ANIMALS

Meet The Crimson Chat, The Brilliantly Hued Songbird

During the breeding season, the male of this songbird is beautifully colored. It has a bright red crown and belly, a gray back, a black mask, a white throat, a light-colored eye, and blackish wings with thin, pale wing bars.

The crimson chat, also known as the tricoloured chat, saltbush canary, and crimson-breasted nun, is a small bird that is native to Australia. These birds are typically between 10 and 13 centimeters (3.9 to 5.1 inches) long and weigh around 10 to 11 grams (0.35 to 0.39 ounces). Crimson chats have thin and long legs, a bill that curves downward, and a tongue with a brush-like tip. Adult males have brown feathers with red crowns and underparts, a black mask around their eyes, and white throats. Females and young birds have similar coloring but with lighter markings. Males are usually more vibrant in color than females, especially during the breeding season when they want to attract a mate.

Image source: Laurie R B

The crimson chat is sometimes mistaken for the male red-capped robin, but there are three key distinctions between these two species. The male crimson chat has a bright red crown and underparts, a white throat, and a yellow eye. On the other hand, the red-capped robin has a black body with a red chest and cap, white markings on its wings, and a dark eye.

Moreover, the crimson chat has a longer and thinner beak compared to the robin. Whenever you come across a crimson chat, you’ll often find nearby saltbush, Spinifex, or mulga plants, as these are commonly linked to this bird species.

Crimson Chats can be found all across central Australia, spanning from the western coast to the Great Dividing Range, and from the tropical regions to the southern coast.

Image source: Laurie R B

You can spot them in a range of habitats, such as deserts, semi-arid areas, woodlands, grasslands, and coastal shrublands. They tend to prefer the edges of wetter regions where it’s drier, and they make their homes in different kinds of shrublands like saltbush, bluebush, acacia, and samphire.

Image source: Laurie R B

These birds venture into wetter regions when there’s not enough rainfall, allowing them to locate the finest flowers and nectar. While they don’t engage in regular seasonal migrations, groups of crimson chats may roam across a broad territory within their range, following the path of rain.

Image source: Laurie R B

Crimson chats feed on insects and spiders found on the ground or in shrubs, using their brush-like tongue to gather nectar or pick up seeds from low-growing flowers. They tend to walk rather than hop, and you’ll usually spot them on or near the ground.

Image source: Laurie R B

Breeding takes place between August and October in the southern regions, while in the drier northern areas, it can occur at almost any time following rainfall. During the breeding season and throughout the rest of the year, these birds form small flocks and pairs, establishing clusters of nests that are defended by both male and female chats. Nest construction is a joint effort, with the nests positioned close to the ground in low shrubs or grass. They are made using materials like grass, rootlets, hair, feathers, and twigs.

The female lays 2-4 eggs that are pink and white, with brown-red spots, measuring around 17 mm x 13 mm (0.67 in x 0.51 in). Both parents take turns incubating the eggs for a period of 12-13 days, and once the hatchlings emerge, both parents provide them with food for about two weeks until they are capable of flying and finding food on their own.

If a predator approaches the nest, either parent will feign an injury to divert the predator’s attention away from the nest. Predators that pose a threat include cats, snakes, foxes, and larger birds like ravens.

Image source: Laurie R B

The relevant Federal and NSW organizations consider the conservation of this bird to be in a secure state, with the only notable concern being the presence of predators.

Image source: Laurie R B

Watch the Video here:

Source: One Big Birdcage

ANIMALS

Amazing Video of Unseen Ocean Creatures in the Ningaloo Canyons

The Schmidt Ocean Institute recently explored the Ningaloo Canyons on the western coast of Australia using a robotic underwater vehicle called the ROV Sebastian. Check out the amazing video of what they discovered in the deep parts of the Indian Ocean.

More info: Youtube

ANIMALS

These Pics Are Art and the Artists Are Insects

Flying insects move so quickly that they are hard to follow, but new technology and some smart ideas have helped Spanish photographer Xavi Bou do just that. After spending 10 years focusing on birds in flight for his Ornithographies project, he turned his attention to insects.

For Entomographies, he uses high-speed video footage taken by Adrian Smith, an insect expert at North Carolina State University, to study and record how insects move. Bou then picks multiple frames and combines them into single images that show the fast movements of one or more insects through space and time.

With Smith’s help, Bou has captured the aerial tricks of wasps, the jumps of leafhoppers, and the fluttering of butterflies in amazing detail. He hopes that by doing this, he can make people more aware of the decline in important insect populations around the world.

1. Zebra longwing

This butterfly, which is common in many areas of the Americas, really fits its name. It can fly very high with just a few flaps of its large wings.