Page 395 - (DK) Ocean - The Definitive Visual Guide

BIRDS 393

ORDER PELECANIFORMES sheen, with white patches that vary black flight ORDER FALCONIFORMES
feathers in
between local races. Like its many adult
Great Cormorant relatives, it fishes by pursuit diving and Brahminy Kite
its feathers are only partly
Phalacrocorax carbo waterproof. After feeding, Haliastur indus
LENGTH 32–40 in it rests with its wings LENGTH 17–20 in
(80–101 cm) spread apart to dry. short, (43–51 cm)
WEIGHT 4 / 4 –5 / 2 lb Great cormorants have wedge- WEIGHT 14–25 oz
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(2–2.5 kg) a strong, direct flight, shaped (400–700 g)
tail
HABITAT Coasts, inshore with steady flapping HABITAT Beaches,
waters, rivers, lakes interspersed with short glides. They estuaries, rivers
DISTRIBUTION Northeast North America, Europe, can often be seen in small groups, DISTRIBUTION South and Southeast Asia, northern
Africa, Asia, Australasia skimming just above the surface ORDER FALCONIFORMES Australia, islands of western Pacific
of the sea or following rivers inland.
Equally at home in fresh water and They nest on rocky ledges and in White-bellied A common scavenger in parts of its
at sea, the great cormorant can be trees, making a platform out of range, the Brahminy kite is also an
found across a vast swath of the world, seaweed, flotsam, or twigs, and the Sea Eagle effective hunter, crisscrossing the
from Greenland to Australasia. From a females lay three or four greenish- water from a height of a few yards,
distance, its plumage white eggs. Great cormorants are Haliaeetus leucogaster dropping to the surface to catch fish,
looks jet black, but sometimes persecuted by anglers, LENGTH 28–35 in or to pick up scraps of waste. It also
close up it has a particularly in trout-fishing regions, (70–90 cm) feeds on beaches and mudflats, and
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greenish metallic but they remain highly successful. WEIGHT 5 / 2 –9 / 4 lb is seen in the outskirts
(2.5–4.2 kg)
of coastal towns.
HABITAT Inshore waters, Adults have deep
rivers, lakes, reservoirs
chestnut plumage,
DISTRIBUTION South and Southeast Asia, New and a distinctive
Guinea, Australia
white chest and
head. Their breeding
This black-and-white eagle makes an season varies
impressive sight as it soars over water according to
with its wings, up to 6½ ft (2 m) wide, location, but they
held in a shallow V shape. Its wide- often nest in
ranging diet includes fish, water birds, mangroves, making
turtles, and sea snakes, which it a platform-shaped
snatches from the surface, rarely nest from seaweed
entering the water. It also scavenges and sticks. Both
and forces smaller sea birds to drop parents help to
their catch. It breeds close to water, raise the one
building a large nest in a high tree. to two young.
conspicuous, dark eye-stripe, and its
ORDER FALCONIFORMES
narrow, slightly kinked wings. It feeds
Osprey entirely on fish, plunging from heights
of up to 165 ft (50 m) and entering
Pandion haliaetus the water feet-first. Its wings are
LENGTH 20–26 in strong, its legs are heavily muscled, and
(50–65 cm) its toes have long, hooked talons and
WEIGHT 2 / 4 –4 / 2 lb spiny soles—an adaptation that gives it
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(1.2–2 kg) a firm grip on its slippery prey. These
HABITAT Coasts, reefs, birds have been known to take prey
lagoons, rivers, lakes that approaches their own weight.
DISTRIBUTION Worldwide except polar regions, They nest in the tops of high trees
southern South America and New Zealand and hatch a single brood of two to
three chicks each year. During the
This fish-eating hawk has one of the 20th century, ospreys suffered severely
widest distributions of any bird of as a result of pesticide pollution,
prey, breeding mainly in the Northern particularly from DDT. Their
Hemisphere and migrating south for population has now recovered, and in
the winter. The Osprey is easy to some regions—for example, northern
distinguish from other birds of prey Britain—they have resumed breeding
on coasts, thanks to its light build, its after a gap of many years.

AIRBORNE ATTACK

The Osprey cruises high above
water looking for food. Once it
spots a fish, it hovers for a few
seconds before half-folding its
wings and going into a steep
dive. It hits the water at high
speed, sometimes partly
sub-merging, before gripping its
prey with one foot and
climbing laboriously back into
the air. Once airborne, it shakes
the water off its plumage, before
heading to a perching post
or to its nest.