Category Birds

Himalayan Griffon

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The Himalayan Griffon (Gyps himalayensis) is a large bird of prey, a raptor, and an accipiter. It is a vulture. It is also known as the Himalayan Griffon Vulture. It is related to the Eurasian Griffon (Gyps fulvus). 

The Himalayan Griffon has a long, spiky, pale-brown ruff around its neck with white streaks. Its head has pale blue skin, covered with soft, yellowish down feathers. Its underside and underwings are pale-brown or buff-coloured. Its legs are feathered, and its feet can be greenish-grey to white. Its upperbody is pale and unstreaked with contrasting dark-brown wings. It has a grey, hooked beak, and small, orange-brown eyes. 

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Salmon-Crested Cockatoo

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The Salmon-Crested Cockatoo (Cacatua moluccensis) is a large bird in the parrot family. It is also known as the Moluccan Cockatoo.

The Salmon-Crested Cockatoo has white-pink feathers with a peach tint, a slight yellow colour underwing and yellowish underneath its tail feathers. It has a large bright orange-red crest. It has a large grey hooked beak. The male has a dark-brown or black eyes. The female has brown to red eyes. 

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Pallas’s Gull

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The Pallas’s Gull (Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus) is a sea bird in the seagull family. It is also known as the Great Black-Headed Gull.

The Pallas’s Gull is white with a black head. It has grey wings and a grey back, with white ‘mirrors’ at the wing tips. Its legs are yellow, with webbed feet. Its beak is orange-yellow with a red tip. Its eyes are small and dark.

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RESEARCH: African Grey Parrots help other parrots

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African grey parrots voluntarily and spontaneously help other parrots to achieve a goal, without obvious immediate benefit to themselves. Research co-author Désirée Brucks of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Germany, announced this result in January 2020.

Parrots and crows are known for having large brains relative to the size of their bodies, and that they are good at problem-solving. However, earlier studies showed that crows don’t help other crows, so researchers wondered whether parrots help other parrots, explained Désirée Brucks and study co-author Auguste von Bayern.

In their new study, Brucks and von Bayern enlisted several African Grey Parrots and Blue-Headed Macaws to help the research team.

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What is the difference between the Southern Crested Caracara and the Striated Caracara?

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What is the difference between the Southern Crested Caracara (Caracara planacus) and the Striated Caracara (Phalcoboenus australis)?

The Southern Crested Caracara and the Striated Caracara are both large birds of prey in the Falconidae family. They are falconids.

The Southern Crested Caracara has a dark-brownish cap, belly, wings, and tail tip, with a whitish-buff throat and nape, whereas the Striated Caracara is black-brown with a grey-flecked neck. 

The Southern Crested Caracara has a brown crest and the Striated Caracara does not have a crest.

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Southern Crested Caracara

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The Southern Crested Caracara (Caracara planacus) is a large bird of prey and a raptor in the Falconidae family of falcons. It is a falconid.

The Southern Crested Caracara has dark-brownish cap, belly, wings, and tail tip. Its throat and the back of its neck are whitish-buff, with dark-brownish bars on its chest, neck, back, and tail. It has large brown eyes with a reddish-orange eye-ring. Its cere is reddish-orange and its beak is beige and hooked. Its legs are yellow. 

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Common Wild Turkey

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The Common Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is a large bird in the Phasianidae family of pheasants, partridges, francolins, junglefowl, and grouse. It is a galliforme. 

The Common Wild Turkey has black feathers with brown-black and white tail feathers with a roundish body. Its feathers have a brown and green iridescent sheen. It has pale feet with spurs. It has brown eyes. It has wings and can fly for a short distance. 

It has fleshy red nodes or bumps on its head, which are called caruncles. The male turkey has fleshy red skin that hangs from it head, the top of its pale beak, and under its neck. The fleshy part on its forehead that hangs over its beak is called a snood. The fleshy part under its chin is called a wattle or dewlap. 

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Dunnock

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The Dunnock (Prunella modularis) is a small passerine, or perching and singing bird in the accentor family. It is also called the Hedge Accentor, the Hedge Sparrow, or the Hedge Warbler. 

The Dunnock is a brown bird with streaks of darker brown on its back. Its underbelly is light-brown. It has a blue-grey head. It has a fine-pointed beak. It has pink legs. The male and female look similar. 

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Common Pheasant

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The Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) is a large game bird. It is also called the Ring-Necked Pheasant.

The Common Pheasant can be various colours, from white to black. It is generally gold or coppery-red and chestnut-brown with an iridescent sheen of green and purple. It has a white neck ring. It has a long, black tail, flecked with brown feathers. Its wings are white or cream with black bars. Its head is dark-green with a small crest and a distinctive red wattle. The female is dull brown. 

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Swan Goose

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The Swan Goose (Anser cygnoides) is a large bird with a long neck. 

The Swan Goose has greyish-brown upperparts, a maroon cap, and maroon at the back of its neck. Its underwing is black. It has a thin, white stripe surrounding the base of its beak. Its belly and sides are pale with darker streaks. Its beak is black, and its legs and feet are orange. It has maroon-brown eyes. The male and the female look similar, but the male has a longer beak and neck.

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CREATURE FEATURE: Gouldian Finch

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The Gouldian Finch (Erythura gouldiaeor Chloebia goldiae) is a small passerine bird in the Estrildidae family. It is an estrildid. It is also known as the Gould Finch or the Rainbow Finch. 

The Gouldian Finch is brightly coloured and varied, with mainly black, green, yellow, and red markings. The male has a purple chest and the female has a light mauve chest. Its head is red, black, or yellow. Its beak is light-coloured with a red tip. It has pale legs and feet. 

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Eurasian Wigeon

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The Eurasian Wigeon (Mareca penelope orAnas penelope) is a bird in the Mareca genus of dabbling ducks. It is also spelled Widgeon. 

The male Eurasian Wigeon has grey feathers on its back and sides during the breeding season, with a black tail, a dark-green speculum, and a white patch on its upper wings. It has a pink chest, white belly, and a chestnut-coloured head with a cream-coloured crown. In the non-breeding season, the male and the female look similar. 

The female Eurasian Wigeon is light brown with a paler head and white feathers on its underwing. Sometimes, the female has a rufous (red-brown) body with a redder head or a grey body with a grey head.

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Eurasian Tree Sparrow

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The Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus dilutus) is a passerine bird in the sparrow family.

The Eurasian Tree Sparrow has a chestnut crown and nape, with a black patch on each white cheek. It also has a black patch on its chin, throat, and the area between its beak and throat. Its beak is grey in summer and darker, almost black, in winter. Its upperparts are light brown, streaked with black. Its brown wings have two distinct, narrow, white bars. Its legs are pale brown. 

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