Animal Quiz Day: Hide and Seek

Today’s animal quiz is only one question long, see if you can guess the answer!

Can you tell what species this hiding birdie is? Hint: he’s yellow.        (ha ha, ok bad humor)

Unidentified Bird - Beautiful Song

Below is some video I took of a tropical bird singing a cheerful, melodious tune. Unfortunately I have no idea what species it is. It’s hard to see him, but perhaps by listening to him sing someone out there will recognize and be able to identify this beauty. From what I remember, his back was mostly “black”, while his tummy was a sort of reddish brown color. (The loud noise in the background is a close by waterfall.) Any guesses?

 

Agapornis Personata

Above: Our pet lovebird from when we lived in Mexico. Note the faint black mask typical of juvenile birds.

Scientific name: Agapornis personata
Family: Psittacidae
Order: Psittaciformes
Class: Aves

The Black-Masked Lovebird is native to northeastern Tanzania in Africa. They inhabit dry wooded areas usually near bodies of water. This bird weighs around 50 grams and measures only six inches in length, but despite it’s small size it is a member of the parrot family known as the “eye ring” species due to the white skin around each eye.  They are a long-lived species for their size, with an average lifespan of 20 years. It’s name describes the bird well: Agapornis: from the Greek word agape meaning “love”, and ornis meaning “bird”.  They were so named due to their extremely affectionate nature. It is a common sight, even in the wild, to see two Lovebirds snuggling with each other while perched on a branch. During the breeding season, the nests are made by the females and the three to six eggs are incubated for about twenty-three days. The mother continues to care for the hatchlings until they leave the nest at about six weeks of age. The father then takes over the feeding of the young birds for another two weeks or so until they reach adulthood.

A Story of Love, Compassion, Friendship, and Loyalty

This is a beautiful story of two Australian Sulphur Crested Cockatoo’s that I came across a while back. It shows how animals love, show care, concern and friendship. Be sure to click the “next” button on the bottom of each page.

The Hidden Powers of Animals: European Starlings

Although many people are familiar with the European Starling’s ability to mimic words and sounds, there is another factor that makes this bird truly amazing. 

Extraordinary Eyes

In most animal species with two eyes, and in humans, eyesight is identical in both eyes in healthy subjects. However, there are some species of animals where this is not always the case. European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), for example, have truly amazing eyes. The starling is a bird that is often seen as more of a pest than anything else, so not many people would think there was much of anything at all special about this bird. However, a few years ago a team of researchers in Australia led by biologist Nathan Hart discovered that the cellular composition of the Starling’s two eyes differ. The study found that in it’s left eye, the Starling has more single cones (photosensitive cells that respond to color). In it’s right eye, however, double cones (cells detecting movement) were found to predominate. What does that mean in plain English? Well that the Starling’s two eyes serve different functions; the left eye would be used to distinguish color, and the right to watch for movement. Interestingly many birds, including Starlings, tend to tilt their head and look at certain objects with either one eye or the other indicating whether they are looking out for movement (danger), or color (food, a mate, etc.).

More Starling Facts

• All the European Starlings in North America descended from 100 birds released in New York’s Central Park in the early 1890s. A group dedicated to introducing America to all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare’s works set the birds free. Today, European Starlings range from Alaska to Florida and northern Mexico, and their population is estimated at over 200 million birds.  [source]
•  Flocks are noted for forming a tight sphere-like formation in flight, then expanding, contracting, whirling and even changing shape, all seemingly without any sort of leader, much as a school of fish.  These displays sometime involve thousands of birds and are very spectacular. [source]
• Starlings are cousins to the Mynah bird and are outstanding mimics. An individual bird can mimic up to 20 species, including Eastern Wood Pewee, Killdeer, and Meadowlark songs. [source]

Starling Vocals