Photography: Strong-VISION
The purple-breasted Dharma monk is a Buddhist monk bird with a length of 36 cm, a large head and a short neck, and a long, forked tail. Green crown, purple throat and chest, bright blue abdomen, blue wings. Both male and female are of the same color. Juveniles do not have the long-tailed feathers of adult birds.
The color of the feathers on the body is: light yellow, white, purple, blue, turquoise, green, black, brown and so on. So many colors are dressed up on the body, a bit of the charm of the Chinese Jiangnan printing and dyeing style, and it does not look messy at all. Nature's use of color can be described as bold.
Considered one of the most beautiful birds in the world, some people also named it the spark bird, which is the national bird of Botswana and Kenya.
The beak is thick and wide , tapered but slightly curved with a hook at the apex , and the wings are long and pointed. Typical plumage is blue, green, and purple. These three colors are not sensitive words.
It is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula.
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It prefers to inhabit open woodlands and savannahs.
It usually occurs alone or in pairs, and resides at an elevation such as the top of the tree. Standing on high, it is easy to spot insects, lizards, scorpions, snails, and small birds. For purple-breasted Dharma monks, these are delicious foods.
Image from ARKive
It is one of the few animals in the world that likes to take advantage of the fire. When there is a small fire in the habitat, many birds and small animals panic and flee instead of predators. It will take the opportunity to attack them.
Burkina Faso 2013 African bird animal purple-breasted Dharma monk bird refined color commemorative silver coin
monogamy. During the breeding season, the male performs a wonderful ostentatious courtship flight in front of the female.
Image from the web
The male bird will quickly fly from a low place to the sky, and then quickly fly to the low altitude, while folding his wings in the air to do a tumbling action, one will fly to the left, the other will fly to the right, which is surprising! It also shakes its body and swings back and forth, but its head remains stationary, like a belly dancer.
He prefers to find natural burrows in the trees or use the nests left by woodpeckers. Breed once a year, laying 2---4 eggs each time. Both the male and female hatch together for 22 --- 24 days, and continue to take care of the birds for 18--- 20 days after hatching. During the brooding period, they have a strong sense of nest protection to prevent predators and other birds from approaching.
Due to habitat destruction and rampant poaching, its numbers began to decrease.
Strong-VISION: "Only by loving nature and loving and respecting the wild animals you photograph can you show the beauty of nature." ”
Unless otherwise noted, all photos were taken by Strong-VISION
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