Bird of Prey: Bald Eagle

The photograph is taken from Wikipedia.

It is considered majestic, symbol of freedom and representative of integrity and strength, that's why the Americans considered the Bald Eagle as their National bird. But they are not distributed just in the US, they actually spread through out North America. With it wings all spread out, soaring as big as 30 in. (76 cm) long, it is also the largest bird of prey in the world.

The Bald Eagle, or scientifically known as the Haliaeetus Leucocephalus, live near rivers, lakes and coasts, which explains why many photographers take pictures of them catching fish, which happened to be their main food source, although they do eat other birds as well. There were about 50,000 Bald Eagles back in the 1970's but the numbers were decreased to mere 2,000 because of a pesticide called DDT. Don't worry though, DDT has already been banned and the Bald Eagles are coming back in their numbers.

A Bald Eagles takes five years to develop its black and white adult plumage. It does not always hunt live preys, like all other predators, the dead or dying animals, especially the salmon, make up a large part of its diet. Unlike the owls, all eagles, including the Bald Eagles, tend to hunt during the day instead of night.

Eagles are different from many other birds of prey mainly by their larger size, more powerful build, and heavier head and beak. Even the smallest eagles, like the Booted Eagle (which is comparable in size to a Common Buzzard or Red-tailed Hawk), have relatively longer and more evenly broad wings, and more direct, faster flight.

Like all birds of prey, eagles have very large powerful hooked beaks for tearing flesh from their prey, strong muscular legs, and powerful talons. They also have extremely keen eyesight which enables them to spot potential prey from a very long distance. This keen eyesight is primarily contributed by their extremely large pupils which ensure minimal diffraction (scattering) of the incoming light.

Eagles build their nests, called eyries, in tall trees or on high cliffs. Many species lay two eggs, but the older, larger chick frequently kills its younger sibling once it has hatched. The dominant chick tends to be the female, as they are bigger than the male. The parents take no action to stop the killing.

Octopus

The photo is taken from Google.


As a lot of us know that there is a very famous octopus named Paul from Germany that accurately predicted 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup's every move. Now the event has ended, there were people who wanted to buy Paul for the next sport match and there were people who wanted to put him in their dishes as an entree, but fortunately the employees in the German aquarium (Sorry, I don't remember the name of that aquarium.) refused to sell or cook Paul.

Now here's something that's not concerning about any sporting events but something related to Paul, the octopus, himself, but before we start, let me ask you this question and I don't want any of you to cheat, since the answer will reveal itself by the time you finish this article, how many hearts does an octopus have?

The common octopus, also known as the Octopus Vulgaris, is a member of a group of mollusks called the Cephalopods, that also includes squid and cuttlefish. What make the Cephalopods having their own kind are because they have large heads, well developed eyes and beaklike mouths completed by sucker-tripped arms. They grab their prey and kill them by a poisonous bite. To move, they suck water into their body cavity and squirt the water out backwards, that sends their body foward and their arms behind. There are about 650 species of those Celphalopods and they all live in the sea.

Now the octopus is one of the most intelligent invertebrates, that means they have no internal skeleton or shells to protect themselves, the only hard part in their body is their beaks, so that means if there is a hole just enough for the beak to go through, that means the whole octopus can go throguh without a scratch on themselves.

There are some records saying that there are giant squids around the world, which is true, but they are not the common octopus, now the octopus' size is somewhat smaller than the giant squid, although they can indeed go up to 3 ft. (1m) long and their distributions are in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and the Caribbean Sea.

The octopus breed by laying about 200,000 eggs and she guards those eggs for 6 weeks without food, so by the time when those eggs hatch, that usually means it's her time to go.

An octopus's main (primary) defense is to hide, either not to be seen at all, or at least not to be detected as an octopus. Octopuses have several secondary defenses (defenses they use once they have been seen by a predator). The most common secondary defense is fast escape. Other defenses include the use of ink sacs, camouflage, and autotomising limbs.

Octopuses have a relatively short life expectancy, and some species live for as little as six months. Larger species, such as the North Pacific Giant Octopus, may live for up to five years under suitable circumstances. However, reproduction is a cause of death: males can only live for a few months after mating, and females, like I have mentioned before, die shortly after their eggs hatch.

The answer that I asked right in the beginning on how many hearts of an octopus is three!!!

Penguins

The penguin in this picture is called a "Magellanic Penguin".

Penguins (order Sphenisciformes, family Spheniscidae) are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have counter shaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers. Most penguins feed on krill, fish, squid, and other forms of sea life caught while swimming underwater. They spend about half of their life on land and half in the oceans.

Although all penguin species are native to the southern hemisphere, they are not found only in cold climates, such as Antarctica. In fact, only a few species of penguin live so far south. Several species are found in the temperate zone, and one species, the Galápagos Penguin, lives near the equator.

The largest living species is the Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri): adults average about 1.1 m (3 ft 7 in) tall and weigh 35 kg (75 lb) or more. The smallest penguin species is the Little Blue Penguin (Eudyptula minor), also known as the Fairy Penguin, which stands around 40 cm tall (16 in) and weighs 1 kg (2.2 lb). Among extant penguins, larger penguins inhabit colder regions, while smaller penguins are generally found in temperate or even tropical climates. Some prehistoric species attained enormous sizes, becoming as tall or as heavy as an adult human. These were not restricted to Antarctic regions; on the contrary, subantarctic regions harboured high diversity, and at least one giant penguin occurred in a region not quite 2,000 km south of the equator 35 mya, in a climate decidedly warmer than today.

Breeding

Penguins for the most part breed in large colonies, the exceptions being the Yellow-eyed and Fiordland species; these colonies may range in size from as few as a 100 pairs for Gentoo Penguins, to several hundred thousand in the case of King, Macaroni and Chinstrap Penguins. Living in colonies results in a high level of social interaction between birds, which has led to a large repertoire of visual as well as vocal displays in all penguin species. Agonistic displays are those intended to confront or drive off, or alternately appease and avoid conflict with, other individuals.

Penguins form monogamous pairs for a breeding season, though the rate the same pair recouples varies drastically. Most penguins lay two eggs in a clutch, although the two largest species, the Emperor and the King Penguins, lay only one. With the exception of the Emperor Penguin, all penguins share the incubation duties. These incubation shifts can last days and even weeks as one member of the pair feeds at sea.

Penguins generally only lay one brood; the exception is the Little Penguin, which can raise two or three broods in a season.

Penguin eggs are smaller than any other bird species when compared proportionally to the weight of the parent birds; at 52 g (2 oz), the Little Penguin egg is 4.7% of its mothers' weight, and the 450 g (1 lb) Emperor Penguin egg is 2.3%. The relatively thick shell forms between 10 and 16 % of the weight of a penguin egg, presumably to minimize risk of breakage in an adverse nesting environment. The yolk, too, is large, and comprises 22–31 % of the egg. Some yolk often remains when a chick is born, and is thought to help sustain it if parents are delayed in returning with food.

When mothers lose a chick, they sometimes attempt to "steal" another mother's chick, usually unsuccessfully as other females in the vicinity assist the defending mother in keeping her chick. In some species, such as Emperor Penguins, young penguins assemble in large groups called crèches.

A Reply to Liu.

Dear Liu:

You're absolutely right about wild animals not being afraid of humans that is if humans treat them well and, as we all know, not all humans treat animals as nicely as some of us animal lovers do and of course wild animals should indeed be careful towards us. And to answer your question, that's why I don't plan to tame or cage the wild rabbits, I let them come and go whenever they want. Sort of like how people put out bird feeds to let wild birds come to their backyards and not treating them like pets. So, don't worry about them losing their natural wild instinct for survival.

Thanks for your concern and good intentions.

Tammy

Rabbit in our back yard.

This is one of the rabbits that comes to our backyard often, they are getting picky by preferring bananas than carrots, apples and pears.

Just for those to know who do have rabbits in their homes, rabbits can drink water and they have to have clean vegetables and fruit because they are very sensitive creatures, that also means that they can get hurt quite easily if not treated properly.

Bunny and I Part 2

Ok, last time we covered on how rabbits don't like strong smell and they feel the energy from others. Today's focus is going to be mainly on respect.

As we all know that respect is an universal courtesy towards ourselves and others. Now this etiquette is not only limited to humans but also can apply towards animals, plants and the environment as well. Now, when getting to know a wild animal, in this case the wild rabbit, I let the bunny approach me. This implies a very important point saying, "Hey, I'm here to be your friend, I know you're here and you know I'm here, but I respect your need for personal space, if you come to me, we can get along great, if you don't, it's fine with me, as well.". And after another week of this attitude towards them, the rabbits start to eat from my hands. Two rabbits come to backyard steadily. Occasionally there will be three rabbits come to our yard at the same time.

Just about 2 weeks ago the rabbit became so proud that it was laying in the shade and wouldn't come to greet me, even though I had apples in my hand!! And yesterday I found out that one of the rabbits recognized me and hopped towards me even before I sat down on the lawn, but this one seemed to be a bit picky on what to eat now, it loves bananas, which I had yesterday and it ate it fairly quickly and took a whole night to finish the apple slices that I put out later on.

It is actually quite amazing how animals tend to trust one another so quickly, while humans take a whole lot longer.

Bunny and I Part 1

The photo isn't mine, I got it from Google. I do not claim it as my property.

For those who have known me in my FaceBook, you would know that I've been approaching wild hares that often come to our backyard. So, here's some bit of a personal little story and experiences that might help a bit for those who would want to take a peek into the animal world.

Before I start anything, I will have to say that I'm no expert since I didn't go to school for animal behavior, animal psychology, animal medicine or any sort, so this is just a bit of observation that I do on my own time and interest.

Anyway, like many professionals would say, animals communicate with body language, scent, smell and sound, but most importantly it's all about the energy that gives out information on what kind of state of mind any creature is in at the moment, it could be happy, confident, relax, calm, assertive, neutral or it could be sad, nervous, skittish, anxious, insecure, submissive, dominant and so on.

Now as for wild hare, or wild rabbits, they tend to be nervous, skittish and very cautious towards everything that surrounds them. Well, of course if you put yourself in their shoes, imagine everyone wants to eat you, I would put all my money betting you would be the same as them. So, approaching them would not be an easy task to begin with. Do you know how long it took me just to let the rabbits get used to me being around them? That's everyday for more than 2 hours for a week and a half!!

Let's start by rewinding the date about a month ago, although I have been putting out fruits, such as apples and pears, and carrots in our front and backyard for quite some time already, but I felt it wasn't as challenging as I would like it to be, I wished to get to know wild animals in another perspective instead of from research and facts out of other people and that's when I decided to get more of a personal touch with one of the gentlest wild animals on Earth, the wild hare.

In the beginning, the rabbits were very suspicious to see me suddenly pop up from no where and trying to give them apples. In their point of view, I posed a threat to them. As a result, they kept their distance from me, even though I laid on my back, trying to give them a message saying that I wouldn't attack them and I'm relaxed. But that wasn't enough! After I did a bit of research on the rabbit family, I realized that the rabbits hate strong scents like perfumes, essential oils or just out of the shower scent, since to them, it's quite intolerable. And guess what I did next. That's right! I've stayed neutral scented by not putting anything on, approach them before taking a shower and wear the same unwashed "Rabbit Uniform", as I call it. But somehow, those rabbits were still nervous around me. As I searched for an answer, it struck me that animals also have very strong sixth sense! Unlike dogs, who are predators and would definitely approach humans from one way or another, rabbits are preys and tend to stay away from anything and everything that they think it's a threat. So the central energy of mine will have to change from treating a predator (I had a dog before and an avid dog lover.), which requires calm-assertive energy, to treating a prey which is calm, neutral and peaceful. And you know some? It worked! The rabbits aren't as nervous as before! Although they were still keeping their distance, but they would start grooming their fur, eating grass and fruit and curl up and rest while I'm there with them. It was quite rewarding.

Next time, it would be a Part two on taming rabbits. Keep coming back to see what's new! Later!