Nat Geo - Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week

 

Black-headed herons are found throughout sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. They differ from their closest congener, the Grey Heron, in that they prefer to hunt well away from water, taking large insects, small mammals, and birds.

Rodnick Clifton Biljon

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Cape parrot sitting in a Cape lilac tree whose yellow fruits are reputed to be poisonous. These Endangered parrots feed on this fruit from India, SE Asia and Australia when local food resources become depleted. There are less than 1,000 of these shining, amazing parrots left on earth. Please watch this informative National Geographic video on the Cape Parrot Project: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/specials/in-the-field-specials/boyes-cape-parrot/

Rodnick Clifton Biljon

The little-known spectacled barwing is found in China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, where they prefer subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. Photographed here in Thailand.

Trevor Hardaker

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Top 5 Wild Bird Webcams

Discovery News - The spring live bird webcam season is well underway, with the suspense mounting at many sites as to when eggs will hatch, parents will kick out their offspring and more. Here are five live streaming cams you can check out to see the avian action:

1. Red Tailed Hawk Nest
For at least the past four years, a pair of red tailed hawks has been nesting on a light pole 80 feet above Cornell University’s athletic fields on Tower Road. This year, the university set up a camera to spy on the majestic birds as they raise their young.
As of this writing, mama “Big Red” has laid three eggs, so her clutch is likely complete. Incubation lasts several days, with the first hatches expected during the week of April 13. You can also sometimes see the prey of the parents, which can be a bit gorey. So far, the camera has captured voles, squirrels and pigeons being devoured in the nest.

NEWS: ‘Vomit Bird’ Throws Up a Defense Against Predators
The dad hawk doesn’t have a nickname yet. You can help with that effort by going to this Cornell page.

2. Excel Energy Eagle Cam
Watch an eagle pair in their enormous 6-foot-wide and 5-foot-deep nest at the Fort St. Vrain Station, Platteville, Colo. This particular nest has been active for many years, so much so that the Colorado Division of Wildlife bands young birds at the nest each spring. Last year, two baby bald eagles came into the world at the site.
If you click on a second link at the page, you can also view another family of eagles residing near a fish hatchery in Decorah, Iowa.         More