The white-breasted kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis)

The white-throated kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) is a tree kingfisher and familiar and common resident, breeding bird of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. In Marathi language it is called ‘Khandya, Dheesa and Dheewar.’ This bird is less dependent on water than other members of the Alcedinidae. Normally the breeding season of the White-breasted Kingfisher is March till July.

The white-throated kingfisher is also known as the white-breasted kingfisher. The adult kingfisher has red large bills and legs. The bird is bright blue back, wings and tail with white throat and breast. The flight of bird is very rapid and direct while the short rounded wings whirring, and large white patches are visible on the blue and black wings.

Courtship Display

Courtship starts from March; in that period the long beak birds are very vocal during and utter their cackling call ‘kili-kili’ repeatedly from a treetop for extended periods of time. Birds sit close to each other and repeatedly call.

Nest of White-breasted Kingfisher

Normally the bird nest is a horizontal tunnel, up to a meter long, which ends in a widened egg chamber and has a 7 cm wide entrance. It is excavated in a vertical cutting of earth on the bank of a river, stream, nullah or a roadside land cutting. The egg chamber is slightly inclined, perhaps to prevent the flow of water into the chamber.

Also, it makes disposal of waste material from within easy, as the chicks grow. In some nests the egg chamber is curved to the left or right. Lining of the egg chamber was not observed. Both the birds participate in nest excavation. One of the birds flew full tilt at the prospective spot and hit it with the tip of its bill. It immediately returned to the perching site while its partner repeated same process. This went on until a nest entrance had formed.

After the entrance was at least 5 cm long, both birds took turns to sit at its edge and excavate the tunnel further. Excavation ceased if the pair encountered problems such as rocky or hard soil, and a new site was selected. The pairs occupying the same area for 3 to 4 years. However only ringing will confirm the reuse of a nest or site by the same pair. However, the White-breasted Kingfisher is known to use various location situations for constructing its nest.

Food

The kingfisher quite often found near the water, where he likes to feeds on a wide range of prey that includes many things, like small reptiles, crabs, amphibians, small rodents and even birds.

Eggs & egg laying

A clutch may comprise of four to seven eggs, but usually contains 5 to 6. Eggs are white and spherical-oval in shape. The average size of 30 eggs is 29.4 x 26.2 mm. The eggs laid at regular intervals of 24 hrs or at least one gap of 48 hrs in the egg laying process.

Incubation & Hatching

There was negligible incubation up to the laying of last egg after which, it commenced at night. Both birds participate in incubation. The birds destroyed undigested food pellets that collected in the nest during incubation. During changing over of duties, the relieving bird uttered a call to the incubating bird, at which the latter left the nest.

After the eggs hatched, the attending bird removed the shells. In one of the nests the adults also removed an infertile egg. The incubation period is to be the extent of time from the laying of the last egg of a clutch to the hatching. The Incubation period is 21–22 days and fledging period 20–21 days.

Mortality

During one infertile egg the hatching period, black ants attacked the chicks and eggs. At another nest, weaver ants attacked a chick. Other common causes of chick mortality include accidental drowning, caving in of the nest chamber and, falling out of nest hole. Speeding vehicles occasionally knock down adult birds. In a study shows that the five nests that were observed, 22 eggs were laid, of which one egg was infertile and black ants attacked one chick and 3 eggs. The remaining 17 eggs hatched successfully.

White-throated kingfisher lifespan

The white-throated kingfisher hasn’t famous for longer life. One of oldest kingfisher is recorded to live 21 years of age. Hence the average lifespan is 4 to 5 years.

1. Belted Kingfisher (kingfishers)
2. Ruddy Kingfisher ! A Perfect Photogenic Bird
3. The Crested Kingfisher (Megaceryle lugubris)

The Legal and Ethical Issues in Salvaging the Titanic

The Titanic has engaged the huge attention of a rapt world audience for more than a century now. As the most famous and historic of all shipwrecks, it is enshrouded in a cloak of mystery and debate. The traumatic effect that the loss of the massive ship had on the public at the time of the disaster has not abated, making the Titanic seem almost eternal. Although many plans to salvage the ship and its cargo were developed over the hundred years that the Titanic lay undiscovered 4 km below the ocean surface.

RMS Titanic has not discovered until 1985 that salvage became feasible, when Robert Ballard of the Oceanographic Institute in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, discovered the ship’s exact location as part of a joint American-French research team. Hence, the serious issues were directly raised over the controversial question of salvage rights. The main issue is that the shipwreck lay in international waters. Because, there is no legal protection in international waters for Titanic Wreck of historical or archaeological significance.

In this type of case, shipwrecks are subject to salvage law, which stipulates that the first salvor on the site has exclusive rights to the site. Thus, other salvors are prevented from accessing the site if expeditions are being planned and conducted to recover artifacts from the wreck. Robert Ballard could not legally claim salvage rights to the Titanic Wreck since he uncovered it while working on a government research project.

The French Oceanography Institute, which was the French component of the joint American-French research team and had received little acknowledgment for its contribution in the discovery of the wreck, had no such constraints, however. It was soon involved in the formation of the commercial salvage company that was to become RMS Titanic, Inc.

More than 1,500 people including rich and poor, representing over 20 countries perished in the disaster. The ship had broken into two separate parts, with the stern section lying about 804.5 m beyond the bow portion. A huge field of debris covers the ocean floor between the two pieces. RMS Titanic, Inc., stated early on that they only intended to record the site; recover, conserve, preserve, and tour just those artifacts recovered from the debris field. It keeps the collection together rather than sell it to individual buyers around the world.

The culmination of the project would be a Titanic Memorial Museum in which all the artifacts recovered would be kept. Although it should be noted, that RMS Titanic, made available for sale to the general public authenticated coal from the sea bed. The reaction was very strong and instant. The individuals and organizations from around the world fervently opposed the idea of salvage work being done on the Titanic. They were claiming that the wreck was a “gravesite” and should be left undisturbed as a memorial to those who died.

These organizations as the Titanic Historical Society (the largest and most senior of the Titanic enthusiast bodies) of the United States and the Ulster Titanic Society of Northern Ireland “where the ship was built” set themselves against the salvage operation. Robert Ballard, who firmly believes in the sanctity of the site, worked to get a United States federal law passed making it illegal to buy or sell artifacts from the site in the U.S. Other individuals and institutions allied themselves with the salvage, if it was done well and in good taste.

They were really concerned that artifacts would be sold and dispersed if a company other than RMS Titanic, Inc., were the salvors dealing with the wreck. The unscrupulous salvors interested only in pure commercial profit would not employ the same sort of painstaking recording, recovery, and conservation methods that RMS Titanic, used to save materials recovered during the four research and unearthing expeditions conducted between 1987 and 1996.

Stimulatingly, although the Ulster Titanic Society opposes the salvage of the wreck, the society believes that if salvage work continues, RMS Titanic, Inc., is the best salvor to do the job. In the face of serious international and, hostile criticism from the public, maritime archaeologists, and museum professionals, the National Maritime Museum of Greenwich joined RMS Titanic, in a partnership to present the first exhibition of artifacts recovered from the wreck.

In 1994–95, around 150 of the several thousand artifacts recovered from the debris field were displayed in an exhibition titled “Wreck of the Titanic.” The exhibition was billed as the “largest-ever public display of Titanic artifacts” and was a huge success in terms of audience attendance and media coverage.

More than 500,000 visitors saw the show. The exhibit brought the museum into direct conflict with the ICMM (International Congress of Maritime Museums), however, of which it is a member. The museum and ICMM disagreed about salvors and salvage law.

The ICMM was concerned that the exhibition included artifacts recovered from the site since 1990, and “relics raised illegally or in inappropriate circumstances after 1990. They are considered out of bounds for ICMM-member museums.”1 Richard Ormond of the National Maritime Museum claimed that “the objectives of the exhibition were to demonstrate the technical achievement of finding and exploring the site.

That shows conservation techniques and the extraordinary survival of objects on the sea bed, and to examine the controversy in detail. The museum stressed that none of the artifacts on display came from the hull of the ship. Which was the true “gravesite” of the victims? Michael McCaughan were a Titanic expert from the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Northern Ireland visited the exhibition and felt that the “150 artifacts were displayed sensitively in a variety of contexts.

Fundamentally this was not an exhibit about the past, but about the present and its appropriation of the past. The exhibit was not a requiem for the dead, nor did it address the metaphorical meaning of Titanic. Rather, it was enshrinement of the triumphs of deep-sea exploration and the stimulating wonders of conservation laboratories. Regardless of the controversy and arguments over the salvage work conducted by RMS Titanic, Inc., there is no doubt whatsoever that the company’s work is legal.

RMS Titanic, Inc., was granted salvor-in-possession rights to the Titanic Wreck by a U.S. federal court in 1994. Despite a challenge, these rights were reconfirmed in 1996, giving the company exclusive rights to own artifacts recovered from the wreck. The 1996 judgment took into consideration the site recordings, artifact conservation, and commitment of RMS Titanic, Inc., to keep the artifact collection together for public display. Rare Titanic Pictures / Legal and Ethical Issues in Salvaging Titanic Wreck

Facts about Amazon River Dolphins

The Amazon is classified as a “whitewater” river, i.e., it is turbid, yellowish-brown, and very limited in transparency because of the large load of suspended sediment. The tributaries, channels, and lakes are classified as “blackwater,” i.e., they are more transparent due to a lack of suspended sediment but are of a dark color due to high concentrations of dissolved fumic and fulvic acids.

The abundance of the Amazon river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis, also known as the boto, bufeo or pink river dolphin), and the tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis) along ca. about an area of 120 km of the Amazon River bordering Colombia, Brazil, and Peru. Dolphins in riverine environments include some of the most endangered of the world’s cetaceans. The principal threats are incidental mortality in fisheries, habitat loss and degradation, directed the killing, death in construction, and collision with boats. The current population is decreasing day by day.  

The baiji (Lipotes vexillifer) is considered the most endangered cetacean. It is likely that this species will become extinct within the next decade. The situation is no more promising for many of the other dolphins of the superfamily Platanistoidea. The bhulan (Platanista minor) and the baiji are listed as “endangered” and the susu (P gangetica) and the Amazon river dolphin (also known in Spanish as bufeo colorado, and in the Portuguese language it is called as boto) (Inia geoffrensis, hereafter referred to as Inia) as vulnerable.

The status of the tucuxi (also known in Spanish as bufeo negro) (Sotalia fluviatilis, hereafter referred to as Sotalia), a delphinid, is unknown. The biology and conservation of platanistoids hoping in improvement of techniques to estimate the population sizes of these dolphins and to determine trends in their abundance. The fresh-water cetacean populations are a challenge.

It is not easy to photograph species that spend most of their lives in dark and turbid waters, and when at the surface, tend to be inconspicuous, shy, and unpredictable. Moreover, given that all cetacean populations that inhabit freshwater ecosystems live in the watersheds of developing countries, the funding and technology available to conduct research are limited.

The Inia and Sotalia are distributed in the Amazon and Orinoco basins, the largest river system in the world. Most of what is known about these dolphins in the wild are from work conducted since the early 1980s near Manaus, Brazil. Pigmentation patterns on the dorsal ridge of Inia are the most prevalent mark type and are often used as one of the principal marks for photo-identification of the species.

Pigmentation patterns are likely the result of discoloration of the skin, parasites, or abrasions caused by rubbing against objects or by injuries from their conspecifics. Pigmentation patterns of many species remain unchanged across multiple years such as in bottlenose whales.

Thus, pigmentation patterns on the flanks are considered supplementary. Despite this, they were one of the main features used to describe body coloration. Pigmentation patterns were first described for Inia in the same Amazon location in Trujillo but it was not known whether these would be reliable marks across multiple years.

The supplementary mark types (scratches, scrapes; black marks; white marks; pigmentation patterns on the flank, neck, and head) are, overall, not reliable over the long term but are useful for identifying individuals. The Scrapes and scratches can be formed from tooth rakes of conspecifics or can be single or parallel lines that may be produced by inanimate objects such as flooded vegetation.

These marks cannot be used to identify Inia dolphins for a period longer than one week and one month, respectively. Therefore, the scratches are highly prevalent in Inia dolphins; however, as has also been observed in other species, they have high gain and loss rates and, thus, limited persistence. For instance, scratches are like the linear marks and tooth rakes described in long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas), which are also not persistent in the population.  

Further, the Znia is the most geographically prevalent of the platanistoid dolphins, being found in several parts of Bolivia, Colombia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Guyana, and Venezuela. Also, the Sotalia is normally found in the Amazon-Orinoco River system but also inhabits the sea and can be found in the Caribbean off the coast of Panama and along South America’s north and northeastern shores from Colombia to southern Brazil.

The observations of the abundance of Znia or Sotalia, and most were incidental to other activities and limited to a few sightings in small areas. Only a few of these previous works produced quantitative estimates of density or abundance.

The water level of the Amazon River reaches a maximum in May, coinciding with the peaks of the rainy seasons in the Peruvian and Ecuadorean headwaters and reaches a minimum during July-August. The Amazon River ranged between approximately 0.5 and 2 km in width as maximum widths of the tributaries ranged between 60 and 200 m.

The Amazon river dolphin or boto (Inia geoffrensis) is found in the Amazon and Orinoco river basins. It inhabits slow and fast-flowing rivers, side channels, lakes, and flooded forests and grasslands. The principal limits to its distribution seem to be impassable rapids and cold waters in small tributaries at the headwaters of the Amazon basin in the Andes. 

Although the Amazon river dolphin is the most widespread freshwater dolphin in the world, its distribution is limited compared to that of most marine odontocetes and it is therefore very likely to become a threatened species. For the management of Amazon river dolphins in the wild, information is needed about the population size, age composition and sex ratio, seasonal distribution, diet, energy requirements relative to seasonal prey distribution and density, and about competition with other animals and with fisheries.

This information could facilitate prey management to allow for a certain number of Amazon river dolphins in their distribution area. The Amazon river dolphin is a generalist feeder, whose diet is known to include over 50 fish species.

Fish types are taken by Amazon river dolphins (mainly sciaenids, cichlids and characins in order of importance) and their proportions in the diet. However, very little is known about the energetic requirements of individual odontocetes of various ages and, sizes. As it is, at present, impossible to measure their energetic requirements in the wild. The Amazon river dolphin is usually seen in one or two but may also appear in pods that seldom contain more than eight individuals.

Further to the image-identification, the natural marks have been used in other species too, to assess an individual’s age. For instance, Risso’s dolphin (Grampus griseus) adults become lighter with the age due to loss of pigment. Thus, individuals with a moderate to a very high level of scarring are considered adults Marks of Inia could also be used to assess the age and sex of individuals.

The color, especially the pinkness of some adult males, could potentially be a proxy for Inia’s maturity. This could be investigated marks on individuals that are already sexed, aged, and artificially marked. However, these features would not appear to be useful for Inia dolphins in the Orinoco, where all individuals in our study were grey and without pink patches.

Read More - Greatest Amazon River is Home to Several Extremes / The Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentina) / Blue-ringed Octopus – World’s Most Venomous Marine Animals / The Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

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The Complex Behavior of Songbird

For Songbirds singing is a complex behavior that must be learned. It has stimulated rapidly advancing researching various disciplines, notably neurobiology and behavioral ecology.  But do not understand in detail how sound is produced by the birds’ vocal organ, the syrinx. The main reason for this is that the syrinx is located at the base of the trachea (windpipe).

To making it relatively inaccessible to direct physiological studies the powerful, direct methods that have been effectively used to study sound production in the human voice box cannot easily is adapted to investigate the avian syrinx.

So, the ideas about sound generation in birds are based on indirect approaches, such as analysis of vocalizations and of the morphology of the syrinx, and theoretical models. The combination of indirect and direct approaches can support to overcome these difficulties. The careful analysis of zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) song revealed linear and nonlinear phenomena.

That is including switches from periodic to a periodic or chaotic oscillations and period doubling. Also, transitions from linear to nonlinear dynamics occurred rapidly (within 1 ms), without silent intervals between the two states. The transitions arise from intrinsic properties of the vibrating components of the syrinx rather than from complex neural control.

So far, it was presumed that the central nervous system directly controls the often-intricate temporal pattern of song. In birds, singing contains the expiratory muscles that line the body wall and generate pulses of increased air pressure by compressing the posterior air sacs. These pulses define the coarse temporal pattern, which can be modified by activity of the syringa muscles.

These muscles are well attached to the syrinx. Because they turn sound production on and off by opening and closing the airways through the syrinx. Also, the respiratory and syringeal muscles also control the acoustic structure of song such as sound frequency and amplitude, and frequency modulation. An intricate network of brain areas controls the respiratory and syringeal muscles during song production.

But we now learn that intrinsic mechanical properties of the syrinx can contribute to temporal and acoustic song patterns. These patterns are independent of complex central control, needing a minimal contribution (in the form of slowly changing pressure from the respiratory and vocal muscles.

This is discovered by studying the vibratory behavior of the zebra finch syrinx in an in vitro preparation. Moreover, the sounds induced by drawing air through the excised syrinx in some species of bird. The acoustic versatility of the song is an indicator of male reproductive fitness. So, this may be important for the choice of mate and encounters between members of the same sex.

Also, If the peripherally generated acoustic structure requires a less precise motor control than complex sound modulation controlled by the action of muscles. It is also weighted differently by a listener who is trying to work out the ‘quality’ of the singer? The findings are also of practical importance for researchers trying to quantify the quality of birdsong.

The assessment of songbird complexity is firmly linked to knowledge of sound-producing mechanisms, and now that peripheral contributions to song structure must be added. The task has become even more challenging. At last, they remain the question of whether nonlinear dynamics might also be mixed up in singing by other species of bird.

The nonlinear effects contributing to the temporal and acoustic pattern in bird vocalizations will be described. Also, nonlinearity is well known in the physiology of the human vocal organ. But to those who suffer from roughness of voice, it must be of little comfort to know that nonlinearity can also be a mechanism to enhance vocal properties.

The well-known debate between Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein on the nature of quantum reality, a well asked question central to their debate the nature of quantum interference has resurfaced. Dürr, Nonn, and Rempe, have used an atom interferometer to show that Schrödinger’s concept of ‘entanglement’ between the states of particles is the key to wave-particle duality, and to understand much that is weird about quantum mechanics.

This is quite different from the usual textbook explanation of duality in terms of unavoidable measurement disturbances. It confirms that entanglement is essential in establishing quantum weirdness and in the emergence of classical behavior at larger scales. Quantum entities can act like particles or waves, depending on how they are observed.

They can be diffracted and produce interference patterns (wave behavior) when they can take different paths from some source to a detector in the usual example. The electrons or photons go through two slits and form an interference pattern on the screen behind. On the other hand, with an appropriate detector put along one of the paths, the quantum entities can be detected at a specific place and time, as if they are point-like particles.

But any attempt to determine which path is taken by a quantum object destroys the interference pattern. The central mystery of quantum physics, and Bohr called this vague principle ‘complementarily’, and explained it in terms of the uncertainty principle, put forward by Werner Heisenberg, his postbox at the time.

To persuade Einstein that wave-particle duality is a vital part of quantum mechanics. Bohr constructed models of quantum measurements that showed the futility of trying to determine which path was taken by a quantum object in an interference experiment. As soon as enough information is acquired for this determination, the quantum interferences must vanish.

Because any act of observing will impart uncontrollable momentum kicks to the quantum object. This is quantified by Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, which relates uncertainty in positional information to uncertainty in momentum when the position of an entity is con-strained, the momentum must be randomized to a certain degree.

This explanation in terms of the uncertainty principle has become a talisman foursome, but it has left others uneasy, as it views the measurement and momentum kicks as ‘locally realistic’ in other words, as idealized classical measurements, rather than quantum mechanical phenomena them-selves.

This is a treacherous position, and it has led to a debate in this journal between a group centered on the Max-Planck Institute for Quantum Optics and one in Auckland, on whether momentum kicks are necessary to explain the two-slit experiment. Apparently, momentum is involved, because a diffraction pattern is a map of the momentum distribution in the experiment.

But how is it involved? Is it everything, as Bohr would have claimed? This is the question addressed by Dürr. Who has studied the interference fringes produced when a beam of cold atoms is diffracted by standing waves of light? Their interferometer displays fringes of high contrast but when they encode within the atoms information as to which path is taken, the fringes disappear entirely. The internal labeling of paths does not even need to be read out to destroy the interferences: all you need is the option of being able to read it out.

Read More – The Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentina) / Blue-ringed Octopus – World’s Most Venomous Marine Animals / The Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

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The Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

In the right terms, "Sialia" is the Latinized, neuter plural version of the Greek word sialis, a noun meaning a "kind of bird." Since the Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) was the first bluebird classified by Carolus Linnaeus in (1707-1778). He gave it the species name sialis, though he placed it in the genus Motacilia which is now reserved for the wagtails. It was William Swainson (1789-1855), who, in 1827, decided that the bluebirds needed a genus of their own within the thrush family (Turdidae).

He selected the generic name "Sialia" which he simply adapted from the species name Sialia which Linnaeus had used. Therefore, the scientific name for the Eastern Bluebird is Sialia sialis. Similarly, the Western Bluebird and Mountain Bluebird, the two other species within the genus, were named Stellemexieana and Sialia currucoides respectively.

Their species names are descriptive of their locations. All three-bluebird species are native only 10 the North Ameri can continent, although each inhabits different regions generally separated by the Rocky Mountains and by altitudinal preferences. While the adult birds all show differing plumages, the young of all three species look remarkably alike, prominently displaying spotted breasts and large white eye-rings.

This similarity in plumage was the principal reason the Society chose the juvenal bluebird for its logo. Since bluebirds almost always choose to raise their young in small enclosed cavities, a young bluebird sitting near a nesting box seemed to -symbolize our mission. The hope of any species resides in its young. Because of bluebird nesting preferences, the survival of their young may depend on the nesting box, especially since natural cavities, for a variety of reasons, are disappearing rapidly.

The theme of bluebird young nurtured in man-made structures will be a recurring one in our art and literature. We hope that this theme will remind all about the plight of the bluebird and will stimulate action which will allow this beautiful creature to prosper. many years bluebirds have been in trouble trying, usually in vain, to maintain their population.

Various factors have been involved in the bluebird population decline, but the principal causes are believed to be a shortage of the natural cavities they require for nesting plus severe co petition from the alien House Sparrows and European Starlings for most available cavities. Consequently, efforts to help the bluebird have been confined largely to supplying them with nesting boxes mounted in suitable habitat, and in trying to protect the bird s during the nesting season from their natural and imported enemies.

Public concern over the plight of the bluebird has increased enormously in recent years. Hundreds of people have become actively involved in helping these beautiful birds and many thousands of bluebird nesting boxes have been erected throughout the United States and Canada. A brief review of some of the important milestones in the bluebird conservation effort should, therefore, be of interest.

Before the advent of the white man in North America, American Indians were said to have erected hollowed-out gourds in their Villages to attract Purple Martin s. The purpose was evidently to help control objectionable flying insects since martins consume large numbers of such insects. Hollowed-out gourds are still used to attract martins, particularly in some parts of the South.

Since bluebirds frequently use these gourds for nesting, it is assumed that they also used some of the gourds supplied by the Indians before any Europeans settled in America. This then probably represents the beginning of the custom of attracting bluebirds by supplying artificial nesting sites.

In early Colonial times, the Eastern Bluebird is known n to have been much admired and was often called the " blue robin " since it reminded the colonists of their beloved European Robin. The bluebird gradually became a symbol of love, hope, and happiness.

This symbolism persists today. Through the years the bluebird has been mentioned more frequently than any other bird in American poetry and in the lyric s of our popular songs. It seems probable that some of the early colonists attracted bluebird’s close to their homes with nesting boxes of some sort, although document at ion of this is obscure.

The bluebirds were very active, flying about, eating weed seeds, cat chin g Insects, walking about on the ground and gravel road and even perching on top of the air vent of the buried gas tank. They were only a short distance from the truck, often only a few feet from it. It was a most enjoyable lunch hour for both of us.

A nesting box mounted six feet or more above the ground on a smooth metal pole, such as a piece of galvanized water pipe, and located 75 feet or more from any wooded area is unlikely to be of any interest to flying squirrels. These beautiful little animals feel at home only in or very close to woodlands. If the mounting pole is kept covered with soft automobile grease during the nesting season the box will be still better protected from squirrels and most other climbing predators.

Read More – The Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentina) / Blue-ringed Octopus – World’s Most Venomous Marine Animals

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Eastern Newt (salamanders) Food Habitats

Notophthalmus, the genus comprising the eastern newts, inhabits eastern North America. A different genus, Taricha, comprises the western newts along the Pacific coast of North America. Unlike other salamanders, the skin of newts is rough-textured, not slimy. Eastern newts are primarily aquatic; western newts are terrestrial.

The life cycle of eastern newts is complex. Females deposit their eggs into shallow surface waters. After hatching, the larvae remain aquatic for 2 to several months before transforming into brightly colored terrestrial forms, called efts. Post larval migration of efts from ponds to land may take place from July through November.

But the timing varies between populations. Efts live on land (forest floor) for 3 to 7 years. They then return to the water and assume adult characteristics. In changing from an eft to an adult, the newt develops fins and the skin changes to permit aquatic respiration.

Occasionally newts omit the terrestrial eft stage, especially in the species located in the southeast coastal plain and along the Massachusetts coast. These aquatic juveniles have the same adaptations (i.e., smooth skin and flattened tail) as the aquatic adults but are not sexually mature.

Under favorable conditions, adults are permanently aquatic; however, adults may migrate to land after breeding due to dry ponds, high water temperatures, and low oxygen tension. The life cycle of western newts does not include the eft stage.

The eastern newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) has both aquatic and terrestrial forms. The aquatic adult is usually yellowish-brown or olive-green to dark brown above, yellow below. The land-dwelling eft is orange-red to reddish-brown, and its skin contains tetrodotoxin, a neurotoxin and powerful emetic.

There are four subspecies of eastern newts:

1. N. v. viridescens (red-spotted newt; ranges from Nova Scotia west to Great Lakes and south to the Gulf states).
2. N. v. dorsalis (broken-striped newt; ranges along the coastal plain of the Carolinas).
3. N. v. louisianensis (central newt; ranges from western Michigan to the Gulf).
4. N. v. piaropicola(peninsula newt; restricted to peninsular Florida).

Neoteny occurs commonly in the peninsula and broken-striped newts. In the central newt, neoteny is frequent in the southeastern coastal plain. In the red-spotted newt, neoteny is rare. Adult eastern newts usually are 6.5 to 10.0 cm in total length. In North Carolina, N. v. dorsalisefts ranged from 2.1 to 3.8 cm snout-to-vent length (SVL).

That excludes the tail, and adults ranged from 2.0 to 4.4 cm SVL. The aquatic juveniles 1 year of age to range from 2.0 to 3.2 cm SVL. Adult eastern newts weigh approximately 2 to 3 g. Whereas the efts generally weigh 1 to 1.5 g. Neotenic newts are mature and capable of reproduction but retain the larval form, appearance, and habits.

Habitat

Larval and adult eastern newts are found in ponds, especially those with abundant submerged vegetation, and in weedy areas of lakes, marshes, ditches, backwaters, and pools of shallow slow-moving streams or other unpolluted shallow or semi-permanent water. Terrestrial efts inhabit mixed and deciduous forests and are found in moist areas, typically under damp leaves, brush piles, logs, and stumps, usually in wooded habitats. Adequate surface litter is important, especially during dry periods, because efts seldom burrow.

Eastern Newt Food Habits

Adult eastern newts are opportunistic predators that prey underwater on worms, insects and their larvae (e.g., mayfly, caddisfly, midge, and mosquito larvae), small crustaceans and mollusks, spiders, amphibian eggs, and occasionally small fish. Newts capture prey at the surface of the water and on the bottom of the pond, as well as in the water column.

The shed skin (exuvia) is eaten and may comprise greater than 5 percent of the total weight of food items of both the adult and eft diets. Snails are an important food source for the terrestrial eft. Efts feed only during rainy summer periods. In late August and September, efts often were found clustered around decaying mushrooms feeding on adult and larval dipterans. In a northern hardwood-hemlock forest in New York, the most prey of adult migrants and immature efts were from the upper litter layer, soil surface, or low vegetation.

Temperature regulation and daily activities

Adult newts are often seen foraging in shallow water, and efts are often found in large numbers on the forest floor after it rains. Efts may be found on the open forest floor even during daylight hours, but they rarely emerge if the air temperature is below 10C.

Hibernation

Most adults remain active all winter underwater on pond bottoms or in streams. Some adults overwinter on land and migrate to ponds during the spring to breed. If the water body freezes to the bottom, adults may be forced to hibernate on land or to migrate to another pool. Efts hibernate on land, burrowing under logs and debris. It is observed that efts migrated to ponds for the first time in the spring and fall.

Breeding activities and social organization. In south-central New York, breeding takes place in late winter or early spring, usually in lakes, ponds, and swamps. Ovulation and egg deposition occur over an extended period. Females overwintering on land can store sperm for at least 10 months.

Spawning underwater, the female deposits eggs singly on leaves of submerged plants, hiding and wrapping each in vegetation. The time to hatching depends on temperature. Smith (1961) found typical incubation periods to be 14 to 21 days in Illinois, whereas the incubation period observed 21 to 56 days.

Growth and metamorphosis

In late summer or early fall, the larvae transform into either aquatic juveniles or terrestrial efts that low larval density stimulated neoteny in larvae under experimental conditions. Larval growth rates were higher in ponds with low larval densities. Growth rates for aquatic juveniles are highest in the spring; however, maximum seasonal growth for the terrestrial efts occurs between June and September when the temperature is optimal for active foraging.

Home range and resources. For adult newts, the distance between capture and recapture sites to be about 7 m, indicating small home ranges. It did not find any defined home range or any territoriality for males. Most efts around a pond in Pennsylvania remained within 1.5 m of the shore. The home range for terrestrial efts in a Massachusetts woodland to be 270 m² and located approximately 800 m from the ponds where the adults and larvae were located.

Population density. Populations of aquatic adults may reach high local densities, whereas terrestrial efts exhibit lower population densities. Recorded population densities for terrestrial efts range from 34 per hectare (ranging from 20 to 50 efts per hectare) in a North Carolina mixed deciduous forest to 300 per hectare in a Massachusetts woodland. The density of 1.4 adult newts per m² (14,000 adult newts per hectare) in a shallow pond in North Carolina in the winter, whereas the summer population density was only 0.2 adults per m² (2,000 adults per hectare).

Many populations of the eastern newt reach sexual maturity when the eft stage returns to the water and changes to the adult form. However, under certain conditions such as low larval density, most of the larvae present have been shown to metamorphose directly into adults or even into sexually mature larvae.

In experimental ponds, densities of 22 larvae per m² resulted in metamorphosis to eft by the majority, while a density of 5.5 larvae per m²resulted in metamorphosis directly to the adult form or sexual maturation without metamorphosis (Harris, 1987). Adult density also influences reproduction.

The doubling adult density resulted in a reduction of offspring produced to one-quarter that produced by adults at the lower density (i.e., from 36 offspring per female in tanks containing 1.1 females per m² to 9.7 offspring per female in tanks containing 2.2 females per m²). The adult life expectancy 2.1 breeding seasons for males and 1.7 breeding seasons for females. Amphibian blood leeches (ectoparasites) are likely to be a primary source of mortality for adults; they also prey directly on larvae.

Similar Species

The black-spotted newt (Notophthalmus meridionalis) is similar in size (7.5 to 11.0 cm) to the eastern newt. It has large black spots and is found in south Texas in ponds, lagoons, and swamps. There is no eft stage.

The striped newt (Notophthalmus perstriatus) is smaller (5.2 to 7.9 cm) than the eastern newt and ranges from southern Georgia to central Florida. It is found in almost any body of shallow, standing water.

The western newts (Taricha) are found along the Pacific coast. They do not undergo the eft stage but rather transform into land-dwelling adults that return to the water at breeding time.

Other small salamanders are similar but vary by having slimy skin and conspicuous costal grooves. They differ in life history, however; in the family Plethudontidae, all are lungless and breathe through thin, moist skin. Many are completely terrestrial.

Raccoon (raccoons, coatis, ringtails)

Procyonids are medium-sized omnivores that range throughout much of North America. Raccoons, coatis, and ringtails feed on insects, small mammals, birds, lizards, and fruits. Ringtails are much smaller and slenderer than raccoons and consume a higher proportion of animal matter. Coatis are slightly smaller than racoons and are limited in their distribution in the United States to just north of the Mexican border.

The raccoon (Procyon lotor) is the most abundant and widespread medium-sized omnivore in the North America. They are found throughout Mexico, Central America, the United States. Except at the higher elevations of the Rocky Mountains, and into southern Canada. During the last 50 years, raccoon populations in the United States have increased greatly.

Raccoon Nocturnal

In suburban areas, they frequently raid garbage cans and dumps. Raccoons are preyed on by bobcats, coyotes, foxes, and great horned owls. Twenty-five subspecies are recognized in the United States and Canada.

However, most investigators do not identify the subspecies studied because different subspecies inhabit essentially nonoverlapping geographic ranges. Though raccoons are mainly nocturnal, they do often get some stuff done during the day. Hence traditionally they come out only during the nighttime hours to scrounge for food. Moreover, many humans hear raccoon noises at night due to their nocturnal habits.

Body Size

Raccoons measure from 46 to 71 cm with a 20 to 30 cm tail. Body weights vary by location, age, and sex from 3 to 9 kg. The largest raccoons recorded are from Idaho and nearby states, while the smallest reside in the Florida Keys. Juveniles do not reach adult size until at least the end of their second year. 

In the autumn, fat reserves account for 20 to 30 percent or more of the raccoon's weight.

The juveniles gained weight almost linearly until mid-November, after which they began to lose weight until April. Weight loss in adults and yearlings can reach 50 percent during the 4 months of winter dormancy (e.g., 4.3-kg loss for a 9.1-kg raccoon). Raccoons are active all year, winter weight losses are less, 16 to 17 percent on average.

Habitat

Raccoons are found near virtually every aquatic habitat, particularly in hardwood swamps, mangroves, floodplain forests, and freshwater and saltwater marshes. They are also common in suburban residential areas and cultivated and abandoned farmlands and may forage in farmyards. The permanent water supply, tree dens, and available food are essential. Raccoons use surface waters for both drinking and foraging.

Food Habits

The raccoon is an omnivorous and opportunistic feeder. Although primarily active from sunset to sunrise. The raccoons will change their activity period to accommodate the availability of food and water.

The salt marsh raccoons may become active during the day to take advantage of low tide. Raccoons feed primarily on fleshy fruits, nuts, acorns, and corn but also eat grains, insects, frogs, crayfish, eggs, and virtually any animal and vegetable matter.

The proportion of different foods in their diet depends on location and season, although plants are usually a more important component of the diet. They may focus on a preferred food, such as turtle eggs, when it is available.

They also will feed on garbage and carrion. Typically, it is only in the spring and early summer that raccoons eat more animal than plant material. Their late summer and fall diets consist primarily of fruits. In winter, acorns tend to be the most important food, although raccoons will take any corn or fruits that are still available.

Temperature Regulation and Molt

From the central United States into Canada, raccoons undergo a winter dormancy lasting up to 4 months. It is not a true hibernation, however, and they can be easily awakened. Animals in the south are active year-round. Snow cover, more than low temperatures, triggers winter dormancy. The raccoon's annual molt begins early in spring and lasts about 3 months.

Breeding activities and social organization

Although solitary, adult raccoons come together for a short time during the mating period. Which begins earlier (January to March) in their northern range than in their southern range (March to June). Male and female home ranges overlap freely, and each male may mate with several females during the breeding season.

The most common group of raccoons is a mother and her young of that year. Further north in their range, a family will den together for the winter and break up the following spring. Males are territorial toward one another but not toward females; females are not territorial.

Home Range and Resources

The size of a raccoon's home range depends on its sex and age, habitat, food sources, and the season. Values from a few hectares to more than a few thousand hectares have been reported, although home ranges of a few hundred hectares appear to be most common.

In general, home ranges of males are larger than those of females, the home range of females with young is restricted, and winter ranges are smaller than ranges at other times of the year for both sexes. During the winter, raccoons commonly den in hollow trees.

They also use the burrows of other animals such as foxes, groundhogs, skunks, and badgers. These sites are used for sleeping during warmer periods. After wintering in one den, the female will choose a new den in which to bear her young. The cubs leave the den, the family will not use it again that year.

Population Density

Population density depends on the quality and quantity of food resources and den sites. Values between 0.005 and 1.5 raccoons per hectare have been reported, although 0.1 to 0.2 per hectare is more common.

Populations exceeding one raccoon per hectare have been reported in residential areas. Although raccoons may prefer tree dens over ground dens, particularly for raising young. The raccoon densities in an area with few tree dens but numerous ground dens.

Males generally are not sexually mature by the time of the first regular breeding season following their birth, but they may mature later that summer or fall. Females may become pregnant in their first year. In a review of several studies, that up to 60 percent of both wild and captive females’ mate and produce litters in their first year.

The pregnancy rates of yearlings from 38 to 77 percent. After their first year, almost all females breed annually. Females produce only one litter each year, and the female alone cares for the young. With some exceptions the larger litter sizes usually occur in the raccoon's northern range.

Some juveniles of both sexes disperse from the areas where they were born during the fall or winter of their first year, while others stay and raise young within their parents' home range. The highest mortality rates occur within the first 2 years; the age structure of populations in Alabama suggests that mortality is higher for subadults than for juveniles.

Raccoon Noises

Raccoon is famous to make different type of sounds, i.e., purring, low grunt, loud purr, chittering, growling, snarling, whimpering, hissing, and screeching like owl’s whistle. However, juvenile raccoon sounds consist of crying, whining, and mewing. Raccoon make growl noise when they feel any danger indicate the presence to home owner.

Similar Species

1. The coati (Nasua nasua) is slightly smaller than the raccoon (4 to 6 kg) but with a much longer tail (51 to 64 cm). Ranging throughout Central America from Panama to Mexico. The coati is rare in the United States where it inhabits open forests of the southwest, near the Mexican border.

It forages primarily for grubs and tubers but also feeds on fruits, nuts, bird eggs, lizards, scorpions, and tarantulas. Coatis roll arthropods on the ground to remove wings and scales.

2. The ringtail (Bassariscus astutus) is smaller (36 to 41 cm; 0.9 to 1.13 kg) than the raccoon, with a tail equal to its body length. It ranges throughout the southwestern United States into northern California and Oregon, inhabiting chaparral, rocky ridges, and cliffs near water.

Ringtails are omnivorous like the raccoon but consume a higher proportion of animal matter, feeding mainly on small mammals, insects, birds, and lizards as well as fruits. They den in caves or crevices along cliffs, hollow trees, under rocks, and in unused buildings. Although ringtails sometimes live in colonies, mated pairs are more common. More nocturnal than the raccoon, the ringtail is only active at dawn and dusk.

Lifespan of Raccoons

In everyday life, Raccoons must fight with proper food, escape predators and life-threatening endeavors. The combination of these facts diminishes the lifespan in wild to 2 to 3 years. The high death rate make negative affects the lifespan of Raccoons. In some odd cases, Raccoons lifespan extend to 5 to 6 years.