2. PEACOCK
With the three different species worldwide, the peacock, also known as the peafowl, lives naturally
in Africa, Australia and parts of Asia. The medium sized, exotic bird is one of the most
recognizable animals on the planet for its distinctive physical features. It spends much of its time
on the ground in search of grains, seeds and insects. Peacocks can live up to 20 years old and are
one of the more prized game birds in the world.
TAIL FEATHER TRAIN
The male peacock's plumage accounts for more than 60 percent of its total body length. It can
reach more than six feet. Males fan their feathers when trying to court females and also in defense
against male counterparts. Females peacocks, also known as peahens, often select mates depending
on the size of that tail fan. Peacocks shed feathers during molting season, giving opportunity for
collection.
3. FEATHER EYE AND COLOR
It's not just the size of the peacock's plumage that makes it special, but the eye on its tail feathers
that set it apart physically from other medium-sized birds. Most males have upwards of 150
feathers, with the "eye," which is usually a bright green, blue and gold, sometimes brown and in
rare cases, white. Because of it's elaborate styling, people use the peacock's tail feathers for a
variety of decorations, including masks and jewelry.
OTHER PHYSICAL FEATURES
Male and female peacocks alike have a blue crest on top of their head, though it is not known to
serve a purpose. The bird, which has an exotic blue body to go along with its distinct tail feathers,
can reach 5 feet in height and more than 4 feet in width, while reaching a maximum weight of 13
pounds.
MISCELLANEOUS CHARACTERISTICS
To supplement its normal diet of grains and insects, peacocks will occasionally eat small mammals
and reptiles. The male peacock mates with up to six different peahens every mating season.
Females lay up to 8 eggs, incubating them over the course of a month by sitting on them. Peahens
rear babies without the help of the male. Wild dogs, tigers and raccoons are predators peacocks
fear.
4. Kingfisher
Kingfishers are small birds of the order Coraciformes. There are about 90 species, mostly in the
Old World and Australasia, Most species are tropical in distribution.
Their feathers are often bright colours, such as blue or orange. They have large heads, long, sharp
bills, short legs, and stubby tails.
Most species have bright plumage with little differences between the sexes. Most are found only
in forests. They eat a wide range of prey, including fish. They usually catch prey by swooping
down from a perch. Many live near rivers and eat fish, but most species live away from water and
eat small invertebrates. Like other members of their order they nest in holes, usually tunnels dug
into the natural or artificial banks in the ground. A quarter of all kingfishers nest in disused termite
nests.
The plumage of most kingfishers is bright, with green and blue being the most common colours.
The brightness of the colours is neither the product of iridescence (except in the American
kingfishers) or pigments, but is instead caused by the structure of the feathers, which causes
5. scattering of blue light (the Tyndall effect). In most species, no overt differences between the sexes
exist; when differences occur, they are quite small (less than 10%).
The kingfishers have long, dagger-like bills. The bill is usually longer and more compressed in
species that hunt fish, and shorter and more broad in species that hunt prey off the ground. The
largest and most atypical bill is that of the shovel-billed kookaburra, which is used to dig through
the forest floor in search of prey. They generally have short legs, although species that feed on the
ground have longer tarsi. Most species have four toes, three of which are forward-pointing.
The irises of most species are dark brown. The kingfishers have excellent vision; they are capable
of binocular vision and are thought in particular to have good colour vision. They have restricted
movement of their eyes within the eye sockets, instead using head movements to track prey. In
addition, they are capable of compensating for the refraction of water and reflection when hunting
prey underwater, and are able to judge depth under water accurately. They also have nictitating
membranes that cover the eyes to protect them when they hit the water; the pied kingfisher has a
bony plate which slides across the eye when it hits the water
6. Toucan
Measuring 63.5 cm (25 in.) in length, the toco toucan is the largest of all toucans. Its black body
and white throat are overshadowed by its most recognizable trait: a large colorful beak.
The bright orange beak is about 19 cm (8 in.) long – one third of the bird’s total length. But despite
its substantial size, the beak weighs less than you may think. Composed of the protein keratin, the
structure of beak incorporates many air pockets allowing for a very low mass.
oco toucans also use their beaks to pluck and peel fruit, their main source of food. In addition, the
beak houses a flat tongue of the same length, which helps the toucan catch insects, frogs, and
reptiles. Toco toucans also occasionally eat the eggs of other birds.
Toco toucan Although they spend a lot of time in trees, they are not very good at flying. Toucans
mainly travel among trees by hopping. When they do take flight, they flap their wings vigorously
and glide, traveling only short distances. Toucans nest in the hollows of trees. They often move
into cavities created and abandoned by woodpeckers. Several toucans live together in a single
hollow. It is in these hollows that they lay their eggs, generally two to four a year.
7. Both parents incubate the eggs for 16-20 days. Once the chicks hatch, both parents continue to
care for the young. Baby toucans are not born with an excessively large beak; the beak grows as
the birds develop. Native to South America, toco toucans inhabit a range of habitats including
tropical forests, savannas, and shrubland.
Kite
Kites are raptors. They have long wings and weak legs. They spend most of the time soaring. Most
feed mainly on carrion. Some take live prey. They are birds of prey which, along with hawks and
eagles, are from the family Accipitridae.
Typically, a kite is lightly built, with a small head, partly bare face, short beak, and long narrow
wings and tail. Kites occur worldwide in warm regions. Some kites live on insects; others are
primarily scavengers but also eat rodents and reptiles; and a few are strictly snaileaters. Kites are
8. buoyant in flight, slowly flapping and gliding with wings angled back. Several species are as
graceful as terns.
True kites, Milvinae, have rather narrow beaks, the upper mandible being wavy-edged. They are
typified by the red kite (Milvus milvus)—of Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East—and
the black, or black-eared, kite (M. migrans)—found over much of the Old World. Both are large
(to about 55 cm [22 inches]), reddish birds (the black kite darker), lightly streaked on the head,
with long, angled wings and notched tail. The Brahminy kite (Haliastur indus; subfamily Milvinae)
ranges from India to northeastern Australia. It is red-brown except for white foreparts. It eats fish
and garbage. The buzzard kite (Hamirostra melanosternon; subfamily Milvinae) of Australia is a
large black-breasted bird; it lives mainly on rabbits and lizards. It also eats emu eggs, reportedly
dropping rocks on them to break the thick shells.
The snail kites, found only in the New World, also belong to the subfamily Milvinae. They have
sickle-shaped beaks adapted to feeding on snails, their only food. Best known is the Everglade kite
(Rostrhamus sociabilis), now rare in Florida and Cuba but occurring in numbers in eastern Mexico,
Central America, and most of eastern South America. It is a blackish or slate-coloured bird, about
50 cm long, with red eyes and white tail-base.
9. Weaver bird
There are many remarkable birds in the world. We have already discussed some of them. Today
we will discuss the "Weaver bird"; who gets its name from the fact that it weaves its nest together
most artistically from Palm leaves.
The "Weaver bird" lives in the hot areas of Africa, near the Equator. It has black and yellow
feathers, and is a member of the "Cuckoo' family.
Its nest is outstanding in many ways; First of all, the weaving itself is very artistic. It is actually a
nest within a nest, with the entrance at the bottom. By this method the "weaver" assures itself of
two things. Firstly, its house is protected from the rain. As you probably know, the area where the
"Weaver" lives receives a large amount of rain in the rainy season. If the "Weaver's" nest would
10. have its entrance on top, it would be flooded during the heavy rains. Secondly, its nest, with its
eggs and baby birds, is protected from birds of prey, especially the falcon that flies high in the air,
and with its sharp eyesight, notices the nests of the small birds, swoops down and devours the
young birds. The hawk is also a member of this preying family, which eats up the baby birds in
their nests.
Besides the birds of prey, the WeaverBird has other enemies. The African tribesmen and their
children like to rob the nests of their eggs. To combat this, the Weaver once again proves how
smart it is. It picks a tree that is full of ants, and other biting insects, so that the humans keep away
from them. In such a tree, our Weaver weaves its nest, in such a fashion that it hangs down from a
branch or two branches, with the entrance underneath as mentioned before.
The Weaver's eggs are light blue. It sometimes happens that when the father and mother Weaver
are not "at home", a cuckoo visits the nest, and lays her eggs there. We once talked about certain
birds who are too lazy to build their own nests, and lay their eggs in other birds' nests. The Weaver,
however, does not make a fuss about it. Although it is a "smart" bird, it does not differentiate
between the colors of the eggs, and it also is not such a great mathematician as to notice how many
of the eggs are its own, and how many are strange eggs. Maybe it does know, but at any rate, it
pays no attention to it.
There are, of course, different kinds of Weaver Birds. Some live, as we mentioned, in the
Equatorial forests; some live more to the North; some prefer to make their nests near a village; and
others, near a lake. But they all have one thing in common-the ingenious ability to weave their
nests in the same fashion, a thing which is surely one of the Wonders of Nature.
This knack of the Weaver, is an inborn one. The Almighty created the Weaver with its startling
ability to build an artistic nest.
11. Parrot
Characteristic features of parrots include a strong, curved bill, an upright stance, strong legs, and
clawed zygodactyl feet. Many parrots are vividly coloured, and some are multi-coloured. Most
parrots exhibit little or no sexual dimorphism in the visual spectrum. They form the most variably
sized bird order in terms of length. The most important components of most parrots' diets are seeds,
nuts, fruit, buds, and other plant material. A few species sometimes eat animals and carrion, while
the lories and lorikeets are specialised for feeding on floral nectar and soft fruits. Almost all parrots
nest in tree hollows (or nest boxes in captivity), and lay white eggs from which hatch altricial
(helpless) young.
Parrots, along with ravens, crows, jays, and magpies, are among the most intelligent birds, and the
ability of some species to imitate human voices enhances their popularity as pets. Trapping wild
parrots for the pet trade, as well as hunting, habitat loss, and competition from invasive species,
has diminished wild populations, with parrots being subjected to more exploitation than any other
group of birds. Measures taken to conserve the habitats of some high-profile charismatic species
have also protected many of the less charismatic species living in the same ecosystems.
12. Pigeon
The Body is spindle shaped. Their size varies from 20-25 cm. They are covered by coloured
feathers leaving beak and a small portion of the hindlimbs.
The body is divisible into head, neck, trunk and a small, conical tail. The head is round and drawn
out anteriorly into a strong, hard, pointed beak. The mouth is a terminal wide gape, guarded by
elongated upper and lower beaks. The beaks are covered with a horny sheath or rhampotheca. A
swol-len area of soft skin, the cere, surrounds the nostril. It is present on each side of the upper
beak. The eyes are large and guarded by upper and lower eye-lidsand a transparent nictitating
membrane. A pair of ear openings are situated at a short distance behind the eyes. Each opening
leads into a short external auditory meatus, ending in the tympanic membrane forming the ear
drum.
The neck is long and mobile. It helps in the movement of the head in various directions. The trunk
is compact, heavy and bears a pair of wings and a pair of legs. The cloacal aperture is at its hind
end on the lower surface. Projecting behind the cloacal aperture is the tail. Above the tail is a knob
on which opens an oil gland or preen gland or uropygeal gland. It secretes a fluid used for preening
the feathers.
