gingkophyta_appreciator's Favourites

Found dead in the street at sunrise

i am not sure of the death, i am pretty sure it is not a roadkill. This street is a no-end road, almost no cars, and really slow speed. But there are a lot of domestic and ferals dogs in this area, i am pretty sure it could be the dead cause.

The Saola was only discovered to science in 1992. There are no Saola in captivity. No Saola have been seen by scientists in the wild. A few records on camera trap exist. In 2004, there were still reports of Saola deep in the Truong Son mountains. This individual was confiscated from hunters in A'Luoi district, in the western reaches of the province. The other pictures are from interviews with Ka Tu ethnic hunters in A'Luoi and A'Vuong districts (Minh Hoang). The last photo is James with rangers from Hue Forest Department examining Saola tracks in A'Luoi - and identifzing schistamoglottis plants, reportedly favoured food for the saola.

In 2013, its status is critical. See what is happening on http://www.savethesaola.org/

Phoenix, AZ

Grey Go-away-bird (Corythaixoides concolor), Gilbert Water Ranch, Maricopa County
The Grey Go-Away Bird (Corythaixoides concolor) is a member of the turaco family. It is found in Southern Africa and is one of the least colorful turaco’s, many of which are as colorful as parrots. The Grey Go-Away is named for its call and it is a very social bird, often living in groups of up to 30 birds. It has a preference for open thornbush country, often near water. It eats fruit, leaves and insects. In captivity, it tends to prefer grains and leaves rather than fruit.

How this bird got to the Gilbert Water Ranch is a complete mystery. It seems in good plumage and health and is not banded. It is illegal to export Grey Go-Aways from Africa and therefore illegal to import them into the United States. They are extremely rare in captivity anywhere in the world and they are not as popular with breeders as the more colorful turacos. This species is often confused with both the White-bellied Go-Away Bird (Corythaixoides leucogaster) and the Western Gray Plantain-eater (Crinifer piscator), both of which are more common in captivity and can be legally imported. A few US zoos have Grey Go-Away Birds, such as the San Diego and Cinncinati Zoo. The local World Wildlife Zoo in Glendale has a small flock in their African Aviary, but according to the director, all are apparently accounted for. Contacts with local, national and international turaco breeders and societies (e.g, the International Turaco Society) have found no known birds in captivity locally. This bird is so rare in captivity that most people contacted insisted that we had misidentified the bird. Fortunately, Brendon Grice’s spectacular photos were all it took to convince people that the bird is indeed a Grey Go-Away.

The Gilbert bird was first discovered by Lyle Hamilton on 13 July 2007. The bird is conspicuous and calls almost constantly, probably trying to locate the rest of its flock. Anyone who might know something about the origin of this bird is encouraged to contact, Michael Moore at Michael.moore AT asu.edu.

In late February 2008, this bird (identified by a broken tail feather) moved 12 miles away to Tempe near the ASU campus.

Saw two desert tortoises in the front yard of a home in Coastal San Pedro. This property's yard had a sign saying it was certified as a wildlife habitat. These tortoises were in the area between the sidewalk and the road.

A flock of about 15 of these Australian Crested Pigeons were resident in this location for several years but have have not been seen since 2014/15. Presumably originating from escaped captive birds but almost certainly breeding in the 'wild'. Attracted to the location by daily feeding by a local resident.