Tag bird of prey

The problem-solving skills of the Striated Caracara

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The Striated Caracara can solve problems just as much as Cockatoos can, reports the New Scientist magazine in November 2023 about a study at the Messerli Research Institute at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna in Austria. The Johnny Rook Project was conducted in collaboration with the Institute of Marine and Coastal Research at the National University of Mar del Plata in Argentina and the Austral Scientific Research Centre in Ushuaia in Argentina. It was funded by the Austrian Science Fund.

Researchers at the Comparative Cognition Unit at the University of Veterinary Medicine (VetMedUni) Vienna, led by cognitive ecologist Katie Harrington, conducted studies on the problem-solving skills of the Striated Caracara in the Falkland Islands. 

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What is a smart egg?

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What is a smart egg?

The Oregon Zoo and researchers at the San Jose State University of California, in the United States, used a smart egg to learn more about the nesting behaviour of the California Condor. The California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) is a large accipiter, bird of prey, in the Cathartidae family. Native to North America, it is critically endangered. 

Zoologists placed a smart egg – a dummy egg – into the nest of a pair of nesting California Condors during the spring of 2023. It was a single, enormous egg.

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What is the difference between a beak and a bill?

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What is the difference between a beak and a bill?

A beak and a bill – mostly in birds – is used for eating. There are two parts of a beak and a bill: 1) upper mandible (jaw), which is also called a maxilla, and 2) lower mandible (jaw), which is called mandible. 

The beak and the bill are similar and it is considered acceptable to use the beak and the bill to mean the same thing. However, there is slight difference.

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Eurasian Kestrel

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The Eurasian Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) is a bird of prey in the Falconidae family of falcons. It is also called the Common Kestrel or the European Kestrel. It is a raptor.

The Eurasian Kestrel is mainly light chestnut brown with blackish spots on its upperside. On the underside, it is buff with narrow blackish streaks. It has long wings and a long tail. The male has a blue-grey tail and the female has a brown tail with black bars. Its cere, feet, and eyerings are bright yellow. It has a dark beak and dark eyes. 

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What is the difference between the Egyptian Vulture and the Palm-Nut Vulture?

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What is the difference between the Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus percnopterus) and the Palm-Nut Vulture (Gypohierax angolensis)?

Both the Egyptian Vulture and the Palm-Nut Vulture are large raptors and birds of prey with large, strong beaks and feet with sharp claws called talons.  

The Egyptian Vulture is all white with long neck feathers, whereas the Palm-Nut Vulture is all white except for black areas in its wings and tail.

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What is falconry?

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What is falconry? 

Falconry is the tradition of hunting with birds of prey, or raptors. It is called falconry because the birds are in the Falconidae family, which includes all birds of prey that kill their prey with their sharp beaks.

Birds in the Falconidae family include falcons, gyrfalcons, hobbies, kestrels, and merlins.

Other birds of prey are also trained, such as those in the Accipitridae family, including eagles, goshawks, and hawks. Accipiters kill their prey with their feet, by swooping on their prey and killing it with their sharp claws, called talons.

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Common Buzzard

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The Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) is a medium-sized bird of prey, and a raptor, in the Accipitridae family of accipiters. It is related to the Balkans Long-Legged Buzzard and the Steppe Buzzard. 

The Common Buzzard can be varied in colour from light to dark, although it usually has orange-tinted feathers with dark lines, a red or orange tail, a pale head and white underwings. It has a rounded hear with a sharp, thin, hooked beak and large eyes. It has short legs and sharp claws, called talons. 

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Western Marsh Harrier

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The Western Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus) is a large bird of prey, a raptor and an accipiter in the Accipitridae family of hawks.

The Western Marsh Harrier has reddish-brown feathers with light coloured streaks. Its head and shoulders are pale yellowish-grey. Its legs and feet are yellow. It has orange-brown eyes with a bright yellow eye-ring. Its beak is grey-black. The female is darker, and almost chocolate brown. 

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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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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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Bearded Vulture

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The Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is a large bird of prey, an accipiter, and a raptor. It is closely related to the Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus).

The Bearded Vulture is dark-grey, rusty, and white. It is grey-blue to grey-black along its back with a cream-coloured forehead and orange-rust feathers on its head, chest, and legs. Its tail and wings are grey. It has black bands across its eyes. It has chin bristles that look like a beard. It has a small, feathered head with a powerful neck, long narrow wings, and a long, wedge-shaped tail. It has sharp talons (claws). When it walks, its gait appears like a waddling duck. It has bright red eye-rings. 

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Rough-Legged Buzzard

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The Rough-Legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus) is a medium-sized bird of prey, and a raptor. It is also known as the Rough-Legged Hawk. 

The Rough-Legged Buzzard has brown feathers that can be light-brown or dark-brown, with a lot of speckles or specking. It has more white feathers on its underbelly. It has long, white tail feathers. Its feet are feathered. Its claws are smaller than the claws of most birds of prey. It has dark eyes and a light beige beak.

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Indian Spotted Eagle

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The Indian Spotted Eagle (Clanga hastata) is a large bird of prey, a raptor, and an accipiter. 

The Indian Spotted Eagle has light brown feathers with white spotted markings on its back, head, and neck. It has a broad head and a wide mouth with a sharp, downward curved, black beak. Its cere (at the base of its beak) is light-beige. Its eyes are dark brown. Its upper tail is light brown with white bars. It has yellowish feet with strong, sharp talons (claws). 

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