Brown Pelican

The Brown Pelican is the smallest bird of its type, and is found on the west coast of North America.

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Description

Description

Latin Name: Pelecanus occidentalis Conservation Status: Lower Risk Estimated Size: 42"-54"

The Brown Pelican ranges all along the West Coast, as far south as the Amazon River. There are 7 members in the Pelican family, of which the Brown Pelican is the smallest. As its name would suggest, this pelican is coloured in different shades of brown. They hunt for fish by diving into the water while flying, instead of from the water surface.

Boat-Billed Heron

The Boat-Billed Heron can be found in parts of South America, and is commonly known as the Boatbill. These birds are fairly strange looking, as you can tell from the picture.

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Description Classification

Description

Latin Name: Cochlearius cochlearius Conservation Status: Least Concern Distribution: Mexico, Peru, Brazil Estimated Length: 55 cm Estimated Weight: 34 g

While being coloured in soft tones, the Boat-Billed Heron is multi-coloured. They have grey wings and lower back. Their crown, crest, upper backs and large, broad bills are black, while their face, breast and neck are white. The Boat-Billed Heron will swoop down to the water, catching fish and other aquatic life, and insects in thier bill.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Ciconiiformes Family: Ardeidae Genus: Cochlearius Species: C. cochlearius

Blue Jay

The Blue Jay is a North American bird. They are colored in a very dominant blue, with lighter shades of blue and grey.

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Description Symbols

Description

Latin Name: Cyanocitta cristata Conservation Status: Least Concern Distribution: Eastern North America

The Blue Jay, as its name suggests, is a member of the jay family. These birds range from Newfoundland in Canada to South Florida in the USA, and as far west as Colorado. They live in predominatly woodland areas, but also call fields and low shrubs home in more settled areas. The Blue Jay eats all kinds of plant and animal matter, including nuts, fruits, small insects, and eggs.

Symbols

The Blue Jay is the symbol and namesake of the Major League Baseball team, the Toronto Blue Jays.

Bald Eagle

The Bald Eagle is one of the most highly recognized Birds of Prey. This bird is one of the symbols of the United States of America.

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Description Pictures

Description

Latin Name: Haliaeetus leucocephalus Conservation Status: Lower Risk Distribution: Canada, United States of America Average Weight: Males, 4.1 kg - Females, 5.8 kg Wingspan (Adult): Males, 6' 6" - Females, 7'

The Bald Eagle was just recently removed from the United States of America's Endangered Species list, and its Status reduced to 'Lower Risk'. Half the total population of 100,000 can be found in Alaska. The Bald Eagle's name comes from the white feathers on their otherwise brown body. The white feathers do not develop in the Bald Eagle until the bird is 2 to 3 years old, before sexual maturity.

Pictures

A Bald Eagle taking a rest on water.

Bald Eagle perched on a post.

A Bald Eagle surveying the area.

A Bald Eagle landing on its nest.

A Bald Eagle in flight, about to catch its prey.

A Bald Eagle perched up high.

Close-up head shot of a Bald Eagle.

A fledgling Bald Eagle looking for food.

A flock of Bald Eagles in a snow covered tree.

A Bald Eagle foraging for food. A Bald Eagle perched on a street lamp. A Bald Eagle chick waiting for its mother. Two Bald Eagle chicks waiting for food. A young Bald Eagle.



American Robin

The American Robin is one of the most recognizable birds in North America. Everyone has seen them in their backyards.

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Description Habitat

Description

Latin Name: Turdus migratorius Conservation Status: Common Distribution: North America, South America (during migration) Average Length: 26 cm

Both the male and female American Robin share the same colouration. They are brown-grey on top with bright red undersides. The male red colouration is much brighter than the females however. The male American Robin also grows black feathers around their eyes during breeding season to attract females.

Habitat

Their range extends all across North America during the breeding and warmer seasons. They occupy most woodland areas and can even be found in open fields, if there is sufficient shrubbery for a nesting site. During the winter months, the American Robin migrates to South America.

Spix's Macaw

This magnificent bird is now extinct in the wild. To see the Spix's Macaw, you must go to a zoo.

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Description

Description

Latin Name: Cyanopsitta spixii Conservation Status: Extinct in the Wild Distribution: Brazil (Originally)

The colouration of Spix's Macaw is blue-grey, with light grey feathers around their beak, and light blue feathers on their heads. They have long wings, and a long tail. The last wild release of the Spix's Macaw was in 1995, and she disappeared 7 weeks later. The last known male to be living in the wild is estimated to have died in 2000.

Invasive Honeysuckle Bolsters Bird Diversity

In the Happy Valley of central Pennsylvania, honeysuckle shrubs provide local birds with an abundance of berries on which to feed. The honeysuckle berries are so plentiful they have helped boost local bird numbers and diversity. Scientists estimate there are 3 to 4 times as many fruit-eating birds in the Happy Valley today as there were 30 years ago.
Such a scenario implies a vibrant natural community. But that's not precisely the case: there's little natural about the presence of honeysuckle in the Happy Valley. The shrub is in fact an alien intruder—an invasive species introduced by humans that has run riot through the community with the enthusiasm of a common weed.

Normally, invasive species spell disaster for the habitats they invade. They are notorious for outcompeting sensitive native species, reducing biodiversity and dismantling the delicate interactions of a pristine community. But in the case of honeysuckle in the Happy Valley, the downsides of the invasive shrub appear to be dwarfed by the upsides.
To understand the role of the invasive honeysuckle, scientists from Penn State University selected a plot of land in Happy Valley and measured the abundance of honeysuckle and native birds that occupied it. They found that where honeysuckle was plentiful, so were birds. Their study indicated that birds and honeysuckle enjoy a mutualistic relationship in which both parties thrive. The birds feed on honeysuckle berries and in return disperse honeysuckle seeds.
"Honeysuckle comprises more than half of all the fruits available in the landscape, and it benefits birds by providing them with a source of food in the fall," explained biologist Tomás Carlo of Penn State University in a recent press release.
"Birds benefit honeysuckle by dispersing the plant's seeds across a wider geographical area, helping the species to occupy more and more territory in areas already affected by human activities," Carlo said.
Tomás Carlo and coauthor Jason Gleditsch, a biology graduate student at Penn State University, also examined the effect of honeysuckle on a native plant, the American nightshade. They found that where honeysuckle was present, the native American nightshade fared better:
"The same birds that ate the honeysuckle also ate the American nightshade, dispersing the seeds of both plants. It's a win-win-win for all three: the birds, the honeysuckle, and the nightshades." Carlos said in a recent press release.
The results of this study shake the commonly held view that invasive species wield only hazards for the communities they invade. As illustrated by the Happy Valley data, there may be considerable upsides to communities altered by non-native species.