food for themselves is to stride over land and find insects, pupae, insect larvae and crickets, etc.
– Average lifespan of a Hoopoe bird in the wild, its natural habitat, is 10 years.
– It enjoys bathing in the sun and dust. It takes a specific position by spreading its wingsand putting the head down.
SENEGAL
RED BILLED TROPICBIRD
– This tropicbird moults once every year as an adult, following a complex basic strategy. This prebasic moult is completed before courtship and lasts between 19 and 29 weeks, with most being completed in 24 weeks. Birds gain their adult plumage at two to three years of age.
– The red-billed tropicbird can reach speeds of 44 kilometers per hour when flying out at sea, cruising a minimum of 30 meters above the sea.
– Although it is a poor swimmer, the red-billed tropicbird feeds on fish and squid. The fish are usually small, between about 10 and 20 cm, although some caught are up to 30 cm.
NORTHERN GANET
– Northern Gannets dive at the water like an arrow at tremendous speeds of up to 100 km per hour. Their bodies are built to withstand the impact with an especially strong sternum.
– Their velocity can carry them 5 metres below the surface of the water. They can additionally swim a further 15 metres to hunt down prey.
– Northern Gannets live about 35 years in the wild.
BROWN BOOBY
– Although they are powerful and agile fliers, they are particularly clumsy in takeoffs and landings; they use strong winds and high perches to assist their takeoffs.
– Sometimes hovers before diving, dives from perch, swoops low to take items from surface, or seizes items while swimming. May pursue flying fish in the air. Also steals food from other birds.
– Their beaks are quite sharp and contain many jagged edges. They have fairly short wings resulting in a fast flap rate, but long, tapered tails. While these birds are typically silent, bird watchers have reported occasional sounds similar to grunting or quacking.
GREAT CORMORANT
– Cormorants are expert divers, some types of Cormorant diving as deep as 45 metres. They speed along underwater via their webbed feet, using their wings as rudders.
– Some species of cormorants can attain speeds of up to 55 km per hour.
– Cormorants live up to a maximum of about 25 years.
SIERRA LEONE
BROOK’S HOUSE GECKO
– Length of head and body 58 mm.; tail 60 mm.
– Insects compose this small reptile’s diet, particularly those hovering near lights at night.
– Tail depressed, annulate, with rows of 8 or 6 spine-like tubercles, below with a series of transversely dilated plates. Limbs granular, the upper part of the hind limb with large keeled tubercles; digits free, dilated, the free distal joint long, 3—6 lamellae under the inner, 6—8 under the median toes.
RED HEADED ROCK AGAMA
– Red-headed rock agamas are diurnal creatures and remain active throughout the day except for the hottest hour when even shady spots can reach 38° C. Days are spent hunting for food, and basking in the sun.
– Main predators of agamas are snakes.
– Agama can survive for a long period of time in the wild. Average lifespan of agama is between 25 and 28 years.
PAPILIO NIREUS
– Estimated Lifespan: 11 Days.
– Are known to feed on a variety of flowers.
– The larval foodplants include Fagara, Calodendron, Clausena, Citrus and Teclea (Rutaceae).
WHITE NECKED ROCKFOWL
– These rockfowl feed primarily on insects. One feeding strategy involves following Dorylus army ant swarms, feeding on insects flushed by the ants. Rockfowl move through the forest primarily through a series of hops and bounds or short flights in low vegetation.
– It is capable of high jumps, sometimes jumping 6 m off the cave floor to its nest while only partly using its wings.
– The rockfowl also flies at a low altitude for short distances between vines and trees, and it rarely flies for long distances.
TOGO
CRESTED PORCUPINE
– As nocturnal animals, the Crested porcupines spend their daytime hours in dens, coming out to forage by night. They are solitary foragers, taking long trips of up to 15 km each night.
– Almost the entire body is covered with bristles which are either dark brown or black and rather coarse. This mammal is recognizable by the quills that run along the head, nape, and back that can be raised into a crest, hence the name crested porcupine.
– These animals often travel long distances looking for food. They have high crowned teeth that grind plant tissues which are digested in the stomach, and the undigested fibers are retained in an enlarged appendix and anterior large intestine, where they are broken down by microorganisms.
XERUS ERYTHROPUS
– Striped ground squirrels are duirnal herbivores, and spend almost their entire lives on the ground, although are capable of climbing into bushes to reach food.
– They can live for up to six years in captivity.
– The striped ground squirrels spend much of their time sunbathing, foraging and storing food as well as communicating and socializing through a wide variety of vocalizations. When eating, these animals typically sit straight in order to quickly flee if a predator appears.
AFRICAN TORTOISE
– They can live more than 70 years.
– Sulcata