Video – Turn Right and Keep Going

118. Friday’s Flyer: Masai Ostrich

Masai Ostrich *

The Masai Ostrich, also known as the Pink-Necked Ostrich or the East African Ostrich, is one of the 4 species of ostriches.
It’s found in Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Somalia. It is one of the largest birds in the world, second only to the Northern-African Ostrich.
It has loose, soft, smooth feathers, which are black with white on the male, and grey brown with white on females.

The Masai Ostrich has a pink neck and thighs, that become brighter in males during the mating season.

It’s a flightless bird, as its wings are too small to lift its heavy body into the air. But it’s fast, reaching speeds up to 45 miles an hour.

Like other ostrich species, the top hen lays her eggs first, then other females put their eggs in her nest. After that, she discards the extra eggs from the nest and gives hers the priority. In most cases the nest doesn’t contain more than 20 eggs although every hen can lay 7 – 10 eggs.

The male Masai ostrich usually incubates eggs during the night shift and the female does the incubation during the day shift.

Masai ostriches are almost entirely herbivorous. Their diet consists mainly of grasses, bushes, herbs, succulents, and leaves. Occasionally they will consume flowers, fruits, seeds and small lizards.

Today the Masai Ostrich is hunted and farmed for eggs, meat, and feathers. Interestingly, a 2009 study found that illegal hunting of ostrich meat did not significantly affect the Masai Ostrich population density within the Serengeti National Park.

Source: National Geographic, YouTube (Time: 1:06)

The Masai Ostrich is listed as a species of “least concern” under the IUCN Red List, although the wild ostrich populations are acknowledged to be in decline.

* Why feature the Masai Ostrich?

A couple of posts this week centered on Maasi handiwork, so I picked a bird with the word “Masai” in its name. Simple as that.

98. Friday’s Flyer: Birds Everywhere

Consider Them All*

Source: Public Radio International, Photo credit:Amir Cohen/Reuters

There are roughly 11,000 species of birds in the world.
During this week in which we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, it is especially alarming to hear that nearly 40 percent of the world’s birds are facing significant decline.
Among the threats to these creatures are habitat loss, deforestation, climate change and severe weather, plastic and pesticide pollution and illegal trafficking.

Source: *The Newsstand.com, Clemson University*

Despite Covid-19’s grip all around the world, professor, author and ornithologist Dr. Drew Lanham finds that birds give us one of the best tools we have for coping in today’s oppressive environment: hope.
When speaking of his bird/hope connection, Lanham will sometimes cite a first line of Emily Dickinson. “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers.”

In 2018, Lanham was the recipient of the National Audubon’s Lufkin Prize for his tireless advocacy to protect birds, his lifelong dedication to environmental health and his efforts in building a new generation of conservation leaders.

Some might view an Earth Day celebration amid a worldwide pandemic as a nonsensical, pointless exercise, but Dr. Lanham sees an optimistic future from back of his binoculars.
He observes his beautiful birds, knowing that the things they need to survive (clean air, pure water and healthy, balanced ecosystems) are the same things upon which people rely. So he continues the work of protecting our planet, believing that it is a solid, smart investment that will pay off for generations.

Source: The Nature Conservancy, On Earth Day, Nature is a Part of Us

“Conservation really means feeling deeply enough for something that you’re willing to save some for others. I think the word for that is ‘love’. And I think conservation is ultimately an act of love.” – J. Drew Lanham, PhD

Birds symbolize wisdom. Just ask an owl.
Birds define grace and strength. Watch as they lock their outstretched wings and soar effortlessly overhead.
Birds epitomize freedom, migrating to where they please, when they please.
Birds are our first musicians, and they all play a different tune.
They’re our link between heaven and earth.

We should be doing a better job maintaining that link.

“Stop and listen for the birds,” instructs Lanham. “If you can’t hear the birds, something is amiss.”

Source: The Nature Conservancy, Birds are Why He Flies Free and Stays Hopeful, YouTuve (Time: 2:47)

* Why feature all birds?

It’s Earth Day Week. That’s why.

BirdLive International is on a campaign to make a healthy natural environment a human right.

In an open letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Birdlife International marked the 50th anniversary of Earth Day by calling for the UN to take a bold and unprecedented step: declare a healthy natural environment a fundamental human right.
The letter calls on the UN, as part of its response to the coronavirus pandemic, to add an ‘Article 31’ to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – enshrining a universal right to a healthy natural environment, guaranteed by public policies, governed by sustainability and by scientific and traditional indigenous knowledge.

75. Friday’s Flyer: Cattle Egret

“As our city streets quiet, as people hang back from parks and paths,
and the busy noise of daily life recedes,
listen for the birds.”
David Arnold, President of the Nat’l Audubon Society

Cattle Egret *

*Click on an image to view in a full page scrolling carousel.*

The cattle egret has a relatively short, thick neck, a sturdy bill, and a hunched posture. It spends most of its time in fields rather than streams.
The cattle egret’s breeding plumage highlights its beautiful peach feathers, and it often appears to be wearing spiked topknots. Its legs and feet even change from black to a dramatic orange.

Cattle egrets feed on a wide range of prey, particularly insects, especially grasshoppers, crickets, flies (adults and maggots), and moths, as well as spiders, frogs, lizards and earthworms.
They forage at the feet of grazing cattle, heads bobbing with each step, or ride on their backs to pick at ticks.

https://videopress.com/v/uwmjbP3o?preloadContent=metadata

Sonyanga Ole Ngais, a Maasai Warrior Saves a Cattle Egret

* Why feature the Cattle Egret?

This is the last day of what has turned out to be Elephant Week, and elephants have a special relationship with the cattle egret.
The cattle egret, while relieving the elephant of parasites, receives a free meal and a free ride as the elephant walks along. But the egret enjoys this same kind of relationship with a number of different mammals.
Elephants, on the other hand, aren’t involved in any other symbiotic relationships except that of the cattle egret. For the elephant, it’s the cattle egret only.

59. Friday’s Flyer: Secretary Bird

Secretary Bird *

*Click on an image to view one at a time in a full page carousel.*

Adult Secretary Birds have a featherless red-orange face and black coloring on the wings, thighs and elongated central tail feathers. They also have very long eyelashes.
The Secretary Bird gets its name from its crest of long feathers that look like the quill pens office workers tucked behind their ears in the 1800s.

Secretary Birds walk up to 20km a day in search of vipers, cobras and other snakes.
They are good fliers and nest and roost high up in acacia trees at night.

https://videopress.com/v/6ixL1mKX?preloadContent=metadata

Source: American Scientist

Researchers in Hampshire, England have been studying the kicks of a male bird called Madeleine. They’ve found that when a secretary bird kicks a snake in the head, the killer blow can transfer five times the bird’s own weight in a hundredth of a second.
They say that studying extreme examples of animal movement could help design fast-moving robot limbs or prosthetics.

*Why feature the Secretary Bird?

I was drawn to the bird because it reminds me of how one of my aunt used to apply her make up.

Its kick is pretty impressive too.

52. Friday’s Flyer: Saddle-Billed Stork

Saddle-Billed Stork *

The Saddle-Billed Stork is one of the more easily identifiable birds in Kenya. Instant identification is made possible by its brilliantly colored kneecaps and bill.

The beak is red with a black band going around the middle, and on the upper side is the yellow “saddle” that includes small wattles that hang below the underside of the beak at the base that look like stirrups.

It is the tallest stork in the world with an 8-1/2 ft wingspan.

The saddle-billed stork has a diet based on fish, crustaceans and amphibians. Because the storks will use their beaks to stir up the water to flush out the fish, this causes the water to become muddy as well as the fish so they often wash their fish before consuming them whole.

The saddle-billed stork is silent because it doesn’t have a syrinx (the vocal organ of birds). Baby chicks must make a hissing sound when wanting their parents’ attention, but in adulthood they are mute. The following video a very quiet view of the saddle-billed stork.

Source: Saddle-billed Stork Fishing in Kruger Park, African Adventures, YouTube (Time: 2:35)

*Why feature the Saddle-Billed Stork?

Even for a novice birdwatcher, this bird should be fairly easy to identify.

Plus, you’ve got to love its built-in orange knee pads.

46. Friday’s Flyers: Oxpeckers

Oxpeckers *

There are two species of oxpecker, the yellow-billed and the red-billed. The Yellow-billed Oxpecker (image 1) is the more common of the two in Kenya.
Both species, also called tickbirds, have olive-brown or grey-brown bodies, wide bills, stiff tails and sharp claws. They cling to cattle and big-game animals to remove ticks, flies, and maggots from their hides. When alarmed, the birds hiss, alerting their hosts to possible danger. Though they rid animals of pests, oxpeckers also take blood from the sores, which may be slow to heal.

Source: WildEarth, The Oxpeckers Role in the Animal Kingdom, YouTube (Time: 2:33)

The oxpecker populations have been adversely impacted by relentless poisoning, but they live in such a wide range across Africa that they have not approached the classification of Vulnerable.

*from an article of the same name by Lucy Hughes, 1/17/2014*

The Curious Case of the Giraffe and the Oxpecker

Oxpeckers are commonly seen riding along on large mammals while they search their hosts for ticks or open wounds. What’s not so common are the camera-trap images of giraffes at night with these birds using them as movable roosting spots. It is thought that this habit is an adaptation to save the birds time looking for the right animal the following day.

Night images of giraffes show that yellow-billed oxpeckers seem to prefer settling between the hind legs of the giraffe. This may be because it’s a warm spot in winter and keeps them safe from any nocturnal predators.

*Why feature the Oxpecker?

This week’s posts have a sort of Giraffe Week feel to them. Oxpeckers, having a rather important connection to giraffes, fit the theme.

41. Friday’s Flyers: African Hornbills

African Hornbills *

There are 24 species of hornbills found throughout Africa.
They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is often found to be brightly colored.
Hornbills are omnivorous and use their beaks to pluck fruit and forage for seeds, small insects and spiders on the ground.
Most all species of hornbills are monogamous. A pair will bond for a single season. Upon bonding, the male will courtship feed the female with either solid items or regurgitation. (Yucky, but true.)

They nest in natural cavities in trees and sometimes in cliffs.

* Why feature Hornbills?

Zazu, the prim and proper bird in The Lion King, was a red-billed hornbill. His character, who acted as advisor to the king, had a great sense of self-importance. Hornbills can’t be overlooked after one of their species has found Hollywood stardom.

36. Friday’s Flyer: Red and Yellow Barbet

Red and Yellow Barbet *

The Red and Yellow Barbet is a smallish bird with black, red and yellow plumage. It lives in low woodlands, scrubby savannas and rugged, semi-arid terrain. It’s omnivorous, feeding on seeds, fruit, and invertebrates.

Red and Yellow Barbets are very tame wherever humans feed them.

* Why feature the Red and Yellow Barbet?

It has polka dot wings for heaven’s sake! Hard to beat that.

31. Friday’s Flyer: Pied Kingfisher

Pied Kingfisher *

The Pied Kingfisher, with its black and white plumage, hovers over clear lakes and rivers before diving down sharply to spear a fish with its beak. The video below shows this amazing skill in slow motion.
Males have a double band across the breast while females have a single patch of color on the throat that is often broken in the middle.
They’re usually found in pairs or small family parties. When perched, Pied Kingfishers often bob their heads and flick up their tails.

The Pied Kingfisher is the largest bird in the world
that can hover in still air.

Video source: BBC Studios

* Why feature the Pied Kingfisher?

This bird is one smart athlete. The whole hovering/split-second timing/vertical diving thing is incredible.
He’s shaped a little like a blue jay which might help me to recognize him in a perched position.

26. Friday’s Flyer: Lappet-Faced Vulture

Lappet-Faced Vulture *

The Lappet-Faced Vulture is Africa’s largest bird of prey. It has a pink head, blue and ivory beak, and heavy wings. The feathers on the upper part of its legs make it look as though it’s wearing a pair of white trousers. Like many vultures, it has a bald head, which is advantageous, because a feathered head would become spattered with blood and other fluids, and thus be difficult to keep clean.
The Lappet-Faced Vulture is a scavenging bird, feeding mostly on animal carcasses, which it finds by sight or by watching other vultures. Its vision is practically unmatched in the animal kingdom.
Ranking among the world’s most powerful flyers, the Lappet-Faced Vulture is capable of soaring on upward air currents for hours.

The Lappet-Faced Vulture is the most aggressive of all the African vultures, and other vultures usually cede a carcass to the Lappet-Faced if it decides to assert itself.
The first few seconds of this video remind me of Hitchcock’s The Birds.

Source: DougNorrisFam, YouTube

Lappet-Faced Vultures are considered endangered, mostly due to habitat loss. In some cases, dozens at a time are poisoned by poachers who fear the presence of vultures will alert authorities to their illegal killing of protected species.

Source: BirdLife International, Saving Nature’s Clean Up Crew, YouTube (Time: 1:22)

* Why feature the Lappet-Faced Vulture?

These guys are the stars of every safari movie’s After-the-Kill Clean-up Scene that has ever been produced.
Their ill-gotten fame shoots them to the top of the Friday Flyer List.

21. Friday’s Flyer: Lilac-Breasted Roller

We’ll be visiting a country that boasts 1,137 species of birds.
I can identify an ostrich, a penguin, a chicken and a flamingo. Clearly, I’m going to need a bit of preparation to take advantage of this birdwatcher’s paradise.

Every Friday, a single bird, said to be common to Kenya, will be highlighted on this blog.
I don’t imagine for one minute that I’ll be able to shout out, “Look! There’s a Northern Long-Crested Hornbill on our left!”
But I’m thinking that some familiarization with just a few of these winged creatures might cause me to stop and take in the beauty of all that I see.
I’ll start with the National Bird of Kenya.

Lilac-Breasted Roller

The Lilac-Breasted Roller is considered one of the most beautiful birds in the world with its pastel colors and long tail streamers.
Although mostly silent, it announces itself with a harsh, raspy call during the breeding season or when it feels its territory is threatened.
These large-headed birds are often found in a grassy clearings, atop a tree that serves as a hunting perch.

The Lilac-Breasted Roller does not migrate. It stays right in Kenya and breeds there. I guess what happens in Kenya, stays in Kenya.
It nests in a natural hole in a tree where a clutch of 2-4 eggs are laid. Both parents incubate the eggs.

All rollers, including the lilac-breasted, are known for their acrobatic, agile flight, aided by their tail streamers which they use as rudders while flying.

Source: YouTube, SafariLive 10 30 How the Lilac-breasted roller got his name

Next week: A Bird of Prey.