bird
A bird's eye view of a life in flight.
Black Tinamou
The black tinamou (Tinamus osgoodi) is a species of ground birds found in the coastal foothills and montane forests of the South American Andes. Both tinamous are from the family Tinamidae and are members of the infraclass Palaeognathae. Tinamous are their group's only members who aren't ratites, they can even float, but poorly. All paleognaths originated from ancient flying birds, and tinamous are the closest surviving relative to these birds. This tinamous species was first described by Henry Boardman Conover in 1949, based on a description provided by Cusco in Peru. Enigmatic is still an over-employed adjective but Black Tinamou certainly counts as such. A stony land creature with a short tail and long legs, the black tinamou is. It is comparatively larger than other tinamous and seems to be about 40 to 46 cm long, with females slightly larger than males. A black male tinamou has an average wingspan of around 234 to 248 mm and the average wingspan of a black female tinamou is 239 to 256 mm. While there is no estimate of the overall height of a black tinamou, a male specimen measuring 1.285 g has been examined by the Field Museum of Natural History. As the name suggests, this is mostly slate grey, rather than completely black. The upper parts of an adult black tinamou are a uniform grey while brown is sometimes edged at the mid-section and larger wing coverings. A soothy brown colour is the lower breasts and flanks, as well as the peak. This has a rufescent vent, which may or may not have black speckling depending upon the subspecies. The maxilla is dark in the mandible, with a light brown. The black tinamou has dark brown skin and the feet are blue-gray. A teenage black tinamou is similar in colour, but lined with whitish stripes on the tail. Black tinamou chicks typically have a light brown head with a long, cinnamon-brown line stretching from the crest of their heads to the napes of their necks. We have chins with whitish neckline. The collar, upper back and upper breast is a gritty black. A black tinamou chick's lower back and rump is a dark buff colour, and its lower breast and belly differ between dusky brown and light white. The black tinamou has a tremulous whistle going down which lasts about a second. The whistle sounds like a white-throated tinamou, which bears the same first note as well. There is virtually no comprehension of the actions of the black tinamou, but it is probably similar to that of his kin. The nuts were contained in one research area. The only known nest was on the ground, holding 2 shiny, blue eggs. In Peru, adults in breeding condition were recorded from March to November, and a chick was found in February. For an occurrence size of 11,600 km2, the IUCN lists the black tinamou as Vulnerable. Black Tinamou inhabits thick forests in tropical and subtropical areas and was believed to have been less than 10,000 in 2004. It has previously been known as popular locally in Peru but is now rare in that area. The black tinamou has been recorded in a number of reserves including Megantoni National Sanctuary, Manú National Park and Sira Communal Reserve in Peru, Sumaco Napo-Galeras National Park in Ecuador and Cueva de los Guácharos National Park in Colombia. The black tinamou is endangered by deforestation or habitat loss caused by human settlement production, agricultural expansion, road-building, oil exploration in Peru and food hunts. Degradation of wildlife and habitat happens within parks, too. Maybe surprisingly, despite its apparent rareness, one species nest was found in Peru; it held two eggs, which despite the congener clutch sizes may not have been a complete clutch. Fast little else is known about the life history of Black Tinamou, however.
Brown Tinamou
Black Tinamou is a medium sized forest tinamou that is predominantly found in South America. The species has a remarkably disjunct distribution, with populations in northern South America, in the Andean foothills along the Amazon fringes, in the southern central Amazon Basin, and in the eastern South American Atlantic Forest Region. Brown Tinamou is a terrestrial bird, and it walks slowly on the ground of wet evergreen forests, but their behaviour is not otherwise well known. Brown Tinamou is reclusive as is the case for other forest-inhabiting tinamou species; it is rarely seen but its loud, ringing "soccerr referee whistle" song is sometimes heard. Blue Tinamou is plain reddish brown on the underparts, with dark chocolate tops and a light grey nose. Tinamous are ground birds with long wings and very small tails. Brown Tinamou is a medium size, somewhat unpatterned tinamou. The head and hindneck are fully slate-gray, the upper portions are deep brown chocolate and the underparts are reddish brown or buffy white, with black barring on the flanks. All tinamou are of the family of Tinamidae, and are thus ratites in the broader scheme. Tinamous can float like other ratites, but in general they are not quick fliers. All ratites evolved from ancient flying birds, and tinamous are the closest surviving descendants of such birds. The brown tinamou is superficially similar to a quail, but different in that it belongs with other tinamous in the Paleognathae. It is around 25 to 30 cm tall, and weights from 350 to 550 g. Based on the subspecies involved, the upper parts vary from dark sooty-brown to vivid chestnut, while the underparts, which are usually paler than the upper parts, varies from chestnut to light ochraceous. The subspecies of griseiventris is unique in its bright buff-gray subparts. The greyish throat may distinguish both subspecies from the superficially related little tinamou. Usually, females are larger and rufescenter than males. Little Tinamou is the most similar species to Brown Tinamou. Brown Tinamou occurs mainly at higher elevations along the western edge of the Amazon Basin and in the Atlantic Forest than Little Tinamou, though the two populations may overlap in central South America. Brown is larger than None, with a grey throat on the flanks and more buffer. Black Tinamou's range is strangely disjunct. It occurs in northern Venezuela's coastal ranges, and in western Venezuela's Andes. Black Tinamou also occurs along the eastern slope of the Andes from south Colombia to central Bolivia. The range extends to southwestern Amazonia; Amazon also has inhabitants in the region of the upper Rio Madeira and the lower Rio Tapajós. Brown Tinamou is also present in southeastern Brazil, north to Bahia, eastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina. The Americas is all-round. Brown Tinamou usually occurs in southeastern Brazil's tropical mountain forests in the foothills and the Andes, as well as in similar ecosystems. In Venezuela, Black Tinamou is also synonymous with dark gullies. In Amazonia, Brown Tinamous grows in evergreen, lowland tropical forests. Historically the Black Tinamou also occupies dry land. The diet is little known but seeds are recorded to be eaten from the Poaceae, Lauraceae, Euphorbiaceae, and Rutaceae families. This is also possible that they will even consume invertebrates from time to time, as was allegedly observed once in a pair of Brown Tinamous following a swarm of arny ats from which they pecked from time to time tiny mice. The song of Brown Tinamou is typically a series of fast, brief trills, which gradually develop in tone. The album has some regional variation which needs further research. Brown Tinamou is usually solitary or in pairs.
Dwarf Tinamou
The Dwarf Tinamou is the sole member of the Taoniscus genus and is now very unfortunately very endangered and is being classified by BirdLife International as vulnerable because of the species ' favoured habititat, natural grasslands, particularly campo sujo, have been lost in recent decades at a disastrous rate to agricultural development. This tinamou bird is endemic to the Cerrado biome, where it is mostly restricted to southeast and central Brazil; while there are three old specimens from Paraguay and Argentina, the Dwarf Tinamou has not been recorded in either region recently. This is a small, plump yet short-legged tinamou, often of light buffy-brown plumage. The female with a whiter stomach is marked with greater confidence, and darker than the male. The Lesser Nothura is larger among similar species, with a longer body and heavier barred plumage. Better comprehension of the Dwarf Tinamou's voice, a high-pitched and distorted, cricket-like trill accompanied by several peet sounds, may lead to further recording of the species available due to its unchallenged rareness. A small, superficially partridge-like bird with short tail and wings is the miniature tinamou, also known as the least tinamou. Tinamous, like other ratites, can float but in general they are not fast fliers. All ratites derived from ancient flying birds, and tinamous are the closest living relative to these birds. The miniature tinamou is only a member of the genus Taoniscus, which is a monotypical species. It's approximately 16 cm tall. For a white throat, sharply patterned collar and upper parts, it is greyish-brown and has brown-barred subparts of buff and a blackish crown that stands out. Some individuals are much darker and greyer than others, but it is unclear if such plumage variations are morphs or gender differences that occur over time. Of colour, the iris and legs are yellowish and it resembles a little dumpy nothura, but with the ocellated crake it is more readily confused in more cases.. The voice consists of cricket-like, high-pitched trills followed by peet clicks. The dwarf tinamou is found in the arid scrub grasslands, about 1,000 metres above sea level, confined to the southeastern Brazilian Cerrado region in the Federal District, Goiás, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul, São Paulo, and for that cause. Only specimens were known from Paraguay (Misiones) and Argentina but all recent data come from Brazil. However, it is especially imperceptible, and is easily missed. The Dwarf Tinamou diet primarily consists of grass seeds, termites, flies, and arthropods. Thanks to mechanised agriculture, intensive cattle ranching, afforestation, native grasses, excessive use of pesticides and annual deforestation, the dwarf tinamou is seriously endangered by continuing habitat loss. This is also killed by humans in many areas for food. The primary challenges are forestry and ranching. The dwarf tinamou is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This has an occurrence size of 57,700 km2, and the last demographic census, conducted in 2000, saw between 5,800 and 6,960 people. The dwarf tinamou is permanently conserved in three protected areas: Serra da Canastra National Park, Itapetininga Experimental Station and IBGE Roncador Ecological Reserve. Several areas adjacent to the Río Bermejo, Argentina, were scanned with the aid of tape-playback but the species was not found. It was also intended to use tape-playback particularly for this species to study Serra do Cipó National Park, Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, and Emas National Park. Then perform further research at the sites where the specimen was collected in then Paraguay, Argentina. It has also been proposed to establish best conservation strategies for current protected areas and track the degradation of the cerrado forests.
Darwin's Nothura
Darwin's Nothura, also known as Pale-spotted Nothura, was described from a specimen taken from southern Buenos Aires in Argentina but its range stretches north to central Peru. This tiny tinamou is mostly found in the highlands, reaching from 1000 m to at least 4300 m, and inhabits savanna, shrubby steppe and even cultivated land. Globally, Nothura by Darwin overlaps globally with similar Spotted Nothura, but Darwin's usually occurs in drier areas and higher elevations. In this species ' very wide geographical range, five subspecies are recognised, and these differ mostly in overall size and overall colouration. Darwin's Nothura is breeding at the ground, and apparently only the male is building the nest. The birds breed in the southern spring and summer, at least in the southern portion of the range. Tinamous are storied, long winged desert birds with very short tails. Five small, short billed, tawny tinamous birds are Nothuras, all inhabiting grasslands or open scrub. Nothura by Darwin is a tiny tawny tinamou of very short-necked size. The upper parts are tawny, feathered with large black bars and narrow light grey borders. Tawny head and ears, dusky and spotted. The underparts are mainly tawny, with the neck and breast more or less streaked with dusky. The genders are identical. Darwin's Nothura distinguishes itself in much of its geographical range by its open habitat and limited size: it is slightly taller and more tawny than Ornate Tinamou, and smaller than Andean Tinamou with a much shorter bill and a taller breast. In lower elevations Andean Tinamou also occurs and this nothura is not considered to be syntopic. Darwin's Nothura resembles the other four nothura species of which only Spotted Nothura has a regional similarity. Those two species are very similar but there are more tarsi and toes in Spotted Nothura. The inner webs of the main outermost Spotted are barred while those inner webs are usually unbarred in Darwin's. The two nothura, too, have distinct vocalisations. Iris changes in colour with maturity. At hatching the irides are medium- to dark brown. By the age of one and a half weeks the irides become paler and grayer and by the third week the irides are deep brown. After five weeks, the colour switches from white to light green, while some people's irides have turned dusky blue. After six weeks, most birds have dusky, yellow irides but occasionally a greenish hue. The iris in males is dusky lemon yellow by 8 weeks, and in females it is medium dark yellow, often with hint of rufous. Most males have ten to twelve weeks of dusky lemon yellow irides, as in adults, but not yet as dark as the irides would be at one to two years old. Female irides change to a much deeper yellow bordering on rufous; the females lose all the yellow in the iris with maturity, and the iris is a bright, deep orange colour. Darwin's Nothura is terrestrial, and appears to flee by escaping when disturbed. Even when flushed, they ride fine and fast. The flight is low, just 2-5 m above level, but the duration of the flight ranges from 20-400 m, and usually the direction of flight is straight or forming a wide arc. Usually a pair of participants don't swim together, but instead they pass in divergent directions. Nothuras are not typically especially cautious, even though they are being deliberately hunted. Copulation will last at least two minutes, during which the female squats with the head tilted uo, turning the head from side to side in a 90o arc very easily. Meanwhile, the man also attempts to maintain his balance and stabilises his position by stretching out a little down the wings to touch the leg of the girl.
Choco Tinamou
The Choco tinamou or Chocó tinamou (Crypturellus kerriae) is a species of tinamou found in lowland forest and montane forest in the subtropical and tropical regions of Colombia and Panama. The Choco tinamou has a length of between 25-26.5 cm. This is a tinamou of short, light silence. Its tops are dark brown with black crown, slate-gray neck ends, whitish neck ends and indistinct dusky shield. Her thighs are painted purple. On wing-covers and breast, the females are black with coarser barring, and grey flanks. Its three-note whistle, it has a quiet, gentle, mournful sound. The Choco tinamou consumes fruit like other tinamous, or low-lying trees off the ground. We do consume small amounts of invertebrates, blossoms, tender herbs, seeds, and roots. The male incubates the eggs which can come from as many as four different females, and then holds them up until they can be autonomous, normally 2–3 weeks. The nest is on the ground in dense scrub, between raised root buttresses. The Choco tinamou is a monotypical genus. All tinamou are from the family Tinamidae, and are also ratites in the broader scheme. Tinamous, like other ratites, can float but in general they are not strong fliers. All ratites originated from ancient flying birds and tinamous are the closest living relative to these birds. Crypturellus consists of three words, either Latin, or Greek. Kruptos meaning concealed or obscured, oura meaning mouth, and ellus meaning diminutive. Sometimes, Crypturellus means tiny hidden tail. This plant is found in the northwestern province of Chocó in Colombia, and the southern province of Darién in Panama The Choco tinamou grows in evergreen humid tropical and subtropical forests[3], both lowland and woodland, up to 1,500 m above sea level. Currently the Choco tinamou is threatened by the significant destruction of its habitats caused by road building, human settlement, wood processing and mining. Completing a new road-bridge has opened up settlement to threatened parts of the coastal plain adjacent to Ensenada de Utría National Park, which further threatens their biodiversity. Maybe the most endangered species in Atrato Valley, Colombia, would be caused by human settlement and conversion to agriculture and banana plantations. It is possibly hunted anywhere humans are located. Currently the development of the Pan-American highway through Darién and the canalization of the Truandó and lower Atrato rivers to create an inter-oceanic fairway are on hold, but if it is to be completed it would have major ecological consequences. The key problems are agriculture, and on-hold transport arrangements. The Choco tinamou is currently found in Darién National Park, Panama and the Ensenada de Utría National Park, Colombia. The Los Katíos National Park, Colombia, also protects 720 km2 of apparently acceptable habitat in the Chocó region, but the species has not yet been identified in the Reserve. It was recommended to survey areas and study the ecosystem to get a clearer understanding of their location and distribution. The status of Choco tinamou is considered vulnerable as it is founded within its restricted range from only a few areas where vegetation gradually declines. It has an incidence scale of 6,200 km2, averaging fewer than 10,000 adult birds for 2000. Choco Tinamou is located in dense tropical forest at an altitude of 300–1500 m in remote south-eastern Panama and north-western Colombia, an region which ornithologists seldom visit. As a result, this relatively small, black headed tinamou remains quite elusive, and almost none of its natural history was recorded here. Many researchers have suggested improved recognition of this species as an separate Slaty-breasted Tinamou subspecies. Tiny Tinamou is smaller than Choco Tinamou and has greyish heads while Berlepsch's Tinamou is larger and blacker. Choco Tinamou's voice is described as a low pitched, gentle, mournful, three-note whistle. BirdLife International is currently considering that this tinamou is vulnerable worldwide, based on its restricted range and probably declining population.
Chilean Tinamou
Chilean Tinamou is the only common and endemic tinamou in Chile. This is a common species that stretches south to the central area of Chile's Lake Region. Birds from the wetter southern portion of the range are darker than those from the drier north, although the distinction is medicinal. Chilean Tinamou is known locally as perdiz, the Spanish word for "partridge" Locals say the bird was plentiful at one time; if so, its long-term decline may be attributed in part to the steady growth of the California Quail introduced. Chilean Tinamou is found in grassland, open acacia scrub and grassy matorral forest but also occupies orchards, rural areas, fallow land, and wheat and canola fields as well. Males mark their territories with a loud double whistle, and make strident alarm whistles when they are flushed from a hiding spot. All tinamous are of the family Tinamidae, and even ratites are in the broader scheme. Tinamou can fly like other ratites, but in general they are not fast fliers. Both ratites originated from ancient flying birds and tinamou are the closest living relative to these birds. Crypturellus consists of three words, either Latin, or Greek. Kruptos meaning concealed or obscured, oura meaning mouth, and ellus meaning diminutive. Often, Crypturellus means thin, hidden tail. The Chilean tinamou is about 29 cm tall. This is almost tailless, and is stocky in form. This has a long tail resembling the California quail. The legs are long, slender, yellowish, and translucent. This stands usually straight and has "short tail and tail coverings dropping behind knees." The pattern on its upper body looks carved, but is more complex in depth. It has a buffy nose on the chin with a drooping black eyeline and a narrow stripe, with a lighter crown. The hair is ivory, and the lower back has black stripes. This has a complex design on the side of the chest that shades white. Located just south of the Maule region, the Chilean tinamou has a brownish chest on its upper body and buttocks, instead of a white chest with more reddish brown borders. For both countries, it has broad wings that shield the body while on the ground, and the wings beneath are narrower and reddish brown when soaring. Similarly the wings are squared. Chilean Tinamou, as the name suggests, is native towards Chile. It is native in south Atacama from the Huasco River to Llanquihue in central Chile. The mountain limit of Chilean Tinamou ranges from sea level to 2000 m. The diet of Chilean Tinamou was surprisingly poorly known before the survey performed by González evaluating the crop and stomach content of 79 people from year-round in Ñuble, southern central Chile. Chilean Tinamou is mostly granivorous according to this report, as the diet consisted mostly of wild plant seeds. This tinamous seeds primarily forage on grass seeds, including Panicum capillare and Lolium sp seeds, over the season. The most commonly eaten. The most important food components in the winter diet are convolvulaceae, fabaceae, and polygonaceae seeds. Chilean Tinamous consume a greater proportion of invertebrates in the summer than in the winter but there are no major differences. Invertebrates only contribute a small amount to the diet and only one species of mosquitoes and one species of crustaceans are known animals eaten. The music of Chilean Tinamou is described as "a whistled tweewít" or a "strident, disruptive, far-carrying whistle that sounds like a double-syllable, sweeee weeee." The animal uses its bill to pick out seeds and bulbs from the soil. Chilean Tinamou normally retreats in the area, within the shelter, and only flushes like a really close approach. The flight is quick and rapid, "but the bird quickly stalls, and if flushed and persistently chased, may often be caught on the ground." Male Chilean Tinamous mate with several females, each of whom lay eggs in one nest; then each female mates with one or more males. It is compatible with the mating strategies of many species, since "the basic concept of tinamous is simultaneous male polygyny and female serial polyandry." Foxes mainly prey on mice in Chile, but eat small numbers of Chilean Tinamous.
Curve-billed Tinamou
Endemic to the Andes of northern Ecuador in central Peru, where it grows between 2800 and 3900 m, the Curve-billed Tinamou is found both in tropical and semi-arid puna and páramo, characterised by evergreen foliage, such as bunch grasses, and is often widely used in slash-and-burn cultivation. Well-named for the unusually curved tail, the upper portions are dark brown spotted with black and streaked white buffalo, while the body is silver, stretching from breast to tawny rufous, and just marginally light on the rest of the subparts. The sexes are essentially identical in plumage. The species overlaps with the Andean Tinamou in some areas, but is slightly smaller, greyer above, less defined below, and loses any reddish in the skin. Two subspecies are recognised, the form of Ecuador is slightly larger and heavier, and the shape of Peru becomes lighter and smaller. The Curve-billed Tinamou is widely popular but is not especially well known in terms of its life history as is the majority of tinamous people. This reflects the very unusual usage of this tinamou, except though flushed by mistake. This breeds between January and August, and the eggs are white chocolate, but on this high-altitude tinamou there are a few other information available. The Tinamou Curve-billed is overall brownish with a black back and rufous underparts. The bands at the sides of the head are reddish brown. The underside of the mandible is brown. This also shows rufous coverts on the tail, and on the ground feathers. It forges in grasslands, with scattered bushes. The Curve-billed Tinamou typically ranges from 2800-3600 m in northern to central Peru. The curve-billed tinamou is a form of tinamou typically found in the South American Andes in grassland and shrubland habitats. Crypturellus consists of three words, either Latin, or Greek. Kruptos meaning concealed or obscured, our ears saying, and ellus saying diminutive. Therefore Crypturellus means tiny hidden tail. Both tinamou are from the tribe of Tinamidae and are also ratites in the broader scheme. Tinamous, like other ratites, can float but in general they are not fast fliers. All ratites derived from ancient flying birds, and tinamous are the closest living relative to these birds. Curve-billed tinamou is 28 cm long. The upper parts are rich chocolate, painted in white and outlined in charcoal. Her breast is rufous and white spotted, her belly is tawny-buff and her crown is black, green on her head sides and gold on her back and foreneck. In the end his legs are black in colour. The curved tinamou eats fruit from the grass, or low-lying trees, like other tinamous. They also eat small quantities of invertebrates, blossoms, delicate herbs, seeds, and roots. The male incubates the eggs which can come from as many as four different females, and then holds them up until they can be stable, normally 2–3 weeks. On the field the nest is in dense brush, in between high root buttresses. The tinamou lives in the Andes in central and southern Ecuador, north and west in Peru. At altitudes between 2.800 and 3.700 m, it prefers grassland. That can also be found at high altitudes of shrubland and pasture. The IUCN lists this species as the Least Concern, with an incidence area of 30,000 km2. There are two curve-billed tinamou sub-species. One of the two sub-species is N. c. Curvirostris, the genus called that occurs in Ecuador's central and southern Andes, and northern Peru. The most recent subspecies is N. c. Peruviana in the northern and central Andes of Peru; Piura, Cajamarca, Amazonas, San Martín, La Libertad, Ancash and Huánuco in the eastern regions.
Brushland Tinamou
Brushland Tinamou extends from southern Bolivia through southwestern Paraguay to north-central Argentina, where it inhabits dry savanna forests, desert scrub, grassy steppes, boundaries, and even flooded savannas in general. It can be found up to about 2000 m but typically occurs at lower elevations. The relatively small range of this species and, more specifically, its habitat needs (opener areas) have made Brushland Tinamou one of its family's better-studied members. The sexes are essentially the same as having darker barred greyish to olive brown upperparts, a blackish crest, and whitish to greyish underparts, with barred flanks. Although males are typically solitary birds, females generally fly around in ' pairs ' or sometimes even in small groups, which can extend through several male territories. Brushland Tinamous feed on a number of invertebrate preys, as well as on fruits and seeds. Tinamous are small birds with very short tails and long wings; they resemble superficially tailless quails. Brushland Tinamou is a tinamou of medium size with a long tail, a low crest and a strongly decurved bill. It has a rotund form, and a mysterious, streaked plumage. It is mainly dark above, and it appears to have two small white stripes on the feathers on its tail, black barring and grey edging. On its hind neck there are large black stripes, and long black feathers in its crown that can be briefly raised to form a crest. The breast is brown with white splotches and is whitish in the chest and belly. The flanks are a buffy grey, dusky. Adults have somewhat elongated crown feathers, and black, or white with black centres. Upperparts are otherwise mostly greyish to light brown olive, patterned with short whitish lines, black bars and black vermiculations. Nape and sides of neck often broadly striped with black. Remiges dusky brown, uniformly inked or marked outer branches of white buffalo. The sides of the head, throat and foreneck, particularly afterwards, are white, strongly patched or barred with black. Pale grey or greyish brown breast, spotted with hair. White flanks with light brown barring, and often tinged with buff. Black butt. Brushland Tinamou's diet is composed of budding leaves, plant shoots, vegetables, and insects. Insects make up a large portion of their diet; the main insects eaten include ants, beetles, and cicadas. These tinamous ones are opportunistic foragers and eat mollusks while they are in the proximity of an irrigation ditch. Brushland Tinamou trees on the grass, creeping around with their low head. It normally gleans from the ground using its bill, but often leaps upward or even hops for low hanging fruit. Most of the insects that it catches are quickly consumed, but huge beetles and cicadas are beaten to the ground before feeding. Specially after it rains, it will check the soil for earthworms and insect larvae. Once an earthworm is trapped, a tinamou shakes the worm by tossing its head from side to side rapidly, jabbing the worm and then swallowing it. It uses the bill, but not the paws, to pick off twigs and leaf litter while it forages. A tinamou cleans his bill after snoring the soil by rubbing it against the stone, a leaf, a stick, or a grass stem. Occasionally the bird cleans his bill by taking a blade of grass and running the bill over the grass with a jerk of his head sideways. Tinamous Brushland drinks seldom. They extend their neck out while they drink, and place the distal end of the bill in the beer. As they drink, they make 6-12 throat movements and as they swallow, they lower their head towards the mouth but do not lift it upwards. When tinamous approach each other early in the breeding season they go into defensive postures in which they crouch and keep their head low to the ground. Generally these partnerships don't lead to a pursuit. But birds appear to be more aggressive later in the season. They line up straight with their arms extended out and if no bird retreats, they run at each other and threaten to peck each other's heads. These battles usually end quickly, but occur in quick succession in bouts of up to five attacks. Often, the champion then chases the loser.
Indigo Bunting
The Passerina cyanea (indigo bunting) of the cardinal family, Cardinalidae, is a small seed-eating bird. It is migratory, ranging from southern Canada to northern Florida during the breeding season, and from southern Florida to northern South America in winter. It migrates even at night, travelling through the stars. Habitat is crop land, desert areas and open forest. The indigo bunting is closely associated with lazuli bunting, which interbreeds with the genus where the ranges overlap. The indigo bunting is a tiny pigeon, weighing 11.5–13 cm. This shows sexual dimorphism in its colouration; the male is a bright blue throughout the summer, and a dark shade throughout the winter months, whilst the female is grey during the year. The male displays brightly coloured plumage all through the breeding season to lure a female. Nest-building and incubation is performed only by women. The indigo bunting diet consists mainly of insects in the summer months, and seeds in the winter months. The indigo bunting habitat is brushy margins of the trees, open deciduous woodland, second-growth trees and farmland. The breeding area stretches to the west from southern Canada to Maine, southern and northern Florida, to eastern Texas and southern Nevada. The winter zone takes place in southern Florida and central Mexico and stretches south to northern South America through the West Indies and Central America.[2] This has occurred as a vagabond in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Greenland, Australia, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands Antilles, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Serbia and the UK. The bunting indigo communicates through vocalisations and visual indications. A to solid slot! Call is used for all sexes, and an alarm call is used when a nest or chick is threatened. When a high-pitched indigo bunting is in operation, buzzed zeeep is used as a contact signal. The song of the male bird is a high-pitched buzzed sweet-sweet chew-chew sweet-sweet, with a length of two to four seconds, sung for other males to mark his territories and attract women. Growing male has a single complicated song, perched on high objects like pipes, wires, and bush-tops. The males defend each other's territories for places where the lazuli bunting ranges and the indigo bunting intersect. Migration takes place in April and May, then in September and October, again. In the night the indigo bunting also migrates using the stars to navigate. In confinement, because it can not travel, because it can not see the stars from its cell, in April and May, and in September and October, it experiences disorientation. Such birds are typically monogamous but are not always loyal to their partner. They often hybridise in the western part of their range with the lazuli bunting. Nesting sites are found in dense shrub or low tree, usually 0.3–1 m above ground but often up to 9 m above ground. The nest itself consists of leaves, coarse grasses, stems, and strips of bark, lined with soft grass or deer fur and attached to the spider webs. It is built by the female, who only cares about the eggs. The clutch consists of one or four eggs with three to four chicks normally. The bunting indigo forages for fruit on the fields or in trees or shrubs. Sometimes it feeds in winter in flocks of other indigo buntings, but is a solitary feeder during the breeding season. During the breeding season the species eats eggs, seeds and berries including caterpillars, grasshoppers, spiders, insects, and grass seeds. The centre of their winter diet is grass seed, while buds and insects are eaten where appropriate. At first, the youngsters are fed primarily to insects, supplying nutrients for them. Indigo bunting seldom drinks, usually with enough water from its diet. The species is classified as being of least concern, with an estimated range of 5,900,000 km2 and a population of 28 million people, according to the IUCN.
Lark Bunting
The Calamospiza melanocorys (lark bunting) is an American sparrow of small size native to Central and Western North America. This is the Colorado State album too. Lark buntings are small, bluish songbirds with a short, thick bill. There is a large patch of white on the head, and they have a relatively short tail with white tips at the end of the feathers. Breeding males have an all black body with a small white spot at the upper part of the head. Males and females who are not breeding look similar, and have white lines that are greyish brown. The lark bunting is the most common passerine species found in grasslands of North America. In Central Canada and the Mid- of the United States, their breeding area is prairie areas. These birds migrate in flocks in the fall to southern Texas winter, Arizona and the Northern Mexico high plateau. Usually the birds nest in scattered colonies. Males fly over their territories and sing to claim possession of a nesting area as they descend. The album contains a combination of whistles and trills. The call is a happy hoo. The nest is an open cup in a grassy field, on the bottom. While the lark buntings are sexually monogamous, significant extra-pair bonding is detected by extra-pair paternity. It is suggested by songbirds that there should be sexual monogamy due to inadequate possibilities for polygyny. As expected, the male - female violence, competing over mates, is important. Most males can not find a social partner that can be related to the sex ratio of male-biased marriage, sexual monogamy and the degree of extra-pair paternity. Acquisition of a social partner is an vital part of a male's fitness, and progress in social matching plays an significant role in variable selection of male traits. Specially significant is the sexual variability in lark buntings, as the choice of female partner varies significantly from year to year. Females have been expressing choice in different years based on males ' black colouring, wing patch colour, beak colour, as well as other characteristics. The effect of this dramatic variation of the female inclination from year to year is that several different male sexual ornaments hold genetic variations. A examination measures the colour of the body, the ratio of black to brown feathers on the rump and rest of the body, wing patch scale, wing patch shape, body size, beak size and residual mass to assess the potentially identified characteristics of females. Progress in social matching as well as total annual fitness were measured, and female preference was the primary criterion. Plasticity of female preference is preferred for adapting to changes in ecological and social settings. Temporal mobility in female preference is close to the trend seen in Darwin's finches, with different beak sizes and shapes chosen to change food supply over the years, defined in the sense of natural choice as temporary competition. In lark buntings, a feature that is chosen favourably after one year was theoretically negatively chosen against in a previous year. These dramatic differences underline the value of looking at sexual orientation patterns over a long period of time before any conclusions can be made. Yet it is possible to identify female inclination annually by looking at short time intervals, but for these statistics it is difficult to make any extrapolations. The potential loss in phenotypic selection for expression of the male phenotype is an incidental consequence of the annual female preference variation. Males are categorised as weakly territorial before mating, but there has been some work into territorial characteristics that suit female settlement, thus female reproductive success. Studies have shown that shade is an important instrument for successful female reproduction. As a mechanism limiting fitness, it would be safe to conclude that this may compensate males for any existing territorial behaviours. Nonetheless, the levels of male aggression do not change, contributing to the conclusion that female preference coincides with changes in fitness-indicator properties. Extra-pair matching has been associated with the accuracy of the spawning site, allowing the male aggression more characterisation. Several studies have shown territorial characteristics as important to mate selection, but a recent analysis reveals evidence of its declining role relative to female choice. Lark buntings forage mainly on the grass, eating mainly summer insects, and winter seeds; they also take brief flights to capture insects. They feed outside of the breeding season in flocks too. Until 1931 the lark bunting became the official bird of Colorado. A decrease in population has arisen with the destruction of the existing prairie ecosystem.
Lazuli Bunting
The bunting lazuli (Passerina amoena) is a North American songbird that is named as the gemstone lapis lazuli. The male is readily identifiable thanks to its bright blue head and back (lighter than the closely related indigo bunting), its conspicuous white wingbars and its light rusty breast and white ventre. The pattern of colour may suggest the eastern and western bluebirds, but the smaller size, wingbars, and short, conical bunting bill make it easy to discern. The female is black, grayer above and warmer below, seen from the indigo female bunting by two small and light wingbars and other plumage details. The music is a noisy, quick, strident warble, similar to the bunting indigo album, but longer and with less repetition. Lazuli buntings primarily stretch from southern Canada to northern Texas, central New Mexico and Arizona, and southern California, west of the 100th meridian. The breeding range extends south as the northwest of Baja California on the Pacific coast. They travel to southeastern Arizona and Mexico. Its habitat is brushy fields and sometimes weedy pastures, typically well-watered and sometimes urban. Those birds feed mainly insects and nuts. They will easily feed on the ground or in trees, but male sounds are still very obscure in the treetops. This bird makes a nest of loose herbs and rootlets contained in a field. This lays three or four bright blue eggs. It also hybridises in the eastern and southern parts of its range with indigo bunting. The male Lazuli Bunting illuminates all over the South dry brushy hillsides, thickets, and parks, flicking the blue of a gemstone lapis mixed with orange splashes. He belts his squeaky, jumbling song from the top shrubs in defence of his turf. The brightly coloured female sometimes teetering on tiny stems nearby in a balancing act to touch seeds and other foods. This stocky finchlike bird is related to cardinals and grosbeaks, and frequently visits bird feeders, particularly those filled with white proso millet. Most animals mould their feathers either on the breeding grounds or wintering grounds but not on the Bunting Lazuli. After formation, they tend to moult some feathers, but then migrate to southwest U.S. and northwestern Mexico, where insects thrive during moonsoon rains. We wind up cutting their feathers in these "moulting hotspots" before setting for further south for the winter. We know people by their words, and Lazuli Buntings should do the same. When young males mimic older, nearby males, they create a kind of "pop culture" where songs from a similar region sound familiar. Males learning to understand and embrace each other from the same culture. We respond with greater vigour to international songs coming from beyond their location. The beauty of the Lazuli Bunting did not flee from the early naturalist who called it Passerina amoena, meaning lovely sparrow. Each male Lazuli Bunting chants a different combination of sounds just as we each have our own voice. Yearling males usually arrive at the breeding grounds without a song of their own. They create their own song shortly after they arrive by rearranging syllables and combining sections of many male songs. The record they created for survival is theirs. The oldest recorded Lazuli Bunting was a boy and at least 9 years old, 1 month old during Idaho banding operations when he was rescued and re-released in 1990. He'd been banded in the same area in 1981. Male sings nesting territory in solidarity. They will defend territories against each other where buntings overlap in range between Lazuli and Indigo. Nests are placed in shrubs, vines or low trees, generally 2-4 ' over the ground, closely attached to the forked branch or vertical stems.
Mountain Bluebird
The mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides) is a medium-sized bird weighing around 30 g, with a length of 16–20 cm. They have black underbellies and red eyes. Adult males have small bills, which are slightly lighter than the bright turquoise-blue below. Sleek blue wings and legs of adult females, white breasts, black crowns, chests, and back. In fresh fall plumage, the female's neck and breast are tinged with red-orange, brownish near to the belly, in contrast to white tail underparts. Their call is a thin ' pocket; ' while their chur chur song has been warbled high. It is nature bird of Idaho and Nevada. It's an omnivore, which can last 6 to 10 years in the wild. We feed spiders, grasshoppers, flies and other insects, and even small berries. Mountain bluebird is an Eastern and Western relative of the bluebirds. These birds loop above the ground and fly down to catch larvae, often with the intention of catching them from a perch. It needs up to eight times the energy it takes to sit on a perch and wait for the first tactic. We primarily feed on insects and berries. We will forage in flocks in winter, although they often feed grasshoppers. Mountain Bluebirds can come in to a platform feeder with live meal worms, fruit, or peanuts. Their breeding range is open country as far north as Alaska in western North America and mountainous regions. We nest in known cavities or in bins of nests. Such birds are less affected by competition for suitable nesting grounds in remote areas than other bluebirds. A monogamous breed is developed by mountain bluebirds. On the male can be seen singing from bare trees. The singing begins at dawn, just before light ascends. The females normally make their own nests. The eggs are white, and medium grey, dark at times. The clutch size is expected to be four to five eggs. Young people are weak and helpless at hatching, and probably have some down. Incubation normally lasts for 14 days and the young will require about 21 days to leave the nest. Both males defend this nest vigorously The mountain bluebird is the National bird of Idaho and Nevada. Mountain bluebirds are cavity nesters, so they may become very preferential to a nest box, particularly if a clutch is successfully raised. We can reuse the same nest too, but not so much. Mountain bluebirds do not abandon a nest unless human activity is seen near to or at the nest. Despite of this they can be banded easily while still in the nest. Mountain Bluebirds are fairly common but from 1966 to 2014, according to the North American Breeding Bird Report, numbers dropped by around 26 per cent. Partners in Flight places the global breeding population at 4.6 million, with 80% living part of the year in the US, 20% breeding in Canada and 31% wintering in Mexico. The species scores an 8 out of 20 on Continental Importance List. Within the U.S .- Canada Stewardship, Mountain Bluebird is a competitor that is not on the 2014 Birds Priority List. Such bluebirds benefited from the western expansion of forestry and agriculture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when tree clearing created open space for foraging. Combined with the widespread devastation of wildfires, the resulting reduction in these resources resulted in a drop in the free acreage of the West and a decrease in biodiversity. More recently, as land-use trends have increased, so are the Mountain Bluebirds numbers. Building nest boxes in perfect habitat has also given farming a boost. Populations decrease in areas where trees are too low to create natural nesting cavities and where the number of suitable nesting sites has been reduced by forest and agricultural practises. Competition for breeding sites is high among birds nesting in cavities but being unable to excavate them alone. Mountain, western and more recently Eastern bluebirds are competing over nest boxes as they are expanding their ranges. House Sparrows, European Starlings, and House Wrens are also facing intense rivalry with bluebirds for nest cavities.