SNN (ScrollingNetworkNews) ✿ ✿ Our Mel and Sydney returned to their nesting box with plenty of bonding occurring..but after 2.5 months of Sydney in the box from Dec 2013 to mid Feb 2014, the lack of prey gifts from Mel ( perhaps due to the severe and historic drought underway in California)and they have forgone the nesting process this year as many other raptors ✿ Compared to other owls of similar size, the Barn Owl has a much higher metabolic rate, requiring relatively more food. Pound for pound, Barn Owls consume more rodents – often regarded as pests by humans – than possibly any other creature. ✿ We remind viewers that sometimes owlets may not survive - the parents will dispose of things in "The Owl Way" -viewer discretion is advised, this is nature and the "Owl way". ✿ ~ ✿ “Animals, like us, are living souls. They are not things. They are not objects. Neither are they human. Yet they mourn. They love. They dance. They suffer. They know the peaks and chasms of being.” ― Gary Kowalski, The Souls of Animals ✿ Each species is a masterpiece, a creation assembled with extreme care and genius." ~ E.O. Wilson

Monday, July 23, 2012

A variety of birds - Part 1

There are more than 9,800 known species of birds. The smallest is the male bee hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) found in Cuba., which is 2.25 inches (5.7 centimeters) long and weighs only 0.056 ounces (1.6 grams). The bill and tail account for half of this length. Its body is the size of a large bumblebee!

The largest bird is the ostrich Struthio camelus, which can weigh up to 340 pounds (154 kilograms). - The largest and strongest living bird is the North African ostrich (Struthio camelus . Males can be up to 9 feet tall and weigh 345 pounds, and when fully grown the have one of the most advanced immune systems of any animal.

The bird with the most feathers is the tundra or whistling swan Cygnus columbianus, which has more than 25,000 feathers.
 The bird that flies the fastest is the peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus, Peregrine falcons with diving speeds of more than 200 mph. Adults have wing spans of up to 4 feet and may be recognized by dark, sharply pointed wings and a long, narrow tail.