English - Muscovy Duck
Portuguese - Pato-do-mato
Latin - Cairina moschata
The most distinctive feature of the Muscovy Duck is the featherless, bright “lumpy” red mask around their eyes and above the beak. Muscovy Ducks have a “crest” on the top of their heads that they can raise to fend off other males or to impress the females. The male is easily identified by his face mask alone - but also by his generally larger size - in fact, the adult male is usually twice the size of the female. The female’s appearance is generally more slender than that of the male. The adult males can weigh up to 7 kg and measures around 79 cm in length. The original colour of the Muscovy Duck is glossy blackish/brown and white, and most of them still are that colour - with varying degrees of white, black or brown. Some of them are very light coloured (mostly white), while others are mostly black/brown. The black / dark brown patches have an attractive iridescence to them that can only be seen in the right light conditions. Many other quite exotic colours have occurred - mostly in domesticated breeds, such as blue, blue and white, chocolate, chocolate and white, lavender and calico. They have webbed feet and strong sharp claws for grabbing tree branches for roosting. and their tail is fairly short, flat and wide. Their average lifespan ranges between 8 years and 12 years in wild. In captivity they may have a longer life expectancy of around 20 years.
Wild populations of Muscovy Ducks are native to Central and South America but some wild populations are found in certain regions of Southern Florida, the lower Rio Grande River Valley in Texas and southern Canada. Some feral populations have also been established in some European countries as well as in New Zealand. Muscovy Ducks prefer watery habitats with dense vegetation and large trees, like rivers, brackish coastal wetlands, ponds and wooded swamps. Escaped domestic birds are often seen in various parks across there range. Most populations of Muscovy Ducks are non-migratory or irregular migrants without any established migration patterns. The birds may migrate to avoid dry weathers with fluctuating water conditions.
Muscovy Ducks are omnivorous. Their diet includes small fishes, crustaceans, termites, millipedes and even small reptiles. They also eat various plant materials like tree roots, leaves, stem as well as terrestrial and aquatic plant seeds including agricultural crops.
Muscovy Ducks become sexually mature at one year of age. Unlike many other duck species, the drakes do not take part in any dancing rituals to impress the hens. They often fight with each other to earn the right to mate with a female. Mating can take place either on land or in water. This species can breed up to 3 times each year. One male may mate with many females. After mating, the female Muscovy Duck builds her nest in tree cavities near a water body. She lays 10 to 16 eggs in the nest and remains there to take care of them. The incubation period continues for about 35 day, during which period, the hen leaves the nest only once every day to find foods. The female is known to chirp while laying the eggs so that the ducklings imprint to her. It takes around 24 hours for all the ducklings to come out of their eggs after the first egg hatches. The ducklings remain close to their mother for the first 10 to 12 weeks to keep warm as their bodies are not yet developed to produce adequate heat. The mother will risk her own life to protect the nestlings from predators and other dangers. The male also stays close to the nest for several weeks to protect the ducklings. The ducklings are trained to hunt and forage for food by both parents.
Muscovy Ducks have not been surveyed anywhere in their range and little is known about their population status. The IUCN RED LIST lists this duck as a species “of Least Concern”. Muscovy Ducks are hunted for its meat and does require protection from hunting. Drastic declines in Mexico have been attributed to overhunting and clearcutting of bottomland forests. In Central America, hunting and egg-hunting appear to be a threat. Since this large duck needs a big nest cavity to accommodate its size, problems arise as old-growth forest diminishes and the Muscovy Ducks natural nest sites are lost.
Photo No 1 of the Muscovy Duck was taken at ilha do frade - Vitoria - Espirito Santo
Photo No 2 was taken at Parque Barigui - Curitiba - Parana
Photo No 3 of the female and the big male (behind) was taken at Parque Municipal - Belo Horizonte - Minas Gerais
English - Red-footed Tortoise
Portuguese - Jabuti
Latin - Chelonoidis carbonaria
Red-footed tortoises have many common names: red-leg, red-legged, or red-foot tortoise and the savanna tortoise, as well as local names, such as carumbe or karumbe, which means ‘slow moving’ (Brazil, Paraguay), wayapopi or morrocoy (Venezuela, Colombia), and variations of jabuti such as japuta and jabuti-piranga. (Brazil, Argentina)
Red-footed tortoises have a concave carapace. Their skin is mostly black with shells being typically black, grey or brown. Young tortoises have small distinct areas of yellow or tan colouring surrounding or covering each bump. Bright red marks may appear on the head. The legs and tail often have patches of orange, yellow or red. Male red-footed tortoises are larger than females and grow up to 34 centimetres in length. Females average 28 centimetres long. Adult male tortoises can weigh up to 9 kilograms. They frequently reach ages of 50 years or more.
Red-footed tortoises live in the countries of Panama, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, French Guyana, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. They can be found in rainforests, dry thorny forests, temperate forests, and in savanna areas. It prefers heavily forested, humid habitats but avoids muddy areas due to low burrowing capacity of these habitats. This species is less common in forest clearings associated with palms, mangoes, and other vegetation.
Red-footed tortoises are primarily herbivorous / frugivores but may also eat small amounts of animal matter, such as small invertebrates. Most of their food comes from leaves, grasses, fungi, fruits and flowers.
Red-footed tortoises become sexually mature at around 5 years of age. They are polygynous. Males produce sounds and calls associated with a distinct gular motions that’s meant to attract potential mates and ward off competitors. Calls consist of a series of “clucks”, similar to those produced by chickens. Males also compete for mates by wrestling each other. The one who flips his competitor on his back, wins and gains access to the female and an opportunity to mate. After mating, females bury five to 15 eggs in nests excavated in leaf litter on the forest floor. Incubation time in the nest varies with local conditions, but typically, eggs hatch after around 150 days. Once oviposited, eggs are covered and there is no more parental care. Hatchlings dig their way out of the nest and are immediately independent.
As frugivores, Red-footed Tortoises are an important dispersers of seeds of tropical plants such as figs and bromeliads. One study found that viable seeds of both types of plants were found in the feces of several Red-footed Tortoises in Brazil. Red-footed Tortoises have not been evaluated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. (IUCN) However, in many populations throughout their range, they are likely to be in decline as habitat loss and over hunting pose a serious threat. Red-footed Tortoises occur in numerous wildlife reserves and national parks throughout its geographic range. Without current population estimates, it is difficult to predict the potential conservation and management needs for this species.
Photo of the Red-footed Tortoise was taken at the National Institute of the Atlantic Forest - Santa Teresa - Espirito Santo.
English - Harpy Eagle
Portuguese - Gavião-real
Latin - Harpia harpyja
The Harpy Eagle is the largest, most powerful raptor in the Americas, even larger than the Golden Eagle. Its name refers to the harpies of Greek mythology, monsters in the form of a bird with a human face. The species inspired the design of Fawkes the Phoenix in the Harry Potter series and the Harpy Eagle is the national bird of Panama.
The Harpy Eagle has dark grey feathers with a white under side. A black band of plumage spans its neck and a fan of grey feathers crowns its head. Male and female plumage are identical. The only real difference between the sexes, as is often the case with most birds of prey, the females are larger than males. The Harpy Eagle can grow to 100 cm in length. Females can weigh up 9 kg. Males can weigh up to 5 kg. They can have a wingspan of up to 7 feet across. Its wings are relatively short for its size, enabling the bird to manoeuvre through its thick-forested surroundings to capture prey. Their yellow feet and legs make way for very big black talons that are around 12 cm in length. The Harpy Eagle’s call is a plaintive, penetrating scream, described as ‘wheeeeeeee’ or ‘wheeeeoooooo’, which is repeated several times
The Harpy Eagle has an extensive distribution across Central and South America, from southern Mexico southwards to Paraguay, southern Brazil and north-eastern Argentina. However, it is quite sparsely distributed across its range and is thought to be locally extinct in some areas, particularly in parts of Central America. The Harpy Eagle primarily is a lowland species, it typically inhabits tropical and subtropical evergreen forests below elevations of about 900 metres, although it may occasionally be found up to 2,000 metres. They are able to adapt to a degree of habitat disturbance, as long as sufficient forest patches remain. The Harpy Eagle usually moves about within the forest canopy and rarely soars above it.
A hunting carnivore and an apex predator, the Harpy Eagle preys primarily on tree-dwelling mammals like sloths, monkeys and opossums. They will also prey on other arboreal animals like birds and large lizards and they will even prey on land mammals given the opportunity, including porcupines, squirrels, opossum, anteaters and armadillos. So not to compete with each other for food, the females generally target larger prey because of their size, leaving smaller prey for the males.
Harpy Eagles reach adulthood when they are about 5 years old. After a suitable partner is found, it is time to look for a nesting site. Harpy Eagles nest in some of the tallest trees in the forest. They pick the highest point on the trunks of trees, just where the branches begin to spread out, at around 40 meters of the ground. Nests are composed of large sticks and branches gathered from nearby trees. In all, the pair will lay down more than 300 branches! The result is a nest that can be 6 feet in diameter and more than 1 foot deep. Some Harpy Eagle pairs reuse the same nest over and over, while others might have several nests they use off and on over the years. When the nest is completed, the female will lay one or two large white eggs. Though the male may assist in incubation, the female does the most sitting on the eggs to keep the chicks developing inside warm and safe. She needs to incubate her eggs for approximately 55 days. If 2 eggs are laid, in most case only one chick will survive. Though scientists don’t fully understand why, some believe that Harpy Eagles lay the second egg as a “backup” in case something happens to the first and since raising one Harpy Eagle chick takes so much time and energy, it would be too difficult to try to raise two chicks. Harpy Eagles are wonderful parents that work hard to protect their chicks. From the time the female first lays her eggs until the nestling is about 4 months old, she will spend almost all her time at the nest. Meanwhile, the male spends his time and energy looking for food for himself, the female, and his young. A newly hatched Harpy Eagle chick is so small that it fits perfectly into the palm of a person’s hand. In only 5-6 months though, it will reach adult size. Because the chick grows so quickly, it needs to eat a lot and it needs to eat often. When the chick is very young, the mother will tear off small pieces of meat for the chick and delicately feed it with her bill. As the chick grows, it will be able to tear off and eat the meat on its own. At around 5-6 months of age, the young eagle will fledge, or fly for the first time. Its first few flights might be shaky and awkward, but after only a few days, it will be flying almost as well as its parents. The young bird will remain dependent on the adults for the first one to two years of life. When it is hunting well enough on its own, the juvenile will disperse, or leave its parents’ territory and look for a home of its own. When a young bird turns 4 or 5 years old, it will begin looking for a partner and the cycle of reproduction will begin all over again. A pair of Harpy Eagles generally raises young every two years. They normally won’t lay more eggs while they are still caring for a young bird in their territory.
The Harpy Eagle is classified as a species “Near Threatened” on the IUCN Red List and is listed on Appendix I of CITES. Although the Harpy Eagle still occurs over a considerable range, its distribution and populations have dwindled considerably. It is threatened primarily by habitat loss due to the expansion of logging, cattle ranching, agriculture, and prospecting. Secondarily, it is threatened by hunting, for being a threat to livestock and/or a threat to human life, due to its great size. Although not actually known to prey on humans and only rarely on domestic stock, the species’ large size and nearly fearless behaviour around humans reportedly make it an “irresistible target” for hunters.
Photos of the Harpy eagle were taken at Parque das Aves - Foz do Iguacu - Parana
