Puna Teal are dabbling ducks that feed by tipping up and reaching down into shallow water and are commonly found on bogs, lakes, and wetlands in the high Andes Mountains. Male and female Puna Teal look alike and sport a blue bill and a crisp, black cap, though males tend to be slightly brighter.

The spectacular Raggiana Bird-of-Paradise is found in lowland forest, hill forest and lower montane forest, secondary growth, forest edges and patches, and even gardens in New Guinea. Eating primarily fruits and arthropods, the species is an important dispereser of mahogany and nutmeg seeds. The male Raggiana Bird-of-Paradise’s tail has two long tail wires and cinnamon-colored feathers, which can be up to three feet in length. Like other birds in this family, this is a lekking species. A lek is a common area where multiple males compete using elaborate courtship displays in order to attract the attention of a female; as many as ten adult Raggiana Birds-of-Paradise have been observed at a single lek. Traditional lek sites tend to occupy prominent positions in local topography, such as a high ridge crest. The Raggiana Bird-of-Paradise is common and widespread with no evidence of significant potential threats.

Rainbow Lorikeets couldn’t have a more appropriate name. These small, active parrots are among the most brightly colored in the bird world – as though someone used a whole box of crayons while designing them! Lorikeets are native to Australia and eastern Indonesia, where they live in large, noisy flocks. Nectar from blooming trees such as the eucalyptus, African Tulip-tree and cheesewood is an important food source for lorikeets. As a result, lorikeets are an important pollinator for these and other trees. Lorikeets will also eat figs, apples, and sorghum, and sometimes papaya and mango fruits which have already had their tough skins opened by fruit bats. Because of this, they are sometimes considered a crop pest by farmers with orchards.

The National Aviary is home to two of the many subspecies of Rainbow Lorikeet: the Swainson’s (Trichoglossus haematodus moluccanus) and the Edward’s (T. haematodus capistratus). The Swainson’s Rainbow Lorikeet (native to Eastern Australia and Tasmania) is mostly green, but with a deep blue head, a yellowish collar, and a red chest. The Edward’s (native to the Lesser Sunda Islands north of Australia) is almost a faded version of the Swainson’s, with a head gently shaded by blue and a striking yellow front.  In fact, some sources argue for renaming the Edward’s Rainbow Lorikeet the Marigold Lorikeet and making it a separate species.

The Northern Red Bishop, sometimes called the Orange Bishop, is a small songbird found in the grasslands and wetlands of Africa. Some populations have become established in other areas, as well. This species forages in small flocks, primarily eating seeds. Males are a stunning orange. Females are less colorful but have beautiful streaking. Their song is a buzzy “zee-zee-zee” sound.

The Red Siskin is an Endangered species owing to its popularity as a cage bird. The Red Siskin is a vibrantly colored finch that was once plentiful in Venezuela and so recognizable that their image is printed on Venezuelan banknotes, written into poetry, and appears in works of art. Native to the northern regions of Venezuela and Columbia, the Red Siskin inhabits dry deciduous woodland in the lowlands and foothills, as well as scrub or grasslands with scattered trees, and the edges of evergreen forests. Siskins are mostly granivorous, foraging on the seeds of various grasses, forbs, and trees, but they will also consume fruit and berries. Although legally protected, the cage bird trade continues to impact this species. Throughout the 20^th century the birds were trapped and exported as part of the illegal wildlife trade, and were highly prized for their coloring and were bred with canaries. Their numbers dwindled almost to the point of extinction. Now Endangered, fewer than 7,000 Red Siskins remain in the wild in small, isolated populations.

Made internationally famous as the result of the animated character, Zazu, in Disney’s The Lion King, the Red-billed Hornbill is a bird of open savannas and woodlands, and dry thorn-scrub with sparse ground cover in the Afrotropical region. This species forages for a variety of small invertebrates, but will also take some fruit and seeds. Like other hornbills, this species is best known for its enormous bill, and for its nesting habits. Utilizing an old barbet or woodpecker cavity as a nest, the female hornbill seals the entrance with her own droppings and food remains, lays her eggs, and incubates them for 23–25 days. The female and chicks are fed throughout this time by the male through a small opening. While in the cavity, the female molts all her wing and tail feathers, and emerges when the oldest chick is about three weeks old.

Native to southern China and the Himalayas, the Red-billed Leiothrix inhabits the thick undergrowth of more open broadleaf evergreen, pine, and mixed forests, as well as scrub and forest edges. The Red-billed Leiothrix forages low in vegetation for fruit and arthropods. Outside the breeding season this species may occur in large flocks of up to 100 other leiothris, and it will also join mixed species flocks. The Red-billed Leiothrix is sometimes known as the Pekin Robin, and has become a popular cage bird, it has also been introduced in a number of places around the world. There are currently no conservation threats for this species.

In many species, such as Red-crested Finches, males have a distinct appearance compared to females. They have a dark red coloration with a narrow white eye ring and a black-bordered bright red crown. Males can partly conceal or show off their crown coloration according to the situation. On the other hand, females have a white eye ring but lack any black and bright red on their crown. They are much duller above and paler below than the male and only have bright red coloration on the rump. 

One look at the Red-legged Honeycreeper and it’s easy to see where it gets its name. Largest of the Cyanerpes honeycreepers at about 12 centimeters long, both male and female Red-legged Honeycreepers sport bright, candy-red legs and a long, sharp bill that’s almost as recognizable as their legs. Males in breeding plumage are a brilliant blue, with azure cap and black wings and tail. Yellow underwing coverts flash conspicuously when the birds are in flight. Females are olive-green above and paler below; males in eclipse plumage resemble the females, but retain their black wings and tails.

The Honeycreeper’s thin, downward-curving bill is an adaptation to nectar-eating, but also allows the Honeycreeper specialized access to fruit and insects. Honeycreepers are able to reach into the narrow cracks of ripening arillate fruit husks to nip bits off the rich arils inside, long before birds with shorter, heavier bills can reach them. In the same way, the bill fits neatly into cracks in tree bark and behind twisting vines to pluck out insects too small and hidden for other birds to find. These tiny insects, in fact, make up the majority of the Red-legged Honeycreeper’s diet.

Common and widespread throughout its range, the Red-legged Honeycreeper is currently not considered threatened. However, “harvesting” of the Red-legged Honeycreeper is allowed in Mexico for part of the year, most likely to supply the pet and caged bird trade.

The Ringed Teal is a colorful dabbling duck of South American forests where it favors swampy tropical forests and marshy clearings in well-wooded lowlands. Although its diet is not well known, it probably includes mostly seeds, other vegetable matter, and aquatic insects. A cavity nester, the Ringed Teal forms very strong pair bonds that can last a lifetime.

Roseate Spoonbills are distinctive birds with pink plumage with a uniquely shaped bill that gives them their name. Their long, flat bill is rounded at the end like a spoon, and they use it to scoop up small crustaceans as they slowly walk through shallow water. These small crustaceans are also the source of the Roseate Spoonbill’s coloring! Spoonbills are social birds and gather in groups when feeding, roosting, and nesting. Like other waterbirds, habitat loss and pollution are threats.

Conservation Story
During the late 1800s, this species was decimated by the feather trade for its highly prized plumes. The degradation and destruction of coastal foraging habitats in the United States are some of the most important conservation problems for this species.

Like the Golden White-eye, the Saipan White-eye, also known as the Bridled White-eye, is a small, understory specialist. Restricted to the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, this species occurs in a wide variety of wooded and semi-wooded habitats, including native limestone forest, scrubby secondary growth of disturbed habitats, and even urban areas. The Saipan White-eye consumes a generalized diet of insects, including caterpillars, ants, and grasshoppers, as well as small snails, seeds, fruits, small berries, and nectar. Although still locally common, the introduction of the brown tree snake on Saipan has put this bird at extreme risk.

The National Aviary is a partner with the Marianas Avifauna Conservation (MAC) Project, which is working to save this and other species in the region from extinction. Although the population of this species still numbers in the hundreds of thousands, the introduction of the brown tree snake on Saipan puts this bird at extreme risk; consequently, it is considered endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).