The Zoo's Unsung Birds
by Shannon Lyons
Chances are, you know what a flamingo looks like. Even if you haven't seen one of these graceful beauties in living color, you'd recognize a plastic replica standing stiff-legged on your neighbor's lawn. And how about a bald eagle? Most Americans haven't glimpsed our national bird in the wild, but they know exactly where to find one on the back of a dollar bill.
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| A lilac-breasted roller. (Jessie Cohen/NZP) |
As celebrities of the bird world, the Smithsonian National Zoo's flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber) and bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) enjoy a great deal of attention. Likewise, the Zoo's Micronesian kingfishers (Halcyon cinnamomina cinnamomina) and Guam rails (Rallus owstoni)—two species that are extinct in the wild—grab headlines as stars of the Zoo's conservation breeding programs.
But beyond the hubbub over flashy pink feathers and reproductive renown, some fascinating Zoo birds wait in the wings for their moment in the spotlight. They're far from ordinary, and they deserve a little more ink. These are their stories.
Lilac-breasted Roller (Coracias
caudata)
Lilac-breasted rollers really know how to rock and roll.
When courting mates or defending their territories,
these African daredevils fly up high and then plunge
into a death-defying dive. As they plummet, screaming,
toward the ground, they rock their bodies and wings
from side to side in a behavior called "rolling."
A few feet before impact, they level out and repeat
the stunt.
More
King Vulture (Sarcorhamphus
papa)
There are seven species of New World vultures, but only
one can be king. With its regal cape of white feathers,
a six-foot-plus wingspan, and the most powerful vulture
beak this side of the Atlantic, the king vulture reigns
supreme in tropical forests from Mexico to Argentina.
King vultures are also notable for what they lack: olfactory
prowess and a voice. Not all vultures have an extraordinary
sense of smell, and king vultures seem to have none
whatsoever. In fact, they probably rely on keen-nosed
vultures in the genus Cathartes to find their meals
for them. They also lack a syrinx—or voice box—and
so are unable to sing or call. Their vocal expressions
are limited to grunts, hisses, and whistles.
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| King vulture. (Jessie Cohen/NZP) |
Scavenging is an exhausting enterprise, so king vultures must conserve energy. They rarely flap their wings, soaring instead on currents of warm air called thermals. And they don't squander energy fighting over food; they allow smaller and weaker vulture species to eat alongside them.
The Mayans held king vultures in special regard, and
portrayed them as deities in their manuscripts. More
Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae)
This Father's Day we salute one of the bird world's
most devoted papas: the emu. When his freewheeling mate
lays a clutch of avocado-colored eggs and then runs
for the hills, the male emu hatches and raises their
chicks all by himself.
Fatherhood requires a great deal of patience and sacrifice from these birds. During the 56 days of incubation, males do not leave their eggs, not even to eat, defecate, or drink, though they may sip droplets of morning dew that form on nearby grasses. Luckily they come to the nest prepared, having already built up extra fat stores and lowered their body temperatures to stave off water loss. After the chicks hatch, they remain under their father's protective care until they are six or seven months old and can fend for themselves.
Although emus are pictured in Australia's coat of arms
along with red kangaroos (Macropus rufus),
their native country did not always hold them in such
high esteem. In 1932, when an estimated 20,000 hungry
emus devoured valuable crops in Western Australia, the
Royal Australian Artillery waged war against them. But
the artillery's machine guns had little effect on the
flightless emus, which scattered quickly out of shooting
range. In a week there were fewer than 20 emu casualties,
and the discouraged government called off the Emu War.
More
Red-billed Hornbill (Tockus
erythrorhynchus) and Von der Decken's Hornbill
(Tockus deckeni)
Hornbills are anatomical oddballs. Unlike any other
bird in the world, their first two neck vertebrae are
fused together. And their kidneys have only two lobes,
while all other birds' have three.
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| Red-billed hornbill. (Jessie Cohen/NZP) |
But it is hornbills' bizarre nesting behavior that really sets them apart. African Tockus hornbill pairs search for a nesting site in a natural cavity in a tree, rock face, or another bird's nest. When the female is satisfied that she's found just the right home for her chicks, she gives it her final seal of approval—literally. Using mud, droppings, and food, the male helps her wall herself into the nest, leaving a narrow vertical slit as her only opening to the outside world.
Over the next eight weeks, the female molts her flight
feathers and loses the ability to fly. She depends entirely
on her mate to deliver food to her through the slit
while she lays and incubates their eggs. When the chicks
hatch, she teaches them to keep house by squirting their
droppings out of the nest opening. And when the chicks
are 1/3 to 1/2 grown, the female chips a hole in the
nest wall and emerges with new flight feathers, never
to return to the inside of the nest with her chicks.
The chicks reseal the hole she has made but leave another
narrow opening so that both parents can feed them through
it. Once they are grown and ready to leave their parents,
the chicks make their own opening in the nest and emerge.
More
on red-billed hornbills
More
on Von der Decken's hornbills
Hamerkop (Scopus umbretta)
Think only sharks are called hammerheads? Think again.
This bird has such a strange crest of feathers on its
head that it resembles the business end of a claw hammer,
and so it is called hamerkop—meaning hammerhead—in
Afrikaans, a South African language.
Hamerkop nests are like shorefront condominiums for wildlife in the marshes and estuaries in Madagascar, southern Arabia, and Africa. These domed domiciles are the largest of all bird nests at nearly five feet in circumference. Hawks, owls, other birds, mongooses, and some reptiles steal the nests from hamerkops or take them over once they are abandoned. Small birds and honeybees even attach their own nests to the enormous structures while the hamerkops are still in residence.
With their open-door nesting policy and plain-Jane
plumage, hamerkops seem harmless compared to the marine
predators that share their name. But some people believe
otherwise. In Zulu and Khoikhoi cultures, hamerkops
are sinister creatures that bring tidings of death and
disaster to anyone who dreams of them or sees one flying
over a house. In local legend they are also tied to
witchcraft, and are said to embody vanity and futility.
Their bad rap may protect hamerkops from human hunters,
who out of fear have given the birds a wide berth. More
Magnificent Bird of Paradise
(Diphyllodes magnificus) and Raggiana Bird
of Paradise (Paradisaea raggiana)
The Zoo's birds of paradise are showstoppers. The magnificent
bird of paradise, living up to its name, flaunts a gaudy
jumble of Mardi Gras colors and a curlicue tail that
could double as a handlebar mustache. And when the male
Raggiana birds of paradise mature, they sprout a cascade
of wispy red feathers that rivals a fireworks display.
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| Magnificent bird of paradise. (Jessie Cohen/NZP) |
In the 16th century, birds of paradise's lavish plumage enthralled Europeans visiting New Guinea. These explorers and traders obtained stuffed bird of paradise skins from hunters who had previously removed the birds' feet and legs, possibly to appease local superstition. The awed Europeans believed the birds were legless when alive, that they never landed or perched on the Earth, and that they dwelled in the heavens. Even Linnaeus was fooled; in 1758, he named the largest species Paradisaea apoda, meaning "of Paradise" and "without feet."
The birds' mystique certainly impressed poets and storytellers.
In 1795, Samuel Taylor Coleridge dedicated a few lines
to them in his poem "The Æolian Harp":
Where Melodies round honey-dropping flowers,
Footless and wild, like birds of Paradise,
Nor pause, nor perch, hovering on untam'd wing!
And in his 1909 short story "Rus in Urbe,"
O. Henry's protagonist describes his lady love as having
"a soul above ducks—above nightingales; aye,
even above birds of paradise."
More
on magnificent birds of paradise
More
on Raggiana birds of paradise
Green Magpie (Cissa chinensis)
You may be surprised to find the Zoo's green magpie
looking a little blue. Not to worry, though. The feathers
of this Southeast Asian species often turn turquoise
in zoos and in the wild. Why? Scientists aren't positive,
but it may have something to do with carotenoids, or
natural fat-soluble pigments, in the birds' feathers.
Perhaps the magpies are what they eat. If the amount
of carotenoids in their diets changes, the color of
their feathers might change accordingly. This is true
for flamingos, which get their vivid pink coloration
from the carotenoid-rich algae and crustaceans they
consume. Or maybe sunlight is the catalyst. Prolonged
exposure to it may fade the yellow carotenoids in green
magpies' feathers and give the remaining blue pigments
their own day in the sun. More
Red-legged Seriema (Cariama
cristata)
For snakes and small vertebrates, death by seriema (pronounced
ser-ee-ee-mah) is a particularly nasty experience. A
seriema smashes unwieldy prey against a rock or the
ground to incapacitate it, then delivers the coup de
grâce and swallows it whole. Escape is unlikely
for the hapless quarry, because these terrestrial birds
can run up to 25 miles per hour—far faster than
any snake can slither.
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| Red-legged seriema. (Jessie Cohen/NZP) |
Although seriemas eat a variety of arthropods, some vegetable matter, and even rats and bird chicks, it is their taste for serpents that endears them to South Americans. People are so grateful to seriemas for dispatching snakes that they have magnified the birds' skills beyond credibility. Some say a single seriema can rid an area of snakes altogether. Others believe the birds are immune to snake venom, which is simply untrue.
Red-legged seriemas may be less-than-stellar varmint
hunters, but they make excellent home security systems.
They are certainly loud enough: Their bizarre call,
which some listeners describe as a cross between a canine
yelp and a turkey's gobble, carries for more than a
mile over the grasslands of Brazil, Bolivia, and Argentina.
And they're wary too. Farmers keep them with domestic
fowl to keep an eye out for predators and sound an alarm
call if danger is on the horizon.
More
Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria
citrea)
This sweet-singing migrant helped Richard Nixon expose
a lie and, ultimately, achieve the presidency. Nixon
became a household name in 1948 when he presided over
the House Un-American Activities Committee's hearing
for suspected communist spy Alger Hiss, who was also
a State Department official and amateur ornithologist.
Hiss denied knowing his accuser, Time magazine
editor Whittaker Chambers. But the jig was up when,
in separate interviews, both men mentioned Hiss' sighting
of a prothonotary warbler near the Potomac River, proving
they were well acquainted. Hiss was indicted for perjury,
and the case propelled Nixon, who was a congressman
at the time, into the Senate and on his way to the White
House.
Prothonotary warblers breed in southeastern North America
and winter in mangroves and other habitats in Central
and South America. You won't find them in any Zoo exhibit—yet.
But they may one day add a flash of gold to a new mangrove
exhibit being planned for the Bird House. Although the
list of the exhibit's bird species has yet to be finalized,
prothonotary warblers are being considered, as are the
mangrove birds already in the Zoo's collection: scarlet
ibises (Eudocimus ruber), cattle
egrets (Bubulcus ibis), boat-billed
herons (Cochlearius cochlearius), and roseate
spoonbills (Ajaia ajaja). The Zoo's Migratory
Bird Center's work with prothonotary warblers will be
highlighted, along with other Smithsonian science relating
to mangroves.
More
on prothonotary warblers
Sidebar—Adventures
in Birding at the National Zoo
Sidebar—Reptiles
to Robins
ZooGoer
34(3) 2005. Copyright 2005 Friends of the National Zoo.
All rights reserved.
