Harvesting Honey from Giant Honeybees 2017. Honey Harvest from a Giant Honeybee (Apis dorsata).
Bees Unlimited, at it again!!... Out in the Rafter Beekeeping Community taking in a Sustainable Honey Harvest from a Giant Honeybee (Apis dorsata) colony in NW Cambodia, not too far from Angkor Wat...
How sweet it is!!
The pied bushchat (Saxicola caprata) is a small passerinebird found ranging from West Asia and Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. About sixteen subspecies are recognized through its wide range with many island forms. It is a familiar bird of countryside and open scrub or grassland where it is found perched at the top of short thorn trees or other shrubs, looking out for insect prey. This male Pied BushChat was very tame and visited the plot regularly. It looked really smart in its full breeding plumage with jet black body contrasting to the white rump and under tail coverts. It also regularly performed its short sweet song.
Many male passerines show a marked peak of singing activity before sunrise. It is generally believed that the main functions of the dawn song are mate attraction and territory defence.
We examined whether seasonal patterns of dawn song characteristics (i.e. song rate and level of song complexity) of male Pied Bush Chat were related with different breeding stages (unpaired, laying, nestling and fledgling). It was predicted that if the main function of dawn singing in Pied Bush Chat is to attract the female, then males should change their dawn singing behaviour after pairing.
Funny clip A conversation with parrot: Kaboki. The man talking to his pet and the parot talking to him too.
Parrots, also known as psittacines are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes found in most tropical and subtropical regions.
Parrots have a generally pantropical distribution with several species inhabiting temperate regions in the Southern Hemisphere as well. The greatest diversity of parrots is in South America and Australasia.
Studies with captive birds have given insight into which birds are the most intelligent. While parrots are able to mimic human speech, studies with the African grey parrot have shown that some are able to associate words with their meanings and form simple sentences .
The most important components of most parrots' diets are seeds, nuts, fruit, buds and other plant material. A few species sometimes eat animals and carrion, while the lories and lorikeets are specialised for feeding on floral nectar and soft fruits. Almost all parrots nest in tree hollows (or nest boxes in captivity), and lay white eggs from which hatch altricial (helpless) young.
The diet of parrots consists of seeds, fruit, nectar, pollen, buds, and sometimes arthropods and other animal prey. The most important of these for most true parrots and cockatoos are seeds; the evolution of the large and powerful bill can be explained primarily as an adaptation to opening and consuming seeds.
There are numerous challenges in studying wild parrots, as they are difficult to catch and once caught they are difficult to mark. Most wild bird studies rely on banding or wing tagging, but parrots chew off such attachments. Parrots also tend to range widely and consequently there are many gaps in knowledge of their behaviour. Some parrots have a strong, direct flight. Most species spend much of their time perched or climbing in tree canopies. They often use their bills for climbing by gripping or hooking on branches and other supports. On the ground parrots often walk with a rolling gait.
Sparrow feeding her babies on nest.Sparrow Mother bringing food back to her nest. Here them growing up each day. Mother Bird take of theme and cleaning nest.
Sparrows are a family of small passerine birds, Passeridae. They are also known as true sparrows, or Old World sparrows, names also used for a particular genus of the family, Passer. They are distinct from both the American sparrows, in the family Emberizidae, and from a few other birds sharing their name, such as the Java sparrow of the family Estrildidae.
Many species nest on buildings, and the house and Eurasian tree sparrows in particular inhabit cities in large numbers, so sparrows may be the most familiar of all wild birds. They are primarily seed-eaters, though they also consume small insects. Some species scavenge for food around cities and, like gulls or rock doves, will happily eat virtually anything in small quantities.
The sparrows are indigenous to Europe, Africa and Asia. In the Americas, Australia, and other parts of the world, settlers imported some species which quickly naturalised, particularly in urban and degraded areas. House sparrows, for example, are now found throughout North America, in every state of Australia except Western Australia, parts of southern and eastern Africa, and over much of the heavily populated parts of South America.
Generally, sparrows are small, plump, brown-grey birds with short tails and stubby, powerful beaks. The differences between sparrow species can be subtle. Members of this family range in size from the chestnut sparrow (Passer eminibey), at 11.4 centimetres (4.5 in) and 13.4 grams.
Adorable pets: Little Ferrets. The little Feerets joking mutal on the glass box.
The ferret (Mustela putorius furo) is the domesticated form of the European polecat, a mammal belonging to the same genus as the weasel, Mustela of the family Mustelidae.
Several other Mustelids also have the word ferret in their common names, including an endangered species, the black-footed ferret.
Being so closely related to polecats, ferrets easily hybridize with them, and this has occasionally resulted in feral colonies of polecat-ferret hybrids that have caused damage to native fauna, especially in New Zealand. As a result, some parts of the world have imposed restrictions on the keeping of ferrets.
They typically have brown, black, white, or mixed fur. They have an average length of 51 cm (20 inches) including a 13 cm (5 inch) tail, weigh about 1.5–4 pounds (0.7–2 kg), and have a natural lifespan of 7 to 10 years. Ferrets are sexually dimorphic predators with males being substantially larger than females.
Ferrets spend 14–18 hours a day asleep and are most active around the hours of dawn and dusk, meaning they are crepuscular. Unlike their polecat ancestors, which are solitary animals, most ferrets will live happily in social groups.
Ferrets are obligate carnivores. The natural diet of their wild ancestors consisted of whole small prey, meat, organs, bones, skin, feathers, and fur... Ferrets have short digestive systems and quick metabolism, so they need to eat frequently. Prepared dry foods consisting almost entirely of meat (including high-grade cat food, although specialized ferret food is increasingly available and preferable) provide the most nutritional value and are the most convenient, though some ferret owners feed pre-killed or live prey (such as mice and rabbits) to their ferrets to more closely mimic their natural diet.[
Calandra Lark singing a beautiful song. The calandra lark (Melanocorypha calandra) breeds in warm temperate countries around the Mediterranean and eastwards through Turkey into northern Iran and southern Russia. It is replaced further east by its relative, the bimaculated lark.
The Calandra lark is the bulkiest species of this family. Adult male in breeding plumage has greyish-brown upperparts with blackish streaks. In spite of the pale-edged feathers of the back, this bird appears very dark, almost black when flying, as well seen from above as for below. Chin and throat are white, like lower breast and belly. Upper breast is pale buff streaked brown. When in flight, we can see the white spots on primary and secondary feathers, contrasting with the dark plumage. On the neck side, at the base, there is an elongated black spot. The short tail is blackish-brown, with the two outer rectrices mainly white. The bill is strong, conical, and down-curved on culmen, with darker upper mandible. The lower mandible is yellow. Legs and feet are yellowish-brown. Eyes are brown.
It is mainly resident in the west of its range, but Russian populations of this passerine bird are more migratory, moving further south in winter, as far as the Arabian peninsula and Egypt. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.
This is a bird of open cultivation and steppe. Its nest is on the ground, with 4–5 eggs being laid. Food is seeds supplemented with insects in the breeding season. It is gregarious outside the breeding season.
This is a large, robust lark, 17.5–20 cm long. It is an undistinguished-looking species on the ground, mainly streaked greyish-brown above and white below, and with large black patches on the breast sides. It has a white supercilium.
In flight it shows short broad wings, which are dark below, and a short white-edged tail. The wing and tail patterns are distinctions from its more easterly relatives.
As soon as March, the males sing very loudly. The Calandra Lark’s song is very loud, with melodious notes, often interspersed with harsh tones which make the melody less strong and pleasant than expected. This bird is able to mimicry the song of other birds’ species. The flocks utter their nasal chatters in the harvested corn or barley fields “klitrr”. The song flight includes high-pitched trills.
The onager or Asiatic wild ass Equus (hemionus) is a large member of the genus Equus of the family Equidae (horse family) native to the deserts and other arid regions of Iran, Pakistan, India and Mongolia, including in cold regions of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. It formerly had a wider range from southwest to central Asian countries, such as Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Russia.
Onagers are a little larger than donkeys at about 290 kilograms (640 lb) and 2.1 metres (6.9 ft) (head-body length), and are a little more horse-like. They are short-legged compared to horses, and their coloring varies depending on the season. They are generally reddish-brown in color during the summer, becoming yellowish-brown in the winter months. They have a black stripe bordered in white that extends down the middle of the back.
The onagers eats grasses when available, but will browse on shrubs and trees at other times or in drier habitats. It has also been seen feeding on seed pods and breaking up woody vegetation with its hooves to get at more succulent herbs growing at the base of woody plants. During spring and summer in Mongolia, the succulent plants of the Zygophyllaceae family form an important component of the diet of the Mongolian wild ass. This subspecies is also known to eat snow in winter as a substitute for water. At other times when natural water points are unavailable, the Mongolian wild ass will dig holes in dry riverbeds to access sub-surface water. The water holes dug by the wild asses are often subsequently visited by domestic livestock, as well as other wild animals. Breeding is seasonal, the gestation period in this species is 11 months, and most births occur from April to September. Females with young tend to form groups of up to five females. Males have been observed holding harems of females, but in other studies they defend territories that attract females. It is likely that differences in behaviour and social structure are the result of changes in climate, vegetation cover, predation and hunting. In Mongolia alone, the onager seems to adopt harem type social groups in the southwest and territorial based social groups in the south and southeast.
The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca, lit. "black and white cat-foot". ) also known as panda bear or simply panda, is a bear native to south central China.
The giant panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly in Sichuan province, but also in neighbouring provinces, namely Shaanxi and Gansu. As a result of farming, deforestation, and other development, the giant panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived.
The giant panda, a black-and-white bear, has a body typical of bears. It has black fur on ears, eye patches, muzzle, legs, and shoulders. The rest of the animal's coat is white. Although scientists do not know why these unusual bears are black and white, some speculate that the bold coloring provides effective camouflage into their shade-dappled snowy and rocky surroundings. The panda's thick, wooly coat keeps it warm in the cool forests of its habitat. Giant pandas have large molar teeth and strong jaw muscles for crushing tough bamboo. Many people find these chunky, lumbering animals to be cute, but giant pandas can be as dangerous as any other bear.
The giant panda has a black-and-white coat. Adults measure around 1.2 to 1.9 m (4 to 6 ft) long, including a tail of about 10–15 cm (3.9–5.9 in), and 60 to 90 cm (2.0 to 3.0 ft) tall at the shoulder. Males can weigh up to 160 kg (350 lb).] Females (generally 10–20% smaller than males) can weigh as little as 70 kg (150 lb), but can also weigh up to 125 kg (276 lb). Average adult weight is 100 to 115 kg (220 to 254 lb).
A wild giant panda’s diet is almost exclusively (99 percent) bamboo. The balance consists of other grasses and occasional small rodents or musk deer fawns. In zoos, giant pandas eat bamboo, sugar cane, rice gruel, a special high-fiber biscuit, carrots, apples, and sweet potatoes.
Scientists aren't sure how long giant pandas live in the wild, but they are sure it's shorter than lifespans in zoos. Chinese scientists have reported zoo pandas as old as 35. The National Zoo's Hsing-Hsing died at age 28 in 1999.
Axolotls On aquarium. The axolotl also known as a Mexican salamander (Ambystoma mexicanum) or a Mexican walking fish, is a neotenic salamander, closely related to the tiger salamander. Although the axolotl is colloquially known as a "walking fish", it is not a fish, but an amphibian. The species originates from numerous lakes, such as Lake Xochimilco underlying Mexico City. Axolotls are unusual among amphibians in that they reach adulthood without undergoing metamorphosis. Instead of developing lungs and taking to land, the adults remain aquatic and gilled.
Axolotls of various colours occur in captivity, including grey, shades of brown, leucistic (white with black eyes), golden albino, white albino, as well as other varieties, such as the melanoid (a near-black animal). The normally coloured axolotl, the "wild type", can be near-black like the one in the group photo to the left, chocolate brown like the one in the site's logo, or even creamy in colour, and anywhere in between. There are even "piebald" axolotls in various colours, and a variety that is piebald in more than one colour, known as the "harlequin".
A sexually mature adult axolotl, at age 18–24 months, ranges in length from 15–45 cm (6–18 in), although a size close to 23 cm (9 in) is most common and greater than 30 cm (12 in) is rare. Axolotls possess features typical of salamander larvae, including external gills and a caudal fin extending from behind the head to the vent.
The name "Axolotl" comes from the Aztec language, "Nahuatl". One of the most popular translations of the name connects the Axolotl to the god of deformations and death, Xolotl, while the most commonly accepted translation is "water-dog" (from "atl" for water, and "xolotl", which can also mean dog).
Axolotls have barely visible vestigial teeth, which would have developed during metamorphosis. The primary method of feeding is by suction, during which their rakers interlock to close the gill slits. External gills are used for respiration, although buccal pumping (gulping air from the surface) may also be used to provide oxygen to their lungs. Axolotls have four pigmentation genes which when mutated create different colour variants. The normal wild type animal is brown/tan with gold speckles and an olive undertone. The four mutant colors are leucistic (pale pink with black eyes), albino (golden with gold eyes), axanthic (grey with black eyes) and melanoid (all black with no gold speckling or olive tone). In addition there is wide individual variability in the size, frequency, and intensity of the gold speckling and at least one variant that develops a black and white piebald appearance on reaching maturity. Because pet breeders frequently cross the variant colours, animals that are double recessive mutants are common in the pet trade, especially white/pink animals with pink eyes that are double homozygous mutants for both the albino and leucistic trait.
Axolotls should not be confused with waterdogs, the larval stage of the closely related tiger salamanders (A. tigrinum and A. mavortium), which are widespread in much of North America and occasionally become neotenic. Neither should they be confused with mudpuppies (Necturus spp.), fully aquatic salamanders which are not closely related to the axolotl but bear a superficial resemblance.
The black Axolotl Swimming on aquarium. The Axolotl (pronounced Ax-oh-lot-ul), scientific name Ambystoma mexicanum.
Although the axolotl is colloquially known as a "walking fish", it is not a fish, but an amphibian. The species originates from numerous lakes, such as Lake Xochimilco underlying Mexico City.[5] Axolotls are unusual among amphibians in that they reach adulthood without undergoing metamorphosis. Instead of developing lungs and taking to land, the adults remain aquatic and gilled.
Axolotls should not be confused with waterdogs, the larval stage of the closely related tiger salamanders (A. tigrinum and A. mavortium), which are widespread in much of North America and occasionally become neotenic. Neither should they be confused with mudpuppies (Necturus spp.), fully aquatic salamanders which are not closely related to the axolotl but bear a superficial resemblance.
Bees Unlimited, at it again!!... Out in the Rafter Beekeeping Community taking in a Sustainable Honey Harvest from a Giant Honeybee (Apis dorsata) colony in NW Cambodia, not too far from Angkor Wat...
How sweet it is!!
