birds Archives

Amazing Hummingbirds: Dancing in the Air

June 10, 2015April 3, 2021 Science Connectedanimals, birds, nature, nature photography, peacock

Are you wondering how a hummingbird flies? The flight skills of these tiny birds put our airplanes and helicopters to shame. By Steven Spence Dancing in the Air A hummingbird puts fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to shame. Not only can it hover, it can also fly forward, backwards, sideways, and even upside down! During a mating display, the male Anna’s Hummingbird can accelerate up to 385 body lengths (g-force 10) per second during a dive. A Peregrine falcon dives at only 200 body lengths per second, and a Mig-25 fighter…

Male and female European green woodpeckers (Steven Spence)

Environment Zoology

Yaffle: Meet the European Green Woodpecker

April 13, 2015April 28, 2022 Science Connectedbiology, birds, nature photography, wildlife photography, woodpecker

By Steven Spence “Yaffle” was one of the English folk names given to the European green woodpecker (German Grünspecht; Latin Picus viridis) due to its distinctive, laughing call. The European green woodpecker spends most of its time foraging on the ground instead of pecking holes in trees as most other woodpecker species do. The bird primarily eats ants because its tongue is well adapted for this, being 10cm long and sticky (see this short video for a view of the bird’s impressive tongue). This woodpecker’s tongue is so long, in…

Biology Environment Science and Art Zoology

Wild Red Kite: Red and Deadly

March 30, 2015September 4, 2015 Science Connectedanimals, birds, birds of prey, ecology, nature photography, raptors

Photography and Text by Steven Spence This is a wild red kite (German: Roter Milan; Latin Milvus milvus ), which lives mainly in Germany, Poland, France and Spain, but is seen in other parts of Europe. Black kites (German: Schwarzer Milan; Milvus migrans) are more widespread and more often encountered. Red Kite Population and Range Estimates suggest there are approximately only 19,000 to 25,000 breeding pairs of red kites in all of Europe (~12,000 in Germany). Thus, today’s photo is a relatively special treat. The population of black kites is…

Green wood hoopoe, By DickDaniels, CC, Wikimedia commons

Zoology

Birds Bond After Team Fights

November 13, 2014April 3, 2021 Science Connectedanimal behavior, animals, birds, wildlife

As any fan of Hitchcock knows, birds often work together and, when threatened by rivals, are capable of marshaling their troops to defend resources. Now, researchers from the University of Bristol have found that clashes between rival bird groups have a long-lasting impact on the birds’ behaviour, causing them to bond after team fights. Biologists Dr. Andy Radford and Dr. Tim Fawcett have been studying the social behaviour of green woodhoopoes in Sub-Saharan Africa. Following a territorial conflict with their neighbors, victorious green woodhoopoes will unite at nightfall. Such disputes…