Female birds that used to be silent are now singing like males

27 October 2017

By Andy Coghlan

For the first time, female dark-eyed juncos have been found to burst into song in the wild. Although many female tropical birds sing, singing females are rare among northern, temperate songbirds. However, the behaviour is now becoming more common, and climate change may mean it becomes even more widespread.

Dustin Reichard of Ohio Wesleyan University knew that female dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis) sometimes sang in captivity, but only after being injected with testosterone. To find out if they sang in the wild, he and his colleagues goaded them by placing a live, caged female in their territories. The researchers also played recordings of a soft trill that females make when they are receptive to mating.

In all, 17 females, along with 25 males, interacted with the caged females. Half the females dived and lunged at them, and a minority also performed aggressive tail-spreads not normally seen in females. Three of the females sang songs similar to those of males.

Continued  

Wild ducks caught on camera snacking on small birds - via Mike Playfair

By Helen Briggs BBC News

30 June 2017

This has never been documented before and is probably a new behaviour, say scientists.

Zoologists at the University of Cambridge filmed a group of mallard ducks hunting other birds on a reservoir in Romania.

Two fledglings - a grey wagtail and a black redstart - were chased and swallowed when they landed in the water.

Mallards are one of the most abundant types of wild duck, and a common sight in parks and on lakes.

The duck normally snacks on seeds, acorns, berries, plants and insects.

It has, on occasions, been seen to eat small fish, but bigger vertebrates are normally strictly off the menu.

Dr Silviu Petrovan noticed the unusual behaviour of a group of mallards while he was out bird watching with friends near a national park in southwest Romania.

He saw the adult female duck grab the grey wagtail in her beak, and repeatedly submerge it in the water, before eventually eating it.

A second bird - a fledgling black redstart - then landed in the water, where it was chased by juvenile mallard ducks.

"The poor bird landed on the water and was screaming and trying to navigate itself out of danger," said Dr Petrovan. "Then it was almost instantaneously attacked by the mallards."

The bird eventually disappeared - assumed to be drowned or consumed.

The scientists could find no record of mallard bird predation in the scientific literature, which suggests such behaviour is both "very rare" and newly-learned.

Continued

Watch this greedy bird down bacon and sausages in Llanberis - and give Iolo Williams one of the biggest shocks of his career

The TV naturalist reckons the sight of a heron being hand-fed sausages was on a par with 'seeing a whale for the first time'

TV presenter Iolo Williams was left stunned by an extraordinary wildlife encounter in the unlikely surroundings of Llanberis.

For his latest TV series he came across a cheeky heron that pays a daily visit to a back yard in the village.

For several years Ifan Rowlands has been hand feeding the friendly bird a diet of bacon and sausages.

“One of the great pleasures of this work is that, from time to time, you encounter something totally unexpected, something you’ve never seen before,” said Iolo.

Video here

Bird's fishy antics baffles nature reserve experts

26 December 2016
From the section Tayside and Central Scotland
Photographs showing a kingfisher appearing to hang fish out to dry has baffled experts at a wildlife reserve.

The birds kill sticklebacks by striking them against their perches, which softens the spines of the fish, making them easier to swallow.

But a kingfisher at Montrose Basin appears to have gone a step further by using the spines to pin three sticklebacks to its branch.

The bird's unusual behaviour was captured by photographer Ron Mitchell. Image copyright Ron Mitchell Image caption The bird's odd behaviour was snapped by photographer Ron Mitchell

Anna Cheshier, Angus ranger at Scottish Wildlife Trust's Montrose Basin wildlife reserve, said the kingfisher visited every day.

She said: "The photographer who took the images didn't realise what he had captured until he took them into the visitor centre the following day.

"It's hard to tell if the kingfisher has hung the fish on the branch accidentally or on purpose, but this is really unusual behaviour that no-one seems to be able to explain.

"We'd like anyone who has seen anything like this before to get in touch."

Kingfishers are found around lochs, ponds and rivers and rely on clean water to be able to dive for small fish and aquatic insects.

There are around 5,000 breeding pairs in the UK.


Continued

'Worst magpie season ever': Woman finds bird 'nesting' in her BED - and her photo prompts calls for a cull

The photo of the native Australian bird triggered calls for a magpie cull 

Magpie season ahead is predicted to be the most aggressive in years 

Top tips for how to avoid being swooped by a magpie this spring season 

By KATE DARVALL FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

PUBLISHED: 07:40, 5 September 2016 | UPDATED: 09:56, 5 September 2016

Is Australia on the verge of the 'worst magpie season yet'?

It is according to one person who walked into their bedroom to find the Australian bird making itself at home on their bed.

Soon after the Reddit user 'duckla' posted the photo to the social media website, the post was bombarded with comments. 

Terrified woman puts magpie deterrents to the test in Mildura

While a few people commented on how 'sweet' or 'beautiful' magpies were, the post was also on the receiving end of some colourful criticism of the flighted animal. 

One Reddit user made it clear he was not a fan, writing 'duck, dive, run'.   

'I know come swooping season, there will be one very grumpy, sleep deprived bird coming for me,' another user said. 

Read more:

Bird gets a piggyback ride from another bird

An adorable video of a bird giving another bird a piggyback has gone viral

By Telegraph Video

12:27PM GMT 20 Jan 2016

When this bird was feeling a little tired, instead of having a nap he decided to get a piggyback ride from his friend.

The little bird took advantage of the bigger birds strength and jumped onto it’s back for a ride.

The two birds can be heard shrieking with joy as they roam around the room.

Since the video has been posted to Facebook it has had over 19,000 shares and has more than 3,500 likes.

Read more ..

Rare Picture: Blackbird "Rides" Hawk

The two birds were likely involved in a mid-air tussle, expert says.


By Stefan Sirucek, National Geographic



PUBLISHED AUGUST 04, 2015

Talk about a bird's eye view—a red-winged blackbird was recently photographed "riding" atop a red-tailed hawk.


A visitor to the DeSoto and Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuges in Iowa and Nebraska recently snapped an incredible photograph, which wasreleased today by the U.S. Department of the Interior.


But if the photograph seems too good to be true, that’s because it probably is, experts say.


“I don’t believe that it’s a bird taking a ride—I think it was just a well-timed shot,” says refuge manager Tom Cox.


Cox said the picture most likely captures a perfect moment during a fight between a blackbird and a hawk—and that blackbirds attacking and harassing hawks is actually quite common.

Read on ...

Skinny-dippers' horror as birds of prey fly off with their UNDERWEAR

The unsuspecting swimmers who had stripped off for a naked dip were baffled by the disappearance of their pants and socks as they cooled off au naturel at a popular bathing spot near Glen Esk in Angus. 

But the mystery was solved when a gamekeeper stumbled cross a natty nest of a local pair of red kites - lined with pilfered pants and stolen socks.

Dave Clement, head keeper at the Gannochy Estate, said: "Our trainee gamekeeper discovered the nest and we rang the RSPB to have them ringed and tagged. 

"What was really interesting was to see socks and underwear from a popular swimming spot actually in the nest and the surrounding trees. 

"It was like the kites were cleaning up the glen." 

Two red kite chicks were later discovered in the new nest - proving that the clever insulating tactic has paid off. 

This isn't the first time kleptomaniac animals have made the headlines.

Continued ...

The bird that nurtured its mortal enemy

Presented by

Ben Aviss

Raising young is a stressful, disorientating time for any parent but one bird appears to have been so confused it was seen attempting to brood the chicks in a nearby nest of a hobby falcon – one of its known predators.

Filmmakers for BBC Two series Autumnwatch recorded a female woodpigeon repeatedly trying to brood hobby hatchlings but being pushed off the nest by the chicks’ parent.

The incredible sequence was filmed using a remote camera set up in a farm in Gloucestershire.

“I suspect the bird just became a bit confused,” said Dave Leech, senior research ecologist at the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).

“It may have lost a brood of its own nearby and, still full of hormones associated with that stage of the nesting cycle, decided to brood the nearest available alternative.”

Continued ...

Eagle-eyed police officer spots bird of prey tucking into donner kebab in Manchester city centre

A bird of prey has been spotted eating a donner kebab in Manchester city centre.

The hungry hawk-like animal was photographed on a brick ledge in the Gay Village tucking into a sliver of grilled lamb on Friday lunchtime.

GMP City Centre tweeted an image of the bird and added: “An eagle-eyed cop saw a bird of prey in the Village. Bird was enjoying a lunch of donner meat. Yum!”

Continued ...

Owl Enters 10th Story Apartment, Kills Canary

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — Aug 18, 2014, 12:25 PM ET

An owl flew into a 10th story apartment in Coeur d'Alene, apparently opened a bird cage and killed one of two canaries inside, the residents said.

Sue Sausser said she awakened Sunday to find bird droppings and feathers all over her apartment, the Coeur d'Alene Press reported (http://bit.ly/1riwYfi).

Sausser found the brownish, yellow-eyed owl between the wall and the chest of drawers on which the bird cage sits. It flew out the door and perched on their balcony railing long enough for them to take a few pictures. Don Sausser estimated the owl was 6 to 8 inches tall.

Sue and Don Sausser found one of their canaries dead in the cage. The other seemed jumpy and anxious, they said.

Beth Paragamian, wildlife education specialist with for Idaho Fish and Game and the Bureau of Land Management, said it's strange that an owl would be flying so high in an area without many tall trees and surprising that it would enter a residence, much less open a bird cage.

"That is very unusual," she said.

Don Sausser said they'll likely still leave their sliding glass door open on warm summer evenings, but plan to use twist ties to secure the door on the bird cage.

———

Information from: Coeur d'Alene Press, http://www.cdapress.com

Source

Shorebirds Adopt Baby Duckling, Cuteness Ensues

By Becky Oskin, Senior Writer | August 01, 2014 03:16pm ET

A family of long-legged shorebirds adopted a fuzzy baby duckling this month in California's San Francisco Bay.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) biologist Jarred Barr discovered the duckling among a brood of downy avocet chicks on July 2. "It was just following right behind the adult avocet and chicks like it was another avocet," Barr told Live Science.

The blended family was foraging in wetlands at the Eden Landing Ecological Reserve, part of the massive South Bay Salt Ponds Restoration Project. Barr found four avocet chicks and the mallard duckling, each just a few days old, plus two avocet parents. "We don't know how the duckling got separated from its family, but they were all feeding already and copying the adults," he said.

Continued

Parksville eagles engage in unusual method for setting up a 'household'

Neil Dawe / Special To The Daily News 

June 12, 2014 12:00 AM

There's an unusual ménage à trois within Parksville city limits. A trio of Bald eagles has set up its household and is in the midst of rearing two young.

I first noticed this arrangement while keeping an eye on a pair of Bald eagles at their nest. On one occasion, a third adult eagle flew in and perched on a snag, about 250 metres away from the nest. The nesting pair made no fuss.

This was quite unusual because Bald eagles are normally monogamous and defend their territories vigorously.

Over the next few days, I saw all three eagles chase and evict other eagles from the territory.

As an intruder got too close, the nesting trio would begin their alarm calls, which have been described as "a discordant series of metallic chitters and squeaks that sound like a rotating clothesline pulley needing oil."

- See more at:

LOVE ME! Penguin desperate for attention follows zookeeper everywhere

Footage of the sweet penguin following its new best friend everywhere he goes has unsurprisingly been doing the rounds this week.

Apparently filmed at Matsue Vogel Park in Shimane Prefecture, Japan, one version of the clip has now been watched over 150,000 times.

And the reaction has been unanimous – CUTE!

http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/13/love-me-penguin-desperate-for-attention-follows-zoo-keeper-everywhere-4302400/

Ipswich Christchurch Park owl's 'unique behaviour'

An owl that has become a tourist attraction in a town centre park is displaying "unique behaviour", experts say.

tawny owl (Wikipedia)

The tawny owl, named Mabel by staff at Christchurch Park in Ipswich, made her home on full view in a tree hollow.

She has proved popular with visitors to the park and appears comfortable near humans.

The Suffolk Owl Sanctuary charity said it was rare for an owl to sit out in the open.

Andy Hulme, manager of the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary at Stonham Aspal, said: "The importance of Mabel is that she's unusually visible - owls usually hide among ivy in the winter rather than sit out in the open.

"Most tawnys are pretty elusive and we are only able to count adults based on hearing their calls rather than by seeing them.

"Mabel has shown unique behaviour in the way she has taken up residence in Christchurch Park."

Read on

Falmouth's Rocky the Rooster saves cyclist from nasty tumble

It could have been a rocky road for Falmouth mother Gwenda Chamberlain if Pendennis Point's resident rooster had not stepped in to save the day.

Unbeknown to Gwenda, from Mongleath Avenue, the bicycle that she was riding around Castle Drive last Friday was defective, due to a screw coming loose in the handle bars.

She was moments away from being flung head first over the top when resident rooster Rocky saved the day.

Proving he is more than a bird brained cockerel, Rocky - perhaps using an animal sixth sense - forced Gwenda to slow down as he refused to budge from the middle of the road.

As a result Gwenda was flung forward but stayed on the bike, as her handle bars gave way.

Gwenda told PPV: “Rocky wouldn't get out the road - I had to virtually stop because he wouldn't move. As I stopped I was flung forward because the screw had loosened out of my handle bars.

“If I had been going faster I would have gone over the top. If it hadn't been for Rocky I could have had a nasty accident.”

Gwenda is likely to be familiar face to Rocky, as her daughters Polly, eight, and six-year-old Ffion demand to visit him almost every weekend.

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/10733332.Falmouth_s_Rocky_the_Rooster_saves_cyclist_from_nasty_tumble/?ref=mr

PICTURES: Rival chough helps bring up chicks he orphaned

It was the cliff-hanger ending that no one expected.

When two nest-bound chough chicks were orphaned a joyful story about a family of rare coastal birds was poised to turn into a tragedy.

Then a chough foster father stepped into to help rear the youngsters, feeding them grubs and teaching them how to fly.

Thanks to his three week solo stint, they are set to survive into adulthood after taking to the wing for the first time on Thursday.

The moving drama unfolded on cliffs around the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall this week, where choughs re-established themselves in 2001 after a lengthy absence.

Although he has been dubbed a ‘champion chough’ by twitchers, it’s thought the foster father may have contributed to the death of one or both parents.

‘The male of the pair had got into fights over territory with this neighbouring, younger male. The female was already sitting on chicks when her partner disappeared,’ explained Claire Mucklow, an officer from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

For a while the female teamed up with the lone bird but then she also vanished. As it is unknown for adult birds to leave chicks, experts are assuming she has died.

‘We don’t know what has happened to her but she may have pined to death following the demise of her original partner as they spent 14 years together, rarely more than a few metres apart,’ Claire said.

Continued

More unusual bird behaviour as dove attempts to mate with a dead bird

April 2013. Last week's story about unusual Coal tit behaviour has prompted Koosha Dab, a coral researcher from Iran, to send us an even more extreme example. Mr Dab 

Mr Dab sent us images of some very unusual behaviour he observed in a Rock Dove.

Mr Dab said "One day I saw a dead Rock Dove outside my window, and the dead body seemed to attract some Laughing Doves and also Rock Doves. The doves watched the dead body for a while and then flew away. This behaviour was repeated for an hour, and then a Rock dove arrived and put the other Doves to flight. The dove looked at the dead body and studied it for a while and then attempted to mate with the dead body.

After finishing the attempted mating, the dove again studied the dead body for a while again before flying away.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/dead-bird-mating.html

Bird snatches cash from man's camper

ARTHUR'S PASS, New Zealand, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- A Scottish tourist in New Zealand said a kea bird stole more than $1,000 cash from his camper while he was taking pictures at a rest stop.

Peter Leach said he stopped Wednesday at a rest stop in Arthur's Pass to take pictures of the scenery and he was snapping pictures of an unusual bird when a couple approached him with some distressing news, The Timaru Herald reported Monday.

"A Canadian couple walked by and said: 'We've just seen that bird take something out of your campervan,'" Leach said. "It took all the money I had. I was left with $40 (U.S. $33.83) in my pocket."

Leach said the bird made off with a small cloth bag containing $1,099.41. He said the bird apparently snatched it from his dashboard.

The tourist said he filed a police report in hope of getting his insurance company to replace the cash.

"The man I dealt with was very serious for the first few questions," Leach said of his police interview. "Then he said, 'Do you mind if I just stop to laugh?'"

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2013/02/04/Bird-snatches-cash-from-mans-camper/UPI-76431360008033/#ixzz2K23z9riA

Vultures pick at visitors' cars in Fla. Everglades

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — Visitors to parts of Everglades National Park are getting tarps and bungee cords to make their vehicles less delectable to vultures.

Migrating vultures have developed a habit of ripping off windshield wipers, sunroof seals, and other rubber and vinyl vehicle parts. Visitors to the park's Homestead and Flamingo entrances are loaned "anti-vulture kits" to protect their vehicles.

Park wildlife biologist Skip Snow tells The Miami Herald (http://hrld.us/WQkfgB) that the vultures are migrating as normal. It's just not clear why the birds are picking at parked cars and trucks. Park employees have tried to scare away the vultures, but nothing has worked.

Park Superintendent Dan Kimball says complaints about the vultures have declined since employees began distributing the tarps and bungee cords last year.

___

Information from: The Miami Herald, http://www.herald.com

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