Secret World of Chipmunks

Chipmunks are a family of 25 species of pygmy squirrels inhabiting the woodlands, fields and meadows of Northeastern Asia from Siberia to Korea and Japan as well as North America as far south as Mexico.

Photo by Skyler Ewing on Pexels.com

They’re like a cross between ground squirrels and tree-dwelling squirrels, and have huge cheek-pouches capable of carrying large amounts of dinner.

Unlike other ground-squirrels, which often live in open areas with little cover, chipmunks often live in woodland, collecting huge stores of nuts and acorns each autumn to last through the harsh Northern winters.

Chipmunks dig extensive burrow systems with multiple tunnels and chambers. Food is kept strictly separate from the chipmunks’ bathroom facilities.

Although chipmunks live solitary lives (except during the breeding season) they often pair off with a fellow chipmunk to share the burrow all through the long, deep winter. Together, a pair of chipmunks can hoard as much as 10kg (22lbs) of nuts to last through till spring.

After months underground, the cautious rodents re-emerge, careful as always to avoid their numerous predators: foxes, wolves, coyotes and all kinds of birds of prey.

n227_w1150 by BioDivLibrary is licensed under CC-PDM 1.0

Chipmunks are such successful species, they are banned from the pet trade in many countries including the UK and Australia, having set up feral colonies in Europe and many places overseas.

Mongolian stamp worth approx ½¢ US

Canadian stamp worth 72¢ US, approx

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EXTERNAL LINKS:

Lifecycle of a Chipmunk (Sciencing.Com)

Ground and Tree Squirrels (UCANR) Part 1

Ground and Tree Squirrels (UCANR) Part 2

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SEE ALSO…

CHEEKY CHIPMUNKS

(EUROPEAN) RED SQUIRRELS

BLOODTHIRSTY (GREY) SQUIRREL ALERT

Suriname Toads: Weird but Wonderful

The Suriname toad Pipa pipa is famous for carrying her eggs and tadpoles in tiny holes on her back

After 16 weeks the babies hatch and swim to the surface

The tiny young toads get away fast from their omnivorous mother, who eats just about anything that moves

Outside the breeding season, the mother toad’s pitted back looks smooth. Disguised as a fallen leaf, she spends most of her time eating, breathing, sleeping and occasionally swimming.

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VIDEOS:

Trypophobia: fear of holes 1½ mins

World’s Weirdest (1 min)

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Tanagers―America’s Brightest Birds

Tanagers are small to medium-sized songbirds from South and Central America. Most are have intensely bright plumage. They nest in treeholes or tightly-woven balls of vegetation, laying three to five eggs. Some tanagers are migratory, flying a thousand miles or more to breeding grounds which can be as far north as Montreal, Canada.

Scarlet tanager Piranga olivacea, resident in South America; breeds in the Eastern USA and Canada

Black-and-yellow tanager Chrysothlypis chrysomelas from Panama and Costa Rica

Red-necked tanager Tangara cyanocephala from Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina

Swallow tanager Tersina viridis from Eastern Brazil

Yellow-scarfed tanager Iridosornis reinhardti from the High Andes of Peru

Mother Nature blessed me with the coolest final capture of the season 🥺 a bay headed tanager for the win pic.twitter.com/hP9LZ497PG

— Nicole Lussier (@biologybynicole) July 22, 2022

Tame bay-headed tanager Tangara gyrola on Twitter…

Photo by Fatih Turan on Pexels.com

Blue-grey tanager Thraupis episcopus has a tasty treat at the birdtable

🐦🦜色とりどりのフウキンチョウ🦜🐦
What an amazingly pretty bird, reminds me of 80s pop star Hazel Dean!#tanagers #HazelDean

All about tanagers (see my site): https://t.co/BXVzNO8yK3 https://t.co/eipfBnoh1q

— Zaden Zane (@ZadenZane) August 4, 2022

Multicoloured tanager Chlorochrysa nitidissima looking like a pop star today

Torquoise tanager Tangara mexicana on stamp from Guyana worth $1.08 US

Burnished-buff tanager Stilpnia cayana on stamp from Sao Tomé e Principe worth 32 US cents

Lesser Antillean tanager Stilpnia cucullata on St Vincent and Grenadines stamp worth 9 US cents

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Badgers

SCIENTISTS CLASS BADGERS as short-legged omnivores of the family Mustelidae (which includes wolverines, otters, ferrets, polecats, minks and weasels). Badgers are expert diggers who spend a great deal of their time underground. Their favourite live prey consists of ground-dwelling rodents, which they often dig out of their burrows.

To badger someone is to pester or harass someone and badgers can be extremely persistent. However badgers’ personality varies among species. African honeybadgers are the most outrageous of all badgers. They seem fearless of everything and will even confront lions. American badgers are somewhat more sedate, but are known to do a lot of “badgering”. European badgers, however, are extremely reclusive. They never badger anyone!

South African honeybadger (Mellivora capensis) escaping from walled enclosure

Honeybadger sternly reprimands an interfering lioness

The American badger (Taxidea taxus) is midway in temperament between the suicidally cavalier African honeybadger and the shy, retiring European badger

American badger documentary (27:49)

Down in the sett among European badgers (Meles meles)

Inside the badger sett

Photo by Leo Sam on Pexels.com

The stealthy European badger is rarely seen in gardens, even in deep countryside

Badger-watching in Britain, European badger documentary (56:48)

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See also:

Shrews in the Snow

Duck-Billed Platypus

Harvest Mice

Derelict Buildings (and Secret Passages)

Secret Passages, Disused Mines and Tunnels

European Jay

The European or Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius) is a shy and retiring bird with a higgledy-piggledy hotchpotch look about it. They’re related to other jays from the crow family, but are far shyer than, say, the American blue jay. They’ll hardly ever let you get near them, and when you do, you’re likely to see little more than a flash of bright blue and a flurry of disappearing feathers!

Der Eichelhäher war mal wieder da ☺ pic.twitter.com/FRNCfButyW

— Katziki und Tiffy ( unser Russenmädchen ) (@katziki) July 31, 2021

European jay in German garden, displaying typically shy behaviour…

https://twitter.com/MartineMinet/status/1435206319884144641

Fledgling jay chick with a punk-rocker hairstyle frolicking in a French birdbath…

Talking jay! Talking German and I can’t really follow the words, but he’s having a good try!

Tame enough not to fly away, and yet still extremely shy...

This jay is not shy and fearlessly packs its crop (a bird’s equivalent to a hamster’s cheekpouches) in public

Fearless American blue jay proudly pecking the tomatoes and not caring

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Cheeky Chipmunks

Chipmunks have giant pouches ― even so, this tiny critter looks more like he’s trying to smoke a cigar

Seeing a chipmunk emerging from underground can be a bizarre experience

Chipmunks only live in burrows during the winter, like this Siberian chipmunk who sleeps deep beneath the snow where temperatures are actually warmer

This happy chipmunk appears totally oblivious to the furious squeals of the shrew who pops out from under the rock saying, “Begone from here, foul monster!”

Pygmy chipmunk kisses a rabbit

This is a great video about an American chipmunk named Charlie who appears to understand when told what to do.

Here’s the full chipmunk-and-shrew video…

Cute! A Hopi chipmunk (Neotamias rufus) from the Southwestern United States

See the full videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6PiM6b–P0, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BERz9IZmYk0, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLt7NYQH-ug&t=41s, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJdq6md6Zqw

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SEE ALSO:

SECRET WORLD OF CHIPMUNKS

RED SQUIRRELS

When Magpies are Blue

The Taiwan blue magpie (Urocissa caerulea) also known as the Formosan blue magpie, known locally as 長尾山娘 zhǎng wěi shān niáng, the long-tailed mountain lady is the national bird of Taiwan, and is widely considered the mascot bird of the island. The bird is not known to live anywhere else but Taiwan.

Blue magpies are gregarious birds, often hanging out close to human habitations in loud chattering groups of six or more. These magpies are omnivores, feasting on any old rubbish, but they’re particularly fond of bugs, slugs, mice, lizards, frogs and small fish, although their favourite food is said to be Taiwanese mountain figs. In flight they will often process in a long line, their blue wings spread magnificently as they process in beak-to-tail formation, strung out in a long line like gemstones in a fine necklace.

Blue magpies form lifelong monogamous pair-bonds. The breeding season extends from late spring until late July with the female laying one or two clutches of 3-7 eggs per year. Often an elder sister bird will play “auntie” to the young chicks while their mother is off feeding, bathing or defending the nest from rampant squirrels.

Stunning! 😮❤️ Taiwan blue magpie, photo by Su Min Du @worldbirds32 pic.twitter.com/ZJk6aKc8wB

— Sonia A 🇮🇪🇪🇺🇫🇷 #RejoinEU (@OnnyPonny) April 4, 2018

Urocissa caerulea showing fully spread feathers to finest effect

The Taiwan magpie measures up to 68cm (2ft 3in). The tail alone can measure up to 42cm (1ft 5in). The wingspan is approximately 40cm (1ft 4in). The bird weighs on average 260g (9¼oz).

This Magnificent #Bird is The #TaiwanBlueMagpie 💙or the "long-tailed mountain lady" is a species of bird of the #crow family. It is endemic to Taiwan #BirdWatching #TwitterNatureCommunity @Enterrr10 @CONTEMPRA_INN🌹 pic.twitter.com/CzvjhrysNx

— ContempraINN🌹 (@CONTEMPRA_INN) July 13, 2020

Urocissa caerulea flying in slow-motion, the wonderful plumage on full display!

Life-cycle of Taiwan blue magpies (10mins).

🦚 SEE ALSO: GREEN MAGPIES 🦚 BEAUTIFUL PHEASANTS 🦚

🦚 PEACOCK-PHEASANTS 🦚 HARVEST MICE 🦚

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When Magpies are Green

The Javan green magpie (Cissa thalassina) is endemic to the mountain forests of Western Java in Indonesia. It is closely related to the Bornean green magpie (Cissa jefferyi) which is distinguished by its almost white eyes. The javan magpie is now considered critically endangered, which is hardly surprising when you consider that 147 million people ― more than half of Indonesia’s 270 million population ― live on this one island.

Javan magpie exhibiting blue-green coloration

Green magpies eat a varied diet of insects, spiders, grubs and small frogs, rats, lizards and even snakes (see below!) The brilliant green plumage results from the consumption of the yellow pigment lutein, which the birds gain from insects in their diet. When exposed to strong sunlight for sufficient time, the feathers tend to assume a bluish tinge, as we see on the individual above.

Common green magpie (Cissa chinensis)🐦🦜🕊️🎵🐍❤️ pic.twitter.com/dwtO7Y4XyC

— World birds (@worldbirds32) June 29, 2021

Wild green magpie sternly reprimands and bashes a snake, possibly a young but highly venomous bamboo viper (Trimeresurus popeiorum) or Sunda Island pit-viper (Trimeresurus insularis).

Bornean green magpie (Cissa jefferyi)🐦🦜🕊️🐿️🎵❤️ pic.twitter.com/ZBxDirtvmg

— World birds (@worldbirds32) January 5, 2021

Bornean green magpie (Cissa jefferyi ― note the white eyes) gets disturbed by a thirsty chipmunk in the bath… then deep in the bushes we see a trio of magpies sharing a dead lizard for dinner.

Juvenile Javan green magpies at Prague Zoo. Note the bluish feather coloration, characteristic of young birds.

Javan green magpie at Prague Zoo, displaying a range of characteristic vocalizations.

Video: a trip to the jungle to see green magpies (1:58)

🦚 SEE ALSO: TAIWAN BLUE MAGPIES 🦚 BEAUTIFUL PHEASANTS 🦚

🦚 PEACOCK-PHEASANTS 🦚 PYGMY SHREWS 🦚

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Six of the Most Beautiful Hummingbirds in the World!

Snowcap hummingbird (Microchera albocoronata) 6½ cm long and 2½g  Central America: Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, etc.

Purple or violet-crowned plovercrest (Stephanoxis loddigesii) 9cm long and 2.8g Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay.

Anna’s hummingbird (Calypte anna) 10½ cm long with a wingspan of 12 cm and a weight range of 3-6 g breeds in California, Arizona; summers in Northern California and Oregon up to Southern Canada.

Marvellous spatuletail (Loddigesia mirabilis) 16cm including tail up to 7cm (male); 12cm (female) 3g Peru.

Shining sunbeam hummingbird (Aglaeactis cupripennis) Colombia, Ecuador, Peru. This giant hummingbird measures 12cm, weighs a mighty 7g (a full ¼oz) almost as much as a British willow warbler!

The rufous-crested coquette ( Lophornis delattrei) is so beautiful it gets two pictures. 6¾cm in length, with a wingspan of 9cm, and weighing an average of 2.8g. Peru to Costa Rica.

Here’s the rufous-crested coquette (Lophornis delattrei) pecking at a partner.

Aren’t they wonderful!

Anna’s hummingbird on a Niger postage stamp, value approx $1.45 USD

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Colorful vintage hummingbird illustration by Library of Congress is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0

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