The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, with its extremely long and distinctive tail, is a resident of savannas, fields, and pastures, as well as landscaped areas where there is a mix of trees, perches, and open areas. This flycatchers breeding range extends across south-central North America, while it winters in southern Mexico south through Panama. The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is an insectivore, catching cicadas, grasshoppers, beetles, dragonflies, moths, and other flying insects. This species is not currently considered threatened.

The Shaft-tailed Finch, or Long-tailed Finch, is a handsome bird from northern Australia, where it is found in open woodlands, dry grassy savannas, and grassy brushland especially near water courses. Like similar finches, it feeds on ripe and half-ripe grass seeds on the ground, but during the breeding season will consume more insects off the vegetation.  Nests are constructed of grasses in trees and are bulky, rounded, with an entrance tube. The Shaft-tailed Finch is not globally threatened, although it was heavily trapped for the cage bird trade in the first part of the 20th century.

The Silver Gull is the most common gull found in Australia. It is most common in coastal areas but can be found throughout the continent. They use a variety of habitats, from sandy and rocky shores to garbage dumps, and breed on small islands. Their diet is as varied as their habitats. The Silver Gull will eat jellyfish, crustaceans, small mammals, and items scavenged from garbage dumps. This species is not globally threatened and is in fact increasing.

The Silver-beaked Tanager is a striking South American tanager of brushy forest borders, overgrown clearings, second growth, and shrubs around habitations and riverbanks. Often feeding in small groups, this tanager consumes about equal proportions of arthropods and fruit. Nesting birds are sometimes found close together, and it is occasionally a cooperative breeder with helpers attending the young. Pairs do not seem to defend territories against conspecifics.  The Silver-beaked Tanager is not globally threatened.

Snowy Egrets are strikingly beautiful birds, with pure white plumage and graceful and elaborate courtship displays. The feathers of the Snowy Egret were highly sought after for fashion, primarily for women’s hats, throughout the late 1800s and into the early twentieth century. The species’ population declined rapidly until restrictions on hunting were put into place and the feather trade was ended. Snowy Egrets made a comeback and even extended their range. They are adaptable to a range of environmental foraging conditions. Snowy Egrets are a focal species that attracts other waders to foraging aggregations, and the addition of more feeding birds may increase success rates for all foraging birds. The Snowy Egret’s bright yellow feet enhance a foraging maneuvers, like “foot-stirring” that attract or startle prey. Today, the Snowy Egret remains vulnerable to oil spills, habitat loss, plastic pollution, and pesticides.

The Southern Bald Ibis is a gregarious, glossy bluish-black ibis restricted to the southern tips of South Africa. This ibis resides in mountainous regions, where it prefers higher elevation short-grass habitats, as well as recently burned, plowed, mowed, or heavily grazed fields and cultivated lands. In these grasslands, the Southern Bald Ibis feeds frequently in large flocks, primarily searching for grasshoppers, beetles, and caterpillars. This species usually nests colonially, building a platform of sticks on ledges or cliffs where it may be safer from predators. This ibis has suffered from human disturbances at its colonial nest sites, and impacts on grassland foraging grounds.

Southern Three-banded Armadillos are one of the mammal species living at the National Aviary. They are among the smaller of the armadillo species, and are native to grassy areas and forests throughout Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay. Armadillos have very acute senses of hearing and smell, which helps them to find termites and ants and then use their strong legs and claws to grab. Their strong senses also help them to detect predators. When startled, the Southern Three-banded Armadillo will roll up into a tight ball for protection.

Speckled Mousebirds are very social, often living in flocks of twenty or more birds. They are among the few folivorous bird species specializing in eating leaves. When food is scarce, or in cooler weather, mousebirds often huddle in large groups and can reduce their energy requirement by going into a state of inactivity known as torpor.

Scientists have described the six extant species of mousebirds, including the Speckled, as “living fossils” due to their lineage of more than two dozen species from the end of the Cretaceous (66 million years ago)  to the end of the Miocene era (5 million years ago).

Adult Spectacled Owls are distinctive for their brown upperparts and head with whitish face markings resembling a pair of glasses. As juveniles, their facial markings are the complete opposite—pure white except for a chocolate brown facial disc! This distinctive species can be found throughout Central and South America in dense rainforest habitats. The call of the Spectacled Owl is a quick series of popping sounds, which sound like someone knocking on a door. Males sing more often than females, usually to claim territory, but have been known to sing duets together.

The Spotted Whistling-Duck is a distinctive duck species found in Southeast Asia. Also known as the tree duck, it has long legs and a long neck compared to other ducks, and is very comfortable perching high up in trees. They favor low-lying wetlands, where they both dabble and dive for food, which includes seeds and invertebrates; they are most active at night. This species is not globally threatened.

The Steller’s Sea Eagle is a fierce, impressive raptor with chocolate-brown plumage and striking white shoulders and tail. With its deep, strongly arched bill and massive yellow feet, it’s no wonder that the Japanese call this bird O-washi (The Great Eagle). At nearly four-feet in length and an average weight of 13-20 pounds, Steller’s Sea Eagles are one of the largest eagle species in the world, outweighing both the Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) and the Philippine Monkey-eating Eagle (Pithocophaga jefferyi), and with a wingspan (up to 6 – 8 feet) second only to its near-cousin the White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla). Not surprisingly, an adult Steller’s Sea Eagle has no natural predators.

The species is vulnerable to changes in its habitat and food supplies, however. This huge eagle needs an equally huge territory, so the Steller’s population (which is not large) is widespread and particularly sensitive to habitat loss due to climate change. Threats to already declining Pacific Salmon populations translate into potential prey shortages during the all-important breeding season.

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The Straw-Necked Ibis is a unique bird species that is known for its distinct features and vocalizations. With its iridescent wings and backs, and straw-like plumage on their necks, these birds are a sight to behold. Interestingly, males have longer bills while females have a dark band across their chest. The Straw-Necked Ibis also has a unique vocalization that can be heard at great distances, especially during nesting sites where grunts, croaks, and barks can be heard.