The American Kestrel Research Paper

Most nesting locations are amongst dense shrubbery and branches of small trees and are built lower to the ground. In order to defend his nest the male sings in a loud, clear whistle from the top of a tree or another high location. Sometimes males will attack their reflection often spending hours charging at what they perceive as unwelcome intruders.

The Cutlass-beaked river hawk, or aceros amnicus, is a very unique bird of prey. The latin root aceros means sharp, and amnicus means it is from a river. It lives near rivers and has very sharp talons as well as an extremely sharp beak, which goes along with its scientific name. The sharp talons allow it to catch prey trying to flee from it. It’s feet are rather large, and that makes catching moving prey and gripping on to trees much easier. This hawk lives in an environment in which the amount of fish and small mammals is abundant. Since it feeds on this type of prey, it’s relatively easy for the hawk to find food. Most of the time it is able to catch its prey because of its incredible speed, sharp talons, and beak. It’s feathers are very aerodynamic, allowing it to

The pair of crowned eagles uses the same nest for a long time, until two new eagles inherit it. Their nest is made of sticks and twigs and lined with fresh branches. The eagles add new branches to the nest each year, and over time the nest can grow up to 7 feet across and 9 feet deep. It typically rests in about a 100 foot-tall tree. The female crowned eagle lays one or two eggs, which are white and speckled with a red-brown color. She incubates the eggs for about the next 50 days while her mate brings her food every 3 or 4 days. Sometimes they switch roles, the male incubating and the female hunting. When the chick (or chicks) hatches, it is covered in down feathers. the sad part is If there are two chicks, the stronger kills the weaker

Coyotes may be encountered throughout the year. Raptors include red-tailed hawks, northern harriers, and American kestrels. During winter they may be joined by prairie falcons and rough-legged hawks. During spring and summer watch for upland sandpipers, common nighthawks, eastern meadowlarks, loggerhead shrikes, and grasshopper sparrows. These hills also harbor the largest population of greater prairie chickens in the world. Other than just grass the Kansas prairie has hundreds, nearly a thousand different species of wildflowers. The flowers are often abundant in the roadside ditches and may sometimes be found growing in the middle of the road! In the fall, the bluestem grasses show their subtle hues of blue and red.

Different types of calls are made possible by an organ in the penguin’s throat called the syrinx. Each species syrinx differs slightly allowing different calls to be made. A study was conducted by Nina Thumser and Millicent Ficken that proved each species calls differ in the number of syllables, length, and frequency. This is why a recommended method used to classify the behavior of penguins is to understand and identify vocalizations. The African penguin had the greatest maximum frequency of the longest syllable when comparing it to the braying in Humboldt and Magellanic penguins. In addition, during mating seasons both sexes of African penguins will contribute their own bray call, however, in species such as the Spheniscus mendiculus commonly known as the Galapagos penguin, it’s mainly the males who bray when breeding. The African penguin also brays more frequently because they are more likely to display aggression via braying. because in a study, also done by Nina Thumser and Millicent Ficken, it was discovered that African Penguins are more aggressive towards each other than other Spheniscus penguins were towards other members.

The males choose the nesting place which is ideally in a large tree near bodies of water. They live in the Black Hills but, with sites like these declining it is making it hard for the population to expand.

Living life every day risking life and limb is something that some raptors have chosen due to their innate ability to out-match its prey with extreme speed and ultimate agility. These raptors mainly belong to the family of buteo or hawks; such as the sharp-shinned hawk, Swainson’s hawk, and Cooper’s Hawk. They are small, long-tailed hawks with short, rounded wings. “They have small heads that in flight do not always project beyond the “wrists” of the wings” (allaboutbirds.org). Most of these species migrate south out of Canada and remain in North America for most of the year,

The Northern Mockingbird has many distinctive characteristics; such as they prefer specific habitats, their unusual eating habits, and their nesting habits. Mockingbirds prefer a specific habitat that includes hedges, suburban gardens, and orchard margins with an abundance of available fruit. It is especially important that there are hedgerows of multi-flora roses (“Birds of Minnesota and Wisconsin”).

Bottomland hardwood forests receive the most attention within a region of the Mississippi flyway known as the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV). The MAV is an important migrating and wintering area for waterfowl that stretches from southern Illinois to Louisiana (Baldassarre and Bolen 2006). The bottomland hardwood forests are the most important habitat for wintering mallards (Bellrose 1976). As many as 2.5 million mallards have been recorded using the flooded forests along with 4 million wood ducks and a number of other migratory birds (Tiner 1984). These birds feed heavily on acorns, seeds, and tubers from wetland plants that grow in the forest openings (Davis et al. 2003). Leaf litter provides a substrate for invertebrates that waterfowl feed heavily on (Kaminsky et al 1989). Cavities in trees are important to wood duck survival as they are one of the few duck species to nest in them. The forest also provides waterfowl with shelter, protection from predators, and lessens human disturbances (Baldassarre and Bolen). One study showed that female mallards that roost in forested habitats may also feed in these habitats and may have little reason to move (Davis 2007). Because forests may provide more nutrients than agricultural fields, these

The most common habitat for the Peregrine Falcon is the Deserts, Seashores, Mangroves, Wetlands, Tundra, Grasslands, Dry Forests, Scrubland, and Craggy Mountains are places one might find a Peregrine Falcon.

If all species of birds were going to turn against us right now, we would be in a world of hurt. There are over 9,000 species of birds, in this paper I will be only talking about one, the flamingo. Flamingos are pink birds that are bigger than most birds. Flamingos live in warm climates by lakes or lagoons. Flamingos are not endangered, they have a population of about 1.5 to 2.5 million.

In summary Northern harrier versus the Toucans are not a huge difference because they are both the birds but they are different kinds, the only one difference that matter between these two common birds are generalist versus and other are specialist. However they both can relate by same reproductive system and same responsibilities of male’s concerns about the family. Toucans are specialist while Northern harriers are generalist, each of these birds have somehow difference in diet and mainly different habitats,

American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) are common birds throughout North America. It have been known as "Birds attracted to shiny object" Fuller, 2011. This attraction can lead birds to enter a house or even try to steal a shiny object. Birds may desire these objects to attract mates, or to decorate their nests to help visiting females feel more comfortable (Fuller, 2011). In fact, no one had experimented the crows to know whether they are attracted to shiny objects or not. So, I decided to do this experiment to know whether or not they like shiny objects. In my observation, I examined if the crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) has any relationship with stealing shiny objects.

According to this article, in the 1980’s, the population of Brown Pelican colonies decreased as the population of feral cats increased, “Feral cats could depress Brown Pelican productivity in local areas…” (Daniel, James, Gene, Franklin, Leopoldp). Brown Pelicans constructs their nests close to the ground. Their natural predators when it comes to eating their offspring’s have been black rats. However, this relationship between pelicans and rats have always existed before the introduction of cats. With cats interring the game, Brown Pelicans not only have to defend their eggs and hatchlings from rats, but also a new, and skilled predator; cats having the ability to attack and kill both parents and offspring will surely lead to the extinction of Brown Pelicans along the California coast. Piping Plover, California Clapper Rail, Florida Scrub-Jay, and Hawaiian Petre are example of rare species of birds that find their existence threatened by cats.

One of the biggest investments in a species life goes towards reproducing and raising offspring. Most species will spend lots of time, energy, and resources into raising their offspring and can be costly to their own survival. Although some parents will risk about anything to successfully raise their young and increase their fitness. How much time and energy is spent on raising offspring greatly varies among species and mostly depends on their evolutionary history. Brood parasitism is a mischievous way for a parent to avoid raising its own young, which can provide many advantages. However, this behavior has not always been so advantageous and has been shaped through environmental pressures. The bird family Cuculidae has perhaps the most diverse breeding strategies within any other bird species and has long puzzled biologists (Rothstein, 1990). One of the major breeding strategies within the Cuculidae family is brood parasitism. Brood parasitism is the manipulation of a host, of either the same species or a different species, to raise its young (Soler and Møller, 1996). This widely practiced behavior within the Cuculidae family of birds has been shaped due to environmental changes and coevolutionary relationships with other bird species (Briskie et. al, 1992). Among the 136 species of Cuckoo birds, 53 of them perform brood parasitism (Krüger and Davies, 2002). Of these 53 species, the most widespread within all of Europe is the Cuculus conorus, which is know as the common