TURPIAL: THE NATIONAL AVE OF VENEZUELA

The turpial is a beautiful singing bird that is distinguished by its black plumage on the head, part of the chest and wings; the rest of the body is earthy yellow, almost orange. On its wings a thin line of white color can be seen. It reaches between 15 and 22 cm. Its beak is coniferous, becoming extremely pointed.

On May 23, 1958 was declared National Bird of Venezuela, after a contest promoted by the Venezuelan Society of Sciences. They accompany it like national Symbols of Venezuela the Araguaney and the Orchid.

The Turpial is a small bird that has a black plumage on its head and tail, while the rest of the body is yellow, on its wings has thin stripes of white. This bird has made it special the particular its particular song, a harmonious song that is usually heard at dawn. The Turpial is found in almost all Venezuelan territory, but especially in the Eastern Plains, also in countries such as Colombia and Panama.

Alone or in pairs, look for fruits and insects, from low to medium heights. It is loud and melodious Whistling and the males usually sing more than the females. It is aggressive with other birds. The chicks are often parasitized by an Oestridae, which severely affects its development, even leading to death. Adults are often preyed upon by hawks and other raptors (Burke and Jaramillo, 1999). Many aspects of its reproductive biology and ecology are still unknown.

FUENTE

They reproduce from May to June. It does not build its nest but invades other species (mainly Pitangus sulphuratus-Cristofué), can be abandoned or aggressively remove its occupants, even killing the chicks or throwing the eggs of the invaded species. And after they have the nest in their power they defend it fiercely from any intruder. The laying is 3 to 4 eggs which hatch after 15 days of incubation. Both parents incubate and raise chicks, which abandon the nest foraging with their parents ..