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
Hawaiian Duck, also known as Koloa, is a medium-sized duck, similar to a female Mallard in appearance, but smaller and darker. Both sexes have spotted tail feathers. The bill is dark greenish, with an orange tip in some females. This duck is a native species found exclusively in the Hawaiian Islands; this one is at Sylvan Heights Bird Park. This beautiful duck exhibits a stunning combination of mottled brown plumage and a distinctive white eye-ring.
Hawaiian Duck
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
The Great Blue Heron is a stately heron with subtle blue-gray plumage. It often stands motionless as it scans for prey or wades belly deep with long, deliberate steps. Although they may move slowly, Great Blue Herons can strike like lightning to grab a fish or snap up a gopher.
We saw this bird at Sarah P. Duke Gardens in Durham, North Carolina.
Great Blue Heron
Named for the striking golden plumage on their heads, these beautiful cranes at Ark Encounter are the national bird of Uganda. African crowned cranes have an impressive six-foot wingspan and are one of only two crane species capable of perching in trees since they possess long hind toes.
African Crowned Crane at the Ark
Northern cardinals get their red color from carotenoids, which are pigments found in many foods, including red and purple fruits, carrots, ripe tomatoes, and autumn leaves. When cardinals eat these foods, their bodies convert the yellow carotenoids into red. The quality of a cardinal’s red color can indicate how well it’s eating, and brighter plumage can be a sign of overall fitness.
Northern Cardinal with Flattened Crest
The King Vulture is an uncommon, large, and spectacular bird of lowland tropical forest, mainly in wilder areas and not around human habitation. Most often seen soaring overhead in mid-late morning, often fairly high up; rarely seen perched. Striking adult has a colorful head and neck, piercing white eyes, and mostly white plumage with a black trailing edge to the wings and tail. Here is a captive, perched vulture at Carolina Raptor Center, North Carolina.
King Vulture