ABCs of birds - yes we can... U

[dale]

Uniform Swiftlet

http://www.calacademy.org/blogs/jdumbacher/?p=165 (scroll down)

picture from wikipedia, this too: "The Uniform Swiftlet is a gregarious, medium-sized swiftlet with a shallowly forked tail. It is about 13 centimeters long with a wingspan averaging around 27 centimeters. It weighs about 11 grams."

[dale]

Ultramarine Kingfisher

Solomon Islands and New Guinea.

Nice little picture if you scroll down on this page:
http://www.pittasworld.com/Site/Jewelthrush_Diaries_Blog/Entries/2009/10/31_Aug-Oct_Trip_part_4%3A_MANUS,_VARIRATA_AND_SANTA_ISABEL.html

OK I give up now.

dale

[Patti from Kentucky]

Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu (Uraeginthus bengalus)

Oh my...I don't have a single bird photo in my collection that starts with U, and when I look at the list of birds from the American Ornithologists Union, I can see why.  There are very close to none!  I've only ever seen one.

So...I also checked the latin names starting with U, and found this interesting bird, whose name sounds like something on a menu

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-cheeked_Cordon-bleu
Photo (from Wikipedia)

[Patti from Kentucky]

Upland Sandpiper

This is the only one of the U birds I've actually seen...through a scope...at a great distance.  I would not claim to be able to identify it, but I was on a birding tour, and the alleged experts declared the bird in the scope's view to be an Upland Sandpiper.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upland_Sandpiper
Photo also from Wikipedia

[Annette]

Ultramarine Flycatcher

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultramarine_Flycatcher

[Donna]

U for Umbrella bird.

This endangered species lives only in the Chocó rain forests of Ecuador and Colombia, where it makes vital contributions to the forests' health. All have an inflatable wattle on the neck, which serves to amplify their loud, booming calls. This wattle may reach a length of 35 cm (14 in) in the Long-wattled Umbrellabird, but it is smaller in the two remaining species, and covered in bare, bright red skin in the Bare-necked Umbrellabird. Females resemble males, but are noticeably smaller and have a reduced crest and wattle. 

[Aafke]

Ultramarine Flycatcher

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultramarine_Flycatcher

Annette, what a beautiful color!!!!
greetings Aafke

[Aafke]

U for Umbrella bird.

This endangered species lives only in the Chocó rain forests of Ecuador and Colombia, where it makes vital contributions to the forests' health. All have an inflatable wattle on the neck, which serves to amplify their loud, booming calls. This wattle may reach a length of 35 cm (14 in) in the Long-wattled Umbrellabird, but it is smaller in the two remaining species, and covered in bare, bright red skin in the Bare-necked Umbrellabird. Females resemble males, but are noticeably smaller and have a reduced crest and wattle. 

Wow what a strange story, I expect that at the end there came a question: Is this a true or a false story?
I would say: false 
Thanks Donna, it's really interesting
greetings Aafke

[Dumpsterkitty]

U for Umbrella bird.

This endangered species lives only in the Chocó rain forests of Ecuador and Colombia, where it makes vital contributions to the forests' health. All have an inflatable wattle on the neck, which serves to amplify their loud, booming calls. This wattle may reach a length of 35 cm (14 in) in the Long-wattled Umbrellabird, but it is smaller in the two remaining species, and covered in bare, bright red skin in the Bare-necked Umbrellabird. Females resemble males, but are noticeably smaller and have a reduced crest and wattle.  

Wow what a strange story, I expect that at the end there came a question: Is this a true or a false story?
I would say: false  
Thanks Donna, it's really interesting
greetings Aafke

(no credits on the photo from Birds of Paradise Tours, Ecuador)

Well, here's another description from How Stuff Works (Discover)
"Umbrella Bird, or Cotinga, a forest bird of South and Central America. It bears an umbrella-shaped crest, which it can fold back at will. The male Amazonian umbrella bird of Guyana and Brazil is blue-black and has a feather-covered wattle (a fleshy growth underneath the neck and bill) about six inches (15 cm) long. The female is brown and has a smaller crest and wattle. The long-wattled umbrella bird, with a wattle up to 18 inches (46 cm) long, is found in the Andes from Colombia to Ecuador. The barenecked umbrella bird, living in Central America, has a naked, orange-red wattle, feathered only at its tip. Umbrella birds grow to about 20 inches (50 cm) long.

Umbrella birds belong to the family Cotingidae. The Amazonian umbrella bird is Cephalopterus ornatus; the long-wattled, C. penduliger; and the barenecked, C. glabricolus."

And a video of the bare-necked variety here

Ei

[~Ruth]

the UGLY DUCKLING -a fairy tale by Danish poet Hans Christian Anderson first published in 1843

[anneintoronto]

U for Umbrella bird.

This endangered species lives only in the Chocó rain forests of Ecuador and Colombia, where it makes vital contributions to the forests' health. All have an inflatable wattle on the neck, which serves to amplify their loud, booming calls. This wattle may reach a length of 35 cm (14 in) in the Long-wattled Umbrellabird, but it is smaller in the two remaining species, and covered in bare, bright red skin in the Bare-necked Umbrellabird. Females resemble males, but are noticeably smaller and have a reduced crest and wattle.  

Wow what a strange story, I expect that at the end there came a question: Is this a true or a false story?
I would say: false  
Thanks Donna, it's really interesting
greetings Aafke

(no credits on the photo from Birds of Paradise Tours, Ecuador)

Well, here's another description from How Stuff Works (Discover)
"Umbrella Bird, or Cotinga, a forest bird of South and Central America. It bears an umbrella-shaped crest, which it can fold back at will. The male Amazonian umbrella bird of Guyana and Brazil is blue-black and has a feather-covered wattle (a fleshy growth underneath the neck and bill) about six inches (15 cm) long. The female is brown and has a smaller crest and wattle. The long-wattled umbrella bird, with a wattle up to 18 inches (46 cm) long, is found in the Andes from Colombia to Ecuador. The barenecked umbrella bird, living in Central America, has a naked, orange-red wattle, feathered only at its tip. Umbrella birds grow to about 20 inches (50 cm) long.

Umbrella birds belong to the family Cotingidae. The Amazonian umbrella bird is Cephalopterus ornatus; the long-wattled, C. penduliger; and the barenecked, C. glabricolus."

And a video of the bare-necked variety here

Ei

Elvis is alive and well and living in the Chocó rain forests of Ecuador and Colombia!!!

Anne in Toronto

[Annette]

Ural Owl

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ural_Owl

[anneintoronto]

Ural Owl

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ural_Owl

Good one, Annette!  Another owl to add to an already growing list!  After the Wikipedia article, which is really quite interesting, there is an external link that gives even more photos of this beauty.  Just in case any of you don't quite get down past the article, to the bottom of the page:

Images at www.naturlichter.com

The juvenile owlet, peaking above the green growth, looks so serious, so "wise to the world"...  And I can almost hear it saying, "All this photo taking is soooo tedious...  I'm being patient, but the photographer really must move on! *big sigh*".

Thanks, Annette!
Anne in Toronto

[Aafke]

 U is for Upupa epops

The Upupa epops is the latin name for the Hoopoe.
We had him before but it's such an amazing bird! So here he is again



greetings Aafke

[Bobbie Ireland]

U is for Upupa epops

The Upupa epops is the latin name for the Hoopoe.
We had him before but it's such an amazing bird! So here he is again



greetings Aafke

Good one, Aafke. I love them too!