On the Wave of a Crest #2; more birds with very fancy coiffures

Last time I introduced a range of birds with handsome crests ranging from the outrageous to the understated; all of them also bore names describing or alluding to their headware. Today I'm going to wrap up this mini-series by sharing with you another collection of cranially-adorned beauties, but none of these draw attention to their crests in their names. Last time too I speculated a little on the purpose of such decoration, so I won't reiterate that today. Let's just ogle some more great do's.

For some, a modest but perky little peak is deemed appropriate.

Eastern Whipbird Psophodes olivaceus, Eurobodalla Botanic Gardens, Batemans Bay, New South Wales south coast.
This is an interesting one, because they tend to live in dense understorey vegetation, and communicate by their
famous piercing whip-crack duets. It seems a bit surprising that a visual communication is also required.

Chiming Wedgebill Psophodes occidentalis, Shark Bay, Western Australia.
This arid land bird (one of two almost identical species) has recently been placed in the same
genus as the whipbirds, like the previous species.
Fortunately for us, the two wedgebill species have different ranges and very different calls.

Marvellous Spatuletail Loddigesia mirabilis, Huembo Lodge, north Peru.
Outstanding even among hummingbirds, this spectacular little beauty's most obvious glories are its amazing
pair of outer tail feathers with racket-shaped tips. These can be moved independently of each other, and
feature heavily in its rivetting aerial courtship displays.
Given this, the little purple-blue crest might seem a little superfluous.
The species occupies a tiny area of the eastern slopes of the Andes in Peru, and is listed as Endangered.

Orange-footed Scrubfowl Megapodius reinwardt, Darwin. Found across northern Australia and into New Guinea
and Indonesia, this is a megapode, an ancient group of birds which incubate their eggs in huge mounds of decomposing
vegetable matter. I love the jaunty little peaked crown.

Red-necked Woodpecker Campephilus rubricollis, Tambopata Research Centre, southern Peruvian Amazonia.
Another which favours a neat little peak.

Then there are a number of birds which sport a wispier peak; some of these are quite short and erect...
 

Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis Queen Elizabeth NP, Uganda.
This handsome fishing kingfisher is found across Africa and south to south-east Asia.
Given its striking appearance and overt behaviour, the neat little crest might seem a bit unnecessary.

Guanay Cormorant Leucocarbo bougainvillii, Pucusana, Peru.
Like many wispy-crests, this big west coast cormorant tucks its crest away when not required.
We were honoured!

Guira Cuckoo Guira guira, Buenos Aires.
A very sociable cuckoo, so we were surprised to see this one on its own in a very scruffy little city park.

... while some are long and erect.

Cockatiel male Nymphicus hollandicus, Mount Magnet, Western Australia.
This widespread dryland species is the world's smallest cockatoo.
Sadly for them, they are also a very popular cage bird.

Spinifex Pigeon Geophaps plumifera, south-west Queensland.
Another crest-bearer of the desert country. This crest plays a role in the elaborate courting ritual.

Other birds seem to prefer the swept-back look.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron Nyctanassa violacea, Guayaquil, Ecuador; an attractive and widespread species
of the coasts of northern South America, central America and southern North America.
This one is in breeding plumage, when the plumes are even longer; other evidence is in the green lores
(the area in front of the eyes) and reddish legs.

Plumbeous Ibis Theristicus caerulescens, Pantanal, Brazil.
A striking ibis from the east of central South America; I confess to anthropomorphically
thinking that the glaring yellow eye and back-swept crest give it a distinctly raffish look.

Some owls (in the hawk owl, or typical owl, family) have feathered 'horns' or 'ears'- we featured a Great Horned Owl last time. These seem to have nothing to do with hearing, but are presumably for display. Still being anthropomorphic, I do think they go nicely with the very scowly look adopted by many owls.

Stygian Owl Asio stygius, Morro del Calzada Reserve, north-eastern Peru.
A big owl, found scattered from Mexico through the Caribbean to south-eastern Brazil.

Tropical Screech Owl Megascops choliba, Pantanal, Brazil.
A much smaller owl, with smaller horns.

A few birds adorn their heads with structures that aren't composed of feathers.

Southern Cassowary Casuarius casuarius, Etty Bay near Innisfail, north Queensland.
The striking casque is not, as has long been supposed, a bony structure, but comprises a 'very tough, elastic, foam-like substance firmly fused to the skull', (to quote Handbook of the Birds of the World) covered in tough skin.
It is rigid from front to back, but elastic from side to side.
Its purpose, though often asserted to be for pushing through rainforest, remains unknown,
but an indicator of age and fitness - and thus dominance - is perhaps the most plausible explanation.

Magpie Geese Anseranas semipalmata, near Darwin.
In this case the 'bump' on the head comprises spongy bone; it increases in size with age and is thus
probably also an indicator of dominance. These dramatic waterfowl, common across northern Australia
and southern New Guinea, are not geese or ducks, but the only members of their primitive family which
seems to provide a link between waterfowl and the terrestrial South American screamers.

And now (with drum roll) I want to present my favourite headgear among the birds which are not named for it. In no particular order (well, not very much) - I don't want to upset anybody or anybirdy.

Male Gang-gang Cockatoo Callocephalon fimbriatum, Canberra. A small cockatoo of the wetter forests and subalpine
woodlands of the south-east corner of Australia. In Canberra they are quite common throughout the urban area,
feeding quietly on fruit and seeds, creaking like corks coming out of old-fashioned wine bottles.
Only the males have the red head and outlandishly clownish wispy crest.

Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo pair Calyptorhynchus banksii, near Barcaldine, central Queensland.
The male is on the left. Both carry the extreme forward-leaning crest, which the anthropomorphically-inclined
might interpret as reminiscent of an Elvis impersonator.

Red-legged Seriema Cariama cristata, Pantanal, Brazil.
There are two South American species of seriema, the only members of their own Family but also an
entire Order. They are ground-hunters of a range of small animals, sometimes described as ecological
analogs of the unrelated African Secretarybird Sagittarius serpentarius.
I love the fan-shaped crest above the lipstick-red bill.

Male Bare-faced Curassow Crax fasciolata, Pantanal, Brazil.A big cracid (the family of guans and chachalacas)
which mainly feeds on the ground, especially on fallen fruit. She has buffy bars across her wings and back, and shares
his somewhat rococo crest of individual curls, though hers is black and white.

Hoatzin Opisthocomus hoazin, in the twilight above a rainforest lake, Ecuadorian Amazonia.
Truly one of the most amazing birds on earth, which separated from all others around 65 million years ago,
around the time the other dinosaurs vanished. It is the only bird which can fully digest leaves, using a bacterial
gut factory like a cow. And that spiky crest... Needs its own blog post one day.

Andean Cocks-of-the-Rock Rupicola peruvianus, San Pedro, southern Peru. What can one say about that
wildly bouffant crest (comprising a double row of fluffy feathers) and those yellow teddy bear eyes?
These big cotingas gather in frantic leks to compete by displaying for the favours of females - more on that here.
One of the most wonderful sights in nature  that I have seen - and the head-dress is not the least of it!

I hope that I - or at least this fabulous birds - have made you smile and perhaps think about things, including how you might go about seeing them for yourself. That would be something worth while, for both of us.

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 13 DECEMBER 

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