How long does it take a bird of prey to kill its prey after catching it?
The technique and the time it takes to kill prey varies greatly depending on the type of raptor and the size of the prey.Hawks and other members of the Accipitridae family, (eagles, harriers, kites), use their talons to catch and subdue struggling prey, rather than to kill it quickly. They'll sometimes squeeze the animal to the point of suffocation if it's small enough; but with bigger prey (like your rabbit) they land on top of it and stay on top of it until they've got it under control to avoid injuries or escape. They use their beaks to pluck fur or feathers from the animal, causing further trauma. Once they've done this, they'll begin to eat it while it's, however briefly, still alive. The hawk in your yard was probably just starting the process of subduing the rabbit when you startled it. Hawks have huge talons on their first and second toes. They use them to tear prey open while it holds on with the other shorter talons. Falcons hunt and kill prey using a different method. They employ a sort of cruise missile technique, slamming full force into their prey, knocking the animal out or breaking it's neck on impact. They can do this in mid-air or on the ground. Falcons have shorter, curved talons on the first and second toe used to grip and sometimes carry prey. They use a sharp 'tooth' on the tip of their beak to pluck off fur or feathers and to open up the animal. Here's what looks to be a sharp shinned hawk demonstrating the process. This isn't particularly gory, but it might be troublesome to sensitive people.
What is the black bird with the orange beak, orange eye ring, and pinkish feet? It was seen in Saint Petersburg Russia?
This bird?This is a rather scruffy-looking Rock Pigeon (Columba livia).It’s a slightly less common color variation and a confusing angle, but it’s definitely a pigeon. A good field mark is the fleshy operculum on the top of the bill. (This is often called a cere, even though that is not technically correct.) The bright red-orange feet are also distinctive.This bird is so different from a bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) that I suspect it’s possible that the linked image was changed. I can understand how it might look a bit like a blackbird (Turdus merula) at this angle, especially since it’s hard to judge size from the photo, but a blackbird would have a yellow bill with no operculum and black feet, and a completely different body shape.
Gray bird with red head, not house finch?
I was thinking back to when I was younger (6ish) and was remembering one really hot summer in NM, I saw a bird that looked exactly like a robin, but it was completely gray and had a red head. My dad said it was a house finch, but it had a skinny beak. I was the only one who saw it, because I was letting my dog in. another thing is that the entire summer that year, it was a drought, and was above 90 degrees most of the time. Any ideas? I've just been thinking about this for a while. P.S Right after I saw it, my dad pulled out a bird book, and I looked through the entire thing and couldn't find anything like it
What kind of bird is this?
It sounds like a cardinal's nest. Female cardinals are brown with cone shaped orange beaks and the males are bright red.. here's a pic of a male and female cardinal..and a pic of eggs.. female on the left http://www.wunderground.com/data/wximage... http://www.livingroomacademy.com/images/...
What is the maximum weight a bird can carry while flying?
If you consider the external mass a bird can carry, excluding its own body mass, then this bird would take the crown.This is the Crown eagle. It is one of the largest predatory birds on the earth with a wing span exceeding two meters.This is a male Mandrill. He is the largest monkey in the world, with mass ranging between 19 and 37 kilograms.Crowned eagles are known to hunt these monkeys by lifting them off the ground and crushing their skulls by sheer grip of their claws. I have not heard of any other birds lifting weights greater than this.In ancient Indian mythology, there is a mention of a huge bird of prey, called the Garuda, which was similar to the crowned eagle in structure but larger in size, and was known to hunt elephants for food. If we take the average mass of an elephant to be 6 tonnes, the largest mass a bird was able to lift was 6 tonnes. However, as of now, you can safely assume that the maximum mass a bird can carry externally would be 37 kilograms.However, the official world record for greatest mass carried by a bird is:greatest weight-carrying capacity: Bald eagle lifting a 6.8 kg (15 lb) mule deerSo, you can go by this information as well. However, there are circumstances where data collection is not possible, so the speculation is always there.Source:Amazing Bird Records
Why do hummingbirds chase each other at the feeder instead of using it at the same time?
As far as birds go, hummingbirds are among the most territorial of all. They have been known to claim an entire flowerbed as their own, and even lay claim to three or more feeders, flying from one to another over and over again to chase away any who dare enter “their” territory. They have been known to defend an area up to a quarter acre in size. This is just a natural characteristic of hummingbirds.Male hummingbirds are very territorial for several reasons. The male is trying to defend his feeding territory. The male hummingbird does not want his territory to overlap with other male hummingbirds. A male hummingbird will defend his territory aggressively by doing a high speed bluffing charge attack or he will engage the rival in a physical battle, often “spearing” his competition with his beak.Another reason a male hummingbird is so fiercely protective of his territory is due to the desire to attract a mate. Before a female hummingbird agrees to mate with the male she is not allow in the territory and will be driven away from there. Once the female agrees to mate, she is given a”free pass” into the territory. This is extremely important to the female hummingbird because when she is sitting on her eggs or chicks she needs easy access to a nearby food source so she is not gone for too long or the offspring may die.All you can do is hang enough feeders, preferably each out of direct line of sight of the others… around the corner of your house or behind a bush. A male hummingbird is the Mighty Mouse of the avian world.On the other hand, this characteristic is very much dependent on the personality of each individual bird… the extent of its “alpha-ness”. Many feeders are shared by multiple males. Also, if a particular feeder is visited by a huge number of birds, even the most alpha of males may eventually be overwhelmed in trying to defend, and will eventually realize the futility of his efforts.
Do birds ever relocate their eggs? If so, how do they carry them? I noticed that a dove had made a nest and laid some eggs on my windowsill. After watching it for a few days, one morning I woke up and the bird and the eggs had suddenly disappeared.
Yes, the do sometimes relocate their eggs but never ones that have their nests anywhere but on the ground.Ground nesting birds can certainly move eggs from one nest to another and they typically roll them on the ground, if the terrain is suitable. If it's not, they just don't move them. Another great example are penguins. The eggs are not incubated on a nest but rather are incubated while on parents feet. They move them again but again, often rely heavily on the ground.Any "flying" type birds do not ever move their eggs. I agree with many of the other posters who have suggested that the loss of eggs was probably predation. House cats and squirrels are typically the culprits. Sometimes you might see a few extra eggs appear and these can be eggs of birds known as nest parasites. Things like cowbirds will go around and lay eggs in a nest of a female who has just recently laid eggs. She does this because the "host" mother will care for this other bird as though it was her own and the parasite mom gets to fly away and not care for the baby but still know that it will survive.