The Hadada Ibis (Bostrychia hagedash) is a medium-sized, common African wading bird, found in the grasslands, rainforests, and urban areas of Sudan, Ethiopia, Senegal, Uganda, Tanzania, Gabon, Zaire, Cameroon, Gambia, Kenya, Somalia and South Africa.
The Hadada Ibis has brown and iridescent green feathers, a long black downward-curved beak with a red stripe on it upper mandible (top beak), and long black legs. It is related to the Spoonbill.
The Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) is the most common and abundant swallow in the world. It is a small migratory songbird (a passerine). It often heralds the spring weather.
The Barn Swallow, or Eurasian Swallow (Hirundo rustica rustica) is found in the Northern Hemisphere, in Europe and Asia. It is dark iridescent blue with a rufous (reddish-brown) forehead, chin and throat, white underbelly, and black wings and tail. It has a deeply forked tail with large white spots.
The Slender-Tailed Meerkat (Suricata suricatta) is a small mammal in the Herpestidae family of meerkats and mongoose. It is a herpestid.
The Slender-Tailed Meerkat has a long body and tail. Its face is long and it narrows at the chin. Its eyes have black patches around them. Its fur is grey or brown with streaks of silver. It has four toes with long claws for digging rapidly and for climbing trees.
The Asian Small-Clawed Otter (Amblonyx cinereus) is the smallest otter in the world. It is also called the Oriental Small-Clawed Otter. They are related to the weasel.
They have slender long and flexible bodies with dark grey-brown fur, with lighter patches on the face and neck. Otters have two types of fur: long, stout guard hairs and short, fine undercoat hairs, which looks velvety.
Asian Small-Clawed Otters have flat heads and thick necks. Their eyes are located at the front of their head. The ears are small and rounded and have a valve that enables them to be closed when the otters swim underwater.
The Superb Fairy-Wren (Malurus cyaneus) is a small passerine song bird. It is also known as the Blue Wren.
The male Superb Fairy-Wren has a bright iridescent blue forehead, ear feathers, neck feathers and tail, with a black mask and a black or dark-blue throat. Non-breeding males, females, and young wrens are grey-brown in colour.
The Malaysian Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus) is the smallest of the world’s eight types of bears. It is shy and is found in the tropical rainforests of the Malay Peninsula in Malaysia.
It has black fur, and is called Sun Bear because it has a yellow crest on its chest. It has small ears and a short nose.
It is an omnivorous mammal, and can grow to 1.2 metres (4 feet) tall.
A female pigeon (Columba livia domestica) can breed at any time of the year, but mostly in spring and summer.
Their nest is made of straw and sticks, laid on a ledge, often on the window ledges of buildings.
Females lay two white eggs.
Male and female pigeons take turns to sit on the eggs for 17-19 days.
Baby pigeons are called squabs.
The newly hatched chicks are called hatchlings or nestlings.
Chicks are altricial, which means that they are born naked, blind, and helpless.
The Australian Black-Backed Magpie (Cracticus tibicen tibicen) is a diurunal medium-sized black and white passerine bird, native to Australia and southern New Guinea. It is found in Queensland and New South Wales in eastern Australia.
They are mainly glossy black, with a few white patches, especially at the back of their necks. They have orange-brown eyes, and a hard, sharp beak.
What are the stages of a bird’s life?
A bird starts its life in an egg.
A baby bird is called a chick.
When the chick hatches out of the egg is called a hatchling or a nestling. The bird is usually bald and blind, which is called altricial.
The hatchling begins to grow soft fluffy feathers, called down feathers, and flight feathers.
After the chick has taken its first flight it is called a fledgling. Fledglings still live in their parent’s nest and are fed by their parents for several weeks.
When the chicks are able to fly, they are adult birds.
Photographer: Martina Nicolls
Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM
What does altricial and precocial mean?
Altricial means that an animal is born blind and without hair or feathers. It is naked, blind, and helpless.
Precocial means that an animal is fully furred or feathered at birth, with eyes open.