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Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus). (Photo by R. Butler)
GROUND BIRDS
The majority of ground-dwelling forest birds are insect eaters and elusive, although while quietly walking through the forest it is not unusual to startle some. The Asian forests are home to peafowl and jungle fowl (from which domestic chickens descended) in addition to the well-known common peacock of India and Sri Lanka. The common peacock lives much of the year in large flocks, but at the beginning of spring, the breeding period, a single male forms a harem with two to five females. Only the males have gaudy, elaborate plumage. The green peacock has a more extensive range across Southeast Asia and is larger, with predominantly green and metallic blue plumage.
Several Old World birds have peculiar nest-building habits including the mound builders (megapodes) of eastern Indonesia, New Guinea, and Australia and the bowerbirds of New Guinea and Australia. Megapodes are found east of the Wallace line where there are few ground-dwelling carnivorous mammals. The mound builders are fowl-sized birds named for the nests of huge compost heaps of leaf litter (these mounds can be in use for more than 40 years), which they build for their eggs. Pairs form life-long bonds and work feverishly to maintain the correct, almost exact, incubation temperature, by adding and removing leaves from the compost pile. Some species take over suburban compost heaps, while others occupy city dumps. Some species even utilize geothermal heat for incubating their eggs. Bowerbirds also have interesting nest-building techniques. Male bowerbirds construct display nests using grasses and leaves and decorate the walls with colored dyes of certain berries and pieces of charcoal held together with saliva. The nest and surrounding area are often adorned with iridescent beetles, flowers, feathers, fruit, and other colored and shiny objects to attract females.
The largest rainforest-dwelling ground bird that exists today is the cassowary which may reach 40 inches (1 m) in height. It has short, powerful legs and is well-adapted for running at high speeds (over 30 mph-50 km/h) through the forest. All three species of cassowary are odd-looking with a horny head growth like a helmet, dark body plumage, a turquoise head, a metallic blue neck, and a bright red throat.
In the New World one large group of birds, the antbirds, have adapted to feeding exclusively on the insects disturbed by army ants. These birds spend their life following the columns of army ants that move through the forest. There are numerous varieties of antbirds including antwrens, antshrikes, antthrushes, and antpittas.
Prime Minister of Kenya urged to ban lion-killing pesticide after child dies from ingestion
(11/10/2009) On Monday October 26th a three-year-old girl mistakenly ate the pesticide Furadan (also known as carbofuran) in western Kenya. Her father, a teacher at a primary school, said that he had no knowledge of how dangerous the pesticide was, which he had purchased to kill pests in his vegetable garden.
Hunting across Southeast Asia weakens forests' survival, An interview with Richard Corlett
(11/08/2009) A large flying fox eats a fruit ingesting its seeds. Flying over the tropical forests it eventually deposits the seeds at the base of another tree far from the first. One of these seeds takes root, sprouts, and in thirty years time a new tree waits for another flying fox to spread its speed. In the Southeast Asian tropics an astounding 80 percent of seeds are spread not by wind, but by animals: birds, bats, rodents, even elephants. But in a region where animals of all shapes and sizes are being wiped out by uncontrolled hunting and poaching—what will the forests of the future look like? This is the question that has long occupied Richard Corlett, professor of biological science at the National University of Singapore.
The faster, fiercer, and always surprising sloth, an interview with Bryson Voirin
(10/25/2009) Sloths sleep all day; they are always slow; and they are gentle animals. These are just some of the popular misconceptions that sloth-scientist and expert tree-climber, Bryson Voirin, is overturning. After growing up among the wild creatures of Florida, spending his high school years in Germany, and earning a Bachelors degree in biology and environment at the New College of Florida, Voirin found his calling. At the New College of Florida, Voirin "met Meg Lowman, the famous canopy pioneer who invented many of the tree climbing techniques everyone uses today."
Perfect shot of the rare Iberian wolf wins nature photo contest
(10/22/2009) It's hard to believe the shot is real: it's that good. But a photo of a rare Iberian wolf—a subspecies of the gray wolf—jumping a fence has won the 45th Veolia Environment Wildlife Photo of the Year award. The photographer, Jose Luis Rodriguez, has said that he hopes the haunting image will inspire the people of Spain to be proud to have this endangered animal still roaming their countryside.
Kenya's pain, part two: decades of wildlife decline exacerbated by drought
(10/20/2009) Not many years ago if you were planning a trip to Africa to see wildlife, Kenya would be near the top of the list, if not number one. Then violent riots in late 2007 and early 2008 leaving a thousand dead tarnished the country's image abroad. When calm and stability returned, Kenya was again open for tourism, and it's true that most travelers were quick to forget: articles earlier this year announced that even with the global economic crisis Kenya was expecting tourism growth. However, a new disaster may not be so quickly overcome.
