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Join us as we explore the wilderness and share the beautiful scenery of nature! For all questions: @magellanvs
Australian Magpies: The Silent Loud Terror!
Did you know that during Australian spring (our autumn), cyclists and scooter riders always wear helmets? 🚴♂️🛴
These magpies are not related to European crows (Corvidae family). In Australia, they used to name creatures based on familiar ones... 🐦
Fun fact: Australian Magpies are known for their intelligence and complex social structures, with some even recognizing individual humans! 🧠👥
African black cormorants (Egretta ardesiaca) have a unique hunting technique—they use their wings to create a false sense of security in fish.
They slowly walk through shallow water, then spread their wings around their bodies, creating an umbrella-like shade that blocks light, reduces glare, and lures fish into a trap.
Small fish, seeking shelter from predators, are drawn to the shadow created by the wings—and they swim straight into danger. Since the shade gives the bird a better view, it can easily snatch the fish from the water with its long beak.
Fun fact: This clever hunting strategy is called "wing-shading," and it's a rare behavior observed in only a few bird species! 🐦🌊
California Quail (Callipepla californica)
The California Quail is native to the western coast of North America. It has also been introduced to Hawaii, New Zealand, Chile, and Argentina.
This sedentary bird lives in groups of 10 to 40 individuals, preferring to forage on the ground but roosting in trees at night.
California Quails primarily feed on seeds of grasses. Adults also consume small invertebrates in small quantities.
These birds are very popular as ornamental pets, as they coexist well with other bird species in aviaries. However, it's not recommended to keep them with other galliform birds.
Fun Fact: The California Quail is the state bird of California! 🐦🌞
King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is known for its primary diet of other snakes, making it a valuable ally to locals.
Indeed, it's better to deal with one large snake than a dozen small ones. In this video, its prey is a rat snake (Pantherophis obsoletus).
Fun fact: The scientific name Ophiophagus hannah translates to "snake-eater"!
Did you know? King cobras are the longest venomous snakes in the world, with some reaching up to 18 feet in length! 🐍💥
Lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae) – a singing bird, symbol of Australia, inhabiting the east of the country and Tasmania. It can mimic the calls of other birds, mammals, and various sounds, including train signals and chainsaw noise.
The lyrebird can reproduce sounds of car engines, alarms, gunshots, dog barks, baby cries, and even music.
Males of this species have a particularly beautiful tail with sixteen feathers, two of which are curved like a lyre, with thin white feathers in between. Females, however, have a short brown tail.
Fun Fact: The lyrebird's mimicry is so precise that it can even replicate the sound of a camera shutter! 📸🐦
Egyptian Plover (Crocodile Bird) Pluvianus aegyptius doesn't clean the crocodile's teeth, but catches carrion flies that swarm over meat remnants. It probably doesn't mind the meat itself either!
Crocodiles don't need dental cleanings; their teeth grow and replace each other throughout their lives. They lie with their mouths open to cool down.
The idea of tooth cleaning comes from ancient Greeks, quite the storytellers!
Interestingly, we couldn't find a better quality video, even on YouTube 🤷♂️
Sword-billed Hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera) - the only bird in the world with a beak longer than its body! 🌟
Patience, please! The video starts with other hummingbirds for comparison.
This unique beak is a perfect tool for feeding. Sword-billed hummingbirds can reach nectar from long, funnel-shaped flowers that their relatives can't access.
Their tongue is incredibly long too - all the better to reach their food! This way, they occupy their own niche, don't compete with other hummingbirds, and help pollinate a specific group of plants.
Nectar isn't their only food. Despite their specialized beak, they can also catch insects.
These hummingbirds live in the Andes, between 1,700 and 3,500 meters above sea level, in the humid highland forests of South America. 🌳🐦
However, if a suitable cavity isn't available, these owls may nest in mesquite trees, oaks, sycamores, walnuts, or pines. Sometimes, they even use cavities dug by woodpeckers in telephone poles!
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Therefore, Andean cats are listed in the Washington Convention for the protection of species, which prohibits any trade in products made from Andean cats.
Fun Fact: The Andean cat is one of the least studied wild cats in the world, and its elusive nature makes it a fascinating subject for researchers. 🐱🏔️
Long-tailed Tyrannus forficatus
This fascinating bird inhabits open shrublands in the south-central United States, including Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and parts of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri. They also reside in northeastern Mexico. During winter, they migrate in flocks of up to 1,000 individuals.
Fun Fact: Their distinctive long, forked tail is a sight to behold! In males, it can reach up to 38 cm in length, while females have tails about 30% shorter. With a wingspan of 15 cm and an average weight of 43 g, these birds are agile hunters.
They primarily feed on insects like grasshoppers, flies, and dragonflies, often catching them mid-air. Their diet may also include berries. 🐦🍓
Giraffe Weevil (Trachelophorus giraffa) - a fascinating beetle from the family of weevils, one of the largest in its family. This unique creature is found only on the island of Madagascar (again, who isn't there...). In the dense forests of Ranomafana National Park, you can spot this amazing beetle everywhere - it has a vibrant color and loves to bask in the sun.
The giraffe weevil has wings and is a good flyer. Its body is bare, not covered with scales, and is black in color. The beetle can reach a length of 2.5 cm.
This weevil uses its long neck in battles with other males to win the attention of a female. During the mating "battles", the male swings its neck - just like a real giraffe, it tries to knock down its opponent and show its advantage.
Fun Fact: The giraffe weevil's neck can be up to three times the length of its body, making it one of the most unique and recognizable beetles in the world.
The giraffe weevil is not dangerous to humans.
Caribbean Pinktoe Tarantula (Caribena versicolor)
This stunning tarantula is a favorite among spider enthusiasts. It breeds well in captivity and is easy to care for. Unlike some species, the females don't typically eat the males.
Native to the island of Martinique, this tarantula makes its home in tree hollows and among branches. It weaves a silken "air" burrow with two entrances, spending most of its time inside. It hunts at night.
Adults reach a body size of about 5-6 cm, with a leg span of up to 17 cm.
This tarantula is known for its calm demeanor and is not aggressive. It doesn't flick irritating hairs when threatened. Its bite is not dangerous to humans.
Feed them insects no larger than the size of their abdomen. Juveniles can be fed 3-4 times a week, while adults need feeding only 1-2 times a week. In captivity, they thrive on a diet of cockroaches and crickets.
Fun Fact: The Caribbean Pinktoe Tarantula is known for its unique defensive strategy.
Every summer, tiny American pikas (pikas) Certhia americana gather hay to stock up on food before the cold - they are also called haymakers for this reason. By the way, they are the smallest relatives of... No, not mice! - but hares.
The size of the American pika is about 20 cm. Pikas live in large colonies and are found at an altitude of 2500-4100 m. Most of them settle in mountainous areas and on alpine meadows.
Pikas lead a daytime lifestyle, feed on grasses, and starting from summer and until autumn, they stock up on food for the winter, making haystacks about 50 cm high, which are stored either on the surface of the ground, or near stones and boulders, or in rocky caves.
Although the homes of pikas are sometimes located on the highest peaks of the mountains, pikas do not hibernate in cold and snowy winters - that's why they need these hay reserves to survive until spring.
Termites (White Ants) - Isoptera
These are social insects with incomplete metamorphosis, related to cockroaches. Despite the name "white ants," termites are not ants, although they share many similarities in their lifestyle.
Like ants and honeybees, termites live in large families with a division of labor among colony members and various castes (soldiers, workers, nurses, queen, king, and others).
They feed on dead wood containing cellulose, which they digest with the help of numerous symbiotic microorganisms in their gut.
In the tropics and subtropics, termites play a crucial role in soil formation. They are considered a delicacy in the diet of some peoples and are used in many traditional medicines.
Colony populations can reach several million individuals, and some queens can live for several decades.
Fun Fact: Termites have been around for over 250 million years, making them one of the oldest social insects on Earth! 🌍🐜
This beauty is called Wilson's Bird-of-Paradise, or the Lesser Bird-of-Paradise (Cicinnurus respublica).
These amazing birds, growing up to 16 cm in length (21 cm with tail), live only on two islands of the Indonesian archipelago – Batanta and Waigeo, northwest of New Guinea.
As it turns out, the Lesser Bird-of-Paradise doesn't like mess, and to lure it into the frame, a famous traveler simply scattered some leaves near the tree where it was perched. The feathered clean freak immediately flew down and started tidying up.
The female chooses her partner based on his ability to quickly and efficiently clean the area. Lazy suitors are rejected. To prepare the stage for the mating dance, the male even plucks leaves from nearby branches, then sits on one of them, taking various poses to show off his magnificent plumage to the ladies. 🌿🐦💃
Giant Stick Insect (Phasma gigas) 🌿
The giant stick insect, Phasma gigas, is native to Australia, New Guinea, and Indonesia.
The order name "Phasmatodea" comes from the Latin "phasma," meaning "phantom" or "apparition." Most species camouflage themselves as sticks and leaves.
All known stick insects are herbivorous. Some species can eat leaves from a wide variety of plants, while others are quite picky.
In captivity, many species can be fed plants from the rose family (Rosaceae), such as raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, and oak. Some species also enjoy lilac, St. John's wort, and eucalyptus.
Houseplants like tradescantia, Chinese rose, ivy, and violets can also be used as food.
Did you know? Stick insects are among the longest insects in the world, with some species reaching up to 33 cm (13 in) in length! 🐛
This is the Tree Kangaroo, Dendrolagus. Like a typical kangaroo, it has a long tail and a pouch for carrying young, but it's small in size and jumps from branch to branch instead of hopping on the ground.
Its curved claws help it grip trees firmly, and its powerful tail balances its body during agile leaps.
On the ground, this animal moves slowly and clumsily: its tail is very heavy, and its hind legs are too short. It rarely descends, but when necessary, it can easily jump from a height of ten meters.
In the trees, it has almost no predators, and there's plenty of plant food!
Fun Fact: Tree kangaroos are excellent climbers and can leap up to 18 meters (60 feet) between trees!
Eastern Quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus) – not a true marten, despite its former name due to similar body shape. Once found in both Tasmania and Australia, wild quolls now only remain in Tasmania and Bruny Island, where they were introduced.
These small creatures, about the size of a cat (males 32-45 cm, females 28-40 cm), lead solitary nocturnal lives, hunting on the ground but capable of climbing trees.
Their diet mainly consists of insects, particularly beetle larvae, but they also hunt small animals, birds, lizards, and snakes.
Fun Fact: Eastern Quolls are marsupials, meaning they carry their young in a pouch! 🦘🐾
Madagascar Comet (Moon Moth) Argema mittrei – a beautiful nighttime moth from the family of Atlas moths. It is one of the largest moths in the world, with a wingspan of 140-160 mm. It is also known as the Madagascar Saturniid.
The Moon Moth is even featured on the 5000 Malagasy ariary banknote from 1995.
A bittersweet fact: Both male and female moths have reduced mouthparts and do not feed. They live off the nutrients stored during their caterpillar stage, which means these beautiful creatures only live for 4-5 days.
In this short lifespan, they must find a mate and reproduce.
Desert Buzzard Hunting the White-tailed Antelope Squirrel. Notice that leisurely stroll among the cacti...
The Desert Buzzard (Parabuteo unicinctus) is a bird of prey from the family Accipitridae, found from the southwestern USA to Chile and central Argentina. This bird is known for its unique "cooperative hunting" practice, where family groups hunt together, unlike most other predators that hunt alone.
The White-tailed (Antelope) Squirrel (Ammospermophilus leucurus) is a ground squirrel native to the deserts of the western USA. Interestingly, these tiny creatures don't need to drink water as they get all the necessary moisture from their food. They primarily feed on seeds from desert plants.
I know you've been waiting to see a baby king cobra hatch from its egg... What do you mean you weren't waiting?! I don't know anything about it, just enjoy the view!
The king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the largest of all venomous snakes, with an average size of 3-4 meters. It grows throughout its life, which can be over 30 years.
The king cobra's habitat is the tropical forests of South and Southeast Asia (India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and the Philippines).
More often than not, when trying to scare off a human, the snake makes "dry" bites, not injecting any venom. This is likely because the venom is primarily needed by the cobra for hunting, and any accidental or unnecessary loss of it is undesirable.
Did you know? King cobras are the only snakes that build nests for their eggs. The female king cobra guards her nest and her hatchlings for about 2 months after they hatch.
Horned Anole (Anolis proboscis) - an endemic species of Ecuador. Males have a long growth on their head, resembling a rhino horn, used to attract females. These lizards reach lengths of 8-14 cm and have limbs adapted for climbing trees and grass.
Unique fact: The "nose" moves without muscles or bones—only through blood flow. Anoles lead a secretive lifestyle, thanks to camouflage and nocturnal activity.
The species was described in 1953 but was soon considered extinct. In 2005, the lizard was rediscovered in an Ecuadorian forest, and subsequently spotted twice more: in 2008 and 2013. 🦎🌿
Elf Owl (Cactus Owl) - Micrathene whitneyi
One of the world's smallest owl species, measuring just 12-14 cm in length and weighing around 44 g. Found in the southwestern USA (Arizona, California, New Mexico) and Mexico (Baja California).
Fun Fact: Despite their tiny size, elf owls have a big personality! They're known for their distinctive "who-who-who" calls that echo through the desert nights.
These owls have a relatively large head and lack ear tufts. Their weak beaks and legs make hunting challenging, so they primarily feed on insects like grasshoppers, crickets, moths, fly larvae, caterpillars, millipedes, cicadas, scorpions, and spiders.
Elf owls often nest in saguaro cactus cavities, previously used by woodpeckers. In this video, you can see a male bringing food to the female as she incubates their eggs.
Did You Know? Saguaro cacti provide excellent protection from predators.
Andean Cat: The High-Altitude Feline
We've seen many cats here, but we always find new ones for you!
The Andean cat (Leopardus jacobitus) is extremely rare. Due to its habitat in the relatively inaccessible regions of the Andes, scientific knowledge about it is limited. For instance, the first video footage of this species only appeared after the year 2000.
This cat is about 70 cm long, with a 45 cm tail, and weighs between 4 to 7 kg. Its fur is quite long to protect it from the cold.
Its range stretches from southern Peru through southwestern Bolivia to northwestern Argentina. It prefers to live at high altitudes, from 3000 to 5000 meters above sea level.
Andean cats mainly feed on chinchillas and mountain viscachas, which are also part of the chinchilla family.
Scientists believe that the population of these cats is very small.
It does not bite or sting. This is a peaceful insect that does not show aggression towards other species of beetles and insects.
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When threatened, it may rear up on its hind legs and display its bright pink or orange legs, a behavior known as "ankle striking." This display is both a warning and a distraction, allowing the tarantula to escape potential threats.
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Long-tailed Widowbird (Euplectes progne) - Breeding Dance
The Long-tailed Widowbird is found in the southern regions of Africa. During the breeding season, males are known for their exceptionally long tails, which spread out in flight, giving the bird its name.
These are quite small birds: males are 16-19 cm long (with tails up to 60 cm), and females are 12-14 cm.
In this video, you'll see the breeding dances of these widowbirds. The female chooses the male who jumps higher and longer...
Fun Fact: The long tail of the male widowbird is not just for show! It plays a crucial role in attracting females and can be up to three times the length of the bird's body. 🐦💨
Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)
The Great Crested Grebe is found almost throughout Eurasia. The name "grebe" was given to this bird as revenge for its unpleasant-tasting meat with a strong, foul odor—not all birds are so lucky!
The plumage on the back and sides of the Great Crested Grebe is speckled brown. The back of the neck is dark brown, while the front of the neck and the underside are white. They have long necks and reddish-orange feathers with black tips on their heads. These feathers are only present during the breeding season, starting to grow in winter and fully developing by spring.
Great Crested Grebes have a body length of 46 to 52 cm, and a wingspan of 59 to 73 cm. They weigh between 800 and 1400 g.
The maximum size of fish that grebes eat is 25 cm. Their typical prey includes minnows, carp, roach, goby, pikeperch, and small pike. 🐟🌊
Montezuma Oropendola (Psarocolius montezuma) - a songbird native to Central America. The species is named after the Aztec emperor Montezuma II (1467–1520).
Did you know? Montezuma Oropendolas are known for their impressive, long, hanging nests, which can be up to 4 feet in length!
Just watch its tricks - both at normal and slow-motion speeds. 🎬🐦
Fun fact: These birds are part of the oropendola family, known for their complex and beautiful songs. 🎶
Kinkajou (Potos flavus) - a cat-sized mammal initially classified as a primate due to its prehensile tail, forward-facing eyes, and love for fruits.
In reality, it's an omnivorous creature from the raccoon family, native to Central and South America.
Kinkajous have a round head, large eyes, and circular, wide-set ears. Their muscular, prehensile tail acts as a safety belt, gripping sturdy branches, and as a balancing tool when they swiftly move from one tree to another, making impressive leaps.
These animals are primarily arboreal, rarely descending to the ground. During the day, they usually sleep in tree hollows or simply lounge on branches, with up to 5 individuals gathering in one spot.
Fun Fact: Kinkajous have a long, extensible tongue, up to 4.5 inches, which they use to extract nectar and fruits from deep within flowers and trees.