Squirrel finds the sweet spot on hummingbird feeder

                                                                                                      Photo by BarrytheBirder

Pictured above is one the red squirrels in our backyard.  This squirrel has figured out how to get sweet hummingbird nectar by sucking the liquid from one of the tiny holes in the bottom reservoir.   I believe its tongue is too big to fit into the tiny holes, so it must be sucking the nectar out.   It spent quite some time in this position getting its fill.   According to the Arizona State University, scientists at one point believed hummingbirds drank nectar by sucking it up, like juice through a straw.   But it is now known that although the shape of the peak helps the bird reach deep into a flower, its long, thin tongue does the real work.   A hummingbird licks nectar up, like a dog lapping at a bowl of water.   Moreover, a hummingbird can lick up to 13 times per second.   I've been known to do this after accidentally spilling a martini.

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BarrytheBirder 

Voice: High-pitched descending scream with a hoarse quality...unmistakable

Photo: Matt Campbell / EPA

RED-TAILED HAWK

( Buteo jamaicensis )

A Red-tailed Hawk takes flight from a dead tree as it scouts for prey in Orleans, Massachusetts.   Very common and widespread in the genus Buteo.   Certain western hawks, with dark brown, slightly banded tails were once considered a separate species that was called 'Harlan's Hawk'.

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BarrytheBirder

Good news for bee-eaters ~ bad news for bees...

Photo: Mei Yongcun / Barcroft Images

Blue-throated Bee-eaters

( Merops viridis )

Blue-throated Bee-eaters perch on a branch in Luxia Town, Nanping City, in China's Fujian Province.    They are also found in Cambodia, Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.   The I.U.C.N. Red List identifies them as of 'Least Concern'.

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BarrytheBirder 

Good news on Christmas Island...

Photo: Ian Montgomery / Christmas Island Tourism Council /AAP

An endangered Abbott's Booby (Papasula abbotti) is seen on the Australian territory Christmas Island.   The birds have had a reprieve after the Turnbull government changed its mind about a controversial phosphate exploration proposal on the island.   Amen.

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BarrytheBirder  

A pigeon and a monkey...

I do not know who took this photo, or where or when it was taken.   Also, I have no comment to make about it.  However, I do hope that you enjoy it as much as I do.

Please comment if you wish. 

BarrytheBirder

Mute Swan transformed by twilight into black swan...

Photo: Vasily Fedosenko / Reuters

   A Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) appears to be black, instead of white, while it swims during sunset, on a lake near the town of Vileika in Belarus.   Below, a pair of Black Swans (Cygnus atratus) show their true colour ( in full light - not silhouetted).  Black Swans traditionally bred in southeast and southwest Australia, where they were first described in 1790.   They were soon introduced to various countries as ornamental birds and many escaped to exist in the wild.   They have existed in flocks of hundreds and thousands in some places.

Photo: Dave Watts

Photo: J. J. Harrison

 In the photo above, a black swan is shown in flight and reveals it is actually a black and white swan, because of the striking presence of its white primary flight feathers, which normally do not show when the big bird is on the ground or in water.

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BarrytheBirder

Rare Reed Parrotbills are to be found in eastern China

    Photo above: Waderworld                                            Photo below:DcvGamebirds.mc

Reed Parrotbill

(Paradoxornis heudei)

Reed Parrotbills are found in eastern China and Manchuria.

They are a rare birds species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.  Because of rareness, the the Reed Parrotbill has been nicknamed 'the panda of birds'.   Their first recorded sighting occurred less than 150 years ago and they are now found and restricted to reed-bed habitats

which are in decline.

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if you wish. 

BarrytheBirder

The headless penguins of Antarctica...

Photographs of penguins that appear to have no heads can be found all over the internet.   Single birds, twos, threes, four birds...everywhere.   But despite the many of these photos as I have seen, I am still always captivated by the images.   My old neck is stiff most of the time now, and I greatly envy the flexibility of these unique captivating creatures. 

Photos: Monique Joris / Cater
               News Agency

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if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Another wee bird near extinction...

Photo: Chris Tzaros / Birds Bush and Beyond

King Island Brown Thornbill

(Acanthiza pusilla pusilla)

A King Island Brown Thornbill is a passerine normally found on King Island, about halfway between Tasmania and Melbourne on the southeastern coast of Australia.  There are almost 20 species of thornbills native to Australia but King Island Brown Thornbills are only found on the island of the same name.   Residents of King Island believe the bird may be almost extinct.
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BarrytheBirder

We have to stop meeting like this.....

                                                                       Photo by Marvin Recinos/AFP/Getty Images

A bird rests on the head of a White-tailed Deer roaming free and presumably minding its own business, in San Jose Villanueva, El Salvador.

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BarrytheBirder

Loons near your cottage?

Photo: Brian Lasenby / Shutterstock

Spot them...once a month for three months

If you spend a least one day a month in June, July and August on a lake with loons, you can easily participate in Bird Studies Canada's Canadian Lakes Loon Survey.   Just visit the Canadian Lakes Loon Survey web page or contact Canadian Lakes Loon Survey Coordinator Kathy Jones at volunteer@birds.canada.org.   Chick numbers are decreasing and surveying is a simple and important way to understand why.

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BarrytheBirder   

Back from the brink...

                                                                             Photo: Jacques de Speville / IUCN

Mauritius Kestrel

(Falco punctatus)

44 years ago, the endangered Mauritius Kestrel was near extinction, with just four known birds, including one breeding female.   Conservation efforts included captive breeding, extra feeding, nest-site improvements and predator control.  Today, with a population of approximately 400 birds, this conservation achievement is cited as one of the most successful bird species reclamation projects in the world.

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BarrytheBirder

Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed...

Photo: Tom Stables / Comedy Wildlife Photo.com

2016 comedy Wildlife Photo finalist

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BarrytheBirder

Ever-opportunistic gulls...

Photo: Don Emmert AFP / Getty Images

A gull stands on the rostrum of a feeding Humpback Whale, while other gulls fly and paddle about hoping to snatch Sand Eels, in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, near Gloucester, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

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BarrytheBirder

What a wingspan!

Photo: Prakash Singh / AFP / Getty Images

A Black-eared Kite (Milvus migrans lineatus) catches a fish from a pond at the Zoological Park in New Delhi, India.   In addition to a broad wingspan, note the black circles around the eyes.   This feature is also referred to as 'dark ear coverts' of a 'dark mask'...a somewhat distinctive feature.
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BarrytheBirder

Closely related to the Black Butcherbird...

 Photo above: Genevieve Vallee / Alamy

Immature Australian Magpies (top) are seen in New South Wales, Australia. They are also found in New Zealand, southern New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Fiji.

Scientists have found that the magpies can understand other birds calls. I wonder if that means they merely recognize other birds calls or do they know the meanings of other birds' calls.

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BarrytheBirder

Elegant teamwork...

Photo: STR/EPA

A pair of Egrets build their nest in the Panbazar area, on the banks of the Brahmaputa River in the sprawling city of Guwahati, in northeastern India.
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BarrytheBirderTeamwork

One of the world's most formidable birds...

Photo: Maxmilian Hornisch

The annual competition of the Society of German Wildlife Photographers, which showcases talented European Union photographers, has chosen its 2018 winner: German photographer Maxmilian Hornisch's image of a Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos).   The photo (above) was the overall winner and first place in the birds category.   A description of the winning image states: 'Temperatures are rising, the snow melts and water slowly cuts its way down into the valley ... The Golden Eagle floats in through the retreating veil looking for winter's leftovers ... Numerous avalanches in the mountains have taken their toll, offering the Golden Eagles a generous supply of food after the snow is gone ... Two days later there was going to be new snow, heavily restricting the Golden Eagle's food supply once more'.

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BarrytheBirder

Green Peafowl endangered in Cambodia...

Photo: Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP/Getty Images

GREEN PEAFOWL

(PAVO MUTICUS)

A large Green Peafowl (a.k.a. peacock) is seen on a parked delivery van in a street of Phnom Penh in Cambodia.  Nearby residents say the bird is an escaped pet.   The I.U.C.N. classifies these peafowl as endangered in Cambodia with rapidly declining populations due to diminishing forest and hunting, which might explain this startling photo in a busy urban setting.

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BarrytheBirder

Stilts are found around the world...

Photo: Mei Yongcun / Barcroft Images

MBlack-winged StiltM

(Himantopus himantopus)

Two Black-winged Stilts rest on a shoal near Anhai town at Jinjiang City, in China's Fujan Province.   In addition to the Black-winged Stilt, there are five other species and two sub-species of stilts found all over the world, including North and South America, Hawaii, Europe,  Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and Indonesia.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder