Meet the Shikra

Shikras (Accipiter badius) are birds of prey native to many parts of Asia and Africa. As members of the same family as goshawks, shikras are sometimes referred to as little banded goshawks.

Usually less than a foot long, shikras are quite small for birds of prey. Male shikras can be identified by their red eyes and pale grey plumage, whereas females are darker brown and have yellow eyes. Both sexes have short, rounded wings and long tails. There are six known subspecies of shikra that differ somewhat in size, appearance, and range.

Photo Copyright: Avadhesh Malik

Shikras usually hunt from perches such as tree branches, swooping down to grab common prey animals such as birds, lizards, and bats. Ariel pursuits of birds may happen occasionally, but smaller birds are often able to escape through dense brush in more heavily forested areas.

Breeding season for shikras usually occurs anywhere between January and June depending on location and in some portions of Africa may take place at any time of year. Most shikras lay anywhere from 2-4 eggs that hatch roughly a month later. Chicks are ready for fledging roughly a month after being born. Shikras have a stable global population of roughly one million, and are not currently considered threatened.

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Tyrannosaurus Rex – King of the Dinosaurs?

Tyrannosaurus Rex was a large carnivorous dinosaur that lived during the late Cretaceous period from approximately 67 to 65.5 million years ago. It is the largest, most wide-ranging and best known of the Tyrannosauridae family, reaching a length of up to 42 feet and an estimated weight of 15,000lbs. Tyrannosaurus Rex is recognized as one of the last terrestrial dinosaurs prior the mass extinction that occurred at the end of the cretaceous period.

"Jane" - a well-known specimen.

Tyrannosaurus Rex is best recognized by its extremely long head (up to 5 feet in length), long, powerful legs and extremely small two-fingered forelimbs. It was originally believed that bipedal dinosaurs such as T-Rex walked and stood nearly upright with their tails dragging on the ground. In the 1970’s paleontologists began to realize that such a posture would be impossible for these animals, and it has now been determined that T-Rex walked with its body nearly parallel to the ground with its massive tail helping to balance the weight of its heavy head.

Early 20th century depiction of T. Rex walking upright.

T-Rex’s life habits have long been a subject of debate. Although likely an apex predator, there are still some who believe that Tyrannosaurus was primarily a scavenger. These beliefs stem from the fact that T-Rex, with so much weight at opposite ends of its body, could not have been very agile and may have required several seconds to change direction. However, it was still likely fast enough to catch large prey, with its top speed estimated to be between 25 and 45mph. Additionally, T-Rex’s tiny forelimbs, once thought to be useless, are now believed to have been very strong and likely to hold prey down while feeding.

Tyrannosaurus Rex fossils have been found throughout what is now western North America. The T-Rex’s size, fearsome appearance and relatively large amount of remains have led it to become perhaps the world’s best known dinosaur, and a subject of many fictitious books and movies. Read more!

Snooty the Manatee

Like humans, many aquatic mammals are capable of having very long life spans, but not all of them are whales.

Photo credit: University of Illinois

Meet Snooty, the oldest known manatee in the world. Snooty was born in captivity on July 21st, 1948, making him 63 years old today. He has been a resident of the South Florida Museum’s Parker Manatee Aquarium for most of his life and has shared his tank with many other manatees while they rehabilitate before returning to the wild.

Snooty is one of the few manatees in the world that is allowed to have prolonged direct contact with his human caretakers. Unlike other manatees, Snooty has lived his whole life in captivity and is now considered too old to ever live in the wild, so human contact is allowed. A prime example of the intelligence of these animals, Snooty is able to recognize the voices of his handlers past and present, and can even remember tricks he learned at only one year old.

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Mini-Hunter – The American Kestrel

The American kestrel is a small falcon found in North and South America. Often referred to as sparrow hawks, American kestrels are the smallest falcons in the Americas, as well as the only kestrels. They are extremely numerous, with an estimated 4 million living on the two continents. American kestrels are 7-8 inches in length and have a wingspan of less than two feet, making them very small for a bird of prey. Females tend to be larger than males and lack the blue-grey coloring found on the male’s wings and head.

American kestrels can be found from subarctic Canada all the way south to the tip of Tierra del Fuego. They prefer to live in open areas with plenty of available perches such as trees, fence posts, and power lines. This allows them to see and pounce on small prey such as grasshoppers and mice. However, when adequate hunting perches are not available, the American kestrel is capable of hovering in place using very rapid wing beats, not unlike a hummingbird.

Most American kestrels migrate south each winter, but depending on local weather conditions may become full-time residents. Regardless, in the winter most female kestrels will stay in open country with better hunting available and force the smaller males into deeper woods. Kestrels prefer to nest in cavities in trees, and will occasionally nest in holes carved out by large woodpeckers. Their desire for covered nests and open hunting ground has led them to naturally adapt to urban and suburban environments, and they nest frequently in building alcoves. Read more!

The Sea Otter

The sea otter is quite the unique animal. It’s the heaviest otter in the world, reaching weights of up to 100lbs, and is also the only otter that is almost entirely aquatic. Though capable of walking on land, sea otters actually spend more time in the ocean than some seals.

Sea otters historically inhabited Pacific coastal regions in eastern Russia and western North America from Mexico to Alaska. Current populations are more sporadic, with the largest populations living in Russia.

Unlike other aquatic mammals, sea otters do not have blubber and depend entirely on their fur for insulation. Luckily, this fur happens to be the densest in the animal kingdom, with up to one million hairs per square inch! By comparison, humans only have about 2000 hairs per square inch on their heads.

Sea otters are a very important species to aquatic ecosystems. They consume a wide variety of invertebrates such as sea urchins, clams, mussels, and bivalves, helping to protect beneficial marine plants such as kelp. Conservation efforts are continuously underway to help restore this important animal to all of its former range. Read more!

Geese Don't Always Fly South

The familiar “V” shaped sight of a flock of Canada geese heading south for the winter has been a common occurrence throughout North America for as long as it has been populated. However, in recent years it seems like flocks of geese can be seen heading every direction at just about any time of year; why is this?

Canada geese have traditionally migrated south each winter in search of a reliable food supply, open water, and safety from hungry predators. However, the urbanization of many parts of North America over the last century has changed this. Golf courses and public parks are home to many man-made bodies of water that are shallow enough to not freeze. Human food waste provides a reliable meal for the geese, and the majority of their natural predators, such as golden eagles, wolves and mountain lions, are no longer present. Because of all this, Canada geese have little reason to leave many areas in the winter, and flocks often become permanent residents year-round.

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The Antiguan Racer – World’s Rarest Snake

With fewer than 500 individuals in existence, the Antiguan racer is considered to be the world’s rarest snake. They can only be found on tiny Great Bird Island, a small island off the coast of Antigua.

Antiguan racers are relatively small and non-venomous. Males are usually about three feet long and are dark brown in color with creamy blotches. Females are typically much larger and are silver-grey in color with brown blotches. These snakes are known to be gentle in temperament and pose absolutely no threat to humans.

Photo: WebEcoist

Antiguan racers are diurnal, meaning they are most active during the day. Their primary prey are native Antiguan ground lizards such as anoles, for which they usually hunt by ambush, hiding under leaves until the lizard passes by; usually, Antiguan racers consume roughly two lizards per month.

Prior to colonization, these snakes were common to all of Antigua. However, the arrival of Europeans in the 15th century brought many nonnative rats to the area that would eat, among other things, Antiguan racer eggs. Soon the rat population began to skyrocket, and settlers introduced Asian mongooses to help eradicate them. Instead of eating rats, the diurnal mongooses preferred to prey upon Antiguan racers and the lizards they depended on for food. Within a short time of mongooses being introduced, Antiguan racers vanished, and most considered to them to be extinct.

A population of 50 Antiguan racers was discovered on Great Bird Island in the early 1990’s, apparently able to survive as no mongooses had been introduced there. Since then, conservation efforts have led to the population expanding tenfold, prompting conservationists to rid more islands of mongooses and give the Antiguan racer additional habitat. Read more!

The Mountain Plover

The mountain plover is a rather curiously-named bird that you certainly won’t find in the mountains. Rather, this small bird inhabits the high central plains of North America from Montana to New Mexico.

If its name wasn’t confusing enough, its family history certainly is. The mountain plover is a member of the Charadriidae family, a group of shorebirds that occur all over the world; however, the mountain plover lives about as far away from the ocean as is possible.

The mountain plover is a little smaller than an American robin, and is an insectivore that forages the ground for a variety of small prey. Mountain plovers prefer a short grass prairie habitat, but will make use of prairie dog towns to provide breeding habitat in tallgrass prairie areas if necessary. Though not considered endangered, these birds are classified as near threatened by the IUCN. Read more!

American & European Mink

The term “mink” refers to two living species of mammal; the European mink (Muestela lutreola) and the American mink (Neovision vision). Although both species appear quite similar, they do not share a common genus. European Mink are more closely related to polecats than they are to American mink, which are larger and stouter animals than those in the Mustela genus.

Both species of mink are carnivores and make their homes near bodies of water. Wild mink are usually less than three feet long including tail and weigh about 2lbs, with farm-bred varieties being much heavier. The American mink in particular has a very soft, dense coat that is water-resistant and well adapted to its semi aquatic environment. The body of a wild mink is quite slender, allowing the animal to easily access the burrows of prey animals.

Mink feed on rodents, fish, crustaceans, amphibians and birds. They are very capable swimmers and are able to catch prey in water, on land and underground. Mink do have to be wary of natural predators such as owls, foxes, bobcats and coyotes. However, the vast majority of mink are killed by human activities such as hunting to protect fish populations, trapping for fur and automobile strikes.

Mink live near bodies of water and prefer to have woods nearby. Their homes may be under a log or stump, a hollow tree or in an abandoned muskrat burrow. They are primarily nocturnal animals and live solitary lives outside of the mating season, never forming pair-bonds. Mating occurs in the spring with litters of four kits born between April and June. The kits are weaned after five weeks and stay with their mother until becoming independent in the autumn. Mink can live as long as 10 years. Read more!

Sea Spiders

There is a group of (often) eight-legged animals living in many of the world’s oceans, and while they might resemble our web-building friends, sea spiders are not arachnids at all.

Photo: Steve Childs

Unlike the terrestrial spiders they resemble, sea spiders can have up to twelve legs, though eight is more common. They have very thin bodies and thus have no need for a respiratory system, instead breathing through a process called diffusion.

Sea spiders can grow quite large, with some reaching diameters of up to three feet; however, most are much smaller. These animals are capable of either swimming or walking on the sea floor and spend their days hunting or scavenging for sea life such as sea-anemones and sponges. Read more!