Salem-News.com Birds articles Page 6

The Argentine National Bird--Oven Bird

Meet the Hornero Comun rufus hornero Furnarius rufus.

(PATAGONIA, Argentina) - The oven bird or hornero makes a little nest that for all the world looks like the oven in many Argentine yards. Round and made of mud, it is high in any part of the trees, often in eucalyptus.

Pelican Crisis Pushes California Wildlife Groups to Breaking Point

The wildlife groups impacted by this situation are asking for support in developing both a clear strategy for the situation in hand and for the future.

(LOS ANGELES) - Four wildlife rescue centers in California have written to State and Federal authorities to request their urgent attention and support in dealing with an unprecedented number of wet, starving adult California Brown Pelicans recovered from California's coastlines.

Bird Deaths May Trigger Lawsuit Against Utility Cooperative

Power lines contribute to 75 percent decline in Newell’s shearwaters.

(KAUA‘I, Hawaii) - Four citizen groups have advised Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) of their intent to sue over its failure to prevent the continuing deaths of rare native seabirds.

Notice was sent to the electric utility company that its long-standing refusal to implement measures to protect Hawaiian petrels and Newell’s shearwaters from fatal collisions with its power lines violates the Endangered Species Act.

The Magellanic Penguin, One Famous Black and White Bird

El pinguino patagonico stands about 18 inches high. Knee-high to a tourist you might say.

(PATAGONIA) - Punta Tombo near Puerto Madryn on the Atlantic coast of Chubut Province, Argentina is the biggest mainland penguin colony on the South American continent. In late November we went to see the Magellanic penguin (pinguino patagonico) Spheniscus Mangellanicus.

The Teros: Scarecrow of Argentina

If I were not a pacifist I would suggest to my crack shot husband a new BB gun for Christmas.

(PATAGONIA, Argentina) - The teros, the southern lapwing, are beautiful, plentiful and noisy. They screech like you are killing their mother; like they are calling your mother up short for ever conceiving you.

Well now, I have the same to say to them. After gardening my whole life in small places and never planting corn I finally did this year. But not with just any corn, with that special short corn that is fast-growing enough to beat the climate here in our little pocket of the Andes.

Bird of the Week: Pecho Colorado

They are common throughout Patagonia, but to us they are rare and special because they introduced us to the Birdmen of El Bolson, Argentina.

(PATAGONIA, Argentina) - When he was approaching his fiftieth year, Hungarian immigrant Andor Kovacs, his wife and his large family of 6 sons and one daughter settled in northern Patagonia.

Here he met Andres Gial, a man ten years his junior who befriended Andor and introduced the family to the natural history of El Bolson Rio Negro Province.

Bird of the Week: Burrowing Parrot, Loro Barranquero, Cyanoliceus Patagonus

The loro barraquero nests in dens or cliffs over the sea coast or along rivers, hatching up to four white eggs.

(PATAGONIA, Argentina) - We have long been familiar with the local parrot, the cachana or austral parakeet which flies in groups around El Bolson - but were thrilled to see the largest of Argentine parrots, the burrowing parrot when we were recently in Chubut, to the south of Rio Negro Province.

This loro has a black beak, white rimmed eyes, and an olive green head. The back and sides of the neck are whitish, the breast and back of the neck are greyish olive, the flanks yellow olive, the abdomen and upper legs are yellow and orange, the back is green/olive, the sides greyish, the wings olive with blue margins, the legs and feet are whiteish.