Tag Archives: park

Chapultepec Park, Mexico City

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This is one of the oldest urban parks in the world, and the largest in Latin America. Thanks to its sheer size, Chapultepec Park in Mexico City is home to many attractions, including gardens, museums, squares, monumental fountains, art galleries, and even a castle that was once a Royal residence.

We wanted to visit the castle, but due to similar security issues, we ended up going for a walk in the park instead!

Walking at Chapultepec Park

Walking in Chapultepec Park

Trees at Chapultepec Park

Scarlet Macaw in the End

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We end the series of bird images from Sylvan Heights Bird Park, Neck, North Carolina. The scarlet macaw is one of the most impressive birds ever, with their vibrant feathers full of rainbow colors. It is the national bird of Honduras.

Sylvan Heights is home to some of the world’s rarest waterfowl breeding populations. In some cases, fewer than 250 individuals of these species remain in the wild, and the collaborative captive breeding programs here may be their last barrier against extinction.

We hope you enjoyed images of unique birds!

Macaw Profile

Macaw Closeup

Poses of Scarlet Macaw

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The scarlet macaw can be found from southern Mexico to Peru, as well as Bolivia, eastern Brazil, and the island of Trinidad. It prefers to spend its time in tall, deciduous trees in forests and near rivers, usually in large, noisy groups. Here is a scarlet macaw posing differently at Sylvan Heights Bird Park.

Poses of Scarlet Macaw

Victoria Crowned Pigeon

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The Victoria crowned pigeon is a large, bluish-grey pigeon with elegant blue lace-like crests, a maroon breast, and red irises. It is part of a genus of four unique, very large, ground-dwelling pigeons native to the New Guinea region, and it is the largest extant species of pigeon. Here is a beautiful one at Sylvan Heights Bird Park.

Victoria Crowned Pigeon Closeup

Victoria Crowned Pigeon

 

Blue and Gold Macaw

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This is a large parrot, at Sylvan Heights Bird Park, with long tail feathers, mainly blue and yellow. The forehead is green, the upper part of the body brilliant blue, and the sides of the neck and body golden yellow. These macaws also have black around the chin and cheeks, and the naked skin of the cheeks is pinkish-white with lines of very small, isolated black feathers. Macaws are often monogamous, remaining bonded for life. They are usually seen flying in large flocks, and the bonded pairs fly close together, their wings nearly touching.

Blue-eared Pheasant

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The blue-eared pheasant is a large pheasant endemic to China. Although rare, it is regarded as the least concerning species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is a large gray terrestrial bird with an elegantly frilly tail. Its bright red face and upswept white facial plumes (“ears”) are unique in its range—this one at Sylvan Heights Bird Park.

Blue-eared Pheasant

South Georgia Pintail

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The South Georgia pintail, also misleadingly known as the South Georgian teal, is the nominate subspecies of the yellow-billed pintail. South Georgia pintails are omnivorous and feed by foraging along shores, diving for shrimp or clams, and sometimes feeding on the carcasses of small animals like seals. Here is one trying to hide in a log hole at the Sylvan Heights Bird Park.

South Georgia Pintail

Lesser Flamingo Reaching for Water

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The lesser flamingo is a tall, large-bodied bird with a long neck and small head. Most flamingos, including this species, have pale pink plumage, legs, and bills. This species has a highly specialized diet consisting almost entirely of microscopic blue-green algae and benthic diatoms found only in alkaline lakes, salt pans, saline lagoons, and estuaries. Here is one reaching for water at Sylvan Heights Bird Park and creating reflections in the water.

Lesser Flamingo Reaching for Water

Rhinoceros Hornbill

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The rhinoceros hornbill is a large species of forest hornbill. In captivity, it can live for up to 35 years. It is found in lowland and montane, tropical and subtropical climates, and in mountain rainforests up to 1,400 metres in Borneo, Sumatra, Java, the Malay Peninsula, Singapore, and southern Thailand.

Here is a close-up of one in Sylvan Heights Bird Park.

Rhinoceros Hornbill

Cape Barren Goose

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The Cape Barren Goose, at Sylvan Heights Bird Park,  is a very large, pale grey goose with a relatively small head. Its stubby triangular bill is almost concealed by a very prominent greenish-yellow cere (skin above the bill). It has rows of large dark spots in lines across the scapulars (shoulders) and wing coverts. The legs are pink to deep red and the feet black.

Cape Barren Goose

Lesser Flamingo Preening

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Flamingos spend about 15% to 30% of their time during the day preening. This is a large percentage compared to waterfowl, which preen only about 10% of the time. Flamingos preen with their bills. An oil gland near the base of the tail secretes oil that the flamingo distributes throughout its feathers.

Here is a Lesser Flamingo preening at Sylvan Heights Bird Park.

Lesser Flamingo Grooming

Lesser Flamingo

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The Lesser Flamingo, at Sylvan Heights Bird Park, is a tall, large-bodied bird with a long neck and small head. Most flamingos, including this species, have pale pink plumage, legs, and bills. The lesser flamingo is one of the smallest and brightest of the flamingos. The smallest of the Flamingo species is the Lesser Flamingo. This native of India, Southern Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa can live for over 50 years in the wild.

Lesser Flamingo

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Masked Lapwing

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The masked lapwing is a large, familiar, and conspicuous bird native to Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea. It spends most of its time on the ground searching for food such as insects and worms, and has several distinctive calls.

This is one at Sylvan Heights Bird Park.

Masked Lapwing with Open Mouth

Masked Lapwing

Peafowl

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Male peacocks, also known as peafowl, are easily recognizable by their vibrant blue or green plumage and long, ornate tail feathers, also known as trains. This long tail is a key feature for courtship displays to attract peahens (female peacocks). The term “peacock” refers to the male bird, while the female is a peahen, and the whole group is called peafowl. 

Here is one looking away at Sylvan Heights Bird Park.

Peafowl

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