24 Nov, 2008
pigeons
Pigeons are successful is evident to anyone who has seen the huge populations of feral 
birds (all descended from domesticated Rock doves) dwelling in the cities of Europe, Asia and America. These pigeons have benefited from the decline of their predators. The birds of prey, the presence of suitable nest-sites on buildings, and the human habit of feeding them. Pigeons, being mainly seed-eaters, have also benefited from the spread of agriculture. In both city and country, this success has brought them into conflict with people.
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24 Nov, 2008
gulls
Gulls are the most familiar seabirds of
North temperate regions, regularly seen hunting along the shore for intertidal prey. Or
straying far inland in search of food and breeding sites. As a group they are outstand-in opportunists, which partly distinguishes them from their close but more specialized relatives, the terns and skuas.
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23 Nov, 2008
jacana
Alongside with the more easily recognized shorebirds and waders of the order
Charadriiformes are eight small families that are more waders-than duck- or tern-like, yet sufficiently dif-ferment to be put in families separate from the sandpipers and plovers. Some, like the oystercatchers and painted snipes, are obviously shorebirds, with their long legs and long slender bills. But others, such as the seed snipes and sheathbills, are so different in appearance that their inclusion in the order (mainly on the basis of skull characters) comes at first as a surprise.
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23 Nov, 2008
plovers sand
The noisy cries of plovers ring out in openly spaces the world over, from the killdeer repeating the call for 
which it was named, in North America, to the sad “peewit” of its Eurasian counterpart, the lapwing. In southern Africa the Blacksmith plover breaks its silence with a loud, metallic “link, Klink” when disturbed.
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23 Nov, 2008
button quails
Rinse button quails, together with the plains wanderer display one of the most complete reversals of normal sexual roles known in birds. Females are the more brightly colored sex, and are larger where the sexes differ in size; they defend territory, pugnaciously driving off other females, and initiate courtship of the males. Then, after the eggs have been laid, it is left to the male to incubate the clutch and tend the chicks. In some species, one female will mate with several males during a season.
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23 Nov, 2008
bustard
The name bustard (by derivation, roughly: “the bird that walks”) was originally applied to the most northerly and perhaps least typical member of the family, the Great bustard. The term is however appropriate for the whole family, for all bustards are strictly ground dwellers. The largest members are to the great open plains of Africa and Eurasia what cranes are to the world’s big marshes : slow-breeding, long-lived birds of ancient lineage, reaching considerable size and weight whilst retaining the capacity to fly—among birds, the ultimate expression of adaptation to their stable habitats. Sadly, like cranes, they are among the first to suffer once those habitats start being exploited and disrupted by modern man.
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23 Nov, 2008
cranes
Cranes are birds of the superlatives. Some stand nearly 2m (6.6ft) high, making them Earth’s tallest flying 
birds. Some fly over the Himalayas at more than 9 000 m (3000 ft) above sea level and are among the highest-flying birds. Not only are cranes among the oldest groups of birds, dating back some 6o million years. But captive cranes have lived into their 70s and 80s.Their calls are among the loudest, and cranes’ beauty and grace is difficult to surpass. Unfortunately the cranes are also among the most endangered families of birds. Mankind is entirely responsible frothier decline.
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23 Nov, 2008
dance peacock
The display of the Blue (or Indian) peacock is a famous symbol of extravagant beauty.
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23 Nov, 2008
bird game
Ground dwelling pheasants and quails make up the largest and most widespread family in the order Galliformes, which also contains the grouse, turkeys, guinea fowl, megaspores, guans and curassows.
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birds (all descended from domesticated Rock doves) dwelling in the cities of Europe, Asia and America. These pigeons have benefited from the decline of their predators. The birds of prey, the presence of suitable nest-sites on buildings, and the human habit of feeding them. Pigeons, being mainly seed-eaters, have also benefited from the spread of agriculture. In both city and country, this success has brought them into conflict with people.
