Most Brilliantly Colored Birds on Earth

Mandarin duck

Not a huge amount of effort goes into self preening For most men getting up in the morning, or getting ready for a big night out – because surely their fantastic personalities will win any female over!

King Vulture

King Vulture

Kingfisher Dive,,

Kingfisher Dive,,

The Cambodian tailorbird

A new bird species has been discovered in Cambodia's capital city of Phnom Penh, despite its loud call, scientists said Tuesday (June 25). http://oak.ctx.ly/r/6u7o

The Cambodian tailorbird (Orthotomus chaktomuk) has been living among Phnom Penh's 1.5 million residents but was only just described by scientists.

The Scarlet Ibis

The Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus Ruber ) by Bjørn Christian Tørrissen: The national bird of Trinidad is the only shorebird with red coloration in the world. Its graceful, long, thin bill is used to probe for food in soft mud or under plants. It eats insects and shrimp which are the source of a carotenoid which is a key component of the bird's brilliant red coloration.

our web site ► http://bit.ly/19ECLSq

Beautiful osprey in flight.

Beautiful osprey in flight.
Those who want to study or see behaviour of osprey you may find them on this live cam. Guess what it recently had 2 baby ospreys :)
http://explore.org/#!/live-cams/player/live-osprey-cam

From words to action – key organisations team up to stop the extinction crisis

From words to action – key organisations team up to stop the extinction crisis

With unprecedented species declines and more than 20,000 of the species assessed on The IUCN Red List threatened with extinction, IUCN and other organisations, including BirdLife International, come together to support the achievement of a global biodiversity target to prevent further species loss.
The partnership – Friends of Target 12 – will offer practical advice to countries in their efforts to prevent further extinctions of threatened species and improve the conservation status of those disappearing most rapidly. This will help them achieve the so-called ‘Target 12’ – one of 20 ‘Aichi Biodiversity Targets’ adopted under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Japan in 2010.
The initiative aims to bring together the knowledge and experience of government institutions, intergovernmental, non-governmental and community-based organizations, academic and professional networks and private sector companies working to conserve species and ensure their sustainable use.
Out of 65,518 species currently assessed by The IUCN Red List of Threatened Specie, 1,173 are Extinct or Possibly Extinct and 20,219 are considered threatened (i.e. in the categories of Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable). BirdLife provides the assessments for all birds on the Red List, and currently judges 1,313 bird species to be ‘threatened’. However, conservation action led by some of the organisations that are now joining the initiative has brought many species back from the brink of extinction. Examples involving BirdLife include Azores Bullfinch, Rarotonga Monarch and Mauritius Parakeet.
Some Friends of Target 12 partners have already made specific commitments as part of the initiative and more are soon to be announced. BirdLife is committing to contribute by regularly updating the IUCN Red List assessments of the status of all the world’s birds and the conservation actions needed to improve the prospects of threatened species, and making this information available to all CBD Parties. BirdLife will also regularly update the Red List Index for birds, in order to monitor progress towards Target 12. Most importantly, BirdLife is making substantial contributions towards achieving the target through implementing the BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme, a coordinated global effort to save the most threatened bird species from extinction and improve their conservation prospects.
“Many organisations and institutions around the world are contributing to the protection of species and are supporting the implementation of Target 12”, says Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, CBD Executive Secretary. “This partnership brings them together and enhances the support that we can provide to CBD Parties to finally move from words to implementation of the Aichi biodiversity targets.”

Momma Bird feeding her young!

Momma Bird feeding her young!

Beautiful Macaw in flight :)

Beautiful Macaw in flight :)

Amazing Barn Owl

Amazing Barn Owl

Imperial Pheasant.

Imperial Pheasant.

Amazing plumage

Pictures World shared Animal Pictures's photo.

Amazing plumage

Birds on a branch during a snowstorm - Marvelous photo By David Duprey

Birds on a branch during a snowstorm - Marvelous photo By David Duprey

Flying bird

How is it?

How is it?

"Time doesn't heal anything. It just teaches us how to live
with the pain."

Awesome..

Awesome..

cool cock

Blond-crested Woodpecker

Blond-crested Woodpecker

Marvelous spatule-tailed hummingbird

So cute bird
Marvelous spatule-tailed hummingbird

sex: How Ostriches Do It

As the largest and fastest flightless birds around, ostriches are one of the most recognizable bird species on the planet. But their physical stature isn't the only interesting thing about these birds — their reproductive behavior is also quite peculiar.

The common ostrich (Struthio camelus) has a lengthy breeding season that stretches from March or April to September. Ostriches don't sport flashy new feathers during this time as some other species do, but the males' necks and legs do become flushed with blood and look redder, said Matthew Evans, a behavioral ecologist at Queen Mary, University of London.

The mating strategies among the different subspecies are similar, though specifics may vary. Typically, males will defend their own small territory from their rivals, while groups of females will roam around, visiting potential mates. In a single season, males will mate with multiple females, and females will mate with multiple males.

To attract a female, a male will do a little dance — he crouches down and alternates bringing his black-and-white wings forward, one after the other. A wooed female will sit down, allowing the male to mount her from behind and inseminate her by inserting his phallus (pseudo-penis) into her cloaca (waste and reproductive orifice). In the South American ostrich, mating takes place in full view of the other females, but pairs do it in private in some other subspecies. [The 9 Weirdest Animal Penises]

Though the other females in the group will also mate with the male, he only forms a life-long mating pair with one "dominant" female. Mating complete, the male then digs a shallow hole and all of the females lay their eggs in the communal nest, with the dominant female's eggs in the center (the best spot). "The dominant female will incubate all of the eggs, and the rest of the females shove off," Evans told LiveScience. "They leave to go and start another breeding attempt with another male."

Interestingly, the males take care of the chicks once they hatch. If a child-rearing male comes across another ostrich father, they will battle and the winner will take both sets of chicks. The idea behind this chick stealing, Evans said, is that having more babies around increases the chances that an ostrich's own offspring will be spared should a hungry predator come along.