Flammulated Owl

Otus flammeolus

The firs thing that came to mind when I saw this animal for the first time was, "wow... that's a tiny Owl!" And they certainly are! Flammulated Owls are really small members of their family. Their bodies are only about half a foot long, and their entire wingspan is around 14in. For a comparison, the Eurasian Eagle Owl (one of the largest Owls) can have a wingspan as large as 6ft!

Aside from their small size, Flammulated Owls can be identified by their small ear tufts and coloration that... sort of matches their name-- "flammulated" means "of a reddish hue," and the owls certainly have little bits of reddish brown here and there, though they are mostly grey.

You can find these little guys in western Canada and the United States, as well as down in Mexico where they migrate to during the winters. It was once thought that they were very rare in their range, but better surveying methods have shown otherwise. One issue was simply finding them-- they give off very monotonous, quiet calls, and it can be very hard to locate them by sound. The Owls are now considered one of the most common Pine Forest Owl species, though they are scarce in a few regions.

While most Owls feed on small mammals and other birds, the Flammulated Owls eat invertebrates exclusively. They pick spiders, moths, crickets, and all sorts of other arthropods out of the air, trees, and off the ground.

Flammulated Owls breed during the springtime, with couples pairing off and building nests inside of tree holes that were often built by Woodpeckers. 2-4 eggs are laid at a time, and the female does all of the incubating while her mates brings food. Both parents care for the chicks, who fledge at 3-5 weeks, and leave for good after another 4-5.

---

IUCN Status : Least Concern
Location : Western North America
Size : Length up to 6in (15cm), Wingspan 14in (36cm)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Aves -- Order : Strigiformes
Family : Strigidae -- Genus : Otus -- Species : O. flammeolus

Read More

Fruitadens

Fruitadens haagarorum

Allow me to introduce you to a tiny little Dinosaur named Fruitadens. They are the smallest discovered members of the entire Ornithischian (bird-hipped) Order. These tiny guys only measured 2ft in length, and weighed less than 2lbs!

Fruitadens are not, in fact, named "Fruit Tooth." The moniker actually comes from the Fruita region of Colorado, which is where their fossils were discovered. Confusing the issue even more is the fact that they little guys probably did eat fruit... but they also ate small critters, insects, and other plants as well. It seems that they were very opportunistic feeders.

Fruitadens was first described only 2 years ago, but the bones where uncovered back in the 1970s and 1980s! They sat stored at the Los Angeles County Museum for decades until a more exact study could be done. The resulting analysis turned up one species, Fruitadens haagarorum (named for the President of the Museum's Board of Trustees), which lived during the Late Jurassic.

---

Status : Extinct since the Late Jurassic - 150 million years ago
Location : Colorado
Size : Length up to 30in (76cm), Weight up to 1.7lbs (.7kg

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Reptilia -- Order : †Ornithischia
Family : †Heterodontosauridae -- Genus : †Fruitadens -- Species : †F. haagarorum

Read More

Brown Tree Snake

Boiga irregularis

Today's animal is the Brown Tree Snake, a reptile that would be nothing particularly special... if it wasn't for the impact it has has as an invasive species over the last 60 years. They have caused an incredible amount of destruction on the island of Guam, resulting in the extinction of a handful of other species and costing millions of dollars of damage.

You see, they aren't originally from Guam. They actually hail from Australia, New Guinea, and a handful of other large islands in Melanesia. In their native range they can be found in a variety of habitats, including areas free of trees! You heard me right, Brown Tree Snakes can be found in grasslands and in cliff areas, as well as in forests.

Sometime after World War II, but before 1952, a couple of Brown tree Snakes made their way to Guam as stowaways in ship cargo. When they reached the small island it didn't take long for massive devastation to occur. By 1968 they had spread across the entire island, due to the fact that they had no natural predators and no competition from other snakes.

The Brown Tree Snakes have led to the endangerment of several local bird, reptile, and mammal populations. In fact, twelve different native birds have gone completely extinct. In addition to hurting the local fauna, the plant diversity has also suffered. Many animals that served as pollinators saw their numbers decline, which resulted in a loss of plant life. And have I mentioned the power outages? Brown Tree Snakes love to climb electrical wires, causing blackouts and massive repair bills.

So what is being done about this dangerous invasive species? Well, lots of things actually, but there are so many snakes that it has been difficult to control them (recent surveys show as many as 20 snakes per acre, one of the highest Snake densities in the world!) Traps and poisons have been deployed to cut the numbers down, and recently it was discovered that Acetaminophen is deadly to Brown Tree Snakes. As a result, the government has been dropping dead mice laced with Tylenol into the trees.

---

IUCN Status : Not Listed
Location : Australia, New Guinea, Melanesia
Size : Length up to 6.6ft (2m)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Reptilia -- Order : Squamata
Family : Colubridae -- Genus : Boiga -- Species : B. irregularis

Read More

Bharal

Pseudois nayaur

The Bharal is one of those animals that goes by many different common names. Nabo, Naur, and Himalayan Blue Sheep are all some of the different monikers given to the species. Why so many names? Well, the Bharal lives in Central and East Asia, so different countries with different languages refer to the animal in different ways.

Bharal live in the Himalaya Mountains, as well as in other mountainous regions of China. They can be found at altitudes of between 10,000 and 18,000ft. They graze on the mountain slopes, and their grey coats give them excellent camouflage against predators. If they feel threatened, the Bharal stand perfectly still, blending in with the rocks. If that defensive tactic doesn't work, they can scamper up the cliffs with their sure-footed hooves before trying to blend in again. Of course, they can't always escape from predators. They make up a huge portion of the Snow Leopards' diet, and it is estimated that the Leopards consume between 11% and 24% of the Bharal population every year.

The rutting season lasts from November to January, and during that time males will chase and fight each other for the right to mate with the females. The calves are born 5-6 months later. Both male and female Bharal have horns, but those of the male larger.

It is believed that the Bharal are common in their range, which is why they are listed as being of Least Concern. It is, however, difficult to monitor their population due to their remote habitat and high elevation lifestyle. They do occur in several National Parks.

---

IUCN Status : Least Concern
Location : North America
Size : Height up to 3ft (90cm)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Artiodactyla
Family : Bovidae -- Genus : Pseudois -- Species : P. nayaur

Read More

Six-spot Burnet Moth

Zygaena filipendulae

Today's animal is a small, colorful insect with a name that describes it pretty much to the tee. The six-spot Burnet Moth does in fact have six spots on each wing... though sometimes they get a bit merged together, which can result in some spot-count confusion.

Six-spot Burnets live throughout Europe and are incredibly common on the continent. There are over 20 different subspecies! Most of the subspecies have dark bodies with wings of a metallic sheen. The wing spots are red, which warns predators that these Moths are poisonous! Sometimes the spots are yellow or brown, but only rarely.

Six-spot Burnets are active during the day, when they live in colonies and feed on the nectar of large flowers. They prefer sunny days, and fly from June to August. The Moths only reproduce once, and the caterpillars overwinter before pupating and becoming Moths in June. (Sometimes they will even overwinter twice!) Caterpillars are very plump and greenish-yellow, with black spots.

---

IUCN Status : Not Listed
Location : Europe
Size : Wingspan up to 1.6in (4cm)

Classification : Phylum : Arthropoda -- Class : Insecta -- Order : Lepidoptera
Family : Zygaenidae -- Genus : Zygaena -- Species : Z. filipendulae

Read More

Mourning Dove

If you live in North America, I'm sure you've met today's animal before. This is the Mourning Dove, or Turtledove, or Carolina Pigeon, or Rain Dove... It goes by a whole lot of names. These members of the Columbidae family are some of the most widespread and abundant birds in North America, boasting a range of over 11 million square miles!

Mourning Doves spend a whole lot of time eating. They forage on the ground, storing up as many seeds as possible in their crop (there can literally be thousands of seeds in there!) In a single day, a Mourning Dove can eat 20% of their body weight. Seeds make up nearly 99% of their diet, but they aren't especially picky about the type of seed. This helps them to survive and spread into different habitats. The Doves are even able to live in deserts, thanks to their ability to drink incredibly brackish water!

Another cause for their large population and extensive range is their nesting behavior. Banding studies suggest that Mourning Doves mate for life, and during a single season each pair can raise three to six broods! The common brood size is two eggs, and they hatch after only 2 weeks. The offspring are fed crop milk, and fledge at around 11-15 days (fast growers!)

Needless to say, their huge range and massive population size has kept the birds from being in any sort of conservation danger. In the United States it is estimated that there are more than 350 million of them, and around 20 million are harvested as game every year.

---

IUCN Status : Least Concern
Location : North America
Size : Body Length up to 12in (30cm)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Aves -- Order : Columbiformes
Family : Columbidae -- Genus : Zenaida -- Species : Z. macroura

Read More

Hazel Grouse

Tetrastes bonasia (male)

Meet the Hazel Grouse, a little bitty member of its family that can be found across the northern areas of both Europe and Asia. They are sedentary birds that live and breed in dense forests, laying their eggs in nests on the ground.

These birds can be identified by their gray backs, reddish-brown wings, and barred white and dark underparts. Males have black throats that are outlined in white, as well as a short crest on the head. Females are smaller than the males, have shorter crests, and lack the black throats.

Even if you know what they look like, you will still probably hear the Hazel Grouse long before you see it... if you see it at all! Their dense forest habitat makes them very hard to see, and their shy personalities often keep them hidden. The males make very high pitched ti-ti-ti calls, and the females have smoother sounding tetete.

Female Hazel Grouse

---

IUCN Status : Least Concern
Location : Asia, Europe
Size : Body Length up to 15in (39cm)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Aves -- Order : Galliformes
Family : Phasianidae -- Genus : Tetrastes -- Species : T. bonasia

Read More