Tag Archives: bird

Scarlet Ibis

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Known for its eye-popping red plumage, the scarlet ibis is a medium-sized wading bird often found near freshwater and brackish water marshes. Adult scarlet ibises have bright red feathers with black wingtips. Their head, neck, and underparts are pale pink. They have thin, curved bills and long pink legs with webbed feet. Immature birds are brown with a white belly and rump. As time progresses, they will begin producing scarlet feathers.

Here are the scarlet ibises at Sylvan Heights Bird Park.

Scarlet Ibis Profile

Scarlet Ibis Looking Down

American Oystercatcher

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American Oystercatchers are boldly patterned shorebirds with red-yellow eyes and a vivid red-orange bill. They survive almost exclusively on shellfish, including clams, oysters, and other saltwater mollusks. The American oystercatcher received its name for its unique ability to open oysters and other small shellfish. Using its knife-like bill, the bird quickly “stabs” the oyster to break open its shell to eat the soft inside.

One here at Sylvan Heights Bird Park in North Carolina.

American Oystercatcher

Female Argentine Red Shoveler

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Red Shoveler is indigenous to Argentina, but there is one at Sylvan Heights Bird Park. It has beautiful plumage, which is light copper or light rusty and speckled with moderately sized black spots. The male has a pale gray head with pale yellow eyes and a “red” body with black spots. The female is mottled brown overall, but note the white sides to the pointed tail and big black bill.

Argentine Red Shoveler

Fulvous Whistling Duck

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Whistling ducks are a distinctive group of about eight species of brightly colored, oddly proportioned waterfowl. The Fulvous Whistling Duck is a mix of rich caramel-brown and black. It is a long-legged and long-necked creature found in warm freshwater marshes across the Americas, Africa, and Asia. These ducks are notable for their distinctive squealing sounds when taking off and their loud, shrill whistles during flight.

Here is one at Sylvan Heights Bird Park.

Fulvous Whistling Duck

Fulvous Whistling Duck Profile

Laughing Kookaburra

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The Laughing Kookaburra is a bird in the kingfisher subfamily Halcyoninae. It is a large, robust kingfisher with a whitish head and a brown eye stripe. The upperparts are mostly dark brown, but there is a mottled light-blue patch on the wing coverts. A kookaburra is also known as the laughing jackass. It got its name from its distinctive laugh, which can be heard at sunrise and sunset.

Here is one at Sylvan Heights Bird Park in North Carolina.

Laughing Kookaburra

Mandarin Ducks

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Mandarin Ducks, at Sylvan Heights Bird Park, are native to Eastern Asia (Siberia, China, Japan). They were introduced to other parts of the world, including Europe and North America, and some populations established themselves. Mandarin ducks are sexually dimorphic—the males are elaborately colored, while the females have more subdued colors. 

Mandarin Duck

Mandarin Ducks

Saddle-billed Stork

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Saddle-billed Stork is a tall, lanky, black-and-white stork with a unique red, yellow, and black bill. The male has dark-brown eyes, and the female has yellow eyes. It is named after the yellow “saddle” across their multi-colored bill.

Here is one at Sylvan Heights Bird Park, North Carolina.

Saddle-billed Stork

Toco Toucan

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Toco Toucan is the largest species of toucan and has a distinctive appearance: a black body, a white throat, chest, upper tail covers, and red undertail. Toucans are native to the Neotropics, from southern Mexico through Central America, into South America, and south to northern Argentina.

Here is one at Sylvan Heights Bird Park, North Carolina.

Toco Toucan Side Look

Toco Toucan Looking Away

Roseate Spoonbill

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The roseate spoonbill is a social wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family. It is pink due to the carotenoid pigments it ingests from its diet of shrimp and other crustaceans. These pigments, which are also responsible for the color of many fruits and vegetables, are absorbed into the bird’s feathers, giving it its distinctive pink coloration. 

There is one sitting on the sign at Sylvan Heights Bird Park depicting that they are the residents of South America.

Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbill on Sign

Parakeets

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A parakeet is any one of many small- to medium-sized parrot species, in multiple genera, that generally have long tail feathers. The two basic parakeet color types are green and blue.

Parakeets at Sylvan Heights Bird Park are in a small protected enclosure where visitors can feed them, and the birds sit on the visitors’ hands or heads.

Parakeet

Parakeet Grooming

Budgerigar or Parakeet

Golden Pheasant

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The golden pheasant, also known as the Chinese pheasant, and the colorful rainbow pheasant is at Sylvan Heights Bird Park. In Chinese culture, the golden pheasant is considered the ancestor of the phoenix and represents auspiciousness. In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the robes of high-ranked bureaucrats were emblazoned with images of the golden pheasant as a symbol of their power and authority.

Golden Pheasant

Golden Pheasant Closeup

Flamingo Reflections

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A new study reveals that flamingos are not passive filter feeders but active hunters of prey. Instead of chasing their diverse diet, they create disturbances in the water that force the food items to come to them, a much more efficient approach.

Here is one trying to create a disturbance in the water at Sylvan Heights Bird Park, but instead has colorful reflections.

American Flamingo

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Adult American flamingos are smaller on average than greater flamingos, but are the largest in the Americas. The American flamingo is about 42 inches tall and has a wingspan of about five feet.  It has a large hooked bill with a black tip curved down.

Here is one at Sylvan Heights Bird Park in North Carolina.

Flamingos at Sylvan Heights Bird Park

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We visited Sylvan Heights Bird Park in Scotland Neck, North Carolina. It has nature trails through manicured woods, gardens, and wetlands, home to flamingoes, parrots, and toucans.

A flock of American flamingos takes center stage in this aviary featuring waterfowl worldwide. American flamingos are one of the largest species of flamingo.

Flamingos Together

Flamingoes with Company

Flight 5191 Memorial

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The University of Kentucky Arboretum is home to a sculpture commemorating the Comair Flight 5191 crash victims. A 17-foot tall sculpture of 49 stylized silver bird figures sweeps heavenward in a rush of energy and movement: the number of birds corresponds to the 49 souls lost in the Flight 5191 tragedy.

Flight 5191 Memorial Plaque

Flight 5191 Memorial

Flight 5191 Memorial Other Side