Mindblowing Planet Earth

Sunday 1 December 2019

Dickcissel (Spiza americana)

The dickcissel is a bird of the prairies and a common resident of the Midwest. A rare breeding species in Pennsylvania, it has recently been found nesting in Clarion, Westmoreland, Somerset, Fayette, Franklin, and York counties, mainly on reclaimed strip-mine sites, but also on cut hayfields, especially in years when drought stunts the regrowth of grasses. Nests are on or near the ground, hidden in dense grass, weeds or a shrub.

Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)

The indigo bunting breeds throughout the East and in parts of the Midwest and Southwest. The species is statewide and common in Pennsylvania. Adults are about five and a half inches long, slightly smaller than a house sparrow. The male is bright blue, although he may look almost black in deep shade; the female is drab like a sparrow. Indigo buntings find food on the ground and in low bushes.

They eat many insects, including beetles, caterpillars, and grasshoppers, supplemented with grass and weed seeds, grains and wild fruits. Males migrate north in late April and May, with older males, preceding younger ones and returning to their territories of past years.

The two to six-acre territories are in brushy fields, clearings in woods, woods edges and along roadsides and powerline rights-of-way. Males make moth-like display flights along territorial boundaries, flying slowly with their wings fanned and tail and head held up, using rapid, shallow wing beats while sounding a bubbly song. They also perch and broadcast a more complicated territorial/courtship song, a series of high, whistled notes described as sweet-sweet-chew-chew-seer-seer-sweet. Females, by contrast, are so shy and retiring that it’s often hard to determine when they’ve arrived on the breeding range. The male spends much time singing from prominent places, and little time helping with brood-rearing.

The female builds a neat cup-shaped nest out of leaves, dried grasses, bark strips, and other plant materials, one and a half to 10 feet up (usually no higher than three feet) in a dense shrub or a low tree, often aspen. She lays three to four eggs, which are white or bluish-white and unmarked. She incubates the clutch for 12 to 13 days, until the eggs hatch over a one- to two-day period.

Some observers report that the male helps feed nestlings, while others say that he does not or that he gives food to the female who then carries it to the nest. Sometimes a male will have more than one mate nesting in his territory. Young indigo buntings leave the nest 10 to 12 days after hatching. In some cases, males take over the feeding of newly fledged young while females start a second brood.

Males keep singing well into August. Most pairs raise two broods. Brown-headed cowbirds often parasitize the nests, and various predators — particularly the blue jay — eat eggs and nestlings. Some researchers believe that only 30 to 50 percent of indigo bunting nests are successful. The adults molt in August.

The male in his winter plumage looks much like the female, but he still has blue streaks in his wings and tail. Buntings migrate south from late August through October. Many individuals cross the Gulf of Mexico, reversing their spring passage. Indigo buntings winter in loose flocks in southern Florida, Central America, and northern South America. The longevity record is 10 years.

Also Read: Lilac Breasted Roller, Most Attractive Bird / Indian Roller Bird / Yellow Cardinal – One in Million Birds

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Northern Cardinal - All Red Most Beautiful Bird in the World

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) — Adults are eight to nine inches long, slightly smaller than a robin. Both sexes have an orange-red bill and a prominent head crest. The male’s plumage is an overall bright red; the female is yellowish-brown with red tints on her wings, tail, and crest. The cardinal is a common bird in the The Southeastern United States. Before 1900, the species was rare in Pennsylvania, but over the last century, cardinals have spread as far north as Maine and southern Canada.

They now inhabit all of the Keystone State, except for areas of unbroken forest on the Allegheny High Plateau. Cardinals also breed across the Midwest and in Central America from Mexico to Guatemala. They are year-round residents throughout their range. Cardinals live in thickets, hedgerows, brushy fields, swamps, gardens and towns , and cities. They need dense shrubs for nesting; these can range from multiflora rose tangles sprawling between woodlots and fields, to hedges of privet and honeysuckle on shady streets. Hawthorns, lilac, gray dogwood and dense conifers also provide nesting cover. Mated pairs of cardinals use territories of three to 10 acres.

Northern Cardinals eat caterpillars, grasshoppers, beetles, bugs, ants, flies and many other insects; fruits of dogwood, mulberry and wild grape; and seeds of smartweeds and sedges, grains scattered by harvesting equipment, and sunflower seeds at birdfeeders. Cardinals are not particularly fearful of humans. One day a cardinal landed on a log about three feet from where I was. It furiously crushed a black beetle between its mandibles, discarded with a shake of its head the beetle’s wing sheaths and spiny legs, swallowed the beetle, defecated and flew off: not just a flash of pretty color, I found myself thinking, but a fearsome predator in its own right. Cardinals begin calling in February and March, signaling the onset of the breeding season. Males and females sing equally well.

The song is a series of clear whistled notes, whoit whoit whoit (like a kid learning to whistle) or wacheer wacheer. Cardinals often countersing: males on adjacent territories, or pairs within their own territory, alternately match songs. As a part of courtship, the male will pick up a bit of food (such as a sunflower kernel at a feeder) in his bill and sidle up to his mate; the two touch beaks as she accepts the morsel. It takes the female three to nine days to build the nest, a loose cup woven out of twigs, vines, leaves, bark strips, and rootlets, lined with fine grasses or hair. Nests, rarely higher than six feet, are often placed in the thickest, thorniest scrub on the pair’s territory.

The female lays two to five eggs (commonly three or four), which are whitish and marked with brown, lavender and gray. She does most of the incubating, and the male brings her food. The young hatch after about 12 days. Their parents feed them regurgitated insects at first, then whole insects. The young fledge after 10 days; the male may continue to feed them for a few days while the female builds another nest and begins a second clutch. Cardinals can produce up to four broods per year. Nest predators include snakes, crows, blue jays, house wrens, squirrels, chipmunks , and domestic cats. Brown-headed cowbirds often lay their eggs in cardinal nests, and the cardinals rear the cowbird nestlings.

Cardinals compete with gray catbirds for food and nest sites; catbirds usually dominate in these interactions and may force cardinals to the fringe of usable habitat. In fall the pair bond weakens between males and females. They stay together, however, and may join with other cardinals to form feeding groups that usually number 6 to 20 birds.

In winter, white-footed mice sometimes move into old cardinal nests, stuff the cups with plant matter, and set up housekeeping. Cardinals are preyed on by hawks and owls, as well as foxes and other ground predators. The longevity record is 15 years.

Cardinal populations rose steadily in Pennsylvania through the 20th century. Several factors may have helped Cardinalis cardinalis overspread the state during that period: an increase in edge habitats caused by rural development; a period of warm winters in the early l900s; a similar warming trend in recent years; and an increase in backyard feeding stations dispensing high-energy seeds that help cardinals and other birds survive frigid weather.

Also Read: Lilac Breasted Roller, Most Attractive Bird / Indian Roller Bird / Yellow Cardinal – One in Million Birds

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Friday 29 November 2019

Northern Cardinal - All Red Amazing Bird

Northern Cardinal is highly dichromatic, songbirds, socially monogamous species, and males are a vibrant red. The redder males produced more offspring in a breeding season. This beautiful bird can be found from the Dakotas, southern Ontario, and Nova Scotia southward to the Gulf Coast, and from southern Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and southern California southward into Mexico.

Northern cardinals are nonmigratory, has greatly extended the range northward and westward, mainly to the profusion of backyard winter bird feeders. This bird prefers open woodland habitats such as gardens, parks, suburbs, in the thickets, brushy swamps, evergreens, and privet hedges. The bird is highly protective of their territory and chases off other birds.

What Does Northern Cardinal Eat?

Are many bird lovers curious to know what does Northern Cardinal eat? The cardinal diet mainly consumes a variety of seeds, insects, grains, beetles, cicadas, dragonflies, leafhoppers, ants, aphids, crickets, termites, grasshoppers, caterpillars, moths, cutworms, spiders, snails, and slugs are common prey items. They also like to eat wild fruits, grains, blossoms, and buds of elm trees. Mate feeding normally occurs when the male feeds the female in courtship and the male picks up a seed or other food bit, hops over to the female, and tilts his head sideways to place it in her beak. The young chick mainly depends upon insects, corn and oats, sunflower seeds. Moreover, in the summer season, it likes seeds that are effortlessly husked, but normally less selective when food is infrequent during the winter season. They are putting safflower seed in a feeder is a robust strategy for attracting them.

Moreover, another feature is to lopsided pose (in which male and female birds tilt the body from side to side) sometimes happens so rapidly. Therefore, it creates a swaying type of motion. It is most often given by the male to the female. Also, the copulation has not been that usually observed. The female bird may solicit copulation by crouching with head and tail raised. Sometimes directly prior to copulation, the male (while singing with crest erect) may sidestep or almost slide down a branch to the female.

The nesting habits found in thickets, shrubs, honeysuckles, private hedges, multiflora roses, and dense evergreens. Female is more active in building nest leading with nesting material in her beak. In some cases, the male bird is also participating in building nest. Selecting the site normally eight feet to 30 feet from above the ground. Therefore, they make their home in 4 to 6 days. The four layers of nests consist of stiff weed stems and vine stems. The second is consists of paper, grapevine bark, and leaves. However, the third one is weed stems, grass, and trailing vines and fourth is with fine rootlets and grass stems.

Life Span of Northern Cardinal

The adult cardinals have longevity in the wild of about 13 to 14 years. So, one instant of bird has lived 28.5 years. Cardinals usually gather in flocks in the fall and remain together through the winter, staying in areas where food is abundant. The flock is often evenly divided by sex, and at night, they roost together. The male bird in these flocks, slightly dominant over females in feeding situations. Hence, some cardinals do not join flocks but remain on their breeding ground with their mate through the winter season.

The male cardinal is all red, except for around his mouth, and the female has had to be content with her brown color and just a blush of red. Male and female cardinals are easily told apart through plumage. The male is all red and the female is a light brown with reddish overtones. The juveniles are like the female but have a black bill rather than a red one. Both male and female cardinals are utter loud, clear whistles and lovely songs with numerous variations. The genus and species names, Cardinalis “cardinals”, is a Latin word pertaining to a door hinge. The Northern Cardinals were named for the rich, bright red color found in the males, the same color as the robes worn by the cardinals of the Catholic Church.

Also Read: Lilac Breasted Roller, Most Attractive Bird / Indian Roller Bird

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Sources: The Backyard Bird-Lover’s Guide

Wednesday 27 November 2019

The Indian Birds of Prey

The Birds of Prey is a large family is composed of birds which bear so strong a family likeness that it is almost impossible to describe them in such a way as to enable the reader to identify them at sight. As with the owls, birds of prey are easily recognized as such, but to name any species baffles even professed ornithologists.

To try to make out the raptors by their color is, to use the words of Eha, “at the best a short road to despair. Naturalists learn to recognize them as David’s watchman recognized the courier who brought tidings of the victory over Absalom. ‘His running is like the running of Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok.’

Every bird of prey has its own character, some trick of flight, something in its figure and proportions which serves to distinguish it decisively.” What precisely this bird is something not in most cases able to state. Mr. C. H. Donald, or some other Indian falconer, will give us a little handbook on the birds of prey of this country.

The Indian Tawny Eagle (Aquila vindhiana)

In coloring, this bird is very like the common kite but has not so long a tail. Its legs are feathered right down to the toe. This is the sign-manual of all the true eagles. A bird that looks like a kite with feathered legs is probably a tawny eagle the commonest eagle in India, abundant everywhere save on the Malabar coast. The big Tawny Eagle is belonging to family Accipitridae.

It has 25 to 30 in length with the 64 to 75 in wingspan. The eagle mainly relies on carrion as a food source. Although, it is considered as a quiet bird, sometimes Kow-Kow noise which is loud and far traveling. The underparts are mainly black, however, the lower back is pale and range of variation in plumage color.

The white-eyed buzzard (Butastur teesa)

This bird of prey is about the size of the common house crow. Eha writes A Buzzard is idea of life is to sit upon a pole, or on top of a small tree commanding a good expanse of grassland, and to watch for a field mouse, or a lizard, or even a fat grasshopper.

If you see a biggish, untidy hawk, of a sandy brown color, more or less dashed with whitish, spending In the morning in this way, you may put it down as Butastur teesa. The sign-manual of this common bird is its white eye, and if you cannot get near enough to make this out with the aid of field glasses.

You may still identify this species by the conspicuous white patch on the nape of the neck. The White-eyed buzzard is very common in N. India; but rare in the south. This bird has a rufous tail, white iris, and white throat with a distinctive dark mesial stripe bordered, and brown head.

Pallas's fish eagle (Haliaeetus leucoryphus)

This Pallas Fish Eagle is nearly half as big as the kite. A large brown bird with the whitish forehead, chin, and throat, and a broad white band (4 inches wide) across the tail, about three inches from the tip. This is the sign-manual of this species, and on this account, Jerdon calls it “The Ring-tailed Fish Eagle.” Not found in S. India.

All the fish-eagles, writes C. H. Donald in The Indian Field, have loud resonant calls, anything but melodious, and each and all seem to love hearing their own voices. H. leucoryphus in the plains of Punjab may often be heard long before he is seen, particularly when soaring, and though he himself may only appear a wee a speck in the heavens, his call will be distinctly heard.

This bird frequents found near rivers and marshes and is inland rather than a seashore bird. This bird is also known as Pallas's sea eagle or band-tailed fish eagle. The Pallas eagle preferred food is fish. During food-collecting, it often faces predates from graylag geese.

The White-bellied Sea-Eagle (Haliaëtus leucogaster)

White-bellied The sea-eagle bird is a little larger than the kite. Its, head, neck, lower parts, and nearly the whole of the tail white; other parts dark grey or brown. Jerdon calls this species the Grey-backed Sea-Eagle. This species is very seldom seen inland and is easily distinguished from by having the lower parts white instead of brown.

Col. Cunningham describes this species as one of the most splendid of large raptorial birds. Owing to the brilliant contrast of the snowy whiteness of the head and under surface, with the deep ashy tints of the wings and back. There are few more striking objects than one of them as he sits on a bare branch overhanging a tidal channel, glancing around with his bold black eyes.

The eagle with all his beautiful plumage gleaming in the bright sunlight. This is a very noisy species, especially at the breeding season. This beautiful bird normally breeds and hunts near water. It prefers food is fish but also consumes carrion and other variety of animals.

The white-tailed eagle (Haliaëtus albicilla)

The White-tailed Sea-Eagle is half of a big kite. A large brown bird with a white tail, of which the middle feathers are considerably longer than the outer ones. By this character and by its loud cries may this bird be identified. It is only a winter visitor to India to the Punjab, Sind, and the U. P. Sometimes, it is known as gray sea eagle and Eurasian sea eagle.

Due to human activities this bird is often scarce and very spottily distributed as a nesting species. This eagle usually lives near open water, including both coastal saltwater areas and inland freshwater. It requires plentiful food supply and old-growth trees or ample sea cliffs for nesting.

The Brahminy Kite. (Haliastur indus)

Of all the birds of prey, this is perhaps the easiest to identify in its adult state. The head, neck, breast, and upper abdomen are white, the shaft of each white feather being black. The remainder of the plumage is a rich chestnut, almost maroon.

The young birds are alike to the common kite in appearance. But maybe distinguished when on the wing by the fact that the tail of the Brahminy is always rounded, while that of the kite is more or less forked. This species is rare in the Punjab, common everywhere else. In Madras it sometimes swoops down and carries off a snipe that has been shot by a sportsman. Its cry is a peculiar squeaking wail.

The Black Kite (Milvus govinda)

This is a Common Pariah Kite. His long tail slightly forked at the tip, suffices to distinguish him at a glance from all other raptorial birds. It is believed to be the most abundant species in the world approximately more than 6 million population.

The pale or pallid harrier (Circus macrourus)

This is a migratory bird belongs to the harrier family. This medium sized raptor rarely seen in India. It breeds on open plains, bogs, of eastern Asia and southern Europe. The bird normally hunts small mammals, lizards, and birds, and drift low over fields and moors.

Surprisingly the nest is found on the ground, containing six to eight eggs. The other harrier species are, Montagu’s Harrier (Circus cineraceus), The Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus), The Pied Harrier (Circus melanoleucus), and The Marsh Harrier (Circus æruginosus).

The hens are so alike that to distinguish them is no easy matter. The ordinary man will doubtless be satisfied to call them all harriers. Harriers are cold-weather visitors to India. They are striking-looking birds with long wings.

They fly low, only a few inches above the level of the ground, ever on the lookout for a lizard, a mouse, an insect, or even a small bird. They are larger than crows and smaller than kites. They hunt over fields and marshes and are not seen in towns, but those who shoot must be familiar with them.

The Shikra (Astur badius)

This is one of the most familiar birds of prey. It is considerably smaller than the common house crow. Its upper plumage is ashy grey. The tail is of the same hue, but with broad black crossbars. The breast is pale rust color, with a number of thin wavy white crossbars.

The eye is bright yellow, as is the cere or base of the beak. It is very like the Brain-fever Bird in appearance. It often hunts for its quarry in the neighborhood of trees. Its method is to make a short quick dash. Natives of India very frequently train this bird to hawk quail and mynas. Its note is a sharp double whistle.

The Sparrow-Hawk (Accipiter nisus)

This species, which is a cold-weather visitor to India, is very like No. 158 in habits and appearance. It is, however, characterized by having long legs. It is bolder and swifter in its movements.

The Laggar Falcon (Falco jugger)

Several species of falcon occur in India. This one is, the commonest. It is a brownish bird barred and spotted all over with white. It looks like a large sparrow-hawk with long pointed wings.

But it does not make one dash at its prey after the manner of the sparrow-hawk; it is a strong flier and settles down to a long chase in the open country. Its eyes are dark. Natives call falcons dark-eyed hawks and sparrow-hawks light-eyed hawks.

The Turumti, or Red-headed Merlin (Æsalon chicquera)

The Head and a stripe on the cheek chestnut. Back and tail grey barred with dark brown; underparts whitish with black streaks and bars. This species lives largely on small birds and often hunts in couples.

Tinnunculus alaudaris: The Kestrel; the English “Windhover.”

Normally the head, neck, and tail grey, back, and wings brick-red. The lower parts are cream-colored spotted with brown. The redback makes the bird easy to identify, as does its method of hunting its quarry.

It flies over the open country, and every now and then hovers on rapidly vibrating wings over some spot where it thinks it espies some lizard or other animals. If there is an animal there it drops quietly on it, otherwise, it passes on and hovers elsewhere. It is a winter visitor to the plains of India.

Also Read: Lilac Breasted Roller, Most Attractive Bird / Indian Roller Bird

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Tuesday 26 November 2019

Shrikes – How They Get Their Nam

William Turner, in a Short and “Succint History of Birds” in 1544, called the red-backed shrike “a nyn murder” because the bird was believed to murder and collect nine victims a day. Its German name was Nuen- m'order, now Neuntöter. The name “shrike” comes from “shriek,” describing the bird’s alarm call, although these birds also sing sweetly and can mimic other birds.

Shrikes are the only passerines that prey on vertebrate animals, often impaling the carcasses on thorns to store for future use. This habit gave them the family name Laniidae, from the Latin lanius, “a butcher.” They are sometimes called butcher birds in English. The common French name for the red-backed shrike was once l’ecorcheur, or “flayer,” from the bird’s habit of tearing apart or skinning small mammals before eating them.

The two shrikes found in North America are the loggerhead shrike, Lanius ludovicianus (“from Louisiana”), and the northern shrike, L. excubitor. The loggerhead shrike gets its common name quills. Quill pens, however, are still the preferred tools of some artists, and they are made only from certain feathers of certain large birds, including swans, geese, and crows (but not secretary birds).

The secretary bird is the only member of its family, Sagittari- idae, because although it is similar to several other birds, it doesn’t fit into any of their families: It flies and soars as well as an eagle; it is over three feet tall and runs like an ostrich; it nests like a stork; some of its faces are bare, like a vulture’s. It partly digests and regurgitates food for its young, and it’s a raptor.

The secretary bird has short stubby toes, which it can’t use to carry prey but with which it literally stomps its victims to death. It has such a powerful kick that it can shatter a turtle’s shell, and it kills snakes by kicking or dropping them from a height. Its scientific name, Sagittarius serpentarius, means “a bowman hunting snakes,” and the bird’s head plumes are also like arrows sticking out of a quiver. Most bowhunters, though, would hunt more sportingly!

Also Read: Lilac Breasted Roller, Most Attractive Bird in The

Friday 22 November 2019

Basil - It's Not as Difficult as You Think

Basil has been a controversial herb from ancient times. Both the origin of its name and its reason for being has been constantly disputed. The Greek basilikón means "kingly, " while the Latin Ocimum may derive from the Greek language means the sense of being able to enjoy the fragrance. Because of the plant's pungent aroma.

In the ancient times in Greece, it was believed that basil represented hate and misfortune. The Greeks called it the "devil plant," but they also considered it a powerful love charm. A sign of mourning in ancient Greece and a sign of love in ancient Rome, today in Crete basil signifies "love washed with tears," and in some parts of Italy, it remains a lover's emblem.

Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum) was a staple of the ancient Greek kitchen garden and many Greeks believed that it would not grow unless it was cursed and reviled when planted. Aristotle's colleague Theophrastus disagreed, having observed the habits of herbs scientifically. Each of the kitchen herbs he studied flowered all at once, except basil, which produces a succession of flowers starting at the lower part of the plant.

He also observed that basil produces more seeds than do other herbs. Pliny in the first century reported the belief still accepted by many Romans that the more basil was abused, the more abundantly it grew, and that the best time for sowing was at the Feast of Paleson. At the rising of the Dog Star, he added, basil turns pale. The medicinal values of basil were also disputed in antiquity.

According to Pliny, the Greek botanist-physician Chrysippus condemned it, claiming that it injured stomach, liver, and eyes, and that it even caused madness, which explained why goats would not touch it. Also, other authorities believed that pounded basil placed under a stone would breed a scorpion.

Dioscorides and Pliny rescued basil. However, Dioscorides recommends it for intestinal worms, mad dog and viper bites, dandruff, and toothache; he also includes instructions for making an ointment of basil leaves pounded in oil. Pliny refutes the more exaggerated negatives and catalogs the herb's benefits: Is Basil good for You?

Benefits of Basil Herb?

Mixed with a little vinegar, basil cures the sting of land and sea scorpions;

mixed with vinegar and inhaled it is good for fainting; as a linament with rose oil and vinegar it relieves fatigue, inflammation, and headache;

Also, mixed with goose grease, and particularly it is very good for babies' ears; it is also an aphrodisiac. Apicius, rich gastronomy of Pliny's time, is associated with the only known cookbooks from ancient Greece or Rome. In it is a recipe for fresh or dried peas seasoned with herbs and wine:

Cook peas and skim the broth. Add leeks, coriander, and cumin. Moreover, the pound pepper, lovage, dill, caraway, and fresh basil moisten with liquamen. Then you must blend the herbs additional liquamen and vinegar. Add to peas and taste, seasoning further if required.

Bring to a boil and serve. Liquamen may be approximated in the modern kitchen by boiling over high heat until reduced one-third: 1 ounce of anchovies in olive oil, 1-1/2 cups of water, and 1 teaspoon of orégano. Strain twice through a tea strainer and add 1 ounce of grape juice plus 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

A pungent annual related to mint, sweet basil is the most commonly grown basil to-day, although there are many others in cultivation. The stem is obtusely quadrangular. Leaves are long and pointed, rich green in color, paler green beneath, opposite, stalked, and softly smooth and cool to the touch. Therefore, the white flowers are in clusters along a spike terminating each leafy branch.

Flourishes best in a rich soil.

Furnishes an aromatic, volatile, camphoraceous oil.

Aromatic and carminative. Also Read: Spinach: How to Grow the World’s Healthiest Foods

Reference: The Ancient Herbs by The J. Paul Getty Museum

Friday 15 November 2019

The Common Babbler

The common Babbler is a dingy brown bird belongs to the member of the Leiothrichidae family of Argya genus. Its upper plumage is darker than the lower. In each feather, there is a dark a line along the shaft which causes the bird to have a streaked appearance.

It goes about in pairs, or in small flocks. It feeds largely on the ground. When it runs, its tail (which is about 4½ inches long, i.e. half the total length of the bird) seems to trail on the ground like that of a rat, hence one of its names.

Its note is not unpleasant. It nests chiefly in the hot weather. The nursery is a neatly constructed cup, which is invariably placed in a low bush. Its eggs are pale blue. The common babbler found at dry and vegetation land of southern Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and the Lakshadweep Islands.

The two or three turquoise blue eggs takes 15 to 16 days to hatch and young bird fly in a week with the adult group members. Normally, the young bird is yellow color with iris color changes from hazel to dark brown. Here we will discuss some common babblers found in Asia.

The Jungle Babbler

The Jungle Babbler (Argya striata) are all untidy-looking, earthy-brown birds about the size of mynas. They go about in little flocks, thus it gets the name “Seven Sisters,” or “Sath Bhai (seven brothers).” They feed largely on the ground, seeking insects among dead leaves.

While feeding they keep up a constant chatter which every now and then grows very loud. They sounding like a combination of a squeak and the groans of a revolving axle that requires to be oiled.

They continually jerk the tail, which has the appearance of being very loosely inserted. Their flight is feeble and laborious. The Jungle Babbler bird is abundant in Asia and becomes rarer in south India. Where it is largely replaced in the plains by the two next species. The Large Grey Babbler (Argya malcomi) or Gangai, is more abundant even than C. canorus.

It maybe recognized by its long tail. The three outer pairs of tail feathers are white very conspicuous during flight. The note is a loud harsh quey, quey, quey. The bird is commoner than thought. This is a non-migratory bird, normally found in forest and bushes.

The White-headed Babbler or Cretzschmar's babbler (Turdoides leucocephala). This is another common babbler and can easily be recognized by the greyish white crown of its head. This bird mostly found at subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. However, many researchers confused this bird with the yellow-billed babbler, which is otherwise called the white-headed babbler.

The Rufous-tailed Babbler (Moupinia poecilotis). This is another common babbler who is the least untidy-looking of other babblers. It may be recognized by the distinctly reddish hue of its tail. All three species of babblers build neat cup-shaped nests not far above the ground and lay beautiful blue eggs. It is closely related to typical warblers.

The Yellow-eyed Babbler (Chrysomma sinense). This is considerably smaller than the other babblers described. Its general color is cinnamon brown. The eyebrows, throat, and breast are white. The underparts are cream-colored, while the beak is black.

It emits a sweet note and builds a beautiful nest. It measures about five to seven inches in depth. It is usually slung by its broadest part on two or more growing reeds, heads of millet, stout grass stems, or perhaps more frequently to a forked branch.

In the non-breeding season, it often found in a group of five to fifteen birds. It found in bushes and like to eat insects but also takes berries and nectar. During the breeding season, it emits beautiful strong whistling twee-twee-ta-whit-chu.

Tuesday 12 November 2019

The Vibrant Color Bee-eater

Bee-eaters are brightly colored birds of elegant form. They are characterized by having the median pair of tail feathers prolonged a couple of inches beyond the others as bristles. The feeding habits of these birds are like those of flycatchers. They make from some perch little sallies in the air after insects. The wings when the spread is triangular. They excavate their nests in sandbanks.

Merops Viridis: The Common Indian Bee-eater. but with rather a long tail. An emerald-green bird with a turquoise throat, black necklace, and a black band through the eye. The wings are shot with bronze, so that, as the bird sails along on outstretched pinions, it looks now green, now bronze, as the rays of the sun are reflected at different angles.

There is some black in the tail, and the two median tail feathers project as bristles a couple of inches beyond the other tail feathers. The eye is bright red. Found all over India but undergoes a considerable amount of local migration. It is a summer visitor to the Punjab and N.W. F. P. and is said to leave the island of Bombay in the hot weather.

Merops philippinus: The Blue-tailed Bee-eater but with rather a long tail. General hue green shot with bronze; the tail is bluish. There is a broad black streak running through the eye. The chin is a dirty cream color. The throat is chestnut-red. The eye is bright red.

This species is larger and less beautiful. Like the latter it undergoes partial migration, being a summer visitor to N. India and a winter visitor to S. India. One sees large numbers of these birds when out snipe shooting in Madras. They perch on the bands between the flooded fields and make sallies into the air after insects. The note is a feeble but mellow whistle.
Also Read: The Masked Crimson Tanager

Monday 11 November 2019

Why is America so Called?

Everybody knows that Columbus discovered America. But very few people know then why wasn’t it named after him. How Did America Get Its Name? The reason for this might be considered an accident of the fate. When Columbus made his first journey, he sighted land early in the morning of October 12, 1492.

The Explorer Columbus went ashore, took possession in the names of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, and named the land San Salvador. That land though, was not the mainland of the continent. It is what we now call Watling Island, in the Bahamas. Columbus actually thought he had reached sub-continent which was his ultimate goal so he called the natives Indians.

Therefore, Columbus cruised on, looking for Japan. Instead he found Cuba and Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic today). On March 14, 1493, Columbus returned to Spain. On his second voyage which started on September 24, 1493, Columbus found many of the Virgin Islands, i.e., Puerto Rico, and Jamaica. However he was still determined to find India. On his third attempt in 1498, he found Trinidad and touched the land of South America. But he initially thought he had discovered a series of islands.

Another Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci, meanwhile was claiming that he had been the first to reach the mainland of South America. This was happened on June 16, 1497. Many experts believe that Vespucci did not really make his voyage until 1499.

However, on the trip in the early fifteen century 1501, Vespucci sailed along the coast of South America and wrote letters saying they had discovered a new continent. His information was used by a German map-maker and in his maps he used the name “America” (after Amerigo Vespucci) for the new continent. Amerigo Vespucci was apparently uninformed of the use of his name to refer to the new landmass and that name has been used ever since.

However, in 1538 world map, the Gerardus Mercator applied the name to the entire New World. Acceptance may have been supported by the natural poetic counterpart that the name America made with Africa, Asia, and Europa.

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Tuesday 5 November 2019

House Wren Nesting Habit, Song, and Diet

House Wren is a compact, a small songbird with a flat head and long curved beak belong to wren family. The most widely distributed short-winged bird occurs all the way through from Canada to America and Southern Argentina. Few Caribbean individuals are a bit different from distinct voices.

The House Wren is most common, but its taxonomy is very complex. Because many subspecies are considered as different bird species. House Wren cocked above the line of the body or fairly dropped.

House Wren is smaller than Carolina Wren, overall brown with dark color barring on the wings and tail. It has a distinct buffy pale eyebrow, with pinkish and grey legs with cinnamon-buff throat and chest. An adult bird is about 11 to 13 cm long, with a 15cm wingspan, and weight is 10 to 12 g.

House Wren Habitat

The migratory, the insectivorous bird is a very energetic and bubbly, normally very short stay, and quickly through tangles at any branch. It is normally found at home, forest edges, scattered grass, trees, backyards, wetlands, farmyards and city parks. The winter season is more secretive, likes brushy tangles, thickets, and hedgerows.

House Wren Song

The bird often pausing and deliver a cheerful trilling song during the nesting season but not frequent afterward. However, female bird sand rarely to conspecifics.

House Wren Nesting Behavior

The industry and diligence of the house wren when nest building is well known, built in two stages. These birds forage actively in vegetation, and some time uses abundant woodpecker holes as a nesting site. A large cup type nest with various cavities, taking one week to build. The nest is usually made of little dead and dry sticks lined with various materials, i.e., wool, cocoons, strips of bark, hair, feather, moss, rootlets, and trash.

The female bird is very choosy, can throw any unwanted sticks to the ground and lines the nest. The entrance to the nest is very often constricted by twigs which narrow the entrance or create a small corridor-like passage within the box. The small nest cup and its narrow approaches may discourage some predators.

They prefer nesting height is about 50ft above the ground. The House Wrens are feisty and pugnacious birds, occasionally damage the eggs of other birds in their territory. They are also notorious to fill up their nest with sticks to make them unusable. Females normally produce two broods each season, usually clutch 2 to 8 red-blotched cream-white eggs, incubate in around 12 to 19 days. The young chick leaves the nest within 15 to 20 days.

House Wren Diet

The House Wren diet mainly consists of insects, spiders, snails, butterfly larvae. Both parents bringing plenty of food for young chick, who prefer all passerines hatch.

House Wren Predators

The most known predators are rats, cats, woodpeckers, opossums, raccoons, foxes, snakes, small hawks, squirrels, and Owls.

The industry and diligence of the House Wren Nesting Behavior when nest building is well known, built in two stages.

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