Gallic Rooster - National Bird of France

National Bird the Coq Gaulois or the Gallic Rooster is one of the national symbols of France. The French Flag during the revolution was decorated with the image of the Gallic Rooster. The Gallic Rooster has been used for centuries by folk artists as a decorative motif on ceramics or carved and veneered wooden furniture. In 1830, the "Gallic Rooster" replaced the fleur-de-lis as the national emblem, and it was again discarded by Napoleon III. In 1848, this bird was found on the seal of the Rupublic and in 1899, the rooster was the motif of 20 franc coins. It can also be found on stamps and usually figures as the emblem of French National team in International Sports Events.

Interesting & Amazing Facts About Gallic Rooster:

1. The Latin word gallus means rooster (it's the root word behind the Spanish gallo as well), and it can also be used to refer to a citizen of Gaul, now known as France.
2. This bird was probably first domesticated for the purpose of cockfights, not as food.
3. An adult male chicken is called a “rooster” and an adult female is called a “hen.”
4. Gallic Roosters are larger, usually more brightly colored, and have larger combs on top of their heads compared to hens.
5. Hens lay up to 240 eggs in a year.
6. Chickens can fly but because they are heavy, they can only go about 60 meters (200 ft).
7. Male roosters are more aggressive than the females.
8. Roosters do not have a reproductive but they have an opening called the cloaca. It is not visible.The rooster moves his cloaca near the hen's cloaca (females have a similar opening) and he deposits his sperm inside the hen's cloaca.
9. The hen will lay the egg within about 24 hours after the ovulation occurs. An egg will emerge regardless of whether it was fertilized.
10. It is a male rooster’s job to make sure his hens, or female chickens, are safe from other roosters and are able to eat.
11. Rooster is like an alarm clock for the farm, because it wakes up early in the morning with the sun.
12. Chickens aren’t completely flightless—they can get airborne enough to make it over a fence or into a tree.
13. These birds are omnivores. They’ll eat seeds and insects but also larger prey like small mice and lizards.
14. Baby chickens are chicks. Female chickens are pullets until they’re old enough to lay eggs and become hens. Male chickens are called roosters, cocks or cockerels, depending on the country you’re in.
15. A rooster announces to a flock of chickens that he’s found food with a “took, took, took.” But the hens don’t pay attention if they already know that there is food around.
16. Females prefer males that often perform tidbitting(like a dance) and have larger, brighter combs on top of their heads.
17. A female chicken will mate with many different males but if she decides, after the deed is done, that she doesn’t want a particular rooster’s offspring and can eject his sperm. This occurs most often when the male is lower in the pecking order.

Javan Hawk Eagle - National Bird of Indonesia

Javan Hawk Eagles are medium-sized eagles that are endemic to the island of Java in Indonesia. They are currently Endangered, due to habitat destruction, illegal poaching, and capture for the pet trade.

Interesting & Amazing facts about Javan Hawk Eagle are:

1. Most important fcat is that it is a national bird of Indonesia and it is an Indonesian endemic.
2. Javan Hawk Eagle has a long, black crest on its head & crest is held almost vertically and is tipped with white. The crown is black, topping a chestnut head and nape.
3. The back and wings are dark brown, fading to a lighter brown tail which has wide cream stripes.
4. The throat is creamy white with a black stripe, running to the whitish breast and underparts, which are heavily barred with chestnut.
5. Juveniles are similar to adults but have plainer underparts and duller coloring on the head. The tail, instead of the four found in adults, has five black bars. The eyes are blue-gray and turn yellow during their second year.
6. Javan hawk-eagles remain with the same partner year after year.
7. The nest is made out of sticks and lined with green leaves, and placed in a large tree in undisturbed forest.
8. The female incubates the egg for 47-48 days, during which time the male hunts to feed both himself and the female. After hatching, the female also hunts, providing the chick with meat for a relatively extended period.
9. The Javan hawk-eagle hunts mainly from the branches of small trees, where it watches for small to medium-sized tree-dwelling mammals such as tree shrews, squirrels, fruit bats and occasionally young monkeys. It is also known to eat birds and reptiles when possible.
10. Even after fledging, the young bird will remain with its parents, living in their territory for more than a year. It will be three or four years before it forms a pair and breeds.
11. They are endemic (A species or taxonomic group that is only found in one particular country or geographic area.) to the island of Java, from 6°S to 8°S.

Spanish Imperial Eagle - Spanish National Bird

The Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti) is classified as Vulnerable (VU) species of eagle, considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild and occurs in central and south-west Spain, adjacent areas of Portugal and possibly northern Morocco.This eagle species is also known to eat greylag geese in southern Spain in the winter.

Interesting & Amazing facts about Spanish Imperial Eagle are:

1. The Imperial Eagle is the second largest eagle to reside in Europe.
2. It can grow to a length of about 0.92 meters. It can have a wingspan approaching 2.14 meters and have a mass of about 3.6 kilograms.
3. They have bolder streaks on their under-wings and body, the lack of a pale band under the wing-coverts, and their larger and more majestic build.
4. Both the juveniles and adults have noticeably protruding head and long, parallel-edged wings. Like other eagles, they have strong legs and feet.
5. Their feet include long, curved talons that they use to seize, kill and carry their prey.
6. They also have large eyes that are located slightly to the side of the head. These eyes provide them with extremely keen eyesight, allowing them to spot prey from high in the air.
7. It gives a repeated barking ‘owk’ when calling.
8. Nests are built in tall oak trees, in small stands of trees far from human disturbance.
9. Parent eagles will even shelter the chicks from heavy rain.
10. Imperial Eagles are ready to breed for the first time when they are about four years old. When they reach this age, they find a mate whom they stay with for life. If one happens to die, however, the other will usually find a new mate and breed the next year.
11. Every pair will build a nest, called an eyrie, in the top of a tree. These nests are generally made mainly with sticks, and are used only during the spring and summer months. Females will generally lay two or three or four eggs a year.
12. These eggs have to be incubated for about forty-three days before they can hatch, and both parents will participate in the incubation.
13. Even though two eggs are usually hatched, it is unusual for both eaglets, or baby eagles, to survive. One is usually born a couple days earlier than the other.
14. The young eagles are ready to fly when they are sixty days old. They stay near the nest, however, for an additional two weeks, and continue to be fed by the mother until they are ready to hunt for themselves.
15. The imperial eagle usually hunts alone, targeting small mammals (mainly ground squirrels), reptiles, birds and carrion. 

Doctor Bird - National Bird of Jamaica

The Doctor Bird (Trochilus polytmus) is the common name for the Swallow-Tail Hummingbird, the national bird of Jamaica. There are several theories about how the Doctor Bird got its name.

• One is that the black crest and long tail feathers of the male bird resemble the top hat and tail coats worn by doctors in days gone by.
• Another theory is that the name comes from its long bill which it uses to extract pollen from plants (as it resembles a doctor's syringe).

Interesting & Amazing facts about Doctor Bird:

1. These bird's beautiful feathers have no counterpart in the entire bird population and they produce iridescent colors characteristic only of that family.
2. The mature male has two distinctive long tails which stream behind him when he flies.
3. The pair of wings next to the tail feathers extends about 15cm from its back, these are usually crossed.
4. The female does not have long feathers forming a tail but has shorter tail feathers with a white tip.
5. The feathers have a shimmering emerald green and black colour, a trait which is peculiar to this family of birds.
6. The bird is able to fly backwards, this causes the feathers to make a humming sound when it flies.
7. The Doctor Bird is indigenous to Jamaica and is one of the most outstanding of the 320 species of humming birds.
8. They are found mostly in closed forest wherever there is flowering plants. However, it can also be seen in gardens and parks.
9. The bird's main source of nutrition is nectar from plants but it also eats spiders and insects.
10. Doctor Birds tend to feed frequently during the day time and hibernate at night to conserve energy.
11. It is a clever bird which cannot be easily killed.
12. The Taino Indians believed that the Doctor Bird has magical powers and called it the "God Bird", believing it to be the reincarnation of a dead soul.
13. In most rural parts of Jamaica there is a belief that killing a Doctor Bird will bring bad fortune to one's self.

Cuban Trogon or Tocororo - National Bird of Cuba

The Cuban Trogon or Tocororo (Priotelus temnurus) is a species of bird in the Trogonidae family. It is endemic to the Caribbean island of Cuba, where it is also the national bird. Its natural habitats are dry forests, moist forests, and heavily degraded former forest. The Cuban Trogon has multiple names it can go by. In English speaking countries it is commonly known as the Cuban Trogon, while in Spanish speaking countries it is referred to as the Tocororo or Tocoloro. This local name was derived from its repeated call, toco-toco-tocoro-tocoro. Its scientific name is Priotelus temnurus which is very rarely used in referring to this bird. The Cuban Trogon is endemic to Cuba, for the beauty of the plumage and because it includes the colors of the Cuban flag, the tocororo was declared the national bird of Cuba.

Interesting & Amazing facts about Cuban Trogon:

1. It is a tropical bird, with resplendent feathers, measuring between 25 cm. and 28 cm. (10 to 11 inches).
2. The crown is deep blue, the wings are barred, the upper part of the chest grayish white and the lower part red.
3. The throat is white and the dorsal part of the body is light green becoming dark green towards the tail. The tail is scalloped.
4. The beak with its upper mandible dark and the lower one reddish.
5. Its eyes are reddish and the legs dark.
6. The sexes are similar although the female is smaller than the male and the red of her chest is paler.
7. It eats fruits and insects, lives in woodlands and thick woods with an abundance of trees and shrubbery.
8. It nests inside holes in trees and its eggs are white and it usually lays between three and four of them.
9. It is an endemic bird of Cuba and it is not found in any other part of the world.
10. The Cuban Trogons most common call is toco-toco-tocoro-tocoro, which is where its local name was derived from. It can also send out a short, distressed call that makes its location difficult to find.

Note: The names tocororo and tocoloro are onomatopoeic, similar to the voice of this bird. Its other name, guatiní was given by the Cuban Indians.

Chinese National Bird - Red crowned Crane

Chinese national bird, the red-crowned crane is one kind of migratory bird, feeding on fishes, shrimps, seashells and rootstocks of the plants. The shape of the red-crowned cranes is like "-", or "V" while migrating in the sky. The red-crowned crane begins to choose spouses at the beginning of April. The red-crowned crane will accompany its spouse forever once they are matched to be spouses. In China, people usually draw the fairy crane and aged pine trees together to stand for the prolonged ages and longevity. In fact, the fairy crane often appeared often referred in the traditional Chinese poems and drawings refer to are the red-crowned crane.

Interesting & Amazing Facts about Red-crowned crane:

1. The Red-crowned Crane is a stately long-legged, long-necked bird whose immaculate snow-white plumage is accented by black secondary feathers, a black neck with contrasting white nape, and a red crown. 
2. Its white tail feather is covered by long and curly black arching leathers.
3. Especially its naked minium calvaria iscalvarium is like a red cap, thus its name is originated.
4. They produce a wide variety of calls ranging from low pitched purrs to the loud unison calls involved in courtship and pair maintenance. The calls of male and female cranes differ in pitch.
5. Red-crowned Cranes roost overnight in rivers or streams to take advantage of the deeper water for predator defense.
6. Red-crowned Cranes prefer to forage in deep water marshes where they prey on insects, aquatic invertebrates, fish, amphibians and small rodents.
7. Red crowned cranes are renowned for their spectacular and elaborate courtship dances. During these graceful displays (usually performed in pairs), birds circle each other while leaping and calling, head-bobbing toward one another and bowing with spread wings.
8. Grasses, sticks or feathers are frequently tossed in the air. These dances can be observed throughout the year as the birds continually reinforce their pair bonds.
9. Adult Red-crowned Cranes are named for a patch of red bare skin on the crown, which becomes brighter in the mating season.
10. Male and female red-crowned cranes mature sexually at 3 to 4 years of age, but frequently will take longer to form pair bonds and successfully reproduce. As with all cranes, red-crowned cranes form lifelong monogamous pair bonds.
11. Egg-laying occurs in the early morning hours and two eggs are laid two to four days apart.
12. The clutch is incubated for 29-31 days by both birds.
13.  The female does most of the incubating, with the male on the nest during the middle part of the day.
14. Red-crowned crane belongs to is thunder first-class state protectione national first-class protected animal.
15. They in China inhabit mainly in the Nenjiang River, Song Huajiang River and Wusu Lijiang River in the northeast part of China.

Note:The largest amount of the red-crowned cranes living through the winter in Yancheng of Jiangsu is up to 600 per year, and the Zhalong Nature Protection Area in Heilongjiang is their habitat in spring and summer.

Emu

order : Casuariiformes      Genus & Species : Dromaiidae     Family : Dromaius novaehollandiae

The emu is the only member of its family, but is related to the doublewattled cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) in the Casuariiformes order. A wanderer by nature, the emu adopts a more settled existence in the breeding season; the male dutifully tends to his brood and defends it fiercely against intruders.The long, powerful legs of the emu compensate for its heavy body, small wings and shaggy plumage, which prevent it from flying. They found throughout much of Australia, the emu is found in a wide variety of habitats — from coastal flats, woodlands and grassy plains to the uplands of the Great Dividing Range.


Habitat : The emu is found in a variety of habitats, avoiding only desert and tropical forest. Around 700,000 birds are dispersed across woodlands, shrublands and grassy plains — from the tropical north to temperate south and from coastal flats up to the Great Dividing Range. The emu avoids Australia’s arid heartland, but may occur in desert after rains or where water is available. Emus may turn up in unlikely settings while migrating, such as plowed fields or suburbs. It abandons its nomadic life only in the breeding season, when it moves to reliable food supplies, away from human disturbance.

Food & Feeding : The emu’s diet depends largely on what’s available. If there’s a varied food supply, it prefers to pick out the most nutritious items, such as seeds and flowers. Tender shoots and leaves are also favored, along with insects and the occasional small vertebrate, such as a lizard or rodent.The emu resorts to coarse leaves and grass if it’s the only food available in a particular area. The emu forages at a walking pace, with its head held straight out or low to the ground. Plant matter is either plucked in passing or gleaned from the ground, then swallowed with a backward toss of the head. Feeding takes place only in daylight hours. If an emu is disturbed, it races away to cover at up to 30.

Behavior : Although it frequently occurs alone or in pairs, the emu is a sociable bird that may roam in small groups or loose flocks. Outside the breeding season, the bird rarely maintains any territorial claims it may have made. It wanders freely from place to place, eating and drinking to build up fat reserves. An emu can travel for days without food and, in lean times, lives off this fat reserve, surviving losses of up to half its total bodyweight. The emu’s mobility enables it to make seasonal migrations across the drier western parts of Australia, following the rainfall pattern. At times, nomadic bands join together to form flocks of several hundred. These can cause severe damage to crops — so severe, in fact, that a vast fence 600 miles long has been erected to keep the emu away from the arable lands of the southwest.

Breeding : The emu looks for a mate in December, in the middle of the Australian summer. Once a bond is formed, the pair stays together while the male builds a nesting platform of grass, twigs, bark and leaves. After mating, the female lays a clutch of green, oval eggs and then, as incubation begins, she leaves her mate and may mate again with other males. Sometimes several females mate with a male and lay their eggs in his nest, leaving him with several clutches of eggs to incubate.The male stays within his nesting territory, defending it until the chicks hatch. The young hatch well developed and bear camouflage stripes that they keep for about ten weeks. In a few hours they can walk and soon the brood leads, rather than follows, the male. In most cases, the young stay with the father for five months before leaving, but in dry conditions, when food is short and chicks develop slowly, parental duties may continue for a year or more.


Parting : As if styled by a heavyduty comb, the emu’s coarse plumage has a prominent middle part running down the back of its neck and back.
Wings : The small, claw-tipped wings are useless for flight and hang limply at the emu’s sides.
Feather : The emu's double-shafted feather structure is unique among birds.A secondary plume sprouts from the base of the shaft, equal in length to the main feather.
Legs & Feet : Long and sturdy, the legs give the emu speed, while the long-clawed toes provide grip and allow it to deliver flying kicks in defense.


Weight :  77–110 lbs.
Height :  5–6' to top of head; 3–4' to top of back
Sexual Maturity :  2 years
Breeding Season :  April–June

The emu is a shy but curious bird, drawn to unusual objects. Aboriginal hunters, hidden in trees, would dangle balls of feathers to lure an inquisitive emu into range.

Emu - Australian National Bird

The emu is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. There are three subspecies of emus in Australia. The emu is common over most of mainland Australia, although it avoids heavily populated areas, dense forest, and arid areas. The Emu was designated in 1960 by the Australian government to be their national bird, although some sources say this is not official. Either way, the Emu is a perfect choice as it is a native endemic species and important to the country ecologically and as a resource.

Interesting and Amazing facts about Emu:

1. Emus are curious and docile. They are about 10 inches tall at birth, with black and white stripes. As 3-month-old chicks, they turn nearly solid black, changing into a tan, brown, and black mixture as adults, some with a bluish neck.
2. The mature emu is 5 to 6 feet tall and normally weighs 90 to 120 pounds. They are flightless and strong runners, reaching ground speeds of up to 40 miles per hour in short bursts and covering about nine feet in stride.
3. They live in most of the less-populated areas of the continent and although they can survive in most regions, they avoid dense forest and severe desert. The Emu is on the Coat of Arms of Australia
4. Emus adapt well to temperature extremes from in excess of 100 degrees to below zero. No diseases have yet been diagnosed as common to the species. 
5. They can exist on a simple diet and require much water, drinking 2 to 4 gallons daily. They also will play in water or mud.
6. The Emu hen can be productive for 25 to 35 years or more and may lay 20 to 50 eggs in a season.
7. Pairs normally breed from October to April, usually producing one egg every three days.
8. Incubation time is 48 - 52 days and the percentage of eggs hatched is approximately 70 - 80%. Chick survival rates are excellent. Emus are very hardy.
9. The color of the eggs range from a medium green to a dark green (almost black) with some having a very smooth glasslike texture.
10. An average egg weigh between 600 and 700 grams when laid.
11. The eggs are edible consisting of approximately 10 chicken eggs. The egg is mostly yolk but has a much milder flavor than other poultry. It is excellent when used in cooking.
12. Unfertile eggs are blown for crafters. Engraving is possible as the outer layer of shell is green, the next layer is a light blue and the inside layer is white. 
13. Eggs can also be used in an art form known as filigree. This is where a pattern is cut entirely thru the shell. Makes a nice nightlight.
14. These eggs can be used to make jewelry boxes, can be painted or even have decals applied.
15. The oil is rendered from the fat of the emu, collected mainly from the back and the rump. Each emu can yield an average of 5 to 6 liters of deep-penetrating natural oil. 
16. This complex, primitive oil properly rendered is non-toxic, anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, and anti-inflammatory. It is an excellent moisturizer and emollient, soothing and softening the skin. 

For more detail on Emu click here 

Golden Eagle - Mexican National Bird

The Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas. This species was first described by Linnaeus in his 1758 Systema naturae as Falco chrysaetos. The type locality was given simply as "Europa"; it was later fixed to Sweden. It was moved to the new genus Aquila by French ornithologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The Golden Eagle is one of the largest eagles in the genus Aquila, which are distributed almost worldwide. The latest research indicates it forms a worldwide superspecies with Verreaux's Eagle, Gurney's Eagle, and the Wedge-tailed Eagle.

Interesting & Amazing Facts About Golden Eagle are:

1. The Golden Eagle is mostly dark brownish in color with a golden nape, black bands in the tail that are visible in flight, and a relatively small head.
2. Juveniles have a white base to the tail and white patches at the base of the flight feathers, both of which are evident in flight. 
3. Golden Eagles lose their juvenile appearance and attain their adult appearance over four years.
4. This powerful eagle is North America's largest bird of prey and the national bird of Mexico.
5. They are extremely swift, and can dive upon their quarry at speeds of more than 150 miles (241 kilometers) per hour. 
6. Golden Eagles forage by soaring in search of prey, or by observing from a perch.
7. Golden Eagles are resident across much of the western U.S. and Canada, and also breed north through Alaska. They winter somewhat farther east than they breed. The population is declining slowly over much of its range.
8. Golden eagles use their speed and sharp talons to snatch up rabbits, marmots, and ground squirrels. They also eat carrion, reptiles, birds, fish, and smaller fare such as large insects.
9. Golden eagle pairs maintain territories that may be as large as 60 square miles (155 square kilometers).
10. They are monogamous and may remain with their mate for several years or possibly for life.
11. Golden eagles nest in high places including cliffs, trees, or human structures such as telephone poles. They build huge nests to which they may return for several breeding years.
12. Females lay from one to four eggs, and both parents incubate them for 40 to 45 days. Typically, one or two young survive to fledge in about three months. 
13. The young hatch at about 41-45 days, and fledge at about 60-70 days, though remaining dependent on the adults for some time.
14. The sexes are similar in plumage.
15. Mongolian falconers have long trained Golden Eagles to hunts foxes and even wolves.
16. As in many raptors, the female Golden Eagle is larger than the male.

See also:

Crested Caracara - Mexican National Bird

Crested Caracara - Mexican National Bird

Caracara is a genus of birds of prey in the family Falconidae found throughout a large part of the Americas. They are part of a group collectively referred to as caracaras. The modern species in the genus Caracara were previously considered conspecific (as "Crested Caracara", a name still widely used for the Northern Caracara) and for long placed in the genus Polyborus.

Interesting & Amazing Facts About Crested Caracara are:

1. The Crested Caracara is a large-headed, long-legged, long-necked raptor with a shaggy black cap, white neck, dark brown body and wings, and barred black and white tail. It has reddish facial skin around its bill.
2. Crested Caracaras are resident in parts of Texas, Florida, and Arizona, as well as south to South America.
3. The nest is a large structure of sticks and plant materials placed in the top of a tree, shrub, or large cactus.
4. Juveniles are similar to adults but paler brown.
5. Forages by hunting in flight or by scavenging for roadkills.
6. With its scavenging habits and mostly south-of-the-border range, the Crested Caracara is often called the Mexican Buzzard. Another common and more flattering name is the Mexican Eagle.
7. Crested Caracara pairs typically remain together year-round.
8. These large birds weigh in at about three pounds and are approximately two feet long with a wingspan of four feet, they'd rather hang out mostly on the ground, using their long legs to outrun humans.
9. Crested caracaras have a raspy, grunting vocal sound when gossiping with one another or trying to get a date.
10. Caracaras will fly the highways nearly every morning to eat animals that traffic has killed during the night and, if they're unable to pick apart the carrion themselves, they wait for kin vulture to do so and then move in and take it away from him.
11. Groups of birds in general are called a flock, but really interesting birds have special names, like a murmuration of starlings, an exaltation of larks, a charm of goldfinches.
12. Young fledge (leave the nest) 42-48 days after hatching but remain with the adults for some time.

See Also:

Golden Eagle - Mexican National Bird 

Zenaida Dove - National Bird of Anguilla

The Zenaida Dove (Zenaida aurita) is a member of the bird family Columbidae, which includes doves and pigeons. It is the national bird of Anguilla, where it is commonly (but erroneously) referred to as a Turtle Dove.  The Zenaida dove sings with a gentle, mournful-sounding cooing, described as ‘coo-oo, coo, coo, coo’ or ‘hoo’ooo-oo oo-ooo. The Zenaida Dove was first described in 1810 by Coenraad Jacob Temminck, a Dutch aristocrat and zoologist. A group of doves has many collective nouns, including a "bevy", "cote", "dole", "dule", and "flight" of doves.

Interesting facts about Zenaida Dove are:

1. Found throughout the Caribbean, the Zenaida dove (Zenaida aurita) is a rather stocky dove species with a low, mournful call.
2. Its plumage is largely reddish- to greyish-brown above and lighter pinkish-brown below, with a more cinnamon head and a greyish hindneck.
3. There is an iridescent purple patch on the side of the neck, and two dark violet-blue streaks on the side of the face, which appear black from a distance.
4. Its tail is fairly rounded, with a black band near the end and white tips to the outer tail feathers. The beak is black and the legs and feet are red.
5. The female Zenaida dove is duller and paler than the male, with a greyer back and a smaller iridescent neck patch. 
6. Juveniles resemble the adult female, but lack the iridescent neck patch and have buffy edges to the back and wing feathers.
7. Three subspecies of Zenaida dove are generally recognised: Zenaida aurita aurita, Zenaida aurita salvadorii and Zenaida aurita zenaida. 
8. The subspecies Zenaida aurita zenaida is darker, with bluish-grey rather than white tips to the tail feathers, while Zenaida aurita salvadorii is more greyish or olive-brown above, with only a slight reddish tinge, and the tips of its outer tail feathers are greyish-white.
9. The diet of the Zenaida dove includes a range of fruits and seeds, and it has also been recorded feeding on earthworms, ants and flies. In addition, the Zenaida dove sometimes eats salt from soil deposits or livestock mineral blocks, probably to increase its intake of sodium.
10. The breeding season of the Zenaida dove varies with location, ranging from March to December in Dominica and May to August in the Virgin Islands, to year-round in Puerto Rico.
11. The nest may be built in a tree or shrub, or placed on the ground on islands with few or no predators. Two white eggs are usually laid, and are incubated for 13 to 15 days. 
12. The Zenaida dove is found in the Caribbean and on the northern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico.
13. They usually found in lowland and coastal areas, the Zenaida dove inhabits open woodland, forest edge, clearings, scrub thickets and shrubby areas, cultivated fields, gardens and mangroves. It generally avoids dense forest.
14. The Zenaida dove is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List.
15. There are not known to be any major threats to the Zenaida dove at present, despite the fact that it is widely taken as a game bird and is subject to intense hunting pressure 

Note: The Zenaida dove can also be distinguished from the mourning dove by its shorter, less pointed tail, proportionately larger legs and feet, and by the white in its wings.

Magnificent Frigatebird - An National Bird of Antigua and Barbuda

The Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens) was sometimes previously known as Man O'War or Man of War, reflecting its rakish lines, speed, and aerial piracy of other birds. It is widespread in the tropical Atlantic, breeding colonially in trees in Florida, the Caribbean and Cape Verde Islands. It also breeds along the Pacificcoast of the Americas from Mexico to Ecuador including the Galápagos Islands. It has occurred as a vagrant as far from its normal range as the Isle of Man, Denmark, Spain, England, and British Columbia.

Interesting Facts about Magnificent Frigatebird are:

1. This species is very similar to the other frigatebirds and is similarly sized to all but the Lesser Frigatebird. However, it lacks a white axillary spur, and juveniles show a distinctive diamond-shaped belly patch.
2. The Magnificent Frigatebird is silent in flight, but makes various rattling sounds at its nest.
3. Male magnificent frigatebirds are entirely black except for brown inner secondaries on the upper wing and the presence of a red inflatable throat pouch called a gular sac.
4. They also have faint purple gloss on the head and green on the neck, scapulars, and upper wing.
5. Their legs and feet appear back or grayish. Females are also entirely black with a white chest and white and tan markings on the wings. 
6. Females are, in general, 15% larger than males. 
7. Immature magnificent frigatebirds have a white head and chest while the rest of the body is black. Their legs, feet, and bill are light-bluish gray.
8. Their large heads, long, pointed, narrow wings, and forked tails make them easy to distinguish even from a distance. 
9. They are most often seen soaring along coastlines at higher altitudes and their silhouette is readily recognizable. 
10. They are also recognizable by their large size and long, hooked bill. They have short legs and small feet not well-suited to walking or swimming.
11. The Magnificent Frigatebird often nests in mangroves, but also in bushes and even on cactus. 
12.  It can breed on the ground.
13. It feeds mainly on flying-fish and squid, but also jellyfish, baby turtles, seabird eggs and chicks, offal and fish scraps.
14. Magnificent frigatebirds usually build their nests out of twigs on or around low-lying vegetation. Males gather twigs and other nest building materials while females remain at the males' display site and build the nest there. 
15. Nests are flat or slightly hollow with a diameter of 25 - 35 cm. They are usually fully exposed to the sun for the birds' sunning habits.
16. Their diet can greatly vary due to food availability and preferred hunting technique. The three main hunting techniques are dipping, kleptoparasitism, and opportunistic feeding.

Note: They are only able to dip about 15 cm deep to avoid getting their feathers wet. Kleptoparasitism, the stealing of another animal’s food, is how this species gets one of their nicknames, "Man-'o-War".

Brazilian national bird - Rufous-bellied Thrush

The Rufous-bellied Thrush is the National Bird of Brazil, officially chosen in 2002. This species is also known as Red-bellied Thrush. Its melodious song makes this bird very attractive for humans, and it is often kept as a cage bird in Brazil. It is a songbird of the thrush family (Turdidae). It occurs in most of east and southeast Brazil from Maranhão south to Rio Grande do Sul states, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and northern regions of Argentina.

Interesting Facts about Rufous-bellied Thrush are:

1. The adult male has olive-brown upperparts slightly washed greyish, including head and face. Wings and tail are browner.
2. The male has bill dull yellow, with dark base to upper mandible. The eyes are dark brown, surrounded by narrow orange-yellow eyering. Legs and feet are variably grey to light pinkish or purplish-horn. 
3. Male breast is mostly buffish to pale buffish-brown. Rest of underparts are bright orange to orange-rufous.
4. Female is similar as male with slightly duller and with greyer bill. 
5. There are two subspecies of Rufous-bellied Thrush: T.r. rufiventris (here described and displayed), is found in E Bolivia, S Brazil, Paraguay, N Argentina and Uruguay. T.r. juensis is found in NE Brazil. This one is smaller with longer bill. It is paler above and has creamier breast.
6. Rufous-bellied Thrush sings melodic song, a fast, rich carolling, often in the early morning before dawn. This song is usually given from hidden perch. 
7. The song is typically slow, but during the breeding season, it becomes a loud melodious lilting series of varied phrases “koro koro-cheeere cheeeerie-tooodle” and a monotonous dialect song “dewee-dewo dewee-dewo, fewri-tewri…”
8. In non-breeding period, the song differs and becomes more resonant “juh-joeit, drew-wip, drew-wip, drew-wip…”
9. This species is usually shy, often hiding in the dense foliage. But when foraging, it can be seen hopping and running about near cover or on forest trails, paths and riverbanks.
10. It is usually more active and vocal in the late afternoon, before to reach its nightime-roost.
11. They are living in pair all year round in their territory, sometimes sharing areas with other thrushes of the same species, but without more social behaviour. 
12. The Rufous-bellied Thrush builds a large cup-shaped nest at 1-3 metres above the ground, in tree, close to the trunk.
13. The female lays 3-4 bluish or greenish eggs with dark spots and blotches. Incubation by both adults lasts 13-15 days.

Note: The Rufous-bellied Thrush is common in its range. This species is able to adapt to new areas due to deforestation and degradation of its habitat. Numbers are currently stable and this species is not globally threatened.

Barn Swallow - National Bird of Austria & Estonia.

A barn swallow is one of the best known species of the group of long-winged perching birds that reside in most parts of the world. Among all swallows, the barn swallow is the most abundant and widely distributed swallow in the world. Living particularly throughout North America, Asia, Africa and Europe, it is distinguished by its long forked tail. It is dark blue-black in color on the upper body, with a dark rusty throat. The rest of the body is pale rusty in color. A line of white spots can also be found across the outer end of the upper tail. A female barn swallow appears similar to its male counterpart, with main differences being shorter tail streamers, paler under parts and less glossy upper parts. 


The Barn Swallow is a bird of open country which normally uses man-made structures to breed and consequently has spread with human expansion. It builds a cup nest from mud pellets in barns or similar structures and feeds on insects caught in flight. This species lives in close association with humans, and its insect-eating habits mean that it is tolerated by man; this acceptance was reinforced in the past by superstitions regarding the bird and its nest. There are frequent cultural references to the Barn Swallow in literary and religious works due to both its living in close proximity to humans and its annual migration. The Barn Swallow is the national bird of Austria and Estonia.

Interesting & Amazing Information On Barn Swallows

• Barn swallows are found in a large number of habitats with open areas, such as agricultural areas, farmlands, cities, highways, marshes, lakeshores, near barns, outbuildings, bridges and culverts.
• A barn swallow prefers to spend more time in the air, than any other land bird.
• A barn swallow feeds only on bugs.
• It is classified into six different subspecies that breed mainly across the Northern Hemisphere. Four of these species are migratory birds that fly to places in Southern Hemisphere like Central Argentina, Cape Province of South Africa and northern Australia in winter.
• Female barn swallows prefer mating with males, who have a dark reddish chest color and longer and more symmetrical tails.
• Since, it falls under the category of monogamous species, a male barn swallow pairs with a single female and guards it against other males, who might attempt to mate with its partner.
• Barn swallows usually mate in the air.
• While building a mud nest, both male and female barn swallows make up to 1000 trips collecting mud.
• They build a cup-shaped nest made up of mud lined with grass and feathers. They are known to breed under a rock ledge or in the rafters or eaves of buildings.
• They breed in the winter season in the temperate parts, such as the mountains of Thailand and in Central Argentina.
• They are capable of feeding their young while they are in flight.
• Barn swallows travel in groups with a speed of about 600 miles per day.
• An unmated male barn swallow can kill the nestlings of a nesting pair. This is done to break up the pair and afford himself an opportunity to mate with the female.
• The females lay 2 to 7 eggs at a time. In couple of weeks the eggs are incubated and in around 3 weeks’ time the young leave the nest.
• According to legends, barn swallow stole fire from the gods to bring it to the human race. Gods became infuriated and attacked barn swallow with a firebrand and seared feathers from the middle of its tale and thus barn swallows have forked tails.
• The Oldest barn swallow was found in North America, which was 8 years and a month old.
• The Barn Swallow has a global range of 51.7 million sq. km (19.96 million sq. miles). Their estimated population is about 190 million. As per the IUCN Red List, their population is not fast declining and hence there are no threats of extinction.