Gray Catbird | Echo Lake Park - Mountainside, NJ | Alberto_VO5 | Flickr
We have one of these in our yard this spring (not this one - this was just the best/nearest-to-her pic that I could find), and she meows like the orneriest little juvenile cat you can imagine! I have designated her our resident Katniss bird. :)
Hey guys! Today, we’re gonna be talking about the Kagu, and endangered, chicken sized, nearly flightless bird endemic to the forests of New Caladonia, which is the same place crested geckos come from. These birds are also known as the ghosts of the forest.
Disclaimer: I am not a zoologist, an ornithologist, or an avian biologist. I’m a junior (third year) zoology student in college. Most of the information in these posts is gleaned from research, primarily online.
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Lots more information and plenty more pictures under the cut
The Kagu is the only extant (living) member of the family Rhynochetos. It resembles something between a small heron, a rail, and maybe a pigeon. It has pearl-gray feathers, bright orange legs and bill, brilliant red eyes, a head crest like a cockatoo’s, and bold stripes on its wingtips. They live in New Caledonia, where they mostly inhabit humid forests with an open understory. They will also occupy drier forests and sometimes closed-canopy scrub during the wet season.
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The kagu’s wings may appear large for a bird that doesn’t really fly, but they play an important role. A kagu parent flaps its fully opened wings on the ground, as if injured, to distract a would-be predator away from its chick, like an american killdeer does. The large wings also help the bird keep its balance while climbing and hopping over rocks and other rough spots. They also help when climbing branches and jumping, or falling, off of things.
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This charismatic species is classified as Endangered on the basis of its very small, severely fragmented population, with a very small extent of occurrence limited to New Caledonia, which is suffering an overall decline. However, there is cause for hope, as recent research shows it still to be widespread, and populations in some areas are increasing due to a reduction in incidental killing by hunting dogs. If the species's range be found not be declining, this species will be downlisted to a lower category of threat.
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The sounds made by kagus are different for males and females. They may remind you of a rooster crowing and a dog barking at the same time, but the female’s song is shorter and faster than the male’s. Pairs sing a duet in the early morning to mark their territory. A former San Diego Zoo director described the kagu’s morning song as a “screaming challenge”. Duets can last up to 15 minutes. The birds sing year-round, but more often during breeding season. Kagus also hiss and make soft, clucking sounds.
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Large, dark red eyes give the kagu excellent vision. The long bill is strong and pointed, perfect for shallow digging in leaf litter and between rocks in search of its favorite foods: larvae, spiders, centipedes, bugs, cockroaches, millipedes, beetles, snails, worms, and lizards. The kagu is a patient hunter, often standing perfectly still on one foot for long periods of time, watching and listening for prey. Once discovered, the bird strikes quickly to catch the food.
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Kagu parents almost always raise just one chick per year. Courtship involves elaborate strutting behavior with a fanned crest and capelike wing movements. These birds are monogamous, but although they defend their territory together, the male and female may spend much of their time alone.
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Parents are very patient when teaching their youngster to eat: an adult holds prey in its bill, close to the chick’s head, and calls softly until the baby opens its beak. By the time the chick is about two weeks old, it has a pretty good idea of how to eat from it’s parents, and it becomes like a normal, fussy, demanding baby. Parents feed their chick until it’s about 14 weeks old. The young bird may stay within its parents’ territory for up to six years, gaining its adult plumage in two to three years, and may help to raise its parents’ next chick. These birds are pretty longlived. It captivity, they often reach 30 years of age, and have been found to live till 22 in the wild.
