Jon Atkinson - Wildlife And Travel Photographer

Birds of the World

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Puffin
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl
Night Heron
Night Heron
BIRDS 1 - Puffin, Isle of Mull Scotland: The Puffin,sometime know as the Sea Parrot is a diving bird that belongs to the auk family, Alcidae (order Charadriiformes). They are distinguished by their large, brightly coloured, triangular beaks. The only time spent on land is to nest. Mates are found prior to arriving at the colonies, and mating takes place at sea. Puffins nest in large colonies on seaside and island cliffs, usually laying only one egg, in a burrow dug one or two meters (three to six feet) deep.
BIRDS 2 - Snowy Owl, Quebec, Canada: Snowy Owls remain in the Arctic during the winter unless their food sources are scarce. If they are forced to leave during the winter they migrate to northern Greenland, the Canadian islands, northern Eurasia, Wrangel Island as well as North America.They are called snowy owls because their coloring is almost pure white when they are full grown. The feet of snowy owls are covered with feathers and have extra thick pads.
BIRDS 3 - Black-Crowned Night Heron, Bolsa Chica, California: With a range that spans five continents, including much of North America, the Black-crowned Night-Heron is the most widespread heron in the world. It is most active at dusk and at night, feeding in the same areas that other heron species frequent during the day.
Turkey Vulture
Snowy Sheathbill
American Avocet
BIRDS 4 - Turkey Vulture, Baha, Mexico: The turkey vulture got its name from the common Turkey , because of the similarity to the common Turkey's featherless and reddish head. The word "vulture" comes from the Latin word, vulturus, meaning "tearer," which in turn comes from another latin word vuellere meaning "to pluck or tear at." This is a reference to the way in which the vulture rips and eats its food. They are are distributed in North, Central, and South America.
BIRDS 5 - Snowy Sheathbill, Antarctic Peninsula: Snowy Sheathbills are gregarious and pugnacious birds, and except during the breeding season, they live in small flocks, feeding together and often fighting. They are found on Sub-Antarctic Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. Birds in south of range migrate to South America and the Falkland Islands to winter. Sheathbills are avid scavengers and haunt seal and penguin colonies to seize afterbirths or weak young.
BIRDS 6 - American Avocet, Bolsa Chica, California: American avocets prefer open water and marshy summer habitats such as lakes and ponds throughout the central plains of the United States, southern Alberta and Saskatchewan. They nest in colonies of 10 to 12 from April to June constructing nests that are merely depressions on the sand or platforms of grass on mudflats. Outside of the breeding season birds migrate to saltwater or brackish areas of the central and southern California coast, Baja California and the southeastern Atlantic coast as well as throughout Mexico and the Caribbean.
Light-Mantled Sooty Albatross
Kea parrot
Grey Crowned Crane
BIRDS 7 - Light-Mantled Sooty Albatross, New Zealand: Light-mantled sooty albatrosses have a dark grey head and a light grey body with a distinctive white crescent surrounding most of the eye. They are one of the smaller albatross in the Antarctic and subantarctic, with a wingspan of approximately 2.2 meters. There are approximately 25,000 breeding pairs which bread every other year.  Approximately 1000 pairs nest on Australia's Macquarie Island and there are up to 4000 pairs on South Georgia.
BIRDS 8 - Kea, Homer Tunnel, South Island, New Zealand: The Kea Parrot is also known as the "Nestor Parrot" and some call them the "Mountain Parrot". Keas' lives in the South Island of New Zealand, in the high-altitudes, meadows and mountain range, they nest in burrows under rocks and among tree roots. Their diet consists of seeds, fruits and berries, roots, leaves, flowers as well as insects and worms.
BIRDS 9 - Grey Crowned Crane, Uganda, Africa: The range of the Grey Crowned Crane in eastern and southern Africa stretches from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Kenya to southeastern South Africa. Grey Crowned Cranes require mixed wetland-grassland habitats. They typically nest within or on the edges of wetlands, while foraging in wetlands, nearby grasslands, and croplands.
Magellanic Woodpecker
Spur-Winged Plover
BIRDS 10 - South American Torrent Duck, Argentina: The Torrent Duck is found along rushing mountain streams in the Andes in South America. It prefers territories on fast flowing mountain rivers, usually above 1500 meters It is a powerful swimmer and diver even in white water, but is reluctant to fly more than short distances. They feed on feed on larvae and pupae usually found under rocks, aquatic animals, plant material, seeds, small fish, snails and crabs.
BIRDS 11 - Magellanic Woodpecker, Chile, South America: The Magellanic Woodpecker is a very large woodpecker resident to Chile along the Andes, and to some parts of South-Western Argentina. Magellanic Woodpeckers inhabit mature Nothofagus and Nothofagus-Austorcedrus forests, where they feed mainly on grubs and adult beetles, but also on small reptiles.
BIRDS 12 - Spur-Winged Plover with Lake Flies! Lake Victoria, Uganda: The Spur-Winged Plover has a preference for marshes and similar freshwater wetland habitats. It breeds around the eastern Mediterranean, and in a wide band from sub-Saharan west Africa to Arabia. The Greek and Turkish breeders are migratory, but other populations are resident. The bird got its name because of a spur (a small claw) hidden in each of its wings.

  All photography is copyright © Jon Atkinson and images may not be reposted without express permission.