ABCs of BIRDS - H!

[gayle]

H is for Hammerkop

The Hammerkop is a sub-Saharan wading bird  It gets its name from the hammer shape of its head.  It feeds on fish, tadpoles, small crustaceans.  These images are screen shots from safari.tv.  It frequently roosts on hippos and hunts from that perch.

From Wikipedia:  "The strangest aspect of Hamerkop behavior is the huge nest, sometimes more than 1.5 m across, comprising perhaps 10,000 sticks and strong enough to support a man's weight. The birds decorate the outside with any bright-coloured objects they can find."

The entire article is interesting:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammerkop

Gayle







 

[gayle]

Dale, I did not know that the hoopoe was considered tref.  I shall remember that when next I prepare a kosher meal!!

Patti, your photographs are terrific.  It is not easy to separate a bird from its surroundings in a rain or any other forest.

Annette, that harpyie is one ferocious looking bird!

Gayle

[gayle]

H is for heron, Bare-throated Tiger Heron

I photographed this magnificant heron in Tortugueros. Costa Rica.

Gayle

[gayle]

Also from Tortuguero, the Chestnut-bellied Heron.

Gayle

[dale]

Dale, I did not know that the hoopoo was considered tref.  I shall remember that when next I prepare a kosher meal!!

Dictionary.com says: tref: "unfit to be eaten or used, according to religious laws; not kosher."

Apparently, you're not supposed to cook raptors either. Or bats. That whole list.
So, we have a choice. Severely limit our ingredient list or not invite people who care.
I'd find it hard to give up my old bat-eating habit.

The chestnut-bellied is gorgeous. He has all those bells and whistles, like the other herons.

[Patti from Kentucky]

A lot of you have more pictures and much more knowledge than I do about hummingbirds. All I've done is sit around with Lou's hummingbird helmet on in Wisconsin, which netted no birds, and take the picture below in Big Sur. What kind is this, please? I knew but forgot. There were gazillions of them.

OK...having dug out my Western field guide, I'm going to say Anna's Hummingbird -- either a female or a sub-adult male.  It looks like only a few species would be likely to show up in Big Sur.  I don't know when you were there, but the Anna's Hummingbird is shown as being a year-round resident.  If you were there during summer, the other bird that might also be a possibility is a summer resident:   Black-chinned Hummingbird.  There are other summertime or "rare" possibilities, but none of them particularly looks like your photo.  Does Anna's or Black-chinned ring a bell, since you said you used to know?

[dale]

If you were there during summer, the other bird that might also be a possibility is a summer resident:   Black-chinned Hummingbird.  There are other summertime or "rare" possibilities, but none of them particularly looks like your photo.  Does Anna's or Black-chinned ring a bell, since you said you used to know?

It was early September. Definitely no one mentioned black-chinned. I've never heard of the beast. Maybe Anna's. I thought I knew Hmmmm....

[dale]

H is for Hammerkop
Gayle

Found another picture (wiki). I like the bird a lot. Thanks, Gayle! Also, his feet are all wet.

wikipedia: "One unusual feature is that up to ten birds join in "ceremonies" in which they run circles around each other, all calling loudly, raising their crests, fluttering their wings. Another is "false mounting", in which one bird stands on top of another and appears to mount it, but they may not be mates and do not copulate."

("let's not and say we did" sort of thing, I guess.)

[Patti from Kentucky]

If you were there during summer, the other bird that might also be a possibility is a summer resident:   Black-chinned Hummingbird.  There are other summertime or "rare" possibilities, but none of them particularly looks like your photo.  Does Anna's or Black-chinned ring a bell, since you said you used to know?

It was early September. Definitely no one mentioned black-chinned. I've never heard of the beast. Maybe Anna's. I thought I knew Hmmmm....

Well, here's another list...this is from a checklist of birds at Andrew Molera State Park, which is probably pretty representative.
[ ] *  Black-chinned Hummingbird
[ ] B  Anna's Hummingbird
[ ] *  Costa's Hummingbird
[ ] *  Calliope Hummingbird
[ ]     Rufous Hummingbird
[ ] B  Allen's Hummingbird

The "B" means it breeds in the area.
The * means it's rare enough to be reported to the local rare bird alert, so you would have been lucky to have seen those.  But see if any of these rings a bell.

[dale]

Patti-  the image below is on
http://www.richard-seaman.com/USA/States/California/TahquitzCanyon/index.html
and they call it an Anna's. I think this is the same bird, or maybe its friend from down the block.
Anna's, then! Thanks.

[Aafke]

H is for Herring Gull

from Wikipedia:
 It is a large gull. The bill is yellow with a red spot and there is a ring of bare yellow skin around the pale eye. The legs are normally pink.

Here it is a common Gull.
The first picture shows an adult
The second picture shows a young bird
greetings Aafke

[Aafke]

H is for me also for the Hoopoe

I really like the Hoopoe, you will say: you like all birds! Yes I do.
The Hoopoe was the first rare bird that I saw in my life.
Years ago, when we just started with looking at birds, we only had one small binocular. We drove through the meadows looking for birds. We only knew a few birds at that time. We saw a group of men (it are always men) with telescopes. We stopped and asked: what do you see?
The anwer was "a Hoopoe"!
A what???
Well they were kind enough to let us look through the telescope. It was amazing, I will never forget. 
Robert, my husband looked through the telescope too and said: he looks like a lapwing! Well that wasn't the smartest thing to say. 

http://img312.imageshack.us/img312/6562/hop02bki1.jpg
greetings Aafke

[MAK]

    Cool pic Aafke!   

[dale]

ooooh, Aafke, that hoopoe picture is MUCH MUCH better than the wikipedia one I posted. That's AMAZING!

I love them.

[Dumpsterkitty]

So while I was browsing for a good white breasted nuthatch picture I ran across this picture.  When I took it in July I didn't realize what it was.  Picasa's I'm feeling lucky (which is exaggerating the color) revealed a House Finch feeding its fledgling...