The pygmy marmoset (Genus Cebuella) is one of the world's smallest primates, being the smallest true monkey, with a head-body length ranging from 117 to 152 mm and a tail of 172 to 229 mm. It has many adaptations for arboreal living including the ability to rotate its head 180 degrees and sharp claw-like nails used to cling to branches and trees. Its dental morphology is adapted to feeding on gum, with specialized incisors that are used to gouge trees and stimulate sap flow. Its cecum is larger than usual to allow for the greater period of time gum takes to break down in the stomach. The pygmy marmoset walks on all four limbs and can leap up to 5 m between branches.

Pygmy marmosets live in the Amazon region of Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and northern Bolivia. They make their home and living in forest trees or bamboo thickets near or alongside rivers and floodplains. Pygmy marmosets prefer living in dense rainforests where there are lots of hiding places among the plants.

Marmosets tend to stay in the treetops and behave a lot like squirrels. They have long tails, but unlike other New World monkeys (capuchins and squirrel monkeys, for example), their tails are not prehensile, that is, marmosets can't use their tails to grasp things. However, their tails do help them keep their balance as they scamper among the branches.

Because they are so small, pygmy marmosets can become prey for cats, harpy eagles, hawks, and snakes. That is why they dash from one safe spot to the next. Their neck is flexible, and they can turn their head backward to spot predators. They are deliberate about their movements to avoid drawing the attention of predators. But when they need to move, pygmy marmosets are fast, leaping several feet to avoid the predators that would like to make a meal out of them.

The ability to climb is important for pygmy marmosets, as tree sap is their favorite food. They scamper up and down trees and thick vines headfirst and gouge a hole in the bark or vine with their sharp lower teeth, using an up-and-down sawing motion. When the sap puddles up in the hole, they lap it up with their tongue. Pygmy marmosets have certain trees they like within their territory; they can make up to 1,300 holes in each tree. Marmosets are omnivores, which means they eat a variety of foods. Their diet includes insects, fruit, tree sap, and other small animals.

Marmosets are active during the day and spend their time foraging. They are social animals that live in groups of two to nine individuals. Siblings also participate in infant care. Infant marmosets require the most attention, so having more family members participating in the care decreases the cost for any individual and also teaches parenting skills to the juvenile marmosets. Members of the group, usually female, may even put off their own reproduction through a temporary cessation of ovulation in order to care for the offspring of others in the group. Caregivers are responsible for finding food for the infants as well as helping the father watch for predators.

The pygmy marmoset is a non-seasonal breeder and usually gives birth to twins once or twice a year. However, single births occur 16% of the time, and triplet births 8% of the time. The pygmy marmoset is usually monogamous though there is some variation within the species in terms of breeding systems.

Pygmy marmosets communicate with each other by chattering and trilling in high-pitched voices. They can make sounds so high in pitch that humans can’t hear them. Certain squeaks and calls express danger or other urgent monkey messages. They also make faces to express emotions like contentment, surprise, or fear by moving their lips, eyelids, ears, and the hair around their face like humans. These mini monkeys groom one another, and that helps establish social bonds. They are fussy about keeping their fur in good shape.

Particularly in areas of heavy tourism, pygmy marmosets have a tendency to be less noisy, less aggressive, and less playful with other individuals. If the current rate of habitat destruction can be slowed, these tiny monkeys will have a big chance at long-term survival in their forest home. Their largest threat is the pet trade, due to their tiny size, cuddly appearance, and appealing face. Marmosets are sometimes kept as pets, but they are very difficult to care for. Many people do not agree that pygmy marmosets should be pets. The argument is usually that they have a longer life span when they are in good care from a human. However, the UK RSPCA says they should "not be considered as pets in the accepted sense of the word. They are wild undomesticated animals that cannot be house-trained or fully tamed". The United States has banned the import of primates, and most South American countries don't allow primate exports anymore.

#Wildlife #Rainforest #SmallestMonkey

The South American population of this species migrates in large numbers, though no one yet knows where those birds spend the winter.
Very little is known about where and why birds migrate at tropical latitudes, as well as what the risks to survival are during such movements.
Increasing threats to these birds' survival, such as urbanization, hunting and pesticides, combined with a lack of information about their annual cycle.
#Hummingbirds
#Toucans
#Manakin
#Tanager
#Hoatzin
#Macaw
#Motmots
#Woodpeckers
#Resplendent Quetzal
etc

#CalmingSound

The bee hummingbird, zunzuncito, or Helena hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) is a species of hummingbird that is the world's smallest bird and the smallest known dinosaur. Bee hummingbirds are native to Cuba and are endemic to all parts of the main island as well as many of the islets and islands that make up the Cuban archipelago.

They are known as "bee" hummingbirds as they are scarcely bigger than a bumblebee. Females weigh 2.6 g (0.092 oz) and are 6.1 cm (2.4 in) long, and are slightly larger than males, which have an average weight of 1.95 g (0.069 oz) and length of 5.5 cm (2.2 in). They are so small that they can easily be mistaken for an insect. In comparison, a cicada grows to 2 inches.

Like all hummingbirds, it is a swift, strong flier. Bee hummingbirds can fly for up to 20 hours without a break. Their fast-beating wings allow them to reach speeds of 25-30 miles per hour. They can fly up, down, backward, and upside down.

The bee hummingbird feeds mainly on nectar, by moving its tongue rapidly in and out of its mouth. In the process of feeding, the bird picks up pollen on its bill and head. When it flies from flower to flower, it transfers the pollen. In this way, it plays an important role in plant reproduction. The bee hummingbird interaction with the flowers that supply nectar is a notable example of bird–plant coevolution with its primary food source (flowers for nectar).In one day, the bee hummingbird may visit 1,500 flowers. It is a diurnal bird that can fly at 40-48 km/h, and it beats its wings 80-200 times per second, which allows it to remain stationary in the air to feed on flowers. In-flight, this species’ wings make a sound resembling that of a bumblebee, hence its name. The most common vocalization is an extended, high-pitched, jumbled twitter.

Males are often found perched on high exposed branches. The male has a green pileum and bright red throat, iridescent gorget with elongated lateral plumes, bluish upperparts, and the rest of the underparts mostly greyish white. Female bee hummingbirds are bluish-green with a pale gray underside. The tips of their tail feathers have white spots. During the mating season, males have a reddish to pink head, chin, and throat.

Bee hummingbirds generally live solitary lives, although in the mating season the males form small singing groups which a female hummingbird will visit to select a mate. The mating season runs from March to June, and during this time the male bee hummingbirds’ head, chin, and throat become a bright shade of red as a way to show off to the (less colorful) females.

As well as showing off with their voice and bright colors, the males have other ways to demonstrate their value to an observing female. They each put on aerial displays, including dives in which they flutter their tail feathers. The female chooses the male she finds most impressive.

Whilst it's common for them to beat their wings up to 80 times per second, male bee hummingbirds are known to beat their wings as much as 200 times per second during a courtship display

Contrary to folklore, bee hummingbirds don’t usually copulate in mid-air. When the male and female get very close to each other and fly together this is usually part of the mating ritual, a signal that the female has chosen the male. Copulation usually occurs when the female perches on a branch and the male enter her from behind. After a few seconds, the male flies away, never to be seen again. The males do not participate in selecting the nest location, nor do they help build the nest, nor do they assist with raising the chicks. During the mating season males attempt to mate with numerous females.

The female bee hummingbird lays either one or two tiny eggs in a nest she has made for herself, usually out of bits of cobweb, tree bark, lichen, and plant fibers. The nest is smaller than a golf ball, and there she incubates them for 15-18 days. They fledge around 18-38 days after hatching and go on to reach reproductive maturity at the age of 1. With luck, they can live up to 7 years in the wild.

As the world’s smallest birds, they are particularly vulnerable as their size means that they are also attacked by species that treat them as they would an insect. Thus, they not only have to watch out for larger birds and mongooses but also bees, wasps, frogs, fish, and even spiders. As with many creatures around the globe, human activity has by far had the biggest impact on their numbers. They are not yet considered an endangered species, but are classified as "near threatened".

#Wildlife #Zunzuncito #Mating

Odontodactylus scyllarus, commonly known as the peacock mantis shrimp, harlequin mantis shrimp, painted mantis shrimp, clown mantis shrimp, or rainbow mantis shrimp, is a large stomatopod native to the epipelagic seabed across the Indo-Pacific, ranging from Guam to East Africa, and as far South as Northern KwaZulu Natal in South Africa. They are members of the order Stomatopoda and taxonomy group Crustacea, which are hard-shelled animals, such as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill, and more. The peacock mantis shrimp is one of the larger, more colorful mantis shrimps commonly seen, ranging in size from 3 to 18 cm.

The peacock mantis shrimp are powerful hunters, feeding on hard-shelled invertebrates of all kinds and even some fishes. They are well known for the extremely fast punching motion that they do with their front appendages to kill and break apart their prey. This punch is one of the fastest movements in the animal kingdom and is strong enough to break through an aquarium’s glass wall. It is reported to have a "punch" of over 50 miles per hour, the fastest recorded punch of any living animal. The speed of a raptorial appendage's strike causes cavitation bubbles to form. When those bubbles pop they release a large amount of heat, temporarily raising temperatures to near those at the surface of the sun and further weakening the armour of their prey. In addition, the surface of its hammer-claw is made up of extremely dense hydroxyapatite, laminated in a manner that is highly resistant to fracturing and can break ordinary glass tanks. Peacock mantis shrimp use this behavior to break open snails and other mollusks and to completely dismember crabs, shrimps, and other crustaceans.

Besides having the fastest punch, they also have the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom. They can see as many as 12 different colors (compared to human eyes that see three). In addition, the mantis shrimp has four extra photoreceptor pigments for color filtering. In addition to seeing many more colors, the mantis shrimp can also see ultraviolet light and detect different planes of polarized light and circular polarized light. Its eyes which protrude from its head and move independently can see in two different directions at once.

The peacock mantis shrimp dig U-shaped burrows in the sand near the reef’s edge from which they venture out to hunt and to attract mates ranging from 3 to 40 meters deep. There are accounts of them damaging coral when they wish to make a home within it. These shrimp also rely on their sparing moves to keep enemies away from burrows in the ocean floor that they use as shelters. Hovering at the opening of its burrow, a peacock mantis shrimp will strike at intruders that come too close.

The peacock mantis shrimp reproduce via internal fertilization, and after laying the eggs, the females carry them around on their front appendages until they hatch, protecting them and keeping them clean. Some peacock mantis shrimp may form monogamous pair bonds.

The peacock mantis shrimp is one of the largest and most colorful species of mantis shrimp and is therefore desirable for the private aquarium industry. While some aquarists value peacock shrimp, others consider them harmful pests because they are voracious predators that will eat other desirable inhabitants in the tank. Some of the largest specimens can break aquarium glass by striking it.

#Nature #CoralReef #Fish

Coral reefs are large underwater structures composed of the skeletons of colonial marine invertebrates called coral. The coral species that build reefs are known as hermatypic, or "hard," corals because they extract calcium carbonate from seawater to create a hard, durable exoskeleton that protects their soft, sac-like bodies. Other species of corals that are not involved in reef-building are known as “soft” corals. These types of corals are flexible organisms often resembling plants and trees and include species such as sea fans and sea whips.

Each individual coral is referred to as a polyp. Coral polyps live on the calcium carbonate exoskeletons of their ancestors, adding their own exoskeleton to the existing coral structure. As the centuries pass, the coral reef gradually grows, one tiny exoskeleton at a time, until they become massive features of the marine environment.

Corals are animals and not plants. Corals are known as colonial organisms because many individual creatures live and grow while connected to each other. They are also dependent on one another for survival. Coral polyp bodies are usually clear. The bright colors that characterize many corals are actually various types of algae growing in the polyp’s tissue. The presence of the algae, specifically a type of algae called zooxanthellae, helps the coral in several ways. For one, the algae remove waste from the coral. The algae also use the coral’s waste products for photosynthesis, which is how a plant makes its own food. Byproducts of photosynthesis include oxygen and carbohydrates, which the coral consumes and uses to build reefs. The mutually beneficial relationship between coral and algae is called symbiosis.

Corals reproduce both sexually and asexually. Externally fertilized eggs develop during synchronized spawning. Polyps across a reef simultaneously release eggs and sperm into the water en masse. The release of eggs or planula usually occurs at night. During this process, the larvae may use several different cues to find a suitable location for settlement.

Coral reefs are sometimes known as the “rainforests of the sea.” Nearly a quarter of all the fish in the sea rely on healthy coral reefs. Corals provide habitats for fish and other organisms in the ocean. Reefs are home to a variety of animals, including fish, seabirds, sponges, cnidarians (which includes some types of corals and jellyfish), worms, crustaceans (including shrimp, cleaner shrimp, spiny lobsters, and crabs), mollusks (including cephalopods), echinoderms (including starfish, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers), sea squirts, sea turtles and sea snakes. Aside from humans, mammals are rare on coral reefs, with visiting cetaceans such as dolphins the main exception. A few species feed directly on corals, while others graze on algae on the reef. Reef biomass is positively related to species diversity. The shelter created by these coral colonies makes reefs a vibrant biodiversity hotspot where coral, fish, algae, and hundreds of other species live together in a bustling ecosystem.

Coral reefs form some of the world's most productive ecosystems, providing complex and varied marine habitats that support a wide range of other organisms. Fringing reefs just below low tide level have a mutually beneficial relationship with mangrove forests at high tide level and seagrass meadows in between the reefs protect the mangroves and seagrass from strong currents and waves that would damage them or erode the sediments in which they are rooted, while the mangroves and seagrass protect the coral from large influxes of silt, freshwater, and pollutants. This level of variety in the environment benefits many coral reef animals, which, for example, may feed in the seagrass and use the reefs for protection or breeding.

Coral reefs deliver ecosystem services for tourism, fisheries, and shoreline protection. Coral reefs are fragile, partly because they are sensitive to water conditions. They are under threat from excess nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), rising temperatures, pollution, oceanic acidification, collecting live corals for the aquarium market, mining coral for building materials, overfishing (e.g., from blast fishing, cyanide fishing, spearfishing on scuba), sunscreen use, and harmful land-use practices, including runoff and seeps (e.g., from injection wells and cesspools), and a warming climate are some of the many ways that people damage reefs all around the world every day.

#Nature #Dolphin #Fish

The helmet vanga is a large vanga, the second-largest species of vanga after the sickle-billed vanga. In length it measures 28 to 31 cm, and it weighs 84 to 114 g. The most distinctive feature is the massive hooked bill, which is 51 mm long and 30 mm deep. The plumage of the head, neck, throat, breast and belly is a solid blue-black, as are the primary coverts and remiges of the wing. The mantle, the back, and the rest of the wings are rufous. The tail, which is long and broad, is black below and rufous above. The bill is bright blue with a black tip. Both sexes are alike. It is restricted to lowland and lower montane rainforests in north-eastern Madagascar.

The helmet vanga mainly eat large insects, but food items brought to young in the nest may be more varied, including snails, lizards, spiders and crabs.

#Wildlife #Rainforest #Bird

True to its name, the dwarf mongoose (Helogale parvula) is the smallest mongoose. In fact, it is the smallest African carnivore. It is an extremely social and territorial animal, living in packs. All group members cooperate in helping to rear the pups and in guarding the group against predators. There’s a dominant pair, or pair of pairs, in charge of every group. They communicate with each other with the help of twitters, whistles, trills, and vibrations. Dwarf mongooses are diurnal and begin and end each day sunbathing and socializing with the members of their groups.

They sleep at night in disused termite mounds, although they occasionally use piles of stones, hollow trees, etc. Mongooses use anal and cheek gland secretions to mark upright objects near termite mounds used as overnight refuges.

Dwarf mongooses eat mostly insects, including beetles and grasshoppers, though they may also eat spiders, scorpions, small vertebrates, eggs, and fruit. They spend most of their days looking for food among brush, leaves, and rocks. They forage in groups, but each individual catches their own food. They kill their prey with a bite to the head. Dwarf mongooses are water independent but will drink when water is available. Being insectivorous, these animals may affect insect populations in their range.

A mutualistic relationship has evolved between dwarf mongooses and hornbills, in which hornbills seek out the mongooses in order for the two species to forage together, and to warn each other of nearby raptors and other predators. Hornbills catch insects, rodents and other prey flushed by the pack and in return serve as lookouts, sounding alarm calls when avian predators are sighted. Hornbills will gather at termite mounds where their mongoose packs spend the night and wait for them to emerge, sometimes even providing wake-up calls. If hornbills fail to appear, mongooses hesitate to leave their refuge and begin foraging.

Dwarf mongooses are found from Somalia and Ethiopia to eastern South Africa and Namibia. They live in savannah, woodlands, brush country, and mountain scrub. Their elevation range varies from sea level up to 5,900 feet (1,800 meters). They prefer territories that include termite mounds or rock crevices and woody vegetation, such as thickets or scattered bush.

There are no major threats to these animals at present. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List and its numbers today are stable.

#WildLife #YellowbilledHornbill #Africa

The red-billed hornbill (Tockus erythrorhynchus) are native to Africa, order Bucerotiformes, live in the savanna. Southern Mauritania to Somalia is the range of the northern red-billed hornbill. The red-billed hornbill's habitat is in arid savanna, open woodlands, and thorn scrubs. Even though they are relatively large birds, they are one of the smaller hornbill species, measuring about 42 cm in length, including the long tail. Zazu is an African red-billed hornbill species that appears in the animated movie, The Lion King.

The underparts and heads of this species are white. On the forehead, there is a smokey stripe that extends over the crown. Dark brown is the color of the back, with a white stripe running along the middle. The wings are mostly a deep brown color with prominent white spots. The long tail is a dark brown color. They have characteristic orange-red jaws and are slightly curved. Female has smaller red bill than male. However, the female's red bill is smaller than the male's. Adults are duller, although juveniles are comparable. It owns a red bill that is straighter and smaller than adults. These peculiarly curved bills are used for courtship behaviors, foraging, and breaking out of the mud-sealed nest holes.

These birds have short wings and fly with a flap-and-glide flying pattern. While clinging to a tall tree trunk around a nest site, the long tail can be employed as a brace.

These birds are omnivorous, feeding insects, seeds, fruit, bird’s eggs as their diet. Small rodents are also included in their diet. Because the tongues are too small to manage food trapped at the point of the beak, they throw it back towards the throat with a twist of the head. They feed mainly on the ground. Outside of the breeding season, they graze primarily mostly on the ground and establish flocks. It eats in flocks of 40-80 birds or pairs on the ground. These gregarious and territorial birds, hunting for ground-dwelling insects, live in small family groups or pairs. These birds play a crucial part in sustaining a healthy ecosystem by helping to prevent the increase in the population of insects.
It does most of its foraging on the ground, rarely hawking prey aerially.

Mongooses and red-billed hornbills or and yellow-billed hornbills hunt together; the mongooses smell out and expose insects, whereas the hornbills keep an eye out for predators and emit alarm sounds. Red-billed Hornbill has predators, such as large raptors and adders.

These birds will defend their territory against members of their own species, but they may have overlapping territories with other hornbill species.

The red-billed hornbill nests in natural tree cavities. Females usually lay three to six eggs. These birds have an interesting parental strategy. She seals herself and the nest off with a cement-like substance made of mud, droppings, and fruit pulp. A narrow opening allows the male to transfer food to her, and later to her and the chicks as they remain sealed inside.

The female will incubate the two to seven eggs for around 24 days and she will remain in the nest with the chicks until the nest becomes too small. At this point, the female will let herself out and reseal the nest with the chicks inside. Then both parents feed the chicks together. Chicks fly well on emerging from the nest and never return to it, although they may remain with their parents for six months. The lifespan is about 15 years.

Their population is stable but they are vulnerable to habitat destruction. Population The global population size has not been officially quantified, but the species is reported to be widespread and locally common. Status IUCN: Least Concern.

#Wildlife #ParentalStrategy #YellowBilledHornbill

The Namaqua sandgrouse (Pterocles namaqua), is a species of ground-dwelling bird in the sandgrouse family. The Namaqua sandgrouse can be found in various arid parts of South Africa and its neighbouring lands. Namaqua Sandgrouse is nomadic in the desert, semi-desert, and arid savanna.

Seeds are the main staple of the Namaqua sandgrouse, which forages over large areas. The bird prefers seeds high in protein, like legumes, picking them off the ground with its short bill. It feeds in the daylight hours and rests in the shade of a bush during the extreme heat of midday. The bird will sometimes eat plant material and insects or molluscs that happen to be on plants, and occasionally grit to help grind down seeds in the gizzard.

A dumpy, short-legged, pigeon-like bird that shuffles awkwardly on the ground and flies in a fast and direct manner, singly or in groups. It has a long, pointed tail and sharply-pointed wings. The male has a pair of black-and-white bands across the chest and has a plain buffy face and head; the female is mottled with black, brown, and white. There is a dense layer of under down which helps insulate the bird from extremes of heat and cold.

The feathers of the belly are specially adapted for absorbing water, retaining it and acting like a sponge. On very hot days, parents fly to water bodies that may be many miles away from watering holes. After drinking, soak their belly, and quickly return to the nest to cool the eggs or provide water to waiting chicks. The chicks suck up water like a goat kid drinks milk from mother’s udders. The amount of water that can be carried in this way is 15 to 20 millilitres.

Sandgrouses are gregarious, feeding in flocks of up to 100 birds. As a consequence of their dry diet, they need to visit water sources regularly. When drinking, water is sucked into the beak, which is then raised to let the water flow down into the crop. By repeating this procedure rapidly, enough water to last twenty-four hours can be swallowed in a few seconds. As they travel to water holes, they call to members of their own species and many hundreds or thousands synchronize their arrival at the drinking site despite converging from many different locations scattered over hundreds of square miles of territory. Namaqua sandgrouse birds communicate through a far-carrying call which is a musical 'kelkiw-wyn'.

Sandgrouse travels tens of miles to their traditional water holes and tends to disregard temporary water sources which may appear periodically. This clearly has a survival value, because a dried-up water source in an arid region could result in dehydration and death.
They are vulnerable to attack while watering but with a large number of birds milling about, predators find it difficult to select a target bird and are likely to have been spotted before they can get close to the flock. The sandgrouse tends to avoid sites with cover for mammalian predators and their greatest risk is usually from predatory birds. When faced with danger, this bird escapes by jumping from the ground directly into the flight.

Breeding takes place at any time of the year and is dependent on rainfall. Usually, the nests are solitary but sometimes several pairs of birds choose sites near each other. The nest is a scrape in the earth, scantily lined with dried plant material. Two or three pinkish-grey eggs with brown markings are laid over the course of a few days. Incubation starts after the last egg has been laid and lasts about 22 days. The female does the incubation by day and the male does a longer shift at night, starting about two hours before sunset and finishing two hours after dawn. The chicks are precocial and able to leave the nest on the day they are hatched. The male brings them water absorbed on the specially adapted feathers of his breast. The chicks grow rapidly, they are fully feathered at three weeks and able to fly at six.

The species is common within its range and is considered to be of Least Concern by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The birds are at risk of predation by mongooses while they are young. Sheep farmers kill birds of prey and jackals to protect their flocks and this may have resulted in an increase in the mongoose population and consequently a diminution in the number of sandgrouse chicks that survive. Other predators that prey on the Namaqua sandgrouse include eagle and falcon.

#Wildlife #Bird #NamibDesert

Costa's hummingbird (Calypte costae) is a bird species in the hummingbird family Trochilidae. It breeds in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts of California and Arizona. While it naturally occurs in the western United States and Mexico, it is known to wander towards the east and north as far as Alaska and Canada. It leaves the desert at the peak of summer and moves to chaparral, scrubs, or woodland habitat.

This species is very small, a mature adult growing to only 7.6–8.9 cm in length, a wingspan of 11 cm, and an average weight of 3.05 g for males and 3.22 g for females. The male Costa’s Hummingbird has mostly green upper parts, its back, sides, and belly. It has an iridescent violet crown and white patches under its gorged throat and tail. The throat patch extends to the sides of the throat. Its wings are small and have black tails and wings. Its vibrant purple cap and throat, with throat feathers flaring out and back behind its head, is cited as its most remarkable feature. The female, which is comparably larger in size, is not that remarkable as male. It has a greyish-green crown and back, and a white belly and breast. Its flanks are ‘buffy’ and the tips of its outer tail feathers are white. Sometimes, its throat has some dark feathers. The juvenile Costa’s Hummingbird closely resembles the adult female, with tray-buff edging on the feathers of the upper body. Also, instead of having a singly rounded tail, juvenile Costa’s Hummingbird has a doubly rounded tail.

Like all other hummingbird species, Costa's hummingbird feeds on flower nectar and any tiny insects that it happens to find in the flower petals. At flowers, usually feeds while hovering. They would visit desert natives like agave, chuparosa, desert honeysuckle, and fairy-duster. To catch small insects, may fly out and capture them in midair, or hover to pluck them from foliage.

The male Costa's hummingbird's courtship display is a spirited series of swoops and arcing dives, carefully utilizing a proper angle to the sun to show off his violet plumage to impress prospective mates. Males perform a looping dive display to entice females to mate with them and also to threaten intruding hummingbirds. They fly straight towards the female, make several loops around her and then fly straight up into the air, returning in a broad U-shaped dive. During the dive, they sing a high-pitched whistle. They continue to loop around and perform dives for the female without pause, sometimes for up to 4 minutes, but usually, the display lasts for about 35 seconds. If that was not enough to attract the female’s attention, they also hover directly in front of her with their gorget flared.

One male may mate with several females. Nest site is in rather open or sparsely left shrub or small tree, sometimes in yucca or cactus, usually 2-8 feet above the ground. Placed on a horizontal or diagonal branch. The female constructs a small cup-shaped nest out of plant fibers, down, and at times spider silk, coated with lichen to hold it together. The nest is situated on a yucca stalk or tree limb. The female lays just two eggs, which are white in color, which she will incubate for 15 to 18 days before the young hatch. The young leave the nest after 20 to 23 days. Amazingly, the mother Costa can survive without water throughout the nesting period. Egg and nest predation is the major source of mortality at most sites. Important predators are snakes, small mammals, jays, orioles, and lizards. Adults may be preyed on by Greater Roadrunners and thrashers.

All hummingbirds have a super-fast metabolism and can die quickly if their body temperature isn’t maintained. In the desert at night, the temperatures sometimes dip low. They have a special adaptation called Torpor, a semi-hibernation-like state which allows the body temperature to reduce and the heart rate to slow to 50 beats per minute. A normal heartbeat is 500 to 900 beats per minute. Slowing down their metabolism in this way allows these birds to survive the cold nights.

The Costa’s Hummingbird has a ‘Least Concern’ status under the IUCN Classification System. The IUCN says that the species appears to have a stable population trend and a very large range, which signifies that it does not approach the thresholds for vulnerability. Of all the states in the US where the Costa’s have been observed, only New Mexico has listed the species as threatened.

The most serious threat to the species is loss of habitat, primarily coastal scrub and Sonoran desert scrub. A lot of these areas have been converted for human uses, such as agriculture and residential development.

#Wildlife #SonoraDesert #Mating

The lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris) is a species of shark from the family Carcharhinidae. The Lemon shark lives in the tropical and subtropical waters of the coastal areas of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Lemon sharks are named for the yellow-brown skin that helps them camouflage in the sandy, tropical waters they inhabit. They stay in moderately shallow water, normally going no deeper than 80 meters. They are often found in shallow waters near coasts and islands, by coral reefs, mangroves, bays, and sometimes even river mouths.

The lemon shark commonly attains a length of 2.4 to 3.1 m and a weight up to 90 kg by adulthood. They are slightly smaller in size than the whale shark, which is considered to be the biggest of the shark species.

Lemon sharks have a flattened head along with a short broad snout. They have two equal-sized dorsal fins and their yellow coloring serves as a camouflage when they are swimming on the seafloor filled with sand.

Like any other species of shark, have electroreceptors concentrated in their heads, called the ampullae of Lorenzini. These receptors detect electrical pulses emitted by potential prey and allow these nocturnal feeders to sense their prey in the dark. The skin of female lemon sharks is almost three times thicker than that of males.

The lemon shark is viviparous, meaning it gives birth to live young rather than eggs. Embryos develop inside the mother for up to 12 months until the female seeks shelter in a shallow nursery during spring or summer to give birth. A litter of lemon sharks may be as large as 17 pups. Pups remain in the nursery for several years, sheltered from larger predators, and feed on nutrients from nearby mangroves.

The mangrove areas that lemon sharks inhabit are often referred to as their nursery sites. Nursery grounds can be defined generally as habitats that enhance the growth and survival of juveniles. A nursery site is best defined as the most common area sharks are encountered, the location sharks tend to remain after birth or frequently return to, and the habitat used by shark groups repeatedly for several years. Lemon sharks display natal philopatry, whereby a mother will return to where she was born to have her own pups.

One theory is that lemon sharks select mangrove habitats due to the abundance of prey that resides there, while another theory posits that mangroves provide a safe haven from adult lemon sharks that occasionally feed on juvenile sharks and are unable to enter the shallow waters.

Lemon sharks reach sexual maturity at around 6 years of age and may live for up to 27 years. Female sharks deposit their pups in shallow, coastal waters, and they live in these reef and mangrove nurseries for up to four years. As adults, they move to deeper waters of up to about 90 meters deep.

When it comes to hunting, the Lemon shark is known to be very patient. They are able to use their yellow coloring to help them successfully hide in their natural habitat. They are often found swimming along the sand of the bottom of the water so they blend in easily. This makes it easy to hide from predators and also to be able to find prey.

The Lemon shark's diet consists mainly of bony fish and crustaceans. Catfish, mullet, jacks, croakers, porcupine fish, cowfish, guitarfish, stingrays, eagle rays, crabs, and crayfish make up most of the Lemon shark's diet. Also, this species will eat sea birds and smaller sharks. Lemon sharks will eat until full with the rate of digestion depending on the amount of food consumed at a single time. Intraspecific predation, or cannibalism, of juvenile lemon sharks by larger conspecifics, has also been documented.

They also tend to prefer prey when it is more abundant and available. Lemon sharks feed selectively on species that are slower and more easily captured by using a stalking technique.

Lemon sharks are known to be social creatures, who move in groups or loose aggregations. They form groups based on similar size or sex. Living in groups helps to enhance their communication further and intensifies courtship and predatory behavior.

Since Lemon sharks can blend into their surroundings so well. they are able to do fairly well in captivity. That is not usually the case with species of sharks.

Lemon sharks do not represent a large threat to humans. The International Shark Attack File lists 10 unprovoked lemon shark bites, none of which were fatal.

Lemon sharks are listed as a 'near threatened' species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The destruction of the mangrove, which is one of their primary habitats, and the practice of 'shark finning, a practice where their dorsal fins are used to make fin soup and eaten by several communities, have decreased their number form the world gradually. They have also been killed for their meat which is considered a delicacy in several communities and their skin which is used for leather by humans.

#Nature #Mangrove # #NurseryGrounds

The giraffe weevil (Trachelophorus giraffa) is a form of beetle native to Madagascar, is so-called because of its distended neck that rises up above its carapace. The long neck above a sloped body is reminiscent of the African giraffe. Giraffe weevils live in forests, spending almost their entire lives on a tree known as the “giraffe beetle tree”. The anecdotal "giraffe beetle tree," known by its scientific name Dichaetanthera arborea, is found only in Madagascar. It provides both home and diet for the giraffe weevil. In addition to eating the leaves of this tree, the giraffe weevil also nests in it. Unlike their strange look, the giraffe weevil is completely harmless. They show no aggression towards humans or other species. The giraffe weevil cannot bite or sting and, therefore, are not dangerous to humans.

The bright red shell that covers the back of the giraffe weevil is called the elytra. It is a form of the hardened forewing, although it is not formally a wing. The elytra form a casing to protect the fragile hind wings that lay underneath, which are used for flying. To fly, the giraffe weevil, like any other flying beetle, will hold open the scarlet elytra as it lifts and then rotates its hindwings, which are made of a membranous material.

The total body length of the males is just under an inch (2.5 cm), among the longest for any attelabid species. The male giraffe weevil's neck can be up to three times as long as his female counterpart. The length of the beetle's neck is used primarily for nest building and fighting with other male giraffe weevils. Fighting between giraffe weevils is typically done during the mating season, where the male weevils attempt to impress the females by defeating other weevils. The neck itself is used as a weapon to push and wrestle with the opponent, it is rare that one of the opponents will die in the course of a fight.

This unusual neck also comes in handy when it comes time to build a nice little home for their children. The Giraffe Weevil will use its neck to roll up a portion of a leaf on its host plant. The female will then lay a single egg inside of the newly created leaf tube before snipping the tube away from the rest of the leaf. Once the egg hatches the little larvae will have a nice vegetarian meal as they eat their rolled-up nest to get some energy to start their life.

These species are not listed as threatened or endangered, their population is thought to be healthy and, remarkably, they are not predated by any other species. It is suspected that the eggs may be occasionally eaten by smaller bugs, leading the male to protectively hang around after mating, but even this is not proven.

#Wildlife #Rainforest #Tenrec

Clownfish or anemonefish are fishes from the subfamily Amphiprioninae in the family Pomacentridae. In the wild, they all form symbiotic mutualisms with sea anemones.
Depending on species, anemonefish are overall yellow, orange, or reddish or blackish color, and many show white bars or patches. The largest can reach a length of 17 cm, while the smallest barely achieve 7–8 cm.

Anemonefish and sea anemones have a symbiotic, mutualistic relationship, each providing many benefits to the other. The individual species are generally highly host-specific, and especially the genera Heteractis and Stichodactyla, and the species Entacmaea quadricolor are frequent anemonefish partners.

The sea anemone protects the anemonefish from predators, as well as providing food through the scraps left from the anemone's meals and occasional dead anemone tentacles and functions as a safe nest site. In return, the anemonefish defends the anemone from its predators and parasites. The anemone also picks up nutrients from the anemonefish's excrement. The nitrogen excreted from anemonefish increases the number of algae incorporated into the tissue of their hosts, which aids the anemone in tissue growth and regeneration.

Anemonefish lay eggs on any flat surface close to their host anemones. In the wild, anemonefish spawn around the time of the full moon. Depending on the species, they can lay hundreds or thousands of eggs. The male parent guards the eggs until they hatch about 6–10 days later.

#Wildlife #CoralReef #Underwater

The margay (Leopardus wiedii) is a small wild cat native to Central and South America. A solitary and nocturnal cat, it lives mainly in primary evergreen and deciduous forest.
The margay is very similar to the larger ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) in appearance, although the head is a little shorter, the eyes larger, and the tail and legs longer. It weighs from 2.6 to 4 kg, with a body length of 48 to 79 cm and a tail length of 33 to 51 cm. Unlike most other cats, the female possesses only two teats.
The margay is a skillful climber, and it is sometimes called the tree ocelot because of this ability. It spends most of the time in trees, leaping after and chasing birds and monkeys through the treetops. It can turn its ankles up to 180 degrees, so it can grasp branches equally well with its fore and hind paws, and it is able to jump up to 12 ft horizontally.
The margay is nocturnal, although it has also been observed hunting during the day in some areas. It prefers to spend most of its life in trees, but also travels on the ground, especially when moving between hunting areas.
This cat hunts small mammals, including monkeys, and birds, eggs, lizards, and tree frogs. It also eats grass, fruit, and other vegetation, most likely to help digestion. A 2006 report about a margay chasing squirrels in its natural environment confirmed that the margay is able to hunt its prey entirely in trees. However, margays do sometimes hunt on the ground and have been reported to eat terrestrial prey, such as cane rats and guinea pigs.
A margay has been observed to mimic the vocalization of a pied tamarin (Saguinus bicolor) infant while hunting. This represents the first observation of a Neotropical predator employing this type of mimicry.

#Rainorest #GoldenLionTamarin #AgoutiRat

Kangaroo rats, small mostly nocturnal rodents of genus Dipodomys, are native to arid areas of western North America. Kangaroo rats tend to live in the desert flatlands, creosote flats, and the sandy soils of the desert washes. The scorching heat of the desert is the ideal condition for them to live. They can adapt to desert life with ease. The ideal habitat of this species is a sandy-soiled desert with sparse vegetation, represented by grasses, cacti, and creosote bush. The kangaroo rats burrow into the soil to better survive the sometimes harsh desert environment. The range of Desert kangaroo rats includes parts of the Sonoran Desert as well as arid areas of southwestern North America - Death Valley, the Great Basin, and the Mojave Desert (Mexico and United States).

Kangaroo rats are four-toed heteromyid rodents with big hind legs, small front legs, and relatively large heads. Adults typically weigh between 70 and 170 grams.

The common name derives from their bipedal form. They hop in a manner similar to the much larger kangaroo. Despite its name and mouse-like appearance, the Kangaroo rat is neither a rat nor a mouse. The Kangaroo rat is a member of the Heteromyidae family, they are more closely related to beavers and pocket gophers than they are to black rats and house mice.

They are sensitive to extreme temperatures and remain in their burrows during rainstorms and other forms of inclement weather. Kangaroo rats live in complex burrow systems. The burrows have separate chambers used for specific purposes like sleeping, living, and food storage. Because their habitats are hot and dry, they must conserve water. They do this in part by lowering their metabolic rate, which reduces the loss of water through their skin and respiratory system. Evaporation through the skin is the major route of loss.

These animals take dust baths instead of water baths, wallowing in the sand. Nasal passages of kangaroo rats possess a special cooling system, which reduces the loss of moisture and helps the animals cool off. Kangaroo rats never sweat or pant in order to cool off, since they would lose a significant amount of water from their bodies, which helps them to survive.

They hop on their hind feet, using their tails for balance, and eat seeds that they collect in their fur-lined cheek pouches. Extra seeds are stored in their burrows where the seeds can absorb up to 30 percent more moisture. Kangaroo rats are mostly seed-eaters, eating mostly mesquite beans and grass seeds. Occasionally the Kangaroo rat can be seen eating small insects.

The kangaroo rat is almost perfectly adapted to life in the desert. They can survive without ever drinking any water, getting needed moisture from their seed diet. Kangaroo rats have the ability to convert the dry seeds they eat into water. They have excellent hearing and can even detect the silent sound of an owl approaching. Their large back legs enable them to jump up to 9 feet in one jump in order to escape predators. They possess a pair of big eyes, which helps them to see clearly in the dark. It is an essential tool for them to avoid attacks from their predators.

Unfortunately for the kangaroo rat has many predators. There are many creatures out there who would like to make a tasty meal out of this small creature. Owls, snakes, hawks, bobcats, foxes, badgers, coyotes, ringtails, and your cat or dog are just a few. Snakes are considered the deadliest for them.

These animals are solitary, socializing only when mating or rearing their young. Each burrow is used by a single individual. Desert kangaroo rats are highly territorial animals, fiercely driving intruders away from their home range.

According to IUCN, the Desert kangaroo rat is very common and widespread throughout its range but no overall population estimate is available. However, numbers of this species are stable today, and it is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

The role of Desert kangaroo rats in the local ecosystem is not fully explored. However, these animals are known to be key prey species for numerous predators. In addition, due to caching seeds, they serve as important seed dispersers of their range. They build burrows that help to support healthy soils and they help maintain native plant communities.

#Wildlife #SonoranDesert ##HarrisHawk

The green humphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum) is the largest species of parrotfish, growing to lengths of 1.5 m and weighing up to 75 kg.
It is found on reefs in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, from the Red Sea in the west to Samoa in the east, and from the Yaeyama Islands in the north to the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, in the south.
Other common names include bumphead parrotfish, humphead parrotfish, double-headed parrotfish, buffalo parrotfish, and giant parrotfish.
Larger juvenile green humphead parrotfish are found in lagoons, often in seagrass beds, and the adults are found in clear outer lagoons and seaward reefs up to a depth of 30 m. They feed on benthic algae and live corals.
Adult green humphead parrotfish may ram its head against corals to facilitate feeding. Each adult fish ingests over five tons of structural reef carbonates per year, contributing significantly to the bioerosion of reefs. The fish sleeps among corals, in caves and shipwrecks at night, usually in large groups.
The giant humphead parrotfish is an amazing fish that can live to be 40 years old, growing up to four feet long and 100 pounds. They use their large head bumps to literally bump heads during competitive displays, when large numbers of fish aggregate to spawn on a lunar cycle. The bumphead parrotfish excretes white sand, which it may produce at the rate of several hundred pounds a year.

#CalmingMusic #Fish #CoralReef

The Sonoran Desert is a North American desert and ecoregion which covers large parts of the Southwestern United States in Arizona and California as well as Northwestern Mexico in Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur. It is the hottest desert in Mexico. It has an area of 260,000 square kilometers. The Sonoran desert has an arid climate. In the lower-elevation portions of the desert, temperatures are warm year-round, and rainfall is infrequent and irregular.

Many plants not only survive but thrive in the harsh conditions of the Sonoran Desert. Many have evolved to have specialized adaptations to the desert climate. The Sonoran Desert's bi-seasonal rainfall pattern results in more plant species than any other desert in the world. The Sonoran Desert includes plant genera and species from the agave family, palm family, cactus family, legume family, and numerous others.

The Sonoran Desert is world-famous for the numerous types of cacti that grow in it, especially the famous saguaro cactus which only grows here. This tree-like cactus can grow up to 12 meters.
Salli the saguaro cactus is one of over 2,000 native plants that live in the Sonoran Desert. Although it's dry and hot in the desert, Salli blooms every year, and when pollinated, she grows fruit. She loves the summer monsoon rains because that's when she soaks up and stores enough water to last her the rest of the year.
Cactus provides food and homes to many desert mammals and birds, with showy flowers in reds, pinks, yellows, and whites, blooming most commonly from late March through June, depending on the species and seasonal temperatures.

The desert is home to 350 bird species, 20 amphibian species, over 100 reptile species, 30 native fish species, over 1000 native bee species, and more than 2,000 native plant species can be found in the desert area. Species that have higher heat tolerance are able to thrive in the conditions of the Sonoran Desert.
Desert bighorn sheep, mule deer, collared peccaries (commonly known as javelinas), mountain lions, gray foxes, and coyotes make their homes in the desert. Other typical residents include desert tortoises, ground squirrels, Gila monsters, tarantulas, scorpions, and a variety of lizards and snakes. Rabbits and rodents, such as jackrabbits and kangaroo rats, are abundant, as are several species of bats. Birds include roadrunners, Gila woodpeckers, Gambel’s quail, and a variety of owls and hawks.

#Wildlife #HarrisHawk #SaguaroCactus

The Bengal tiger (Panthera Tigris Tigris) is a tiger subspecies native to the Indian subcontinent. It lives in Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and northern India. Bengal Tigers present in India are mainly found in subtropical and temperate upland forests. In Bangladesh, they can be seen living in the Sundarbans mangrove region where they are known to swim between islands. The prime lowland forest is their favorite habitat within Nepal, and in Bhutan, they live in the subtropical Himalayan foothills and north temperate forests.

The Bengal tiger's coat is yellow to light orange, with stripes ranging from dark brown to black, the belly and the interior parts of the limbs are white, and the tail is orange with black rings. Their distinguishing striped coat is useful for camouflage and is just like our fingerprints, unique to every individual. A white Bengal Tiger with black stripes is owing to gene mutation and not because they are albino.

Males and females have an average total length of 270 to 310 cm and 240 to 265 cm respectively, including a tail of 85 to 110 cm long. They typically range 90 to 110 cm in height at the shoulders. The standard weight of males ranges from 175 to 260 kg, while that of females ranges from 100 to 160 kg.

The smallest recorded weights for Bengal tigers are from the Bangladesh Sundarbans, where adult females are 75 to 80 kg. They may have adapted to the unique conditions of the mangrove habitat. Their small sizes are probably due to a combination of intense intraspecific competition and the small size of prey available to tigers in the Sundarbans, compared to the larger deer and other prey available to tigers in other parts.

Bengal tigers can climb trees, however, they are not as agile as the leopard. Bengal tigers are also strong and frequent swimmers, often ambushing drinking, or swimming prey.

Bengal tigers make a range of vocalizations. One of the most recognized is the roar which can be heard as much as 3.2km away.

The tiger is a carnivore. It prefers hunting large ungulates such as chital, sambar, gaur, and to a lesser extent also barasingha, water buffalo, nilgai, serow, and takin. Among the medium-sized prey species, it frequently kills wild boar, and occasionally hog deer, Indian muntjac, and grey langur. Small prey species such as porcupines, hares, and peafowl form a very small part of its diet. Because of the encroachment of humans into tiger habitat, it also preys on domestic livestock.

Bengal tigers have been known to take other predators, such as leopards, wolves, jackals, foxes, crocodiles, Asiatic black bears, sloth bears, and dholes as prey, although these predators are not typically a part of their diet.

These powerful hunters are most active at dusk and dawn when they use tall grass and trees to stalk prey and silently attack. In most cases, tigers approach their victim from the side or behind from as close a distance as possible and grasp the prey's throat to kill it. Then they drag the carcass into cover, occasionally over several hundred meters, to consume it.

The tiger in India has no definite mating and birth seasons. Males reach maturity at 4–5 years of age, and females at 3–4 years. After a gestation period of 104–106 days, 1–4 cubs are born in a shelter situated in tall grass, thick bush, or in caves.

They suckle for 3–6 months and begin to eat small amounts of solid food at about 2 months of age. At this time, they follow their mother on her hunting expeditions and begin to take part in hunting at 5–6 months of age.

At the age of 2–3 years, they slowly start to separate from the family group and become transient, looking out for an area, where they can establish their home range. Young males move further away from their native home range than young females.

The Bengal Tiger can survive for almost 25 years in confinement and a little less in the jungle terrains.

Habitat losses and the extremely large-scale incidences of poaching are serious threats to the species' survival. Those tigers living within the mangrove area are also sensitive to climate change as sea levels rise and alter the structure of mangrove systems. The most significant immediate threat to the existence of wild tiger populations is the illegal trade in poached skins and body parts between India, Nepal, and China. Other factors contributing to their loss are urbanization and revenge killing. Farmers blame tigers for killing cattle and shooting them. In the past, evidence showed that humans and tigers cannot co-exist.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) still lists these tigers as endangered. In India and Nepal, 11 main protected areas are existing to protect prime Bengal Tiger habitat. The Tiger Project, established in the 1970s, has helped stabilize Bengal Tiger populations in these reserve areas although overall populations are still decreasing. Much more work is still needed to ensure their survival in the wild.

#Wildlife #Mangrove #Rainforest

#RelaxingSound #ThunderLightning #Rain

Harris's hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus), formerly known as the bay-winged hawk or dusky hawk, and known in Latin America as peuco, is a medium-large bird of prey that breeds from the southwestern United States south to Chile, central Argentina, and Brazil.

The Harris's hawk is notable for its behavior of hunting cooperatively in packs consisting of tolerant groups, while other raptors often hunt alone. Harris hawks' social nature has been attributed to their intelligence, which makes them easy to train and has made them a popular bird for use in falconry.

The diet of Harris's hawk consists of small creatures including birds, lizards, mammals, and large insects. Harris's hawks hunt in cooperative groups of two to six. This is believed to be an adaptation to the lack of prey in the desert climate in which they live. Because it often hunts in groups, Harris's hawk can also take down larger prey. In one hunting technique, a small group flies ahead and scouts, then another group member flies ahead and scouts and this continues until the prey is bagged and shared. Harris's hawks will often chase prey on foot and are quite fast on the ground and their long, yellow legs are adapted for this. Groups of Harris's hawks tend to be more successful at capturing prey than lone hawks.

Harris's hawks are permanent residents and do not migrate. Harris's Hawks occur in semiopen desert lowlands—often among mesquite, paloverde, saguaro, and organ pipe cactus. They also frequent urban and suburban areas because these areas offer easy access to water and food (pigeons).

This species occurs in relatively stable groups. A dominance hierarchy occurs in Harris's hawks, wherein the mature female is the dominant bird, followed by the adult male and then the young of previous years. Groups typically include from 2 to 7 birds. Not only do birds cooperate in hunting, but they also assist in the nesting process. They nest in small trees, shrubby growth, or cacti. The nests are often compact, made of sticks, plant roots, and stems, and are often lined with leaves, moss, bark, and plant roots. No other bird of prey is known to hunt in groups as routinely as this species.

No accounts show predation on adults in the United States and Harris's hawk may be considered an apex predator. The Harris's Hawk isn't threatened by too many natural predators. They may fall prey to Great-horned Owls or the occasional coyote, and ravens may try to steal eggs or young from nests. But because they live in family groups, they have many eyes looking out for predators, which helps everyone stay safe.

Since about 1980, Harris's hawks have been increasingly used in falconry, They are one of the easiest to train and the most social. The ability of the Harris hawk to coordinate as a group to drive their prey into a trap demonstrates their intelligence and co-dependency; they are quick to learn and, therefore, easy to train. It is a combination of these factors that make the Harris hawk an excellent choice for the falconer and - therefore - the most popular bird of prey used in UK falconry today. Trained Harris's hawks have been used to remove an unwanted pigeon population from London's Trafalgar Square, and from the tennis courts at Wimbledon. Trained Harris hawks have been used for bird abatement by falconers in the United States at various locations including resorts and industrial sites.

#SonoranDesert #GroundSquirrel #SaguaroCactus