What does the egg of the Lesser Auk (Alca torda) look like?
The Lesser Auk is also known as the Razorbill. It is a marine bird, or sea bird, in the Alcidae family. It lives in the Northern Hemisphere along rocky reefs and coastal cliffs. Approximately 60% to 70% of the Lesser Auk population breeds in Iceland.
The female Lesser Auk lays one egg per year on a bare ledge on a coastal cliff, between late May and early June.
The egg is oval and elongated in shape.
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The Northern Helmeted Curassow (Pauxi pauxi) is a large, endangered, terrestrial bird in the Cracidae family.
The Northern Helmeted Curassow is mostly black with a white tipped tail. It has green iridescent feathers on its back and chest. It has a whitish underbelly. It has a small head, red beak, and a grey casque (bony growth) on its forehead.
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The Muscovy Duck (Cairina moschata) is a large, tropical wetland dabbllng bird. It is also known as the Barbary Duck.
The Muscovy Duck is mainly black and white, with the male having more iridescent feathers than the female. The white feathers on its neck and head can be consistent or patchy. It often has white patches or bars on its wings. The male has a short crest on the back of its neck. Its beak can be yellow, pink, or black. It has pink or red wattles (loose skin) around its beak.
It has long claws on its webbed feet and a wide flat tail. Its eyes are yellowish-brown.
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The Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata) is a small passerine bird.
The male Zebra Finch has black and white bars on its throat and chest, bright orange cheeks, and a red beak. Its body is brown. The female is mainly grey-brown, with an orange beak and more black and white patterned feathers.
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The African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus) is a medium-sized bird. It is also known as the Congo Grey Parrot.
The African Grey Parrot is mostly grey with a black beak. It has darker grey feathers on its head and wings. Its tail feathers are red.
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The Grey-Winged Trumpeter (Psophia crepitans) is a small bird in the Psophiidae family.
The Grey-Winged Trumpeter has a blackish-grey back and a grey tail. Its outer wings are black and its inner wings are grey. It looks like a Guinea Fowl in shape. It has a long neck and long legs. Its beak is short and yellowish.
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The American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) is a large wetland wading bird. It is also known as the Caribbean Flamingo.
The American Flamingo has reddish-pink feathers. Its wing coverts are red, and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black. Its beak is pink and white with a black tip. Its long legs are pink, and it usually stands on one leg. It has a long, curved S-shaped neck.
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The Red-Crested Pochard (Netta rufina) is a bird – a large wetlands diving duck.
The male Red-Crested Pochard has a rounded orange head, red beak, and black chest. Its sides are white, and its back is brown. It has a black tail. The female is mainly pale brown with a darker-brown back and crown, with a white face.
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The Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) is a small, long-legged bird.
The Burrowing Owl has white and brown flecked feathers with a white chin patch. Its chest and abdomen have white and brown bars, with some greyish feathers. It has white eyebrows, big eyes, and a dark-grey beak. It does not have ear tufts that many other owls have. It has long grey legs.
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The Carolina Duck (Aix sponsa) is a medium-sized perching duck and a wetlands bird – a waterfowl. It is also called a Wood Duck and it is related to the Asian Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata).
The male and female Carolina Duck look different. The male has distinctive multi-coloured iridescent feathers, red eyes, and a distinctive white mark down its neck. The female is less colorful, with white eye-rings and a whitish throat. Both the male and the female have crested heads.
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The White-Naped Crane (Antigone vipio) is a large wetlands bird.
The White-Naped Crane has a grey and white striped neck, and a red face patch. It has a white nape (back of the neck). It has pinkish legs.
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The Kittlitz’s Plover (Charadrius pecuarius) is a small wetlands coastal bird.
The Kittlitz’s Plover has a white forehead, blackish bar on its head, with a narrow white bar on it crown, throat, and underbelly. Its body and tail are mottled brown. It has a black beak, dark-brown eyes, and black legs.
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The Caucasus Buzzard (Buteo buteo menetriesi) is a medium-to-large bird of prey, and a raptor.
The Caucasus Buzzard varies in plumage, but is generally brown with paler markings on its neck and chest. Some have a pale ‘necklace’ of feathers. It has orange-brown eyes, a pale-grey beak, and pale-grey legs.
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What is the difference between the Eurasian Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo) and the Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)?
The Eurasian Eagle-Owl has orange eyes, whereas the Great Horned Owl has yellow eyes.
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The Eurasian Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo) is a large, nocturnal bird of prey and a raptor. It is also known as the European Eagle-Owl.
The Eurasian Eagle-Owl is heavily built with a large head, a grey facial disc, and tufted ears. It has tawny-brown feathers mottled with darker blackish feathers. It has freckling on the forehead and crown, and stripes on the nape, sides and back of the neck. Its wings and tail are barred. It has tufted feathers on its ears are called plumicorns. It has large orange eyes. It has feathered feet with sharp talons (claws). Its beak is dark-coloured.
It can rotate its head, which gives it an arc of vision of 270 degrees. A human has an arc of vision of 120 degrees.
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The Northern Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus subarcticus) is a nocturnal bird of prey and a raptor. It is also known as the Tiger Owl, the Hoot Owl, or the Subarctic Great Horned Owl. It is closely related to the Eurasian Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo). It is not horned – the ‘horns’ are really tufts of feathers, called plumicorns.
The Northern Great Horned Owl is well camouflaged at night with mottled brown-grey and white feathers. Some have more white feathers than grey feathers. It does not have the reddish colour of other sub-species of Great Horned Owls. It is heavily built with a large head, a grey facial disc, and tufted ears. It has large yellow eyes. It has feathered feet with sharp talons (claws). Its beak is dark-coloured.
It can rotate its head, which gives it an arc of vision of 270 degrees. A human has an arc of vision of 120 degrees.
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The Long-Tailed Paradise Whydah (Vidua paradisaea) is a small, brown sparrow-like bird. It is also known as the Eastern Paradise Whydah.
The male Long-Tailed Paradise Whydah has a black head and back, with a rusty-brown chest, bright yellow nape, and buffy-white abdomen with four broad, elongated black tail feathers. The female is brown and white and lacks the long black tail feathers.
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The Fulvous Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) is a wetlands bird, a waterfowl in the Anatidae family of ducks, geese, and swans. It is also known as the Fulvous Tree Duck. It has a whistling call.
The Fulvous Whistling Duck has reddish-brown feathers with a darker back, long legs, and a long grey beak. It has a white band across its black tail. It has a humped back and long neck.
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The Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea) is a bird. It is a waterfowl in the Anatidae family of shelducks.
The Ruddy Shelduck has rusty, orange-brown feathers with a paler head. It has a narrow, black collar. Its tail and flight feathers are black with iridescent green feathers, contrasting with the white wing-coverts. Its beak is black and its legs are dark-grey. The female is similar, but has a rather pale, whitish head and neck and lacks the black collar.
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The Southern Crowned Pigeon (Goura scheepmakeri) is a bird. It is also known as the Scheepmaker’s Crowned Pigeon because it was named after C. Scheepmaker.
The Southern Crowned Pigeon has bluish-grey feathers with elaborate blue lacy crests. It has a maroon-purplish chest. It has large red eyes. Males and females have a similar appearance.
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