Sooty Owl:

The Sooty Owl is a species of owl that is found in certain parts of Australia, New Guinea, and a few other nearby islands. In Australia, the owl can be found in the south eastern parts from Melbourne to Brisbane, while in New Guinea, it can be found all over the Montane rainforests. The owl is usually found in areas with thick foliage of eucalyptus trees, tropical fruit trees, gum trees, and so on. They usually roost in tall trees or in the hollow trunks of large trees, but may even be found in caves. Like most owls, they are nocturnal, and feed on smaller birds, rodents, and mammals.

The Sooty Owl is medium to large in size, and as the name indicates, is a sooty black in color, with white spots that are fine and dense on the head, but sparser towards the wings. The underside is of the same color, but a slightly lighter shade. The owl has a large facial disc, which is also sooty black in color, but defined by its light outline. The eyes are large, and the owl is thought to rely on them more than most other owl species. The Sooty Owl’s bill is almost entirely feathered, and so are the legs. The owl has large talons and a short tail. Overall, the females are slightly larger than the males. When speaking of the Sooty Owl, it is usually implied that one is referring to the Greater Sooty Owl. There is also the Lesser Sooty Owl, which is smaller in size, but otherwise quite similar to the Greater Sooty Owl.

Apart from its appearance, one of the characteristic features of the Sooty Owl is its call. The call is often referred to as the “bomb whistle”, as it is a long, descending shriek. Of course, this is only the most common call of the Sooty Owl; it also has other calls that are specific to certain activities or situations, such as mating calls and so on.

Breeding season for Sooty Owl’s is typically in the first half of the year, although in rare cases, owls may breed up to September. Nests are usually made in hollow trees, and the female typically spends all her time in the nest, with the male regularly bringing her food. Sooty Owl’s seem to be a thriving species, however their status is not certain, and some experts think they might be endangered.

Blue Winged Kookaburra:

The blue-winged kookaburra is one of the larger members of the kingfisher family and it measures a total length of about 40 centimeters. While all kookaburras are sexually dimorphic, this is even more apparent in the blue-winged kookaburra as the males sport a blue tail while the females have a tail with blackish bars. This large breed of kingfisher has a rather large squarish head and a long bill. Its eyes are distinctly pale and the head has off – white brown streaks. The shoulders are a sky blue and the bird has a uniform blue rump. The throat will be plain white in color while the under parts are white with faint scalloped orange – brown bars. The feet and legs are usually grey while the bill is dark on the top and yellowish below. Juvenile blue-winged kookaburras have pale streaks on the head along with dark mottling. The blue-winged kookaburra is mainly found in the coastal or sub coastal regions of northwest and northeast Australia. However, the bird is almost completely absent from the Eighty mile beach area in Western Australia that separates the Pilbara population.

The natural diet of these winged creatures covers a wide spectrum and they will eat anything from invertebrates to vertebrates as well as reptiles, insects and even frogs during the wetter months. Much like any kingfisher, they will perform a controlled dive with their bills open in order to grab the food from the ground or from the water level. The bill also has a special groove towards the end of the upper mandible that helps hold on to its prey. Only after the bird has returned to its perch will the prey be beaten to death and consumed. The blue-winged kookaburra’s will usually nest at a high altitude in a tree hollow or hole cut into a soft piece of wood. The floor of the chamber is lower than the entrance with a length of about 50 centimeters.

The blue-winged kookaburras are known to live in family groups of eight individuals that also include a breeding pair that will mate for life. Unlike most other birds, the blue-winged kookaburras have a very strong family bond and the young will tend to live with their parents for several years and help care for their younger siblings. This trait also plays a significant role in perfecting their skills to find a mate and establish their own territory.

Silver Gull Bird:

The silver gull, simply known as a ‘seagull’ in its native Australia, is the most common gull seen in its homeland as well as New Zealand and New Caledonia. Its natural habitat comprises of any natural water body and it is rarely seen far from land. The fact that it has adapted well to an urban lifestyle is probably the main reason that the bird is commonly found near busy areas such as shopping malls and garbage dumps. So far, the only two recordings of silver gulls in the United States of America in 1947 and 1996 are now believed to owe to species escaped from captivity. Much like most other gull species, the Silver Gull is considered to be a rather accomplished scavenger and will regularly pester humans for handouts of scraps and search for human refuse at garbage dumps and trash cans. Its natural diet, however, consists of fish, insects, worms and crustaceans. The birds have a tendency to breed in large colonies on offshore islands and will raise about 2 broods in a year. Both, the male and female, will share responsibilities when it comes to the building of the nest as well as incubation and feeding of the babies. Although the birds may breed at any time over the course of the year, the most common time happens to be between August and November. A regular clutch size from a silver gull is 3 eggs.

The silver gull is rather easy to identify because its head, tail and body are all white. The wings will usually be light grey with white spots and black tips. The average size of an adult silver gull is between forty and forty five centimeters in length while its wingspan will be about 94 centimeters. While the juveniles will have rather dark beaks, the adults will usually sport bright red beaks. The beak is considered to be one of age determining factors of the bird as the brighter the beak tends to be, the older the bird is.

Because of the fact that the birds are rather messy, they tend to be quite a problem for aircraft at airports as well as being able to easily contaminate water storages and picnic areas. Their roosting on roofs causes the blockage of gutters as a result of the regurgitated bones or even nesting material. Not only does this reduce the lifespan of the material used to roof the house, it can also be rather unpleasant for the family living inside.

Curlew Sandpiper Bird Species:

The curlew sandpiper is a rather small wader bird that is found mainly in the tundra regions of Arctic Siberia. Wader birds are essentially very long - legged wading birds much like herons and storks. The majority of wader birds are associated with the wetland or coastal environments, and are closely related to seabirds. The sandpiper family of birds includes a number of varieties – of which the most common happen to be the snipe sandpiper and curlew sandpiper. These waders use their long legs and slender bills in order to feed on the small invertebrates living on the shores. The average size of curlew sandpiper is about 19.5 to 21 centimeters in length and they have a long neck as well as a down curved bill. These two characteristics are the ones that help a trained eye distinguish between the curlew sandpiper and another very similar bird known as the Dunlin. Some of the common features in both of these birds include black legs and de-curved black bills. The adult curlew sandpiper has patterned – dark grey under parts as well as brick reed under parts. During the winter seasons, however, the bird will have a pale grey coat above while a shade of white below.

The curlew sandpiper will perform an aerial display for its prospective mate during courtship. The males are polygamous and those that display on the best territories tend to have more than one mate. Unlike a number of sandpiper varieties, the curlew sandpiper male does not assist in incubation of the eggs. The eggs are usually laid in clutches of about 3 to 4 in ground scrape in the tundra regions and incubated for a period of 21 days. Although the Curlew sandpiper will breed mainly in northern Asia, it is known to stray to many parts of the world that are not considered to be regions of natural habitat.

The primary diet of curlew sandpiper includes worms, snails and insects that are foraged with the help of its bill probing in the mud. As with any variety of bird, the call is one of the most distinct features of the type and help significantly in identification. The common calls of the curlew sandpipers are a rather pleasant ‘chirrup’ or ‘chirrup’ while in flight. When the bird needs to sound an alarm, it will voice a sound similar to ‘wick – wick – wick’. The males are known to sing while flying over breeding grounds.