- •Introduction
- •Verreaux’s sifaka
- •Identification: Males reach 8–10 feet in length and have a massive neck, shoulders, and mane; females are smaller.
- •Identification: a large deer (standing 4-5 feet at the shoulder) with brownish red fur and a pale rump patch; males generally have enormous antlers and a long mane.
- •Identification: a 3-4-foot-tall deer with a brownish coat and large antlers (3 feet long) in males.
- •Identification: a medium-sized deer typically with a grayish brown coat and white underparts, and antlers in both sexes. Moose
- •Identification : The largest species of deer (weighing up to 1,300 pounds); has slender legs, a pendulous nose, and (in males) prominent palmate antlers and a dewlap or “bell” beneath the throat.
- •Identification: The tallest mammal (up to 19 feet), with a sloping back, enormously long neck, bony, knobbed “horns” in both sexes, and the familiar reddish brown spotted patterning.
- •Identification: a deer-sized mammal with distinctive, sharply forked horns in males and reddish brown fur with white patches.
- •Identification: a medium-sized gazelle; males have distinctive spiral horns and a black-and-white coat; females and juvenile males are tan colored.
- •Identification: a large wild sheep (weighing up to 300 pounds) with massive spiral horns in males; coat is brown with a white muzzle, underparts, and rump patch.
- •Identification: Similar to Bighorn, except smaller and with thinner horns; coat is all white or brownish black to gray,
- •Identification: a large (6—8—foot—long) mammal with long, shaggy fur, humped shoulders, and massive, down-sweeping horns.
- •Identification: a stocky, 3-foot-tall, goatlike mammal with shaggy white fur and sharp horns in both sexes.
- •Identification: An enormous buffalo (up to 61/2 feet high) with massive forequarters, humped shoulders, and (in males) a beard.
- •Identification: Similar to American Bison but more slender, less hunched, and with longer legs.
- •Identification: a huge (II-foot-long), usually black buffalo with massive, upward-curving horns in both sexes.
- •Identification: The familiar wild horse with a black-and-white-striped pattern; Mountain Zebras usually have a distinctive dewlap.
- •Identification: a 3—5-foot-long wild pig with a large head, prominent tusks, and distinctive warts in front of the eyes and on the jaw..
- •Identification: a piglike mammal with grayish, speckled, or salt-and-pepper fur and a light-colored collar.
- •Identification: The familiar large (up to 71/2 tons), trunked mammal with enormous ears and tusks in both sexes.
- •Identification: a large wild cat (up to 550 pounds) with a prominent mane in males.
- •Identification: a small canid (body length up to 3 feet) with a bushy tail and a reddish brown coat (although some variants are silvery or black).
- •Identification: The largest wild canid (reaching up to 7 feet in length) with a gray, brown, black, or white coat.
- •Identification: a small (3 foot long), reddish brown, bearlike canid with short legs and tail. Social Organization
- •Identification: a huge bear (7–10 feet tall) with dark brown, golden, cream, or black fur..
- •Identification: a smaller bear (4–6 feet) with coat color ranging from black to gray, brown, and even white. Park, Saskatchewan, Canada; subspecies u.A. Altifrontalis.
- •Identification: a yellowish brown hyena with spotted flanks and back, a strongly sloping body profile, and rounded ears; females typically heavier than males.
- •Identification: a large (over 3 foot tall) kangaroo with a gray coat and a hair-covered muzzle.
- •Identification: a smaller kangaroo (21/2 feet tall) with a reddish brown wash on its neck.
- •Identification: a light gray kangaroo standing up to 3 feet tall, with a white facial stripe and a long, slender tail.
- •Identification: a small (6–7 pound), rodentlike kangaroo with reddish brown fur.
- •Identification: Stocky, tree-dwelling kangaroos; chestnut or chocolate brown fur with lighter patches.
- •Identification: a small, mouselike marsupial with a thick, conical, fat-storing tail.
- •Identification: a catlike marsupial, up to 2 feet long, with grayish brown fur and white splotches.
- •Identification: a medium-sized (10—15 inch), primarily tree-dwelling squirrel with a reddish brown or tawny coat and white underparts, often with a dark stripe on the side.
- •Identification: a large (20 inch), tree-dwelling squirrel with a long, bushy tail and gray, grizzled, or buff fur.
- •Identification: Small, guinea-pig-like rodents with coarse fur; Dwarf Cavies have a distinctive white eye-ring, Cuis have yellow-colored incisors.
- •Identification: a small (less than I foot long) insectivore with sandy-colored spines, white underparts, and prominent ears.
- •Identification: a dark gray goose with fine silvery-white feather patterning; the wild ancestor of domestic geese.
- •Identification: a brown-plumaged goose with a distinctive black neck and white cheek patch; varies widely in size, from 2–24 pounds.
- •Identification: a pinkish-red-billed goose with two major color phases: all-white and “blue” (grayish plumage with a white head and neck).
- •Identification: The only swan with fully black plumage; wing feathers are white, bill is bright red, and the neck is especially long.
- •Identification: a large swan (up to 33 pounds) with a black knob at the base of its reddish orange bill (less prominent in females).
- •Identification: a familiar duck with a blue wing patch, an iridescent green head and white collar in males, and brown, mottled plumage in females.
- •Identification: a grayish brown duck with a light blue upper-wing patch, tawny spotted underparts, and white, crescent-shaped facial stripes in males.
- •Identification: a broad-billed duck with a purplish black head and breast and white underparts in males, and a dark head and brownish plumage in females.
- •Identification: Cinnamon breast, dark green head and back, and white collar; adult females have white eye and bill rings.
- •Identification: a large, grayish duck with a prominent lobe hanging from the lower bill, and a spike-fan tail..
- •Identification: a gull-sized, web-footed bird with contrasting black upperparts and white underparts; some individuals have a white eye ring.
- •Identification: a large, white-plumaged, gull-like bird with an enorous wingspan (over 61/2 feet), a dark back, and a grayish black wash on the face.
- •Identification: a large (3 foot), black, web-footed bird with a white throat and white filamentary plumes on the nape.
- •Identification: Similar to Great Cormorant, but smaller and uniformly black, with a prominent forehead crest.
- •Identification: a ducklike bird with grayish white plumage, bright red eyes, and yellow facial tufts.
- •Identification: Similar to Silvery Grebe, but with a buff or chestnut wash on the breast, white streaks on the head, and black-and-white eyes.
- •Identification: a stocky, medium-sized (2 foot long) heron with a black crown and back, white underparts, gray wings, and white ribbon plumes at the nape of the neck.
- •Identification: Long-legged, typically white herons with ornamental, filamentous plumes on the back, breast, and nape; these are golden-buff-colored in the Cattle Egret.
- •Identification: Similar to Little Egret but with slaty-gray plumage and a reddish brown head and neck.
- •Identification: a large (3 foot long) heron with a gray back, white head and neck, and black “eyebrow” stripe and nape plumes.
- •Identification: a large (nearly 20 inch) wading bird with bluish purple plumage, a red shield on its forehead, and red feet with long toes.
- •Identification: Similar to Pukeko, but flightless, and with grayish brown plumage, no red frontal shield, and shorter legs.
- •Identification: Similar to Pukeko, but with black plumage and shorter legs.
- •Identification: The largest flamingo species (4—5 feet tall) with plumage ranging from pale whitish pink to bright orange-pink.
- •Identification: a large (12 inch) sandpiper with gray or brownish plumage and, in some males, spectacular ruffs and feather tufts on the head that vary widely in color and pattern (see below).
- •Identification: a medium-sized (7—8 inch) wading bird with a small head and short beak, buff-colored face and underparts, and regular dark brown patterning on the back and crown.
- •Identification: a large (13—14 inch) sandpiper with streaked and spotted, dark brownish gray plumage; long and slightly upturned bill; greenish yellow legs.
- •Identification: Slightly smaller than the Greenshank; plumage grayish brown, with black and dark brown streaks and spots; orange-red legs.
- •Identification: a fairly large (12—15 inch) sandpiper-like bird with long pink legs, white plumage with black wings and back, and a slender black bill.
- •Identification: Similar to Black-winged Stilt but with entirely black plumage.
- •Identification: a medium-sized (10 inch) sandpiper-like bird with mottled buff and black plumage; adult males have a black face and underparts bordered with white.
- •Identification: a large gull (up to 27 inches) with a dark gray back and wings; spotted black-and-white wing tips; pink legs; and a yellow bill with a red spot.
- •Identification: a smaller gull (to 17 inches) with a blue-gray mantle; more pointed black wing tips; relatively short black legs and dark eyes; and a yellowish green bill.
- •Identification: a medium-sized (16 inch) gull with gray back and wings; spotted black-and-white wing tips; bright red bill and legs; white iris.
- •Identification: Similar to Silver Gull except larger (2 feet long), legs pinkish, bill yellow with a red spot, and iris yellow.
- •Identification: a medium-sized gull (to 17 inches) with a distinctive black or chocolate brown “hood,” red legs, and a gray back and wings.
- •Identification: a medium-sized (to 18 inches) black-headed gull with white eye-crescents, a dark gray back, and red legs and bill..
- •Ivory gull
- •Identification: An all-white gull with black legs and a blue-gray bill.
- •Identification: a large (to 22 inches) gull-like bird with a black cap and crest, light gray back and wings, forked tail, and long red bill with a black tip.
- •Identification: Similar to Caspian Tern but smaller (to 17 inches) and with a more deeply forked tail and slighter bill.
- •IdentifIfAtion: a crow-sized bird with cinnamon-brown plumage and a bare, blue-gray face..
- •Identification: Adult males are black with a red crown and a light blue patch on the back; yearling males and females are all green, while younger adult males are green with a reddish crown..
- •Identification: Small (5–7 inch) birds with brown and rufous plumage and a bluish gray patch around the eyes; Ocellateds have a distinctive scalloped pattern on the back feathers.
- •Identification: a small (5 inch), plain olive-green bird with a long tail and an ocher- or tawny-colored lower breast.
- •Identification: a small to medium-sized swallow with iridescent blue-green upperparts, white underparts, and a tail that is only slightly forked.
- •Identification: a bluish brown swallow with pale underparts, buff forehead, and a chestnut throat; tail is not forked..
- •Identification: a small, sparrow-sized swallow with a slightly forked tail, brown plumage, white underparts, and a brown breast band.
- •Identification: a small songbird with bright yellow underparts, olive green upperparts, and a black crown (“hood”) and throat in adult males and some females (see below).
- •Identification: a sparrow-sized bird with olive-brown plumage, distinctive white shoulder bars, and (in males) blue-gray crown.
- •Identification: a sparrow-sized bird with olive to orange-red plumage and a distinctive crossed bill..
- •Identification: a small (61/2 inch) bird with a thick, hooked bill, grayish brown plumage, and a darker facial mask (black in males)..
- •Identification: a tiny (41/2 inch) chickadee-like bird with a bright blue crown, black-and-white face, bluish green plumage, and yellow underparts.
- •Identification: a sparrow-sized bird with bright blue plumage, white underparts, and a chestnut throat and breast.
- •Identification: a grayish buff, sparrow-sized bird with a pale gray-white crown..
- •Identification: a drab, sparrowlike bird with brownish gray plumage and a black throat patch..
- •Identification: The familiar black-bibbed sparrow; Cowbird is iridescent black with a dark brown head..
- •Identification: Light gray plumage, black wings and tail, and (in some birds) bare yellow head and fleshy black wattles.
- •Identification: a small crow with black plumage and gray on the back of the head.
- •Identification: a large (2 foot), all-black bird similar to a crow but much bulkier..
- •Victoria’s riflebird
- •Identification: Adult males are black with an iridescent sheen and metallic crown, throat, and central tail feathers; females and younger males are drabber, with brown, buff, and off-white plumage.
- •Identification: a thrush-sized bird (12 inches) with velvety black plumage and brilliant golden yellow crown, nape, upper back, and wing feathers.
- •Identification: a pheasant-sized bird with brownish gray plumage, powerful legs and claws, and long, ornate tail feathers.
- •Identification: The largest living bird (over 6 feet tall), with striking black-and-white plumage in the male and powerful legs and claws.
- •Identification: The second-largest living bird (5—6 feet tall), with shaggy, brown plumage and bare patches of blue skin on the face and neck.
- •Identification: Similar to Ostrich but smaller (up to 41/2 feet tall) and with overall grayish brown plumage in both sexes.
- •Identification: a small penguin (approximately 2 feet tall) with a black band on its chest and patches of red skin at the base of its bill..
- •Identification: a large (3 foot tall) penguin with orange ear patches and a yellow-orange wash on the breast.
- •Identification: a medium-sized penguin (up to 21/2 feet) with a white patch above the eye.
- •Identification: a large vulture (wingspan up to 9 feet) with a white head and neck and brown plumage.
- •Insects
- •Introduction
Identification: a small penguin (approximately 2 feet tall) with a black band on its chest and patches of red skin at the base of its bill..
KING PENGUIN
Identification: a large (3 foot tall) penguin with orange ear patches and a yellow-orange wash on the breast.
GENTOO PENGUIN
Identification: a medium-sized penguin (up to 21/2 feet) with a white patch above the eye.
Social Organization
Humboldt Penguins form mated pairs during the breeding season and nest in small colonies; they travel and feed at sea in social groups of 10—60 birds. King Penguins are highly gregarious, breeding in enormous colonies—some numbering 300,000 pairs—and generally form monogamous pair-bonds. Gentoo Penguins have a similar social system, although their nesting colonies are not as large.
Description
Behavioral Expression: Lifelong homosexual pair-bonds sometimes develop between male Humboldt Penguins. Like heterosexual pairs, same-sex partners remain together for many years: some male couples have stayed together for up to six years, until the death of one of the partners. Same-sex pairs (like opposite-sex pairs) spend much of their time close together, often touching. They also usually live together in a nest that they have built—either an underground burrow, a shallow bowl dug in the ground, or a rock niche lined with twigs. Unlike male pairs in other birds, though, homosexual pairs of Humboldt Penguins never acquire any eggs. Courtship and pair-bonding activities are also a prominent aspect of homosexual partnerships. This includes the ECSTATIC DISPLAY, in which a male stretches his head and neck upward, spreading his flippers wide and flapping them while emitting several long, very loud donkeylike brays. Sometimes this is performed mutually by both males standing side by side. Homosexual partners also ALLO-PREEN each other, affectionately running their bills through one another’s feathers. Occasional same-sex BOWING also occurs, in which one male points his beak down toward his partner and vibrates his head from side to side. As a prelude to copulation, one male approaches the other from behind, pressing against his body and vibrating his flippers against his partner; this distinctive display is known as the ARMS ACT. Homosexual copulation occurs when the bird in front lies down on his chest, allowing the other male to climb onto his back; genital contact may occur when the male being mounted holds his tail up or to the side and exposes his cloaca. Homosexual mountings are sometimes briefer than heterosexual ones, but often the two males take turns mounting each other. Not all same-sex courtship and sexual activity occurs between birds in homosexual pairs. Males who are paired to females also sometimes court and copulate with other heterosexually paired males (as well as with females other than their own mate).
In King Penguins, same-sex pairs also occur, in both males and females. These bonds are probably not as long-lasting as homosexual pairs in Humboldts, since same-sex partners sometimes divorce each other after being together for only one season (which also occurs commonly in heterosexual pairs in this species). Courtship activities are a part of King Penguin homosexual pair-bonds, especially between males. One such display is BOWING, in which one bird approaches the other while making courtly bows, often leading to mutual bowing. Another display is DABBLING, in which the birds face each other while rapidly clapping their bills and gently nibbling or preening one another’s feathers, sometimes accompanied by quivering of the flippers and tail. This may lead to homosexual copulation, in which one bird urges the other to lie down by pressing on its back, then mounts; this occurs among both males and females. In addition, female pairs sometimes lay an (infertile) egg, which they take turns incubating.
Homosexual courtship also occurs early in the breeding season among Gentoo Penguins. A male or a female brings an “offering” of pebbles or grass and lays it at the feet of another bird of the same sex, bowing and making slight hissing noises. The other bird, if interested, may respond with bowing or arranging the material into a nest. Females that pair with each other usually lay eggs in the nest that they tend together; because these birds do not typically mate with males, their eggs are infertile. However, female pairs can become successful foster parents in captivity, incubating and hatching fertile eggs when provided and successfully raising the resulting chicks.
A female King Penguin urging another female to lie down prior to mounting her
Frequency: In some zoo populations of Humboldt Penguins, at least 5 percent of all pairs are homosexual, and 12 percent of all copulations are between males. Among paired birds, 10 percent of mountings take place in male couples, while 15 percent of promiscuous matings (between nonmates) are homosexual. Of courtship displays performed by males to birds other than their partner, about a quarter of all arms acts are homosexual, and about 2 percent of courtship bows are same-sex. In one zoo colony consisting of five King Penguins, 2 out of 10 bonds that formed among the birds over a period of nine years were homosexual. Although same-sex matings have not yet been observed in these species in the wild, homosexual courtship has been seen in wild Gentoo Penguins: in one informal survey, 3 out of 13 courtships (23 percent) by Gentoos were same-sex.
Orientation: Some male Humboldt Penguins are exclusively homosexual, remaining with their male partners for their entire lives, or else re-pairing with another male should they lose their original partner. Other males are sequentially bisexual, pairing with a male after having lost one or more previous female mates. Still other males are simultaneously bisexual, engaging in both same-sex and opposite-sex courtship and copulation. Of these, some have a primary heterosexual bond but occasionally engage in homosexual activity with another breeding male: about 47 percent of all same-sex copulations are of this type (as opposed to occurring between bonded partners). In a few cases, the opposite occurs: a male with a primary homosexual pair-bond occasionally participates in a heterosexual copulation. Among King Penguins, birds in same-sex pairs are probably exclusively homosexual for the duration of their pair-bonds (since any eggs that are laid are infertile), and birds exhibit a “preference” for same-sex mates even when unpaired birds of the opposite sex are available. Over the course of their lives, however, most such birds are sequentially bisexual, since following the breakup of a homosexual pair they may go on to form heterosexual pair-bonds and even raise a family. Most Gentoo Penguins that participate in homosexual courtship are probably bisexual, since they court both males and females, albeit with a primary heterosexual orientation (since most go on to breed with birds of the opposite sex). Females that pair with each other are exclusively homosexual for the duration of their bond (which may last for one or both birds’ lives); some females pair with a heterosexual mate after the death of their female partner.
Nonreproductive and Alternative Heterosexualities
As noted above, promiscuous matings by heterosexually paired birds are common in Humboldt Penguins: one-third to one-half of all heterosexual copulations are between nonpair members, and courtship of birds other than one’s mate is also frequent. Promiscuous courtship and copulation occur in King and Gentoo Penguins as well. Even within pairs, sexual behavior may be nonprocreative. In Humboldts, copulation occurs both early and late in the breeding season, when the chances of fertilization are low or nonexistent, while heterosexual mounts (like homosexual ones) sometimes do not include genital contact or sperm transfer (in both Humboldts and Gentoos). Female Gentoo Penguins sometimes mount their mates (REVERSE mounting), while male Gentoos occasionally masturbate by mounting and copulating with clumps of grass. Males have also been observed trying to copulate with dead Penguins.
Several other variations on the lifetime monogamous pair-bond and nuclear family also occur. About a quarter of all Humboldt male-female pairs divorce, often when the female leaves her mate for another male. Divorce also occurs in 10—50 percent of Gentoo pairs, and in some years no pairs remain together. It is especially common in King Penguins, where only about 30 percent of birds retain the same mate from one season to the next. In addition, some King Penguins abandon their mates during the breeding season, and about 6 percent of chicks are reared by single parents (either abandoned or widowed). Humboldts occasionally form trios consisting of either one male and two females or two females and one male; these make up about 5 percent of all heterosexual bonds. In King Penguins, nonbreeding females may associate with a heterosexual pair and help them raise their chick, who recognizes all three birds as its parents; single parenting is also common. Nonbreeders that aren’t part of trios also occasionally feed chicks belonging to other birds, particularly when the chicks are in CRÈCHES. These large nursery groups, sometimes containing thousands of chicks, form while the parents are away. Crèches also occur in Gentoos, where they are often attended by several adult “guardians.” During the winter, King parents are often gone for long periods on fishing trips, and chicks may not be fed for weeks or months at a time. As many as 10 percent of them perish from this prolonged fasting and starvation. Some parents abandon their chicks or eggs (especially in severe weather), and chicks may also be killed in squabbles between their parents and nonbreeding birds that are trying to “kidnap” them. King Penguins also occasionally “steal” other pairs’ eggs.
Breeding can take its toll on adults as well: male King Penguins fast for more than fifty days during courtship and incubation, losing 10—12 percent of their body weight. In addition, heterosexual copulations are sometimes harassed, with throngs of neighboring birds converging on mating pairs, attacking them and trying to interrupt the sexual activity. Many birds forgo breeding altogether: more than 40 percent of the population each year consists of nonbreeders, and birds generally do not breed every year (primarily because of the unusually long 16—month breeding cycle). Extensive nonbreeding is also a feature of Gentoo populations: up to a quarter of the adults may skip breeding each year, and more than 15 percent of birds breeding late in the season lay infertile clutches. In addition, breeding is delayed for one to two years in younger King and Gentoo Penguins, due to both physiological and social factors. Some Humboldt Penguins remain single and nonbreeding as well, although they may still engage in sexual behavior with other birds.
Other Species
Reciprocal homosexual copulations—involving full genital (cloacal) contact—also occur among male Adelie Penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae ) in Antarctica, accompanied by courtship displays such as DEEP BOWING and the ARMS ACT. Following ejaculation by the mounter, the mountee contracts his cloaca, perhaps facilitating movement of his partner’s semen in his genital tract and/or indicating orgasm. Some males who participate in homosexual activity also mate heterosexually.
BIRDS OF PREY AND GAME BIRDS
KESTREL
IDENTIFICATION: A small falcon (12-15 inches) having chestnut plumage spotted with black, and a gray head and tail in males. DISTRIBUTION: Throughout Eurasia and Africa. HABITAT: Variable, including plains, steppe, woodland, wetlands. STUDY AREA: Nivå, Denmark; subspecies F.t. tinnunculus .
GRIFFON VULTURE