The Kuranda area of far north Queensland is a key zone for the endangered Cassowary, the birds around Cassowary House have raised 7 chicks since June 1998, with another male a couple of kilometres along the same road having a similar record and currently having 4 chicks. In January 2002 we had a new female appear, and occasionally join with the family group, though the regular female soon drives her away when they coincide here. The individual birds are readily recognisable by their casque shapes and patterns, with males having a drooping bustle and females being considerably larger and having a more pear shaped rear end.
Major threats here include uncontrolled dogs wandering in the state forest, feral pigs destroying the nests, and above all else road traffic. Our dirt road has a 40 km/h speed limit, which is often ignored, and requests for traffic calming bumps have met with disinterest from the Shire Council, an often unsympathetic one where the environment is concerned. One official from the Queensland State Forests Department actually told us that we couldn’t have speed bumps because people drive too fast - go figure. I think it’s all to do with the dreaded liability issue.
The Kuranda area is undoubtedly once of the best places to see the charismatic birds, easily as good as the well-known Mission Beach where the traffic issue is a similar problem. They had 4 birds killed on their roads in 2001, whilst we lost one late in 2000 to a road gravel lorry, with another hit and not accounted for. It is clearly time to raise the profile for this bird, which could easily be the flagship charismatic megafauna species for a major ecotourism and conservation initiative. Sadly, the Cassowary Conservation Liaison Officer appointed when the species was declared endangered in late 2000 was only a temporary appointment, funded for a few months to tie in with the new conservation status, but then abandoned.
 Order: Passeriformes, Family: Corvidae American Crows are native to the Nearctic region all over North America. They can be found in the lower part of Canada and through the continental United States.
Adult American Crows are completely black birds weighing on average 450 g. The feathers have a glossy and slightly iridescent look. Crows have strong legs and toes. The bill is also black with a slight hook on the end. Stiff bristles c...
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 Order: Falconiformes, Family: Accipitridae Snail Kites can be found in both South and Central America. Some are also found in Mexico and Cuba. The United States also has a small population concentrated in Florida.
Mass: 340 to 567 g.
Snail kites are medium-sized hawks, weighing from 12-20 oz. They are about 14-16 inches long and have a wingspan of 43-36 inches. The females are very slightly smaller than the male.
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 Coming from Spain, this breed arrived in the US via the Caribbean Islands. Spanish are the oldest breed of chickens existent in the US today. At one time known as "The Fowls of Seville", they were very popular in the South during the Colonial period. The large area of snow white skin surrounding the face and wattles makes this breed unique. Actually this is an over developed earlobe.
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 by David Rennie An army of 700,000 specially trained ducks and chickens has been mobilised to help fight China's biggest locust plague in 25 years. The birds, which are taught to pursue and eat locusts at the sound of a whistle, are part of a national campaign that includes 280,000 people backed by crop-dusting planes and special locust-killing micro-organisms imported from Britain. Swarms of locusts have d...
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 Order: Falconiformes, Family: Accipitridae The common black-hawk is found in the southwestern United States, throughout Mexico, Central America, and northern South America to Guyana. They can also be found in Cuba and The Isle of Pines.
Mass: 630 to 1,300 kg.
The common black-hawk averages 53 cm in length (21 inches) and has a wingspan of 127 cm (50 inches.) Like most other raptor species, common black-hawks are sexually dimorphic, wi...
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 Order: Psittaciformes, Family: Psittacids Hyacinth macaws grow to approximately 33 to 40 inches in length, and weigh about 3 pounds. Their wingspan measures 46 to 50 inches and their tail 21 inches.
The hyacinth has violet-blue plumage with a deeper shade on its wings. The underside of its wings and tail feathers are blackish-blue. It has a black beak and dark brown iris a with yellow circle of skin around the eyes. A yellow line lies...
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