence shows by their modern ranges (which were mostly uninhabitable during the last ice age) and great similarity between the taxa.
Phylogeny
Based on the Taxonomy in Flux from John Boyd's website.[20]
Cygnina
Sthenelides melancoryphus (Black-necked swan)
Cygnus
(Chenopis)
C. atratus (Latham, 1790) (Black swan)
(Olor)
C. olor (Gmelin, 1789) (Mute swan)
(Cygnus)
C. buccinator Richardson, 1832 (Trumpeter swan)
C. cygnus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Whooper swan)
C. columbianus (Ord, 1815) (Tundra swan)
Species
Genus Cygnus
Subgenus Olor
Mute swan, Cygnus olor, is a Eurasian species that occurs at lower latitudes than whooper swan and Bewick's swan across Europe into southern Russia, China and the Russian Maritimes. Recent fossil records, according to the British Ornithological Union, show Cygnus olor is among the oldest bird species still extant and it has been upgraded to "native" status in several European countries, since this bird has been found in fossil and bog specimens dating back thousands of years. Common temperate Eurasian species, often semi-domesticated descendants of domestic flocks, are naturalized in the United States and elsewhere.
Subgenus Chenopis
Black swan, Cygnus atratus of Australia, and introduced in New Zealand
†New Zealand swan, Cygnus atratus sumnerensis, an extinct subspecies of the black swan from New Zealand and the Chatham Islands
Subgenus Sthenelides
Black-necked swan, Cygnus melancoryphus of South America
Subgenus Cygnus
Whooper swan, Cygnus cygnus breeds in Iceland and subarctic Europe and Asia, migrating to temperate Europe and Asia in winter
Trumpeter swan, Cygnus buccinator is the largest North American swan. Very similar to the whooper swan (and sometimes treated as a subspecies of it), it was hunted almost to extinction but has since recovered
Tundra swan, Cygnus columbianus is a small swan that breeds on the North American tundra, further north than the trumpeter swan. It winters in the USA.
Bewick's swan, Cygnus (columbianus) bewickii is the Eurasian form that migrates from Arctic Russia to western Europe and eastern Asia (China, Korea, Japan) in winter. It is often considered a subspecies of C. columbianus, creating the species tundra swan.
Whistling swan, Cygnus (columbianus) columbianus may be used to refer specifically to the North American form.
The fossil record of the genus Cygnus is quite impressive, although allocation to the subgenera is often tentative; as indicated above, at least the early forms probably belong to the C. olor – Southern Hemisphere lineage, whereas the Pleistocene taxa from
An adult trumpeter swan in Jackson Hole, Wyoming
North America would be placed in Olor. A number of prehistoric species have been described, mostly from the Northern Hemisphere. Among them was the giant Siculo-Maltese C. falconeri, which was taller (though not heavier) than the contemporary local dwarf elephants (Elephas falconeri).
Fossil record
†Cygnus csakvarensis Lambrecht 1933 [Cygnus csákvárensis Lambrecht 1931a nomen nudum; Cygnanser csakvarensis (Lambrecht 1933) Kretzoi 1957; Olor csakvarensis (Lambrecht 1933) Mlíkovský 1992b] (Late Miocene of Hungary)
†Cygnus mariae Bickart 1990 (Early Pliocene of Wickieup, USA)
†Cygnus verae Boev 2000 (Early Pliocene of Sofia, Bulgaria)[21]
†Cygnus liskunae (Kuročkin 1976) [Anser liskunae Kuročkin 1976] (Middle Pliocene of W Mongolia)
†Cygnus hibbardi Brodkorb 1958 (?Early Pleistocene of Idaho, USA)
†Cygnus sp. (Early Pleistocene of Dursunlu, Turkey: Louchart et al. 1998)
†Giant swan, Cygnus falconeri Parker 1865 sensu Livezey 1997a [Cygnus melitensis Falconer 1868; Palaeocygnus falconeri (Parker 1865) Oberholser 1908] (Middle Pleistocene of Malta and Sicily, Mediterranean)
†Cygnus paloregonus Cope 1878 [Anser condoni Schufeldt 1892; Cygnus matthewi Schufeldt 1913] (Middle Pleistocene of WC USA)
†Dwarf swan Cygnus equitum Bate 1916 sensu Livezey 1997 [Anser equitum (Bate 1916) Brodkorb 1964; Cygnus (Olor) equitum Bate 1916 sensu Northcote 1988a] (Middle – Late Pleistocene of Malta and Sicily, Mediterranean)
†Cygnus lacustris (De Vis 1905) [Archaeocygnus lacustris De Vis 1905] (Late Pleistocene of Lake Eyre region, Australia)
†Cygnus sp. (Pleistocene of Australia)[citation needed][verification needed]
†Cygnus atavus (Fraas 1870) Mlíkovský 1992 [Anas atava Fraas 1870; Anas cygniformis Fraas 1870; Palaelodus steinheimensis Fraas 1870; Anser atavus (Fraas 1870) Lambrecht 1933; Anser cygniformis (Fraas 1870) Lambrecht 1933]
The supposed fossil swans "Cygnus" bilinicus and "Cygnus" herrenthalsi were, respectively, a stork and some large bird of unknown affinity (due to the bad state of preservation of the referred material). Anser atavus is sometimes placed in Cygnus.[citation needed]
The coscoroba swan (Coscoroba coscoroba) from South America, the only species of its genus, is apparently not a true swan. Its phylogenetic position is not fully resolved; it is in some aspects more similar to geese and shelducks.[22]
In culture
See also: Black swan emblems and popular culture, Black swan (disambiguation), The Swan of Tuonela, and Swan upping
Many of the cultural aspects refer to the mute swan of Europe. Perhaps the best known story about a swan is "The Ugly Duckling" fable. Swans are often a symbol of love or fidelity because of their long-lasting, apparently monogamous relationships. See the famous swan-related operas Lohengrin[23] and Parsifal.[24] Swan meat was regarded as a luxury food in England in the reign of Elizabeth I. A recipe for baked swan survives from that time: "To bake a Swan Scald it and take out the bones, and parboil it, then season it very well with Pepper, Salt and Ginger, then lard it, and put it in a deep Coffin of Rye Paste with store of Butter, close it and bake it very well, and when it is baked, fill up the Vent-hole with melted Butter, and so keep it; serve it in as you do the Beef-Pie."[25]
A swan depicted on an Irish commemorative coin in celebration of its EU presidency.
"Łabędź" (Polish for "Swan") is a Polish–Lithuanian coat of arms which was used by many Polish szlachta and Lithuanian Bajorai (noble) families under the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The variant here given is the coat-of-arms of writer Henryk Sienkiewicz's family.
Swans feature strongly in mythology. In Greek mythology, the story of Leda and the Swan recounts that Helen of Troy was conceived in a union of Zeus disguised as a swan and Leda, Queen of Sparta.[26] Other references in classical literature include the belief that upon death the otherwise-silent mute swan would sing beautifully—hence the phrase swan song;[27] as well as Juvenal's sarcastic reference to a good woman being a "rare bird, as rare on earth as a black swan", from which we get the Latin phrase rara avis, rare bird.[28] The mute swan is also one of the sacred birds of Apollo, whose associations stem both from the nature of the bird as a symbol of light as well as the notion of a "swan song". The god is often depicted riding a chariot pulled by or composed of swans in his ascension from Delos.
The Irish legend of the Children of Lir is about a stepmother transforming her children into swans for 900 years.[29] In the legend The Wooing of Etain, the king of the Sidhe (subterranean-dwelling, supernatural beings) transforms himself and the most beautiful woman in Ireland, Etain, into swans to escape from the king of Ireland and Ireland's armies. The swan has recently been depicted on an Irish commemorative coin.
Swans are also present in Irish literature in the poetry of W.B. Yeats. "The Wild Swans at Coole" has a heavy focus on the mesmerising characteristics of the swan. Yeats also recounts the myth of Leda and the Swan in the poem of the same name.
In Norse mythology, there are two swans that drink from the sacred Well of Urd in the realm of Asgard, home of the gods. According to the Prose Edda, the water of this well is so pure and holy that all things that touch it turn white, including this original pair of swans and all others descended from them. The poem Volundarkvida, or the Lay of Volund, part of the Poetic Edda, also features swan maidens.
In the Finnish epic Kalevala, a swan lives in the Tuoni river located in Tuonela, the underworld realm of the dead. According to the story, whoever killed a swan would perish as well. Jean Sibelius composed the Lemminkäinen Suite based on Kalevala, with the second piece entitled Swan of Tuonela (Tuonelan joutsen). Today, five flying swans are the symbol of the Nordic Countries, the whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus) is the national bird of Finland,[30] and the mute swan is the national bird of Denmark.[31]
French satirist François Rabelais wrote in Gargantua and Pantagruel that a swan's neck was the best toilet paper he had encountered.
St Hugh of Lincoln with swan
A swan is one of the attributes of St Hugh of Lincoln based on the story of a swan who was devoted to him.[32]
In Latin American literature, the Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío (1867–1916) consecrated the swan as a symbol of artistic inspiration by drawing attention to the constancy of swan imagery in Western culture, beginning with the rape of Leda and ending with Wagner's Lohengrin. Darío's most famous poem in this regard is Blasón – "Coat of Arms" (1896), and his use of the swan made it a symbol for the Modernismo poetic movement that dominated Spanish language poetry from the 1880s until the First World War. Such was the dominance of Modernismo in Spanish language poetry that the Mexican poet Enrique González Martínez attempted to announce the end of Modernismo with a sonnet provocatively entitled, Tuércele el cuello al cisne – "Wring the Swan's Neck" (1910).
Swans are revered in Hinduism, and are compared to saintly persons whose chief characteristic is to be in the world without getting attached to it, just as a swan's feather does not get wet although it is in water. The Sanskrit word for swan is hamsa and the "Raja Hamsam" or the Royal Swan is the vehicle of Goddess Saraswati which symbolises the "Sattva Guna" or purity par excellence. The swan if offered a mixture of milk and water, is said to be able to drink the milk alone. Therefore, Goddess Saraswati the goddess of knowledge is seen riding the swan because the swan thus symbolizes "Viveka" i.e. prudence and discrimination between the good and the bad or between the eternal and the transient. This is taken as a great quality, as shown by this Sanskrit verse:
Hamsah shwetah, bakah shwetah, kah bhedah hamsa bakayo?
Neeraksheera viveketu, Hamsah hamsah, bakah bakah!
The swan is white, the crane is white, so how to differentiate between them?
With the milk-water test, the swan is proven swan, the crane is proven crane!
Swan from flowers. Baku, Azerbaijan
It is mentioned several times in the Vedic literature, and persons who have attained great spiritual capabilities are sometimes called Paramahamsa ("Supreme Swan") on account of their spiritual grace and ability to travel between various spiritual worlds. In the Vedas, swans are said to reside in the summer on Lake Manasarovar and migrate to Indian lakes for the winter. They're believed to possess some powers such as the ability to eat pearls.
Swans are intimately associated with the divine twins in Indo-European religions, and it is thought that in Proto-Indo-European times, swans were a solar symbol associated with the divine twins and the original Indo-European sun goddess.[33]](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/03/28/78190166_medium.jpg)
![From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Chinese geese)
A family at Staglands Wildlife Reserve, Wellington, New Zealand
White Chinese geese in Japan
A goose in Myitkyina, Kachin State, Myanmar
The Chinese goose is a breed of domesticated goose descended from the wild swan goose. Chinese geese differ from the wild birds in much larger size (up to 5–10 kg in males, 4–9 kg in females), and in having an often strongly developed basal knob on the upper side of the bill. The knob at the top of the beak is more prominent on males than females. By 6–8 weeks of age, the knob is already pronounced enough that it can be used for determining gender. Chinese geese are a close cousin of the African goose, a heavier breed also descended from the swan goose.
Chinese geese appear in two varieties: a brown similar to the wild swan goose and white. While many domestic Chinese geese have a similar body type to other breeds, the breed standards as defined in the American Poultry Association's Standard of Perfection and other sources call for a slimmer, taller fowl.[1]
Chinese geese are among the better laying breeds of a goose. A female Chinese goose can lay 50–60 eggs over the course of the breeding season (February to June), although there are reports of Chinese geese laying up to 100 eggs during that time.[2]](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/03/19/78032470_medium.jpg)
![From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Black Swan)
For other uses, see Black swan (disambiguation).
Black swan
Black Swan at Martin Mere.JPG
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus: Cygnus
Species: C. atratus
Binomial name
Cygnus atratus
(Latham, 1790)
Subspecies
C. a. atratus
black swan
Synonyms
Anas atrata Latham, 1790
Chenopis atratus
The black swan (Cygnus atratus) is a large waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. A New Zealand subspecies was apparently hunted to extinction by Māori, but the species was reintroduced to New Zealand in the 1860s.[2] Within Australia they are nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent upon climatic conditions. Black swans are large birds with mostly black plumage and red bills. They are monogamous breeders, and are unusual in that one-quarter of all pairings are homosexual, mostly between males. Both partners share incubation and cygnet rearing duties.
Black swans were introduced to various countries as an ornamental bird in the 1800s, but have escaped and formed stable populations. A small population of black swans exists on the River Thames at Marlow, on the Brook running through the small town of Dawlish in Devon (they have become the symbol of the town) and near the River Itchen, Hampshire, there is also one on the River Tees near Stockton on Tees.[3] Described scientifically by English naturalist John Latham in 1790, the black swan was formerly placed into a monotypic genus, Chenopis. Black swans can be found singly, or in loose companies numbering into the hundreds or even thousands.[4] Black swans are popular birds in zoological gardens and bird collections, and escapees are sometimes seen outside their natural range.
Description
Side view of mature adult showing characteristic "S" neck
Near Devonport, Tasmania with wings raised in an aggressive display revealing white flight feathers
Black swans are mostly black-feathered birds, with white flight feathers. The bill is bright red, with a pale bar and tip; and legs and feet are greyish-black. Cobs (males) are slightly larger than pens (females), with a longer and straighter bill. Cygnets (immature birds) are a greyish-brown with pale-edged feathers.[4]
A mature black swan measures between 110 and 142 centimetres (43 and 56 in) in length and weighs 3.7–9 kilograms (8.2–19.8 lb). Its wing span is between 1.6 and 2 metres (5.2 and 6.6 ft).[4][5] The neck is long (relatively the longest neck among the swans) and curved in an "S"-shape.
The black swan utters a musical and far reaching bugle-like sound, called either on the water or in flight, as well as a range of softer crooning notes. It can also whistle, especially when disturbed while breeding and nesting.[4][6]
When swimming, black swans hold their necks arched or erect and often carry their feathers or wings raised in an aggressive display. In flight, a wedge of black swans will form as a line or a V, with the individual birds flying strongly with undulating long necks, making whistling sounds with their wings and baying, bugling or trumpeting calls.[4]
The black swan is unlike any other Australian bird, although in poor light and at long range it may be confused with a magpie goose in flight. However, the black swan can be distinguished by its much longer neck and slower wing beat.[7]
One captive population of black swans in Lakeland, Florida has produced a few individuals which are a light mottled grey color instead of black.[8]
Distribution
Adult with a cygnet in New Zealand
Black swan on Vacha reservoir, Bulgaria
Black swan in Teresópolis, Brazil
The black swan is common in the wetlands of southwestern and eastern Australia and adjacent coastal islands. In the south west the range encompasses an area between North West Cape, Cape Leeuwin and Eucla; while in the east it covers a large region bounded by the Atherton Tableland, the Eyre Peninsula and Tasmania, with the Murray Darling Basin supporting very large populations of black swans.[4][9] It is uncommon in central and northern Australia. The black swan has escaped or been deliberately released in to Florida, USA, but there is no evidence that the population is breeding and may only persist due to continuing releases or escapes.[1]
The black swan's preferred habitat extends across fresh, brackish and salt water lakes, swamps and rivers with underwater and emergent vegetation for food and nesting materials. Permanent wetlands are preferred, including ornamental lakes, but black swans can also be found in flooded pastures and tidal mudflats, and occasionally on the open sea near islands or the shore.[4]
Black swans were once thought to be sedentary, but the species is now known to be highly nomadic. There is no set migratory pattern, but rather opportunistic responses to either rainfall or drought. In high rainfall years, emigration occurs from the south west and south east into the interior, with a reverse migration to these heartlands in drier years. When rain does fall in the arid central regions, black swans will migrate to these areas to nest and raise their young. However, should dry conditions return before the young have been raised, the adult birds will abandon the nests and their eggs or cygnets and return to wetter areas.[10]
Black swans, like many other water fowl, lose all their flight feathers at once when they moult after breeding and they are unable to fly for about a month. During this time they will usually settle on large, open waters for safety.[10]
The species has a large range, with figures between one and ten million km2 given as the extent of occurrence. The current global population is estimated to be up to 500,000 individuals. No threat of extinction or significant decline in population has been identified with this numerous and widespread bird.[1]
Black swans were first seen by Europeans in 1697, when Willem de Vlamingh's expedition explored the Swan River, Western Australia.
Introduced populations
Adult black swan in Spain
In flight
Before the arrival of the Māori in New Zealand, a subspecies of the black swan known as the New Zealand swan had developed in the islands, but was apparently hunted to extinction. In 1864, the Australian black swan was introduced to New Zealand as an ornamental waterfowl and populations are now common on larger coastal or inland lakes, especially Rotorua Lakes, Lake Wairarapa, Lake Ellesmere, and the Chatham Islands.[6] Black swans have also naturally flown to New Zealand, leading scientists to consider them a native rather than exotic species, although the present population appears to be largely descended from deliberate introductions.[11]
The black swan is also very popular as an ornamental waterbird in western Europe, especially Britain, and escapees are commonly reported. As yet, the population in Britain is not considered to be self-sustaining and so the species is not afforded admission to the official British List,[12] but the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust have recorded a maximum of nine breeding pairs in the UK in 2001, with an estimate of 43 feral birds in 2003-2004.
A colony of black swans in Dawlish, Devon has become so well associated with the town that the bird has been the town's emblem for forty years.[13] Black swans used to live in Lake Junaluska, a large lake in Waynesville, North Carolina.[14]
There are also wild populations in Japan, having originally been imported during 1950-1960.[15][16][17]
Behaviour
Up-ending in deeper water to reach food
Cygnus atratus, Spring rain
Diet and feeding
The black swan is almost exclusively herbivorous, and while there is some regional and seasonal variation, the diet is generally dominated by aquatic and marshland plants. In New South Wales the leaf of reedmace (genus Typha) is the most important food of birds in wetlands, followed by submerged algae and aquatic plants such as Vallisneria. In Queensland, aquatic plants such as Potamogeton, stoneworts, and algae are the dominant foods. The exact composition varies with water level; in flood situations where normal foods are out of reach black swans will feed on pasture plants on shore.[18] The black swan feeds in a similar manner to other swans. When feeding in shallow water it will dip its head and neck under the water and it is able to keep its head flat against the bottom while keeping its body horizontal. In deeper water the bird up-ends to reach lower. Black swans are also able to filter feed at the water's surface.[19]
Nesting and reproduction
Parent with cygnets in Australia
Family
Like other swans, the black swan is largely monogamous, pairing for life (about 6% divorce rate).[20] Recent studies have shown that around a third of all broods exhibit extra-pair paternity.[21] An estimated one-quarter of all pairings are homosexual, mostly between males.[22] They steal nests, or form temporary threesomes with females to obtain eggs, driving away the female after she lays the eggs.[23][24][25]
Generally, black swans in the Southern hemisphere nest in the wetter winter months (February to September), occasionally in large colonies. A black swan nest is essentially a large heap or mound of reeds, grasses and weeds between 1 and 1.5 metres (3-4½ feet) in diameter and up to 1 metre high, in shallow water or on islands.[4][10] A nest is reused every year, restored or rebuilt as needed. Both parents share the care of the nest. A typical clutch contains 4 to 8 greenish-white eggs that are incubated for about 35–40 days.[26] Incubation begins after the laying of the last egg, to synchronise the hatching of the chicks. Prior to the commencement of incubation the parent will sit over the eggs without actually warming them. Both sexes incubate the eggs, with the female incubating at night. The change over between incubation periods is marked by ritualised displays by both sexes.[27] If eggs accidentally roll out of the nest both sexes will retrieve the egg using the neck (in other swan species only the female performs this feat).[28] Like all swans, black swans will aggressively defend their nests with their wings and beaks.[29] After hatching, the cygnets are tended by the parents for about 9 months until fledging.[4][6] Cygnets may ride on their parent's back for longer trips into deeper water, but black swans undertake this behaviour less frequently than mute and black-necked swans.[30]
Relationship with humans
Conservation
The black swan is protected in New South Wales, Australia under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 (s.5). It is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.[1]
Australian culture
The state flag of Western Australia was officially adopted in 1870 and modified slightly in 1953.
Main article: Black swan emblems and popular culture
The black swan was a literary or artistic image, even before the discovery of Cygnus atratus. Cultural reference has been based on symbolic contrast and as a distinctive motif.
The black swan's role in Australian heraldry and culture extends to the first founding of the colonies in the eighteenth century. It has often been equated with antipodean identity, the contrast to the white swan of the northern hemisphere indicating 'Australianness'. The black swan is featured on the flag, and is both the state bird and state emblem of Western Australia; it also appears in the Coat of Arms and other iconography of the state's institutions.
Indigenous Australia
The Noongar People of the South-West of Australia refer to the black swan by various local names; Kooldjak along the West and South-West coast, Gooldjak in the South East and sometimes referred to as maali in language schools.[31]](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/03/16/77987314_medium.jpg)
![From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Mallard (disambiguation).
"Wild Duck" redirects here. For the play by Henrik Ibsen, see The Wild Duck.
Mallard
Anas platyrhynchos male female quadrat.jpg
Female (left) and male (right)
MENU0:00
Female call
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus: Anas
Species: A. platyrhynchos
Binomial name
Anas platyrhynchos
Linnaeus, 1758
Subspecies
A. p. platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758
A. p. domesticus Linnaeus, 1758
A. p. conboschas C. L. Brehm, 1831 (disputed)
Anas platyrhynchos distribution map.png
Natural Range of Anas platyrhynchos
Synonyms
Anas boschas Linnaeus, 1758
The mallard (/ˈmælɑːrd/ or /ˈmælərd/) (Anas platyrhynchos) is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, the Falkland Islands, and South Africa. This duck belongs to the subfamily Anatinae of the waterfowl family Anatidae. The male birds (drakes) have a glossy green head and are grey on wings and belly while the females (hens or ducks) have mainly brown-speckled plumage. Both sexes have an area of white-bordered black or iridescent blue feathers called a speculum on their wings; males especially tend to have blue speculum feathers. It is 50–65 cm (20–26 in) long, of which the body makes up around two-thirds the length. The wingspan is 81–98 cm (32–39 in) and the bill is 4.4 to 6.1 cm (1.7 to 2.4 in) long. It is often slightly heavier than most other dabbling ducks, weighing 0.72–1.58 kg (1.6–3.5 lb). Mallards live in wetlands, eat water plants and small animals, and are social animals preferring to congregate in groups or flocks of varying sizes. This species is the main ancestor of most breeds of domesticated ducks.
The female lays eight to thirteen creamy white to greenish-buff spotless eggs, on alternate days. Incubation takes 27 to 28 days and fledging takes 50 to 60 days. The ducklings are precocial and fully capable of swimming as soon as they hatch.
The mallard is considered to be a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Unlike many waterfowl, mallards are considered an invasive species in some regions. It is a very adaptable species, being able to live and even thrive in urban areas which may have supported more localised, sensitive species of waterfowl before development. The non-migratory mallard interbreeds with indigenous wild ducks of closely related species through genetic pollution by producing fertile offspring. Complete hybridisation of various species of wild duck gene pools could result in the extinction of many indigenous waterfowl. The wild mallard is the ancestor of most domestic ducks, and its naturally evolved wild gene pool gets genetically polluted by the domesticated and feral mallard populations.
Taxonomy and evolution
An American black duck (top left) and a male mallard (bottom right) in eclipse plumage
The mallard was one of the many bird species originally described in the 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae by Carl Linnaeus.[2] He gave it two binomial names: Anas platyrhynchos and Anas boschas.[3] The latter was generally preferred until 1906 when Einar Lönnberg established that A. platyrhynchos had priority as it appeared on an earlier page in the text.[4] The scientific name comes from Latin Anas, "duck" and Ancient Greek platyrhynchus, "broad-billed" (from platus, "broad" and rhunkhos, "bill").[5] The genome of Anas platyrhynchos was sequenced in 2013.[6]
The name Mallard originally referred to any wild drake, and it is sometimes still used this way.[7] It was derived from the Old French malart or mallart for "wild drake" although its true derivation is unclear.[8] It may be related to, or at least influenced by, an Old High German masculine proper name Madelhart, clues lying in the alternate English forms "maudelard" or "mawdelard".[9] Masle (male) has also been proposed as an influence.[10]
Mallards frequently interbreed with their closest relatives in the genus Anas, such as the American black duck, and also with species more distantly related, such as the northern pintail, leading to various hybrids that may be fully fertile.[11] This is quite unusual among such different species, and is apparently because the mallard evolved very rapidly and recently, during the Late Pleistocene.[12] The distinct lineages of this radiation are usually kept separate due to non-overlapping ranges and behavioural cues, but have not yet reached the point where they are fully genetically incompatible.[12] Mallards and their domesticated conspecifics are also fully inter-fertile.[13]
Genetic analysis has shown that certain mallards appear to be closer to their Indo-Pacific relatives while others are related to their American relatives.[14] Mitochondrial DNA data for the D-loop sequence suggests that mallards may have evolved in the general area of Siberia. Mallard bones rather abruptly appear in food remains of ancient humans and other deposits of fossil bones in Europe, without a good candidate for a local predecessor species.[15] The large ice age palaeosubspecies that made up at least the European and west Asian populations during the Pleistocene has been named Anas platyrhynchos palaeoboschas.[16]
Mallards are differentiated in their mitochondrial DNA between North American and Eurasian populations,[17] but the nuclear genome displays a notable lack of genetic structure.[18] Haplotypes typical of American mallard relatives and spotbills can be found in mallards around the Bering Sea.[19] The Aleutian Islands hold a population of mallards that appear to be evolving towards a subspecies, as gene flow with other populations is very limited.[15]
Also, the paucity of morphological differences between the Old World mallards and the New World mallard demonstrates the extent to which the genome is shared among them such that birds like the Chinese spot-billed duck are highly similar to the Old World mallard, and birds such as the Hawaiian duck are highly similar to the New World mallard.[20]
The size of the mallard varies clinally; for example, birds from Greenland, though larger, have smaller bills, paler plumage, and stockier bodies than birds further south, and are sometimes classified as a separate subspecies, the Greenland mallard (A. p. conboschas).[21]
Description
Juvenile
Iridescent speculum feathers of the male
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A group of mallards quacking
The mallard is a medium-sized waterfowl species that is often slightly heavier than most other dabbling ducks. It is 50–65 cm (20–26 in) long – of which the body makes up around two-thirds – has a wingspan of 81–98 cm (32–39 in),[22]:505 and weighs 0.72–1.58 kg (1.6–3.5 lb).[23] Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 25.7 to 30.6 cm (10.1 to 12.0 in), the bill is 4.4 to 6.1 cm (1.7 to 2.4 in), and the tarsus is 4.1 to 4.8 cm (1.6 to 1.9 in).[24]
The breeding male mallard is unmistakable, with a glossy bottle-green head and a white collar that demarcates the head from the purple-tinged brown breast, grey-brown wings, and a pale grey belly.[25] The rear of the male is black, with white-bordered dark tail feathers.[22]:506 The bill of the male is a yellowish-orange tipped with black, with that of the female generally darker and ranging from black to mottled orange and brown.[26] The female mallard is predominantly mottled, with each individual feather showing sharp contrast from buff to very dark brown, a coloration shared by most female dabbling ducks, and has buff cheeks, eyebrow, throat, and neck, with a darker crown and eye-stripe.[22]:506
Both male and female mallards have distinct iridescent purple-blue speculum feathers edged with white, which are prominent in flight or at rest but temporarily shed during the annual summer moult.[27] Upon hatching, the plumage of the duckling is yellow on the underside and face (with streaks by the eyes) and black on the back (with some yellow spots) all the way to the top and back of the head.[28] Its legs and bill are also black.[28] As it nears a month in age, the duckling's plumage starts becoming drab, looking more like the female, though more streaked, and its legs lose their dark grey colouring.[22]:506 Two months after hatching, the fledgling period has ended, and the duckling is now a juvenile.[29] Between three and four months of age, the juvenile can finally begin flying, as its wings are fully developed for flight (which can be confirmed by the sight of purple speculum feathers). Its bill soon loses its dark grey colouring, and its sex can finally be distinguished visually by three factors: 1) the bill is yellow in males, but black and orange in females;[30][self-published source] 2) the breast feathers are reddish-brown in males, but brown in females;[30] and 3) in males, the centre tail feather (drake feather) is curled, but in females, the centre tail feather is straight.[30] During the final period of maturity leading up to adulthood (6–10 months of age), the plumage of female juveniles remains the same while the plumage of male juveniles gradually changes to its characteristic colours.[31] This change in plumage also applies to adult mallard males when they transition in and out of their non-breeding eclipse plumage at the beginning and the end of the summer moulting period.[31] The adulthood age for mallards is fourteen months, and the average life expectancy is three years, but they can live to twenty.[32]
Several species of duck have brown-plumaged females that can be confused with the female mallard.[33] The female gadwall (A. strepera) has an orange-lined bill, white belly, black and white speculum that is seen as a white square on the wings in flight, and is a smaller bird.[22]:506 More similar to the female mallard in North America are the American black duck (A. rubripes), which is notably darker-hued in both sexes than the mallard,[34] and the mottled duck (A. fulvigula), which is somewhat darker than the female mallard, and with slightly different bare-part colouration and no white edge on the speculum.[34]
In captivity, domestic ducks come in wild-type plumages, white, and other colours.[35] Most of these colour variants are also known in domestic mallards not bred as livestock, but kept as pets, aviary birds, etc., where they are rare but increasing in availability.[35]
Owing to their highly 'malleable' genetic code, mallards can display a large amount of variation,[36] as seen here with this female, who displays faded or 'apricot' plumage.
A noisy species, the female has the deep quack stereotypically associated with ducks.[22]:507 Male mallards make a sound phonetically similar to that of the female, a typical quack, but it is a deep and raspy and can also sound like breeeeze.[citation needed] When incubating a nest, or when offspring are present, females vocalise differently, making a call that sounds like a truncated version of the usual quack. They hiss if the nest or offspring are threatened or interfered with. When taking off, the wings of a mallard produce a characteristic faint whistling noise.[37]
The mallard is a rare example of both Allen's Rule and Bergmann's Rule in birds.[38] Bergmann's Rule, which states that polar forms tend to be larger than related ones from warmer climates, has numerous examples in birds,[39] as in case of the Greenland mallard which is larger than the mallards further south.[21] Allen's Rule says that appendages like ears tend to be smaller in polar forms to minimise heat loss, and larger in tropical and desert equivalents to facilitate heat diffusion, and that the polar taxa are stockier overall.[40] Examples of this rule in birds are rare as they lack external ears, but the bill of ducks is supplied with a few blood vessels to prevent heat loss,[41] and, as in the Greenland mallard, the bill is smaller than that of birds farther south, illustrating the rule.[21]
Due to the variability of the mallard's genetic code, which gives it its vast interbreeding capability, mutations in the genes that decide plumage colour are very common and have resulted in a wide variety of hybrids such as Brewer's duck (mallard × gadwall, Anas strepera).[42]
Distribution and habitat
Male mallard, Sweden 2016
The mallard is widely distributed across the Northern and Southern Hemispheres; in North America its range extends from southern and central Alaska to Mexico, the Hawaiian Islands,[43] across Eurasia,[44] from Iceland[45] and southern Greenland[43] and parts of Morocco (North Africa)[45] in the west, Scandinavia[45] and Britain[45] to the north, and to Siberia,[46] Japan,[47] and South Korea,[47] in the east, south-eastern and south-western Australia[48] and New Zealand[49] in the Southern hemisphere.[22]:505[1] It is strongly migratory in the northern parts of its breeding range, and winters farther south.[50][51] For example, in North America, it winters south to the southern United States and northern Mexico,[52][53] but also regularly strays into Central America and the Caribbean between September and May.[54]
The mallard inhabits a wide range of habitats and climates, from Arctic tundra to subtropical regions.[55] It is found in both fresh- and salt-water wetlands, including parks, small ponds, rivers, lakes and estuaries, as well as shallow inlets and open sea within sight of the coastline.[56] Water depths of less than 0.9 metres (3.0 ft) are preferred, with birds avoiding areas more than a few metres deep.[57] They are attracted to bodies of water with aquatic vegetation.[22]:507
Behaviour
Feeding
The mallard is omnivorous and very flexible in its choice of food.[58] Its diet may vary based on several factors, including the stage of the breeding cycle, short-term variations in available food, nutrient availability, and interspecific and intraspecific competition.[59] The majority of the mallard's diet seems to be made up of gastropods,[60] invertebrates (including beetles, flies, lepidopterans, dragonflies, and caddisflies),[61] crustaceans,[62] worms,[60] many varieties of seeds and plant matter,[60] and roots and tubers.[62] During the breeding season, male birds were recorded to have eaten 37.6% animal matter and 62.4% plant matter, most notably Echinochloa crus-galli, and nonlaying females ate 37.0% animal matter and 63.0% plant matter, while laying females ate 71.9% animal matter and only 28.1% plant matter.[63] Plants generally make up the larger part of a bird's diet, especially during autumn migration and in the winter.[64][65]
The mallard usually feeds by dabbling for plant food or grazing; there are reports of it eating frogs.[66] However, in 2017 a flock of mallards in Romania were observed hunting small migratory birds, including grey wagtail and black redstart, the first documented occasion they had been seen attacking and consuming large vertebrates.[67] It usually nests on a river bank, but not always near water. It is highly gregarious outside of the breeding season and forms large flocks, which are known as sords.[citation needed]
Breeding
File:Canard colvert femelle et ses petits (Lac Archambeault, Qc).webm
Female Mallard with five ducklings (Lac Archambeault, Québec)
Mallards usually form pairs (in October and November in the Northern Hemisphere) until the female lays eggs at the start of the nesting season, which is around the beginning of spring.[68] At this time she is left by the male who joins up with other males to await the moulting period, which begins in June (in the Northern Hemisphere).[69][70] During the brief time before this, however, the males are still sexually potent and some of them either remain on standby to sire replacement clutches (for female mallards that have lost or abandoned their previous clutch)[71] or forcibly mate with females that appear to be isolated or unattached regardless of their species and whether or not they have a brood of ducklings.[71][72]
Egg, Collection Museum Wiesbaden
Egg clutches number 8–13 creamy white to greenish-buff eggs free of speckles.[73][74] They measure about 58 mm (2.3 in) in length and 32 mm (1.3 in) in width.[74] The eggs are laid on alternate days, and incubation begins when the clutch is almost complete.[74] Incubation takes 27–28 days and fledging takes 50–60 days.[73][75] The ducklings are precocial and fully capable of swimming as soon as they hatch.[76] However, filial imprinting compels them to instinctively stay near the mother, not only for warmth and protection but also to learn about and remember their habitat as well as how and where to forage for food.[77] When ducklings mature into flight-capable juveniles, they learn about and remember their traditional migratory routes (unless they are born and raised in captivity).
During the breeding season, both male and female mallards can become aggressive, driving off competitors to themselves or their mate by charging at them.[78] Males tend to fight more than females, and attack each other by repeatedly pecking at their rival's chest, ripping out feathers and even skin on rare occasions.
The drakes that end up being left out after the others have paired off with mating partners sometimes target an isolated female duck, even one of a different species, and proceed to chase and peck at her until she weakens, at which point the males take turns copulating with the female.[79] Lebret (1961) calls this behaviour "Attempted Rape Flight", and Stanley Cramp and K.E.L. Simmons (1977) speak of "rape-intent flights".[79] Male mallards also occasionally chase other male ducks of a different species, and even each other, in the same way.[79] In one documented case of "homosexual necrophilia", a male mallard copulated with another male he was chasing after the chased male died upon flying into a glass window.[79] This paper was awarded an Ig Nobel Prize in 2003.[80]
Mallards are opportunistically targeted by brood parasites, occasionally having eggs laid in their nests by redheads, ruddy ducks, lesser scaup, gadwalls, northern shovellers, northern pintails, cinnamon teal, common goldeneyes, and other mallards.[81] These eggs are generally accepted when they resemble the eggs of the host mallard, but the hen may attempt to eject them or even abandon the nest if parasitism occurs during egg laying.[82]
Predators and threats
Mallards of all ages (but especially young ones) and in all locations must contend with a wide diversity of predators including raptors, mustelids, corvids, snakes, raccoons, opossums, skunks, turtles, large fish, felids, and canids, including domesticated ones.[83] The most prolific natural predators of adult mallards are red foxes (which most often pick off brooding females) and the faster or larger birds of prey, i.e. peregrine falcons, Aquila eagles, or Haliaeetus eagles.[84] In North America, adult mallards face no fewer than 15 species of birds of prey, from northern harriers and short-eared owls (both smaller than a mallard) to huge bald and golden eagles, and about a dozen species of mammalian predator, not counting several more avian and mammalian predators who threaten eggs and nestlings.[82]
Mallards are also preyed upon by other waterside apex predators, such as the grey heron,[85] European herring gull, the wels catfish, and the northern pike.[86] Crows (Corvus spp.) are also known to kill ducklings and adults on occasion.[87] Also, mallards may be attacked by larger anseriformes such as swans (Cygnus spp.) and geese during the breeding season, and are frequently driven off by these birds over territorial disputes. Mute swans (C. olor) have been known to attack or even kill mallards if they feel that the ducks pose a threat to their offspring.[88]
The predation-avoidance behavior of sleeping with one eye open, allowing one brain hemisphere to remain aware while the other half sleeps, was first demonstrated in mallards, although it is believed to be widespread among birds in general.[89]
Status and conservation
Illustration by Carl Friedrich Deiker (1875)
File:Mallards pond 2009.ogv
Several drakes swim in a pond.
Since 1998, the mallard has been rated as a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species. This is because it has a large range–more than 20,000 km2 (7700 mi2)–and because its population is increasing, rather than declining by 30% over ten years or three generations and thus is not warranted a vulnerable rating. Also, the population size of the mallard is very large.[90]
Unlike many waterfowl, mallards have benefited from human alterations to the world – so much so that they are now considered an invasive species in some regions.[91] They are a common sight in urban parks, lakes, ponds, and other man-made water features in the regions they inhabit, and are often tolerated or encouraged in human habitat due to their placid nature towards humans and their beautiful and iridescent colours.[27] While most are not domesticated, mallards are so successful at coexisting in human regions that the main conservation risk they pose comes from the loss of genetic diversity among a region's traditional ducks once humans and mallards colonise an area. Mallards are very adaptable, being able to live and even thrive in urban areas which may have supported more localised, sensitive species of waterfowl before development.[92] The release of feral mallards in areas where they are not native sometimes creates problems through interbreeding with indigenous waterfowl.[91][93] These non-migratory mallards interbreed with indigenous wild ducks from local populations of closely related species through genetic pollution by producing fertile offspring.[93] Complete hybridisation of various species of wild duck gene pools could result in the extinction of many indigenous waterfowl.[93] The wild mallard itself is the ancestor of most domestic ducks, and its naturally evolved wild gene pool gets genetically polluted in turn by the domesticated and feral populations.[citation needed]
Over time, a continuum of hybrids ranging between almost typical examples of either species develop; the speciation process is beginning to reverse itself.[94] This has created conservation concerns for relatives of the mallard, such as the Hawaiian duck,[95][96] the New Zealand grey duck (A. s. superciliosa) subspecies of the Pacific black duck,[95][97] the American black duck,[98][99] the mottled duck,[100] Meller's duck,[101] the yellow-billed duck,[94] and the Mexican duck,[95][100] in the latter case even leading to a dispute as to whether these birds should be considered a species[102] (and thus entitled to more conservation research and funding) or included in the mallard species. Ecological changes and hunting have also led to a decline of local species; for example, the New Zealand grey duck population declined drastically due to overhunting in the mid-20th century.[97] Hybrid offspring of Hawaiian ducks seem to be less well adapted to native habitat, and using them in re-introduction projects apparently reduces success.[95][103] In summary, the problems of mallards "hybridising away" relatives is more a consequence of local ducks declining than of mallards spreading; allopatric speciation and isolating behaviour have produced today's diversity of mallard-like ducks despite the fact that, in most, if not all, of these populations, hybridisation must have occurred to some extent.[104]
Invasiveness
The last male Mariana mallard
Mallards are causing severe "genetic pollution" to South Africa's biodiversity by breeding with endemic ducks[105] even though the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds – an agreement to protect the local waterfowl populations – applies to the mallard as well as other ducks.[106] The hybrids of mallards and the yellow-billed duck are fertile, capable of producing hybrid offspring.[107] If this continues, only hybrids occur and in the long term result in the extinction of various indigenous waterfowl.[107] The mallard duck can cross breed with 63 other species, posing a severe threat to indigenous waterfowl's genetic integrity.[108] Mallards and their hybrids compete with indigenous birds for resources, including nest sites, roosting sites, and food.[105]
Availability of mallards, mallard ducklings, and fertilised mallard eggs for public sale and private ownership, either as livestock or as pets, is currently legal in the United States except for the state of Florida, which has currently banned domestic ownership of mallards. This is to prevent hybridisation with the native mottled duck.[109]
The mallard is considered an invasive species in New Zealand,[22]:505 where it competes with the local New Zealand grey duck, which was overhunted in the past. There, and elsewhere, mallards are spreading with increasing urbanisation and hybridising with local relatives.[95]
The Eastern or Chinese spot-billed duck is currently introgressing into the mallard populations of the Primorsky Krai, possibly due to habitat changes from global warming.[19] The Mariana mallard was a resident allopatric population – in most respects a good species – apparently initially derived from mallard-Pacific black duck hybrids;[110] unfortunately, it became extinct in the late 20th century.[111]
The Laysan duck is an insular relative of the mallard, with a very small and fluctuating population.[112][1] Mallards sometimes arrive on its island home during migration, and can be expected to occasionally have remained and hybridised with Laysan ducks as long as these species have existed.[113] However, these hybrids are less well adapted to the peculiar ecological conditions of Laysan Island than the local ducks, and thus have lower fitness. These ducks were found throughout the Hawaiian archipelago before 400 AD, after which they suffered a rapid decline during the Polynesian colonisation.[114] Now, their range includes only Laysan Island.[114] It is one of the successfully translocated birds, after having become nearly extinct in the early 20th century.[115]
Relationship with humans
Further information: Domestic duck
Domestication
Mallard have often been ubiquitous in their regions among the ponds, rivers, and streams of human parks, farms, and other man-made waterways – even to the point of visiting water features in human courtyards.[116]
George Hetzel, Mallard still life painting, 1883–1884
Mallard have had a long relationship with humans. Almost all domestic duck breeds derive from the mallard, with the exception of a few Muscovy breeds.[117] Mallards are generally monogamous while domestic ducks are mostly polygamous. Domestic ducks have no territorial behaviour and are less aggressive than mallards.[118] Domestic ducks are mostly kept for meat, as their eggs have a strong flavor.[118] They were first domesticated in Southeast Asia at least 4000 years ago, during the Neolithic Age, and were also farmed by the Romans in Europe, and the Malays in Asia.[119] It is also common for mallards to mate with domestic ducks and produce hybrid offspring that are fully fertile.[120] Due to this, mallards have been found to be contaminated with the genes of the domestic duck.[120]
Hunting
Mallards are one of the most common varieties of ducks hunted as a sport. The ideal location for hunting mallards is considered to be where the water level is somewhat shallow.[121] Hunting mallards might cause the population to decline in some places, at some times, and with some populations.[122] In certain countries, the mallard may be legally shot but is protected under national acts and policies. For example, in the United Kingdom, the mallard is protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which restricts certain hunting methods or taking or killing mallards.[123]](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/03/16/77987687_medium.jpg)
![From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the short story by Sarah Orne Jewett, see A White Heron.
Not to be confused with the all-white population of the great blue heron.
Great egret
Great egret (Ardea alba) Tobago.jpg
Adult in Tobago
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Ardeidae
Genus: Ardea
Species: A. alba
Binomial name
Ardea alba
Linnaeus, 1758
Ardea alba map.svg
Range of A. alba (excluding A. a. modesta)
Breeding range
Year-round range
Wintering range
Synonyms
Casmerodius albus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Egretta alba (Cramp and Simmons, 1977)
The great egret (Ardea alba), also known as the common egret, large egret or (in the Old World) great white egret[2] or great white heron[3][4][5] is a large, widely distributed egret, with four subspecies found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world. It builds tree nests in colonies close to water.
Systematics and taxonomy
Like all egrets, it is a member of the heron family, Ardeidae. Traditionally classified with the storks in the Ciconiiformes, the Ardeidae are closer relatives of pelicans and belong in the Pelecaniformes instead. The great egret—unlike the typical egrets—does not belong to the genus Egretta but together with the great herons is today placed in Ardea. In the past, however, it was sometimes placed in Egretta or separated in a monotypic genus Casmerodius.
The Old World population is often referred to as the "great white egret". This species is sometimes confused with the great white heron of the Caribbean, which is a white morph of the closely related great blue heron.
The scientific name comes from Latin ardea "heron", and alba, "white".[6]
Subspecies
There are four subspecies in various parts of the world, which differ but little.[7] Differences are bare part coloration in the breeding season and size; the smallest A. a. modesta from Asia and Australasia some taxonomists consider a full species, the eastern great egret (Ardea modesta), but most scientists treat it as a subspecies.
A. a. alba Linnaeus, 1758 – nominate, found in Europe
A. a. egretta Gmelin, JF, 1789 – found in Americas
A. a. melanorhynchos Wagler, 1827 – found in Africa
A. a. modesta Gray, JE, 1831 – eastern great egret, found in India, Southeast Asia, and Oceania
Description
In flight
The great egret is a large heron with all-white plumage. Standing up to 1 m (3.3 ft) tall, this species can measure 80 to 104 cm (31 to 41 in) in length and have a wingspan of 131 to 170 cm (52 to 67 in).[8][9] Body mass can range from 700 to 1,500 g (1.5 to 3.3 lb), with an average of around 1,000 g (2.2 lb).[10] It is thus only slightly smaller than the great blue or grey heron (A. cinerea). Apart from size, the great egret can be distinguished from other white egrets by its yellow bill and black legs and feet, though the bill may become darker and the lower legs lighter in the breeding season. In breeding plumage, delicate ornamental feathers are borne on the back. Males and females are identical in appearance; juveniles look like non-breeding adults. Differentiated from the intermediate egret (Mesophoyx intermedius) by the gape, which extends well beyond the back of the eye in case of the great egret, but ends just behind the eye in case of the intermediate egret.
It has a slow flight, with its neck retracted. This is characteristic of herons and bitterns, and distinguishes them from storks, cranes, ibises, and spoonbills, which extend their necks in flight. The great egret walks with its neck extended and wings held close. The great egret is not normally a vocal bird; it gives a low hoarse croak when disturbed, and at breeding colonies, it often gives a loud croaking cuk cuk cuk and higher-pitched squawks.[11]
Distribution and conservation
The great egret is generally a very successful species with a large and expanding range, occurring worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. It is ubiquitous across the Sun Belt of the United States and in the Neotropics.[1] In North America, large numbers of great egrets were killed around the end of the 19th century so that their plumes could be used to decorate hats. Numbers have since recovered as a result of conservation measures. Its range has expanded as far north as southern Canada. However, in some parts of the southern United States, its numbers have declined due to habitat loss, particularly wetland degradation through drainage, grazing, clearing, burning, increased salinity, groundwater extraction and invasion by exotic plants. Nevertheless, the species adapts well to human habitation and can be readily seen near wetlands and bodies of water in urban and suburban areas.[1]
The great egret is partially migratory, with northern hemisphere birds moving south from areas with colder winters. It is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.[citation needed]
In 1953, the great egret in flight was chosen as the symbol of the National Audubon Society, which was formed in part to prevent the killing of birds for their feathers.[12][13]
On 22 May 2012, it was announced a pair of great egrets were nesting in the UK for the first time at the Shapwick Heath nature reserve in Somerset.[14] The species is a rare visitor to the UK and Ben Aviss of the BBC stated that the news could mean the UK's first great egret colony is established.[14][15] The following week, Kevin Anderson of Natural England confirmed a great egret chick had hatched, making it a new breeding bird record for the UK.[16] In 2017 seven nests in Somerset fledged 17 young,[17] and a second breeding site was announced at Holkham National Nature Reserve in Norfolk where a pair fledged three young.[18]
Ecology
The species breeds in colonies in trees close to large lakes with reed beds or other extensive wetlands, preferably at height of 10–40 feet (3.0–12.2 m).[11] It begins to breed at 2–3 years of age by forming monogamous pairs each season. It is unknown if the pairing carries over to the next season. The male selects the nest area, starts a nest and then attracts a female. The nest, made of sticks and lined with plant material, could be up to 3 feet across. Up to six bluish green eggs are laid at one time. Both sexes incubate the eggs and the incubation period is 23–26 days. The young are fed by regurgitation by both parents and they are able to fly within 6–7 weeks.[19]
Diet
Spearing a fish
The great egret feeds in shallow water or drier habitats, feeding mainly on fish, frogs, small mammals, and occasionally small reptiles and insects, spearing them with its long, sharp bill most of the time by standing still and allowing the prey to come within its striking distance of its bill which it uses as a spear. It will often wait motionless for prey, or slowly stalk its victim.
Parasites
A long-running field study (1962–2013) suggested that the central European great egrets host 17 different helminth species. Juvenile great egrets were shown to host fewer species, but the intensity of infection was higher in the juveniles than in the adult egrets. Of the digeneans found in central European great egrets, numerous species likely infected their definitive hosts outside of central Europe itself.[20]](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/03/16/77983283_medium.jpg)
![From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Snowy heron" redirects here. For the 1958 Japanese film, see The Snowy Heron.
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Snowy egret
Egretta thula at Las Gallinas Wildlife Ponds.jpg
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Ardeidae
Genus: Egretta
Species: E. thula
Binomial name
Egretta thula
(Molina, 1782)
Egretta thula map.svg
Range of E. thula
Breeding range
Year-round range
Wintering range
Synonyms
Leucophoyx thula
The snowy egret (Egretta thula) is a small white heron. The genus name comes from the Provençal French for the little egret aigrette, a diminutive of aigron, "heron". The species name thula is the Araucano for the Black-necked Swan, applied to this species in error by Chilean naturalist Juan Ignacio Molina in 1782.[2]
The snowy egret is the American counterpart to the very similar Old World little egret, which has established a foothold in the Bahamas. At one time, the beautiful plumes of the snowy egret were in great demand by market hunters as decorations for women's hats. This reduced the population of the species to dangerously low levels.[citation needed] Now protected in the United States by law, under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, this bird's population has rebounded.](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/03/15/77976992_medium.jpg)
![From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Puerto Rican amazon
Puerto Rican parrot.jpg
Conservation status
Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Genus: Amazona
Species: A. vittata
Binomial name
Amazona vittata
Boddaert, 1783
Subspecies
A. v. vittata
A. v. gracilipes †
The Puerto Rican amazon (Amazona vittata), also known as the Puerto Rican parrot or iguaca, is the only extant bird endemic to the archipelago of Puerto Rico belonging to the Neotropical genus Amazona. Measuring 28–30 cm (11.0–11.8 in), the bird is a predominantly green parrot with a red forehead and white rings around the eyes. Two subspecies have been described, although there are doubts regarding the distinctiveness of the form gracilipes from Culebra Island, extinct since 1912. Its closest relatives are believed to be the Cuban amazon and the Hispaniolan amazon.
The Puerto Rican amazon reaches sexual maturity at between three and four years of age. It reproduces once a year and is a cavity nester. Once the female lays eggs she will remain in the nest and continuously incubate them until hatching. The chicks are fed by both parents and will fledge 60 to 65 days after hatching. This parrot's diet is varied and consists of flowers, fruits, leaves, bark and nectar obtained from the forest canopy.
The species is the only remaining native parrot in Puerto Rico and has been listed as critically endangered by the World Conservation Union since 1994. Once widespread and abundant, the population declined drastically in the 19th and early 20th centuries with the removal of most of its native habitat; the species completely vanished from Vieques and Mona Island, nearby to the main island of Puerto Rico. Conservation efforts commenced in 1968 to save the bird from extinction. In 2012, the total estimated population was 58–80 individuals in the wild and over 300 individuals in captivity.[2]
Taxonomy and evolution
The Puerto Rican amazon was described by Dutch ornithologist Pieter Boddaert in 1783. It belongs to the large Neotropical genus Amazona, commonly known as amazons; these birds have also been given the generic epithet of "parrot" by the American Ornithologists' Union, hence "Puerto Rican parrot" is an alternative common name in North America.[3] The indigenous Taíno people called it the iguaca, an onomatopoeic name that resembled the parrots' flight call.[4]
There are two recognized subspecies:
A. v. vittata is the nominate and only extant subspecies, inhabiting Puerto Rico and formerly nearby Vieques Island and Mona Island.[5]
A. v. gracilipes inhabited Culebra Island and is now extinct. It is unclear whether it was substantially different from the nominate subspecies.
Evolutionary history
A. albifrons
A. agilis
A. collaria
A. ventralis
A. leucocephala
A. vittata
Phylogeny of the Greater Antillean Amazona after Russello and Amato, 2004.
There is no evidence that the West Indies were connected to a continent in the past, and thus the various native bird species are assumed to be descended from those that immigrated to the Caribbean at some point. Some small species would have encountered problems traversing large bodies of water, but parrots have flight strength and various behavioral characteristics that would facilitate "over-water" dispersion.[6] Most Caribbean bird species originate from Central, North and South America.[7] The Amazona species found in the Caribbean are divided in two groups: five mid-sized species found in the Greater Antilles and seven large species in the Lesser Antilles.[8] All the Greater Antillean amazons display characteristics leading to suppositions of relatedness, including predominantly green-toned color patterns and white rings around the eyes.[8] Russello and Amato conclude that all Greater Antillean Amazona descend from Amazona albifrons with Amazona vittata, Amazona leucocephala, and Amazona ventralis constituting a complex, a cluster of species so closely related that they intergrade.[9]
British ornithologist David Lack considered that the Puerto Rican amazon had evolved from the Hispaniolan amazon (A. ventralis) found in Hispaniola, but it has since been argued that he omitted some elements in his analysis, including the similarities found between the black-billed amazon (A. agilis) of Jamaica and the Puerto Rican amazon.[10] Subsequent studies showed that size and color patterns were not sufficient to assess evolutionary relationships, and that patterns changed with relative ease even within members of the same species.[10] The research concluded that the Puerto Rican amazon may share a common ancestor with the Jamaican A. agilis.[11] Recent phylogenetic studies show that the Puerto Rican amazon is more closely related to the Hispaniolan amazon and the Cuban amazon than to the black-billed amazon.[12]
Description
The Puerto Rican amazon in flight, showing distinctive blue feathers
The Puerto Rican amazon measures 28–30 cm (11.0–11.8 in) and weighs 250–300 g (8.8–10.6 oz), or 275 g (9.7 oz) on average. Although small compared to amazons in general, it is similar in size to other Greater Antilles Amazona species. Sexual dimorphism is not present. Both males and females have predominantly green plumage, though their feathers have blue edges. The primary flight feathers of the wings and the main covert feathers are dark blue. The color of the feathers on the underside varies depending on the body part: the feathers on the underside of the wings, which can be seen during flight, are bright blue; those in the tail have yellow-green tone. Their underparts are paler and yellow-tinged, their foreheads are red, and they have white ovals around the eyes. The iris is brown, the bill a horn color, and the legs yellow-tan.[13] Aside from DNA tests, males and females can only be distinguished by behavioral differences during the breeding season. Immature birds have plumage similar to adults.[13]
Population and distribution
The precise distribution of the Puerto Rican amazon before the arrival of Spanish colonialists is uncertain, because of a lack of contemporary records and then the extermination of the indigenous Taíno people, but the species was apparently widespread and abundant.[14] There is also evidence the species may have inhabited other nearby islands, such as Antigua, Barbuda[15] and the Virgin Islands.[16][17] Estimates of the parrot's early numbers vary greatly. Some authorities claim that there were once more than a million individuals,[18] while others suggest a more modest population of 100,000. During the first 150 years of Spanish rule the human population was small, and in 1650, when the population of the island was 880 people, the species was still abundant throughout the archipelago.[19] After 1650, human habitation increased exponentially, and by the 18th century the Puerto Rican amazon population started to be affected. Heinrich Moritz Gaede, a German naturalist, declared that by 1836 the parrot population had noticeably declined.[20] Even so, as late as 1864, British ornithologist Edward Cavendish Taylor noted that the parrots were still common near the island's capital, San Juan.[20]
At first, human activity had not posed a significant threat to the Puerto Rican amazon. The Taíno hunted the parrot but without much effect on its population.[21] In the past two hundred years, however, many factors have led to a drastic decrease in the birds' numbers: agricultural development, the construction of roads, hydroelectric development, and the adoption of young chicks as pets.[22] Especially during the latter half of the 19th century, most of Puerto Rico's virgin forests, a historical habitat of the species, were cleared for agricultural development, primarily for the production of sugar, cotton, corn and rice. The amazon quickly came to rely on these crops as its main food source and so became seen as a pest; local farmers repelled or hunted the bird if possible.[23] As agriculture expanded, the amazon's habitat disappeared further and its population declined.
Puerto Rican amazon historical range at left (in red) and current range at right (in green)
The species was historically found in mature or old-growth forests in Puerto Rico at all elevations, and in holes, cliffs, and other diverse habitats at lower elevations. The species could be found at medium elevations in the Guajataca State Forest (until 1910) and the Rio Abajo State Forest (until the 1920s), and at high elevations in the Carite State Forest (until the 1930s).[24] Accounts from the early 1900s describe the parrots traveling away from the Luquillo forest and the Sierra de Cayey towards the main island's coast to find food.[14] At the same time, the species was extirpated from Puerto Rico's smaller islands—Culebra, Vieques and Mona—and became restricted to five locations: two in karst-limestone areas, two in high montane rainforests and one in mangrove forest at the foot of the El Yunque National Forest. One of these karst regions, located in the northwestern part of Puerto Rico, was identified as a haven for the species. In particular, a region named Valle de las Cotorras (Valley of the Parrots), located between San Sebastián and Morovis, was home to a sizable population. Some amazons survived in small pockets of degraded forest but these proved insufficient to support large colonies. Eventually their natural habitat was reduced to the Cordillera Central and undisturbed forest areas, and by 1940 they were only to be found in primary forest at the Luquillo Mountains in El Yunque National Forest. The species is currently found at elevations between 396 and 823 m (1,299 and 2,700 ft). Since the species requires mature forests with open-cavity trees for reproduction, it does not occur in dwarf and secondary forests.
By the 1950s, there were only 200 parrots in the wild, and in 1975 the population reached an absolute low of 13 individuals. Numbers then recovered, and in August 1989 there were an estimated minimum of 47 individuals. But on September 18, 1989, Hurricane Hugo struck the northeast coast of Puerto Rico inflicting heavy casualties on the remaining birds. In the aftermath of the hurricane the population was estimated at 23 individuals. In 2004, the wild population was 30–35 individuals, and the long-term trend appears to be stable albeit with some fluctuations.[2][25] The current range of the species is 16 km2 (6.2 sq mi), 0.2% of what it once was.[1]
Behavior
External audio
You may see a listing of the Puerto Rican amazon vocal repertoire here
The Puerto Rican amazon is diurnal, typically beginning its day half an hour after sunrise.[26] It is generally secretive when inside its nest, using its green plumage as camouflage. In contrast, it may be vocal and noisy when outside the nest. Upon taking flight, its color pattern provides some contrast to the forest. The flight mechanism of this species is similar to the one found in other amazons, and involves strokes below the body axis, unlike most birds whose wings flow above their bodies in flight. Amazons can fly moderately fast, reaching a top speed of approximately 30 km/h (19 mph), and are fairly agile when evading predators in mid-air.[27] When in search of food, the parrots group in pairs. Couples and their fledged young display a tendency to stay together.[28] The amazon makes two flight calls, a take-off squawk which consist of a pattern of long squawks, and a loud "bugle", commonly used in flight and which may have several meanings depending on the circumstances when it is used.[29]
Diet
Like almost all amazons, the Puerto Rican amazon is a herbivore. Its diet consists of flowers, fruits, leaves, bark and nectar obtained from the forest's canopy. The species has been recorded to consume more than 60 different materials, although its diet was historically more varied due to its larger range. Among the items it consumes are the pericarp of the seeds of sierra palm (Prestoea montana), tabonuco (Dacryodes excelsa), and negra lora (Matayba domingensis); the fruits of bejuco de rana (Marcgravia sintenisii), camasey (Miconia sintenisii), cupey de altura (Clusia gundlachii), and palo de cruz (Rheedia portoricensis); the flowers of bejuco de rana, achiotillo (Alchornea latifolia), and Piptocarpha tetrantha; the leaves and twigs of cupeillo (Clusia grisebachiana), laurel sabino (Magnolia splendens), caimitillo verde (Micropholis garciniaefolia), and Piptocarpha tetrantha; the bark of bejuco de rana, cupeillo, and cachimbo cumun (Psychotria berteriana); and the buds of cuaba (Inga vera).[30] It normally selects the fruits positioned directly in front of its eyes, picking them one at a time with some rare exceptions.[31] When feeding, it uses a foot to pick up the food.[32] The amazon feeds in a slow, paused manner taking 8–60 seconds to consume separate items.[33]
Breeding
A pair of Puerto Rican amazons which usually mate for life
The Puerto Rican amazon usually mates for life, with pairs only changing mates if one bird perishes or abandons the nest.[34] A male may abandon the female if the latter is injured, re-mating with a more "physically perfect" subject.[34] The pairing process is unknown; however, new pairs tend to participate in mutual mating dances characterised by coordinated bows, partial extension of the wings and full tail expansion.[35]
The Puerto Rican amazon is a secondary cavity nester, nesting in tree trunk cavities, both naturally occurring and excavated by other species. It prefers to nest in Palo colorado trees (Cyrilla racemiflora), but uses other trees, including the laurel sabino (Magnolia splendens) and tabonuco (Dacryodes excelsa), to a lesser extent. These trees are mature cavity-forming trees which provide protection against predators and the entry of water. Recently, the species has also nested in artificial wooden boxes designed as part of the recovery plan for the species. Nest height varies from 7–15 m (23–49 ft) above ground. The male usually leads the search for nest sites, although the final decision seems to be taken by the female.[36] Once a site is selected, the pair will spend some time inspecting and cleaning it. No lining material is added to the nest.
Newly hatched chick
The Puerto Rican amazon reaches sexual maturity at 4 years of age in the wild and at 3 years in captivity. The species usually reproduces once a year between the months of January and July (the dry season). Copulation between pairs seems to be closely related to food transfers, with this possibly serving as a trigger for intercourse.[37] Amazons have a copulation pattern similar to that found in other parrots throughout the Americas, with the male gripping a perch with one leg while passively placing the other in the female's back.[38] As the time for egg-laying approaches the pair spends more time in the nest, with the male providing food to the female via regurgitation.[39] The female lays 2–4 eggs that she exclusively incubates for a period of 24 to 28 days, while the male will be present in the vicinity of the nest when providing food.[40] Females only leave the nest on rare occasions involving repelling predators or if the male has not brought food in an extended time frame.[41] The chicks are fed by both parents until they leave the nest, usually 60 to 65 days after they hatch.[2] Nonetheless, they remain dependent on their parents and travel with them until the next breeding season.[3]
Like other amazons, the Puerto Rican amazon is gregarious while performing daily activities, but territorial around its nest.[42] The size of the territory around the nest is usually around 50 meters (164 feet).[5] Pairs are extremely cautious near their nest, usually moving in a slow manner when leaving the nest to avoid the attention of predators.[43] Although territorial defense is mostly composed of loud vocalizations there are instances of actual physical combat.[44] Pairs will defend their nest sites against invading couples, sometimes focusing on the location's defense instead of egg-laying. Pairs nesting in areas uninhabited by other parrots will remain mostly silent unless other parrots enter the zone.[44] Some pairs may display moderate territoriality even when not apparently intending to nest, with these tendencies beginning in the latter half of the breeding season. One hypothesis is that this would occur in young pairs that had still not reached full maturity, serving as "practice territoriality".[45]
Threats and conservation
On March 11, 1967, the Puerto Rican amazon entered the United States Fish and Wildlife Service list of endangered species.[46] At the time of inclusion the population was estimated at 70 individuals. In 1968, recovery efforts began to increase the population in the wild.[47] In 1972, when the estimated population was 16 individuals, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) at the Luquillo Aviary began efforts to breed parrots in captivity and yielded good results. In June 2006, it was reported by the USFWS that its birds in captivity had successfully hatched 39 chicks (the yearly average is around 16). In 2006, 22 birds were released in the Rio Abajo State Forest to initiate a second wild population, and a further 19 were released at the same site on 27 December 2008.[48]
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) lists the Puerto Rican amazon as a critically endangered species since 1994.[1] The species is regulated under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES),[49] rendering illegal international trade in specimens or parts.
Threats
The red-tailed hawk (B. j. jamaicensis), known as Guaraguao in Puerto Rico, is a natural predator of the Puerto Rican amazon.
Human activity is arguably the main reason for the population decline of the Puerto Rican amazon.[18] Early settlers of Puerto Rico, such as the Taíno, hunted it for food consumption but managed to maintain a healthy ecological balance. Later, habitat destruction, capture of immature individuals for the pet industry, hunting and predation contributed to the sharp population decline. The clearing of mature forests for agricultural development is the main reason for the decline of population.
Natural predators of the Puerto Rican amazon include the red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), the broad-winged hawk (Buteo platypterus), the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) and the pearly-eyed thrasher (Margarops fuscatus).[2][16] The thrasher invaded Puerto Rico in the mid-20th century and has been a problem for the parrot population since 1973; to combat this, specially designed deep nests were prepared for the parrots in subsequent years to prevent competition from the invaders.[50] Introduced honeybees (Apis mellifera), the related Hispaniolan amazon (Amazona ventralis), black rats (Rattus rattus) and Indian mongooses (Herpestes javanicus) may compete for nesting cavities, and the latter two may eat eggs and chicks.[25]
Natural disasters, such as hurricanes, were not a threat to the Puerto Rican parrot population when it was more readily self-maintaining, but as a result of the fragmentation and reduction of the population these disasters are now a threat as well. Hurricane Hugo passed through the species' range in September 1989, and reduced the population from 47 to 23 individuals.[51]
Recovery plan
In response to the Puerto Rican amazon's low population and endangered status, a recovery plan was drafted and implemented in 1968. Its main objective was to downlist the species to threatened status by the year 2020.[18] Other objectives included establishing two separate viable wild populations (each of which would consist of 500 or more individuals for a period of at least five years), protecting habitat for those populations, and controlling predators, parasites and competitors. A third site was planned in 2011 by the Caribbean Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex.[52] As part of the conservation efforts, a captive population was established in the Luquillo Aviary in 1973.[18] Another was established in 1993 when some individuals were transferred from the Luquillo Aviary to the Rio Abajo State Forest under the administration of the Puerto Rican Department of Natural Resources (Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales).[53] In 2007, expanded facilities at the Iguaca Aviary at the El Yunque National Forest were inaugurated and dedicated to the late Priscilla Stubbe, who was a major fundraiser for the new facility.[54]
Several captive specimens at the Iguaca Aviary of El Yunque National Forest (2011). Located in the vicinity of Luquillo, Puerto Rico, this was the first facility of the reproduction program and currently serves as one of three specialized reserves.
Human activity once again threatened the amazon during the following years. In 2012, it was reported that the unsanctioned flight of light aircraft from adjacent islands was disrupting the reproductive and social behaviors of the species.[55] Via Verde, a gas pipeline grid proposed by the Luis Fortuño administration, raised concerns among conservationists due to further deforestation of the regions where the birds feed.[56] New conservation efforts have also begun during this timeframe. In 2011, a research team of the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez sequenced the amazon's genome.[57] On August 15, 2013, the discovery of non-assisted nests in the Río Abajo State Forest was announced.[58] Experts considered this a sign of expansion, implying that the reintroduced amazon population was fully adapting to wild life and was dispersing throughout the region. This was noted as a significant advance, since El Yunque is not an ideal habitat for the bird due to its humidity, which precipitates sickness in some of the individuals. This was accompanied by a second announcement, which noted that added to the known number of amazons in the wild (fluctuating between 64 and 112 specimens) there is an unmonitored population of approximately 50 birds dispersed throughout Puerto Rico.[59]
The creation of another aviary and captive reproduction center was considered throughout 2013, with the municipalities of Maricao and Isabela being analyzed.[60] In November 2013, plans for the establishment of a third population in the Maricao State Forest were formally announced.[61] The following month, ten amazons were released at Río Abajo.[62] 2013 set a new record for the reproduction program, which produced 51 fledglings and shattered the previous record of 34 that was established in 2011.[62] The wild population grew by 15 chicks, an improvement from the 12 born during the previous year.[62] During this time frame, the known number of amazon specimens rounded 500 individuals.[63] A severe drought caused by the emergence of El Niño began during the spring of 2015 and extended throughout the summer, benefitting the breeding of the amazons in El Yunque by extending their reproductive season.[64] However, this weather pattern also increased the number of mongooses present in the forest, representing a risk for the population.[64] On August 13, 2015, a group of 25 amazons was moved from the other aviaries to a repurposed installation in Maricao.[65] Each member was brought individually in order to ensure their safety while being transported and later placed in an acclimation program that is expected to last a year, before they are released to create a new population in the region.[65]](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/03/08/77858420_medium.jpg)
![The Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca) is a member of the duck, goose, and swan family Anatidae. It is native to Africa south of the Sahara and the Nile Valley.
Egyptian geese were considered sacred by the Ancient Egyptians, and appeared in much of their artwork. They have been raised for food and extensively bred in parts of Africa since they were domesticated by the ancient Egyptians. Because of their popularity chiefly as an ornamental bird, escapees are common and small feral populations have become established in Western Europe.[2][3] The Egyptian goose has escaped or been deliberately released in to Florida, USA, but there is no evidence that the population is breeding and may only persist due to continuing releases or escapes.[1]](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/03/08/77857556_medium.jpg)
![From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Roseate spoonbill
Roseate spoonbill (Ajaia ajaja).JPG
in the Pantanal, Brazil
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Threskiornithidae
Genus: Platalea
Species: P. ajaja
Binomial name
Platalea ajaja
Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
Ajaja ajaja (L.), 1758
The roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) (sometimes placed in its own genus Ajaja) is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. It is a resident breeder in South America mostly east of the Andes, and in coastal regions of the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, the Gulf Coast of the United States,[2][3] and on central Florida's Atlantic coast[4] at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, adjoined with NASA Kennedy Space Center.
Taxonomy[edit]
A 2010 study of mitochondrial DNA of the spoonbills by Chesser and colleagues found that the roseate and yellow-billed spoonbills were each other's closest relatives, and the two were descended from an early offshoot from the ancestors of the other four spoonbill species. They felt the genetic evidence meant it was equally valid to consider all six to be classified within the genus Platalea or alternatively the two placed in the monotypic genera Platibis and Ajaja, respectively. However, as the six species were so similar morphologically, keeping them within the one genus made more sense.[5]
Description[edit]
The roseate spoonbill is 71–86 cm (28–34 in) long, with a 120–133 cm (47–52 in) wingspan and a body mass of 1.2–1.8 kg (2.6–4.0 lb).[6] The tarsus measures 9.7–12.4 cm (3.8–4.9 in), the culmen measures 14.5–18 cm (5.7–7.1 in) and the wing measures 32.3–37.5 cm (12.7–14.8 in) and thus the legs, bill, neck and spatulate bill all appear elongated.[7] Adults have a bare greenish head ("golden buff" when breeding[8]) and a white neck, back and breast (with a tuft of pink feathers in the center when breeding), and are otherwise a deep pink. The bill is grey. There is no significant sexual dimorphism.
Like the American flamingo, their pink color is diet-derived, consisting of the carotenoid pigment canthaxanthin. Another carotenoid, astaxanthin, can also be found deposited in flight and body feathers.[9] The colors can range from pale pink to bright magenta, depending on age, whether breeding or not, and location. Unlike herons, spoonbills fly with their necks outstretched. They alternate groups of stiff, shallow wingbeats with glides.[10]
Behavior[edit]
This species feeds in shallow fresh or coastal waters by swinging its bill from side to side as it steadily walks through the water, often in groups. The spoon-shaped bill allows it to sift easily through mud. It feeds on crustaceans, aquatic insects, frogs, newts and very small fish ignored by larger waders. In the United States, a popular place to observe roseate spoonbills is "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. Roseate spoonbills must compete for food with snowy egrets, great egrets, tricolored herons and American white pelicans.
In flight in the Pantanal, Brazil
(Composite image)
On High Island, Texas, United States
at GaiaZoo, Netherlands
Foraging roseate spoonbills at Merritt Island NWR
File:Roseate Spoonbill feeding with Northern Shovellors, Merritt Island.ogv
Video of feeding behavior, Merritt Island, Florida, United States
Breeding[edit]
Adult with two juveniles on a nest
The roseate spoonbill nests in shrubs or trees, often mangroves, laying two to five eggs, which are whitish with brown markings.[10] Immature birds have white, feathered heads, and the pink of the plumage is paler. The bill is yellowish or pinkish.
Conservation and threats[edit]
Information about predation on adults is lacking. Nestlings are sometimes killed by turkey vultures, bald eagles, raccoons and fire ants.[3] In 2006, a 16-year-old banded bird was discovered, making it the oldest wild individual.[11]](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/02/03/77306667_medium.jpg)
![The Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca) is a member of the duck, goose, and swan family Anatidae. It is native to Africa south of the Sahara and the Nile Valley.
Egyptian geese were considered sacred by the Ancient Egyptians, and appeared in much of their artwork. They have been raised for food and extensively bred in parts of Africa since they were domesticated by the ancient Egyptians. Because of their popularity chiefly as an ornamental bird, escapees are common and small feral populations have become established in Western Europe.[2][3] The Egyptian goose has escaped or been deliberately released in to Florida, USA, but there is no evidence that the population is breeding and may only persist due to continuing releases or escapes.[1]](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/03/08/77857748_medium.jpg)