What you must feed a baby bird? Baby Bird Feed | What do baby birds eat? | How often you should feed the Hatchlings, Nestlings, and Flegdelings? | List of some suitable food for baby birds |Never feed these things to the baby birds

When the bird's nest is physically disturbed by external factors like wind, quakes, or predators, the contents of the bird's nest for example the eggs or young birds can tumble down. The eggs cannot be saved but if you find a fallen baby bird you can do something to save its life.  

If you find an abandoned or fallen baby bird:-

1) You should place the chick in the nest (if there is one nearby). 

2) If possible you must contact the nearest Animal Shelter or Animal NGO. 

3) Take Care of it till it is old enough to become independent.

Diet is an important component that is to be considered when you're taking care of a growing baby bird.

You must do some research about the bird species. You must identify the species of the bird. The dietary elements may vary based on the species of bird.

Birds can be divided based on their dietary habits. For eg., Granivorous, frugivores, nectivores, piscivores, scavengers, and insectivores consume seeds/grains, fruits, nectar, fish, meat/dead animals, and insects respectively.

Therefore, the identification of species can help in understanding the diet of the baby bird.

Here is a list of some suitable food for baby birds:

1. Moisten Dog Food

2. Moisten Cat Food

3. Egg (Hard Boiled)

4. Raw Liver

5. Worms or insects.

6. Moisten and blended/ground cereals.

While feeding the baby birds, make sure that the food;

1. must be moistened (not dry at all).

2. must be crush or chopped into tiny bits.

3. must be at room temperature.

4. must not be overfed.

5. must not be forced.

If the bird still won't open its mouth, gently force it open. Keep feeding until the bird is reluctant to open its beak or starts rejecting the food. It is important not to overfeed the chicks.

What you must never feed the baby birds:

1. Bread and bakery products.

2. Kitchen waste

3. Water

4. Milk

5. Any liquid beverage.

6. Very Dry Food.

Adult birds do not feed milk, water, or any other liquid to their baby. Never feed Water, milk, or liquid beverage to the baby birds. The fluid can fill their lungs and cause them to drown. Moisten food fulfills their body's fluid necessity. You must try to feed, the food materials which is naturally available to an adult bird.

Hatchlings

Nestlings and Fledglings

How often you should feed the baby birds?

Baby birds have very demanding feeding schedules. The parent birds make numerous trips per day to forage for food material. You must try to replicate this feeding schedule. You must feed the baby bird every 15 to 20 minutes from sunrise to sunset. Nestlings need to be fed every hour and fledglings every two hours a day.

Pigeon Milk

Veterinarian Pippa Elliott says, "Birds such as doves and pigeons, parrots, hummingbirds, fish-eating birds, birds of prey and any precocial chicks.

Doves, pigeons, and parrot-like birds usually eat what’s called pigeon milk, a substance regurgitated by the mother. To replicate this, you will need to feed these chicks a hand-feeding formula designed for parrots (available at pet supply stores) through a plastic syringe with the needle removed.

Although it's less likely that you'll encounter the other breeds of chicks, their requirements are as follows: Hummingbirds will need a specialized nectar formula, fish-eating birds will need chopped up minnows (available at fish bait stores), birds of prey will eat insects, rodents and smaller chicks, and baby precocial birds will do well on turkey or game bird starter."

Here’s how you can support ZoologicalWisdom:

1) Subscribe to the YouTube channel of ZoologicalWisdom.

2) Follow us on Instagram/Facebook.

3) Share the videos/posts.

4) Follow the ZoologicalWisdom’s Blog. (On Blogger)

5) Give your feedback/suggestions in the comment sections.

Introduction To Parasitology | Parasitology Notes | Definitions

Parasitology is an important topic from various competitive as well as academic exams point of view. A large number of animals, microorganisms as well as plants are studied under this specialized field of biology.

TapeWorm (Intestinal Parasite)

What is Parasitology?

It is a branch of biological science that studies the parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. It deals with the study of parasites and is concerned with the study of protozoans, helminths, and arthropods which are parasitic to the animal kingdom.

Watch my video on Introduction to Parasitology: https://youtu.be/Icf2SGK9CF8

What is a parasite?

The word Parasite comes from the Latin form of the Greek word 'Parasitos', which means, “One who eats at the table of another”. This means that a parasite is someone who depends on others. This simply means that parasites cannot survive independently in nature

According to Centres for Disease Control (CDC), a parasite has defined as an organism that lives on or in a host organism and gets its food from or at the expense of its host.

Parasitism is a type of Symbiosis.

Symbiosis is any type of close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualism, commensalism, predation, neutralism, or parasitism

Parasitism is the intimate and continuous interaction between two heterospecific species, in which one species (parasite) is benefitted by obtaining food, shelter, or other physiological features while harming the other species (Host). 

An organism which provides parasite with all the necessary biological requirement and is negatively affected is called as Host.

The parasite which lives inside the host has developed some specializations like increased fecundity, regeneration, polyembryony, and different mechanisms for transmission. Because, the host body will try to eliminate or overpower them as they are foreign bodies by producing WBCs, antibodies, diarrhea, mucus secretion, and so on. These are called host-parasite interactions.

A parasite can cause the destruction of host tissues, induce sterility, death rates, infect, and affects the nutritional status of the host. A successful parasite usually never kills the host but leaves in it as the death of the host will lead to its death. 

A wide range of organisms is parasitic, from viruses, bacteria, protozoa, fungi, to plants and animals Parasites include protozoans such as the causative agents of malaria, amoebic dysentery; fungi such as honey fungus and the agents of ringworm; plants such as mistletoe, dodder, and strangler fig; animals such as hookworms, lice, mosquitoes, and vampire bats. 

Humans are hosts to nearly 300 species of parasitic worms and over 70 species of protozoa, some derived from our primate ancestors and some acquired from the animals we have domesticated or come in contact with during our relatively short history on Earth. However, all parasite does not cause disease, the disease-causing parasites are called as pathogenic parasites or pathogens. 

Parasitism helps in regulating the population size and also in maintaining the balance of nature. It controls the population size and also ensures the continuous coexistence of both the host and parasite.

To get more notes on parasitology in the future, follow ZoologicalWisdom.

Visit my Instagram handle to see infographics on different parasites.

Here’s how you can support ZoologicalWisdom:

1) Subscribe to the YouTube channel of ZoologicalWisdom.

2) Follow us on Instagram/Facebook.

3) Share the videos/posts.

4) Follow the Zoological Wisdom’s Blog. (On Blogger)

5) Give your feedback/suggestions in the comment sections.

How to identify Venomous and Non-Venomous Snakes? Snake Identification based on the Tail, Ventral scales, nature of the Head, Vertebral scales and Jaw scales.

Snakes are extremely well- adapted to a wide variety of habitats namely aquatic, fossorial, arboreal, and terrestrial. The variation of their sizes, shapes, and colors is generally due to the adaptive radiation in a mode of life. Snakes are intrinsically fascinating and form an important component of the biota. Naturally, their curious mode of propulsion, venom, and constricting mechanism have made them an important group of predators, and the interactions maintain a natural balance in almost every ecosystem.

About 3500 species of snakes are recorded on earth inhabiting both land and sea, of which about 375 are venomous. Snakes are abundant all over the world except in the Arctics, New Zealand, and Ireland. It is postulated that there are about 3000 species of terrestrial snakes in the world and they are predominant in the warm climates and lush green regions of the tropics. About 278 species are found in India out of which 58 species are venomous. The snakes are objects of fascination for studies since time immemorial. The body of a snake is often modified to suit its ecological conditions

Fifteen families are currently recognized, comprising 456 genera and over 2,900 terrestrial species. They range in size from the tiny, 10 cm long thread snake to pythons and anacondas of up to 7.6 meters (25 ft) in length.

But, why is basic snake identification skills important?

Increasing industrialization and urbanization have led to habitat loss of these reptiles. Presently many snakes have made their appearance in and around areas with proximity to the human population due to loss of habitats and environmental stress. During such conflicts, people with lesser knowledge about snakes tend to harm or kill the animal for protecting themselves. Many times, non-venomous species are mistaken as venomous ones and are killed. Therefore, basic knowledge of snake identification is required if your residential area also has snake inhabitants. Whenever you spot a snake in your vicinity do not handle it on your own unless you are experienced in snake rescuing. You can either contact a local snake rescuer or an animal rescue NGO if you spot a snake in your residential vicinity.

Snake Identification: (You can use shredded snakeskin and not a live snake for safety purpose)

Starting with the tail:

1) When the tail is Flat and laterally compressed the snake is considered to be venomous for example sea snakes. The majority of sea snakes are highly venomous and all of them have flattened tails.

 Yellow-Bellied Sea Snake (Hydrophis platurus)

2) When the tail is cylindrical and blunt like that of sand boas, then that snake is non-venomous.

Red Sand Boa (Eryx johnii)

3)When the tail is cylindrical and round like that of Terrestrial or land snakes, they can either be venomous or non-venomous

So, the snakes which have cylindrical and round tail they are classified into two categories based on scales on their belly i.e., ventral scales.

A. If the Snake has small scales on the belly and back region like that of Buff Striped Keelback, then it is non-venomous.

 Buff Striped Keelback (Amphiesma stolatum)

Small scales on the belly

B. Those having narrow belly scales like Sand Boa are considered to be non-venomous.

Narrow ventral scales

C. While the snakes having broad belly scales and cover the entire girth of the belly region,

Broad ventral scales

 are further classified into three categories based on the nature of the head:

a) If the scales on the head are small and no pits are visible then the snake is considered to be venomous for example Saw-Scaled Viper (Echis carinatus) and Russell’s Viper (Daboia russelii)

Saw-Scaled Viper (Echis carinatus) head

b) If there is a loreal pit between nostril and eye along with small scales on the head, then the snake is considered venomous. For example, Pit Vipers.

Bamboo Pit Viper (Trimeresurus gramineus)

c) When the snakes have Shields on their head, 

they are further classified into three more categories based on the vertebral scales and jaw scales:

i) When the vertebral scales are not large, the third supra labial shield (upper jaw) is large touching the nostril and eye then the snake is venomous for example cobras and Coral snake

ii) If the Vertebral scales (mid-dorsal on back) are large and hexagonal, four infra labial scales with 4th one largest then the snake is venomous for example Common Krait (Bungarus caeruleus)

Common Krait (Bungarus caeruleus) infralabial scales

iii) The last category is where none of the prior mentioned features are seen, they are non-venomous. E.g., Indian Rat snake (Ptyas mucosa).

Indian Rat snake (Ptyas mucosa)

I am organizing a quiz on Snake Identification of species endemic to India on the 29th of May link will be made available through the Instagram handle whose link is in the description.

Visit my Instagram handle to see different snake identification and detailed posts on snakes.

Here’s how you can support ZoologicalWisdom:

1) Subscribe to the YouTube channel of ZoologicalWisdom.

2) Follow us on Instagram/Facebook.

3) Share the videos/posts.

4) Follow the ZoologicalWisdom’s Blog. (On Blogger)

5) Give your feedback/suggestions in the comment sections.

Why How and Which Animals Can Change Colors -10 Amazing Animals That Change Their Colors Other Than Chameleons and Humans

 

“Mother Nature is the greatest artist” -  Rico Besserdich

What comes to your mind first when you read or hear ‘color changing’ animals? Maybe a chameleon or people who constantly change their colors through their behavior. Therefore, I have not included Chameleon and humans in the following list as both of them are very popular in terms of color change and everyone is well aware of them. A wide variety of species of arthropods, cephalopods (squid, cuttlefish, octopuses, and their relatives), amphibians, reptiles, and fish can change color.

You can watch YouTube video on this topic which includes amazing short videos of these animals:  https://youtu.be/7pZO4pj7C0s 

First of all, let’s understand why the organism has to change its color. There are three main reasons to change color:

a)              to avoid predators (camouflage)

b)             to hunt

c)              to communicate (for mating, warning, etc)

How do organisms change their colors?

This depends on what species we are considering. The majority of species perform Metachrosis. Metachrosis is a mechanism by which rapid color change is done through the translocation of pigments and reorientation of reflective plates within small, sack-like organs known as chromatophores. Certain species of insects perform regulation of fluids within the exoskeleton which results in color change. Whereas, certain organisms do not have any control over color change, for this they depend on environmental conditions.

 

Here is the list of 10 organisms that can change their color:

 

Big Blue Octopus (Octopus cyanae)

1.     Big Blue Octopus (Octopus cyanae): It is found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. This diurnal octopus has special cells called chromatophores. Whenever an octopus sees a prey or predator, then the brain of the octopus sends a signal to these chromatophores and changes the color. There are some muscles under the skin of the octopus that give a smooth or bumpy appearance to the octopus according to the environment.

 

White banded Crab Spider (Misuminoides formosipus)

2.    White  banded Crab Spider (Misuminoides formosipus): They are native to parts of the United States as well as Canada. The line or ridge-like appearance in the area near its face, below the eyes, earns the species its name. These spiders can change the colors between yellow and and it can take up to three days to change the colors. color is obtained due to present guanine and uric acid in their epidermis and yellow color is obtained due to ommochrome pigments. These spiders hide by changing the color between the flowers which is called camouflage and prey on the other insects/pollinators.

 

Common Cuttlefish

3.     Cuttlefish: Commonly known as cuttles, they are cephalopods of Order Sepiida. They are distributed around the world, and over 120 unique cuttlefish species have been discovered. Many species of cuttlefish can change color. Cuttlefish is also called the ‘Chameleon of The Sea’ because it can change the color of its skin within a second. Cuttlefishes use their skin color to avoid predators and for camouflage. They also change the color, pattern, and shape of their skin to communicate with other cuttlefish and to capture their prey. This is done by using chromatophores, iridophores, and leucophores under their skin.

 

Golden Tortoise Beetle (Charidotella sexpunctata)

4.     Golden Tortoise Beetle (Charidotella sexpunctata): The golden tortoise beetle is distributed widely in eastern North America, west to about Iowa and Texas.  Its color appears golden because it reflects light rays with fluids present in its exoskeleton. But when external conditions change the beetle has a rare ability to dry the fluids which changes its color to dark red. Its exoskeletons have numerous layers. It adjusts the fluid in it to reflect different wavelengths of light and displays a variety of color shades. Scientists have not found out why the beetles change color, but they think that this helps in avoiding predators by showing the beetle as a poisonous insect.

 

Pacific Tree Frog (Pseudacris regilla)

5.     Pacific Tree Frog (Pseudacris regilla): This amphibian is also known as the Pacific chorus frog. The Pacific Tree Frog ranges from British Columbia, Canada to the tip of Baja California, México, and eastward to Montana and Nevada. It can change its color from brown to green. But neither does it change the color to match its surroundings nor it controls this color change. Chromatophores under their skin change color according to air temperature and humidity, which means that color change depends on the environment, not on the frog.

Flounder (Flatfish)

6.     Flounders: They are a group of flatfish species. It changes color to match its surrounding. The process of changing colors and textures is very complex and its mechanism is not completely understood yet. It changes color in just 8 seconds and its eyes and hormones are involved in this process. By experiments, it is known that they can change colors like the Checkerboard of Chess.

Seahorses (Hippocampus sp.)

7.     Seahorses (Hippocampus sp.): Seahorses also change color chromatophores, which are embedded in their skin. Each chromatophore contains one of three or four pigments. Enlargement or retrenchment of the chromatophores via tiny muscles results in different colors being exhibited with varying intensity. The color change is used to avoid predators and to communicate with other Seahorses.

Mimic Octopus [left] mimicking the sea creatures (Flatfish, Lionfish, Seasnake)[right]

8.     Mimic Octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus): It inhibits the Indo-Pacific oceans. This octopus changes color and mimics other animals such as sea snake, jellyfish, lionfish, sea anemone, mantis shrimp, crabs, and flatfish. It changes the color to frighten the predators, as camouflage, and to attract the prey. It is seen that mimic octopus can mimic the predator’s predator. It is intelligent enough to decide which mimicry behavior would be most suitable at moment and acts upon it. This octopus also has chromatophores under its skin.

Squid

9.     Squids: Squids are cephalopods of Superorder Decapodiformes whose skin is covered in controllable chromatophores of different colors, enabling the squid to match its coloration to its surroundings. They can also change colors like cuttlefish, octopus, and other cephalopods for camouflage, communication, protection, and hunting. Squid make use of diverse kinds of camouflage, namely dynamic camouflage for background corresponding (in shallow water) and counter-illumination (Bioluminescence). This helps to protect them from their predators and allows them to approach their prey.

 Betta Fish (Betta splendens)

10.  Betta Fishes (Betta splendens): It is endemic to the freshwaters of southeast Asia and is also known as Siamese Fighting Fish. It is an aquarium pet fish that changes color over time in response to the diet, age, aquarium conditions (temperature, pH, salinity, etc.) stress, or disease. Similar to the Pacific Tree Frog, it changes colors with respect to environmental changes. If you have this fish in your aquarium, you must have seen it changing colors.

Here ends the list of organisms that changes color. As I said in the beginning, there are many more such organisms in wild that change their color. Comment those which I have not enlisted in this list.

Here’s how you can support ZoologicalWisdom:

1)    Subscribe to the YouTube channel of ZoologicalWisdom.

2)    Follow us on Instagram/ Facebook.

3)    Share the videos/posts.

4)    Follow the ZoologicalWisdom’s Blog. (On Blogger or Medium or BuyMeACoffee)

5)    Give your feedback/suggestions in the comment sections.

6 Mnemonic devices To Remember Taxonomic Hierarchy | Taxonomy Mnemonics | Biology Mnemonic In Hindi | Biology Short Tricks

 

A mnemonic is a device or series of words that helps us remember certain facts or large amounts of information. They can come in the form of a song, rhyme, acronym, image, phrase, or sentence. Mnemonics help us remember facts and are particularly useful when the order of things is important. Taxonomy is a very important and vast topic. It is studied in biology lower classes at a basic level as well as in Zoology/Botany at a higher level. To remember the sequence of taxa in the Taxonomic hierarchy, mnemonics are given below. I hope this will be helpful.

The taxonomic Hierarchy in Kingdom Animalia consists of 8 major taxa. They are:

1.   Domain

2.  Kingdom

3.   Phylum

4.   Class

5.    Order

6.    Family

7.    Genus

8.    Species

x

    So, D-K-P-C-O-F-G-S are the initials of each taxon from which a mnemonical sentence can be formed. Here are 6 mnemonic devices to memorize the taxonomic classification system in the above-mentioned sequence.

1. Dear King Plays Chess On Fine Green Slate/Sand.

2. Dangerous Kangaroo Punches Charles On Five Gum Sores.

3. Did King Phillip Came Over For Great Spaghetti/Soup?

4. David Kelly Please Catch Only Four Green Snakes.

5. Do Kindly Place Candy Out For Good Students.

6. Deer Killed Painfully Cries On Five Gun Shots.

To learn more about taxonomy and biological classification watch:

All About Taxonomy | TAXONOMIC HIERARCHY | TAXONOMY EXPLAINED: https://youtu.be/ACMy4t0HM-Q ​

History of Biological Classification | All About Biological Nomenclature | Rules Advantages & Codes: https://youtu.be/nwllwWVE-5M

Zoological Wisdom Links:-

Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/zoologicalwisdom/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ZoologicalWisdom/

Buy me a coffee Page: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Zoologicalwisdo

Blogger: https://zoologicalwisdom.blogspot.com

Medium: http://zoologicalwisdom.medium.com

ARE YOU CHOOSING YOUR CAREER OR SOMEONE ELSE IS DOING IT FOR YOU ?

          This article is exclusively for those students and their parents who are busy deciding their career path. In today's competitive world, participation in the rat race is preferred over the interests of a person. In this world, happiness is achieved through the satisfaction that one is better than the other and not by doing what we like. The rat race begins in one's life when that person is forced, obligated or convinced to choose a certain career. At this very point in life, a person kills his/her interests when he/she tends to do what someone else is telling him/her to do. This is the reason behind why we often hear people saying that "I am bored of this job or profession". If a person does what he/she likes the most, there is no chance of getting bored in future this is what I think. In between all of this, the importance of some courses is degraded to glorify certain courses which are disliked by the student. This has resulted in the selection of a handful of courses that are glorified and are considered prestigious by people over generations.

93% Indian students aware of just seven career options as per reported by India today’s survey which got responses from 10,000 students of age group 14 to 21 years. According to researchers, India has a variety of 250 career options offered across 40 fields covering 5,000 job types.

Zoology is one of such subjects which people think is of no use. Zoology is a branch of biology that studies overall aspects of the animal kingdom, which is an important part of Earth and Nature. In my case, when I tell the people that I am pursuing a degree of science in Zoology, a kind of question mark appears on their faces. They have no idea about it. Some of them even try to convince me to change the course and study something else. “What will you do afterwards, there is no scope in it, the pay scale is too low, etc.?” I hear many such things from almost every person I meet who doesn't have any idea about the complexity, vastness and future of this course. Animals, environment, forests, sustainable development, wildlife, etc. "Who cares about them?" is a common misconception in minds of such people. But my parents supported my decision of choosing zoology as major subject for my bachelor’s degree, because I was able to convince them and explained them the scope of this field. That is what matters to me and I think no one else has any right to comment about someone’s career choice.

There are many instances where parents are seen to suggest, explain, convince even force the child to opt specific courses. There is nothing wrong with that because the parents feel that their child must have a good life or even better life than theirs. Now, here it is the responsibility of the child to convince the parents most ethically and scientifically. The child should express his/her interest, why he/she is willing to do that course, what is the scope, what are the pros and cons, what are the job profiles, what are your goals, make them read this article, etc. There must be a positive level of transparency between you and your parents so that they can believe in you. The important factor which can influence your parents is the scope of this course and job profile. Dear parents, neither science is greater to commerce nor medical/engineering is greater than bachelor’s degree. Every course exists and is offered because it has distinct level of importance in separate dimensions of life. I hope this article was successful in its motive. At the end of the day its your life and what I think is your life is your making.

-Meehir Pawar

Instagram, YouTube, Buy me a coffee Page