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

A little while ago we'd been gaping at some particularly impressive bird head adornments, and my muse said "well, why not do a blog on them?". Why not indeed? I do quite a lot of more 'serious' postings, and it doesn't hurt sometimes to just enjoy aspects of this wonderful natural world. Besides, I don't seem to have quite the readership I once did (I'm referring solely to quantity of course, not quality!) and who knows, maybe some fancy feather-styles are just what this blog needs!

According to my count there are some 135 bird species with 'crested' in the name; I was about to check those with 'cristatus' (ie 'crested') in the scientific name, but just in time I recalled how fleeting life really is. Today I'm going to limit myself to birds whose names either contain 'crested' or another reference to their headware.

Rufous-crested Coquette Lophornis delattrei, Waqanki Lodge, northern Peru. Extraordinary.
This hummingbird is mostly an Andean species, with a lowland outlier population in Panama.

Many such adornments are male-specific, and it is generally assumed that they're all about display, the idea being that the bigger and gaudier the display, the more attracted a female will be. Maybe, but we should always ask 'why?' and also remember that there's often more than one answer. This post isn't supposed to be too serious, but a couple of points are still worth making. If she's making a mate choice based purely on what are essentially male-only aesthetics, then we can assume that her sons will also be similarly gorgeous and desirable - but what about her daughters? In such a situation I think it is more that he is effectively saying ‘look, I’m so strong and clever and have such great survival skills that I can afford to carry around this idiotic frippery – even though it makes me more of a target for predators – and those are the characteristics you want for your chicks, sons and daughters’. We can see this taken to extremes with the peacock’s tail, the Irish Elk’s antlers, and the ludicrous wing appendages of some bowerbirds, nightjars and birds of paradise. Most cresties don't go nearly this far however, most of them sporting a more modest crest that can be demurely tucked away and produced on demand.

Another hummingbird, the Wire-crested Thorntail Discosura popelairii, north-eastern Peruvian Andes.
As with the coquette above, this crest is strictly for boys only.

In many crested birds however the female does also has a crest, though often more modest. Perhaps this is a genetic legacy, or perhaps each of the pair (or prospective pair) uses the quality of its mate's crest as a gauge of the other's overall fitness. 

Great Crested Grebes Podiceps cristatus, here at Lake Bindegolly, south central Queensland, are an example of a species
in which both male and female have equal crests, and flaunt them in coordinated ritual displays on the water.

In Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, all adults are equally well-endowed and seem to flare the crest in communication, perhaps a warning, often in association with an ear-assaulting shriek.

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Cacatua galerita, Nowra, New South Wales.

Both sexes of a couple of Australian seed-eating pigeons also have identical crests, and I wonder if here they have a role in allowing members of the flock to keep an eye on their colleagues while all are feeding head-down among the grass clumps.

Crested Pigeon Ocyphaps lophotes. Widely known simply as Cresties, these lovely pigeons were once
birds of the inland, but expanded to the south-east with farmlands, and are now common suburban and coastal birds.
This one was on the roof of our Canberra home.

Here are some more birds whose names specify that they have a crest. As you'll see the prominence of their crests varies greatly.

Southern Crested Caracara Caracara plancus, Torres del Paine NP, southern Chile.
The caracaras are a mostly South American group of falcons which have adopted a most
unfalcon-like ground-scavenging lifestyle.

Long-crested Eagle Lophaetus occipitalis, Uganda. This widespread African scourge of rodents
has a ferocious scowl which is quite undone by its rather ridiculously floppy crest which waves in the breeze.

Crested Coua Coua cristata, Ankarana NP, Madagascar.
The couas are a group of cuckoos endemic to Madagascar.

Crested Owls Lophostrix cristata, Ecuadorian Amazonia.
This dramatic owl is found in lowland rainforest from Mexico to northern South America.
We may suppose that the double crest is for joint display purposes, but we really don't know.

Pale-crested Woodpecker Celeus lugubris, Pantanal, south-west Brazil.

Plush-crested Jay Cyanocorax chrysops, Iguazu Falls, northern Argentina
(the falls are also in Brazil, but this jay wasn't). A fabulous jay, found across
central South America east of the Andes.

Tufted Tit-Tyrant Anairetes parulus, Ushaia NP, Argentine Tierra del Fuego, at the far southern of South America.
This little bird with a big crest has a huge range up the Andes past the equator to Colombia.

Red-crested Cardinal Paroaria coronata, Pantanal, Brazil; like many other South American birds, this is actually
a tanager masquerading as something else (or at least mistaken by us for something else!).

And as suggested earlier, some birds have earned a Crested name with a pretty modest appendage.

Crested Oropendola Psarocolius decumanus, Pantanal, Brazil.
You can just see the wispy crest lying along its neck.

Coal-crested Finch Charitospiza eucosma, Chapada dos Guimarães NP, south-west Brazil.
A member of the tanager family (again long assumed to be something else),
threatened by the loss of its cerrado habitat, which is being cleared for farmland on a huge scale.

Crested Shrike-tit Falcunculus frontatus, Forbes, New South Wales.
To be fair, this strong-billed little bird can erect its crest to be slightly more conspicuous than this photo suggests.

Grey-crested Cachalote Pseudoseisura unirufa, southern Pantanal, Brazil.
This ovenbird hardly seems to quality as crested but again it can raise its crest to a slightly more
respectable degree than this.

Finally I offer you some birds whose crests are recognised in their names, though without actually using the word 'crested' - topknot, tufted, crowned and horned can all imply the same sort of cranial accoutrement.

Topknot Pigeon Lopholaimus antarcticus, Dorrgio NP, New South Wales.
This striking big rainforest pigeon sports a magnificent front-to-back crest, bright ginger at the back
- unfortunately not so easy to see from below.

White-tufted Grebe Rollandia rolland, Torres del Paine NP, Chilean Patagonia.
Both male and female put on the dramatic pied crest only for breeding season.

Grey Crowned Crane Balearica regulorum, Murchison Falls NP, Uganda;
this beauty is Uganda's national bird. And in case you wondered there is also another
crowned crane, the Black-crowned Crane B. pavonina from further north; and in fact why not?
Why should we and they be denied the pleasure of their company too?

Black Crowned Crane, Waza NP, northern Cameroon.

Hamerkop Scopus umbretta; not much mention of a crest there you might think, but the name
is Afrikaans for 'hammerhead', a clear reference to the over-the-top backswept crest.
Found right across sub-Saharan Africa, this is the only member of its entire Family.

Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus, El Cajas NP, high in the Andes of southern Ecuador.
A huge owl, also found across most of North America.

And that brings us to an end for today, hopefully leaving you satisfied and sated with crests for now. Not permanently though I trust, as I'll be back next time to finish this exploration of fabulous bird head adornments, looking at a collection of  great crests which failed to grab the attention of those naming them.

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 29 NOVEMBER 

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