Black Oyster Catcher, Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

The oystercatchers are a group of waders; they form the family Haematopodidae, which has a single genus, Haematopus. They are large obvious and noisy plover-like birds, with strong bills used for smashing or prising open molluscs.

In some species, the bill shape varies according to the diet. Those birds with blade-like bill tips prise open or smash mollusc shells, and those with pointed bill tips tend to probe for annelid worms.

They are found on coasts worldwide apart from the polar regions. They are all-black, black and white or brown and white in appearance.

White Ibis at Dawn, Fort Meyers, Florida

Australian White Ibis (Threskiornis molucca) is a wading bird of the ibis family Threskiornithidae, also known as the "Sheep bird". They are widespread in eastern and south western Australia.

This ibis occurs in marshy wetlands, often near open grasslands and has become common in Australian east coast city parks and rubbish dumps since 1998, which along with its large size has has led to the nickname of "Tip Turkey". The Australian Ibis is known to have a putrid smell of rotting fish or rubbish dumps.

This ibis feeds on various fish, frogs and other water creatures, and also insects and garbage.

This species has a bald black head and neck and a long black downcurved beak. The body plumage is white with some black feathers near the tail. The legs are dark and red skin is visible on the underside of the wing. The head and neck are feathered in juveniles.

Black-Headed Gulls

The Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus) is a small gull which breeds in much of Europe and Asia, and also in coastal eastern Canada. Most of the population is migratory, wintering further south, but some birds in the milder westernmost areas of Europe are resident. Some birds will also spend the winter in the northeastern United States.

This gull is 38-44cm long with a 94-105 cm wingspan. It breeds in colonies in large reedbeds or marshes, or on islands in lakes, nesting on the ground. Like most gulls, it is highly gregarious in winter, both when feeding or in evening roosts. It is not a pelagic species, and is rarely seen at sea far from coasts.

The Black-headed Gull is a bold and opportunist feeder and will scavenge in towns or take invertebrates in ploughed fields with equal relish.

In flight, the white leading edge to the wing is a good field mark. The summer adult has a chocolate-brown head (not black, despite the name), pale grey body, black tips to the primary wing feathers, and red bill and legs. The hood is lost in winter, leaving just dark vertical streaks.

This species takes two years to reach maturity. First year birds have a black terminal tail band, more dark areas in the wings, and, in summer, a less fully developed dark hood.

This is a noisy species, especially at colonies, with a familiar "kree-ar" call. Its scientific name means "Laughing Gull".

The Black-headed Gull is the prefectural bird of Tokyo and the Yurikamome mass transit system is named after it.

Brown Pelicans in Flight

The Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is the smallest of the eight species of pelican, although it is a large bird in nearly every other regard. It is 106-137 cm (42-54 in) in length, weighs from 2.75 to 5.5 kg (6-12 lbs) and has a wingspan from 1.83 to 2.5 m (6 to 8.2 ft).

It lives strictly on coasts from Washington and Virginia south to northern Chile and the mouth of the Amazon River. Some immature birds may stray to inland freshwater lakes. After nesting, North American birds move in flocks further north along the coasts, returning to warmer waters for winter.

This bird is distinguished from the American White Pelican by its brown body and its habit of diving for fish from the air, as opposed to co-operative fishing from the surface. It eats mainly herring-like fish. Groups of Brown Pelicans often travel in single file, flying low over the water's surface.

The nest location varies from a simple scrape on the ground on an island to a bulky stick nest in a low tree. These birds nest in colonies, usually on islands.

Pesticides like DDT and dieldrin threatened its future in the southeast United States and California in the early 1970s. Pesticides also threatened the pelican population in Florida in this period. A research group from the University of Tampa headed by Dr. Ralph Schreiber conducted research in the Tampa Bay/St Petersburg area and found that DDT caused the pelican eggshells to be overly-thin and incapable of supporting the embryo to maturity. As a result of this research, DDT usage was eliminated in Florida and the rest of the country.

Along with the American White Pelican, the Brown Pelican is protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.

The Peruvian Pelican, Pelecanus thagus, used to be considered a subspecies of the Brown Pelican (P. o. thagus). However, due to its well-defined allopatry and because it is much larger and heavier than its relatives, it was reclassified as a separate species.

The Brown Pelican is the state bird of Louisiana.

Lesser Flamingos in Motion, Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya, Africa

The Lesser Flamingo (Phoenicopterus minor) is a species in the flamingo family of birds which occurs in Africa (principally in the Great Rift Valley), across to Pakistan and northwest India. It is a very rare vagrant to southern Europe, with several records from Spain. Birds are occasionally reported from further north, but are generally considered to be escapes.

It is the smallest and most numerous flamingo, probably numbering up to two million individual birds. In Africa, where they are most numerous, the Lesser Flamingos breeds principally on the highly caustic Lake Natron in Northern Tanzania. Like all flamingos, they lay a single chalky white egg on mounds they build of mud. Most of the plumage is pinkish white.

Chicks join creches soon after hatching, sometimes numbering over a hundred thousand individuals. The creches are marshalled by a few adult birds who lead them by foot to fresh water, a journey that can reach over 20 miles.

The clearest difference between this species and Greater Flamingo, the only other Old World species, is the much more extensive black on the bill. Size is less helpful unless the species are together, since the sexes of each species also differ in height.


This species feeds primarily on Spirulina, a cyanobacteria which grows only in very alkaline lakes. Although blue-green in colour, the bacteria contains the phtotosynthetic pigments that gives the birds their pink colour. Their deep bill is specialised for filtering tiny food items.

Lesser Flamingos are predated on by a variety of species including Marabou Storks, baboons, African Fish Eagles and jackals.

The population in the two key east African lakes, Nakuru and Bogoria, have been adversely affected in recent years by suspected heavy metal poisoning.

Its primary African breeding area in Lake Natron is currently under threat by a proposed soda ash plant by Tata Chemicals.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

The Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Nycticorax violaceus or Nyctanassa violacea, is a smaller heron, similar in appearance to the Black-crowned Night Heron.

Adults are 61 cm long and weigh 625 g. They have a white crown and back with the remainder of the body grayish, red eyes and short yellow legs. They have a white stripe below the eye. Juveniles resemble young Black-crowned Night-Herons, being mainly brown flecked with white or gray.

Their breeding habitat is swamps and marshes from the eastern United States to north-eastern South America. They often nest in colonies, usually on platforms of sticks in trees or shrubs overhanging water. they lay 3–5 pale blue-green eggs.

In warmer locations, some are permanent residents; others migrate to Central America and the West Indies. They may occasionally wander north to the lower Great Lakes or Ontario after the breeding season.

A related heron was endemic to Bermuda (Bermuda Night Heron), but became extinct following human colonisation. American Yellow-crowned Night Herons have been introduced to fill its ecological niche.

These birds stalk their prey or wait in ambush at the water's edge, mainly at night. They mainly eat crustaceans, mollusks, frogs, aquatic insects and small fish.

Green Heron, Everglades National Park, Florida

The Green Heron (Butorides virescens) is a small heron. Some sources consider this bird and the Striated Heron or Mangrove Heron, Butorides striatus, of tropical Africa and Asia, to be a single species, the Green-backed Heron.

Description
The green heron is relatively small; adult body length is about 44 cm. The neck is often pulled in tight against the body. Adults have a glossy, greenish-black cap, a greenish back and wings that are grey-black grading into green or blue, a chestnut neck with a white line down the front, grey underparts and short yellow legs. The bill is dark with a long, sharp point. Female adults tend to be smaller than males, and have duller and lighter plumage, particularly in the breeding season. Juveniles are duller, with the head sides, neck and underparts streaked brown and white, tan-splotched back, and greenish-yellow legs.

Habitat
Their breeding habitat is small wetlands in eastern and midwest North America, Central America, the West Indies and the Pacific coast of Canada and the United States. They nest in a platform of sticks often in shrubs or trees, sometimes on the ground, often near water. The female lays 3 to 5 eggs. Both parents incubate for about 20 days until hatching, and feed the young birds which take a further 3 weeks to fledge.

Northern Green Heron populations of the race B. v. virescens are migratory and winter from the southern United States through to northern South America. This subspecies is an extremely rare vagrant to western Europe.

Behavior
Green Herons stand very still on shore or in shallow water and await prey. They mainly eat small fish, frogs and aquatic insects. They sometimes drop food, insects, or other small objects on the water's surface to attract fish, making them one of the few known tool-using species. Feeding is done during the day. Their call is a loud and sudden kyow.

Green herons are seasonally monogamous. Nests are constructed in forest and swamp patches, over water or in plants near water. Locations in trees are preferred, with nests built up to 20 m off the ground. The clutch is 2 to 4 eggs, which are laid in 2-day intervals. The chicks are fed by both parents, though the frequency of feedings decreases as they become more independent. When chicks are 16 to 17 days old, fledging occurs, and they become independent after 30 to 35 days.

Scarlet Ibises, Venezuela

Eudocimus ruber) is a species of ibis that occurs in tropical South America and also Trinidad and Tobago. It is the national bird of Trinidad and is featured on the Trinidad and Tobago coat of arms along with Tobago's national bird Rufous-vented Chachalaca.

Adults are 56-61 cm long and weigh 650g. They are completely scarlet, except for black wing-tips. They nest in trees, laying two to four eggs. Their diet includes crustaceans and similar small marine animals. A juvenile Scarlet Ibis is grey/white in colour; as it grows the ingestion of red crabs in the tropical swamps gradually produces the characteristic scarlet plumage.

This species is very closely related to the American White Ibis and is sometimes considered conspecific with it.

While the species may have occurred as a natural vagrant in southern Florida in the late 1800s, all recent reports of the species in North America have been of introduced or escaped birds. Eggs from Trinidad were placed in White Ibis nests in Hialeah Park in 1962, and the resulting population hybridised with the native ibis, producing "pink ibis" that are still occasionally seen.

Blue Footed Booby, Galapagos Islands

The Blue-footed Booby (Sula nebouxii) is a bird in the Sulidae family which comprises ten species of long-winged seabirds. The blue-footed booby is medium to large in size. It is on average 81 cm long and weighs 1.5 kg (3 lb), with the females slightly larger than the males. It has long pointed wings and a wedge shaped tail. They have strong thick necks. The boobies eyes are placed on either side of their bill and oriented towards the front. They have excellent binocular vision. The blue-footed boobies eyes are yellow. The male has more yellow on its iris than does the female. The blue-footed booby has permanently closed nostrils specialized for diving. They breath through the corners of their mouths. Their feet range from a pale turquoise to a deep aquamarine. Males and younger birds have lighter feet than females do.

The name “booby” comes from the Spanish term bobo, which means "stupid fellow". This is because the Blue-footed Booby is clumsy on the land, and like other seabirds can be very tame. It has been known to land on boats, where it was once captured and eaten.

The natural breeding habitat of the Blue-footed Booby is tropical and subtropical islands off the Pacific coast of South America from Peru to Mexico including, most famously, the Galápagos Islands.

Indian Peafowl, Children's Zoo, Saitama, Japan

The term peafowl can refer to the two species of bird in the genus Pavo of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. The African Congo Peafowl is placed in its own genus Afropavo and is not dealt with here. Peafowl are best known for the male's extravagant tail, which it displays as part of courtship. The male is called a peacock, the female a peahen, though it is common to hear the female also referred to as a "peacock" or "female peacock". The female peafowl is brown or toned grey and brown.

The Indian Peafowl is a resident breeder in the Indian subcontinent. The peacock is designated as the national bird of India.

The Green Peafowl breeds from Myanmar east to Java. The IUCN lists the Green Peafowl as vulnerable to extinction due to hunting and a reduction in extent and quality of habitat.

The Indian Peafowl is monotypic, while the Green Peafowl has 3 subspecies, P. muticus spicifer, P. m imperator and the nominate P. m. muticus.

The two species are largely allopatric but will hybridise in captivity.

While the form of Green Peafowl in Yunnan is not separated taxonomically, it differs in a few aspects from other forms, particularly in its forest-dwelling habits, an "odd, monal-like bill", a curiously long hind toe and longer, more slender wings (K. B. Woods in litt. 2000). Some have suggested this is a new subspecies.

Some pheasant breeders have suggested that the Green Peafowl may have more subspecies.

Peafowl have sometimes been included in a distinct family from Pheasants.

The male (peacock) Indian Peafowl has iridescent blue-green or green coloured plumage. The so-called "tail" of the peacock, also termed the "train", is not the tail quill feathers but highly elongated upper tail coverts. The train feathers have a series of eyes that are best seen when the tail is fanned. Both species have a head crest.

The female (peahen) Indian Peafowl has a mixture of dull green, brown, and grey in her plumage. She lacks the long upper tail coverts of the male but has a crest. Females can also display their plumage to ward off danger to their young or other female competition.

The Green Peafowl is very different in appearance to the Indian Peafowl. The male has green and gold plumage and has an erect crest. The wings are black with a sheen of blue.

Unlike the Indian Peafowl, the Green Peahen is very similar to the male, only having shorter upper tail coverts and less iridesence. It is very hard to tell a juvenile male from an adult female.

Many of the brilliant colours of the peacock plumage are due to an optical interference phenomenon (Bragg reflection) based on (nearly) periodic nanostructures found in the barbules (fiber-like components) of the feathers.

Different colours correspond to different length scales of the periodic structures. For brown feathers, a mixture of red and blue is required: one color is created by the periodic structure, and the other is a created by a Fabry-Perot interference peak from reflections off the outermost and innermost boundaries of the periodic structure.

Such interference-based structural color is especially important in producing the peacock's iridescent hues (which shimmer and change with viewing angle), since interference effects depend upon the angle of light, unlike chemical pigments.

The peafowl are forest birds that nest on the ground. The Pavo peafowl are terrestrial feeders but roost in trees.

Both species of Peafowl are believed to be polygamous. However, it has been suggested that "females" entering a male Green Peafowl's territory are really his own juvenile or subadult young (K. B. Woods in litt. 2000) and that Green Peafowl are really monogamous in the wild. Those who subscribe to this notion cite the similarities between the sexes.

During mating season they will often emit a very loud high pitched cry.

Peafowl are omnivorous and eat plant parts, flower petals, seed heads, insects and other arthropods, reptiles, and amphibians.

In common with other members of the Galliformes, males possess metatarsal spurs or "thorns" used primarily during intraspecific fights.

Asiatic peafowl like the Indian Blue Peafowl and especially the Green Peafowl occupy a similar niche as the roadrunners, secretary bird, and seriema. All of these birds hunt for small animals including arthropods on the ground and tall grass and minnows in shallow streams.

Because of human encroachment into their natural territories, peafowl and humans have come into increasing contact. Because of their natural beauty some are reluctant to classify the birds as pests, but their presence can be disturbing.

Mealy Parrot, Amazon Rainforest, Peru

The Mealy Amazon or Mealy Parrot (Amazona farinosa) is one of the largest Amazon parrot species.

The Mealy Parrot occurs in tropical Central America and South America. It frequents humid to semi-humid forest (only rarely in deciduous forest) and plantations. In regions dominated by open/dry habitats it is restricted to gallery forest or completely absent.

It has a total length of 38-40 cm (14.96-15.75 in) and weighs 540-700 g (19.01-24.64 oz). Captives commonly are heavier. It is among the largest parrots in the Americas, mainly being surpassed by a the large macaws. As the other members of its genus, the Mealy Parrot has a relatively short, squarish tail.

The Mealy Parrot is mainly green. The back and nape often have a whitish tinge; almost as if it had been covered in a thin layer of flour ("meal"; hence its name). The distal half of the tail is paler and more yellow than the basal half, thus resulting in a distinctly bi-coloured look. In flight it shows a bluish-black trailing edge to the wing and a conspicious red speculum. Occasionally a few yellow feathers are apparent on the top of the head and two subspecies, virenticeps and guatemalae, have a bluish-tinged crown. The maroon to orange eyes (typically appear dark from a distance) are surrounded by a relatively broad white eye-ring of bare skin.

The Mealy Parrot is social and can be found in pairs or in large flocks. They are even known to interact with other parrots, such as macaws. They are usually quiet but can be loud at dusk and dawn. In captivity, they are know as one of the gentlest and calmest of all amazons.

When Mealy Parrots reach sexual maturity they usually form monogamous relationships with a single partner.

Courtship usually begins in early spring. The hen will usually lay three eggs, which she incubates for 28 days. The male will eat for both himself and the female during the incubation period. He will regurgitate the food for the female and chicks to eat.

The diet of the Mealy Parrot consists mostly of fruits, seeds, berries, nuts, blossoms, and leaf buds.

Kell-Billed Toucan, Barro Colorado Island, Panama

Toucans are near passerine birds from the neotropics. They are brightly marked and have large, colorful bills. The family includes five genera and about forty different species.

Toucans range in size from the Lettered Aracari (Pteroglossus inscriptus), at 130 g (4.6 oz) and 29 cm (11.5 inches), to the Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco), at 680 g (1.5 lb) and 63 cm (25 inches). Their bodies are short (of comparable size to a crow's) and thick. The tail is rounded, and varies in length from half the length to the whole length of the body. The neck is short and thick, and at the base of the head is a huge, brightly-colored beak that measures, in some large species, more than half the length of the body. A toucan's tongue is long, narrow, grey, and singularly frayed on each side, adding to its sensitivity as an organ of taste.

The legs of a toucan are strong and rather short. Their toes are arranged in pairs with the first and fourth toes turned backward. Males and females are the same color. The feathers in the genus containing the largest toucans are generally black, with touches of white, yellow, and scarlet. The underparts of the araçaris (smaller toucans) are yellow, crossed by one or more black or red bands, and the edges of the beak are saw-toothed. The toucanets have mostly green plumage with blue markings.

Toucans are frugivorous (fruit-eating), but will take prey such as insects and small lizards. However, the function of the beak in feeding is not known, since many other birds consume these foods without the giant bill to help them. One likely use is to specialize on prey such as nestlings and bats in treeholes. In this view, the beak allows the bird to reach deep into the treehole to access food unavailable to other birds.

They are arboreal and nest in tree holes laying 2–4 white eggs. The young hatch completely naked, without any down. Toucans are resident breeders and do not migrate. Toucans are usually found in pairs or small flocks.

The name of this bird group is derived from Tupi tucana, via French.

Dark-Eyed Junco

Junco hyemalis), is the best-known species of junco, a genus of small American sparrows.

Adults are generally grey on top with a white belly. The white outer tail feathers flash distinctively in flight. The bill is usually pinkish. The males tend to have darker, more conspicuous markings than the female. Juveniles often have pale streaks and may even be mistaken for a Vesper Sparrow until they acquire adult plumage at 2 to 3 months. There are several regional variations:

The Slate-colored Junco (J. hyemalis hyemalis) has a dark slate-grey head, breast and upper parts. Females are brownish grey. It is found in North America in taiga forests from Alaska to Newfoundland and south to the Appalachian Mountains, wintering further south; it is relatively common in its range.

The White-winged Junco (J. hyemalis aikeni) has a pale gray head, breast, and upperparts with white wing bars. Females are washed brownish. It is an endemic breeder in the Black Hills area of South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Montana. It is common across its breeding range.
The Oregon Junco (J. hyemalis oreganus) is found on the Pacific coast mountains from southeastern Alaska to extreme northern Baja California. It has a blackish-gray head and breast with a brown back and wings and reddish flanks. This is the most common form in the west.

The Pink-sided Junco (J. hyemalis mearnsi) has a grey head and breast, with a brown back and wings. It has pinkish-brown flanks. It is found in the northern Rocky Mountains from southern Alberta, Canada to Idaho and Wyoming in the northern United States.

The Gray-headed Junco (J. hyemalis caniceps) is found in the southern Rocky Mountains from Colorado to central Arizona. It is mainly grey on with a rusty back.

The Red-backed Junco (J. hyemalis dorsalis) is found in the southern mountains of Arizona and New Mexico. It differs from "Gray-headed" Junco in having a dark upper mandible, a variable amount of rust on the wings, and pale underparts. This makes it similar to the Yellow-eyed Junco except for the dark eye. It does not overlap with Yellow-eyed Junco in breeding range.

Their breeding habitat is coniferous or mixed forest areas throughout North America. They usually nest in a cup shaped depression on the ground, well hidden by vegetation or other material, although they are sometimes found in the lower branches of a shrub or tree. The nests have an outer diameter of about 10cm and are lined with fine grasses and hair.

Normally two broods of 4 eggs are laid during the breeding season. They are incubated by the female for 12 to 13 days. The slightly glossy egg shells are greyish or pale bluish-white in color and heavily spotted (sometimes splotched) with various shades of brown, purple or grey. The spotting is concentrated at the large end of the egg. Young leave nest between 11 and 14 days of hatching.

Northern birds migrate further south; many populations are permanent residents or altitudinal migrants. In winter, juncos are familiar in and around towns. The Slate-coloured Junco is a rare vagrant to western Europe and has wintered in Great Britain, usually in a domestic garden.

Malachite Kingfisher, Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya

Malachite Kingfisher (Alcedo cristata) is a river kingfisher which is widely distributed in Africa south of the Sahara. It is largely resident except for seasonal climate related movements.

This is a small kingfisher, 13 cm in length. The general colour of the upper parts of the adult bird is bright metallic blue. The head has a short crest of black and blue feathers, which gives rise to the scientific name. The face, cheeks and underparts are rufous and there are white patches on the throat and rear neck sides.

The bill is black in young birds and reddish orange in adults; the legs are bright red. Sexes are similar, but juveniles are a duller version of the adult.

This is a common species of reeds and rank vegetation near slow moving water or ponds. The flight of the Malachite Kingfisher is rapid, the short rounded wings whirring until they appear a mere blur. It usually flies low over water.

The bird has regular perches or stands from which it fishes. These are usually low over the water. It sits upright, its tail pointed downwards. It drops suddenly with a splash and usually returns at once with a struggling captive.

Large food items are beaten on a bough or rail; small fish and insects are promptly swallowed. A fish is usually lifted and carried by its middle, but its position is changed, sometimes by tossing it into the air, before it is swallowed head downwards. Fish, aquatic insects and crustaceans are eaten.

The nest is a tunnel in a sandy bank, usually, though not always, over water. Both birds excavate. Most burrows incline upward before the nesting chamber is reached.

There is no nest, but three or four clutches of 3-6 round white eggs are placed on a litter of fish bones and disgorged pellets.

The call of this kingfisher is then a short shrill seek. The breeding song is a chuckling li-cha-cha-chui-chui.

There is a closely related species in Madagascar, the Madagascar Malachite Kingfisher, or Malagasy Kingfisher, (Alcedo vintsiodes). This has a black bill and greenish crest, and is not quite as dependent on water as the African species. It is otherwise similar in plumage and behaviour to the more widespread species.

Hummingbird

The Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) is a medium-sized hummingbird.

These hummingbirds are glossy green on the back and grey below with green flanks. Their bill is long, straight and slender. The adult male has a glossy red crown and throat and a dark tail. Anna's is the only hummingbird species with a red crown. Females and juveniles have a green crown, a grey throat with some red marking, and a dark tail with white tips.

Their breeding habitat is open wooded or shrubby areas and mountain meadows along the Pacific coast from British Columbia to Arizona. The female builds a large cup nest in a shrub or tree, sometimes in vines or on wires. The nest is round and about 1 1/2 to 2" in diameter. The nest is built of very small twigs, lichen and other mosses, and often lined with downy feathers or animal hair. The nest materials are bound together with spider silk or other sticky materials. They are known to nest early as mid-December and as late as June.

These birds are permanent residents in parts of their range. Some birds may wander north to southern Alaska, south to Mexico or move east from California after nesting season. Some individuals have been banded as far east as Alabama and Florida.

These birds feed on nectar from flowers using a long extendable tongue or catch insects on the wing. While collecting nectar, they also assist in plant pollination. They sometimes eat tree sap.

Unlike most hummingbirds, this bird sings during courtship. They are very territorial.

This bird was named after Anna Massena, Duchess of Rivoli. A hybrid between this species and Allen's Hummingbird has been described as Floresi's Hummingbird, "Selasphorus" floresii (Ridgway, 1909; Taylor, 1909); the hybrid with the Black-chinned Hummingbird was called "Trochilus" violajugulum.

Carolina Wren

The Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) is a common species of wren resident in the eastern half of the USA, the extreme south of Ontario and Quebec, Canada, and the extreme northeast of Mexico. A very distinct population in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and Belize is treated either as a subspecies Thryothorus ludovicianus albinucha, or as a separate species, White-browed Wren Thryothorus albinucha. Following the review by Mann et al. (2006), these are the only forms remaining in the genus Thryothorus. This is the state bird for South Carolina.

It is a fairly large wren, of the US species, second largest after the Cactus Wren, typically 14 cm long and about 20 g weight. The upperparts are rufous brown, and the underparts a strong orange-buff, usually unmarked but faintly barred on the flanks in the southwest of the range. The head has a striking pure white supercilium (eyebrow) and a whitish throat. The race albinucha is duller brown above and has additional white streaking on the head.

It is easiest to confuse with the Bewick's Wren, a fairly close relative (Martínez Gómez et al. 2005), which differs in being smaller but with a longer tail, grayer-brown above and whiter below.

Cattle Egret, Florida

The Cattle Egret is native to Africa and Asia, and only reached the Americas in the late 19th century. It was first found in northeastern South America in 1877, having probably arrived there from Africa. It reached the United States in 1941, and started nesting by 1953. In the next 50 years it became one of the most abundant of the North American herons. It has occurred all the way to Alaska and Newfoundland, and has bred in nearly all states.

The Cattle Egret is an opportunistic feeder, and will follow large animals or machines to catch insects they stir up. It also is attracted by smoke from a large fire. Egrets come from long distances to catch insects trying to escape the fire.

The Cattle Egret occasionally adds birds to its diet. At Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas off the coast of Florida, migrating Cattle Egrets land on the large green lawn inside the fort, probably hoping for some nice grasshoppers. Because no insects are there to be had, the egrets try to catch the migrating warblers that also have stopped on the tiny island.

* Size: 46-56 cm (18-22 in)
* Wingspan: 88-96 cm (35-38 in)
* Weight: 270-512 g (9.53-18.07 ounces)

* Medium-sized all-white heron.
* Sturdy yellow bill.
* Dark legs and feet.
* Swollen throat.
* Rather short, thick neck for a heron.

* Sits in hunched posture.
* Breeding (Alternate) Plumage: White overall, with long, buffy reddish feathers on crown, chest, and back. Legs yellow-green, eyes dark yellow. In brief high breeding condition, bill, legs, and eyes bright red; lores purple-pink.
* Nonbreeding (Definitive) Plumage: Feathers all white; shorter orangish plumes on head, chest, and back. Legs dark green, appearing black. Bill, lores, and eyes yellow.

Black-Crowned Night Heron

The Black-crowned Night Heron (in Eurasia, often just Night Heron; in North America, Black-crowned Night-Heron with a second hyphen), (Nycticorax nycticorax) is a medium-sized heron.

Adults are 64 cm long and weigh 800 g. They have a black crown and back with the remainder of the body white or grey, red eyes, and short yellow legs. Young birds are brown, flecked with white and grey. These are short-necked and stout herons.

These birds stand still at the water's edge and wait to ambush prey, mainly at night. They primarily eat small fish, crustaceans, frogs, aquatic insects, and small mammals. During the day they rest in trees or bushes. The New World race is more gregarious outside the breeding season than the nominate race.

They are often found nesting or roosting within cities in avenue trees on busy roads.

Rainbow Lorikeets

The Rainbow Lorikeet, Trichoglossus haematodus is a species of Australasian parrot found in Australia, eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. In Australia, it is common along the eastern seaboard, from Queensland to South Australia and northwest Tasmania. Its habitat is rainforest, coastal bush and woodland areas.

Rainbow Lorikeets have been introduced to Perth, Western Australia, Auckland, New Zealand and Hong Kong.

Rainbow Lorikeets grow to 25-30 cm (9.8-11.8 in) in size, with a wingspan of about 17 cm (6.7 in) and vary significantly in colouration between the numerous subspecies. Their eponymous markings of the best known subspecies moluccanus are particularly striking: a dark blue or violet-blue head and stomach, a bright green back, tail and vent, and an orange breast and beak. Several have darker scalloped markings across the orange breast and the Weber's lorikeet is predominantly green.

Pair of Mourning Doves

Pigeons and doves constitute the family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerine birds. In general parlance the terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably. In ornithological practice, there is a tendency for "dove" to be used for smaller species and "pigeon" for larger ones, but this is in no way consistently applied, and historically the common names for these birds involve a great deal of variation between the term "dove" and "pigeon." This family occurs worldwide, but the greatest variety is in the Indomalaya and Australasia ecozones. The young doves and pigeons are called "squabs."

Pigeons and doves are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills with a fleshy cere. The species commonly referred to just as the "pigeon" is the feral Rock Pigeon, common in many cities.

Their usually flimsy nests are made of sticks, and the two white eggs are incubated by both sexes. Doves feed on seeds, fruit and plants. Unlike most other birds (but see flamingo), the doves and pigeons produce "crop milk," which is secreted by a sloughing of fluid-filled cells from the lining of the crop. Both sexes produce this highly nutritious substance to feed to the young.