birds

Bird Brain!

We’re off to the mountains of the northeastern United States to meet one amazing bird today! These birds have memories that are hard to match! Come meet the Clark’s nutcrackers!

Range/Habitat: Northwestern United States/mountainous forests

Diet: Omnivore: seed, insects and small animals
Length/Weight: 10-11 inches/3-6 oz
Conservation Status: least concern

Fun Facts:

• These birds stay active in the winter and therefore must have food all year round even with snow on the ground.
• Clark’s nutcrackers store thousands of seeds a year and remember where most of them are stored.
• Clark’s nutcrackers are members of the crow family.
• They have a special pouch under their tongue that can hold up to 150 seeds at a time.

• Clark’s nutcrackers are essential for the seed dispersal of several species of pine trees!
• Clark’s nutcrackers were discovered on the famous expedition by Lewis and Clark!
• Both male and female nutcrackers incubate the egg.
• Clark’s nutcrackers bond for many years.

Clark’s nutcrackers have amazing capabilities! These birds form maps in their minds of where they have stashed thousands and thousands of seeds! It’s like if you close your eyes you can picture where things are in your bedroom- but on a much bigger scale! It is truly awe inspiring! Go Clark’s nutcrackers!

MEET PROFESSOR BAXTER!

Hello! I am Baxter the Blue Footed Booby and I am the new professor of birds here at the University of Ellie and Edmond. I’m going to tell you a bit about myself today!

I hail from the Galapagos Islands which are located off the coast of South America in the Pacific Islands.
I am sea bird. I fly far off the coast of the islands looking for my favorite foods, anchovies. We Blue footed boobies are excellent divers. Luckily, the University keeps a supply for me in the cafeteria.
My favorite thing to do in the world, is dance! I use my famous blue feet to attract female blue footed boobies! We apparently looked funny to the Spanish explorers who first saw us. The word Booby is thought to come from the Spanish word “bobo”- meaning “stupid”. I’ll admit we are bit silly looking when we dance, but it sure is fun!
I’ll be sharing my knowledge of birds here at the University with all of our new students! Besides giving you the basics, we’ll be meeting bird species from all around the world! I’m excited to share the world of all of my feathery friends!

BUILD A NEST AND THEY WILL COME!

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and we wanted to talk birds! We met some birds who do some fancy building when they are looking for a mate! First up- the Bowerbird!

• Male Bowerbirds build large courtship sites.
• They build a tunnel like avenue and courtyard called a bower!
• Bowerbirds live in Australia.
• A female will inspect the bower and decide if the male is worth mating with.
• Watch this video by David Attenborough about these birds!
• Scientists also think Bowerbirds make an optical illusion with their bowers! These birds are soooo cool!

Meet the Hammerkop

• Hammerkops live in Africa and Madagascar.
• A pair of hammerkops build a nest together.
• The nests can be up to 5ft across, can have many chambers and weigh up to 55 lbs.
• They are wading birds.
• They build the largest nest of any bird in Africa.
• Abandon nests are used by many other species.

These two species of birds are quiet amazing! That is loads of work to attract a mate and have chicks! We are tired just thinking about all that nest building! Anyone out there planning on building a nest for their Valentine this year?

RED FEET NOT BLUE…

Did everyone get our We Spy animal yesterday? It was the Blue Footed Booby, one of our most favorite birds! Today we’re near the Galapagos Islands and we’re meeting a the Red Footed Booby! Those blue footed birds get the spotlight often, but we were really interested in meeting their sea going cousins! Come join us as we find these amazing birds!

Habitat/Range: Tropical/subtropical Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans

Weight/Length: 30-39 oz/25-30″

Diet: Carnivore: fish, squid

Conservation Status: least concern

Fun Facts:

• Red footed boobies are the smallest member of the booby bird family.
• They feed at sea, but nest and land in coastal areas.
• Red footed boobies can dive up to 98 ft in to the water to catch their prey.
• Red footed boobies can close their nostrils when diving!
• They live in large groups called colonies.
• Red footed boobies do not migrate.
• Both male and female red footed boobies take care of the egg and chick.
• Red footed boobies can live up to 20 years!

These birds had us laughing! They are quiet loud and playful as a group! Those red feet are hard to miss! We giggle every time we see them!

We’re Talking Turkey!

We’re talking turkeys today! We love these amazing birds! Wild turkeys are often under appreciated if you ask us! Come learn some fun facts about turkeys!

• Turkeys live in North America. They are found throughout the U.S.
• Turkeys can fly! They have around 5-6 thousand feathers!
• Male turkeys are more colorful than females. Males have the beards and the big fanned out tail.
• Male turkeys are called gobblers and females are called hens.
• Turkeys can run up to 25 mph!
• Turkeys can fly up to 55 mph! Who knew?
• Baby turkeys are called poults!
• Turkeys live in open areas and woodland habitats.
• Turkeys are omnivores. They eat nuts, seeds and insects.
• By the early 1900s there were only 30,000 turkeys in North America, but with conservation efforts there around 7 million wild turkeys today!
• You can hear a turkey’s call up to a mile and half away! Wow!

We bet you had no idea how cool wild turkeys real are! We hope you’ll have a better appreciation for these majestic birds! We know we sure do! Let’s go Turkeys!!