Red gular pouch of White Ibis prevalent for about 10 days during courtship.jpg
Time to enjoy a few tidbits about birds that will astound you as they did me. Images were photographed in the Yucatan, Africa, and USA.
COMMON NIGHTHAWK “BOOM”
This 10” aerial acrobatic insectivore, the Common Nighthawk, flies mainly after dawn and before dusk until about an hour after sunset.
When the male displays an aerial dive toward the ground, he pushes his wings downward. Air rushes across those primary wing feathers to make a whooshing sound or boom. He then flies upward at an angle after being within a few feet of the ground.
The dives can be for courtship, or toward territorial intruders or even people. Supposedly only a male nighthawk makes that sound.
By the way, a nighthawk isn’t a hawk, but is a member of the nightjar family such as the Whip-poor-will.
When I first heard the dive sound, it was exactly a loud boom. After listening to many recordings, I have not found one as loud as what I heard. Listen to the whoosh sound. Make sure to click on X to unmute sound in lower right corner icon.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1223375764399284
LIMPKIN KIN SWIM
I typically think of herons, egrets, ibises, spoonbills, storks, and cranes living near water for their food sources, roosts, and nesting. Also, I knew Sandhill Cranes could swim but my jaw dropped open when I saw a family of Limpkins with their young safely crossing a lake! Then it dawned on me that wading birds can swim, I’d forgotten that point. Maybe you are surprised too?
IS BIRD POOP WHITE? IT’S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!
Practically every reference states the whitish waste is uric acid or poop. Actually the uric acid is equivalent to “pee” and the darker parts are fecal or the poop. Also, birds have only the cloaca where the “urine and feces” are expelled. Typically most birds excrete both at the same time. However, the ostrich can pee and poop separately from the cloaca.
In addition eggs from the ovary is also passed out through the cloaca. (By the way, most birds have only one ovary and it’s the one that’s left on the left.)
Butt wait, there’s more!
In 2020 scientists published a study about the compounds in uric acid. Surprise, surprise! Instead of uric acid, they analyzed and found ammonium urate, magnesium ammonium phosphate, and two other unknown compounds. Their conclusion indicated bacteria in the bird’s intestines broke down uric acid into those other chemicals and made the white color before leaving the cloaca.
In this picture, an opening happens in the ejected stream of poop and pee that I would name holey s**t!
But, there is even more!
A study in the United Kingdom compared the frequency of bird poop on more than 1,000 cars. Red cars seemed targeted the most at 18 %, then blue, black, white, and gray/silver. Only green cars had 1%. No specific theories answered why the birds seem more attracted to red vehicles. I guess they “red” that!
WHY IS THIS MALE DUCK WITH A WHITE-RINGED BILL CALLED A RING-NECKED DUCK?
A hard-to-see brownish collar wraps around the black neck of this duck. A ring around the collar, so to speak. Nineteenth century scientists named this species from dead specimens. Even the scientific name includes “collaris.” I seldom see this “ring,” much less photograph it and usually call it a ring-BILLED duck!
IS THIS A BROKEN BILL OF AN AMERICAN KESTREL? TELL ME THE TOOTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TOMIAL TOOTH!
For several years I thought this image showed a broken lower bill of a falcon, the American Kestrel, as it sharpened its upper bill. But I learned the angle of that picture was misleading, because falcons have another adaptation called the tomial tooth. That so-called tooth is actually a notch in the upper beak that has a matching notch in the lower beak. This notch aids in quickly severing the spinal cord/vertebrae of prey as this kestrel image illustrates.
DOES THIS FEMALE WHITE IBIS HAVE MUMPS?
During courtship the faces and legs of adult White Ibises are red. A female also displays a red gular or throat patch for about ten days. She faces a male, puts the side of her head on her back and then rolls her head and bill over to her other side which fully exposes that gular sac to the male. It could elicit the male to mate or form a pair.
Certain references infer the male may also develop a smaller throat patch during pair formation.
KLEPTOPARASITISM
Stealing food from another animal has been studied in at least 200 bird species and called kleptoparasitism. Ducks, gulls, hawks, pelicans and frigatebirds appear inclined to robbing food.
It also seems not to occur in 180 other bird families but does happen in many animal species from mollusks to mammals. Actually, kleptoparasitism is a misleading term since it’s not true parasitism. Food is stolen before it’s eaten and often happens to birds in flight.
Therefore I was surprised to see a Great Blue Heron approach the larger and heavier Sandhill Crane pair with their offspring to snatch their prey!
SPECIES LIST:
Common Nighthawk, Chordeiles minor, Chotacabras Zumbón (Spanish), Pu’ujuy (Mayan)
Sandhill Crane, Antigone canadensis, Grulla Gris, (Spanish)
Limpkin, Aramus guarauna, Carrao (Spanish), Korrea (Mayan)
Somali Ostrich, Struthio molybdophanes, Avestruz Somalí, (Spanish)
Belted Kingfisher, Megaceryle alcyon, Martín Pescador Norteño (Spanish)
Ring-necked Duck, Althea collaris, Pato Pico Anillado (Spanish)
American Kestrel, Falco sparverius, Cernícalo Americano (Spanish)
White Ibis, Eudocimus albus, Ibis Blanco (Spanish), Koko (Mayan)
Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelícano Café, (Spanish), P’onto’ (Mayan)
Magnificent Frigatebird, Fregata magnificens, Fragata Tijereta (Spanish), Chimay (Mayan)
Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias, Garza Morena (Spanish)
SOMETIMES NATURE UNVEILS HER SECRETS BIT BY BIT
DISCLAIMER: Some references may not agree or I may not have found the most recent name changes. Plus autocorrect doesn’t like scientific names or language translations.
Sal a Pajarear Yucatán (Guía de aves), Yucatan Peninsula Bird List/Listado de Aves de la Península de Yucatán, Handbook of Bird Biology 3rd edition, 2016.
The Auk, Volume 92, Issue 1, 1 January 1975, Pages 168–169
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Nighthawk
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/comnig/cur/sounds
https://www.audubonadventures.org/wading_birds_essay.htm
Bauer, Pat. “Why Is Bird Poop White?”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 21 Jun. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/story/why-is-bird-poop-white. Accessed 26 May 2024.
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/home
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ring-necked_Duck
https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/ring-necked-duck
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Eudocimus_albus#9ADA29E6-13F5-11E3-865F-002500F14F28
https://web.archive.org/web/20220501055832id_
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/partpdf/206596
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/whiibi/cur/appearance
https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/wilson/v089n01/p0092-p0098.pdf
Cherie Pittillo, “nature inspired,” photographer and author, explores nature everywhere she goes. She’s identified 56 bird species in her Merida, Yucatan backyard view. Her monthly column features anecdotes about birding in Merida, Yucatan and also wildlife beyond the Yucatan.
Contact: [email protected] All rights reserved, ©Cherie Pittillo
