Tag Archives: San Diego Zoo

San Diego Zoo’s White-crested Hornbill

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White-crested Hornbill (Horizocerus albocristatus albocristatus) SD Zoo

White-crested Hornbill (Horizocerus albocristatus albocristatus ) SD Zoo

The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. (Psalms 18:2 KJV)

Last year Dan and I made our coast to coast trip. Our five-week trip enabled us to go to the San Diego Zoo for two days. That was definitely on my “Bucket List” for that trip. Since we haven’t been able to do much birdwatching this year, I thought I would finally get around to doing some more articles about that fantastic trip.

Actually, I got discouraged with my pictures and sort of “gave up.” It wasn’t the pictures fault, it was mine. I had recently updated my photography software to an improved one. (Dan’s hand me down copy) As I have stated many times before, I am a birdwatcher, not a photographer. Dan is our great photographer with the nice camera and fancy lenses. Me, I shoot in “program” mode, but, I shoot 5-10 times more photos than Dan. Dan waits for the perfect shot or the right angle. Me? If it’s a bird, I shoot it before it can get away. Anyway, the software frustrated me and at the same time, a program I have been using for years to “shrink” my photos for the blog, was no longer available.

Thus, these photos have been sitting on my hard drive waiting for me to do something with them. Now that I understand the software better, and I now know how to “shrink” them, it’s time to bring them out of hiding.

White-crested Hornbill (Horizocerus albocristatus albocristatus) SD Zoo Day 1

White-crested Hornbill (Horizocerus albocristatus albocristatus) SD Zoo Day 1

Another big encouragement I received lately was a series of tips from a photographer whose site I follow. He is at Victor Rakmil Photography. My favorite one, that encouraged me, was the one about a squirrel. It had to do with “cropping.” I always cropped my photos at the end, but he said to start there first. Simple, but it made sense. The photos in this article were cropped and then fixed up a bit.

Buco White-crested Hornbill (Horizocerus albocristatus albocristatus) SD Zoo

Buco White-crested Hornbill (Horizocerus albocristatus albocristatus) SD Zoo

The White-crested Hornbill was my first attempt at this and I threw a few other photos in. Trust you enjoy them.

Back to this West African Long-tailed Hornbill. This is what the San Diego Zoo calls it, but it is actually a White-crested Hornbill subspecies (Tropicranus albocristatus albocristatus). They are from Guinea to the Ivory Coast. Length “70cm. Elongate, slender hornbill with a very long graduated tail. Predominately black but with bushy white crest extending from forecrown to nape, and white face. The relatively slender black bill with cream upper mandible has a casque that extends for most of its length.” (Birdlife.org) To see a really great photo of this bird, CLICK HERE. They live primarily in forest with dense tangles. Also in tall gallery and secondary forest.

Here is a recording of a White-crested Hornbill by xeno-canto.org

White-crested Hornbill (Tropicranus albocristatus albocristatus) is from the Bucerotidae (The Hornbill kind) See Avian Kinds on the Ark – What Is A Kind?

“Feeds mainly on insects but takes also spiders, slugs, lizards, snakes, nestlings and shrews and also fruit which is taken from the ground. Often follows driver-ants, bird groups or monkeys to hawk for insects disturbed by them. Little known about breeding. The nest is placed in a natural cavity in a tree or palm stump. The female seals the entrance with its own droppings. Lays 2 eggs.” (BirdForum.net)

He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour. (Psalms 112:9 KJV)

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Sea To Sea In 2015

Birds of the World

Bucerotidae – Hornbills

Victor Rakmil Photography

White-breasted Cormorant Update

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White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) SD Zoo by Lee

White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) SD Zoo by Lee

In yesterday’s article, White-breasted Cormorants at San Diego Zoo I mentioned that we had never seen these before. When it posted, at the bottom of the article, it loaded the Latest Challenge of Zoo Photography which was taken at Lowry Park Zoo. I have added an Update to yesterday’s article.

But now that I look at the two of them together, it does make me wonder if they are the same species.???

I got through the netting.

I got through the netting.

They both have that beautiful green eye, but their little patch of color below the eye is different. Huh?

Interesting. They may come from different parts of Africa or it could be their ages or sex. If you know, drop a comment.

As James tells us, we are to admit when we mess up. It was unintentional.

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16 KJV)

At least it gave me something to write about today! :)
(By the way, if you wonder why I don’t have the smiley faces turned on, it is because I use so many “(” and “)” that they get turned into faces. I need the quotes for the names of the birds more than I need smileys. :)

White-breasted Cormorants at San Diego Zoo

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White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) SD Zoo by Lee

White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) SD Zoo by Lee

Update: I have seen these before at Lowry Park Zoo – My mistake :(

We see Double-crested Cormorants very frequently here in Florida. At the San Diego Zoo, we were able to see the White-breasted Cormorants. These are another one of the Lord’s neat creations which He has given them just what they need for catching their prey. They belong to the Phalacrocoracidae – Cormorant, Shag family of which has 41 species.

Cormorants and shags are medium-to-large birds, with body weight in the range of 0.35–5 kilograms (0.77–11.02 lb) and wing span of 45–100 centimetres (18–39 in). The majority of species have dark feather. The bill is long, thin and hooked. Their feet have webbing between all four toes. All species are fish-eaters, catching the prey by diving from the surface. They are excellent divers, and under water they propel themselves with their feet with help from their wings; some cormorant species have been found to dive as deep as 45 metres.

The White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) is much like the widespread great cormorant and if not a regional variant of the same species, is at least very closely related. It is distinguished from other forms of the great cormorant by its white breast and by the fact that subpopulations are freshwater birds. Phalacrocorax lucidus is not to be confused with the smaller and very different endemic South Australian black-faced cormorant, which also is sometimes called the white-breasted cormorant. (Wikipedia)

White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) SD Zoo by Lee

White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) Sign SD Zoo by Lee

The sign at the San Diego Zoo shows this bird as a sub-species of the Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), but the I.O.C. lists it as the White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus). “The white-breasted cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) is a member of the cormorant family Phalacrocoracidae. Its taxonomic status has been under discussion for some decades and several questions still have not been definitively settled. Phalacrocorax lucidus sometimes is treated as a subspecies of the great cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo lucidus. ” (Wikipedia) That helps explain the discrepancy.

White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) SD Zoo by Lee

White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) SD Zoo by Lee

I especially liked the chin on this cormorant. Thought is was interesting and different from our usual Cormorants. Also, this was a first time we have seen this White-breasted Cormorant in any of the zoos we have visited. So it gets added to the Life List of All Birds We Have Seen

White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) SD Zoo by Lee

White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) SD Zoo by Lee

“As its name suggests, the 80–100 cm long white-breasted cormorant has a white neck and breast when adult, and the white area tends to increase as the bird becomes more mature. In other respects it is a large cormorant generally resembling the great cormorant.”

Here are the few photos that I took of these birds.

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But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. (Isa 34:11)

And the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant, (Deuteronomy 14:17 KJV)

Cormorants are one the birds mentioned in the Bible. See Birds of the Bible – Cormorant

I see that both my Life List of All Birds We Have Seen and my Birdwatching Trips need some work. That ought to keep my busy this summer while most of the birds took off to their northern nesting grounds, that and trying to work on vacation photos.

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