Birding

Some birds make for poor dinner guests…

LARGE TAWNY FROGMOUTH
With its ‘wooden’ demeanor and stumpy feet, the frogmouth sits
around ‘being the tree’ until food unwittingly delivers itself into the
vividly yellow, gaping mouth. Wouldn’t be one for a potluck!

NORTHERN SHRIKE
This bird would love street fairs—meat on a stick is it’s ultimate

jam! So unless you don’t mind dinner being impaled on nails,
thorns or any convenient protuberance, I’d keep it off the

meal invitees list. Especially as sometimes, it will feed and leave,
returning to the skewered carcass for leftovers.

SOUTH POLAR SKUA
This bully will ensure your meal is a disaster. Although
it can hunt when needed, it seems to prefer terrorizing
other birds until they relinquish their food. Some sources
(not scientifically verified) claim that the skua will traumatize some
into regurgitating their meals and—you guessed it—would then dine on the
up-chuck. Don’t lose your dinner now!

VAMPIRE FINCH
This species would fit right in at a Halloween party, just make
sure you didn’t also invite boobies—the bubble tea cup to the
vampire finches ‘big straw’ beak. Yep that’s right. In a twisted
food web, the finch will poke a hole and drink the blood of the
hapless boobies in order to meet their protein and hydration needs.

Dear Keren! Haaaaaappy birthday!! Hope it is a hoot! Hope you have a lovely Nocturnal song
time with ze birds and hoomans! May the year ahead be an exciting one
filled with laughter and success! Love, Gimmi Bird song is normally associated with daytime
birds, with only a small handful of notable

exceptions. Apart from owls, our other nocturnal
Up All Night: 7 Little-Known Facts About Night Owls songsters, corncrakes, nightjars and nightingales

Like black or white, morning larks and night owls fall on opposite ends of the spectrum. Sleep tendencies, are all migratory birds with a short and well
predetermined by our genes which wound our personal biological clocks, are solely responsible for what type of defined song period during the spring and
“bird” we are. We’ve all been told at a young age, “The early bird gets the worm,” but what does the night owl summer months. As well as the true nocturnal
species, reed and sedge warblers among others,
get?
sing extensively during the night.
Night owls, considered the “rebel” of the two, are characterized by their unconventional and up-all-night lifestyle.
Their sleeping schedules are not in sync with the 9-to-5 crowd, as they reach their peak performance while most All birds, whether diurnal or nocturnal, are
governed by the daily rhythm of light and dark.
are fast asleep. A night owl lifestyle, however, can reap a cornucopia of benefits as long as the person gets Onset of song in the morning, the dawn chorus,
seven to nine hours of sleep every single day, says the National Sleep Foundation, which is the right amount of
is triggered by a combination of the birds
sleep to stay healthy. internal clock and the very first rays of light. The
dawn chorus is normally started by the robin and
So a morning person may receive a lot of praise, but there are actually some pros — along with cons, of course
— to being on the dark side of the moon. Behold the little-known facts about night owls: the redstart, with sparrows and many finches
being the last to join in. A very similar order, but
1. NIGHT OWLS ARE MORE CREATIVE THAN MORNING LARKS: A common shared trait among night owls is in reverse, follows the sunset. It is thought that
that they feel most creative at night. A 2006 study published in the journal Personality and Individual
Differences found when it came to completing an activity based on originality, elaboration, fluidity, and flexibility dawn chorus happens because birds wake up
factors, evening types aced each tested based on this criteria compared to morning and intermediate-type before there is enough light for them to feed and
people. This suggests nocturnal types are more likely to be creative because of their non-conventional spirit that
stems from their non-conventional schedules. In other words, they are more likely to find alternative and original so they focus on singing instead.
solutions.
Because even low light intensities can trigger
2. NIGHT OWLS SCORE HIGHER ON GENERAL INTELLIGENCE TESTS: Teens are often encouraged to go song in some birds, and because they continue
to sleep early to perform better at school, but night owls may have the upper hand when it comes to general singing until the last rays of light have faded in
intelligence. A 2013 study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences found while morning the evening, it is easy to see how the singing
birds did outperform night owls in school, night owls tend to score higher on inductive reasons tests, which is period could easily be extended into the night.
related to general intelligence. These traits tend to be associated with greater occupational success and higher This is indeed what often happens with song
incomes. thrushes and dunnocks, and doubtless many

3. NIGHT OWLS HAVE DIFFERENT BRAINS: Chronotypes, natural tendencies toward sleeping and waking, other species, but the unrivalled kings as
are also different when it comes to their brain. Researchers in Germany hooked up early birds and night owls daytime birds turned night-time songsters are
and those “in the middle of the road,” also known as hummingbirds, to a diffusion MRI machine to see what was
happening inside their heads. The findings revealed night owls' white matter was in worse condition than their robins.
early bird counterparts, especially in areas associated with sadness and depression, according to the
2014 studypublished in the journal NeuroImage. Scientists speculate this could be due to the “permanent jet lag” Robins are insectivorous birds that are well
night owls suffer from. adapted to foraging in dim light, and even
continue to feed under artificial light well into
4. NIGHT OWLS HAVE HIGHER BRAIN ACTIVITY: Staying up past midnight may be advantageous when it the night. It is one of the earliest birds to start
comes to brain activity. Compared to night owls, early birds have lower activity in brain regions linked to attention the dawn chorus and one of the last to stop
and the circadian master clock, according to a 2009 study published in the journal Science. The late-to-bed singing at night. With this tendency to be active
strategy helps night owls handle sleep pressure — a physiological pull that causes us to get sleepier the longer at low light, robins can be easily triggered into
we’re awake — compared to early birds who feel sleepier and mentally wear out faster.
full song by a streetlight or any kind of
5. NIGHT OWLS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE PSYCHOPATHS: The dark side to staying up late at night could floodlighting. Since robins keep territories all
be the increased risk for anti-social personality traits. Night owls are more likely to display the “Dark Triad” of year round, they also sing all round the year. This
personality traits — narcissism, Machiavellianism (indicative of being manipulative), and psychopathy — has resulted in dozens of reports of nightingales
because they tend to thrive in a low-light environment where others are sleeping, according to a singing in the middle of the winters night and
2013 study published in the journalPersonality and Individual Differences. The theory behind this finding is that other equally unlikely times and places, which
the darkness of the night is the perfect time for psychopaths, or others who are mentally disturbed, to wreak have all turned out to be robins. In fact, the
havoc, since most of the population is sleeping, thus not cognitively functioning. robin is the most common night-time songster in

6. NIGHT OWLS HAVE GREATER PHYSICAL STRENGTH IN THE EVENING: If you’re a night owl, it’s best to Britain's towns and gardens.
do your workout in the evening, to reach your body’s physical peak performance. Physiologically speaking, early
birds’ strength tends to remain constant throughout the day, but night owls have peak performance in the There are other triggers, besides light, that can
evening, according to a 2009 study published in theJournal of Biological Rhythms. This may be due to the bring about night-time song in robins and some
increase in motor cortex and spinal cord excitability in the evening, which begins at about 9 p.m., when they other birds. If a bird is suddenly awakened by a
have maximum central nervous system drive.
sudden noise like thunder, fireworks,
7. NIGHT OWLS TEND TO BE MEN: Men tend to consider themselves night owls more so than women earthquake, wartime bombing etc, even a
because they tend to sleep less overall. A 2014 study published in the journal Evolutionary Psychology found sudden shaking of its roosting tree, it may burst
although preferences for being a night owl or an early morning person are due to biology and genetic into song. Robins can even be triggered to join in
inheritance, they can also be influenced by environmental factors such as shift work or child-rearing. Moreover, the singing of other nocturnal birds, notably the
gender differences in sleep patterns tend to be prevalent after puberty, but then dissipate after women reach nightingale, to which it is distantly related.
menopause. President Obama, among some of the famous night owl males told Newsweek, “I'm a night owl. … I
usually have about a half hour to read before I go to bed … about midnight, 12:30 a.m. — sometimes a little
later.”

BIRDS ON HOLIDAY

Happy Birthday K!!!! Here’s wishing you a The award for fastest bird goes to the
fantastical feathery day! Hope you like the great snipe: It flies around4,200 miles at

book. Here are some fun facts on bird speeds of up to 60mph! No other animal
migration, which you probably already know travels at such speeds for such long

:P Love you! <3 Toots distances. Birds usually utilize tailwinds
(winds blowing in the same direction they
At least 4,000 species of bird are regular fly) to help them go faster, but the snipe’s
migrants, which is about 40 percent of the
speeds don’t seem to be a result of that.
total number of birds in the world.
(Although this number will likely increase as The bar-tailed godwit can fly for
nearly 7,000 miles without stopping,
we learn more about the habits of birds in making it the bird with the longest recorded
tropical regions.)
non-stop flight. During the eight-day
Birds can reach great heights as they journey, the bird doesn’t stop for food or
migrate. Bar-headed geese are the
rest, demonstrating jaw-dropping
highest-flying migratory birds, endurance.
regularly reaching altitudes of up to five and
a half miles above sea level while flying over Migration can be extremely dangerous for
the Himalayas in India. But the bird with the birds, and many don’t often make it back to

record for the highest altitude ever is the their starting point. Sometimes natural
Ruppel’s griffon vulture, which collided with occurrences like harsh weather play a role,
a plane at 37,000 feet (that’s seven miles!) in but many times, human activities are the
1975 and was unfortunately sucked into its
cause of birds’ untimely demise. In the
jet engine. United States alone, up to one billion

The Arctic tern has the longest birds die each year from window
migration of any bird in the world. collisions. And approximately seven
These black-capped, red-billed birds can fly million die from striking TV and radio
more than 49,700 miles in a year, making a towers in North America annually, ABC
round trip between their breeding grounds
in the Arctic and the Antarctic, where they News reports.
spend their winters. The lucky bird gets to
To prepare for the extremely taxing effort of
see two summers a year! And over its migration, birds enter a state called
lifespan of more than 30 years, the flights
can add up to the equivalent of three trips to hyperphagia, where they bulk up on food in
the preceding weeks to store fat, which
the moon and back. they’ll later use for energy on their long

Speaking of long distances, the northern journeys. Some birds, like the blackpoll
wheatear travels up to 9,000 miles each way warbler, almost double their body
between the Arctic and Africa, giving it one
of the largest ranges of any songbird. weight before flying 2,300 miles non-stop
What makes this an amazing feat is that the for 86 hours.

tiny bird weighs less than an ounce, on Even birds that don’t fly migrate. Emus, the
average. large Australian birds, often travel for miles
on foot to find food, and many populations

of penguins migrate by swimming.

~MATCH IT~

HORNITHOLOGY

DUCK HEDGE SPARROW

Ducks have a reputation for The female Hedge Sparrow will sometimes
being monogamous, but the keep a second male on hand, who lurks in
reality is more gruesome, as the females are often gang the bushes waiting for her mate to turn his
raped by the males. This behaviour is so ingrained in ducks back. When he does, she gets with him.
that the female's oviduct has sacs and dead ends that can Then things get weird: When the first mate comes
hold and expel unwanted sperm meaning that she usually back, she displays herself to him and he pokes at her
ends up with the desired drake's ducklings. genitals until the other male’s sperm spurts out. Then the
The Argentine Lake Duck has the longest bird penis, which two birds have sex, ensuring that it’s (probably) her mate’s
is corkscrew shaped and 17” long. The drake also uses his egg in the nest. Why do this? Both the mate and the
penis to "lasso" a female who tries to escape from it. misinformed adulterer will help the female feed the chicks.

WHITE-FRONTED FRIGATEBIRD
PARROT
Male frigatebirds have red
White-Fronted Parrots kiss kidney-shaped pouches on their
by putting their beaks together chests that they inflate like balloons
and touching each other’s to attract girls. During mating season, the male sits on a
tongues. But suddenly, there’s an appetite-turning twist nest and gyrates his puffed-up chest at the females flying
to the story. The male will regurgitate his food into the overhead. When a female sees a male she likes, she
female’s mouth as a form of affection. Nothing is more lands beside him. However, copulation is often
romantic than a little vomit to end a kiss. To the female, interrupted when other jealous males jump on the
this is a tasty treat that gets her in the mood. chosen partner and try to puncture his red balloon.

SWIFTS PEAFOWL

Swifts are dedicated members of the The iridescently colourful feathers
Mile High Club. Lacking effective perching of a peacock may have us impressed
skills, Swifts have mastered the air to the point where but it seems that it might be
they can fly across a continent in 3 days, sleep on the something else that tickles the
wing, and yes, even get it on! Swifts simply do not stop peahens’ fancy! What catches the
for sex, and after a spectacular, 200 mile per hour peahens’ attention most is when the male starts turning
display flight, the male and female swift rush together around and shaking his tail-feather. Literally!
and complete the act belly to belly at an altitude of over
2,000 feet and faster than many small aircrafts. Red-Capped
Manakin
FINCHES
At breeding time, the red-capped manakin
Male finches put on a courtship chooses a branch as its dance floor and
performance of mixed song and suddenly breaks out in a “moonwalk”. In addition to
dance. However, female finches dancing they’ll also produce original beats. These whirrs,
have been known to initiate the courtship rituals. For buzzes, and clicks all serve to impress the females and warn
example, a female may present a blade of grass to the male the other males not to encroach. Other courtship displays
to encourage him to start his performance. include the male will pivoting back and forth, showing off
If the male birds are in captivity, they may mate with his yellow “thighs.”
another species or even try to mate with a male. If the
female accepts the male’s proposal, she may tolerate him,
mimic his moves, or assume the mating position.

Have a K!!!!
Love and hugs,
DJ Happy Birthday!!!
wonderful day!

TWEETY BIRD -YELLOW CANARY
ROAD RUNNER - CHAPARRAL COCK
MOTHER GOOSE – GOOSE

IAGO- SCARLET MACAW
CHICKEN LITTLE – CHICKEN
DONALD AND DAISY DUCK- AMERICAN DUCK
FAWKES – PHOENIX

TOBIAS - HUMAN MORPH

THE UGLY DUCKLING – SWAN
THE RAVEN - COMMON RAVEN

ZAZU - RED BILLED HORNBILL
OWL -NAMED AFTER THE SPECIES
HEDWIG -SNOWY OWL
ANGRY BIRDS -ASSORTED, OBESE, ANGRY SPECIES
WOODSTOCK- UNKNOWN
THE BLACK SWAN - HUMAVIAN HYBRID
BIG BIRD -YELLOW, GIANT, CASSOWARY (BUT THINKS HE’S A CONDOR)

Hey keren

Happy bithday!!!
Hope you have
fantasticle day
and year ahead!!

Loads of love and
hugs

trinki

The only bird that has a bladder is the ostrich which means
that most birds release their urine together with their

poop (the uric acid is what causes the poop to be white),
which is why it is such a sticky mess. In order to fly

efficiently and quickly, birds need to carry as little weight
as possible, so they evacuate their cloaca frequently.

In the Chincha islands off Peru accumulated A study on penguins
bird droppings, known as ‘guano’, were found showed that they can poop
to be over 100 feet deep in places. Guano was at four times the pressure
a very important commodity (as a fertilizer)
and in the 1860s accounted for 75% of Peru’s of your typical human.
total revenue. The Guano Islands Act of 1856 Fully grown penguins
authorizes US citizens to take possession of any generate pressures of
around 60 kPa to expel
unoccupied island with guano deposits. material of viscosity similar
to that of olive oil. How
they decide upon the
direction into which they
expel their faeces, and
what role the wind plays in
this, remains unknown.

Fieldfare birds (Turdus pilarus) have a Penguin poop can be seen from space. Several groups of spiders have evolved
special way to attack an enemy bird. A combination of background colour an effective strategy against being
They gang up on it and make it fly to the and penguin gastrointestinal prowess eaten by day-active predators like
ground. Then as they swoop they eject
droppings as they dive, timing their allows penguins to be tracked by birds - they have bodies that look like
satellite imagery. The colour of the unappetising bird droppings. One of
bombing precisely to splatter on the poo can be clearly spotted and enables the best known Bird-dropping Spiders
target. The droppings saturate the researchers to differentiate species by is Celaenia excavata. These spiders
enemy bird's feathers, destroying their the changing colour of the ‘guano’ are found throughout much of eastern
vital insulating ability (potentially fatal).
stains against the white background. and southern Australia.

They get creative with names in Australia.
A bridge over the Harbour is the Harbour Bridge, a really big barrier reef is called the Great
Barrier Reef and a super long road along the ocean is the Great Ocean Road…on that note:

a turquoise parrot is called, well, a Turquoise Parrot (just insert caps)

And a really cool lyrebird might just be named Superb Lyrebird (no joke)

…aaand a very strong owl with an exceptional diving range? Oh yes, a Powerful Owl
(thumbs up for that one)

Good on ya ‘Straya!
Hope you have a fantastic birthday K! Miss you!

Much love
Ashi