A water bird is also known as an aquatic bird is a bird species that live on or around water. These bird species designed for marine food, swim and can dive in the water for survival. There are some largest birds of prey such as Ospreys and sea eagled, who take prey from water but are not considered water birds. The adaptations of water birds include webbed feet, beaks, and legs adapted to feed in the water and the ability to catch prey inside the water. Here is the list of 10 beautiful water birds in the world,
Water Birds
1.African Jacana
The African Jacana is one of the popular water birds mostly seen near the freshwater wetlands of perennial rivers in the north of Namibia. The bird species can walk on water and hence known as Jesus birds with the help of slender legs and curiously long toes. It is also known as lily-trotters because it has been seen spending most of the day near waterlilies and search for food such as aquatic insects and larvae, worms, snails and other arthropods. The African Jacana are also good swimmers and divers that help them to save themselves from predators. It has been seen flying short distances with wings curved and legs hanging. It can grow upto 23-31 cm and male species weigh approximately 137 g whereas females one is heavier and weigh approximately 260 g.
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Image Source: Takashi Hososhima
2.Great cormorant
The Great cormorant is mostly seen near open marine environments and inland waters in the regions of Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and northeastern coastal North America. Talking about the appearance, Great cormorant has a long neck that gives him a reptilian look and known as a supreme fisher. It can grow upto 70 to 102 cm in length and wieght approximately 2600 to 3700 gms. The varage lifespan of the species is 23 years in the wild. The great cormorant is social birds that are active during the day and every day its spent little time in foraging areas or at roosts. It loves to prey and feed on numerous kinds of fish and when it is fishing in freshwater it will also eat crustaceans, amphibians and insects.
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Image Source: Wikimedia
3.American dipper
American dippers are mostly seen near the rivers and streams where they can frequently “dips” its body up and down as it searches for food. The medium-sized grey bird species comes with white eyelids and known for using its dome-shaped nest that can be larger than a soccer ball. It is also known as water ouzels by naturalist John Muir that can grow upto to 18 centimetres and has a wingspan of 23 centimetres. They are seen in the regions of the western United States and into Canada and Alaska. It is also seen in Mexico and Central America. The bird species prefers rocky, unpolluted streams. Streams with cliffs for thriving and can also be seen at altitudes of more than 12,000 feet. It feeds on types of insects and their larvae, fish eggs, and small fish.
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4.Baillon’s Crake
The Baillon’s Crake knew as marsh crake is a small waterbird that belongs to the family Rallidae. It can grow upto 16–18 cm in length and it’s a little larger than little crake. It used to use their bill in mud and water but can also pick up food by sight. The bird species generally breeds in Europe, mainly in the east, and across Asia. The migratory bird goes to East Africa and South Asia in the winter season. It is named after French naturalist Louis Antoine Francois Baillon. It is also one of the noisy birds that produce rattling call like that of the edible frog, or perhaps garganey.
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Image Source: Wikimedia
5.Black-legged Kittiwake
The Black-legged Kittiwake is one of the beautiful water birds that belong to the family of Gulls and Terns. The bird species spent most of the year in the sea and it was first discovered by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae as Larus tridactylus. The name is derived from the sound it produces, ‘kittee-wa-awake, kitte-wa-awake and the genus name are Rissa which is derived from the Icelandic name Rita for this bird. It is named black-legged kittiwake in North America in order to get to differentiate it from the red-legged kittiwake and in Europe, it is known as kittiwake. The coastal bird is native to the arctic to subarctic regions of the world and can be seen across the northern coasts of the Atlantic, from Canada to Greenland as well as on the Pacific side from Alaska to the coast of Siberia.
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Image Source: Wikimedia
6.Crab Plover
The Crab Plover is a bird species related to the waders and belongs to its own family known as Dromadidae. It is belived that the bird species is closely related to the Charadriiformes in the form of thick-knees, or the pratincoles, however, there are debates that it is also related to the auks and gulls. The only member of the genus Dromaius. The bird species is mostly seen in the regions of the Indian Ocean where it will feed on crabs and other small animals. The Afro-Asian wading bird global population is between 60,000 to 80,000 birds and distributed among the nine nesting colonies known in the world. It will grow into the length of 33 to 36 centimetres in length and it comes with a white head and plumage with a black marking on its back.
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Image Source: Wikimedia
7.Double-crested Cormorants
The Double-crested Cormorant is a member of the cormorant family that belongs to the water birds and loves to be near rivers and lakes as well as in coastal areas. It is distributed in the regions of North America, from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska down to Florida and Mexico. The bird species can grow upto 70 to 90 cm in length and popular as a blackbird and appear in black and white feathers in the breeding season. As of now, 5 species of Double-crested Cormorants are identified and mainly feeds on fish and hunts by swimming and diving. It was first described by René Primevère Lesson in 1831.
Image Source: Wikimedia
8.Eurasian Spoonbill
Eurasian Spoonbill is a large and long-legged birds that belong to the family Threskiornithidae. The bird species feed by wading through shallow water, sweeping the partly opened bill from side to side. It prefers both water fresh and salt and spends an ample amount of time on feeding. It used to prefer nesting in trees or reed-beds alongside ibises or herons. Talking about the appearance, it can be easily recognised by its bill which is long and flat in shape. The nostra relocated near the base of the bill so that it can breathe easy when the bill is in water. As of now, 6 species of Spoonbill are known to humans and bird species is monogamous in nature.
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Image Source: Wikimedia
9.Ferruginous Duck
The Ferruginous duck is also known as ferruginous pochard, common white-eye or white-eyed pochard is a medium-sized bird species native to Eurosiberia. Scientifically, it is known as Aythya nyroca derived from Greek Lithuania an unidentified seabird mentioned by authors including Hesychius and Aristotle and nyrok which is also the Russian name for a duck. Talking bout the appearance, the male species is known for rich and dark chestnut on the head along with white details. The bird species thrive in shallow freshwater bodies and distributed in the regions of east to western Mongolia and south to Arabia. It loves eating some molluscs, aquatic insects and small fish.
Image Source: Wikimedia
10.Glossy Ibis
The Glossy Ibis is a water bird that belongs to the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. It is scientifically known as Plegadis falcinellus which is derived from Ancient Greek pleads that primarily refers to the distinctive shape of the bill. The bird species is distributed in warm regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Atlantic and Caribbean regions of the Americas. It thrives in shallow water and nest in freshwater or brackish wetlands with low trees or bushes. Glossy Ibis preys on larval insects such as aquatic beetles, dragonflies, damselflies, grasshoppers, crickets, flies and caddisflies, Annelida including leeches, molluscs and occasionally on fish, amphibians, lizards, small snakes and nestling birds.
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