August began how July ended – with a couple of birds spending their summer season in a particularly scorching Shanghai.
Amongst them, a Pink Heron alternating between being proudly uncovered …
… and hiding to the purpose of being virtually invisible.
Or discovering a useless fish however deciding it’s too large or too stinky to devour …
… making the chicken shiver in disgust.
For Yellow Bitterns, hiding appears to be the best choice to be had.
A paper at the Yellow Bittern in Japan has some fascinating info associated with this: “It’s widely recognized that Yellow Bitterns undertake a so-called ‘bittern posture’ the place they stand erect with the invoice upright to imitate a reed when they’re at the alert for drawing near predators and people. It’s surely tricky to stumble on them after they think this posture. Yellow Bitterns that experience followed this posture don’t run away despite the fact that other folks come significantly as regards to them more than likely as a result of they’ve ‘no question ?’ in their very own mimicry. They are able to be captured through hand”
On Guam, the Yellow Bittern generally is a downside for aviation – in February 1998, a Bittern used to be struck through an airplane roughly each 50 flights (supply).
The canals inhabited through those bitterns and herons also are being patrolled through Whiskered Terns.
At the plus aspect for male terns, the women folk have a tendency to be devoted to their male companions (supply).
At the adverse aspect, feminine Whiskered Terns have a tendency to go away the care in their chicks to the men.
A learn about performed in Japan discovered that farmers forget about the lifestyles of Gray-headed Lapwings. Perhaps, this additionally applies to the Chinese language farmers on Chongming Island.
As a result, farming is chargeable for a big proportion of failed nesting makes an attempt (43% of breeding makes an attempt failed because of farming practices, consistent with one learn about).
The Gray-headed Lapwings follow team protection in their nests – it’s efficient towards crows and raptors (supply) however possibly now not towards farmers.
“World Magazine of Bonorowo Wetlands” feels like a somewhat too particular magazine identify to me however there may be a paper in there on how the Lesser Coucal would possibly fare in West Java wetlands as local weather alternate continues (now not that badly, it sort of feels).
The variability map of the Lesser Coucal is more than likely a bit of off – it displays Shanghai as totally outdoor of the variability, which is improper. I feel this is a summer season breeder, I’ve now not noticed it in Shanghai in mid-winter.
I forgot who just lately informed me that the Black-winged Stilt is her favourite chicken, however I will be able to perceive her selection.
The Mandarin Chinese language identify for the species is extra exact than the English one – Heichì cháng jiaoyù approach Black-winged Lengthy-legged Sandpiper.
Listed below are two extra fairly stylish-looking chicken species: Pied Avocet …
… and Black-winged Kite.
Juvenile Chinese language Blackbirds glance virtually as silly as human kids.
Black Drongos breed in Shanghai.
Possibly, that is the subspecies Dicrurus macrocercus cathoecus, regardless that I’ve completely no thought why it merits the identify cathoecus (“living underneath”).
No less than the Little Ringed Plover is certainly little, and the attention is ringed, regardless that that is much less visual in juveniles.
In Europe, the species advantages from river recovery (supply).
My bet is that what I noticed at Fengxian used to be a Pin-tailed Snipe. Then again, I’m some distance from positive.
An previous weblog put up advises to “Stay Calm and Learn about Snipes!”, however I doubt this is for me.
It specializes in the glory between Pin-tailed Snipe and Swinhoe’s Snipe, one thing that different papers admit is hard: “Variations between Pintail Snipe Gallinago stenura and Swinhoe’s Snipe G. megala had been overstated in previous literature.”
Similar uncertainty for this cuckoo – Himalayan Cuckoo, I suppose, however principally according to the variations in distribution, juvenile Oriental Cuckoos will have to now not be commonplace this some distance South.
How I realize it is a juvenile? The chicken began telling me how nice Taylor Swift is … (I’m hoping anyone appreciates my dad jokes)
Extra cuckoos somewhere else.
Even cuckoo timber.
Brown Shrikes are typically the primary passerines one sees throughout migration – so it used to be this time.
No longer migrating: Reed Parrotbills.
Sharing the reed habitat with moderately plainer birds: Simple Prinia (sure, very low-budget shaggy dog story).
And a Commonplace Kingfisher pretending to be in prison.
Sadly, with Clare not reporting at the birds of Broome, I not know concerning the standing of the Oriental Dollarbird in Australia.
However no less than on Chongming Island they have been rather visual in August.
Numbers of the Eurasian Hoopoe are declining abruptly in Central Europe however it’s nonetheless commonplace at Nanhui.
The ones people practising extra cannibalism are extra a success at elevating chicks – necessarily, the more youthful chicks function dwelling meals garage for the older ones. Assists in keeping the beef contemporary …
To cite from the supply immediately: “Hoopoes basically devour bugs … so their lengthy, curved expenses aren’t preferrred for killing and consuming chicks. That may well be why mom hoopoes incessantly take hold of the unfortunate chick and shove it into the mouth of an older chick, which swallows it complete.”
All over one breeding season, a couple of Commonplace Kestrels together with the nestlings captures about 520 prey pieces (most commonly rodents). Helpful birds (supply).
Those pictures more than likely display a juvenile, because the juveniles have lighter ft and legs than grownup women folk.
One of the vital more moderen medical articles now come with what they name Graphical Abstracts. Here’s an instance from a paper at the Commonplace Kestrel (Laura Giovanetti, Silvia Casini, Tommaso Campani, Ilaria Caliani, State-of-the-art, gaps and long term views on commonplace kestrel ecotoxicology, Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology, Quantity 102, 2023, 104237, ISSN 1382-6689, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.etap.2023.104237. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1382668923001795)
Frankly, It’s not that i am positive this sort of graphical summary is helping a lot. However it sort of feels to turn that the control specialists have gained …
The medical identify of the Lengthy-tailed Shrike, Lanius schach, supposedly is derived from the A–Scack calls of the chicken. It used to be coined through Pehr Osbeck in 1757, supposedly according to a Chinese language identify for this chicken – regardless that the identify regularly utilized in China, zongbei bolao (“Brown-backed Shrike”) does now not sound like that in any respect.
After which, after all, right kind autumn migration arrived, permitting me to turn a couple of birds that simply made the cutoff date for this put up:
Yellow-rumped Flycatcher
Siberian Blue Robin
Japanese Topped Warbler
Black Paradise Flycatcher
Tiger Shrike
Japanese Marsh Harrier
Those that don’t like pittas can prevent studying this put up now. For the others, here’s a Fairy Pitta noticed at Nanhui on August 30.
