Bird of the Week

Bird 316 – Little Auk

Today we meet one of the cutest of all the artic birds, the Little Auk. These are adorable little black and white birds, closely related to Puffins, but favouring colder climates. In one sense they kinda look like penguins who can fly, and indeed they have a similar lifestyle.

Like all members of the Auk family, the Little Auk mainly stays out at sea unless it is the breeding season. They hunt for their food, tiny plankton and other small crustaceans, by swimming under the waves. They use their stubby wings to propel themselves underwater, and they’re actually faster and more agile in the water than the air.

When in the air, they have to flap their little wings mighty fast to get up and going.

But maybe the most fascinating thing about the Little Auk is not what they do or how they live, but the strange Greenland delicacy of which they are the main ingredient.

How to make Kiviaq:

1) Catch yourself about 500 or so Auks.

2) Place the whole birds inside a seal skin (feathers and all).

3) Seal the skin with fat and burry it under a pile of rocks

4) Leave for three months.

5) Enjoy!

The birds are left in the skin to ferment, and when retrieved are individually skinned and traditionally eaten at special occasions or winter festivals.

Although no doubt a pungent food, it is a staple and much enjoyed meal for the people who live in the high north, and is a rather ingenious way to make the food that is abundant during the summer, last through the lean winter times.

If you want to know more about the wider Auk family, you are in luck because that is the subject of our latest podcast episode (Apple/Spotify).

03/09/2023

Photo credit:

1: “Little Auks (Alle alle) on Fuglesangen, Svalbard” by AWeith

2: “dovekie, little auk, mergule main, mergule nain” by Christoph Moning

3: “dovekie, little auk, mergule main, mergule nain” by David McCorquodale

4: https://thegioitiepthi.danviet…

Bird 315 – Cockatiel

Everyone knows the Budgerigar is the world’s most popular pet (bird). But who is the second? Well, if you read the title of this email you already know, but just in case you haven’t I’ll tell you now: it’s the Cockatiel.

But what are Cockatiels? They’re kinda like Cocker Spaniels, in the sense that they are both living animals with a cock in their name… But that’s where the similarities end.

In one sense Cockatiels are a bit bizarre. For a long time people didn’t know what to make of them. We’re they just a really tiny member of the Cockatoo family, or were they parakeets that just happened to have a crest? It took several decades of vigorous science-ing, but we came up with an answer. They are just tiny tiny cockatoos.

In the wild, Cockatiels live out in the arid and semi-arid interior of Australia. They form into flocks, but are always found near to water. This makes them a nomadic species. They never hang around the same place for long, but they’re always on the move, going to wherever the food and water happens to be.

In captivity, the Cockatiel has become a popular pet. Much like their cockatoo cousins they have a knack for learning human speech, and can even be trained to synchronise their melody to human song. Which is pretty fancy.

Naturally we have bred Cockatiels in a variety of colour morphs, but their most adorable feature is the bright orange spots on the side of their face. They are sometimes affectionately referred to as cheddar cheeks.

27/06/2023

Photo credit:

1: “Cockatiel Pair” by Geoff J Mckay

2: Wild Cockatiels by Kate McCredie

3: “cockatiel 1” by Jim Bendon

4: “Red Cheeked Cockatiel” by Andrew from Sydney

Bird 314 – Ross’s Gull

I know not everyone loves Gulls. They’re messy, they’re noisy, they’re aggressive, and they always want to steal your chips. But today I am going to introduce you to the cutest of all the Gulls: Ross’s Gull.

Sadly, the chance that you will ever meet one is almost nil, unless you plan on making a polar expedition sometime soon. And I mean … I don’t know your plans, so who am I to say.

Ross’s Gull lives in the high Artic. They breed in the northern icy wastelands of Russia and Greenland. Even during the winter, when they migrate, they don’t move far south at all, only get down to the Bering Sea, sticking close to the pack ice.

The most prominent thing about Ross’s Gull, and the thing that sets them apart from all the other Gulls, is their blush pink plumage. And people really want you to know that their feathers are pink. Their scientific name is Rhodostethia rosea, with Rhodostethia meaning, rose-breasted, and rosea meaning … rosey. So they are the rosey rose-breast. Of course, these pink plumes are a seasonal addition only when the birds are mating.

Otherwise, they are known for their diminutive size, dove like proportions and distinctive wedge-shaped tail, making them quite the sweet little Gull.

Back in 1975, Ross’s Gull was dubbed the bird of the century, when a vagrant turned up in Massachusetts. Birders from all over the United States streamed in hoping to catch sight of the rarely seen bird. Famed novelist, John Updike, even wrote a piece in the New Yorker about his own attempt to spot the rarity. It is said this lone bird did more to raise the profile of birding in the US than any other. And I mean, who wouldn’t drop everything for the off chance of seeing this little sweetie?

20/08/2023

Photo credit:

1: Ross’s Gull by Sergey Volkov

2: “Ross’s Gull (Rhodostethia rosea) 1 (cropped)” by Dominic Sherony

3: Ross’s Gull Britian by Peter Moore

Bird 313 – Demoiselle Crane

This week we have a bird whose name is as elegant as its appearance: the Demoiselle Crane.

Now I know what you’re thinking: there isn’t anything particularly elegant about a giant piece of construction equipment used to build skyscrapers. To which I say, you’ve got hung up on the wrong part of the name, it’s the demoiselle part that you were supposed to focus on.

This is one of the more beautiful cranes. Its black feathers with graceful white highlights and streaks make it an instant fashion winner. It is also the smallest species of crane, coming in at just 75cm tall, which I know for a bird is still pretty big.

Primarily, these cranes live in central Asia. Think Kazakhstan and Mongolia, and during the winter they migrate to India and parts of Africa.

That does of course raise a question: how did a bird from central Asia end up with a really French sounding name. Well supposedly, these cranes were named by none other than Marie Antoinette, some time before a mob of revolutionaries cut off her head. Marie was a leading fashion icon of her day and an early adaptor of using bird feathers as an accessory. As the story goes, she thought these cranes were so beautiful and graceful that they were like young maidens, or damsels if you will, hence the name they now have.

Maiden or no, these cranes have a hard life. As part of their migratory path from Mongolia to India, it means each year they have to fly over the Himalayan mountains. While on route a couple of them always get picked off by eagles. As fate would have it, there is a far safer path they could take flying at much lower altitudes, but after generations of following the same dangerous route, the journey is hardwired into their DNA. Maybe an important lesson on not repeating the same thing just because it’s the way it’s always been done.

13/08/2023

Photo credit:

1: By Sumeet Moghe – Own work, https://commons.wikimedia.org/…

2: “Demoiselle Crane (Grus virgo)” by gilgit2

3: “Demoiselle Crane (Grus virgo)” by gilgit2

4: “Demoiselle Crane Virginia Zoo Norfolk” by watts_photos

Bird 312 – Australian Crake

This week we meet a rather humble unassuming bird, the Australian Crake. But I know what you’re thinking: what even is a crake?

Crakes are a member of the rail family. But I know what you’re thinking: what even is a rail? Well, they aren’t a thing trains on run on, and they aren’t the things you hang onto when walking down a flight of stairs. Also since when did stairs start flying … questions for another time.

What’s a rail? Do you know when you go to a lake or swampy area and you see one of those swamphens wondering around. Well, they’re big old rails. A crake is kinda like a mini version.

As you might have guessed, Crakes live around lakes and wetlands. The Australian Crake is a fairly common bird and can be found throughout much of eastern and western Australia, walking in the mud and shallows looking for small bugs and other aquatic insects to eat.

They have a habit of repeatedly flicking their little tail as they walk, which is both a sweet and silly behaviour. I have no idea why they do it.

The Crake is a fan of reeds and rushes. They like to build their nests inside clumps of these plants, no doubt they make for a safe place to hide their babies away.

Like many birds that rely on specialised habitats, the Crake has suffered from land reclamation. However, they have also been known to be opportunistic, and have moved into some human made habitats, such as saltworks and sewage farms. Which doesn’t sound overly delightful, but I guess that’s what it takes to live alongside us people sometimes…

06/08/2023

Photo credit:

1: “Australian Crake: Out for a Morning Stoll” by birdsaspoetry

2: “Australian Spotted Crake (Porzana fluminea)” by patrickkavanagh

3: “Australian Spotted Crake (Porzana fluminea)” by patrickkavanagh

Bird 311 – Osprey

This week we bring you the majestic raptor of the sea, a bird that nearly everyone in the world has the opportunity to see, the Osprey.

The Osprey is one of the few birds that can boast an almost total global distribution (except Antarctica). Strangely, this is rare among birds. Given they can fly to just about anywhere you would expect more species to spread around the world, but apparently not.

Among the eagle family, the Osprey is a little bit of an outlier. So much so that they’re put into their own unique family. Maybe its all-fish diet makes them a bit special. One of their unique features is a toe that can switch to face either forward or backward. Apparently it makes it easier to handle their slippery prey.

With a global distribution, the Osprey isn’t picky about where it lives, as long as there is water nearby and fish to eat. The Osprey hunts by plunging feet first into water to snatch fresh fish in its talons. These birds have especially adapted to account for the distortive effects caused by refraction, so they’re good at aiming where the fish is, not where it appears to be.

Osprey tend to mate for life, and will reuse their old nesting sites over and over again. Osprey nest can even be used by each successive generation, with some nests having been in continuous use for 70-plus years. They just do a bit of reno work each season, and progressively add more sticks to the pile. The resulting nest can end up being many times bigger than the bird.

30/07/2023

Photo credit:

1: “Osprey with lunch” by cameracl눱

2: “Osprey and Catch” by Andy Morffew

3: By Sjahanmi – https://commons.wikimedia.org/…

Bird 310 – Northern Flicker

Toady we meet one of the most beautiful, and in some ways unusual woodpeckers, the Northern Flicker. Just by looking at this fine fellow you can tell they’re something special with their blush pink plumes, pokadot belly and little red crown.

Of course what makes woodpeckers famous is their ability to peck wood. What makes the Northern Flicker an aberration is that they spend more of their time on the ground pecking dirt. In a controversial move, the Northern Flicker feeds primarily on ants. Why is that controversial, I hear you ask? Well, ants are unappetising because they are packed full of formic acid, and so there are few animals that have evolved to deal with them … with the exception of the anteater.

The Northern Flicker, though, has a special adaptation. They have an alkaline saliva, which ornithologists think helps to neutralise the acid of the ants. But the flicker doesn’t stop there. They also take the ants’ acid and use it to preen themselves. The theory here is that the acid helps to protect them from parasites. So yeah, the Northern Flicker is basically bathing in the blood of their prey. If that isn’t bad ass I don’t know what is.

Of course, the Northern Flicker still pecks wood on occasion. Like most woodpeckers, they nest in tree cavities that they carve out themselves, and they also practice drumming. This is where the peckers hammer away to make a loud noise. This is a form of communication and is often a territorial call used to ward other peckers away from their home.

23/07/2023

Photo credit:

1: “Northern Flicker” by Mike’s Birds

2: “Northern Flicker” by brendan.lally….away

3: By Rhododendrites – Own work, https://commons.wikimedia.org/…

Bird 309 – Eurasian Hoopoe

Today we meet one of the world’s most distinct birds, the Eurasian Hoopoe. They also have a really fun scientific name Upupa epops, supposedly based on the oop-oop sound they make.

But really it’s their appearance that is the selling card. Cinnamon feathers, long curved pointy beak, and a prominent crest. If you see a Hoopoe you cannot mistake it for any other bird. Even the way they fly is distinct, with some people describing their flight as looking something akin to a butterfly.

When Hoopoes are young they have a unique predator deterrent strategy. You may be aware that many birds produce a preening oil that they use to help waterproof their feathers and keep them generally clean and ordered. Hoopoes do this as well, but when they’re young, this preen oil takes on a different quality. To put it politely, it stinks to high heaven. It smells like something like to rotting meat. Which may be a bit rank, but the upside is that anything that sniffs that putrid bird has no interest in eating it.

Despite their rancid babies, the Hoopoe is a popular and well-loved bird. In part this is because … well … look at the gorgeous thing, how could you not love it? But they also have a habit of eating many common insects that are pests to forests and agriculture, so people also appreciate that.

The Hoopoe has long appeared in numerous cultures’ folklore, and they are the current national bird of Israel. And you can’t blame them, they know a good bird when they see one.

16/07/2023

Photo credit:

1: “African hoopoe, Upupa africana, at Loodswaai Game Reserve, Gauteng, South Africa” by Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa

2: “027 Wild Eurasian hoopoe in flight at Pfyn-Finges Photo by Giles Laurent

3: “abubilla común, common hoopoe, eurasian hoopoe, hoopoe, huppe fasciée, poupa, poupa-eurasiática” by mourad-harzallah

Bird 308 – Moa

This week we travel to New Zealand and back in time some 500 years to meet the Moa. Along with the Elephant Bird of Madagascar, the Moa is the other great extinct giant flightless bird from recent history.

Little known fact, the Moa was not a single species, but there was a whole family of them. Currently between 9 and 11 species are recognised that ranged in size from that of a turkey, up to about 3.6 metres. So yes, these were beefy birds.

Coming from New Zealand, we might naturally think of them as the giant cousin of the Kiwi. But the Moa is more closely related to the Tinamous of South America. Whereas the Kiwi is more closely related to the Elephant Bird of Madagascar. Sometimes evolution and continental drift can throw up odd relationships like this.

The Moa also holds the distinction of being the only purely bipedal bird we know of. Birds are tetrapods, they have four limbs. In some birds that decided to go flightless, like the Kiwi, it may look as though they have totally lost their wings, but a small relic always remains. This is true of every bird except the Moa. They are the only bird we have discovered that lost every last vestige of their forelimbs, becoming the only two limbed bird we know of.

In New Zealand, the Moa was a gentle herbivore, but they were so big that almost nothing bothered them. There was one exception however, the mighty Haast’s Eagle: a bird with a wingspan of 3 metres that had especially evolved to prey on the Moa.

For millions of years that was the only thing to hassle the Moa, until an even more deadly predator arrived on the island in around 1300: human. It is speculated that within 100 years of arrival, people had hunted the Moa to extinction. And with their main food source gone, Haast’s Eagle went extinct not long after that.

Like some many fabulous animals, they could not withstand the horror of humanity.

09/07/2023

Photo credit:

1: JA CHIRINOS / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

2: By George Edward Lodge – Transferred from Commons. (https://archive.org/details/ex…), PD-US, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/ind…

3: By John Megahan – Ancient DNA Tells Story of Giant Eagle Evolution. PLoS Biol 3(1): e20. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0030020.g001, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/…

Bird 307 – Wilson’s Warbler

Today we meet one of North America’s delightful summer visitors, the tiny but colourful, Wilson’s Warbler.

The New World Warblers are a large family of colourful birds known for their songs, but unrelated to both European and Australasian Warblers. These little fellows are migratory by nature. Like most Warblers, Wilson’s lives mainly off insects, and so when winter comes and all the creepy-crawlies of the forest vanishes, it does too. They fly to Mexico and Central America, where they spend the winter warming their feathers, before returning each spring to breed.

Now for the true twitchers out there, one of the great challenges when bird watching is identifying your bird in the field. And Warblers are notoriously difficult to identify. They are small, like to stay in dense foliage and are rarely still for long. Some people liken warblers to butterflies.

When it comes to Wilson, its most telling feature is its black little cap, set against their bright yellow belly and olive green wings. But when you see the chart of warblers I have included below, you will appreciate what a challenge it can be even when you know what you’re looking for, because there are plenty of yellow warblers out there.

But at the end of the day, a name is just a name, and whether you know it or not doesn’t matter too much. So to close let me leave with a small piece from one of my favourite poets, Mary Oliver:

Bird in the Pepper Tree

Don’t mind my inexplicable delight

in knowing your name,

little Wilson’s Warbler

yellow as a lemon, with a smooth, black cap.

Just do what you do and don’t worry, dipping

branch by branch down to the fountain….

A name is not a leash.

02/07/2023

Photo credit:

1: “Wilson’s Warbler (m)” by Becky Matsubara

2: “Wilson’s Warbler” by Greg Schechter

3: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listin…

4: “Wilson’s Warbler (m)” by Becky Matsubara