Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker Biography

This conspicuous clown-faced woodpecker of western oak woodlands is remarkable for its social habits, living over much of its range in communal groups of up to 4 or more breeding males and as many as 3 breeding females. These groups maintain and protect impressive granaries in which thousands of acorns are stored in holes drilled in tree trunks or utility poles for future consumption; in a study a single tree contained more than 50,000 acorn-storage holes. Acorn woodpeckers also feed by sallying for flying insects and gleaning trunks, and they often eat ants (as reflected in the species’ scientific name). Polytypic. Length 9".

A boldly patterned black-and-white woodpecker with a white patch at the base of the primaries, a white rump, black chest, streaked black lower breast, and white belly. The head pattern is striking, with a ring of black around the base of the bill, a red crown patch, a white forecrown narrowly connected to the yellow-tinged white throat, and black sides of the head setting off a staring white eye. Adult: iris white. Adult male has white forehead meeting the red crown. The adult female is similar, but the white forehead is separated from the red crown by a black band. Juvenile: resembles adult but black areas are duller and the iris is dark; juveniles of both sexes have a solid red crown like that of the adult male’

Pacific coast birds, bairdi, have slightly longer and stouter bills than nominate birds of the interior West. There is considerable additional variation in the remaining range south to Colombia, with 5 additional.

Unmistakable given its group-living habits and loud calls. White-headed woodpecker has similar white wing patch and black back, but lacks white rump and belly; Lewis’s lacks white areas in plumage.

Common. Year-round: oak woodlands and mixed oak-conifer or oak-riparian woodlands. Most abundant where several species of oaks co-occur. Isolated breeding populations are found on the east side of the Sierra Nevada, California; on the central Edwards Plateau, Texas; and possibly in far southern Colorado. Vagrant: found rarely or casually, primarily in fall and winter, away from woodland habitats along the immediate Pacific coast and in western deserts; accidental north to British Columbia and east to the Great Plains states from North Dakota south to coastal Texas

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker
Acorn Woodpecker

Canon PowershotSX1 HD video

Toucan Bird

Toucan Bird Biography
The Toco toucan is at home in South America's tropical forests but recognized everywhere. The toucan's oversized, colorful bill has made it one of the world's most popular birds. The 7.5-inch-long (19-centimeter-long) bill may be seen as a desirable mating trait, but if so, it is one that both male and female toucans possess. In fact, both sexes use their bills to catch tasty morsels and pitch them to one another during a mating ritual fruit toss.

As a weapon, the bill is a bit more show than substance. It is a honeycomb of bone that actually contains a lot of air. While its size may deter predators, it is of little use in combating them.But the toucan's bill is useful as a feeding tool. The birds use them to reach fruit on branches that are too small to support their weight, and also to skin their pickings. In addition to fruit, Toco toucans eat insects and, sometimes, young birds, eggs, or lizards.

Toco toucans live in small flocks of about six birds. Their bright colors actually provide good camouflage in the dappled light of the rain forest canopy. However, the birds commonly keep up a racket of vocalization, which suggests that they are not trying to remain hidden.

Toucans nest in tree holes. They usually have two to four eggs each year, which both parents care for. Young toucans do not have a large bill at birth—it grows as they develop and does not become full size for several months.

These iconic birds are very popular pets, and many are captured to supply demand for this trade. They are also familiar commercial mascots known for hawking stout, cereal, and other products. Indigenous peoples regard the bird with a more sacred eye; they are traditionally seen as conduits between the worlds of the living and the spirits.

Toucan Bird

Toucan Bird

Toucan Bird

Toucan Bird

Toucan Bird

Toucan Bird

Toucan Bird

Toucan Bird

Toucan Bird

Birds of Paradise-Toucan

Toucan drinking out of glass

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird Biography
The male ruby-throated hummingbird does indeed have a striking red throat, though the female of the species does not. You would have to look quickly to see either, however, as these speedy little birds can beat their wings 53 times a second and fly in an acrobatic style matched by few other birds. They hover often, and also fly upside down and backwards. These hummingbirds have extremely short legs, so they cannot walk or even hop with any efficiency.

Ruby-throated hummingbirds live in woodland areas, but also frequent gardens where flowering plants are plentiful. They hover to feed on flowers, nectar, and sap. During this floral feeding process, the birds pollinate many plants.

These tiny birds are omnivores, sometimes feeding on insects and spiders. An adult ruby-throated hummingbird may eat twice its body weight in food each day, which it burns up with the high metabolism necessary to sustain its rapid wing beat and energetic movements.

This hummingbird breeds in eastern North America and is the only hummingbird species to do so. Males establish a territory and court females who enter it with flying and diving behaviors, and by showing off their red throat plumage. Females provide all care for young hummingbirds. They lay one to three eggs, incubate them for about two weeks, and, after hatching, feed their young for about three weeks. A female may have several broods in a year. Ruby-throated hummingbirds are largely solitary outside of the breeding season.

Ruby-throated hummingbirds winter in Mexico and Central America. To get there from their North American breeding grounds some birds embark on a marathon, nonstop flight across the Gulf of Mexico. They may double their weight in preparation for this grueling journey.

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird at muddy pond

Hummingbirds-chirping their song

King Vulture

King Vulture Biography
Like other vultures, the king vulture is a scavenger. These large birds glide on air currents, conserving energy while searching the forests or savanna below for the corpses of dead animals. Because of their unappetizing eating habits, they fill an ecological niche, and may help to prevent the spread of disease by disposing of rotting remains.

King vultures have a very colorful look that distinguishes them from their vulture relatives. They are predominately white, with black tails and wing tips. They have piercing, often straw-colored eyes and multicolored (yellow, orange, and red) heads and necks

Though brightly colored, the vulture's head and neck are bald. This may help the fastidious birds to stay clean, and ensure that bacteria-laden animal remains don't fester in the bird's plumage where they could spread disease.

Sarcoramphus papa are among the bird world's largest scavengers and have powerful, hooked beaks that are excellently adapted for tearing open tough carcasses. They can often access meals that other vultures cannot, and smaller birds usually give way when they arrive to feed

These birds nest on the ground, and females lay a single egg—which both parents incubate. Both parents may also care for infants, bringing back dinner in their stomachs and regurgitating it for their young to enjoy.

King vultures are found from Mexico south to Argentina. Some suggest that the bird's name stems from an old Mayan legend in which this vulture was a "king" or "lord" that carried messages between humans and the Gods.

King Vulture

King Vulture

King Vulture

King Vulture

King Vulture

King Vulture

King Vulture

King Vulture

King Vulture
King Vultures

King Vulture

Blue Jay

Blue Jay Biography

Blue jays are natural forest dwellers, but they are also highly adaptable and intelligent birds. They are a familiar and noisy presence around many North American bird feeders. The blue jay's "Jay! Jay!" call is only one of a wide variety of sounds the bird employs—including excellent imitations of several hawk calls.

Blue jays are sometimes known to eat eggs or nestlings, and it is this practice that has tarnished their reputation. In fact, they are largely vegetarian birds. Most of their diet is composed of acorns, nuts, and seeds—though they also eat small creatures such as caterpillars, grasshoppers, and beetles. Blue jays sometimes store acorns in the ground and may fail to retrieve them, thus aiding the spread of forests.


Common in much of eastern and central North America, blue jays are gradually extending their range to the Northwest. They are fairly social and are typically found in pairs or in family groups or small flocks. Most northern birds head south for the winter and join in large flocks of up to 250 birds to make the long journey. However, this migration is a bit of a mystery to scientists. Some birds winter in all parts of the blue jay's range, and some individual birds may migrate one year and not the next. It is unclear what factors determine whether each blue jay or family decides to migrate.

Blue Jay

Blue Jay

Blue Jay

Blue Jay

Blue Jay

Blue Jay

Blue Jay

Blue Jay

Blue Jay

Blue Jay

The Blue Jay is back

Brush Bronzewing

Brush Bronzewing Biography
Although Brush Bronzewings often build their flimsy stick-nests in horizontal or vertical forks in the branches of shrubs, or sometimes on the ground beneath the cover of dense bushes, they occasionally build them on top of the disused nests Common Blackbirds, Little Wattlebirds, Nankeen Night-Herons and even on old dreys of small possums. The two glossy white or pinkish eggs are incubated by both sexes, and after hatching, the young birds remain with their parents until the next clutch of eggs is laid.

The Brush Bronzewing is a dark olive-brown above with rich chestnut nape and shoulders, with blue-grey underparts. There are two curved bronze irridescent blue-green bars across each wing. A dark, chestnut stripe through eyes, underlined by white and a chestnut throat patch are distinguishing features. The male has a chestnut forehead. The female lacks the forehead patch and is generally duller.

This species occurs around the coast from Fraser Island and adjacent mainland Qld, round to the Eyre Peninsula in SA, although absent just north of the NSW border and at the top of the Spencer Gulf in SA. A geographically separate population occupies the southwest corner of WA, and the species also occurs in Tasmania and coastal islands.

These birds feed exclusively on the ground on seeds of various plants. They are most commonly seen as singles or pairs, with flocking being a rarely-reported occurrence and then only of less than 10 birds at a time. They drink at dawn or dusk, alighting some distance from the water then cautiously making their way to the edge to drink.

While October to January is the most likely time to find nests, these fragile, slightly cupped platforms of twigs and sticks have been found with eggs or chicks in every month. The female builds the nest on the ground or in trees but more commonly in dense brush. Once the two eggs are laid, the female incubates during the day. Little is known about wild birds, but those in captivity sit for 15-18 days before the chicks hatch. The chicks fledge at about 16 days and the young remain with their parents until they nest again, which can be as little as 3 to 4 weeks later.

Brush Bronzewing

Brush Bronzewing

Brush Bronzewing

Brush Bronzewing

Brush Bronzewing

Brush Bronzewing

Brush Bronzewing

Brush Bronzewing

Brush Bronzewing

Brush Bronzewing(Phaps elegans)

Common Bronzewing

Bourke's Parrot

Bourke's Parrot Biography
When compared with other parrots, the plumage of the Bourke’s Parrot is rather sombre. Their mostly grey-brown appearance is relieved only by pale blue feathering on its rump, the sides of its tail and on its wings, while its breast and belly are the palest shade of pink. Inhabiting seemingly inhospitable semi-arid acacia woodlands of inland Australia, they escape the heat of the day by resting in shady trees, and they are most active around dusk and dawn, when they come in to waterholes and bores to drink.

Bourke's Parrot is a small parrot which is mostly grey-brown above and pinkish below. It has a prominent area of white around the eyes, giving a spectacled appearance. The male has a blue forehead band, with blue also on the bend of the wing, and a paler shade of blue on the flanks, side of rump and under the tail. The female Bourke's Parrot is similar, but duller. The Bourke's Parrot is also known as the Blue-vented, Night, Pink-bellied or Sundown Parrot; Blue-vented, Bourke or Pink-bellied Parakeet; and Bourke or Bourke's Grass-Parakeet.

Bourke's Parrot is not like any other parrot, but in some circumstances may be confused with the Diamond Dove, Geopelia cuneata. Bourke's Parrot is widespread across arid and semi-arid areas of the inland, from north-western New South Wales and south-western Queensland to the mid-coast of Western Australia, and from the Devil's Marbles in Northern Territory south to Port Augusta, South Australia.

Bourke's Parrot is found in mulga and other acacia scrubs, and in native cypress and other open eucalypt woodla Bourke's Parrots feed mainly on the ground, and only occasionally in trees. Pairs, or small groups of four to six, feed on seeds of grasses and herbs. They need to be near a source of water, which they visit usually at dawn and dusk.

Bourke's Parrots form monogamous pairs. They nest in a hollow, usually vertical, of a dead tree or stump. The eggs are laid on decayed wood in the bottom of the hollow. The female incubates the eggs, leaving the nest once a day to be fed regurgitated seeds brought by the male, and both parents brood the young.

Bourke's Parrot

Bourke's Parrot

Bourke's Parrot

Bourke's Parrot

Bourke's Parrot

Bourke's Parrot

Bourke's Parrot

Bourke's Parrot

Bourke's Parrot

Bourkes Parakeet-Perky!

Jill's Friendly Bourke Parrots