the encyclopedia of birds c

[...]... Gull RELATED SPECIES • The family Laridae contains about 82 species of gulls and terns The genus Laru is the largest in the family, containing 38 species of gulls Close relatives of the great black-backed gull include the Pacific gull, L pacificus, the common gull, L canus, the slatybacked gull, L schistisagus, and the little gull, L minutus The 7 other species of gulls comprise 6 other genera Great... glossy 440 Great Curassow • The great curassow is 1 of 7 species in the genus Crax, including the yellow-knobbed curassow, C daubentoni, the bare-faced curassow, C fasciolata, and the red-billed curassow, C blumenbachii There are 11 genera and 50 species in the family Cracidae, which includes chachalacas and guans The curassows’ 4 genera include Pauxi, Mitu, Crax and Nothocrax Great Gray Owl • ORDER... and the down-covered, black-and-whitestriped chicks hatch about four weeks later They’re carried away from the nest on their parents’ backs, nestled in their warm feathers Almost at once, the chicks can dive and, if threatened, remain totally submerged except for the bill tip When the chicks are six weeks old, the parents divide their brood and each adult feeds and protects half the chicks CEREMONY OF. .. fishes cooperatively with the dalmatian pelican in northern Greece The pelican helps the cormorant fish by blocking out the sun’s glare with its shadow In return, it picks off the fish that flee to the surface to escape the cormorant • The ancient practice of training cormorants to “fish” for their masters continues today in China A collar around a bird’s throat prevents it from swallowing fish it captures;... bright decorative plumes behind the eye, which contrast with the color of the rest of the head, as in the eared grebe, Podiceps nigricollis, of North Great crested grebe 71–79 days Lifespan The streamlined body offers little resistance when moving through the water Fledging Period Typical Diet B ody America and Europe .The horned grebe, P auritus, which occurs across the north of the same two continents,... RELATED SPECIES • There are 29–33 species of cormorant in the Phalacrocoracidae family All are aquatic and completely black or blackish with white patches Ten species are endemic to islands — they’re each confined to just a few remote islands in southern oceans The Galapagos cormorant (Phalacrocorax harrisi) cannot fly Close relatives include pelicans, gannets and boobies Great Crested Grebe • ORDER • Podicipediformes... great curassow that was kept in captivity actually continued breeding until age 23 • The name curassow comes from the island of Curacao, which is located in the Caribbean, where Europeans first discovered the bird • The great curassow is actually a relative of the domestic chicken, and is a prized game bird food & feeding The curassow flies down from the trees in its forest habitat to forage on the. .. survival With the steadily increasing supply of refuse for it to feed on, gull populations have actually increased and show little sign of declining Great Black-Backed Gull 423 Profile Great Black-backed Gull The great black-backed gull often attacks colonies of other seabirds and crushes the life from their chicks with its scimitar-shaped bill vital statistics F eet & 3 years May–June 2–3 Incubation 26–28... CEREMONY OF THE WEEDS 1 Let’s dance… Perfectly synchronized, the male and female dive together and then resurface, each carrying a clump of aquatic weed in its bill 3 Shaking of the heads… The ceremony reaches its climax with both birds elegantly rocking their heads from side to side in a beautiful, swaying dance 2 Mutual embrace… The birds move toward one another and suddenly rise up, almost touching breast-to-breast,... into the vole ? • The great gray owl can detect prey as far away as 300', and strike accurately up to 18" beneath the surface of the snow • When guarding its nest, the owl utters a menacing, piglike grunt It attacks any humans who come too close, and has plucked out eyes and broken cheekbones 4 Catch and carry With the prey gripped in its‑vicelike talons, the owl crosses the clearing to its perch and . minutus. The 7 other species of gulls comprise 6 other genera. Lesser black-backed gull g rEat B lack ‑ BackEd g ull The great black-backed gull often attacks colonies of other seabirds and crushes. species of gulls. Close relatives of the great black-backed gull include the Pacific gull, L. pacificus, the common gull, L. canus, the slaty- backed gull, L. schistisagus, and the little. leave the area completely. Meanwhile, the female scrapes a simple hollow in the soil for her clutch of eggs. She incubates the eggs for 3–4 weeks, depending on the weather. The downy chicks