My Science School

Phoenix, in ancient Egypt and in Classical antiquity, a fabulous bird associated with the worship of the sun. The Egyptian phoenix was said to be as large as an eagle, with brilliant scarlet and gold plumage and a melodious cry. 

The Egyptians associated the phoenix with immortality, and that symbolism had a widespread appeal in late antiquity. The phoenix was compared to undying Rome, and it appears on the coinage of the late Roman Empire as a symbol of the Eternal City. It was also widely interpreted as an allegory of resurrection and life after death—ideas that also appealed to emergent Christianity.

The phoenix was generally believed to be colorful and vibrant, sources provide no clear consensus about its coloration. Tacitus says that its color made it stand out from all other birds. Some said that the bird had peacock-like coloring, and Herodotus's claim of the Phoenix being red and yellow is popular in many versions of the story on record. Ezekiel the Dramatist declared that the phoenix had red legs and striking yellow eyes, but Lactantius said that its eyes were blue like sapphires and that its legs were covered in yellow-gold scales with rose-colored talons.

 

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A talon is the claw of a bird of prey, its primary hunting tool. The talons are very important; without them, most birds of prey would not be able to catch their food. Some birds also use claws for defensive purposes. Cassowaries use claws on their inner toe for defence, and have been known to disembowel people. All birds however have claws, which are used as general holdfasts and protection for the tip of the digits.

The hoatzin and turaco are unique among extant birds in having functional claws on the thumb and index fingers on the forelimbs as chicks, allowing them to climb trees until the adult plumage with flight feathers develop. However, several birds have a claw- or nail-like structure hidden under the feathers at the end of the hand digits, notably ostriches, emus, ducks, geese and kiwis.

 

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Keoladeo National Park or Keoladeo Ghana National Park formerly known as the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India is a famous avifauna sanctuary that hosts thousands of birds, especially during the winter season.

It originated in as a royal hunting reserve during the 1850s and was a game reserve for Maharajas and the British. In fact, Lord Linlithgow, Viceroy of India from 1936 to 1943, shot over thousands of ducks with his hunting party in a single day! The park is home to over 370 species of birds and animals such as the basking python, painted storks, deer, nilgai and more. Park offers well-defined treks which can be covered on either foot, or cycle or rickshaws. In fact, the park management has trained the rickshaw pullers in bird watching and they make for extremely knowledgeable guides.

 

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The webbed foot is a specialized limb present in a variety of vertebrates that aids in locomotion. This adaptation is primarily found in semiaquatic species, and has convergently evolved many times across vertebrate taxa. The webbed foot also has enabled other novel behaviors like escape responses and mating behaviors. A webbed foot may also be called a paddle to contrast it from a more hydrofoil-like flipper.

 Ducks, geese, and swans all have webbed feet. They utilize different foraging behaviors in water, but use similar modes of locomotion. There is a wide variety of webbing and lobation styles in bird feet, including birds with all digits joined in webbing, like the Brandt's cormorant and birds with lobed digits, like grebes.

Webbed feet are a compromise between aquatic and terrestrial locomotion. Aquatic control surfaces of non-piscine vertebrates may be paddles or hydrofoils. Paddles generate less lift than hydrofoils, and paddling is associated with drag-based control surfaces. The roughly triangular design of webbed feet, with a broad distal end, is specialized to increase propulsive efficiency by affecting a larger mass of water over generating increased lift. This is in contrast to a more hydrofoil-like flipper of many permanently aquatic animals.

 

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Ornithology, a branch of zoology dealing with the study of birds. Most of the early writings on birds are more anecdotal than scientific, but they represent a broad foundation of knowledge, including much folklore, on which later work was based. By the early 20th century the large majority of birds were known to science, although the biology of many species was virtually unknown. In the latter half of the 19th century much study was done on the internal anatomy of birds, primarily for its application to taxonomy. Anatomical study was overshadowed in the first half of the 20th century by the rising fields of ecology and ethology (the study of behaviour) but underwent a resurgence beginning in the 1960s with more emphasis on the functional adaptations of birds.

 

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Ranjit Lal is one of my favourite nature writers. His essays on birds are like stories with lots of interesting anecdotes. His photographs that accompany the stories help us visualise his information. Read this paragraph about the hoo-poe.

“At first glane, most people tend to identify this bird as s woodpecker: like many woodies, it has a crest, a long bill and a zebra-striped plumage. But woodpeckers are normally seen travelling vertically up a tree bark, drumming, pausing and picking up insects. This one, dressed in raw silk colours – with a black-and-white-tripped crest, zebra-striped back and wings, waddles around on the ground, industriously inserting its long down-curving forces-like bill into the earth.... Welcome to the onomatopoeic Hoopoe: a bird whose deep, hollow- sounding “Hoo-po, hoo-po-po” call echoes repeatedly like a ventriloquist.”

Here is the information from his essay.

Where are hoopoes found?

Hoopoes are found in Africa, Europe and central Asia, and, in India. They migrate, but they also stay put in one place. The first Everest expedition reported seeing them at an altitude of 21,000 feet.

How long have we known them?

King Solomon was a wise king. According to legend, birds flew all the way to Africa, telling everyone, “King Solomon is the wisest man in the world!” Queen of Sheba, in Africa, heard it. She decided to visit King Solomon and test his wisdom. She challenged him to build a palace made of bird beaks. Solomon accepted it and ordered the birds to donate their beaks. All the birds did, except the hoopo. “Why not?” asked Solomon. The bird wanted the king to answer three riddles. He answered them correctly, but while doing so, he realised that Queen Sheba’s demand was unreasonable. Why didn’t he consult the birds before giving his command? He explained this to Sheba, who too appreciated the bird’s argument. Together they rewarded the hoopo with a golden crown, which it wears even today. There was also story of the bird being tardy in bringing news of enemy activity. To the angry king the hoopo said it was delayed by what he saw in Sheba. The king sent a message to Sheba and the story had a happy ending.

Do people eat it?

Some do, because they believe its body parts can cure ailments. But a lot of people don’t because of the bird’s association with King Solomon. Egyptians are believed to have worshipped them.

What does the bird eat?

Hoopoes are mainly insectivorous, says Ranjit Lal. They dig the soil with their bills, and look for grasshoppers, worms and beetle-larvae. That means they are farmers’ friends since they eat up harmful insects. They also add berries to their diet. We should not spray the fields and gardens with chemicals since this poisons the hoopoe chicks.

Their behaviour

Hoopoes have a crazy side to their nature, says Lal. Salim Ali has pointed out how groups of hoopoes – maybe three or four birds – suddenly fly up and around in the air as if they have gone mad. They flit and flutter from branch to branch like butterflies, with their crests and tail wide open. No one has been able to explain this “wild side” of the birds!

Hoopoes are also big fighters. During the breeding season (between March and June), fights erupt when they try to guard their ground areas. The birds face each other, “crests flared, bills first pointing downwards and then directly” and begin jabbing. Sometimes the birds blind one another in their fights. The fight is generally over a hollow or slit in a tree trunk or a hole in a stone wall – this is where the birds breed. Hoopoes line the chosen one with grass, leaves, feathers and rubbish and the female settles in to lay eggs, which are bluish-green and speckled. The entrance is kept very small to protect the female sitting on the eggs hatch. Once the chicks come out, both parents feed them.

Hoopoes are not clean birds. The female hoopoe leaves her poop and food bits rot in the nesting area. She also lets out a thick, brown, foul-smelling body liquid, which she smears all over herself and the eggs. This “guck” keeps predators (Larger birds) away, the sebum in it helps to make the feathers flexible and water-proof, and the good bacteria present in it fights harmful germs. The goo else percolates the egg-shell and provides a shield for the babies inside. The hoopoe mom will squirt this stinking liquid with full force at anymore (or anything) trying to take her eggs away.

 

Picture Credit : Google