• Ducks are members of the Anatidae, which also includes geese and swans.
• Most ducks are omnivorous, but some are primarily herbivores and others are mostly carnivorous.
• Plants eaten include seeds, aquatic grasses, and submerged pond weeds. 
• Animals eaten include invertebrates, fish eggs, and fish. 
• Ducks switch their diet to mostly invertebrates prior to breeding and when the are young.  This gives them more energy for growth and breeding.
• Males are brightly colored, while the females generally sport drab brown or gray feathers.  The bright colors of the male are one way the gain a mate.  The colors actually connote the genetic quality and health. 
• The Mallard is the most well know example of a difference in coloration, but the wood duck is the most colorful in North America.
• Ducks are sort of faithful to their partners.  They find a new one each year.  The male leave after the beginning stages of incubation.
• They nest in a depression scraped in ground lined with vegetation and down from female's breast
• Most widespread and abundant duck in North America, and the most heavily hunted. Populations closely tracked by wildlife agencies.
• Dabbles, filter-feeds at surface of water, tips-up in shallow water, and makes occasional dives in deeper water.
• Insects and larvae, aquatic invertebrates, seeds, acorns, aquatic vegetation, grain.

Youtube.com Duck Videos

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1PiiugqtjI&feature=related

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91kNo4s8ARc&feature=related

The Infamous "non-duck" Daffy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG_z8quQiVg  

Information found here: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Mallard_dtl.html#habitat

Western Lowland Gorilla

Gorilla Facts
• We’re the largest of the great apes.
• We’re usually gentle, becoming aggressive only to defend our families. Don’t be fooled by our grumpy faces!
• An adult male (that’s me!) can grow to six feet and 400-600 lbs! Wow! Females are about four and a half feet and about 200 lbs.
• Our arms are longer than our legs.
• We groom by running our fingers through our hair and picking out little icky bits that have gotten caught there. But I don’t groom anyone…my lady friends do all the grooming for me and the kids.
• We can live to 55 years.
• I’m a lowland gorilla, but there are also mountain gorillas, which are the ones Dian Fossey studied. I guess she thought we weren’t as cool as them.
• We live in troops. Sounds militaristic, doesn’t it? But it’s not. There can be up to thirty of us in a troop—a dominant male, a few younger males, some females, and the young.
• The strongest silverback (which is a mature male gorilla, like me!) is the leader of the troop. He protects the troop and decides where to sleep and looks for food. Talk about patriarchy…it’s awesome!
• Also, the dominant silverback mates with any female in the troop. Heck yeah.
• Anyone who challenges the dominant silverback will probably meet with physical and vocal displays of aggression. That’s right, don’t mess with me.
• At the first sign of danger, the troop silently moves away. (We’re not cowards, we’re just not stupid.)
• We spend most of our time on the ground.
• We build nests out of leaves to sleep in.
• We’re vegetarians—we eat roots, shoots, wild celery, fruit, and tree bark. Yum!
• We don’t drink much water, since we get enough from the things we eat.
• Our senses are close to humans, and we have opposable thumbs!
• We walk on our knuckles.
• We travel 300-6,000 feet per day, finding food as we go.
• The noises we make include: belching (contentment), pig grunt (discipline) hoot-bark (curiosity or alarm).
• Chest and thigh beating can mean aggression or play. (Trust me, it’s fun! You should try it sometime.
• We live in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, but no one’s really sure how many of us are left. Sadly, we’re endangered.
• We don’t have any natural enemies except for humans.

Information from:
Zoo signs
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/lowland-gorilla.html
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/apes/gorilla/
http://www.koko.org/about/facts.html
Pictures from:
http://www.naturalsciences.be/science/projects/gorilla/aboutgorilla/taxo/external/pictures/aboutgorilla/legorille_lowland%20gorilla%20res.jpg
http://www.sierraclub.org/wildlegacy/blog/uploaded_images/Gorilla_Bristol_zoo_western_lowland_standing_knuckles-725248.jpg

From Jim Cosgrove's Octopus Adventures:

--when the octopus is not hunting or mating it mainly stays inside its den.
--when there is activity going on outside the den, the octopus will stay inside and "no human is strong enough to pull it out."
--the suckers and the inside of the mantle (both of which are white) are the only areas that cannot change colors.
--when need be they will hold their breath so the white inside of the mantle won't show, but they can do this for no longer than 5 minutes.

From the article on the Giant Pacific Octopus:

--it's a mollusc in the same family as snails, clams, and oysters.
--more specifically it falls under the classification of cephalopod meaning "head-foot" because its 8 "feet" (arms) are directly attached to its head around the mouth/beak.
--some variety of octopus makes an appearance in all the world's oceans, but they don't live in fresh water.
--the Giant Pacific Octopus is the largest octopus in the world.
--females usually don't exceed 55 lbs.
--it tastes with its suckers, of which there are 2 rows per arm-up to 1600 in all.
--they are invertebrates--a.k.a. no bones.
--the only hard part of their body is the beak which is made out of a material similar to human fingernails.
--their bite is poisonous, although the only octopus that is known to have killed a human with its bite is the Blue-ringed Octopus of Australia, usually the venom just paralyzes the victim temporarily.
--octopuses have highly developed brains and fantastic eyesight.
--the body of an octopus is called the mantle-it looks like a bag and moves with the breath (like 3-D breath in movement only much more so).
--the mantle holds the stomach and all the other organs including 3 hearts- 1 at the end of each of the 2 gills and another pumping blood through the rest of the body.
--their blood is pale blue (kind of reminiscent of the aliens in Galaxy Quest!).
--RESPIRATION:
1-octopus breathes in
2-water flows over gills and fills mantle
3-breath goes out and water is forced through a tube (siphon)
--if the octopus is trying to escape it can force water through the siphon at increased speed and propel itself backwards.
--ink is also used as a diversionary tactic when a predator comes too close for comfort.
--females live 3.5 years on average.
--females lay 1000s of eggs-as many as 50,000+ tending them for about 6 months during which time she doesn't eat.
--when the babies first hatch they are approximately the size of a grain of rice.
--it may take up to 3 years for them to grow to the size of their parents.

Monday's Class

Hi everyone

So, tomorrow is Watering Hole. Bring food for your animal. And costume

It'll be a BLAST - ground rules will be dispensed tomorrow.

matt

The Black and White Colobus Monkey

 

·      These monkeys can be found all across equatorial Africa

·      About 62 inches long and weigh about 30 lbs.

·      Eat leaves, buds, seeds, and sometimes fruit and their stomach is comprised of three to four subcompartments

·      Long black fur coat with white stripes running down side of back

·      Tail that is usually longer than body that is black and gradually gets bushy and white

·      Live in groups of 7 to 11 monkeys including the male, some females, and offspring

·      Troops mark territory and communicate vocally to protect their territory and warn others of danger

·      Long-range communication is done by the males jumping up and down in the trees and letting out a shrill roar

·      Rarely come down to the ground and rely very heavily on trees for living in and for camoflauge

·      Major threats are habitat destruction and being hunted/captured for sale and trade

Seaworld-More than just Shamu

the best penguin site ever 

also, there is some really cool stuff on JSTOR that shows mathematical ratios of penguins to krill (penguin food)

Orangutans

SWEET ORANGUTANS

• SOCIAL LIFE: 
• Orangutans are very large animals but very gentle
• They mostly keep to themselves in the trees - making sure to not touch the ground in fear of their predators
• They are active during the day
• They are quiet, besides for the men who have a bellowing mating call and for the babies who squeals
• They spend many hours eating during the day and rarely encounter others of their kind unless they are feeding on the same fruit tree
• HABITAT: 
• They live in the tropical forests, including hill forests and swamp lands
• They are now associated as endangered species and most are found in Borneo where only 40, 000 of them are estimated 
• STATS:
• Live to 35 years old
• Females are usually 1/2 to 1/3 smaller than the males
• Females on average weigh up to 110-150 lbs.
• Females can have one baby every 6-7 years because the infants never leave their mothers and still nurse until they are 6 or 7
• Females aren't ready to reproduce until they are in their teens
• DIET:
• Orangutan's favorite past time is food and especially FRUIT! 
• They will also side for bark, leaves, flowers, insects
• PHYSICAL: 
• Their bodies are physically built to live in the trees and walking on the ground can be difficult for them
• Said to have 4 hands
• Females are about 3.5 ft tall