Lonely island
Inaccessible Island is a small, extinct volcano jutting out of the South Atlantic in the Tristan da Cunha archipelago. The island was named for the failure of explorers to penetrate the land beyond the beach. The remoteness and size of the island have precluded the colonisation of terrestrial mammals, reptiles, amphibians and butterflies. However, millions of seabirds breed on the island in addition to the Tristan thrush (Turdus eremita) and the endemic Inaccessible Island finch (Nesospiza acunhae) and rail.
The Inaccessbile Island rail holds the record for the smallest extant flightless bird with a length of 17 cm and weighing just 30 g. This title is partly a result of luck as Inaccessible Island has never been colonised by rats or cats, invasive aliens responsible for the extinction of many flightless island birds such as the Stephens Island wren in New Zealand and countless crake and rail species. I am glad that this species has survived not only because because too many relatives have been lost because of man but also as it is a very cute little fluffball.
Day 32: Giant coot - Fulica gigantea
Cootzilla
I had not realised that there was a coot species of this size. Weighing up to 2.3 kg, the giant coot dwarfs the rest of the genus with the familiar Eurasian coot (Fulica atra) weighing between 585 g and 1,100 g. It is also the second largest of the Rallidae after the New Zealand Takahe. The giant coot is considered functionally flightless in adulthood so it is apparently yet another rallid on the trajectory to true flightlessness.
The giant coot lives on the Altiplano, a large plateau in the Andes. There it inhabits the high altitude lakes, feeding on aquatic vegetation. It shares two prominent features with other coots. Firstly its huge feet are fringed with flaps of skin. This spreads the weight of the bird allowing them to walk on not-so-solid substrates such as mud where other birds might sink. The second feature is the frontal shield, a fleshy plate on the forehead which provides protection during foraging and fighting and indicates the health of the bird through bright colours in a manner similar to the sexual selection we have encountered before.
Day 33: Bush stone-curlew - Burhinus grallarius
Are you looking at me?!
This fantastic bird is one of the ten stone-curlews or thick-knees (Burhinidae) found in dry regions around the world. Stone-curlews stand out for me because of their slightly creepy appearance with their huge yellow eyes staring out from their petrified bodies.
I saw numerous bush stone-curlews on my travels in Queensland and this is the only occasion thus far when my own photo is good enough to use (ignore the speed-bump)! I was first made aware of them from eerie, nocturnal wailing in the suburbs of Cairns. A few days later, a trip to James Cook University introduced me to a group that lurked in the empty car park, staring down passers-by like criminal youths. Perhaps the most surreal encounters of all came at the end of my travels. By this point my birding hat was mostly removed whilst I enjoyed some of the more touristy aspects of Queensland so I was surprised indeed to see the stone-curlews appear out of the night to dart around the streets and bars of Cairns.
As well as the bush stone-curlew I also saw a couple of beach stone-curlews (Esacus magnirostris). This species is probably as close as stone-curlews get to behaving like conventional waders which form the bulk of the Charadriiformes ('plover-shap'), conventionally known as the shore-birds. This is a large and diverse order of birds which, by-and-large, are associated with the water's edge. The Charadriiformes can be split into six suborders: the small, terrestrial buttonquails (Turnici), the strange stone-curlews and sheathbills (Chionidi), the lapwings and plovers (Charadrii), the sandpipers and snipe (Scolopaci), the aberrant waders (Thinocori) and the gulls and their allies (Lari).
Day 34: Pied avocet - Recurvirostra avosetta
For birds, for people, forever
The avocet is famous in this country as the symbol of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the largest wildlife conservation organisation in Europe. With over a million members and 200 nature reserves in the UK the RSPB has been pivotal for wildlife (not just bird) conservation and awareness raising among the British public. Certainly it has been important for me, managing many of my favourite nature reserves and introducing me to some brilliant birds. I have quoted their older motto above 'For birds, for people, forever' as it is always the one I remember and the one that really emphasises their purpose.
The RSPB began as a protest group in 1889, founded by Emily Williamson to campaign against the use of kittiwake and great crested grebe feathers for clothing. The Plumage League (as it was called) soon merged with the Fur and Feather League to become the RSPB. This organisation began to gain popularity, at first with female fashion protesters and then with men before earning its Royal Charter in 1904. Since then it has grown from strength to strength buying land, increasing conservation and influencing the law to protect our British birds.
The avocet symbolises the work of the RSPB after the successful project to see breeding avocets return to the east coast of Britain. RSPB Minsmere was a reserve established in 1947 around the anti-invasion, coastal flooding of Suffolk which created its famous reedbeds. The avocets came soon after and now Minsmere is one of the RSPB's flagship reserves. The avocet was approved as the emblem for the RSPB tie in 1955 and then in 1970 this fantastic bird came to grace the main logo.
The pied avocet is one of four avocet species noted for their long, up-turned bills (recurv-i-rostra). They use their bills to sift though the water in sweeping motions that catch marine invertebrates. They are closely related to the long-legged stilts (Himantopus) and the ubiquitous oystercatchers (Haematopus) in the plover suborder Charadrii.
