Animals

The ubiquitous coyote is found throughout North America from eastern Alaska to New England and south through Mexico to Panama. It originally ranged primarily in the southwest corner of the US, but it has adapted readily to the changes caused by human occupation and, in the past 200 years, has been steadily extending its range.
The coyote is a member of the dog family. In size and shape the coyote is like a medium-sized Collie dog, but its tail is round and bushy and is carried straight out below the level of its back.
Coyotes found in low deserts and valleys weigh about 20 pounds, less than half of their mountain kin, who can weigh up to 50 pounds. Desert Coyotes are light gray or tan with a black tip on the tail.
Coyotes of high elevations have fur that is darker, thicker and longer; the under parts are nearly white, with some specimens having a white tip on the tail. In winter the coats of mountain coyotes become long and silky, and trappers hunt them for their fur.

Head is moderate in size with a non-protruding snout and hooked upper jaw. Head is brown or black. Carapace moderately domed, about eight inches long. The carapace of older tortoises develops a wavy rim. Variable in color: yellow, olive, or orange to dark brown. Lighter individuals have dark blotching. Plastron is dark brown or black with a yellow border and midseam. Has a divided supracaudal scute. Horny claw-like tail tip in both sexes. The male's tail is longer and more robust.
Geographical range:
Southern Europe from northeast Spain to the Balkans, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Also found on islands in the Mediterranean. Prefers evergreen Mediterranean oak forest, but, due to habitat degradation, is found in dry meadows, scrub hillsides, and rocky slopes. Seems to like dense vegetation, but avoids moist places.

Bibliography:
Ernst, Carl and Barbour, Roger: Turtles of the World

This largest of all kingfishers is up to 17 inches in length and weighs up to 1 pound. Plumage is brown with grayish white underside and head. Tail has dark bands and face has brown cheek patches. Females have gray patches on their wings; males have blue patches on their wings and at the top of their tail. They have long sharply pointed beaks that are slightly flattened from top to bottom; the top of the beak is black and the bottom is tan. Known for its loud territorial call that sounds like maniacal human laughter, the bird also utters softer gutteral sounds. Their flattish feet have the middle and outer toes welded together over much of their length and they hop instead of walk.
They feed by perching on a tree branch and pouncing on terrestrial invertebrates, reptiles, small mammals, birds and nestlings. Can devour snakes up to 3 ft in length. Not closely associated with water, but will sometimes catch fish with plunging dives and, on occasion, raid suburban goldfish ponds.

General plumage green with yellowish underparts; forehead cheeks and throat orange red; remainder of head dull olive green tinged with reddish on occiput; upper breast and collar around neck yellow; upper tail coverts washed with pale blue; under wing coverts blue and green, tail green; white ring around eye; red bill. Sexes alike.

Breeding is colonial. Unpaired birds seek out the company of other unpaired birds and attempt to preen them. They quickly discover if they are compatible and, if they are, they establish life-long pairs. When they reach sexual maturity the male courts the female who is often aggressive towards him. Courtship feeding takes place in which the male feeds the female regurgitated food. The nest is a hole in a tree, in a cavity in a building or among the bases of palm fronds. Inside the cavity the birds build a bulky dome-shaped nest entered through a tunnel made of long twigs or strips of bark carried by the female in her bill, one piece at a time She lays 8 to 10 eggs. Incubation is 23 days and the young leave the nest 38 days after hatching.

Thin red bill and pale head distinctive, crown and nape dark gray, neck and face white, back sooty brown with white stripe down center, underparts white, primaries black with white spots, tail black. Circumorbital and throat skin creamy yellow to pale pink. 3 subspecies. Males and females similar but males slightly larger.
Obtains almost all food on the ground while running about. Feeds largely on insects - beetles, grasshoppers, termites, ants, fly larvae. Also takes geckos, birds' eggs and nestlings and scavenges dead rodents.
Usually found in pairs or small family parties, but during the dry season may congregate in flocks of several hundred at good feeding areas, such as around water holes. They are territorial and will defend their territories against their own species, but not other species, so that several species of hornbill may have overlapping territories. Birds move to feeding areas early in the morning, but usually return to a regular roost site within their territories at night. They roost in a tree close to the trunk or large branch. Like all hornbills except the large ground hornbills of Africa, Red-billed Hornbills nest in holes in trees where the female is sealed up for two to three months while she incubates the eggs and feeds the young with insects brought by the male. The female lays 3-5 eggs which she incubates from 23-25 days. The female molts and re-grows her feathers during incubation. She breaks out of the nest when the eldest chick is 21-22 days old. The chicks reseal the entrance alone using their droppings and food remains. Chicks fly well on first emergence from nest, never returning. They may remain with their parents for 6 months.

Diurnal. They sleep upright, sitting on their ischial callosities, arms folded and head between knees, unlike great apes who build sleeping nests or platforms. Well-developed forearms and limited body weight and hooklike hands facilitate brachiation. May hold or carry objects with feet. Occasionally, they walk bipedally on the ground or along branches with arms held above the head for balance. In the wild, they rarely decend to earth. The inflatable throat sac acts as resonating chamber for vocal cords.
The siamangs' loud calls usually occur only in the morning hours and act to help maintain territorial possession as well as cohesion within the siamang family group. The hooting-barking call can be heard for 2 miles. The songs have a definite pattern with repeatable sequences and a definite introduction, middle and end. In this great call duet, the male and female each sing different but coordinated parts

Bibliography:
MacDonald, David. 1987. The Encyclopedia of Mammals, Equinox, Oxford.