Unique bird Baya weaver nest construction amazing

Unique bird Baya weaver nest construction amazing

The baya weaver (Ploceus philippinus) is a weaverbird found across the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Flocks of these birds are found in grasslands, cultivated areas, scrub and secondary growth and they are best known for their hanging retort shaped nests woven from leaves.

These nest colonies are usually found on thorny trees or palm fronds and the nests are often built near water or hanging over water where predators cannot reach easily. They are widespread and common within their range but are prone to local, seasonal movements mainly in response to rain and food availability. Male of burmanicus race with the bright yellow crown Among the population variations, three subspecies are recognized. The nominate race philippinus is found through much of mainland India while burmanicus is found eastwards into Southeast Asia.

The population in southwest India is darker above and referred to as subspecies travancoreensis. These are sparrow-sized (15 cm) and in their non-breeding plumage, both males and females resemble female house sparrows. They have a stout conical bill and a short square tail. Non-breeding males and females look alike, dark brown streaked fulvous buff above, plain (unstreaked) whitish fulvous below, eyebrow long and buff coloured, bill is horn coloured and no mask. Breeding males have a bright yellow crown, dark brown mask, blackish brown bill, upper parts are dark brown streaked with yellow, with a yellow breast and cream buff below Baya weavers are social and gregarious birds. They forage in flocks for seeds, both on the plants and on the ground. Flocks fly in close formations, often performing complicated manoeuvres. They are known to glean paddy and other grain in harvested fields, and occasionally damage ripening crops and are therefore sometimes considered as pests. They roost in reed-beds bordering waterbodies.

They depend on wild grasses such as Guinea grass (Panicum maximum) as well as crops like rice for both their food (feeding on seedlings in the germination stage as well as on early stages of grain[6]) and nesting material. They also feed on insects (including butterflies), sometimes taking small frogs, geckos and molluscs, especially to feed their young. Their seasonal movements are governed by food availability. Their calls are a continuous chit-chit-... Both males and females are polygamous. Males build many partial nests and begin courting females. The male finishes the nest only after finding a mate. The female lays about 2 to 4 white eggs and incubates them for about 14 to 17 days.Males may sometimes assist in feeding the chicks. The chicks leave the nest after about 17 days.After mating with a female the male typically court other females at other partially constructed nests. Intraspecific brood parasitism is known, that is, females may lay their eggs in the nests of others.

17 BIGGEST Trees in the World

17 BIGGEST Trees in the World

This Atlas Cedar in the Foret de Cedar in Northern Morocco is one of the tallest Trees in Africa. The tree has an estimated girth of 3.5 feet and is estimated to be more than 131 feet tall! This tree was planted around 1200-1400 A.D. which makes it at around 7 centuries old.

The Queets River Spruce in Washington state was the largest Spruce Tree in the world. The Queets Spruce has a circumference of 60 feet and is 191 feet tall. It attracted nature enthusiasts and tourists from around the country, but unfortunately fell when a harsh winter storm hit the area in 2007. This tree is the largest known western redcedar in the entire world. It has a volume of over 18,000 cubic feet and a height of 180 feet when it was last measured.

This tree makes its home about 21 miles from the pacific ocean near Quinalt Lake and took the title for tallest tree in the area after the Queets Lake Spruce was felled in a storm. These odd trees that decorate the plains of Africa are known for their many strange characteristics. The tops of their branches make them look like their roots sprout into the air instead of into the ground, they’re known to be fire resistant and it can last through even the most severe droughts. The Baobabs aren’t just incredibly fascinating alien-like plantlife, they’re also incredibly large, regularly reaching towering 100 foot heights and massive 30 foot diameters. Near a tiny village hidden in the mountains of central Colombia, the Cocora Valley acts as the residence for the world’s tallest palm trees which also have been recognized as Colombia’s national tree.

The Palms in this valley grow more than 200 feet tall, which is strange even to many experts as there is no evolutionary benefit for a tree in an open field to grow so high. The Tane Mahuta is a giant kauri tree (Agathis australis) in the Waipoua Forest of New Zealand. Tane Mahuta is 58 feet high but has a total volume of 18,250 cubic feet, making it the 4th largest trees when measured by volume in the world. Experts estimate this tree to be between 1,250 and 2,500 years old, so not only is it one of the largest trees, it is also one of the oldest. Tane Mahuta translates to “Lord of the Forest” when translated from Maori, which is more than an appropriate name considering the Tane Mahuta’s size and age.

 

Little Known Facts NO ONE talks about!

Little Known Facts NO ONE talks about!

6 - Russia’s Contributions to WWII Russia has a pretty bad reputation. First there were the czars. Then there were the Bolshevik revolution, the reign of Lenin, Stalin’s tyrannical atrocities, and the whole cold war not so long ago. So in many ways, they’ve earned their reputation. But it’s worth noting that without their efforts during WWII, Western civilization as we know it might not exist. In school, most Americans were taught that America won WWII. The efforts of our allies, aside from maybe England and Winston Churchill are rarely mentioned, and the fact that war had been raging in Europe for a good two years before America joined the effort isn’t usually front and center in the narrative. And it’s almost never acknowledged that without the help of The Soviet Union, Europe might have fallen to the Nazis. But the fact is Russia bore the biggest burden of any of the Allied countries, accounting for about 95 percent of all the Allied casualties! Think about this one; Russia suffered more than all of the Allied countries combined. The US who did indeed play a big role in altering the trajectory of the war, lost about 400,000 soldiers but virtually no civilians. Russia, on the other hand, lost at least 11 million soldiers, and anywhere between 7 and 20 million civilians based on a few different estimates. In the Battle of Moscow alone more than half a million Soviet troops were killed, while the battle itself proved to be a huge setback for Hitler. The Soviet’s relentless defense of the city wore the Nazis down and resulted in a domino effect of strategic failures for Hitler and his demented plans. When Hitler tried to invade Russia he was initially successful. But it was the Battle of Moscow and the Soviet’s heroic efforts that stalled his advances. For a man who supposedly studied Napoleon and STILL tried to invade Russia during the winter, part of Hitler’s undoing was his own blind ambition and his unfettered thirst for conquest. But the Russian counter offensive forced Germany back, and led to the failure of Hitler’s small scale offenses in Russia as well as Operation Barbarossa, the code name for Hitler’s large scale invasion. Without a doubt, that helped shift the war in the Allie’s favor. So while Russia has had less than a charming relationship with the rest of the world, we’d be foolish to forget how they helped save the very same world they’ve been menacing. Kind of ironic, don’t ya think?

5 - Ants weigh more than what?! Ants can be really annoying. They crawl all over everything at picnics and some ants, such as fire ants, can inflict some pretty painful bites. Oh yeah, don’t forget Bullet ants, whose bite is said to be one of the most painful things known to man. It’s almost like the world would just be better without them. Right? Wrong. Here, I’ll prove it. Say for example that ants all just died tomorrow, or they said “screw it” and packed up and went to another planet. Either way, let’s just say they’re all gone. That would cause a sh*t storm of consequences like you couldn’t imagine. The ecological imbalance that would create would ultimately cause many species to go extinct because Ants actually prey on insects that spread diseases. They also enrich the soil, which helps us grow food, and they protect vital plants in our ecosystem.

7 REAL & Creepy Places That Science CAN'T EXPLAIN

7 REAL & Creepy Places That Science CAN'T EXPLAIN

The Hessdalen Lights Nope it’s not in the States, it is in Europe, Northern Europe that is. And yes, it has lights but just only not on the sky. Imagine every day (and night) of your life in an X Files episode. Because, yes that is what actually happens to these fearless Vikings. Night after night, strange lights appear in the sky, dance around in patterns, and even flash in different colors.
 And this isn't just a couple of drunken Euro hillbillies taking grainy pictures. Science confirms the Hessdalen Lights are a real thing, and they don't know what causes them.creepy, places, around the world, world, most, worst, science, can’t explain, what’s the most, real places, creepiest, weirdest places, scariest, on earth, creepiest places on earth, facts, myths, haunted places, haunted, caught, japan, island, abandoned, spooky, list, Hessdalen Lights, Sleep Epidemic Of Kazakhstan, Fairy Circles, Namibia, Taos Hum, Devil's Kettle, Saint Louis Valley, Aokigahara Forrest, One frightening theory, which has been given some credence by a few tests, is that the valley is actually highly radioactive. Radon piggybacks on dust particles until it gets up in the atmosphere and decays, producing the lights. So they’re not exactly disco lights. Other scientists think that the valley might actually be one enormous C cell battery. It's been established that one wall of the valley is rich with copper deposits, and the other is rich with zinc, and that's pretty much the basic composition of batteries.

The Sleep Epidemic Of Kazakhstan Imagine calling in you’re sick after a night out. A hard night out! Or just saying you overslept. There is a pretty big chance they will believe you if you’re in Kalachi, Kasakhstan. Over the past few years, hundreds of residents of Kalachi have reported dropping unconscious, seemingly at random. The problem became so prolific that Kazakhstan even evacuated the town's inhabitants. The leading creepy, places, around the world, world, most, worst, science, can’t explain, what’s the most, real places, creepiest, weirdest places, scariest, on earth, creepiest places on earth, facts, myths, haunted places, haunted, caught, japan, island, abandoned, spooky, list, Hessdalen Lights, Sleep Epidemic Of Kazakhstan, Fairy Circles, Namibia, Taos Hum, Devil's Kettle, Saint Louis Valley, Aokigahara Forrest, hypothesis is that the residents of Kalachi are suffering the effects of radiation poisoning, since the town is close to a uranium mine that adheres to the stringent regulations you could expect from Kazakhstan. But that doesn’t stand as the neighboring town is closer to the mine and no such things have been reported. Also, all of the blood tests have turned out normal, which leads some to believe that the situation might be a case of good old-fashioned hysteria. Or maybe it is just easier to say something unknown wiped you off your feet instead of admitting you watched Miss Kazakhstan until early morning.

The Fairy Circles Of Namibia Or what one would descreepy, places, around the world, world, most, worst, science, can’t explain, what’s the most, real places, creepiest, weirdest places, scariest, on earth, creepiest places on earth, facts, myths, haunted places, haunted, caught, japan, island, abandoned, spooky, list, Hessdalen Lights, Sleep Epidemic Of Kazakhstan, Fairy Circles, Namibia, Taos Hum, Devil's Kettle, Saint Louis Valley, Aokigahara Forrest, cribe as fields of grass frequently interrupted by patches where nothing will grow.

The Taos Hum If others believe you are one of those persons that is considered to hear anything – sound frequency wise not gossip – then you might just know what it feels like to be slowly driven insane by a sound you can barely detect.creepy, places, around the world, world, most, worst, science, can’t explain, what’s the most, real places, creepiest, weirdest places, scariest, on earth, creepiest places on earth, facts, myths, haunted places, haunted, caught, japan, island, abandoned, spooky, list, Hessdalen Lights, Sleep Epidemic Of Kazakhstan, Fairy Circles, Namibia, Taos Hum, Devil's Kettle, Saint Louis Valley, Aokigahara Forrest, Since the 1990s, residents of Taos, New Mexico have reported a constant, ceaseless humming noise that permeates the entire town and drives them close to barely distinguishable madness. Apart from

SIMPLE Questions Science Still CAN'T EXPLAIN

SIMPLE Questions Science Still CAN'T EXPLAIN

The field of science is capable of some amazing things, mostly because it's filled with all the Albert Einsteins and Doogie Howsers the world has produced over the centuries. But it may shock you that some of the most mundane, everyday concepts are as big a mystery to scientists as they are to the average toddler. Well, if you count K.N.D. , dexter, jimmy neutron then life itself will be really confusing. 5 Simple Questions You Won't Believe Science Can't Answer Things like .

5. Laughter, why do we do it? Despite the fact that it's something we do every day, scientists aren't entirely sure why humans laugh and there are only a few species on the planet that do it. Despite another fact that many other animals also have complex social structures like our own, they appear to be largely humourless. Don’t kill me laughter isn't necessarily anything to do with humour, anyone who has politely sat through their father-in-law's jokes will attest to that. It is reckoned that only around 20% of laughter is in response to an actual funny joke or a stimulus like tickling, the rest is made up of the polite guffaws and awkward giggles that punctuate conversation without anything really being funny. (don’t lie to me I know I’m in that category) It is also thought that perhaps laughter is used as a way of controlling the behaviour in our social groups. The difference between "laughing with" and "laughing at" , could be the key to this. When you laugh at someone, you are essentially telling them that their behaviour is not acceptable to your group, either pushing them out or forcing them to alter it, whereas "laughing with" is a signal that the behaviour is accepted within the group. The fact that humour plays a role in sexual selection - that women love a sense of humour - could be the reason for its prevalence in humans as it would be a successful trait passed down through generations. Too bad all topics aren’t about that though. And that’s it for laughter I guess, psychologist scientists have better things to do. (more science!!)

4 Why is Ice Slippery Saying that ice is slippery is like saying that water is wet -- it's something we've known for as long as we can be said to have known anything. Presumably, humans as a species knew ice was slippery before we knew fire was hot, or that it existed. But ask anyone why, and they won't be able to give you any better explanation than one of those cave people would have. Our intern Thoog suspects that either evil spirits or flash thawing is the culprit. Although at this point, most of you are probably screaming "It's water, stupid!" -- and that's more or less the answer that scientists have always concluded. Even in some modern textbooks you can still read the popular explanation: Unlike most substances, ice expands when it freezes. So when you walk on it, you're actually compacting it back into slippery old water. Sounds simple, right? Experiments have shown that your puny body doesn't exert nearly enough pressure on ice to squeeze even a tiny bit of it into liquid. Science: "We don't know ... ice fairies, maybe? (hey listen! I have the answer) *Zelda rap* hey listen you annoying- " There are some competing theories, though none of them are better than the others. One popular theory is that ice is not actually slippery at all. Though this sounds like something that science, exasperated, would proclaim while waving a gun in your face to make you stop asking stupid questions, a guy named Dr. Salmeron thinks that the roughness on the surface of ice is actually so high that, ironically, it becomes slippery when you flash-melt it due to the sheer friction you're applying to it. Of course, in the same breath, Dr. Salmeron admits he may be talking out of his ass. (sigh) or it’s so smooth of a surface, that there’s no friction at all. (it’s complicated!!)

3. why does boiling water freeze faster than cold water