The Wilder Traveller

Category: Wildlife

  • The 20 Most Beautiful And Colorful Birds on Earth

    In wildlife sometimes you have to wonder at the glory displayed by nature. The beauty of nature is further enhanced with the presence of attractively colored birds. There are about 10,000 species of birds from all over the world. Let us meet 20 world’s most beautiful and colorful birds;

    1. Golden Pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus)

    The golden pheasant of Asia is a brilliantly colored game bird. It is also called “Chinese Pheasant”. It is native to forests in mountainous areas of western China, but feral populations have been established in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The adult male is 90–105 cm in length, its tail accounting for two-thirds of the total length.

    2. Birds of Paradise (Paradisaeidae)

    Birds of Paradise are distinguished by striking colors and bright plumage of yellow, blue, scarlet, and green. These colors distinguish them as some of the world’s most dramatic and attractive birds. The majority of species in this family are found on the island of New Guinea and its satellites, with a few species occurring in the Moluccas and eastern Australia. They can be 12-100 cm in length.

    3. Hyacinth Macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus)

    The Hyacinth Macaw or Hyacinthine Macaw are the largest parrots in the world, reaching a massive 100 cm in length. They are native to central and eastern South America. They have striking cobalt blue feathers, contrasting with the bare yellow eye ring and yellow patch of skin next to the lower bill. The tail is particularly long and the powerful black bill is deeply curved and pointed.

    4. Flamingo (Phoenicopteridae)

    Flamingos are the only members of the family Phoenicopteridae. Distinguishing characteristics include long legs, a long, curved neck, and a goose-like voice. Flamingos are mostly found in South America and also can be found in Peru, Chile, Bolivia Argentina, Caribbean and Galapagos islands.

    5. Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea)

    This beautiful Neotropical mystery birds are called American songbird. Adult males are bright red with black wings and tail and females are yellowish on the underpants and olive on top, with olive-brown wings and tail. (Scarlet Tanager)

    6. Northern Oriole (Icterus galbula)

    Northern Oriole, this little musical whistled bird was thought to be two separate species; “Baltimore” in the east and “Bullocks” in the west. Male has black head, back, wings and tail. Bright orange breast, rump and shoulder patch. Female greenish yellow with dull yellow-orange underparts and two dull white wing stripes.

    7. Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides)

    Mountain bluebird (formerly, Sialia arctica; protonym, Motacilla s. Sylvia Currucoides), also known as the Arctic bluebird. The Mountain Bluebird is a medium-sized bird weighing about 30g (1.1 ounces) with a length from 16–20 cm (6.3–7.9 in). These are attractive birds with blue, or blue and red, plumage. Female birds are less brightly colored than males. Call is a thin few; Song is warbled high chur chur.

    8. Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

    The Northern Cardinal can be found in southern Canada, through the eastern United States from Maine to Texas and south through Mexico. The cardinal is about eight inches in length. It has a distinctive crest on the head and a mask on the face which is black in the male and gray in the female. Cardinals are known for their bright red color but only the male is red. The females is a dull brown or olive color with dull red on her wings and tail.

    9. American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis)

    The American Goldfinch also known as the Eastern Goldfinch and Wild Canary, is a small North American bird. They are truly beautiful, though, in their breeding colors. The male displays brightly colored plumage during the breeding season to attract a mate.

    10. Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)

    The Wood Duck or Carolina Duck is a species of duck found in North America. It is one of the most colourful North American waterfowl. The Wood Duck is a medium-sized duck weighing one to two pounds and measuring 19 to 21 inches from bill tip to tail end. The drake is a dramatic, colorful bird with green and purple iridescence on the head, and a droopy crest. The adult male has distinctive multi-colored iridescent plumage and red eyes. The female, less colorful, has a white eye-ring and a whitish throat.

    11. Kingfisher (Halcyonidae)

    The tree kingfishers or wood kingfishers are short-tailed large-headed compact birds with long pointed bills. Like other Coraciiformes, they are brightly coloured. Most tree kingfishers are found in the warm climates of Africa, southern and southeast Asia, and Australasia.

    12. Green Wing Macaw (Ara chloroptera)

    The Green winged Macaw (Ara chloroptera) is one of the largest of the Macaw parrots. It is quite beautiful in color and very distinguished its own right. It is considered to be one of the most docile Macaws and often referred to as the ‘gentle giant’. They are gentler, quieter, and a more affectionate Macaw than many of its relatives.

    13. Troupial (Icterus icterus)

    The Venezuelan Troupial (Turpial in Spanish), Icterus icterus is the national bird of Venezuela. It is found in Colombia, Venezuela, and the Caribbean islands of Aruba and Curaçao. Troupials are fairly large in size, with a long tail and a bulky bill. It has a black head and upper breast. The wings are mostly black with a white streak and the eyes are yellow.

    14. Blue Throated Bee-Eater (Merops viridis)

    The bee-eaters are characterized by richly colored plumage, slender bodies and usually elongated central tail feathers. It is found in Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.

    15. Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris)

    Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) also known as the Nonpareil. The male Painted Bunting is often described as the most beautiful bird in North America. Its colors, dark blue head, green back, red rump and underparts. The plumage of female and juvenile Painted Buntings is green and yellow-green, serving as camouflage.

    16. Keel-Billed Toucans (Ramphastos sulfuratus)

    The Keel-billed Toucan (Ramphastos sulfuratus), also known as Sulfur-breasted Toucan or Rainbow-billed Toucan. It is the national bird of Belize. The Keel-Billed Toucan is a large and colorful bird with black plumage, a bright yellow throat and cheeks, vibrant red feathers under its tail and a yellow-green face.

    17. Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus)

    The Rainbow Lorikeet is very colorful as its name suggests.The head is deep blue with a greenish-yellow nuchal collar, and the rest of the upperparts (wings, back and tail) are deep green. The chest is red with blue-black barring. The belly is deep green, and the thighs and rump are yellow with deep green barring. In flight a yellow wing-bar contrasts clearly with the red underwing coverts. It is found in Australia, eastern Indonesia (Maluku and Western New Guinea), Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. In Australia, it is common along the eastern seaboard, from Queensland to South Australia and northwest Tasmania. Its habitat is rainforest, coastal bush and woodland areas.

    18. Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao)

    Macaws are the largest parrots in the world — the body of the scarlet macaw from beak to tail can be as long as 33 inches. This beautiful macaw has a creamy white, almost featherless face, with bright red plumage covering most of its body, wings and long tail. Brilliant blue and yellow feathers also adorn the lower wings. They can be found from southern Mexico to Peru, as well as Bolivia, eastern Brazil and the island of Trinidad.

    19. Stork-billed Kingfisher (Pelargopsis capensis)

    The Stork-billed Kingfisher, Pelargopsis capensis (formerly Halcyon capensis), is a tree kingfisher which is widely but sparsely distributed in the tropical Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India and Sri Lanka to Indonesia.

    20. Peafowl (Pavo)

    Peafowl, a large bird of the pheasant family, is among the most colorful of birds. The male is called a peacock, the female a peahen, and the offspring peachicks. The adult female peafowl is grey and/or brown. Peachicks can be between yellow and a tawny colour with darker brown patches.

    It is difficult to select 20 most beautiful and colorful birds around from 10,000 species in the world. But we try our best. Give your comment and let us know that you support us.

  • The Most Dangerous and Deadliest Scorpions on Earth

    In wildlife there are so many dangerous and poisonous animals or creatures, you must have to avoid. Scorpions are one of them. They are really dangerous and sometimes deadly too. Here I tried to make a list of the most dangerous and deadliest Scorpions on Earth.

    1. Deathstalker (Leiurus quinquestriatus)

    The deathstalker (Leiurus quinquestriatus), also known as Palestine yellow scorpion, Omdurman scorpion, Israeli desert scorpion. They are yellow in color and about 30–77 millimeters in long. The deathstalker is known for its venom, it is a powerful mixture of neurotoxins, with a low lethal dose. A sting from this scorpion is very painful, it normally would not kill a healthy adult human, but young children, the elderly, or infirm (such as those with a heart condition or those who are allergic) would be at much greater risk for its life-threatening allergic reaction.

    2. Yellow Fat-tailed Scorpion (Androctonus australis)

    Androctonus australis is a North African desert scorpion. They can grow upto 10 centimetres in length. Androctonus australis is one of the world’s most dangerous scorpions for its very potent venom, equivalent to a black mamba snake. It causes several deaths every year.

    3. Arabian fat-tailed scorpion (Androctonus crassicauda)

    The Arabian fat-tailed scorpion (Androctonus crassicauda) is a species of dangerous scorpion. They can be found in North Africa and the Middle East. Some authorities report a sting from a Arabian fat-tailed scorpion can kill an adult human in seven hours. Reactions vary considerably, but children are especially vulnerable.

    4. South African Spitting scorpion (Parabuthus transvaalicus)

    South African Spitting scorpion (Parabuthus transvaalicus), also known as Black Spitting Thicktail scorpion, South African Fattail scorpion, South African Giant Fat Tail scorpion, Transvaal thick-tailed scorpion or dark scorpion. They can be found in Southern and Eastern Africa. They can spray their venom up to 3 feet long. This venom effects in the eyes is pain to temporary blindness. Permanent damage can occur if the venom is not washed from eyes.

    5. Striped bark scorpion (Centruroides vittatus)

    The striped bark scorpion (Centruroides vittatus) is an extremely common scorpion. They can be found throughout the midsection of the United States and northern Mexico. They are not so aggressive. The sting can be extremely painful. For some, the worst passes in 15–20 minutes, but not uncommon to remain very painful with numbing sensations for 2–3 days.

    So…here I found only five of them. There are not so resources about these scorpions on internet but I know there are more out there, that are really dangerous, poisonous and deadly. I can give you a short list of scorpions, if you want to research about them.

    1 ) Odontobuthus doriae
    2 ) Leiurus quinquestriatus
    3 ) Androctonus mauretanicus
    4 ) Centruroides noxius
    5 ) Androctonus Australis
    6 ) Centruroides santa maria
    7 ) Tityus serrulatus
    8 ) Centruroides suffusus
    9 ) Centruroides limpidus
    10 ) Compsobuthus acuticarinatus
    11) Leiurus jordanensis
    12) Tityus trinitatus
    13) Apistobuthus pterygocercus
    14) Tityus bahiensis
    15) Buthus occitanicus

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  • Butterflies Emerge Early Thanks to the Sunniest May on record

    The warm spring weather, capped by the UK’s sunniest May since records began, has led to the early emergence of many butterfly species.

    53 of the UK’s 59 resident and regular migrant butterfly species had already been spotted by the end of May this year, the first time this century that so many have been seen by the end of spring.

    Dr Richard Fox, Associate Director of Recording and Research at the charity Butterfly Conservation, who compiled the figures, said: “Over the past 20 years, we’ve typically received reports of 39 species by the end of May, so 53 this year is amazing. Last year, for example, only 43 butterflies had put in an appearance by this point and the only other year to come close to the current total was in 2011, when 50 species had started to emerge by 31 May.”

    The sightings, made by members of the public and displayed on Butterfly Conservation’s First Sightings web page, shows some extremely early dates for particular species this spring. The first Ringlet butterfly, for example, was reported on 24 May, but would not normally be seen before 8 June, while the White-letter Hairstreak spotted on 29 May typically doesn’t appear until 11 June. The Silver-washed Fritillary and White Admiral, classic butterflies of summer woodland in southern Britain, were both seen on 30 May, two weeks earlier than usual. The rare Large Blue, successfully reintroduced to Britain in the 1980s, made its earliest ever appearance this year.

    The unusually early emergences aren’t necessarily a worry for these butterfly populations. Richard continues: “Butterflies are able to adjust their emergence dates to suit the vagaries of the UK weather, indeed they need to do so to remain in sync with the plants that their caterpillars need to feed on. However, the trend towards earlier emergence of butterflies and moths in Britain over recent decades in response to climate change isn’t necessarily beneficial. Recent research shows that emerging earlier leads to larger populations of species that have more than one generation each year. In such species, the earlier emergence of the first generation leads to greater abundance in the second brood.

    However, for species that only have one generation each year, this positive effect on numbers was not found. Indeed, for some, more specialized species, there was a negative impact – earlier emergence led to reduced population size.”

    Even more concerning is the impact that severe drought can have on butterfly numbers as plants die back leaving caterpillars to starve. Despite the record-breaking February rainfall, many parts of the UK had received little rain until this week and vegetation was starting to look parched. Richard says: “Prolonged dry weather is likely to be worse for butterflies that live in open habitats with thin soils, such as chalk downland. The Duke of Burgundy butterfly, for example, lays its eggs on the leaves of Cowslips and Primroses, which quickly become desiccated in dry weather.”

    This news comes ahead of Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count, the largest citizen science project in the UK, which last year saw over 113,000 people take part.

    “This year will be particularly interesting”, says Richard. “We will be looking to see if species that emerged early and have their second generation during the Count do particularly well, and whether single-generation species, such as Marbled White, are still about in July for all of our Big Butterfly Count participants to record. All of this helps us to ‘take the pulse of nature’ and understand the effects of climate change and human impacts on the health of our wildlife.”

    The Big Butterfly Count runs between 17 July and 9 August and is the UK’s biggest citizen science event. Anyone can participate and do as many counts as they like through the Bigbutterflycount.org website or app.