50 Birds of the Paris Zoo at Jardin des Plantes

Temminck's Tragopan (Pheasant)

Pied Imperial Pigeon

Mandarin Duck

Southern Cassowary

Ural Owl

Palm Cockatoo

Red-Headed Vulture

Kookaburra

Red-Vented Cockatoo

Red-Billed Blue Magpie

Alexandrine Parakeet

Egyptian Vulture

Southern Screamer

Luzon Bleeding-Heart Dove

Scarlet Macaw

King Vulture

Blue-and-Yellow Macaw

Blue-and-Yellow Macaw

Blue-and-Yellow Macaw

Blue-and-Yellow Macaw

Great Green Macaw

Tawny Owl

Spectacled Owl

Eurasian Eagle-Owl

Eurasian Magpie

Grey Wagtail

Asian Houbara Bustard

American Flamingo

American Flamingo

American Flamingo

American Flamingo

European Roller

Snowy Owl

Chestnut Teal

Demoiselle Crane

Black-Crowned Night Heron

Violet Turaco

Wood Pigeon

Palawan Peacock-Pheasant

Great Horned Owl

Red-Breasted Goose

Emu

Pigeon and Starling

Black-Winged Stilt

Kea

Bali Starling

White-Naped Crane

White-Winged Duck

Red-Legged Seriema

Emerald Dove

Eurasian Stone-Curlew

Little Egret

Mandarin Duck

Sclater's Crowned Pigeon

Red-Whiskered Bulbul

Tawny Frogmouth

Greater Rhea

Greater Rhea

Blue Crane

Hawaiian Goose

Ruddy Shelduck

Monk Parakeet

Carolina Duck - Wood Duck

Common Moorhen

Visayan Hornbill

MARTINA NICOLLS

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MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...

Hop on hop off bus tourism comes to Tbilisi, Georgia

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