Cute but rude. Funny owl

The Burrowing Owl (Speotyto cunicularia) (ex-Athene cunicularia) is a small, long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America. Burrowing owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, deserts, or any other dry, open area with low vegetation (Lewis 2005). They nest and roost in burrows, such as those abandoned by prairie dogs. Unlike most owls, burrowing owls are often active during the day. However, most hunting is done at dusk or at night.Burrowing owls are able to live for at least 9 years in the wild and over 10 years in captivity.[citation needed] They are often killed by vehicles when crossing roads, and have many natural enemies, including badgers, coyotes, and snakes. They are also killed by both feral and domestic cats and dogs.Burrowing owls have bright yellow eyes. The bill can be yellow or greenish depending on the subspecies. The legs are incompletely feathered, and the toes are grayish in color. They lack ear tufts and have a flattened facial disc. The owls have prominent white eyebrows and a white "chin" patch which they expand and display during certain behaviors.Adult owls have brown upperparts with white spotting. The breast and belly are white with variable brown spotting or barring. Juvenile owls are similar in appearance, but they lack most of the white spotting above and brown barring below. Also, the young owls have a buff bar across the upper wing and their breast may be buffy rather than white.Males and females are similar in size and appearance. However, adult males sometimes appear lighter in color because they spend more time outside the burrow during daylight, and their feathers become sun-bleached. The average adult is slightly larger than an American Robin, at 25 cm (10 inches) length, 53 cm (21 inches) wingspan, and 170g (6 oz) weight (Lewis 2005).The typical "who who" call of a burrowing owl is associated with territory defense and breeding, often given by adult males to attract a female to a promising burrow. They also make other sounds, which are described as chucks, chattering, and screams. These sounds are usually accompanied by an up and down bobbing of the head. When alarmed, young birds will give a hissing call - a case of acoustic Batesian mimicry - that sounds like a rattlesnake (Haug et al. 1993).Before European colonization, burrowing owls probably inhabited every suitable area of the New World, but they have experienced some restrictions in distribution since. They range from the southern portions of the western Canadian provinces through southern Mexico and western Central America. They are also found in Florida and many Caribbean islands. In South America, they are patchy in the northwest and through the Andes, but widely distributed from southern Brazil to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.Burrowing owls are year-round residents in most of their range. Birds that breed in Canada and northern USA usually migrate south to Mexico and southern USA during winter months.The burrowing owl is endangered in Canada[1], threatened in Mexico, and a species of special concern in Florida and most of the western USA. It is common and widespread in open regions of many Neotropical countries, where they sometimes even inhabit fields and parks in cities. In regions bordering the Amazon Rainforest they are spreading with deforestation. It is therefore listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.The major reasons for declining populations in North America are control programs for prairie dogs and loss of habitat, although burrowing owls readily inhabit some anthropogenic landscapes, such as airport grasslands or golf courses (Korfanta et al. 2005).Burrowing owls are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. They are also included in CITES Appendix II.Genetic analysis of the two North American subspecies indicates that inbreeding is not a problem within those populations (Korfanta et al. 2005).The nesting season begins in late March or April in North America. Burrowing owls are usually monogamous, but occasionally a male will have two mates (Lewis 2005). Pairs of owls will sometimes nest in loose colonies. Their typical breeding habitat is open grassland or prairie, but they can occasionally adapt to other open areas like airports, golf courses, and agricultural fields. Burrowing owls are slightly tolerant of human presence, often nesting near roads, farms, homes, and regularly maintained irrigation canals.The owls nest in an underground burrow, hence the name Burrowing Owl. They use burrows created by other burrowing animals such as prairie dogs, ground squirrels, or badgers (Holt et al. 1999). If burrows are unavailable and the soil is not hard or rocky, the owls may excavate their own. Burrowing owls will also nest in shallow, underground, man-made structures that have easy access to the surface.The female will lay as many as 8-12 eggs over a two week period. She will then incubate the eggs for three to four weeks while the male brings her food. After the eggs hatch both parents will feed the chicks. Four weeks after hatching, the chicks are able to make short flights and begin leaving the nest burrow. The parents will still help feed the chicks for 1 to 3 months. While most of the eggs will hatch, only four to five chicks usually survive to leave the nest.During the nesting season, burrowing owls will line the burrow with mammal dung, usually from cattle. The dung helps to control the microclimate inside the burrow and to attract insects, which the owls may eat (Levey et al. 2004).Site fidelity rates appear to vary among populations. In some locations, owls will frequently reuse a nest several years in a row. Owls in migratory northern populations are less likely to return to the same burrow every year. Also, as with many other birds, the female owls are more likely to disperse to a different site than are male owls (Lutz & Plumpton 1999).The highly variable diet includes small mammals, small birds, snakes, lizards, frogs, insects, and scorpions. But the owls mainly eat large insects and small rodents. Although burrowing owls often live in close proximity to ground squirrels, they rarely prey upon them. Unlike other owls, they also eat fruits and seeds, especially the fruit of tasajillo (Cylindropuntia leptocaulis) and other prickly pear and cholla cacti. When hunting they wait on a perch until they spot prey. Then they swoop down on prey or fly up to catch insects in flight. Sometimes they chase prey on foot across the ground.The burrowing owl is sometimes separated in the monotypic genus Speotyto. This is based on an overall different morphology and karyotype. On the other hand, osteology and DNA sequence data suggests that the Burrowing Owl is just a terrestrial version of the Athene little owls, and it is today placed in that genus by most authorities.A considerable number of subspecies have been described, but they differ little in appearance and the taxonomy of several needs to be validated (Holt et al. 1999). Most subspecies are found in the Andes and the Antilles. Only A. c. hypugaea and A. c. floridana are found in North America. Although distinct from each other, the relationship of the Floridan subspecies to (and its distinctness from) the Caribbean birds is not quite clear (Korfanta et al. 2005).

Squirrel Cuckoo, Piaya cayana

The Squirrel Cuckoo, Piaya cayana, is a near-passerine bird. This cuckoo is a resident breeding bird from northwestern Mexico to northern Argentina and Uruguay, and on Trinidad.
This large species is 43-46 cm long and weighs 95-105 g. The adult has mainly chestnut upperparts and head, becoming paler on the throat. The lower breast is grey and the belly is blackish. The tail is boldly banded in black and white. The bill and bare eyering are yellow and the iris is red. Immature birds have a grey bill and eyering, brown iris, and less white in the tail.
There are a number of subspecies with minor plumage variations. For example, P. c. mehleri, a South American form, has a brown-and-white banded tail.
It makes explosive kip! and kip! weeuu calls, and the song is a whistled wheep wheep wheep wheep.
The Squirrel Cuckoo is found in woodland canopy and edges, second growth, hedges and semi-open habitats from sea level to as high as 2500 m altitude, although it is uncommon above 1200 m. This species’ English name derives from its habit of running along branches and leaping from branch to branch like a squirrel. It normally flies only short distances, mainly gliding with an occasional flap.
It feeds on large insects such as cicadas, wasps and caterpillars (including those with stinging hairs or spines), and occasionally spiders and small lizards, rarely taking fruit[1]. Its static prey is typically taken off the foliage with a quick lunge, but wasps may be picked out of the air.
The nest is a cup of leaves on a twig foundation, hidden in dense vegetation 1-12 m high in a tree. The female lays two white eggs.
The Squirrel Cuckoo is plentiful in most of its range and appears to be quite tolerant of human disturbance, as long as wooded land remains[2]. It is considered a species of Least Concern by the IUCN.

Blue-crowned Motmot / momotus momota

The Blue-crowned Motmot, Momotus momota, is a near-passerine bird which is a resident breeder in the rain forests of Mexico, Central and South America, and Trinidad and Tobago.
This motmot is a large tropical bird related to other colourful families such as the kingfishers, bee-eaters and rollers. Like most of the Coraciiformes, motmots nest in tunnels in banks, laying about three or four white eggs.
The Blue-crowned Motmot is 41-46cm long, depending on race. Nominate M. m. momota weighs 145g. The tail is very long with a bare-shafted racket tip. The upperparts are green, shading to blue on the lower tail, and the underparts are green or rufous depending on subspecies.
The head has a black crown, which is surrounded by a blue and purple band. There is a black eyemask, and the nape of momota is chestnut. The call is a low owl-like ooo-doot.
These birds often sit still, and in their dense forest habitat can be difficult to see, despite their size. They eat small prey such as insects and lizards, and will also regularly take fruit.
The upland subspecies was formerly split as the Highland Motmot, Momotus aequatorialis (Gould, 1858) a species recognised, for example, by Sibley and Monroe, but this treatment is no longer adopted, following SACC (2005).

Chestnut-eared Aracari / Pteroglossus castanotis

The Chestnut-eared Aracari, Pteroglossus castanotis is a native bird to central and southeast South America of the Ramphastidae family, the toucans, toucanets, barbets, aracaris, etc. Although it resembles the Black-necked Aracari, it is a larger, more colorful bird.

Distribution

Range: Amazon Basin and Cerrado
The range of the Chestnut-eared Aracari is the southern Amazon Basin, especially the southwestern Basin, also the Andean foothills; a narrowing range extension enters central-southern Colombia by 900 km.
The southern Amazon Basin range narrows in the southeast to only the upstream half-headwaters of the north-flowing Amazon River tributaries; this range countinues southeastwards into the central and southern Cerrado and ends at eastern Paraguay, southeastern Brazil and the extreme northeast of Argentina.

Its bill is mostly black with a yellow tip and a yellow line along the middle with yellow "teeth". Its underparts are yellow with a single red band across the chest and it also has a red rump. The chestnut "ears" and collar tend to look black at a distance.

While araçaris tend to be more vegetarian than toucans, the Chestnut-eared is known to attack colonies of Yellow-rumped Cacique (Cacicus cela) to raid the nests.

The Chestnut-eared Araçari forms a superspecies with the Black-necked Araçari (Pteroglossus aracari)
There are illustrations in Hilty & Brown, Plate 20; Sick, Plate 24 and in HBW, Volume 7, Pages 230 and 263.

There are recordings and a distribution map on xeno-canto.

Monkeys reward friends and relatives

For capuchin monkeys, it seems, it's better to both give and receive, than just to receive. At least, that's what researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory University in Atlanta have found.
Monkeys were given a choice of receiving a food reward, or receiving a food reward and also having another monkey receive food.
When paired with relative or "friend" the monkeys primarily went for the double reward, known as the "prosocial" choice, researchers led by Frans de Waal report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"The fact the capuchins predominantly selected the prosocial option must mean seeing another monkey receive food is satisfying or rewarding for them," said de Waal.
But the monkeys weren't so generous with strangers, choosing the so-called "selfish" option instead.
"We believe prosocial behavior is empathy based. Empathy increases in both humans and animals with social closeness, and in our study, closer partners made more prosocial choices. They seem to care for the welfare of those they know," de Waal said in a statement.
Now the question is whether giving is self-rewarding to capuchins because they can eat together, or if the monkeys simply like to see the other monkey enjoying the food.
In the study, eight adult female capuchins were given tokens to exchange for food. One token got them a slice of apple. The other also got an apple slice, plus a similar slice was given to another monkey they could see.
In a series of tests, when the "partner" monkey was a relative or a familiar female from the same social group, the one choosing the token moved closer to the partner and primarily choose the prosocial token that got them both food. But when the second monkey was a stranger, the selfish token was more likely to be chosen, often with the lead monkey turning her back to the stranger.
Since the reward was the same for the monkey making the choice, de Waal suggested there must be some intangible benefit to the prosocial choice, perhaps an indication of empathy.
___
On the Net:
PNAS: http://www.pnas.org/

Randolph E. Schmid, AP Science Writer

Black-tufted Marmoset / black pincelled marmoset (Callithrix penicillata)

The Black-tufted Marmoset (Callithrix (Callithrix) penicillata), also known as the Black-pencilled Marmoset and Mico-estrela in Portuguese, is a species of New World monkey that lives primarily in the Neo-tropical gallery forests of the Brazilian Central Plateau. It ranges from Bahia to Paraná,[1] and as far inland as Goiás, between 14 and 25 degrees south of the equator. This marmoset typically resides in rainforests, living an arboreal life high in the trees, but below the canopy. They are only rarely spotted near the ground.

Physical description
The Black-tufted Marmoset is characterized by black tufts of hair around their ears. It typically has some sparse white hairs on its face. It usually has a brown or black head and its limbs and upper body are gray, as well as its abdomen, while its rump and underside are usually black. Its tail is ringed with black and white and is not prehensile, but is used for balance. It does not have an opposable thumb and its nails tend to have a claw-like appearance. The Black-tufted Marmoset reaches a size of 19 to 22 cm and weighs up to 350 g.

Behavior
Diurnal and arboreal, the Black-tufted Marmoset has a lifestyle very similar to other marmosets. It typically lives in family groups of 2 to 14. The groups usually consist of a reproductive couple and their offspring. Twins are very common among this species and the males, as well as juvenile offspring, often assist the female in the raising of the young.
Though the Black-tufted Marmoset lives in small family groups, it is believed that they share their food source, sap trees, with other marmoset groups. Scent marking does occur within these groups, but it is believed that the marking is to deter other species rather than other Black-tufted Marmoset groups, because other groups typically ignore these markings. They also appear to be migratory, often moving in relation to the wet or dry seasons, however, the extent of their migration is unknown.
Though communication between Black-tufted Marmosets has not been studied thoroughly, it is believed that it communicates through vocalizations. It has known predator-specific cries and appears to vocalize frequently outside of predator cries.

Food and predation

The Black-tufted Marmoset diet consists primarily of tree sap which it gets by nibbling the bark with its long lower incisors. In periods of drought, it will also include fruit and insects in its diet. In periods of serious drought it has also been known to eat small arthropods, molluscs, bird eggs, and small vertebrates.
Large birds of prey are the greatest threat to the Black-tufted Marmoset, however, snakes and wild cats also pose a danger to them. Predator-specific vocalizations and visual scanning are its only anti-predation techniques.

Reproduction

The Black-tufted Marmoset is monogamous and lives in family groups. It reproduces twice a year, producing 1 to 4 offspring, though they most often just twins. Its gestation period is 150 days and offspring are weaned after 8 weeks. There is considerable parental investment by this species, with both parents, as well as older juveniles, helping to raise the young. The offspring are extremely dependent on their parents and though they are sexually mature at 18 months, they typically do not mate until much later, staying with their family group until they do.

Ecosystem roles and conservation status

The Black-tufted Marmoset is a mutualist with many species of fruit trees because it distributes the seeds from the fruit it consumes throughout the forests. However, it is a parasite on other species of trees because it creates sores in trees in order to extract sap, while offering no apparent benefit to the trees. Though this marmoset is not a main food source to any specific species, it is a food source to a number of different species, specifically large birds of prey, wild cats, and snakes.
While there are no known negative effects of marmosets towards humans, it carries specific positive effects by being a highly valuable exotic pet. It is also used in zoo exhibits and scientific research.
The Black-tufted Marmoset is listed as having no special status on the IUCN Red List or the United States Endangered Species Act List. It is listed in Appendix II of CITES and is not currently considered an endangered or threatened species.

Ecosystem roles and conservation status
The Black-tufted Marmoset is a mutualist with many species of fruit trees because it distributes the seeds from the fruit it consumes throughout the forests. However, it is a parasite on other species of trees because it creates sores in trees in order to extract sap, while offering no apparent benefit to the trees. Though this marmoset is not a main food source to any specific species, it is a food source to a number of different species, specifically large birds of prey, wild cats, and snakes.
While there are no known negative effects of marmosets towards humans, it carries specific positive effects by being a highly valuable exotic pet. It is also used in zoo exhibits and scientific research.
The Black-tufted Marmoset is listed as having no special status on the IUCN Red List or the United States Endangered Species Act List. It is listed in Appendix II of CITES and is not currently considered an endangered or threatened species

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-tufted_Marmoset

Rufous-bellied Thrush (Turdus rufiventris)

To listen his song: aves.brasil.nom.br/servlet/searchSounds?action=PREVIOUS Rufous-bellied ThrushKnown as Sabiá-laranjeira in Brazil (Turdus rufiventris) this thrush is pretty common and this one was frantically trying to find its chick after a storm at the weekend had dislodged its nest.The Sabiá, or Thrush, is known for the beauty of both its plumage and its song and is found all over Brazil, in 12 species, the best known of which is the Rufous-bellied Thrush, or Sabiá-laranjeira, Brazil’s national bird. Like many birds, it migrates north to the warm tropical zone in the winter and returns to the temperate zone when the climate in southern Brazil starts to get warm again. It lives alone or in pairs, in forests, parks, backyards and forested urban areas and can live 25 to 30 years. Hopping along the ground, it feeds on the coconuts from several species of palm tree, spitting out the pits after about an hour and contributing to the distribution of these plants. It also feeds on oranges and mature papayas, as well as insects and spiders. For years, the Sabiá has been celebrated in both writing and music , including in several very famous Brazilian poems and songs. Because of its widespread presence and popularity in Brazilian culture, the Brazilian Wildlife Preservation Association proposed that it be designated as an official national symbol of Brazil, a suggestion first made in 1968 that had gradually gained widespread public support by 1987, when a first (but unsuccessful) attempt was made to declare it Brazil’s national bird. Finally, on October 4, 2002, the Sabiá-laranjeira became the newest official symbol of Brazil, designated as the national bird in a Presidential Decree, which included for the first time its scientific name, “Turdus rufiventris.”

Orange-winged Amazon / Amazona amazonica

The Orange-winged Amazon (Amazona amazonica), also known locally as Orange-winged Parrot and Loro Guaro, is a large Amazon parrot. It is a resident breeding bird in tropical South America, from Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago south to Peru and central Brazil. Its habitat is forest and semi-open country. Although common, it is persecuted as an agricultural pest and by capture for the pet trade (over 66,000 captured in the years 1981-1985). It is also hunted as a food source.

Taxonomy
There are two subspecies:
A. a. amazonica, found on the mainland of South America.
A. a. tobagensis, found only on Trinidad and Tobago, is a subspecies which is larger then the nominate form, and has more orange in the wing.

Description

The Orange-winged Amazon is a mainly green parrot about 33 cm (13 in) long and weighing about 340 gm. It has blue and yellow feathers on its head which varies in extent between individuals. The upper mandible is partly horn coloured and partly dark-grey. It has orange feathers in the wings and tail, which can be seen when in flight. The male and female are identical in external appearance.[1]

Behaviour

Diet and feeding
The Orange-winged Amazons is a noisy bird and makes loud, high-pitched screams. It eats fruit and seeds, including the fruit of palm trees and sometimes cocoa. It roosts communally in palm and other trees, and large numbers can be seen at the roost sites at dawn and dusk. It is becoming common as a feral bird in the Miami, Florida area of the USA.

Breeding
The Orange-winged Amazon nests in tree cavities. The eggs are white and there are usually three to four in a clutch. The female incubates the eggs for about 26 days and the chicks leave the nest about 60 days after hatching.[1]

Breeding/Reproduction: These amazons are commonly bred in captivity. At the onset of warm weather (April to early May) courtship will begin. The hen will then lay two to four eggs which incubate for about 28 days. The young will leave the nest at 8-10 weeks. As with many parrots, the male will eat for both himself and the female while she incubates the eggs and feeds the young. The male regurgitates the food for the female to eat. He gets a lot less picky about what he eats at these times!

Potential Problems: These birds are hardy and healthy if provided with a good environment and a good diet. Amazons can be noisy first thing in the morning, and just before the sun sets. This is easy to control, they can often be quieted by just covering their cage for a short period of time.

References

^ a b Alderton, David (2003). The ultimate encyclopedia of caged and aviary birds. London, England: Hermes House, p. 231. ISBN 184309164X.
BirdLife International (2004). Amazona amazonica. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
Birds of Venezuela by Hilty, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
ffrench, Richard (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago, 2nd edition, Comstock Publishing. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2.
"National Geographic" Field Guide to the Birds of North America ISBN 0-7922-6877-6
Handbook of the Birds of the World Vol 4, Josep del Hoyo editor, ISBN 84-87334-22-9
"National Audubon Society" The Sibley Guide to Birds, by David Allen Sibley, ISBN 0-679-45122-6

Everybody Does It, doggy style or flies style?

Hooded Tanager (Nemosia pileata)

Male
Female

The Hooded Tanager is distributed from the Caribbean coast of Colombia to northern Argentina though it is missing from the north-western part of the Amazon Basin.
It is found in light woodland, gallery forest and plantations while in the Amazon Basin it is seen in várzea woodland and forest borders.
It has yellow legs and a yellow iris. The male's head and sides of the neck are black giving the hooded appearance while the lores are white. Remaining upperparts are blue-grey while underparts are white.

The Burrowing Owl (Speotyto cunicularia) Intense look

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wagner-machado-carlos-lemes/2306058648/

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:The Burrowing Owl (Speotyto cunicularia) (ex-Athene cunicularia) is a small, long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America. Burrowing owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, deserts, or any other dry, open area with low vegetation (Lewis 2005). They nest and roost in burrows, such as those abandoned by prairie dogs. Unlike most owls, burrowing owls are often active during the day. However, most hunting is done at dusk or at night.Burrowing owls are able to live for at least 9 years in the wild and over 10 years in captivity.[citation needed] They are often killed by vehicles when crossing roads, and have many natural enemies, including badgers, coyotes, and snakes. They are also killed by both feral and domestic cats and dogs.Burrowing owls have bright yellow eyes. The bill can be yellow or greenish depending on the subspecies. The legs are incompletely feathered, and the toes are grayish in color. They lack ear tufts and have a flattened facial disc. The owls have prominent white eyebrows and a white "chin" patch which they expand and display during certain behaviors.Adult owls have brown upperparts with white spotting. The breast and belly are white with variable brown spotting or barring. Juvenile owls are similar in appearance, but they lack most of the white spotting above and brown barring below. Also, the young owls have a buff bar across the upper wing and their breast may be buffy rather than white.Males and females are similar in size and appearance. However, adult males sometimes appear lighter in color because they spend more time outside the burrow during daylight, and their feathers become sun-bleached. The average adult is slightly larger than an American Robin, at 25 cm (10 inches) length, 53 cm (21 inches) wingspan, and 170g (6 oz) weight (Lewis 2005).The typical "who who" call of a burrowing owl is associated with territory defense and breeding, often given by adult males to attract a female to a promising burrow. They also make other sounds, which are described as chucks, chattering, and screams. These sounds are usually accompanied by an up and down bobbing of the head. When alarmed, young birds will give a hissing call - a case of acoustic Batesian mimicry - that sounds like a rattlesnake (Haug et al. 1993).Before European colonization, burrowing owls probably inhabited every suitable area of the New World, but they have experienced some restrictions in distribution since. They range from the southern portions of the western Canadian provinces through southern Mexico and western Central America. They are also found in Florida and many Caribbean islands. In South America, they are patchy in the northwest and through the Andes, but widely distributed from southern Brazil to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.Burrowing owls are year-round residents in most of their range. Birds that breed in Canada and northern USA usually migrate south to Mexico and southern USA during winter months.The burrowing owl is endangered in Canada[1], threatened in Mexico, and a species of special concern in Florida and most of the western USA. It is common and widespread in open regions of many Neotropical countries, where they sometimes even inhabit fields and parks in cities. In regions bordering the Amazon Rainforest they are spreading with deforestation. It is therefore listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.The major reasons for declining populations in North America are control programs for prairie dogs and loss of habitat, although burrowing owls readily inhabit some anthropogenic landscapes, such as airport grasslands or golf courses (Korfanta et al. 2005).Burrowing owls are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. They are also included in CITES Appendix II.Genetic analysis of the two North American subspecies indicates that inbreeding is not a problem within those populations (Korfanta et al. 2005).The nesting season begins in late March or April in North America. Burrowing owls are usually monogamous, but occasionally a male will have two mates (Lewis 2005). Pairs of owls will sometimes nest in loose colonies. Their typical breeding habitat is open grassland or prairie, but they can occasionally adapt to other open areas like airports, golf courses, and agricultural fields. Burrowing owls are slightly tolerant of human presence, often nesting near roads, farms, homes, and regularly maintained irrigation canals.The owls nest in an underground burrow, hence the name Burrowing Owl. They use burrows created by other burrowing animals such as prairie dogs, ground squirrels, or badgers (Holt et al. 1999). If burrows are unavailable and the soil is not hard or rocky, the owls may excavate their own. Burrowing owls will also nest in shallow, underground, man-made structures that have easy access to the surface.The female will lay as many as 8-12 eggs over a two week period. She will then incubate the eggs for three to four weeks while the male brings her food. After the eggs hatch both parents will feed the chicks. Four weeks after hatching, the chicks are able to make short flights and begin leaving the nest burrow. The parents will still help feed the chicks for 1 to 3 months. While most of the eggs will hatch, only four to five chicks usually survive to leave the nest.During the nesting season, burrowing owls will line the burrow with mammal dung, usually from cattle. The dung helps to control the microclimate inside the burrow and to attract insects, which the owls may eat (Levey et al. 2004).Site fidelity rates appear to vary among populations. In some locations, owls will frequently reuse a nest several years in a row. Owls in migratory northern populations are less likely to return to the same burrow every year. Also, as with many other birds, the female owls are more likely to disperse to a different site than are male owls (Lutz & Plumpton 1999).The highly variable diet includes small mammals, small birds, snakes, lizards, frogs, insects, and scorpions. But the owls mainly eat large insects and small rodents. Although burrowing owls often live in close proximity to ground squirrels, they rarely prey upon them. Unlike other owls, they also eat fruits and seeds, especially the fruit of tasajillo (Cylindropuntia leptocaulis) and other prickly pear and cholla cacti. When hunting they wait on a perch until they spot prey. Then they swoop down on prey or fly up to catch insects in flight. Sometimes they chase prey on foot across the ground.The burrowing owl is sometimes separated in the monotypic genus Speotyto. This is based on an overall different morphology and karyotype. On the other hand, osteology and DNA sequence data suggests that the Burrowing Owl is just a terrestrial version of the Athene little owls, and it is today placed in that genus by most authorities.A considerable number of subspecies have been described, but they differ little in appearance and the taxonomy of several needs to be validated (Holt et al. 1999). Most subspecies are found in the Andes and the Antilles. Only A. c. hypugaea and A. c. floridana are found in North America. Although distinct from each other, the relationship of the Floridan subspecies to (and its distinctness from) the Caribbean birds is not quite clear (Korfanta et al. 2005).

baboon behavior

MORPHOLOGY:The average body mass for an adult male hamadryas baboon is between 20 and 30 kilograms, and for the female it is between 10 and 15 kilograms. This species exhibits sexual dimorphism, especially in body size. The males have a large mantle of hair surrounding their head.RANGE:The hamadryas baboon is found in the countries of Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and Yemen. This species lives in the subdesert steppe, alpine grass meadows and short grass plains environments.

ECOLOGY:The hamadryas baboon consumes a wide variety of foods, but main sources come from grasses, rhizomes, roots, tubers, and shoots. They also consume fruits, leaves, flowers, and small vertebrates, but to a lesser extent. Food resources are generally widely dispersed. The favorite foods during the rainy season consist of Acacia flowers and grass seeds (Stammbach, 1987). The hamadryas baboon sleeps in rock outcroppings generally from 15 to 25 meters high, and a lack of this limits where it can live and forage. This is a diurnal species. The basic group size averages around 12 individuals with these groups coming together to form groups of up to 750 individuals.LOCOMOTION:The hamadryas baboon moves on the ground quadrupedally (Fleagle, 1988).

SOCIAL BEHAVIOR:The basic group of the hamadryas baboon consists of one male with 2-11 females; a unimale group, essentially a harem system . These groups come together to form troops of up to 750 individuals to sleep on outcroppings of rocks at night. During the day these large troops break up into smaller groups of 20 to 70 individuals made up of two or more unimale groups. These are foraging groups that stay together while they forage. Two or three unimale groups will come together to form what is known as a clan, and the males found in the clan tend to be genetically related (Abegglen, 1984). These clans come together to form larger groups called bands, and three or four bands come together to form troops that sleep together on the rocks (Stammbach, 1987). So there is a four-tier social system within the hamadryas baboon, first the unimale group, or harem, then the clan made up of a couple of unimale groups, then the ban made up of a number clans, then finally the troop which comes together during the night for sleeping purposes. Generally males stay in their natal group and females migrate from it (Stammach, 1987). Males when they reach puberty try to either attract or kidnap females to start a unimale group of his own. Harem-less males will also join a harem with an old resident male and basically serve as a "stud" while the older male remains as a patriarch and leads the harem (Estes, 1991). Within the unimale group there is a hierarchy that exists amongst the females, the central female has higher status in a social sense and is located more near the male during the day. In the unimale group when a female strays or lags behind, the male will sometimes bite her on the neck to get her going. The male of the unimale group is the focus of the attention of grooming by the females (Kummer, 1968).

VOCAL COMMUNICATION:two-phase bark: This is a deep, loud call which is repeated at 2 to 5 second intervals (Estes, 1991). This sounds like "wahoo" and is emitted by adult males (Estes, 1991). This call is emitted when a predator is near especially a feline one (Estes, 1991). This call is also heard when their is inter or intra group aggression between males (Estes, 1991). This call communicates male presence and arousal (Estes, 1991).rhythmic grunts: This call is low and soft and is given by all hamadryas baboons except infants (Estes, 1991). This call is given when one individual is approaching another and signals friendly intentions (Estes, 1991).shrill bark: This call is a sound which is single, sharp, and explosive in nature (Estes, 1991). This call is emitted by all hamadryas baboons except adult males, and functions as an alarm signal especially to a sudden disturbance (Estes, 1991). Other members of the troop will flee upon hearing this call (Estes, 1991).

OLFACTORY COMMUNICATION:VISUAL COMMUNICATION:social presenting: This is like presenting, but is done by females and juvenile males towards higher ranking males (Estes, 1991). This is a submissive display and differs from presenting by the hindquarters being lower. staring: This display by the hamadryas baboon is used as a threat display (Estes, 1991). The eyes are fixed on the stimulus and the eyebrows are raised and the scalp is retracted, the facial skin is also stretched by moving the ears back (Estes, 1991). Underneath the eye lids the color is different which contrasts sharply with the surrounding facial color (Estes, 1991)staring with open mouth: This is the stare accompanied by the mouth being open but the teeth are covered (Estes, 1991). This is a threat expression and often occurs with head-bobbing (Estes, 1991).head-bobbing: This is used as a threat display by the hamadryas baboon and head bobs up and down (Estes, 1991). This often occurs with staring with open mouth (Estes, 1991).tension yawning: This is done by an adult male hamadryas baboons (Estes, 1991). This is when the mouth is opened fully to reveal the canines (Estes, 1991). This is done when a rival group or a predator is approaching (Estes, 1991).teeth-chattering: This is done by a male hamadryas baboon to a female that is presenting (Estes, 1991). This is probably derived from lip-smacking (Estes, 1991).lipsmacking: This is when the lips are protruded, then smacked together repeatedly. This is a reassuring display by the hamadryas baboon (Estes, 1991).

TACTILE COMMUNICATION:social grooming: This is when one individual removes parasites and dead skin with their hands from another individual. In this species it generally only occurs between same sex individuals. This is used to reinforce the social bonds.nose-to-nose greeting: When two individuals meet each other they touch noses as a friendly sign (Estes, 1991).social mounting: This is generally a response to social presenting and serves to signal a friendly reassurance (Estes, 1991). This is also seen during aggressive encounters (Estes, 1991).

REPRODUCTION:The hamadryas baboon gives birth to a single offspring. During estrus the perineum of the female swells up.