invertebrate

Bird of the Day: Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)

easter kingbird

I only started noticing Eastern kingbirds last year. They’re only around in the summer (they migrate to the southern hemisphere for our winters), don’t come to feeders or hang out in residential neighborhoods (at least not in my experience), and they tend to perch in higher branches, so usually you need to be looking up to see one.

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Invertebrates of the Day: Butterflies

It’s not the best season for butterflies in Madagascar, but you wouldn’t know it from a visit to Zombitse National Park, where every break in the forest canopy meant a patch of sun filled with butterflies. I don’t have an insect book for Madagascar, so here are some pictures with no identification. I’ll have to research when I get home.

Invertebrate of the Day: Drop-Wing Dragonfly

Today was our first day hiking through one of Madagascar’s deciduous forests: Isalo National Park, a beautiful hilly area in the eastern part of the island. The deciduous forests differ from the rainforests in that they see little rain outside the spring cyclone season. It’s winter now in Madagascar, and many deciduous trees and bushes have already lost their leaves. … Read more

Invertebrate of the Day: Forest Crab

Before today, I never knew that crabs could live far from the ocean. These ones live among the leaves of the vakona tree, a primitive plant related to sisal and reminiscent of a pineapple top on steroids. Rain water lands on the large, blade-shaped leaves, then runs down toward the trunk’s crown, where the bases of the leaves meet. Enough … Read more