Photographer Martina Nicolls
Continue reading “WHAT ANIMAL IS THIS? #19”
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Common Redshank
The Common Redshank (Tringa tetanus) is a medium-sized bird in the Scolopacidae family of waders. A shank is a leg, so redshank means red leg.
The Common Redshank has brown marbled feathers with a lighter mottled underbelly. In winter, it is greyish brown with a white underbelly. It has red legs and a black-tipped red beak. It has small, rounded black eyes.
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Madagascar Ibis
The Madagascar Ibis (Lophotibis cristata) is a bird in the Threskiomithidae family of ibises. It is also known as the Madagascar Crested Ibis, the White-Winged Ibis, and the Crested Wood Ibis.
The Madagascar Ibis is brown with white wings, a crest of green or glossy, iridescent blue and white feathers on the back of its neck. Its head is black. Its chin, neck, throat, and underparts, are dark brown. It has a bare red patch (featherless) around its eyes. It has a yellow beak and red legs. It has brown eyes.
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What is a Gular Sac?
What is a Gular Sac?
A Gular Sac is the throat pouch on some birds.
A Gular Sac is a featherless pouch, or bag, or sac, that is formed by the skin from the lower beak to the neck.
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Red Bishop Weaver
The Red Bishop Weaver (Euplectes orix orix) is a bird in the Ploceidae family of bishops and widowbirds. It is also known as the Grenadier Weaver or the Southern Red Bishop.
The Red Bishop Weaver looks like a sparrow with bright red or orange feathers and a red head, except for its black forehead, face, and throat. It has light-brown wings and a short, light-brown tail.
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What is a group of widgeons called?
What is a group of widgeons called?
A group of widgeons is called a company of widgeons.
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RESEARCH: Animals have played an important health role during the COVID-19 pandemic
A 2020 research study indicates that animals, mainly pets, have played an important health role during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Researchers at the University of South Australia studied the effects of animals during the pandemic when human-to-human contact was restricted to reduce the spread of the virus.
Researcher Dr. Janette Young said, “To fill the void of loneliness and provide a buffer against stress, there has been a global upsurge in people adopting dogs and cats from animal shelters during lockdowns. Breeders have also been inundated with demands for puppies quadrupling some waiting lists.”
It is estimated that more than half the global population share their lives with one or more pets. The health benefits have been widely reported, but little data exists regarding the specific benefits that pets bring to humans in terms of touch.
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What is a group of starlings called?
What is a group of starlings called?
A group of starlings is called a murmuration of starlings.
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CREATURE FEATURE: Red-Crowned Parrot
The Red-Crowned Parrot (Amazona viridigenalis) is a bird in the Psittacidae family of parrots. It is also called the Green-Cheeked Amazon Parrot or Mexican Red-Headed Parrot.
The Red-Crowned Parrot is green with a bright red forehead and crown, dark-blue streak behind the eyes, and light-green cheeks. Some have red and blue feathers under their wings. It has a white eye-ring with bright yellow eyes. It has a beige beak and cere. It has grey or beige legs.
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Southern Screamer juvenile
The Southern Screamer (Chauna torquata) is a large bird in the Anseriformes family of geese. It is also known as the Crested Screamer. It is called Screamer because it screams loudly.
The adult Southern Screamer has grey feathers with a black collar around its neck. Its back is dark-grey and its underbelly is light grey. It has a grey crest and a grey beak. It has a red patch around its eyes. It has pink legs. It has partially webbed feet that enable it to swim. It is a good swimmer, but it prefers to be on land most of the time.
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German Pekin Duck
The German Pekin Duck (Anas platyrhynchos) is a European breed of a domestic bird in the Anatidae family of mallard ducks. It is also known as the White Pekin Duck and related to the American Pekin Duck.
The German Pekin Duck has an upright, broad, heavy body with thick layers of creamy-white feathers with a yellowish tinge. Its beak is short and orange. Its eyes are small and dark. It has orange webbed feet.
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Palm-Nut Vulture Juvenile
The Palm-Nut Vulture (Gypohierax angolensis) is a bird of prey, a raptor, and an accipiter. It is also known as the Vulturine Fish Eagle. It is related to the buzzard and the eagle.
The adult Palm-Nut Vulture is all white except for black areas in its wings and tail. It has a red patch around each eye.
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Song Thrush
The Song Thrush (Turdos philomelos) is a small bird in the Turdidae family of thrushes. It is closely related to the Mistle Thrush.
The Song Thrush has brown upperparts and black-spotted cream or buff underparts. Its underwing is yellowish. It has a rounded head with dark-brown eyes. Its legs and feet are brown.
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Southern Masked Lapwing
The Southern Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles novaehollandiae) is a common birld in the Charadriidae family and Vanellinae sub-family of plovers, lapwings, and dotterels.
The Southern Masked Lapwing has a rounded body, brown on its upperside and white on its underbelly and neck. It has distinctive black markings on its shoulders and the sides of its chest. It has a black crown and nape, with a yellow face and small, black eyes. It has small yellow wattles (skin) hanging from its neck. It has reddish-brown legs.
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Port Lincoln Ringneck Parrot
The Port Lincoln Ringneck Parrot (Barnardius zonarius zonarius) is a medium-sized bird in the Psittaculidae family of broad-tailed parrots, related to the Rosellas. It is a sub-species of the Australian Ringneck Parrot.
The Port Lincoln Ringneck Parrot is mainly green. It has a yellow ring around the back of its neck. It has a dull-black head, back and rump. Its throat and chest are bluish-green. Its wings are brilliant green and its tail is blue and green. It has a beige beak and beige legs.
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Monk Parakeet chick
The Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) is the only parrot that builds a stick nest in a tree. Other parrots use a hollow in a tree trunk for their nest.
The female Monk Parakeet lays 4-8 eggs, which hatch after about 24 days. The newly-hatched chicks are born altricial – featherless, blind, and helpless.
Monk Parakeet chicks open their eyes after about four days. They take time to gain all of their feathers. Initially, the down feathers make young chicks look fluffy with dirty-white feathers, and a few green feathers. The chicks have a large orange beak.
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Common Bronzewing Pigeon
The Common Bronzewing Pigeon (Phaps chalcoptera) is a medium-sized bird in the pigeon family.
The Common Bronzewing Pigeon is a brownish, plump-bodied bird with bronze coloured wings. The male is darker than the female. The male has a pale-yellow forehead and a pinkish chest. Both the male and the female have a white line around their eyes. It also has patches of red, blue, and green on its wings. It has dark eyes and pink legs.
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Cassowary casque: what is it made of?
What is the Cassowary casque made of?
The Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) is a large flightless bird with a brown, horn-like or helmet-like casque on the top of its head.
The casque measures 13-17 centimetres (5-7 inches) tall.
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Nesting Red-Legged Seriema
The Red-Legged Seriema (Cariama cristata) is a medium-sized bird. It is also called the Crested Cariama.
Paired Red-Legged Seriema make a nest together on the ground, or in a bush. The photographed Seriema are making a nest on a ledge. The nest is messy, large, and made of twigs, lined with leaves and feathers.
The female Red-Legged Seriema lays 2 eggs, which hatch after 25-30 days.
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Eurasian Wren
The Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) is a small passerine song bird in the Troglodytidae family.
The Eurasian Wren is rufous-brown with a paler, greyer underbelly. Its wings and tail are barred with darker brown and grey. However, it can vary in colour. It has short, rounded wings. Its beak is dark-brown. Its legs are pale brown.
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