Wild Bird Wednesday 664 - Australian Pelican

The Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus) is a huge - and often conspicuous- bird of Australian wetlands.

However, its scientific name does not actually mean a conspicuous pelican!  It actually means a 'spectacled pelican' - with the reference to spectacles coming from the rings of bare skin around the eyes.

With a weight of around 4 to 7 kg and a beak of over 50 cm this is a big bird.  They often gather in groups, and sometimes cooperate in fishing.

While I was photographing these birds I was struck by just how difficult it must be to preen with such a huge beak.  As you can see, a degree of gymnastic flexibility is needed to clean your feathers if you are a pelican!

I have to say that they are wonderful birds to watch.

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Wild Bird Wednesday 663 - Cape Barren Goose

The Cape Barren Goose (Cereopsis novaehollandiae) is a species of goose endemic to southern Australia. It is a distinctive large, grey bird that is mostly terrestrial and is not closely related to other living members of the subfamily that contains Geese and Swans.

Its another example of an Australian bird that has gone its own way from an evolutionary point of view - and there is still some work to be done before we fully understand how this bird is related to other geese and swans.  In fact some authorities consider it more closely related to shellducks.  A PhD awaits I suspect.

This species has a bright greenish-yellow patch called a cere on its beak, pinkish legs and black feet -although the feet are hidden by the grass in these images. They weigh anything between 3.7 and 5.2 kg, and it will come as no surprise that they were a popular food bird in the past.  

These birds may be part of the 'small number' that have recently shifted from breeding on small islands off the south coast of Australia to breeding on mainland Victoria. 

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Wild Bird Wednesday 662 - Yellow Billed Spoonbill

The Yellow Billed Spoonbill (Platalea flavipes) is one of the two species of Sponbills that are found in Australia.

Measuring around 90 cm (35.5 in), the yellow-billed spoonbill has all white plumage, although at times it can look creamy white rather than pure white. The long spoon-shaped bill is about 200mm long and the bare face, legs and feet are all yellow.  Adults have red marking on the beak near the face and darker marking across the lower end of the beak.  Adults also have a black band around the area where the beak joins the face.

Unfortunately, none of these adult features can be seen on this bird as it is a juvenile!

This species is found in a range of wetland habitat and it will come as no surprise that this bird was photographed at the Werribee Sewage Works. 

I like this series of pictures as they show the shape and structure of the beak.

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Wild Bird Wednesday 661 - Blue-Headed Quail-Dove

 The Blue-Headed Quail-Dove (Starnoenas cyanocephala) is a bird that is endemic to Cuba.  The fact that it also has the common name of Blue-Headed Partridge-Dove gives you a clue that people have not been all that confident about what sort of bird it is - although there is consensus that it has a blue head!

This bird has a mainly cinnamon-brown body with a bright blue crown, black eye stripe, and a white facial stripe.  This species lives mainly on the forest floor where it feeds on seeds, berries, and snails. 

Some sources suggest "It is generally found in pairs" - but I think there were more than two of these birds around the feeders in Rocio's Gardens - Los Hondones, Cuba.

Some recent taxonomic work has been done on this species,  and the study concludes that 'this dove is not closely related to species in Australia or the Americas. Instead, it stands apart from all known doves and pigeons'.  (The reference to Australia may surprise some people, but in the past it had been suggested that some of the birds features were more similar to some Australian species than to broadly American species)

The study further concludes that “This species is even more evolutionarily distinct than the dodo was". 

 

Remarkable.  (You can read a summary of this research here)

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Wild Bird Wednesday 660 - Northern Giant-Petrel

The Northern Giant-Petrel (Macronectes halli) is large, thicket set petrel the size of many albatross.  It has a significantly large beak, and a generally threatening kind of look.  If I was a small animal I would not like to meet one on a dark night!

This species occurs through the Southern Ocean, but it does not reach Antartica - hence 'Northern' in its name.  It can be separated from the very similar 'Southern Giant-Petrel (which does reach Antarctica) by the colour of the end of its break.  

The Northern GP has a contrasty reddish tip to the beak - this contrast is not seen in the Southern GP.  As you can imagine, being able to zoom in on pictures taken of the bird in 'real time' helps a great deal with the identification.

As with almost all of my pelagic seabird pictures, these were taken on a trip out from Eaglehawk Neck in Tasmania.

It's an impressive bird.

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Wild Bird Wednesday 659- Whitehead

The Whitehead or Pōpokotea (Mohoua albicilla) is a small bird that is endemic to New Zealand.  It is about 15 cm long and weighs in at approximately 18.5to 14.5 g.  It is not hard to see where it got its 'English' common name.

This species has white underparts and head, with a contrasting black bill, eyes and legs and pale brown upper parts. It lives in groups in the high canopy of forests and scrub of the North Island: so I was pleased to see it in lower vegetation on a predator free island near Auckland.

Give how dark it was when I took these pictures - winter, rain, tree canopy overhead - I am pleased with them.

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