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Quails are a part of the pheasant family. They live in a grass and wood habitat. Some people hunt them while others keep them as pets. The eating of quail meat was first common in French cooking. When breeding these birds, it's important to have breeding cages as well as incubators for the eggs. Quail eggs are actually a delicacy and... more »
"Conure" is an umbrella term for any small parrot or large parakeet from Central or South America. Some scientists insist on calling them "parakeets," but the name conure has been around for so long in the pet trade that it's stuck. The word "conure" is from Latin "conurus," which means "cone-tailed." Conures tend to be more adaptable... more »
A cockatiel is a variety of parrot that belongs to the Cacatuidae family of birds. This species has a rest of feathers on the top of the head that the bird can erect at will. Cockatiels have a distinctive look, from their feather crests to the feathers over the sides of the beak. They are popular as pets for their small size and... more »
The bluebird belongs to the thrush family and is most often found in eastern North America and parts of Central America. Male bluebirds have royal blue heads and backs and a red-brown belly. They prefer to live in open areas such as pastures and farms, but they also can be found in wooded areas. The bluebird is the state bird of... more »
Although the nightingale isn't known for its physical beauty, there's not another bird more noted for its melodic singing. Like all songbirds, nightingales learn songs from adult birds during their first year. It's mostly the male bird that's known for its singing, usually at night, to woo the female during mating season. A male... more »
For more than 20 million years, pigeons have roamed the Earth. And sometimes, their...
Pheasants are a game bird present in most of North America. They are a popular game bird in the United States and are not currently an endangered... more »
A canary is a cage bird that belongs to the ploceidae family. The bird is thought to have descended from the wild serin finch or Serinus canarius,... more »
There are 2 kinds of quail. The American variety is a small bird that lives in flocks or "coveys," while the Old World variety is larger and a... more »
The Ringneck parakeet is becoming one the most popular pet bird species. These streamlined, elegant birds with long, tapered tails, come in a... more »
There are several varieties of chickens that can be separated into three main categories—egg layers, meat type birds and dual purpose birds. Even... more »
Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a number of different colour morphs. Differences in plumage are used by ornithologists and birdwatchers in order to distinguish between species and collect other species specific information.
Humphrey-Parkes (H-P) moult and plumage terminology
Almost all species of birds moult at least annually, usually after the breeding season, known as the pre-basic moult. This resulting covering of feathers, which will last either until the next breeding season or until the next annual moult, is known as the basic plumage. Many species undertake another moult prior to the breeding season known as the pre-alternate moult, the resulting breeding plumage being known as the alternate plumage or nuptial plumage. The alternate plumage is often brighter than the basic plumage, for the purposes of sexual display, but may also be cryptic in order to hide incubating birds that might be vulnerable on the nest.Humphrey, P.S. and K.C. Parkes. 1959. An approach to the study of molts and plumages. Auk 76: 1-31
The Humphrey-Parkes terminology requires some attention to detail to name moults and plumages correctly.Sievert Rohwer, Christopher W. Thompson and Bruce E. Young. 1991 Clarifying the Humphrey-parkes Molt and Plumage Terminology. Auk 94: 297-300
Eclipse plumage
Many ducks have bright, colourful plumage, exhibiting strong sexual dimorphism to attract the females. However, they moult into a dull plumage in the non-breeding season. This drab female-like appearance is the eclipse plumage. When they shed feathers to go into eclipse, the ducks become flightless for a short period of time. Some duck species remain in eclipse for one to three months in the summer, while othe read more at » http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plumage
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