North American tui (SciiFii)

The North American tui (Neosthemadera columba) is a species of thrush, despite its name, that originally did not exist, but has since been created by SciiFii and introduced throughout the rainforests, wetlands, forests, and open woodlands across North America to help boost biodiversity. North American tui are most similar in appearance, size, and build to the New Zealand tui (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae). The North American tui is a large honeyeater-like thrush, 27 to 32 centimeters (11–13 inches) in length. At first glance the bird appears completely black except for a small tuft of white feathers at its neck and a small white wing patch, causing it to resemble a parson in clerical attire. On closer inspection it can be seen that North American tui have brown feathers on the back and flanks, a multicoloured iridescent sheen that varies with the angle from which the light strikes them, and a dusting of small, white-shafted feathers on the back and sides of the neck that produce a lacy collar. North American tui have a complex variety of songs and calls, much like parrots. They also resemble parrots in their ability to clearly imitate human speech. Nectar is the normal diet, but fruit and insects are frequently eaten, and pollen and seeds more occasionally. North American tui are also known for their noisy, unusual call, different for each individual, that combine American canary-like notes with clicks, cackles, timber-like creaks and groans, and wheezing sounds, nearly identical to the calls made by New Zealand tui. Songbirds have a bifurcated sound producing organ called a syrinx. Passerines like the North American tui have additional muscles giving them the ability to produce complex vocalisations. North American tui song also exhibits geographical, microgeographic, seasonal, sex and individual variation. North American tui will also sing at night, especially around the full moon period. Male North American tui can be extremely aggressive, chasing all other birds (large and small) from their territory with loud flapping and sounds akin to rude human speech. This is especially true of other North American tui when possession of a favoured feeding tree is impinged. Birds will often erect their body feathers in order to appear larger in an attempt to intimidate a rival. They have even been known to mob harriers, hawks, and magpies. The powered flight of North American tui is quite loud as they have developed short wide wings, giving excellent maneuverability in the dense forest they prefer, but requiring rapid flapping. They can be seen to perform a mating display of rising at speed in a vertical climb in clear air, before stalling and dropping into a powered dive, then repeating. Much of this behaviour is more notable during the breeding season of early spring—March and April. Females alone build nests of twigs, grasses and mosses. The conservation status of the North American tui is Least Concern due to successful conservation efforts, the North American tui's wide range and its tolerance to many of the human activities.
Category:Animals
Category:Species
Category:SciiFii