Varieties And Species Of Finches

There are many varieties and species of finches in many countries of the world. The Zebra Finches, Gouldian Finches and Spice Finches are the main types of finches which can be great pets. Let us discuss how finches as pets is an exciting concept.

 

Finches are birds which are believed to be found mostly in the Southern Hemisphere and are known to be song singing birds who eat seeds. The finches belong to the family of Fringillidae-a name which has been derived from the Latin word-fringilla. Generally, one can find finches in the areas which are well-wooded. However, many finches have been found in some remote mountains and desert like regions. The lifespan of a finch can be anything between five and fifteen years.

Zebra Finches

The  Zebra Finches are very beautiful, cute and a delight to watch. These finches need a bigger cage to live well even though they are small because, they need to be comfortable flying in a horizontal direction. It will be good if you can have a thirty inch long and twenty inch high cage for the Zebra Finches. These birds are very social and they love to interact and be in company of other finches. So, when you consider having Zebra Finches as pets, you should ideally have a pair or a small group of the finches. Your Zebra Finch, which gets along well with the other birds may not get along well with you - at least during the first stages. You should make sure that the cage in which the finches are kept, is not cluttered and causing problems for the finches to fly to-and-fro supplying kinds of perches. Swings, ladders, toys and bells can also be included for the complete entertainment of the Zebra Finches. The cage place should be such that the place where it is should be quiet and peaceful, and away from air conditioning ducts and sunrays. This will satisfy your Zebra Finches to a great extent.

Gouldian Finches

The Gouldian Finches are very popular in countries like United States, United Kingdom, Holland, South Africa, etc. However, Australia is the country where this finch was breaded first. The characteristic feature of these finches is that they need warm and dry conditions to live well, as cold conditions and places which have damp weather do not suit them.

This kind of finches can be kept in a cage, having a size of a room which is most probably inside the home. If at all it is kept outside the home, make sure that it is far away from sunrays and bad weather. The cage length should be at least twenty inches for having Gouldian finches. The diet for these finches should not be an only seeds diet, as this will not give them all the essential nutrients. These finches love fresh fruits, vegetables, live insects, spinach and romaine. As said for Zebra Finches, these finches too need clean and pure drinking water.

Spice Finches

The Spice Finches need the same kind of care and nutrition which the Zebra Finches and Gouldian Finches need. The size of these finches is around twelve centimeters, and they are found in countries like India, South Asian countries and in Malaysia. Nutmeg Mannikins is the other name given to Spice Finches. Having Spice Finches as pets is a cool idea, because of their personality traits - they are playful and very exciting birds. Care should be taken while trimming the Spice Finches because if you clip into their vein by mistake, it can cause a lot of bleeding.

While owning finch as pets, you have to be fully ready to give them good living conditions and food. The water which you give your finches should be clean and pure to drink. The food dishes in which food is served should be cleaned daily and attached to the cage, so that the finches can easily have their food. Provide water in a shallow dish which is clean to the finches for bathing. Feeding good quality seeds, dandelion greens, spinach, lettuce along with millet sprays, fresh vegetables and fruits is very essential for good health and well-being of the finches.

Serving pellets which are very high in nutrition, and foods from eggs, after studying the various recipes available, is the right way of keeping finches. Make sure that there is calcium containing foods in the diets of these finches.

I hope you must have liked this article about finches as pets. So, when are you getting a finch for yourself!

The Kingfisher Are Brightly Coloured Birds

The kingfisher is a small to medium sized colourful bird generally found close to water.There are nearly 100 different species of the kingfisher bird found around the world.

Kingfishers live both in wetlands and woodlands worldwide, feeding mainly on fish but also insects, frogs and crayfish with those kingfisher species that live in the woodlands occasionally eating reptiles, birds and even small mammals.

There are three main types of kingfisher around the globe which are the river kingfishers, the tree kingfishers and the water kingfishers all of which have large heads, long sharp pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails.

The smallest species of kingfisher is the African Dwarf Kingfisher, which gets to an average of 10.4 g in weight and just 10 cm (4 inches) in length. The largest kingfisher species is the Giant Kingfisher, which gets to an average of 355 g (13.5 oz) and grows to 45 cm (18 inches). However, the familiar Australian kingfisher known as the Laughing Kookaburra may be the heaviest known kingfisher species, since large adult Australian kingfishers exceeding 450 g in weight are quite common.

Kingfishers nest in tree hollows and holes dug into the ground, which tend to be in river banks or at the sides of lakes. Kingfishers dig small tunnels with their nest at the end, which can range in length depending on the species. The giant kingfisher is known to dig tunnels that are over 8 meters long! Female kingfishers lay up to 10 eggs (although normally less), and both the male and the female kingfishers help to incubate the eggs, which hatch in between 3 and 4 weeks.

Kingfishers are well known for their brightly coloured feathers which range in colour from black to red to green. Some species of kingfisher have tufts of feathers on their heads which stick upwards, although many species of kingfishers have smooth, flat feathers covering their bodies.

Due to their generally small size, kingfishers have a number of predators wherever they exist around the world. The main predators of the kingfisher are foxes, raccoons, cats and snakes, but kingfishers are also preyed upon by other small mammals and large birds. The eggs of the kingfisher are also preyed upon by many of the kingfisher's predators.

Many species of kingfisher are considered to be threatened species as their numbers have been declining mainly due to habitat loss. These threatened species of kingfisher tend to be the kingfisher species that inhabit woodland and forests as their habitat is being destroyed due to deforestation which occurs in many areas around the world.

Pileated Woodpeckers Prove To Be Adaptable To Changing Conditions

Another Washington State bird, the Pileated Woodpecker is a large bird (up to 19"), and prefers mature trees in heavily forested areas. As first growth forests dwindle, these birds have adapted themselves to life in second growth forests, as well as heavily wooded parks. They make nests in hollows of dead trees, and will dig further in, tunneling and excavating to create the nest space, sometimes taking as long as six weeks to finish building. They tend to make new nests each year, leaving the old nest as a home for other cavity-dwelling animals.

 Insects are their primary food, along with fruits, berries and nuts, easily found on San Juan Island. They will search for insects by ripping or digging into the bark of trees, methodically moving across the tree trunk and leaving behind a unique pattern of pock marks in straight columns and rows. When digging into the bark, they can also create 3 - 6" holes in trees, a telltale sign that they are in residence. The Pileated taps at tree bark with its beak, looking for insects.

It can then drag out the bugs with its sticky tongue. The loud hammering sound made by this bird is often thought to be the sound made when their beak hits the tree in their search for food. Actually, though, the sound is their call both to attract mates and to establish territorial boundaries.

Pileated woodpeckers are the largest of the common woodpeckers found in most of North America. These crow-sized birds present a memorable sight with their zebra-striped heads and necks, long bills, and distinctive red crests.

Pileated woodpeckers forage for their favorite meal, carpenter ants, by digging large, rectangular holes in trees. These holes can be so large that they weaken smaller trees or even cause them to break in half. Other birds are often attracted to these large openings, eager to access any exposed insects.

Pileated woodpeckers do not discriminate between coniferous and deciduous trees—as long as they yield the ants and beetle larvae that make up much of the birds' diet. Woodpeckers sometimes access these morsels by peeling long strips of bark from the tree, but they also forage on the ground and supplement their diet with fruits and nuts.

The enthusiastic drumming that creates such holes sounds like a loud hammering, and is audible for a great distance. Woodpeckers also drum to attract mates and to announce the boundaries of their territories. Pairs establish territories and live on them all year long.

The birds typically choose large, older trees for nesting and usually inhabit a tree hole. In eastern North America, pileated woodpeckers declined as their forest habitats were systematically logged in the 19th and 20th centuries. In recent decades, many forests have regenerated, and woodpecker species have enjoyed corresponding growth. The birds have proven to be adaptable to changing forest conditions.

Colorfu Hummingbirds Are Among The World's Most Popular Birds

Colorful, combative, and energetic, hummingbirds are among the world's most popular birds. They are found only in the New World. People across North America attract them to their homes through hummingbird feeders and flowering gardens, and can be rewarded with bright migratory species, such as a male Rufous Hummingbird (left). Yet the true center of trochilid diversity is in the Neotropics, home to a dazzling array of species that range from tiny to surprisingly large, and with an assortment of head plumes, tail streamers, and bill shapes.

Their ability to hover and fly backwards makes them unique. Further, their interdependence on and co-evolution with flowers provide a fascinating correlation and field for study. Because the sources of nectar are constantly changing as flowers bloom and fade, most hummingbirds live solitary lives, aggressively defending nectar sources from rivals.

Despite the strong pressure to gather nectar rapidly, studies have shown that 70% of a hummer's time is spent doing little else than singing, self-preening, and sunbathing (Schuchmann 1999). In the two shots below, a male White-necked Jacobin sits near its favored feeder in Trinidad (below left) but immediately reacts when a White-chested Emerald tries to approach. Such interactions can lead to dramatic interspecific aerial chases.

Despite the many species of hummingbirds, they are divided into just two subfamilies (Schuchmann 1999). The Trochilinae include all the colorful species (nearly 300 in all) while the Phaethornithinae is composed of the six genera and 34 species of hermits. Brown, long-tailed hermits forage in the understory; some short-tailed species weigh only 1.6 gram (the same weight as the tiny Bee Hummingbird Mellisuga helenae of Cuba, often termed the "world's smallest bird").

All hermits that have been studied display in noisy leks, their clicking dominating a patch of jungle. Hermits often have a species affinity for Heliconia plants and it can be rewarding to "stake-out" a patch inside the forest. This Rufous-breasted (or Hairy) Hermit (right) was sitting right next to 'his' Heliconia. Unlike many other hummingbirds, hermits are generally not territorial and few species have iridescence. When present, it is limited to the throat or crown. Nonetheless, it is obvious that hermits are hummingbirds, and even the most jaded "I can't tell one bird from another" non-naturalist can identify a hummingbird as such.

The flight mechanisms of hummingbirds allow them to hover almost indefinitely and scientists have wondered for ages about how the bird is able to move so quickly, like an insect, but still has the body structure of a bird.  Researchers have believed for decades that hummingbirds used the same flight mechanisms as insects; but studies conducted within the past decade have proven that hummingbirds have their own unique flight characteristics, different from insects or other birds.

A hummingbird must compete with the force of gravity, which pushes down on the bird.  By flapping its wings, the hummingbird is able to create lift (which pushes the bird upward) and thrust (which helps the bird maintain forward movement).  Drag is the force that conflicts with thrust, air resistance or friction slows down thrust.

Although the hummingbird's flight mechanisms have been compared to those of insects, the hummingbird has all the capabilities and limitations that birds have.  An insect has wings that are almost flat and they gain their lift to fly using two mirror image half strokes, moving their wings back and forth in a figure eight pattern.  This allows the insect to produce nearly equal lift on thier up stroke and down stroke.

A bird however, produces virtually all of its flying lift on the downstroke.A hummingbird is unique in the fact that it can produce 25% of its weight support during its up stroke and 75% of its weight support during the down stroke.