Du'gone'!

Dugongs and Manatees, also known as 'sea cows' are seal-like herbivorous aquatic mammals and are probably the most gentle and harmless animals. sadly, dugongs are hunted for their meat, and are now on the brink of extinction, with only a few hundred remaining in the wild.

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Cartwheel Crash!

To settle territorial disputes, Eagles indulge in a sort of a
territorial battle called 'Cartwheeling' wherein the two conflicting
birds lock talons with each other and swoop towards the ground. The
bird that withdraws first from the battle, loses. This usually takes
place when the nesting season approaches.

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Pronounced Guilty

people who still burn crackers- i have an earnest request to you. please set yourselves on fire this diwali! that way you'll be doing great service to planet earth! crackers are a major source of greenhouse gases that accelerate global warming. burning even one cracker would mean making the lives of animals staying as far away as the Arctic, difficult. so please, either give up crackers, or set yourselves on fire!

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Smart Nesting!

"Nest parasitism or brood parasitism" is a phenomenon in which a bird raids another bird's nest, destroys its eggs and lays its own eggs in the nest. the cuckoo is an 'interspecific' nest parasite. it usually lays its eggs in the nests of babblers and crows. the 'host' species, i.e whose nests have been raided, incubate the cuckoo egg and the raise the cuckoo chick as their own, acting as foster parents to the cuckoo offspring.
brood parasitism is also seen in various insects, fish, reptiles and other birds such as some species of duck, cowbirds and honeyguides.

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A Tale of Two Territories

Cats,both wild and domestic, mark their territories by holding their tails upright and spraying urine on a tree, rock or a bush. these 'chemical messages' are signals for its competitors to stay away from its territory. cool cats, aren't they? and we humans conveniently call ourselves the more developed species!

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Pirates!

Many animals which do not have specialized hunting adaptations resort to food piracy, wherein they steal food from any other animal they can subdue. among the birds, skuas and gulls are among the famous food pirates.

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Supper with Spoonbills

the spoonbill's beak is flat and spatulate, resembling the shape of a spoon. this enables it to feed with ease. when a fish, aquatic insect or a crustacean comes in contact with the surface of the 'spoon', the bill is snapped shut. spoonbills usually eat for hours together on shallow waters.

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the songster's 'notes'

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Married Life!

hornbills have a unique way of breeding. the female locks itself up in a hollow of a tree trunk, that is sealed with a plaster of feces. she remains inside and lays eggs, incubates them, and feeds the chicks after the eggs hatch. after the chicks have attained a semi-dependent state, the female breaks open the seal and lets herself out. throughout this period, the female and the chicks depend on the food supplies provided by the male.

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Migrant Migraine!

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squirrel talk

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Long 'Tern'!

Winter is about to commence and the migrants will be here any moment! so i decided to make something on migration, and what better than the kings of migration themselves, the Arctic Terns! these birds fly from their breeding grounds in the Arctic to Antarctica each year, covering around 80,000 kms! this is the longest migration route taken by any bird.

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Bat Chat

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