The Secretary Bird Size is tall and large, and located in open grasslands and savannah of the sub-Saharan region. The Secretary Bird has a head like an eagle with yellow color around its eyes. This hunter bird has long legs covered with thick black scales to protect the leg from snake venom.
SECRETARY BIRD SIZE
The Height Of The Secretary Bird varies between 4 m to 4.3 m, but their height can increase up to 4.9 m. With a weight of 2.3 kg to 5 kg, they have an impressive wingspan of 6.2 ft to 7.2 ft and 2 meters wide.
The wings protect the Secretary Bird from the snake bite while chasing. With the curved talons on their ends, the toes are thick and strong. The secretary bird has a lifespan of 10-15 years and in captivity, it can live up to 19 years. Around the eyes, there are thick feathers and have black feathers on the end of the wing and thighs. There are black crests on the back of their head, which looks like old quill pens in their head.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SECRETARY BIRD
Crest: There is the crest on the back of the head of the secretary bird, which looks like a stock of old quill pens held by official secretaries.
Head: The head of the Secretary Bird is not large as an eagle, but has the structure of an eagle. Around the eyes, you can see the yellow and red colors and also has thick feathers.
Wings: With a wingspan of 6.2 ft to 7.2 ft and wideness of 2 meters, the secretary bird looks big.
Tail: Tail varies between 57 to 85 cm and held upright. It helps to maintain balance when running fast and also in a time of the fight.
Feet: The feet of Secretary Birds strong and have thick soles, which help to stamp the snake to death.
Plumage: The plumages are in white color and the black in end.
Legs: The legs are long with covered thick scales to protect them from the snake venom during the chase.
The robin is one of the most recognizable birds in the United States. You almost certainly have seen a robin in your yard, no matter where you live in America. The songbird is ubiquitous across the country. There is also the European robin, another incredibly recognizable garden bird found throughout Europe. However, throughout this article, we’ll focus on the American robin.
Aside from their beautiful exteriors, robins are also known for being associated with the start of spring. Seeing a robin is usually a good indication that spring is coming.
The lifespan of a robin who lives past its first year is 5-6 years in the wild. However, in captivity, they have been recorded to live for as long as 14-17 years old.
The life expectancy of a robin greatly increases if it survives to at least a year old. This is because robin offspring are often quite susceptible to environmental stressors. In fact, only around a quarter of baby robins survive their first year. However, once they surpass the first year, a robin would have acquired many important life skills that would help them to survive.
The robin’s lifespan is incredibly fragile during the first year, and it is this time that determines how long they will actually survive. Curious about how a robin goes from an egg to an adult songbird? Let’s find out!
The Average Robin Life Cycle
The robin life cycle is quite similar to many other bird species. Find out what the common life cycle stages are and how you might better sight a baby robin.
Mating
At one year old, robins are already considered adults and are able to reproduce. Mating occurs mainly from late March to June. Robins have a courting ritual in which the male sings to and then feeds the female. Male robins will sing to announce that they are looking for a mate. Once they find a mate, they will sing to assert their territory. This occurs just before the eggs hatch.
Eggs
The female will begin to construct her nest so that she may begin laying the eggs. During their initial nesting season, most robins will only lay around 3 to 4 eggs. Sometimes just two eggs are laid in the second and third nestings of the season. Robin eggs are instantly recognizable because of their beautiful blue color. After the last egg is laid, incubation lasts 12-14 days.
Twelve to fourteen days after the last egg is laid, the first baby hatches. Eggs typically hatch one day apart, in the sequence in which they were laid. These new baby birds are called hatchlings. For the next 13 days, the parents will be the main source of care for the babies. Both parents feed the young and they can have some hearty appetites. During the first four days of a hatchling’s existence, the parent birds regurgitate partially digested food into the mouth of each infant. Every day, the hatchlings consume more. Soon they are fed whole worms and large insects.
Fledgling
When baby robins are around 13 days old, they are ready to leave the nest. This means they have reached the fledgling stage, where they begin to learn to fly. When baby robins leave the nest, they are unable to fly well. To become powerful fliers, they must develop muscles and grow adult feathers. The parents will still continue to feed them for a few days, but once the mom leaves to lay new eggs, they are all on their own.
Adult
To reach adulthood, a robin must reach a full year of life. To accomplish this, they will often fly with a flock of experienced robins. The robin will continue to fly and find new ways to get food. They will then begin to prepare for winter, as many of them migrate to warmer areas during this time.
What Factors Impact the Robin Lifespan
There are many external and environmental factors that will impact a robin’s lifespan. A young American Robin’s chances of survival improve if it survives its first winter. However, even if they do survive, robins do not wind up living very long in general. To learn more about what impacts how long a robin may live, keep reading.
Predators: robins fall prey to many predators, even when they’re still only in their eggs. There are a large number of predators that will attempt to steal robin eggs from their mother’s nest. These include squirrels, snakes, crows, blue jays, and even raccoons. Once again, robins are susceptible to becoming prey. Hawks, shrikes, and owls all hunt down robins. Cats are also another predator that robins have to watch out for.
Food Availability: food availability issues can become a serious one for robins. When robins migrate during the winter it’s not usually because they can’t handle the winter. In fact, their feathers can keep them quite warm during the cold, harsh weather. The true incentive is food, or rather the lack thereof. As their diet of earthworms and insects dwindles because of the weather, robins start looking for new food. American Robins continue to be poisoned by pesticides because they graze on lawns and other open areas frequently treated with chemicals.
Collisions: every year, a few migratory robins are killed by communications towers. Other typical risks for a robin include collisions with glass, electrocution, and automobile strikes.
Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens) is uncommon to locally common along the Texas coast year round. Most inland records are post-breeding dispersal of juveniles, but they predominantly stick to the coastal areas. There are records in all regions of Texas, but the Western and Panhandle areas have limited sightings with the exceptions of the West Texas reservoirs. Outside of Texas, Reddish Egrets range along the Gulf Coast from the Yucatan around to Florida and the Pacific Coast from southern California through Central America. Most of the nesting locations are limited to small uninhabited islands that are vulnerable to tropical storms, hurricanes, and ship traffic erosion. They typically lay two to seven pale blue-green eggs in a stick nest that is built in a low tree, mangrove, or on the ground. Incubation is about 25 days and is carried out by both parents. Their preferred habitat is shallow coastal lagoons and estuaries with a diet consisting of small fish, frogs, and crustaceans.
Identification:
Reddish Egret is a member of the Ardeidae Family that consists of bitterns, herons, and egrets. Reddish Egret is a medium size egret that has a slender long neck and long legs. The bill is fairly heavy and pointed and is pink with a black tip. During the breeding season, the lores are violet. There are two morphs (Dark and White) for this species. The dark morph’s head and long neck is covered in shaggy feathers that are rufous in color. The body and legs are blue-gray in color. The white morph’s head, neck, and body are entirely white. The white morph make up approximately five percent of the population. They have a large wingspan at four feet and stand two and a half feet high. Juveniles are very similar to an adult with the dark morph being a pale color and lacking the rich rufous neck color. Their typical weight is one pound. They call infrequently except when disturbed. The call is a soft groan and a short grunt. While displaying, they will frequently clatter their bills.
Interesting Facts:
Perhaps the most interesting thing about Reddish Egrets is their hunting technique. They are very animated while hunting with their neck feathers flared, constantly prancing around, jumping and spinning, and spreading their wings.
Reddish Egret populations were devastated by commercial hunting in the late 1800s and early 1900s when they were sought for their beautiful feathers.
The population has recovered from a century ago with an estimated 6,000-10,000 breeding pairs in the continental United States. However, the species is still on the concerned species list due to the degradation and destruction of its preferred coastal habitat.
A group of egrets has many collective nouns, including a “congregation”, “heronry”, “RSVP”, “skewer”, and “wedge” of egrets.
The Rhinoceros Hornbill, Buceros rhinoceros, is the state bird of the Malaysian state of Sarawak. For some Dayak people, the Rhinoceros Hornbill represents their war god, Singalang Burong.
The Rhinoceros Hornbill lives in captivity for up to 35 years.
Distribution
They live in the Malay Peninsula, Singapore, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, and are only found in only the highest form of rain forest.
Descriptions.
The Rhinoceros Hornbill is one of the largest hornbills. Adults are about 110-127 cm (43-50 in) long and weigh 2-3 kg (4.4-6.6 lbs).
Like most other hornbills, the male has orange or red eyes, and the female has whitish eyes.
This bird has a mainly white beak and casque (the tip of the casque curves upward strikingly), but there are orange places here and there. It has white underparts, especially to the tail.
Rhinoceros Hornbill, Buceros rhinoceros
Rhinoceros Hornbill, Buceros rhinoceros Breeding
The courtship and bonding of these birds are critical, as the female must trust the male to provide her with everything when she is incubating and raising chicks.
These Hornbills lay their eggs inside tree trunks, the females stay inside with the eggs, while the male will bring her and the young food. After the eggs are laid the male collects mud, and the male and female pack that mud, food, and feces to ‘mud-up’ the tree cavity entrance. This creates a very small hole, only large enough for the male to feed the female (and later chicks) and for the female to defecate out the hole.
Once the babies are old enough (fully feathered)to leave the nest the female and male chip away the dry mud so the babies can get out.
Diet / Feeding
The rhinoceros hornbill eats fruit, insects, small reptiles, rodents and smaller birds.
Autumn 