~Explore Biology~

Kingdom:    Animalia

Phylum:      Chordata

Class:         Aves

Subclass:    Neornithes

Infraclass:  Neoaves

Order:        Procellariiformes

Family:       Diomedeidae





PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:


Their hooked bills are 5.5 to 7.5 inches (14 to 19 centimeters) with a pinkish hue in adults that are raising chicks.The largest albatrosses have wingspans that can exceed 9.8 feet (3 meters).They have the most pointed tails of the family and have mainly dark bills, feathers, and legs.Their bodies are mainly white and they have long necks, short legs.They are largest Seabird in North Pacific.Albatrosses are supreme gliders; with modified wings to maximize the updrafts and thermals over the open ocean.


HABITAT:


The Albatross wanders for months at a time searching for food. It sleeps on the ocean surface at night and drinks sea water. They nest on barren islands with thousands of other birds.Albatrosses are found in the northern Pacific Ocean Galápagos Islands to the coasts of Ecuador and Peru. They are also found in the Southern Hemisphere on coastal waters.


DIET:
Squid is the favorite food of the albatross.In addition to fish, albatrosses consume crabs, krill, seaweed, and small seabirds.


RE|PRODUCTION AND BEHAVIOR:


Though quiet while at sea, albatrosses are quite noisy at breeding colonies, where they communicate by wailing, crying, and clattering their bills. There is a definite courtship, rituals associated with mating, among the albatross, ranging from dances and wing displays to "calling" to one another.The albatross grooms itself often, and parents are quite attentive to the cleaning of the chicks. If approached, chicks and parents will regurgitate, bring up from the stomach, stomach oil and spew it at the intruder, covering him in a waxy substance that can harm feathers.After finding suitable land, the albatross usually builds a bowl-shaped nest and deposits a single egg into it. Albatrosses are monogamous, having one mate, and lay one egg each year. Incubation, the time it takes to warm the egg sufficiently for hatching to begin, lasts anywhere from sixty-five to eighty-five days. Parents take turns sitting on the egg, and both will play a role in raising the chick.  Hatching occurs over a period of two to five days. Chicks remain with a parent at all times for the first three months and will fledge, take its first flight, between 120 and 180 days for smaller species to 220 and 303 days for the larger family members.Albatrosses do not begin breeding until they are between the ages of five and fifteen years. Chicks have a high survival rate because the breeding site has very few land predators. Annual mortality, death, rates for adults range from 3 to 9 percent. The oldest known albatross was still breeding at more than sixty-two years old.


GESTATION PERIOD: \


Albatross Sit on their eggs for 78 and 81 days.


TOTAL SPECIES:
There are 22 species of Albatrosses in Diomedeidae family


ENDANGERED STATUS:


Long-line fishing is the main cause of death. They see the bait on the end of the line, mistake it for a fish and, they find themselves caught up in it.Many species of albatross are at the decline.


INTERESTING FACTS: 


The albatross is known as the Prince of Waves, and has great ocean wisdom 

Kingdom:    Animalia
Phylum:      Chordata
Class:         Aves
Order:        Psittaciformes
Family:       Psittacidae
Subfamily:  Psittacinae
Tribe:         Arini
Scientific name:  Ara nobilis

Conservation  Status

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
They have large,dark beaks.They have large wings,and have large patch around the eyes,they have excellent     vocabulary.They are 8 to 54 ounces in weight.They are 12 to 36 inches in size.Their life span is more than 50 years.Macaws are among the largest parrot species.


BEHAVIOR: 
Macaws usually live in pairs and a number of pairs may congregate with others to form a flock of several hundred individuals.Macaws use their beaks as an aid in both eating and as a "third foot" when climbing.They return to spend the night in the roosting trees just before sunset, flying above the forest canopy.  


DIET:


Their diet usually consists of fruits, seeds, nuts, leaves and bark, they also feed on small animal life. It has been suggested that macaws in the Amazon basin eat clay from exposed river banks to neutralize the toxins(caustic substances).


HABITAT: 
The distribution of macaws is mostly in Central America and the northern part of South America. They generally inhabit forests and tall palms growing in swamps or alongside rivers.


REPRODUCTION: 
Macaws are monogamous.The nest is usually in a hole at the top of a tall dead tree.On hatching, the young
are blind and almost naked. The eyes open after 7-14 days. At first only the female feeds the young, but after about a week the male joins in. The young are fed by the parents' regurgitation of partially digested vegetable crop contents.


HATCHING TIME: 
The female lays one or two eggs and incubates them for 24-26 days, while the male feeds her.


ENDANGERED STATUS: 
The majority of macaws are now endangered in the wild. Six species are already extinct.


HYBRIDS:
A common trend in more recent years is hybridising macaws for the pet trade. Hybrids are typical macaws, with the only difference from true species being their genetics and their colours

Kingdom:   Animalia
Phylum:     Chordata
Class:        Aves
Order:       Casuariiformes
Family:      Casuariidae
Genus:       Casuarius
Scientific Name: Casuarius casuarius


PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
 The average height of a Cassowary ranges between 5 to 6 feet. It weighs around 70 kilos. The females are larger than the males, and also more colorful.The red color of the wattles changes from pale to medium to dark depending on the bird's mood. Cassowaries have sharp beaks and casques on top of their heads.Each foot on the Cassowary has 3 forward pointing toes with strong claws to provide grip while running, the inner toe having a 12cm (5") long spike for defensive purposes when it kicks out when cornered.Grey in colour and slightly directed forward this vertical bony helmet protects the birds head as it makes its swift way through the thick undergrowth of the rainforest. The Cassowary is the only bird in the world to have any type of protective armourCassowary is a good swimmer.Casowaries are ratiate.

HABITAT :
Cassowaries are found in northern Australia, Papua New Guinea, and surrounding islands.In tropical rainforests, the Cassowary prefers stream banks and clearings.

BEHAVIOR:
 Cassowaries are solitary birds except during courtship, egg-laying, and sometimes around ample food supplies.Male cassowaries defend a territory of about 7 square kilometres (1,700 acres) for itself and its mate, while females have overlapping territories of several males.

DIET: 

They can also eat small dead marsupials and birds.Cassowaries are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and flesh.

REPRODUCTION: 

 The female Cassowary lays 3 to 6 large (5 1/2 in x 3 1/2 in) pale green Eggs on forest litter and may be served by a number of Males during the breeding season
from May until November deserting each in turn after the eggs are laid.

IMPORTANCE: 

Rainforests would be a very different place with diminished diversity if there were no cassowaries.  In the Wet Tropics the cassowary plays the role which is accomplished by entire guilds of animals elsewhere.The Cassowaries are called the Gardeners of the Rain Forest.

TYPES:

1. Casuarius Casuarius – This is better known as the Southern/Double-Wattled Cassowary. It is mainly found in Australia, New Guinea, and Ceram, and is the most well-known of the three Cassowaries.


2. Casuarius Unappendiculatus – This is better known as the One-Wattled Cassowary. It is mainly found in New Guinea.


3. Casuarius Bennetti – This is better known as the Dwarf Cassowary. It is mainly found in New Guinea and New Britain.

ENDANGERED SPECIES:
 Inhabitant of Rain Forests and Rain Forests are rapidly shrinking, the Cassowary is high on the Endangered Species list.