Wildlife Bits

noreply@blogger.com (fcdbelize) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 22:40:00 +0000

Wildlife monitoring is an ongoing process for FCD. FCD’s dedicated team of researchers continue to document wildlife with the use of sophisticated, infra-red Reconyx cameras.

The Ocellated turkey (Meleagris ocellata) is a species of turkey found in Belize, Guatemala and Mexico. In Belize Ocellated turkeys are most often found in tropical deciduous and lowland evergreen forests as well as clearings and abandoned farm plots. Ocellated turkeys can be spotted in the Chiquibul forest where it resides as well as other forested areas in the country. This specie of turkey is a relatively large bird, at around 28–48 inches long and an average weight of 6.6 lbs in females and 11 lbs in males.

These turkeys have a brilliant and iridescent bronze-green plumage. The head is blue in both sexes, but the males have a fleshy crown behind the snood which is covered with yellow-orange nodules. The spots, or ocelli (located on the tail), for which the Ocellated Turkey is named, have been likened to the patterning typically found on peacock’s tail feathers. Males over one year old have spurs at least 1.5 inches in length. The eye is surrounded by a ring of bright red skin, which is most visible on males during breeding season.

Turkeys spend most of the time on the ground and often prefer to run to escape danger through the day rather than fly, though they can fly swiftly and powerfully for short distances. An Ocellated turkey’s diet consists mainly of seeds, berries, insects and leaves. Roosting is usually high in trees away from night hunting predators such as Jaguars and usually in a family group.

Female ocellated turkeys lay 8-15 eggs in a well concealed nest on the ground. She incubates the eggs for 28 days. The young are precocial and able to leave the nest after one night. They then follow their mother until they reach young adulthood though often re-grouping to roost at night. In Belize this magnificent bird is threatened by large scale timbering operations followed by slash and burn agriculture and overhunting.

The shape of things to come

noreply@blogger.com (fcdbelize) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 20:20:00 +0000