Taxonomy
For the fourth straight year, a Short-tailed Hawk with atypical plumage has overwintered in Tucson (bit.ly/STHA-Tucson). In 2007, Helen and Noel Snyder, Narca Moore-Craig, Rose Ann Rowlett and I photographed and studied a Short-tailed Hawk nest (Buteo brachyurus) in the Chiricahua Mountains, a part of the Sky Islands region of the Southwest. The majority of Short-tailed […]
Don’t serve this one on Thanksgiving! The Hoatzin (Ophisthocomus hoazin) is known as the ‘Stinky Turkey’ to Amazon natives because of the bad odors produced by the fermentation of leaves in the bird’s crop. Unlike most birds, Hoatzins eat the leaves of plants, and to a lesser degree the fruits and flowers. The Hoatzin’s digestive system is unique […]