Eskimo Curlew (Numenius Borealis)- Shorebird

Eskimo curlew is a small , mostly brown shore bird. It is a medium sized shorebird with a slender, slightly  down curved  bill. It is approximately 30 cm tall, has short bluish gray legs and a rich cinnamon color on its belly and wing linnings. It belongs to the family Scolopacidae. Eskimo curlews migrate from breeding grounds in the Arctic  tundra through  the north American prairies to wintering grounds on the pakpas grasslands of Argentina. Eskimo curlew’s habitat includes grasslands, plowed fields, pastures  and mudflats.  Eskimo Curlew is close to being extinct.

The Eskimo curlew eats both plants and animals. The Eskimo curlew’s diet consist of freshwater insects and  the fruit of Black Crowberry.  It also eats ants, worms and other invertebrates found on shores. In the coastal areas they feed on snails and along the Atlantic coast they eat beetles, spider, moth, seeds and other  berries. The Eskimo curlew is endangered because of unrestricted overhunting for the market, especially during its northward spring migrations. This bird also has a tame nature and is extremely friend, making it easy prey for hunters. Eskimo curlew’s nest are just a hole in the ground. They are lined with decaying leaves and a thin sprinkling o hay. The eggs  have a color similar to that of surroundings grass, being dark brownish green to blue blotched with brown.

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Peacock-India's National Bird

 

                       Peacock is the national bird of India. It is known for its beautiful feathers. Actually the word peacock refers to the male peacock. The female is referred as peahen. The female peahen is smaller and brown in color .

PEAFOWL EGGS

 The peahens are known to choose their  mates  according to their color, size and quality of their trains. The peahens  lay 2-3  eggs that can be hatched in twenty eight days. The collective name for peacock  and peahen is pea fowl which belong s to pheasant family. The Indian peacock , Pavo  cristatus is a colorful swan sized bird with a fan shaped crest of feathers.  Peacocks can weigh  up to  four to six kg and the body length of the peacock can go up to 1.5 meters. Generally peacocks can live up to 15 to 20 years . the well cared for captive birds can live up to 40 years and above.

WHITE PEACOCK

                    Blue peacock is  regarded  as one of the attractive bird with its beauty throughout the world . One the unique  feature of blue peacock us their beautiful train  comprising of  tail feathers which is 1.4 to 1.6 meters long  that comprises more than 60 percent of its body length and has markings on it that shine gold, blue, red and green. It look like they have eyes inside this markings. The peacock attracts the peahen  by erecting the train into fabulous fan. In wild peafowl are usually roost in trees at nights  and gather in groups .there are two types of peafowls. The blue peafowls can be found in India and Srilanka. The white peafowls are native to Java and Burma. White peacocks are same as Indian blue peacocks in behavior, size  and the only difference is they are white in color. The white peacock was believed to bring luck and long and happy marriage. The white peacock is the bird of  ethernal  beauty and elegance.

PEAFOWL BREEDS

              The peacocks are mentioned in Greek, Indian, Roman mythologies. In Greek mythology it is known as the Hera which the queen of god. It is also mentioned in ancient Greek play “the birds “ by Aristophanes. The  Hindus considered peacock as the sacred bird because lord muruga son of lord siva  rides on its back. The Phonecians bought the peacock to the Egypt and Syria. Peafowl originally came from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Himalayas. peacocks symbolizes pride, grace and beauty.  Peacock was considered a great delicacy in early days.

            Peacocks eat  termites, ants, locusts, mice, plants, flower petels, seed heads, scorpions, reptiles,ticks, amphibians, anthropods  etc. Peacocks can fly but only for a short distance. Peacocks live anywhere as they are provided with proper shelter. It was said  that  The peacock dances in the  monsoon. The peacock population is dwindling fast due to habitat loss and poaching. In Rajastan thousands of peacocks have been hunted for their flesh and feathers. A survey by People for Animals (PFA) has showed that  as many as 10 peacocks were being killed per day in rajasthan.13 villages in 14 districts are said to be most dangerous places for peacocks in the state. On an average peacock feathers  is sold at US $6 to 8 in international market. Use of poisonous pesticides  in farms also kills the peacock.

      

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Penguins-Sea Lovers

             Penguins are birds which do not fly . They are the birds with black and white feathers. The wings of the penguins are called flippers.      Penguins have knees but it look like they don’t have knees because of their very short legs . The upper part of the leg and knees are covered by feathers making them invisible to us.  Penguins feathers are short, overlapping and densely packed. The overlapping, outer layer feather of an penguin have an waxy oil which makes them water proof when they are in water. The thick feathers of the penguins keep them warm. Their bones are heavy and solid giving them more weight. Mostly flying birds have light weighted bones. Penguins have long and strong beaks. Penguins used to carry the materials needed to build their nest using their beaks. Using their beaks they preen their feathers,  feed  their young ones and spread oils to keep them waterproof. Penguins don not have teeth. The chicks have an egg tooth but that is not the real tooth. Penguins store their food in the stomach and it is regurgitated to the chicks.

Penguins spend almost 75% of their time in underwater  where they can dive, flap wings which look like as they are flying. 

The powerful flippers and streamlined bodies of the penguins make them  a good accomplished swimmers. Among all the birds penguins are the deepest divers and fastest swimmers. Porpoising is an act of leaping in and out of water in a short shallow arc while swimming and penguins are best known for porpoising. Penguins have superior eyesight in underwater then in air which helps them to catch the preys  even in cloudy, murky or dark water. penguins communicate through calls and visual displays. Penguins can sleep for only few minutes of any time in day or night. Penguins are fond of sea and ice. They can live in southern half of the world. We can also find them in shores of Antartica, South of Australia, New Zealand, America, Africa etc.

EMPEROR PENGUIN

 Emperor penguins are the largest of all penguins. On an average they are 45 inches tall and can weigh upto  90 pounds when mature. Emperor penguins spend long  winter on the open ice and able to breed even during this harsh season.

KING PENGUINS

The  rarest penguin in the world is the yellow eyed penguins. At sea yellow eyed penguins forage in pairs or alone. This kind of penguins feed mostly on fish. The largest of 17 penguin species is the king penguin but it is second only to the emperor penguins. They are 35 inches long and can weigh  upto  28 – 30 pounds. King penguins have longest breeding cycle among all penguins.

AFRICAN PENGUIN

The only penguin that lives in Africa is the African penguin which is a popular tourist attraction. They are 24-28 inches long. Fairy penguins are little penguins which are found in Australia which is a mjor tourist attraction. Fairy penguins can live for an average of 7 years.

Scientist found  32 species of extinct penguins. African penguins are the endangered species which is  facing threats from habitat loss from human development ,fisheries depletion etc. Penguins are exploited for food, oil and skins.

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Phoneix – Life After Death

Phoneix  is probably an imaginary bird. It is also called as an firebird which was described in ancient mythologies of  Persians, Indians, Arabians,Greeks, Romans , Egyptians, Mesoamericans, Native Americans, Chinese etc. It was believed that the phoenix has an power to heal  itself spontaneously. It was a kind of Sacred bird described in ancient mythology. Phoneix stands for immortality,resurrection and life after death. In the Egyptian mythology it was said that Phoneix  is a female sacred bird that has a attractive gold and red plumage. It was said to live for  500 to 1461 years . This mythical bird also represents  justice, sun, obedience and fidelity. According to Egyptian legend the phoenix burnt itself after every  500 years and reborn itself from the ashes.

Dapeng is the name given to the extremely large phoenix found in Indian and Chinese mythology which served as an arbiter which kills any dragons that is considered as evil. Phoneix was alone and it reproduces through parthenogenesis. It is extremely powerful that it can swoop down and capture any large animal and devour them. It is the only bird which needed fire to incubate the egg it had layed after many years. However some says  that Phoneix never eat and some says it eats only dew. It was also believed that it was born from itself without following the natural laws of reproduction. The Taoist called it as the “cinnabar Bird”.Its name came from the Greek word  for purple as Phoneix is associated with fire.A phoenix is the symbolic representation of death and rebirth of sun.

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