These aerial insectivores perform acrobatic stunts over lakes and streams high in the sky in search of flying insects. Violet-green Swallows can look dark at first, but their true colors come to life when sunlight illuminates their metallic green backs and iridescent purple rumps. They are a common sight in the West in spring and summer, but they vanish to Mexico and Central America for the winter. They can be distinguished from other swallows by the white patches on the sides of their rump and their white cheeks.
Find This Bird
One of the best places to look for Violet-green Swallows is to head out to a river, pond, or lake early in the morning and keep your eyes to the sky. Watch for birds swooping and twittering over the water snatching up insects. They tend to be in groups from 10 to over 100 and they often hang out with other swifts and swallows. To pick one out of the crowd look for the white saddlebags on the sides of the rump and a clean white belly. It can be difficult to get a good look at flying Violet-green Swallows, but you might have an easier time following one with your binoculars if you spot one a little bit further away. That way the swallow won’t zip out of your field of view as soon as it enters. They often perch on power lines and dead trees, so you’ll be able to get a better look at perched birds in those spots.
Cool Facts
Violet-green Swallows have been recorded flying at 28 miles per hour—a pretty respectable speed considering that the Peregrine Falcon, the fastest bird of prey, averages about 25–35 miles per hour in traveling flight.
Sometimes late hatching young are at a disadvantage, but female Violet-green Swallows invest more antimicrobial proteins in the eggs laid later within a clutch possibly reducing infection for late hatching young and giving them a leg up.
The Violet-green Swallow is very similar to the Tree Swallow, both in appearance and habits, but it is more closely related to two other swallows found in the Caribbean: the Golden Swallow and Bahama Swallow.
A pair of Violet-green Swallows was observed assisting a pair of Western Bluebirds in raising young. The swallows guarded the nest and tended the bluebird nestlings, and after the bluebirds fledged, the swallows used the nest site for their own young.
The oldest recorded Violet-green Swallow was a male, and at least 9 years, 1 month old, when he was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in California in 1993. He had been banded in the same state in 1985.
The scientific name for Violet-green Swallow is Tachycineta thalassina. Tachycineta means fast moving and thalassina means of the sea referring to the sea-green color of their backs.
Discover various strategies you can implement to, directly and indirectly, increase your passive income through affiliate marketing.
1. Use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to Track Your Success
Earning many clicks on your affiliate links is great, but are these clicks leading to sales? Don’t waste your time on vanity metrics. Focus on the numbers that matter.
Key performance indicators (also known as KPIs) are metrics used to determine your marketing endeavors’ effectiveness. KPIs can tell you which campaign has seen the most sales, which campaign isn’t giving any valuable return, and which campaign needs tweaking.
Here are a few metrics to keep your eye on:
Click-through rate (CTR): The number of clicks in comparison to the number of views. Use this metric to review the performance of your digital ads, links, call-to-actions, and more.
Conversion rate: The number of conversions in comparison to the number of clicks. While conversions tend to be sales-related in affiliate marketing, a conversion can technically be any step you want your visitor to take. This includes downloading an ebook, signing up for a newsletter, or signing up for a demo.
Revenue by traffic source: The total income generated by different sources. Use this metric to determine which of your platforms (website, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) generate the most revenue.
Average time spent on page: The average amount of time website visitors spend on a specific webpage. Use this KPI to determine which pages are valuable enough for readers and which ones should be reviewed.
Take note of your KPIs regularly and use these analytics to help increase your affiliate sales.
2. Link to Conversion-Optimized Landing Pages
Clicks don’t automatically translate to sales. Drive your traffic to the appropriate landing pages to maximize your click potential and increase the chances of generating more affiliate sales.
Not only should your landing page be relevant, but it should also provide plenty of opportunities for users to convert.
For example, if you’re an affiliate for a travel company and your travel blog discusses French Riviera vacation packages, link directly to the company’s page where users can immediately buy those same packages.
If you’re a affiliate and your blog post discusses website security, link to our page on secure WordPress hosting.
3. Use A/B Testing to Identify Your Best-Performing Content
Conduct A/B testing to determine which version of the two elements in your campaign performs better. Apply A/B testing on webpages, blog posts, banner ads, emails, and more to find the sweet spot that generates the most affiliate sales.
Here’s how to run your own A/B test:
Choose which element you would like to evaluate. Typical choices include headline copy, call-to-actions, visuals, and layout.
Decide which KPI(s) will measure the success of the test. For instance, if you’re testing your email subject line, you will probably want to look at the open rate.
Choose a sample size (the number of tests needed to determine a winner).
Create two versions of your test, with the only difference being the test element.
Run your test.
Evaluate your results based on your pre-determined KPIs. Take note of any external factors that may have affected your test.
4. Create (Or Update) Your ‘Tools’ Webpage
No matter your audience size, a webpage listing your go-to tools and services will help your followers. After all, they do follow you for a reason.
Boost your opportunity to make an affiliate sale by linking your tool list to conversion-optimized pages or other useful content such as your personal reviews and comparison articles. Keep it up to date and easily accessible to readers.
5. Write (Or Update) Product Reviews
Reviews are powerful. 93% of customers read reviews online before purchasing a product. Your reviews can help generate traffic and increase your authority in the industry by providing value and expertise.
And, yes, you’ve guessed correctly. They can increase your affiliate sales as well!
Unsure of what to include in a review? Here are some suggestions to get you started:
What problem(s) did the product or service successfully solve?
Did it live up to its expectations?
Is it worth the price?
Would you recommend it to a friend?
What are your favorite features?
How can the product or service be improved?
Most importantly, reviews need to be honest and accurate. Affiliate marketing is about relationships. And creating a stellar review for a less-than-stellar product is a quick way to lose your community’s trust.
If you already have reviews, look them over to ensure your opinion of the product or service hasn’t changed.
6. Highlight External Reviews (For Consultants)
If you’re a freelance developer or a consultant who earns affiliate commissions, you know how tough it is to persuade your clients to subscribe to a new tool.
Backing up your recommendations with reviews from other happy customers or third-party sites is a great way to reinforce your proposal. It also increases your chances of earning an affiliate sale!
External reviews differ between industries. Some brands may have pages on their website dedicated to reviews.
Third-party review sites such as G2 and Trustpilot are also great places to look for reviews.
7. Create Comparison Pages and Listicles (Or Both)
Comparison articles and listicles are very successful content pieces in the affiliate space. Like reviews, they can increase your web traffic and authority and help generate more affiliate sales.
Comparison articles are a well-organized collection of notes on two or more products or services. They provide readers with the necessary information to make their own informed purchase decisions. Check out our comparison article on Kinsta and WP Engine as an example.
As their name suggests, listicles are articles presented in list form. This very article you’re reading is a great example of one.
Creators love them as they provide a lot of value for less effort. More importantly, readers love their easy navigation, simple format, and attractive headlines. For instance, check out our massive “76 proven tactics to drive traffic to your website” listicle.
It’s also possible to create a hybrid article that combines the features of comparison articles and listicles. Made by one of our affiliates, this article on the best WordPress hosting is a great example of effectively merging the two styles. Add links to conversion-optimized content to increase your chances of generating affiliate sales.
8. Repurpose Your Existing Content
It is tough to create new content continuously, but existing content often doesn’t reach its full potential in just one go. Please make the most out of your content by repurposing it to work over several platforms.
Use this technique to increase your affiliate sales by reaching a larger audience and getting the attention of followers you missed the first time around.
Here are some examples of how to repurpose your content:
Create a YouTube video based on content from a blog post.
Create an infographic based on the key takeaways of a blog post.
Cut your Facebook video into chunks and make a mini-series for IGTV.
Use key quotes from a blog post to create unique images for Instagram.
Create an ebook that combines the content from several related blog posts.
And if we haven’t said it enough already, link to conversion-optimized web pages wherever you can.
9. Add New Merchants to Old Content
Good quality, ‘old’ content has a lot of great SEO benefits. As it has lived longer on the internet, this content can gain organic search traffic and benefit from link sharing.
Increase the opportunity to generate affiliate sales by adding new merchants to your existing content.
And don’t stop there. Use this opportunity also to refresh the article’s content and fix broken affiliate links. Update old figures and link to your newer content and conversion-optimized landing pages. Not only will your readers appreciate it, but content updates will also entice Google to crawl your site more frequently, leading to a possible increase in search engine ranking.
10. Add Call-To-Actions (CTAs) to Your Long-Form Articles
Long-form articles are pieces of content that are typically 2000 words or longer. These articles allow you to go more in-depth on topics, are easier to adapt to evergreen content, and are often more share-worthy than the average post. They can also generate as many as nine times more leads.
11. Improve Your Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization (SEO) means getting your content to appear at the top of relevant search results.
This is important as 75% of people do not go past the 1st page of search engines. Improving your website’s SEO can have dramatic results, including putting you ahead of your competitors, increasing your organic traffic, and improving your user experience.
Keywords, URLs, alt-text, image file names, links, and site speed are just a few of the many ways to improve your website’s SEO. While not directly impacting affiliate sales, improving SEO means your website and its content will be shown to bigger audiences. The more people who engage with your content, the more likely you’ll increase affiliate revenue.
12. Drive Traffic to Localized Sites
Data shows that users prefer to browse and shop in their native language. You’re more likely to earn an affiliate sale if you drive users to a localized site.
In addition to languages, companies may have different sites for different countries. For instance, Amazon affiliates should recognize that Canadian Amazon users will shop on amazon.ca while American Amazon users will shop on amazon.com. This small difference in URLs makes a huge difference in user experience and your affiliate income.
13. Take Full Advantage of the Merchant’s Marketing Resources
Many affiliate programs offer their affiliates promotional materials to use at no extra cost. These assets can include website banners, sell sheets, logos and usage guidelines, email templates, example product copy, and more.
Increase the opportunity to convert by adding these visuals to your website and including a hyperlink to a conversion-optimized webpage. Reach out to the affiliate program coordinator to discuss the best ad placements on your site.
14. Promote Brand Discounts
Need we say more? Deals and discounts are an effective way to encourage sales, especially in affiliate marketing. Depending on the brand you’re working with, you could receive campaign goals, target audiences, promotion copy, and visuals in advance of a sale.
15. Start a Mailing List
Build your community with email marketing. Not only can you use it to reach new audiences, but it’s also another way to get more eyes on your valuable content and, as a result, more affiliate sales.
Though it may be tempting to only include affiliate links in your emails, this is a quick way to lose your audience’s trust and be seen as spam. Instead, provide value. Encourage your audience to click on various articles, and from there, direct them to convert with your affiliate links.
16. Start a Podcast
Video and/or audio podcasts are a good way to generate income through affiliate sales. In fact, 54% of podcast listeners are likely to consider brands they heard advertised on an episode.
Encourage affiliate sales by adding links and relevant content to your show notes and descriptions, as well as adding these brands to your show’s conversation. In this case, less is more.
Podcasts do have a few constraints to keep in mind. The links you want your listeners to visit may appear differently depending on the platform they’re joining from. Our best practice is to include links in your show notes and descriptions and verbally describe to listeners how to find your content.
Links aren’t the only way to generate affiliate revenue in podcasts. As your podcast grows, you could ask the brands you work with to sponsor your podcast, whether for an episode or an entire series.
17. Cloak Your Affiliate Links
Affiliate links can be lengthy, complicated, and sometimes even scary-looking, especially to non-technical users. These links also tend not to provide information on where the user will end up once they’ve clicked on it, leading to even more hesitation.
Create clean affiliate URLs with link cloaking to increase the likelihood that a user will click on your affiliate link. Don’t forget to include your affiliate disclosure on the page, so users know that your promotions are paid advertisements.
18. Leverage Your Social Media Accounts and Their Tools
The power of social media is self-explanatory today. Social media is an important tool for all brands and businesses.
Just like a website, social media is yet another platform for affiliates to build audiences, promote content, and get more action from your affiliate links. Maximize your efforts by optimizing your content for each platform and using their unique tools to the fullest. Learn more about social media image sizes in our in-depth article.
At one point, and especially if you’re a one-person-show, being active on every social media channel may not be possible. Focus on the platform(s) in which your audience is most active and that you see the most significant return in sales.
19. Leverage the Power of Facebook Groups
Affiliate marketing is based on building and developing relationships. This is important as increasing your community means more people will be introduced to your content, which contains affiliate links.
Create a private Facebook group: Interact with your community by answering questions, linking relevant blog posts or videos, and connecting with like-minded people. This group can be open for anyone to join or only available to a particular segment. For instance, members of an online class you teach or subscribers to your email list.
Join a pre-existing Facebook group: Engage with a pre-formed group within your niche to build your brand authority.
20. Increase Your Presence on Quora
Quora is a user-generated question-and-answer online community.
As direct affiliate linking is not permitted, it’s easy to pass over Quora as a platform to increase your affiliate sales. In reality, it’s the perfect example of how much give and take is required to build a community effectively.
In Quora, you can build your industry presence and authority by replying to popular questions with thorough answers that link back to your blog posts. Be mindful not to add too many links as Quora moderation is quick to remove and ban accounts they consider spam.
21. Repost Your Content on Medium and LinkedIn
Medium is a popular blogging platform that allows anyone, from amateur writers to large companies, to tell their story online. Its audience-driven platform also makes it a great medium for affiliate marketers to reach new audiences through long-form articles. On Medium, upload a previously published blog post or create a new article from scratch.
Below is a list of purple-colored birds, where the color purple/violet is the more prominent color of its plumage. It is interesting to note that most of the purple/violet colored birds seen are male species of that bird type, whereas the females of the same species may be of any other color.
Violet-Backed Starling
The Violet-backed Starling (Cinnyricinclus leucogaster), also known as the plum-colored starling or amethyst starling, belongs to the family of birds classified as Sturnidae. The species is the smallest of the Southern African starlings found widely in the woodlands and savannah forest edges of mainland sub-Saharan Africa.
The sexes are sexually dimorphic; males are brilliantly colored while females appear comparatively drab. The male is brilliantly colored with a deep iridescent violet along the length of is back, wings, face and throat. It has a bright white breast and the rest of the The eyes are brown and the bill and legs are black. The female sports brown head and back; and white underparts streaked with dark brown.
Purple Grenadier
The Purple Grenadier (Uraeginthus ianthinogaster) is common and widespread throughout east Africa. The species is found in subtropical and tropical (lowland) and dry shrubland. Adult averages 13.3 cm (5.25 in)in length and weighs 15 – 16 g (or approx. 1/2 oz.)
These striking purple-colored birds are sexually dimorphic (the male and female look different). Both sexes have a red beak and black tail. The male has a cinnamon (upperparts) with purplish-blue feathers around the eyes; and vibrant blues (face and underparts) feathers. The female is mostly cinnamon brown; breast and belly are spotted or barred white. She also has some purple on her tail feathers.
Purple Martin
The Purple Martin (Progne subis) is the largest North American swallow. The species” breeding range is throughout temperate North America. Purple Martins are very large, broad-chested swallows. They have a black bill, legs and feet; stout, forked bills, and long, tapered wings. Adults average 20 cm (7.9 in) long from bill to tail.
Adult males are iridescent, dark blue-purple overall with brown-black wings and tail. Adult females are gray on the head and chest with some steel blue sheen, and a whitish lower belly.
Purple Gallinule
The Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus) is a brightly colored marsh bird found in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas. It is also found in Central and South America and the West Indies. The species prefers swamps, lagoons, ponds and freshwater marshes, with floating vegetation.
Adults average 26–37 cm (10–15 in) in length, with a wingspan spanning 50–61 cm (20–24 in) and weighing 141–305 g (5.0–10.8 oz.)
The adult Purple Gallinule sports a stunning purple-blue plumage with a glossy green back. It has a dark purple head, neck, and underside. Red eyes and bill with a yellow tip, white under tail coverts, and long yellow legs.
Varied Bunting
The Varied Bunting (Passerina versicolor) is a stocky, medium-sized songbird common and widespread in the southern parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas in the United States and throughout most of Mexico. These brilliantly colored birds inhabit thorn forests, streamline thickets, and scrubby woodlands.
Breeding males have purple-red body with a red nape; blue crown and rump. Wings and tail are purple-blue. Females have grayish-brown plumage overall with buff underparts.
Adults average It is 11–14 cm (4.3–5.5 in) in length with a wingspan of 21 cm (8.3 in), and weighs 11–13 grams (0.39–0.46 oz).
Purple Honeycreeper
The Purple Honeycreeper (Cyanerpes caeruleus), also called the Yellow-legged Honeycreeper, is a small bird of northern South America. This is a forest canopy species, but also occurs in cocoa and citrus plantations. The sexes are sexually dimorphic; Male and female are very different in color.
The adult male has purplish-blue plumage overall with black wings, chin throat and belly. Blue tail shows two black central feathers. It has brown eyes, and bright yellow legs. Adult female has lime green upperparts, and green-streaked yellowish-buff underparts.
Purple Honeycreeper measures 11.5 cm (4.5 in) in length long, weighs 12 g (0.42 oz).
Violet-crowned Woodnymph
The Violet-crowned Woodnymph (Thalurania colombica), also known as the purple-crowned woodnymph, is a medium-sized Central and South American hummingbird. The species inhabits wet lowlands and foothills up to 2500 meters (~8,200 feet). It is a small hummingbird averaging 10.2 cm (approx.4 inches)long and weighs 4.5 grams (0.16 oz).
The adult male has a violet crown, upper back, shoulders and belly. It has green throat, breast, and lower back. The female is bright green above and duller green below, with a grey throat and breast.
Purplish-mantled Tanager
The Purplish-mantled Tanager (Iridosornis porphyrocephalus) is found in Colombia and Ecuador. Its natural habitats are humid mossy rainforests, second-growth woodland, and heavily degraded forest borders.
The species average 14 cm (5.5 in) long and weigh 20-23 g (0.7-0.8 oz). It feeds on berries and insects.
Purple Starling
The Purple Starling (Lamprotornis purpureus), also known as the purple glossy starling, is a common passerine bird common and widespread in tropical Africa. The species is typically found in scrublands, open woodlands, savannas, and cultivated areas.
Adults have a metallic purple head, crown and body. Lores are black and glossy green wings. They large yellow eyes, black beak and short tail.
Purple Starling measures around 22-27 cm (8.7-10.6 in) long, including the short tail and weighs around 91–140 g (3.7-4.9 oz).
Splendid Sunbird
The Splendid Sunbird (Cinnyris coccinigaster) is a small passerine bird found in west and central tropical Africa. This species is a common breeder in wet savannah and woodland.
Splendid sunbirds measure 15 cm (5.9 in) in length. The species is characterized by its medium-long thin down-curved bills and brush-tipped tubular tongues.
The adult male has glossy purple head and a crimson breast patch. It has dark green back, black wings and tail. The female is greenish-brown above and yellowish below.
One of the most beautiful gardens in Italy and probably of the world!
Reason 1: An Ancient Botanical Garden since 1545
First of all, this is the oldest botanical garden in the world. The Orto Botanico of Padua is the reason why all the other botanical gardens in the world were born. Founded as a medicinal vegetable garden of the city in 1545, it soon became famous worldwide, thanks to its collection of rare flowers and plants and for its beautiful settings.
Beautiful, lush, full of incredibly rare vegetation, a garden of simple medicinal plants, born to enclose exotic and rare plants with special therapeutic qualities.
The Garden was born so that the University Padova‘s students could learn to recognize the “simple herbs” more easily and was immediately surrounded by high walls to protect its “precious” plants, which came from Asia, Africa, and America.
The garden was established by the Senate of the Venetian Republic, also to remedy the great uncertainty about the identification of the plants used in the various therapies; in fact it often happened to make mistakes or run into real fraud with serious damage to health. Thanks to the creation of a public vegetable garden, students were able to recognize the true medicinal plants with ease and certainty.
With more than 500 years of activity, the Padua garden is the testimony of the fruitful exchange between different cultures and different branches of scientific knowledge.
It is structured as a square, inserted in a circle, divided into quarters, crossed by geometric patterns that change continuously: its very particular structure has remained unchanged for almost half a millennium and is imbued with geographical, astrological and perhaps esoteric meanings.
Every quarter takes its name from the imposing ancient tree that dominates it: a Ginkgo, a Magnolia, a Tamerice, an Albizia. Outside the quarters, the walk continues between the Mediterranean scrub, the aquatic plant tanks, the alpine rock, the poisonous and medicinal plants, the orange trees, and the orchids greenhouse.
Reason 2: This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Padua Garden, born as a medicinal vegetable garden, has contributed to centuries of medicine and history. Its preciousness, its beauty and the richness of its collection of plants and flowers have made it a rightful entry among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Thanks to the adventurous travels of the prefects, but also to the commercial relations of Venice, that went as far as the Far East, the Orto Botanico di Padova was the first receptacle of rare and exotic plants. Thus they appeared in Padua, for the first time in the Old Continent: the sunflower, the potato, the sesame, the agave, the lilac, the freesia and many others.
In 1997 the Botanical Garden was inscribed on the UNESCO list of cultural heritage because: “The Botanical Garden of Padua is the origin of all the botanical gardens of the world and represents the cradle of science, scientific exchanges and understanding of the relationship between nature and culture. “
Reason 3: So many plants never seen before
While maintaining the original structure, the vegetable garden has been enriched over the years with an increasing number of plants coming from every corner of the world: today there are about 6000.
In 2014 a very extensive Biodiversity Garden has been included within the Orto Botanico of Padua.
It is a futuristic structure that houses more than 1,300 species of plants from all over the world, which thrive despite the enormous differences in climate on the planet.
Here the visitor makes a journey through the vegetation of the Earth, inside technologically advanced greenhouses. Inside, the species, that are part of the popularization project, live in environments that recreate the climatic conditions of the different areas of our planet. In these environments the plants also describe their relationship with man consolidated over the centuries, used for: nurturing, healing, building.
A journey into the nature of the whole Earth, enclosed in a single casket.
Reason 4: The greatest poets and scientists were inspired by it
Not everyone knows this: the Garden has inspired the greatest poets and writers of history. First of all, Goethe, who adored Italy, and in the ancient Garden of Padua discovered and described the Palm of Saint Peter. That plant gave him an important insight into the evolution of the plants, and since then everyone calls that species Palm of Goethe.
Reason 5: It inspired all the other gardens in the world!
The Botanical Garden of Padua has inspired and influenced the creation of all the other gardens in the world. The structures, the organization and everything else in gardens worldwide often seem to imitate those of the historic garden of the famous city.
Reason 6: It is an invaluable source for science!
In the past, botany did not exist. In a period of obscurantism, where people lived in beliefs and superstitions, the Garden was born to make things clear in a world of magicians and sorcerers. The study of plants and flowers, their characteristics and properties, was born over time, and needed a place where one could exercise. And so the Botanical Garden of Padua was created.
The plants are placed above all outdoors and marked with labels that bear the scientific name of the species, as well as the initial of the author who first studied it, the family, the place of origin and the year of entry into the garden.
In recent times, a collection of poisonous plants has been set up having above all a didactic purpose and present, on the tag, the degree of toxicity.
Reason 7: People steal the plants all the time!
The Garden is so rich, so full of exceptional flowers, that it is often the victim of theft. So much so, that a real wall was created to protect it.
Reason 8: It is a museum
Since 1835, the Botanical Garden of Padua has also housed one of the most supplied natural libraries in the world. Students go there to study, to read, or even just to browse. The collection of ancient and recent books, manuscripts and herbariums makes it a unique museum in the world.
Reason 9: There is always some new plant!
The Garden is not just a collection of plants and flowers from the past. Every year new plants, new species and new guests come from all over the world. In short, the Italian saying “visto una volta, visto per sempre” does not apply here: “Seen once, seen forever”; in fact, it’s worth going back to it from time to time, if you can, and finding out what’s new.
Reason 10: It divided in 5 different areas
There are 5 botanical areas to choose from, in practice 5 different thematic areas, which divide the plants according to their habitats and provenance.
What are they?
• Mediterranean scrub
• Alpine rockery
• Thermal springs and fresh water
• Succulent plants
• Tropical orchids greenhouse
The botanical garden of Padua is a small Italian masterpiece that is worth visiting at least once in a lifetime. It will take you at least a couple of hours to visit it, make sure to bring water bottles with you, if it is a hot day!
This is marvelous national park, among the most precious of the entire planet, which has an incredible variety of plants and trees of all species.
Hope in future i could get a chance for a visit of Padova!
The kestrel is approximately 32 – 35 cm long, with a wingspan of 71-80cm. Their weight ranges from 156 to 252g.
Average Lifespan
4 years.
How to spot them
Male kestrels have a grey head and tail with a prominent black band, a gingery-brown back and a creamy underside which is speckled with black. The females are a little harder to distinguish, as they have uniform brown back and dark bands on the tail.
What to feed them
Kestrels aren’t the type to pop round your feeder for dinner we’re afraid. They are hunters, predominantly of voles. They will also hunt small mammals such as woodmice and shrews, small birds, insects and earthworms.
Nesting
Kestrels do not build their own nests. They use the old nests of crows and other birds who build using sticks. Though they aren’t fussy as will also settle in nestboxes. They will often return to the same nesting site in successive years.
The kestrel normally lays a clutch of 3-6 eggs in late April or early May. Though she is only able to produce eggs if she can get enough food. If the vole population is low, some will fail to nest at all.
Incubation takes approximately 27-29 days. The chicks require constant body heat from mum for 10-14 days, before they are able to control their own body temperature. During this time, the male provides the food for the mum and babies.
Fledging
Fledging begins at approximately four weeks old. They will explore further and further afield but will continue to roost for a number of weeks. Mum and Dad will continue to feed them until they can hunt for themselves.
There is no aggression between the chicks, which is uncommon in birds of prey. Even after fledging, the kestrels will fly, and roost together for some time.
Fun Fact
Kestrels can see ultra-violet light. They use this to locate voles by the trail of urine they leave which glows in ultra-violet light. They are also the only bird of prey capable of hovering!
Red-throated Loons are monogamous, but little is known about the longevity of their bonds or where and how pairs form. Pairs use displays to defend territories (chiefly the nesting pond and nest vicinity) against intruders, including humans. Adults may raise or lower the neck, splash-dive, slap the water with their feet (recalling a beaver tail-slap), to warn intruders, or may rush across the water with wings partly open and head extended, in threat.
Pairs are often observed in what researchers call a “plesiosaur posture,” in which they raise the body out of the water, extend the neck, raise the wings, and tip the bill downward. A similar display known as the “penguin posture” involves raising the body vertically, stretching out the neck, and pointing the head and bill downward. Males and females perform these displays typically at other Red-throated Loons who intrude on their territory.
Both parents tend and feed the young. After the young birds are several weeks old, they sometimes move to a different pond or lake. Adults and young move toward coastlines in preparation for migration, which occurs at least partly at night. Daytime movements of many thousands are often seen along marine coasts. When foraging over the ocean, this species is highly mobile and may dive for prey, much like the Northern Gannet, which occupies a similar niche in winter, though gannets can consume larger prey and forage farther from shore.
Habitat
Red-throated Loons breed in rugged tundra and taiga wetlands in both lowlands and highlands, up to about 3,500 feet elevation. Their ability to spring into flight without first pattering on the water (as other loons have to do) permits them to use small ponds for nesting. They do use larger lakes in places where larger loons are absent. In migration, they fly along ocean shorelines and also along the shores of large lakes (such as the Great Lakes), but their precise migration routes are not known. Foul weather sometimes grounds migrants in places where they would not otherwise land, such as rivers and small lakes in interior North America. Wintering birds are found only in shallower marine waters near land, and in major estuaries and sounds. They are very rarely seen far out to sea.
Food
Red-throated Loons eat a variety of fish, leeches, copepods, crustaceans, mollusks, squid, polychaete worms, and aquatic insects. Among fish they eat herring, capelin, brook trout, stickleback, sculpin, tomcod, arctic char, cod, and sand lance. When breeding, they forage away from nesting areas and nursery ponds, usually in larger lakes and rivers, often in estuaries. Red-throated Loons hunt prey by diving underwater, swimming by kicking with the legs and then grasping prey with the bill. They often locate prey first by dipping their head underwater and looking around as they rest on the water’s surface.
Nesting
Males select the nest site, usually in wetlands at the edge of a shallow, small pond or on a small island in the pond. In the high arctic, they nest on larger ponds. Nests are always built on vegetation, not on rocks.
NEST DESCRIPTION
Both male and female build the nest, either on the shoreline or in shallow water near it. Nests are mounds of moss, decayed vegetation, grasses, sedges, and mud, sometimes lined with dry grass, gathered from the immediate vicinity of the nest and formed with the feet and body. In some cases, no nest material is used, just a depression in the vegetation. Nests average about 18 inches across and about 3 inches above waterline; the interior depression averages 9.5 inches across and 1.6 inches deep.
NESTING FACTS
Clutch Size: 1-2 eggs
Number of Broods: 1 brood
Egg Length: 2.7-3.0 in (6.82-7.67 cm)
Egg Width: 1.7-1.8 in (4.41-4.55 cm)
Incubation Period: 24-31 days
Egg Description:
Elongated, with variable color ranging from brown to olive, with blotches or speckles.
Condition at Hatching:
Downy and active; capable of swimming within 12 to 24 hours.
Conservation
Red-throated Loons occur across North America, Europe, and eastern Asia. Partners in Flight estimates a global breeding population of 260,000. The group rates the species a 10 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score, indicating it is a species of low conservation concern. In the late twentieth century, scientists recorded long-term population declines of about 50%, in some cases possibly due to lake acidification. These declines appear to have stabilized. Oil spills, hunting (in northern Canada and parts of Europe), degradation of marine habitats, industrial activity in breeding areas, overfishing of prey, and entanglement in fishing nets all pose threats to Red-throated Loons.
If you’ve been thinking about starting a landscaping business or mowing company, you’re in the right place. We’ve put together a starter guide to get your business off the ground.
Here’s what we’re going to cover in this guide:
Creating a landscaping business plan
Basic equipment required for a landscaping, gardening, or mowing business
Figuring out the cost of running a landscaping business
Starting a landscaping business legally, with state registration, and landscaping licensure (if you need it!)
Getting insurance for your landscaping company
Hiring employees for your lawn care business
Marketing your landscaping business in your community
Okay! Let’s dive in.
1. First, create a landscaping business plan.
Figure out your major goals and objectives.
Always start with a plan. When you’re getting your business off the ground, it’s essential to figure out your primary goals and objectives—and how you’ll get there. And, although it might seem daunting to write up a landscaping business plan, in reality, it just means answering a bunch of common-sense questions.
Here are some questions you’ll need to answer first.
Why are you starting a landscaping business?
Before you invest significant money and resources into your new business, you’ll need to take a good look at why you’re starting your own landscaping business in the first place. Getting a business going can be stressful, and if you’re not clear why you’re in the game, it can be easy to quit when the going gets tough.
So, to avoid a premature exit, take a second right now to write down why you want to start a business. The reasons could range from “Because I’ve always wanted to be my own boss” to “Because I want to work outdoors” to pragmatic considerations, such as “I’m starting this business because I need flexibility for my kids.”
If a reason gets you motivated, it counts. (And if you aren’t particularly motivated by any of your reasons, well—it’s better to know that now.)
After you’ve defined the “why,” you’ll need to define practical expectations for your landscaping business. Your answers to the following questions will dictate a lot about how you build and advertise your company:
Is your landscaping business intended to provide supplemental part-time income? Or are you hoping to make a full-time income?
Do you plan to stay a one-person business, or would you like to grow your business to include a team?
When will you work on this business (and what will you give up to make that time available)?
It can be challenging to work through these questions, but now is the time to figure out precisely what kind of business you’re trying to build. Without a vision, you won’t know what steps to take—or even what success looks like when you achieve it. So take the time now to read 5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Start a Business and get your big picture in place for the long haul. It’s worth it.
What kind of landscaping services will you provide?
This is an important question. There are many kinds of landscaping services—from mowing and yard maintenance all the way to high-end corporate landscape design—and you’ll need to know exactly what it is that you’ll offer so you can market yourself effectively to prospective customers. To do that, you’ll need to consider three major factors:
1. Your landscaping experience
First, consider what you’re already capable of doing. If you already have a lot of landscaping experience, a landscaping degree, or a landscaping license, you can consider taking on more involved landscaping design jobs.
But if you’re a newcomer to the landscaping industry—and your main skill is cutting a perfect lawn—you definitely don’t want to initially advertise more services than you can handle.
2. The landscaping market in your area
Take a look at your competition by doing a Google search to see who’s already doing landscaping or yard maintenance in your area. What services are they offering? What are their pricing structures? And—most importantly—how could you design your business to fill a gap in the local marketplace?
For example, suppose you’ve got a lot of landscape design experience, but there’s a shortage of mowing services in your area. In that case, you might give your business a head start on cash flow by selling your yard maintenance services first, then branching out into design as your reputation grows.
3. Your target customers
Once you have a sense of what landscaping services you’d like to offer, you should solidify which customers you’re going to target (at least in the beginning).
Will you market your services to suburban homeowners? Or do you hope to pick up multi-property contracts with corporate landlords? (Whichever you choose, now is an excellent time to start putting together a list of potential clients.)
Write down exactly who you’re after—and who you’re not after. It’ll make a big difference.
How much will you charge for landscaping services?
The best way to figure out what you should charge for your services is to do the research—figure out what other landscaping companies are charging for similar services in your area. Then think carefully about your launch pricing. While you may want to offer lower prices to get your business off the ground, you don’t want to underprice yourself either—if your prices are too low, potential customers might be concerned that you don’t do quality work.
Once you’ve figured out a menu of services and prices, it’s a good idea to get a second opinion. If you have a friend or family member who currently hires a landscaper and is in the demographic you’re trying to reach, show them your cost structure and ask for feedback.
2. Next, plan your landscaping equipment needs
Landscaping is an industry that requires a lot of specialized equipment, and you’ll want to have a clear idea of what tools you’ll need to make your business launch a success. What equipment will you need to purchase to serve your first client? Make a list of your must-haves (as well as a wish list).
Here are the essential pieces of equipment needed to start a landscaping or lawn care company. (Make sure to budget for quality, too. It’s important.)
1. A truck and a trailer: You’ll need transportation to and from your worksite. If you don’t already have access to a heavy-duty truck, you’ll need to set aside money to purchase one.
2. A riding lawnmower: For maximum efficiency, you’ll want a commercial, zero-turn model.
3. A push mower: A standard push mower makes for a great tool for narrow places where a riding lawn mower cannot reach.
4. A set of good quality landscaping tools: Think hoses, shovels, and other miscellaneous tools you’ll need on the job.
5. A lawn trimmer: Also known as a weed whacker, weed trimmer, string trimmer, or line trimmer, this is a standard landscaping tool you’ll need.
6. Lawn edger: Especially important for commercial clients.
7. A leaf blower: A landscaping business standard, for sure. And not just in autumn, as they come in handy for removing grass clippings in walkways.
8. Lawn spreader: Also called a lawn seeder, this wheelbarrow-like item spreads seeds and fertilizer throughout a lawn.
9. Lawn sprayer: A much-needed tool to provide fertilizer and other liquid landscape-care additives.
10. Safety equipment: Equipment like noise-cancelling headphones, gloves, steel-toed boots, and safety goggles.
After adjusting this list to fit your needs, be sure to look up price ranges for every piece of equipment you included. You can start your research at national equipment vendors Online, but don’t forget to call your local landscaping supply stores. You’ll want to know them anyway, and it’s not too early to start forming a relationship.
3. Get your finances in order.
Now, let’s crunch the numbers. It’s time to talk about what it will cost to get your landscaping business off the ground.
How much does it cost to start a landscaping business?
Anywhere from a few hundred rupees to 40,000 or more, depending on what resources you already have. But the real question here is actually what it will cost you to start your landscaping business. And the answer depends a lot on where you are, what your experience level is, and—again—what equipment you already have at your disposal.
To figure out your startup costs, you’ll need the list of equipment—as well as your best estimate of what it will cost to purchase all of it.
Then, you’ll need to add in the following costs:
1. Business insurance
You’re going to need general liability coverage as well as a few other common business policies. (We’ll discuss this in-depth later, but in the meantime, you can get a quick quote on what you might pay for landscaping business insurance.)
2. Incorporation & licensure fees
If you’re starting a brand-new business, you’ll likely need to pay a few fees to make things official with the state. (Also, check to see if your state requires a license to operate a landscaping business. If it does, you’ll need to budget for those costs, too.)
3. Technology, website, and software costs
If you don’t have a computer to use for your business, you’ll need to get one. You’ll also need to plan on the costs of a website and any software you’ll use to manage your business |.
4. Any other costs you can think of
Be as thorough as possible in imagining what you might spend to start your business. Do you plan to get custom-made t-shirts? Do you want to set aside 5000 to advertise online? Make sure all of those costs make it into your budget.
Now that you have a projected cost, it’s time to get serious about securing funds. Some people start businesses with their own money (or with a loan from friends or family), but you can also consider getting a small business loan guaranteed by the Small Business Administration .
Whatever you decide, make sure your business plan accounts for the time it will take to get your funds in order and make any necessary purchases. (It’s pretty hard to mow lawns without a lawnmower.)
4. Next, get your paperwork in order
Now that you’ve made some high-level decisions and have a plan in place, it’s time to finalize your business name, file your paperwork, and make things official. Let’s go through that process step by step.
Pick a name for your landscaping business
You might have been considering various names for your business all along, but now’s the time to look closely at your choices and make a strategic decision about what you’ll call your new landscaping company. Here are a few guidelines to consider:
Pick a business name that’s clear about what you offer
If you run a mowing company, make sure that’s clear in the name you choose. You might even consider including the name of the service you provide, so there’s no doubt about what you do.
Putting the name of the service into your business name also has another benefit: When potential customers search online for landscaping services, they’ll have a better chance of finding your business.
Pick a name that appeals to your target market
Think about what kind of customer you’re trying to attract and name your business accordingly.
Pick a name that’s available
To make sure your business name is available, ask yourself these three questions:
1. Is it available in your area?
2. Is it available online?
3. Is it officially available?
Register your landscaping business with your state
Now that you’ve picked a name, you’re ready to make things official by registering your business name with your state and local governments. The process for registration varies by state, so you’ll need to look at your Secretary of State’s website to see what you’ll need to do for your landscaping business.
Do you need a gardening license or landscape license?
In some states, you’ll need a landscaping license (sometimes called a gardening license) to operate your business legally . Each state’s licensure process is a little different, but here’s a quick overview of how to get a license in a few example states:
5. Landscaping insurance (Yes, your business needs to be insured!)
Even if your landscaping venture is starting small, you still need to protect yourself and your business with the right business insurance. Without the right policy, you could be one accident away from an expensive liability lawsuit .
Here’s the landscaping insurance you need for your business
General Liability Insurance
Business Property
Business Owner’s Policy
Workers’ Compensation Coverage
Equipment Breakdown Coverage
6. Get your hiring documents together
Now we need to talk about hiring. First off, know that you might be able to start your company with just one employee—you. But if you think you’ll need a team right away, you’ll need to take some time to prepare for the landscaping business hiring process. To get you started, here’s a quick checklist of to-dos:
7. Make a marketing plan for your landscaping business
It’s time to get some customers. Finally! To do that efficiently, you need to consider who you’re trying to attract (remember your business plan?) and then figure out the best way to reach them. This is one of the most crucial steps in starting a landscaping company (and then staying in business!). Here are some possibilities.
How to market your landscaping business
Personal connections
This is one of the best ways to get started. When you’re ready to start taking work, put the word out in your personal network. (Be sure to ask for testimonials after those initial jobs are done, too.)
Social media
If you’re willing to do the research (and you definitely should do the research), social media ads can be a good way to reach potential customers. Don’t limit yourself to Facebook, either—niche social media sites like NextDoor and Houzz can provide high-quality leads.
Website
You need a website. (Seriously, you do.) Luckily, you don’t need to know anything about web development to make one—try Wix, Weebly, or Squarespace for super easy, drag-and-drop website building.
Online search
If Google can’t find your landscaping business, your customers can’t either. So sign up with Google My Business and take the time to set up your search profile—it’ll pay big dividends. It’s best practice to set up a LinkedIn profile, too, if you don’t have one already.
Business cards, brochures, and door hangers
It’s a bit old school, but putting your services on paper can be an effective part of a launch strategy.
Word-of-mouth marketing
This strategy takes a while to get going, but when it starts working, it really works. Once you have a handful of happy customers, ask them candidly to recommend you to their friends, family, and online communities. Link to Yelp and Facebook on your website. You can even offer your best customers a referral discount for any new customer they send your way. (Good customers tend to know other good customers.)
Any other tips for running a successful landscaping business?
Yep. If you want to run a profitable landscaping business, you’ll need to pay attention to what’s happening in the world of landscaping and stay up to date on industry conversations. So if you haven’t already, now is a great time to dive into landscaping periodicals and online message boards.
Nature is proven to be beneficial for our health, happiness and general wellbeing. So when it’s time to get away from it all on holiday, it makes sense to enjoy new surroundings that will bring us the maximum feelgood factor. Whether you’re a green-fingered gardening enthusiast looking for inspiration, or simply want to soak up the amazing feeling of strolling through beautiful gardens, we’ve found nine of the best holiday destinations that have remarkable botanical gardens.
Madeira
With a balmy climate and unique geography, it’s no wonder the island of Madeira is home to some glorious flowers. This centers on Madeira Botanical Garden, which covers an immense area of 80,000m², with much of the grounds overlooking the glinting ocean beyond. Explore Madeiran indigenous and endemic species, medicinal and aromatic plants, palm trees, cycads and a wonderful arboretum. Another celebration of all things floral on the island is Madeira Flower Festival, with two weeks’ worth of activities every May and amazing flower walls to enjoy.
Madeira’s love of flowers is so prominent that the island even has botanical garden hotels to stay in. Quinta Splendida Wellness & Botanical Garden is a hotel in the charming village of Caniço, with an idyllic setting on a property boasting 30,000m² of landscaped botanical gardens and more than 1,000 species of plants. When staying here, it’s possible to soak up nature daily while enjoying the 19th century manor house hotel and one of the largest spas on the island.
Bermuda
Bermuda Botanical Gardens covers an immense area of 145,000m² and has everything from sub-tropical fruit trees and Banyan tress to hibiscus, cacti and orchids. There’s also an aviary to explore as well as formal gardens and an aromatic garden. Located in the parish of Paget, this locality has plenty of other amazing natural surroundings to explore too, including Elbow Beach and it’s well-preserved coral. Coco Reef is the perfect place to stay here, with views of Bermuda’s pink sandy beaches and azure waters.
Mallorca
This Balearic Island is home to Sóller Botanic Garden, a celebration of the flora and fauna of the Mediterranean and the native species of the Balearic Islands in particular. Explore medicinal plants, the cactus collection and autoctonous fruits in the small but perfectly formed botanical garden, which is found to the backdrop of some of Mallorca’s most stunning mountain scenery. The Museum of Balearic Natural Sciences is also on-site for those who want to find out more about the island’s natural wonders
Sóller itself is one of Mallorca’s prettiest towns, surrounded by orange groves and set around a quaint square with pavement cafés. The Gran Hotel Sóller is the ideal place to stay – a gloriously restored 19th century building with a rooftop pool, cocktail area and two highly-acclaimed restaurants.
Tenerife
The 18th century botanical garden in Tenerife’s Puerto de la Cruz has a fascinating history. Spain’s King Carlos III wanted to bring exotic plants and trees from Central and South America to decorate his Madrid palace, but he needed somewhere for the plants to become acclimatised to a different environment en route. It was decided Puerto de la Cruz was the perfect place and it subsequently grew into the 20,000m² botanical garden it is today. This is a place to explore hundreds of tropical and subtropical plants, as well as a 200-year-old fig tree.
The ideal place to stay is in Hotel Botanico, one of the most luxurious hotels in Tenerife located opposite the botanical gardens. Soak up extraordinary views of Tenerife’s other natural wonders such as the Orotova Valley and Mount Teide, indulge in a treatment at the hotel’s award-winning Oriental Spa Garden and dine decadently every day at a choice of high-end restaurants.
Italy
The Borromean Islands on Lake Maggiore are home to a botanical garden unlike anywhere else in the world. The largest island – Isola Madre – is just 220m wide and 330m long. The grand Palazzo Borromeo was built on the island in the 16th century and impressive gardens have surrounded it ever since. This island botanical garden is especially well known for its seven terraced gardens, the Himalayan rhododendrons in ‘The Hunchback Meadow’ and the largest cypress in Europe, which originally hails from Tibet.
Aside from the botanical garden, Lake Maggiore itself is a wonderful locality for nature lovers to enjoy a holiday, with plenty of opportunities for activity and fresh air on the lake or in the surrounding mountains. The town of Verbania not only enjoys easy access to Isola Madre, but is home to other gardens of its own, including the Villa Taranto Botanical Gardens and Villa San Remigio, which between them have gardens covering an area of 240,000m².
The prime place to stay in this Italian center of botanical gardens is Grand Hotel Majestic in Verbania with lake views, high-end cuisine and its own enchanting gardens to find yet more respite from the world.
Malta
The heart of Malta is home to one of the island’s best kept secrets – the San Anton Gardens. Surrounding San Anton Palace, home of the Maltese President, these gardens have been available to visit since the 1880s. With a variety of trees and plants from around the world – from palm trees to jacarandas – there are also elegant walkways, ornamental ponds and an orangery. Some of the trees in the gardens are more than 300 years old. It’s a longstanding tradition that any visiting heads of state to the palace plant a tree in the gardens to forever mark their stay in Malta.
The botanical gardens are located near the picturesque village of Attard. Appropriately, the village motto is ‘Florigera Rosis Halo’, which means ‘I perfume the air with my blossoms’. There’s no better place for garden-lovers to stay in Malta than the Corinthia Palace Hotel and Spa in the village. A restored 19th century villa, this glamourous hotel also has its own landscaped gardens ripe for guests to explore.
St Lucia
This Caribbean island is home to a 24,000m² natural delight, in the form of a botanical garden and a breath-taking waterfall all in one location. Diamond Falls Botanical Gardens in Soufriere has a vibrant array of flora ranging from hibiscus to heliconia. A nature trail allows visitors to take in yet more of the natural beauty, as well as some of the history, of the estate. The Diamond Waterfall is full of minerals that gives it a surprising rainbow effect, while mineral baths and a spa on the estate make the most of the healing properties of the waters found here.
Soufriere itself is the perfect place to make the most of St Lucia’s natural attractions, with the Petit Piton and Gros Piton mountain peaks, pristine beaches and geothermically active localities. The area boasts a number of hotels that make the most of the awe-inspiring surroundings, whether it’s hotels with perfect views of the Piton peaks in Anse Chastanet or Val des Pitons, or overlooking the volcanic ridge at Jalousle.
La Palma
The Canary Island best known for agriculture is also home to a unique hotel that boasts its very own botanical garden. Hotel Hacienda De Abajo in the town of Tazacorte is on the site of a 17th century sugar cane plantation. While the mansion has been lovingly restored, the former plantation’s grounds have become a garden of exotic botanic rarities. Found across flowerbeds, pergolas, banks, ponds and ornamental pools, rare plant species from the Americas and Africa have found a home. The old garden of the sugar plantation also has banana plantations and fig, orange, lemon, quince and mulberry trees. A magical place to explore, this hotel and botanical garden rolled into one is a true inspiration.
Gibraltar
The overseas territory of Gibraltar fits a lot into its surface area despite its small size, and the 60,000m² Gibraltar Botanic Gardens – also known as the Alameda Gardens – is one of the wonderful surprises waiting to be discovered. Dating back to 1816, the gardens were created by a British Governor of Gibraltar so that soldiers stationed there would have a pleasant recreational area. Some of the trees in the gardens are subsequently at least 200 years old, and some even pre-date the formal initiation of the gardens, such as a 300-year-old dragon tree. There is an abundance of other unusual trees and plants to be discovered here, from wild olive and Australian Silk Oak, to Cape Honeysuckle from South Africa and the very rare Gibraltar Campion.
The perfect place to stay near the gardens is The Rock Hotel. Built directly into to the limestone cliff, The Rock Hotel overlooks the botanical gardens and offers incredible views over the Bay of Gibraltar too.
European bee-eaters (Merops apiaster) have a broad distribution covering much of Europe and Africa with range estimates up to 11,000,000 square km. These migratory birds can be found as far north as Finland and range as far south as South Africa, extending east into some Asiatic countries as well. Most commonly, European bee-eaters will breed and nest in southern Europe, then migrate south during autumn and winter.
Habitat
European bee-eaters are commonly found near freshwater systems and inhabit a variety of habitat types such as forest, savanna, shrubland, grassland, and agricultural areas. The habitat for nesting can be specific involving only river systems or gravel pits with steep exposed banks. European bee-eaters have also been found to dig burrows directly into the ground. Food availability can determine the habitat occupied by European bee-eaters. Many agricultural fields use bee-hives for pollination and M. apiaster will frequent those areas.
Physical Description
European bee-eaters are mid-sized insectivores that have dark, thick, and slightly downward curved bills. A bright yellow chin and throat patch meet a blue chest that extends down to the flanks and belly. Dark lores and eye-stripe are contrasted by a white patch above the upper mandible and lower white eye-stripe extending from the lower mandible. A dark chestnut color covers the crown and nape, becoming lighter in color on the back. Upper tail coverts are variable, ranging from green to blue, with most of the tail being blue. Wing lengths average 44 cm for males and 49 cm for females. Weights of European bee-eaters are similar in males and females and range from 44 to 78 g. Total body length ranges from 27 to 30 cm.
Males and females, very similar in coloration, can be distinguished by the hue of the greater coverts, being a chestnut in males and greenish-blue in females, and by the median coverts, where males are a chestnut and females have a greenish hue. Juveniles can be distinguished from adults by the color of the iris. In mature adults the iris is a vibrant red and juveniles will have a grayish-olive-red color. Also, the chestnut color found in adults is only green in juveniles.
Reproduction
European bee-eaters are monogamous and will generally stay together from year to year if both survive. Courtship feeding has been observed of some male European bee-eaters, where the male will bring food to the female a couple days before, during, and after egg laying. Roughly 20% of nesting pairs have 1 to 4 helpers that exhibit cooperative breeding, where a non-breeding male, likely a close relative, will assist the nesting pair by sitting on the nest and catching prey for young.
In central Europe, most European bee-eaters return to their breeding range in late April or early May. They will mate in May and dig out burrows around 1 m deep in sand pits or steep river banks. Females lay 4 to 7 eggs in late May to early June. They are laid in 2 day intervals and incubated 3 to 4 weeks before hatching asynchronously.
Before young fledge asynchronously at around 4 weeks of age they undergo weight loss to reduce their weight closer to that of an adult. Asynchronous Hatching and fledging is thought to help offset sibling
rivalry and allow better care of young with a variable food source like flying insects. Juveniles become independent at 1 to 2 months of age. Sexual maturity is reached within the first year, though juveniles are not always successful at breeding in their first year. Juveniles may come back to the same colonies and nest near relatives such as parents or siblings. These juveniles may become family helpers if they fail to nest.
They are either solitary or colonial nesters. One study found a negative effect on nest success with increasing colony size. Isolated pairs with equal clutch size had a higher rate of nesting success. It is thought that colonial breeding could still be worthwhile if it increases adult survival.
Both male and female European bee-eaters participate in excavating the underground nesting burrow. After the eggs are laid, the pair shares incubation responsibilities. Chicks are born altricial, without feathers and eyes closed, and rely on significant parental care for survival. The male “helper” will also share incubation and feeding duties, but is not as reliable as the breeding pair. Both parents provide food and protection for young until fledging. Some male European bee-eaters will continue to feed the female for several days during and after egg laying.
Behavior
European bee-eaters are migratory, diurnal birds that spend most of their time foraging for food. It is common to see them sitting at a perch scanning for prey, then flying out catching a prey item and coming back to the perch to subdue and consume it. These birds are often found nesting in colonies, but may also nest singly as well. Mixed colonies of European bee-eaters and blue cheeked bee-eaters (Merops persicus) can be found foraging together without competition because of minimal diet overlap.
Food Habits
As their name implies, European bee-eaters’ diet consists of bees ranging in size from large to small (Hymenoptera), but also includes dragonflies (Ondonata) and other flying insects. Bee-eaters are quick on the wing and agile for catching flying insects. When catching insects they will grasp them by the midsection, fly back to perch, and hit them against their perch until movement ceases. When catching stinging insects they will immobilize them and hit the sting against the perch to pull or rip it out, and then toss the prey up vertically to swallow. Breeding pairs of European bee-eaters continue to feed their fledglings until the young birds learn to successfully catch and eat insects.
Amongst other things, we have been so preoccupied with social media and the internet that hardly anyone contemplates reading books. While some maybe too busy to read, others merely don’t care to read.
There are many benefits to reading, from making you smarter to improve your reading and writing skills. If you want to understand what benefits one could reap from developing the habit of reading, then we have enlisted the top benefits here.
1. Stimulation For Your Brain
When you read every day, you stimulate your mental activity. Numerous studies have been conducted to understand the benefits of reading.
As per a study, one of the prime benefits of reading books is slowing down mental disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Dementia . It happens since reading stimulates the brain and keeps it active, which allows it to retain its power and capacity.
Every part of our body needs exercise to stay healthy, and the same goes for our brain. Reading gives it regular exercise and keeps it healthy and sound.
Even playing games like chess or solving puzzles results in cognitive stimulation .
Atomic Habits: The life-changing million copy bestseller
2. Stress Reduction
Everyday concerns will keep bothering you unless you do something to divert your mind. Reading gives you that mental space to occupy yourself with something more interesting.
When you read a great story, all your stress seems to slip away and relax you since you tend to travel mentally in a different realm. Sometimes while reading, you come across valuable advice or solutions to your problems.
3. Knowledge-Enhancement
Reading Important to Enhance the Knowledge
Since the onset of civilization, we have grown and developed mentally. Many learned scholars give credit to the erudite tomes written by our predecessors for our knowledge. The importance of reading books is now more than ever since. Not everything is available in digitalized form.
There are numerous ways to learn more about life, from self-help books to reading fiction. Even when you feel demotivated, you can read an inspirational biography to lift your mood. One of the great benefits of reading books is that the knowledge you gain from them can never be taken away from you. Unlike worldly possessions, your knowledge will stay with you till the end of time.
My First Library: Boxset of 10 Board Books for Kids
4. Vocabulary Expansion
If you are not yet convinced on why reading books is important, this might interest you. When you develop the habit of reading, you enhance your vocabulary. Reading any type of book can improve your vocabulary to an impressive extent.
Having great command over the language is known to help many in their professional and academic life. Moreover, with better vocabulary knowledge, you get to fill yourself with self-confidence when sitting in a group with a knowledgeable audience.
You can also expect to learn new languages when you develop the habit of reading various books every day.
5. Memory
Regular reading is a great exercise for your brain. If you read a fictional book, your brain is forced to remember the names and nature of various characters. Going back to their history and remembering events or plots is fun and improves your memory.
One of the greatest benefits of reading daily is that your brain becomes super powerful. An amazing fact about our brain is that it can retain a great amount of information, and with every new memory, your brain creates new brain pathways or synapses. .
Moreover, it strengthens your existing memory, helps to recall short-term memory, and stabilizes mood. . How cool is that?
If you are intrigued by this information, how about learning to boost your memory and become 10x smarter by checking out this technique!
Ikigai: The Japanese secret to a long and happy life
6. Stronger Analytical Thinking Skills
If you are still wondering what other benefits of reading regularly are, consider this! One of the most amazing benefits of reading every day is that it can improve your analytical skills. Reading mystery novels helps you develop skills that can assist you in problem-solving.
While reading a novel, the disclosure is pretty slow, and your mind is forced to predict or make guesses. Upon disclosure, you get to connect the dots. It’s fun to make your brain smarter and enhance your analytical skills.
Subconsciously the brain is trained to think more smartly and develop strong analytical skills. You can expect to gain from this in your personal and professional life.
7. Focus and Concentration
One of the worst things that technology has done is make us lazy. Almost everything is available with ease. We hardly make an effort to focus on solving issues or concentrate on bringing about any improvement.
You can see where we are going with this. You can agree that we even tend to get lazy and don’t even put an effort to remember things. Simply put a reminder on the phone, and that’s it!
While reading can bring back the lost power of focus and concentration. If you feel that using modern technology lowers our productivity, then develop the healthy habit of reading every day.
Keeping yourself occupied with reading for about 20 to 30 minutes can be great for your brain. It can help you with better focus and concentration. You may have been doing it wrong for those who still find it difficult to develop focus or concentrate properly
8. Better Writing Skills
If you read more, you will naturally become good at writing skills. Since your vocabulary and pronunciation improve by reading regularly, it eventually makes you a better writer.
We are not just talking about writing fiction, books, novels, etc. Even when writing something in everyday personal and professional life, your writing skills would have improved with regular reading.
The more you read, the better your writing skills will become. You would tend to focus on various aspects of writing that would allow you to write more effectively than others.
9. Tranquility
Don’t you sometimes feel like just getting away from all the hustle and bustle of everyday nonsense? But it’s not always cost-effective to plan a trip to get some time in solitude.
Reading a book allows you to gain similar tranquility. What’s more interesting is that people suffering from high blood pressure or anxiety can find peace in reading.
Reading self-help or spiritual texts uplifts your soul and makes you feel better. Whereas people suffering from mood disorders can also feel better with reading habits.
10. Free Source Of Entertainment
We do spend on movies and music, but why? It is for entertainment, isn’t it? Then why not simply read books with the same purpose? You would be surprised to know that some of your favorite movies or TV series were made after getting inspiration from some of the greatest novels.
What’s more interesting is that reading books would cost a lot less and keep you entertained for longer. Just At to the local library can introduce you to numerous entertaining novels. You can find books on any topic that you find interesting and keep yourself entertained.
If you cannot go to the library or do not have access to any library nearby, you can even scout for them on online sources. Numerous online stores have free e-books to read.
Final Thoughts
From health benefits to getting smarter, there are numerous benefits that regular reading can offer. You can expect to enhance your knowledge about so many things if you just develop this habit of reading books regularly. It might appear boring unless you start, but once it is assured, once you get a grip of reading, you will be thanking yourself for this habit.
.jpg)
.jpg)
_-_Summer_plumage_breeding_adult2.jpg)
Autumn 