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1. Note Please watch this as a slide show as I took time to add some animations.

2. Animal Behavior(Camouflage) By: Abhipsa Ujwal Grade: 7

3. What is Camouflage? The act of concealing oneself from their predators or prey through colors, patterns and disguises that help them blend in with the background; also imitating other things such as stick or leaves that look like them.

4. 3 Basic Types of Camouflage • Concealing Coloration: Is what we normally think of camouflage is. It is when an animal hides itself in a background that has the same color as itself. Some animals like the chameleons have a whole bank of colors they can use. Ex. Snowy Owl in the Arctic. • Disruptive Coloration: Is when animals have spots, stripes, or other kinds of patterns that make their out line hazier against the background. Ex Leopard & Zebra. • Disguise: Is when an animal blends in with its surroundings by looking like another object. Many insects disguise themselves as twigs, bark or leaves on a tree. Ex. Leaf Katydid

5. Animals that use Camouflage Include: • Insects, and other Arthropods • Frogs • Reptiles • Birds • Fish • Mammals

6. Examples of Birds that use Camouflage • Snow Owl • Night hawks • California Quail • Great Horned Owl • Himalayan Snow-Cock • Sparrows

7. Himalayan Snow-Cock • Type of Camouflage: Concealing Coloration • Colors: Tan, White, Gray, Chestnut & Yellow The Himalayan Snow-Cock is found across the Himalayan ranges. It is also found on alpine meadows and on steep rocky cliffs where they will dive down the hill slopes to escape from harm.  The Himalayan snow-cocks’ cryptic plumage provides it good camouflage among rocks and boulders and it uses the camouflage against its predators, such as snow leopards and golden eagles.

8. Himalayan Snow-Cock: Life Cycle It nests in a bare ground scrape and lays 5-10 eggs, which are incubated only by the female. Both parents raise the young. • The eggs hatch. • A nestling is born. (eats & rests) • After learning how the fly the young bird still needs to mature and fully master the skills it will need. • After mastering the skills it becomes an adult.

9. Examples of Birds that use Camouflage • Snow Owl • Night hawks • California Quail • Great Horned Owl • Himalayan Snow-Cock • Sparrows

10. Common Night-Hawk • Type of Camouflage: Concealing Coloration • Colors: Gray, White, Buff, & Black The heavily mottled plumage of the common nighthawkresembles the bark it roosts on, or the spotted plumage mimics the under parts of the hermit thrush  leaf litter that it forages in. Nighthawks rely on camouflage for protection. They do not defend their nest by attacking people. They forage over open areas near woods or wetlands and nest in forest clearings, coastal sand dunes, or sparsely vegetated grasslands.

11. Common Night Hawk: Life Cycle The nighthawk doesn't build a nest. The female lays from 1-3 eggs on the ground in an open vegetated area. In cities and towns she lays her eggs on a flat gravel-covered roof. The female incubates the eggs for about 19 days. The chicks can move about on their own shortly after birth but will be feed by both their parents for about a month. They will start to fly when they are around 23 days old.

12. Animals that use Camouflage Include: • Insects, and other Arthropods • Frogs • Reptiles • Birds • Fish • Mammals

13. Examples of Mammals that use Camouflage • White-tail deer • Zebra • Giraffe • Leopard • Tiger

14. White-Tail Deer • Type of Camouflage: Concealing Coloration • Colors: Summer: Brown; Winter: Grayish-Brown. The white-tailed deer has protective coloring, or camouflage, that allows it to hide in the undergrowth in the woods. If you were walking by and it was standing nearby, you probably would have to look hard to see it . As they are herbivores the white tailed deer use camouflage to hide from predators.

15. White-Tail Deer: Life Cycle White-tailed deer mate in November in the northern parts of their range and in January or February in the southern parts of their range. The female has 1-3fawns after about six months after mating. Fawns are reddish-brown at birth with white spots that help camouflage them. The mother leaves her fawns well-hidden for hours at a time while she feeds. If she has more than one fawn, she hides them in separate places. While they are waiting they lay their heads and necks stretched out flat on the ground making it harder for predators to find them. Female fawns may stay with their mother for two years, males usually leave after a year. 

16. Examples of Mammals that use Camouflage • White-tail deer • Zebra • Giraffe • Leopard • Tiger

17. Leopard • Type of Camouflage: Disruptive Camouflage • Colors: Summer: Shades of Yellow & Black Leopards are exceptionally adaptable, although they are found primarily in savanna and rainforest. The coloration of the leopards breaks up their outline making it hard to pick them out against a natural background. Also due to being yellow with black spots, they have perfect colors for hiding in the shadows of a forested areas to stalk their prays. Leopards camouflage with their surroundings by the dark ring like patterns that cover its coat. Those found on open grasslands have a light yellow coat and those found in forests tend to be darker in color with more markings.

18. Leopard: Life Cycle • New Born Leopard: Acub is born with its eyes closed and with faintly spotted smoky gray furs, 7-10 days later they open there eyes and after 2 weeks the babies can walk about. • Baby Leopard:During the first 2-3months, baby leopards remain in the den and start to eat meat when they are around 6 weeks old. • Juvenile Leopard: They follow their mother on hunting trips when they are about 2-3 months old this is also the time when they start to learn hunting and tree-climbing skills. • Young Leopard: By the age of 1 they can hunt medium-sized animals independently. They start to leave their mother and establish their own home ranges when they are about 18 months and become fully independent by the age of two. • Adult Leopard: Leopards are fully grown at the age of 3. Some females begin to mate by 2 but males mate when they are 3 or 4 due to the competition.

19. Animals that use Camouflage Include: • Insects, and other Arthropods • Frogs • Reptiles • Birds • Fish • Mammals

20. Examples of Arthropods that use Camouflage • Leaf Katydid • Thorn Bug • Walking Stick • Grass Hopper

21. Grasshoppers • Type of Camouflage: Concealing Coloration • Colors: Greens or Browns and Yellows Thegrasshopper is an insect and are found in green fields, forests, dry or sandy places. The coloring of different species of grasshopper are often dependent on environment. Many species are green as they have adapted to green fields and forests, and blend in well there to avoid predators. Others have adapted to drier, sandy environments and blend in well with the colors of dry dirt and sand.

22. Grasshoppers: Life Cycle • Egg: The life cycle of grasshoppers starts with the egg stage. By mid-summer, the female grasshopper lays the fertilized eggs either underneath the sand (about 1 - 2 inch depth) or among leaf litters. By spring or early summer when the temperature is warm, the eggs hatch into nymphs. • Nymph: Immediately after hatching, the young nymphs start feeding on soft and succulent plant foliage. Nymphs are miniature versions of adult grasshoppers, except that they are light in color and do not possess wings. The nymph stage may last for a period of 5 - 10 days, based on the species and the weather condition. • Adult: After 25 - 30 days, the wings are developed completely and the nymphs mature into adults. Thus, by the time, an egg matures into an adult, the grasshopper is about eleven months old. The adults survive for a span of about 30 days. As adults possess wings, they are more mobile than the nymphs, which benefit them in have hunting food and protecting from the predators. • (However, it is observed that every stage of the grasshopper has some predators.)

23. Examples of Arthropods that use Camouflage • Leaf Katydid • Thorn Bug • Walking Stick • Grass Hopper

24. Walking Stick • Type of Camouflage: Disguise • Colors: Greens, Greys, Tans or Browns Walking stick insects live in a range of climates, from the tropics to the temperate, as long as they have forest, grasslands or other foliage to hide. Their stick shape and brown or green color makes it easy for them to blend into trees and other foliage to hide from predators.

25. Walking Stick: Life Cycle • The walking sticks life cycle is like the grasshoppers. • It starts of as an egg: females lay around 100 to 1300 eggs. • The eggs hatch in 3-18 months and the nymph is born. The nymphs look like the adults but smaller. • The nymphs molt and become adults in 3-12 months. • Their life span varies from 1-2 years.

26. Animals that use Camouflage Include: • Insects, and other Arthropods • Frogs • Reptiles • Birds • Fish • Mammals

27. Examples of Fish that use Camouflage • Raccoon Butterfly Fish • Flatfish • Sting Ray • Stargazer • Mantis Shrimp

28. Flatfish • Type of Camouflage: Concealing Coloration • Colors: Changes color to camouflage with background (ocean floor). The flatfish swim on the ocean floor on one side, the side that has both its eyes. This side is pigmented serving to camouflage the fish, but sometimes with striking coloured patterns. Some flatfishes are also able to change their pigmentation to match the background in a similar way to that of a chameleons. The side of the body without the eyes faces the seabed and usually is colorless or pale. They use camouflage to hide themselves from predators and prey.

29. Fish: Life Cycle Fish life cycles vary among species however, fish progress through the following life cycle stages: • Eggs: Fertilized eggs develop into fish. Most eggs do not survive to maturity even under the best conditions. • Larval fish: Larval fish live off a yolk sac attached to their bodies. When the yolk sac is fully absorbed the young fish are called fry. • Fry: Fry are ready to start eating on their own. Fry undergo several more developmental stages, which vary by species, as they mature into adults. • Juvenile: is the time when fish spend developing from fry into reproductively mature adults, this varies among species. Most fish do not survive to become adults due to survival threats such as water temperature, oxygen levels, habitat, and predators. • Adult: When fish are able to reproduce, they are considered adults. The time it takes to reach maturity varies among species and individual fish. Fish with shorter life spans reach maturity faster. • Spawning: Female fish release eggs into the water (either into the water column or into a nest) and male fish fertilize eggs by releasing milt. Not all eggs are fertilized. Some fish spawn each year (or every one or more years) after reaching maturity, while others spawn only once and then die.

31. Examples of Fish that use Camouflage • Raccoon Butterfly Fish • Flatfish • Sting Ray • Stargazer • Mantis Shrimp

32. Sting Ray Type of Camouflage: Concealing Coloration The flattened bodies of stingrays allow them to conceal themselves in their environment. The stingrays color normally matches that of the sea floor and thus allows it to hide itself from predators such as sharks and lager rays. Life Cycle: Their young hatch out of eggs and mature over time as for as hunting and mating and protection is concerned.

33. Animals that use Camouflage Include: • Insects, and other Arthropods • Frogs • Reptiles • Birds • Fish • Mammals

34. Examples of Reptiles that use Camouflage • Gaboon Vipers • Dragon lizards • Crocodiles • Chameleons

35. Crocodile Type of Camouflage: Concealing/ Disruptive coloration Crocodiles are aquatic reptiles with acute senses that make them excellent predators. They inhabit in the large shallow bodies of freshwater or saltwater mostly in the warm, tropical regions of the earth. A superb night vision helps them to be nocturnal hunters. Crocodiles camouflage with the water. The water provides camouflage whilst it hunts for its prey such as frogs, fish, birds and mammals. Crocodiles are the most social of reptiles. Even though they do not form social groups, many species congregate in certain section of rivers, tolerating each other at times of feeding and basking.

36. Crocodile: Life Cycle The female crocodile digs a hole a couple of yards from the river bank and up to 20 inches deep, and lays between 25 and 80 eggs. Multiple females may nest close together. Once they are hatched, the female may lead the hatchlings to water, or even carry them there, in her mouth where they mature and learn how to survive.

37. Examples of Reptiles that use Camouflage • Gaboon Vipers • Dragon lizards • Crocodiles • Chameleons

38. Gaboon Viper Type of Camouflage: Concealing Coloration Colors: Black, Yellow & Brown The Gaboon Vipers are solitary, nocturnal reptiles and are found near in the dark places mostly in the rainforests. The Gaboon Viper’s excellent camouflage allows them to hide in leaves on the forest floor while waiting for prey. They feed on small mammals, birds and amphibians such as frogs.

39. Gaboon Viper: Life Cycle Gaboon males are longer than their females; males are on an average three to four feet; females are four to six feet. Breeding usually takes place during the dry season when food is less prevalent. Females give birth to 30 to 50 live young during the rainy season. Babies are only five to seven inches long at birth. They mature at about 3 to 5 years of age without any parental care, as babies immediately disperse after birth and begin their solitary lives.

40. Animals that use Camouflage Include: • Insects, and other Arthropods • Frogs • Reptiles • Birds • Fish • Mammals

41. Gray Tree Frog Type of Camouflage: Disguise These frogs are highly arboreal and rarely descend from high treetops except for breeding. The gray tree frog is most common in forested areas that are moist and near water. It can camouflage using two colors green and grey. It turns greenwhen sitting on a moss-covered tree trunk. If found hiding on the side of a tree , it will be hard to distinguish it from the tree bark. Depending on the color of bark, it changes color to green or grey. Eastern gray tree frogs are a source of food for a variety of predators, such as skunks, possums, raccoons, and snakes. A way they can avoid these predators is to camouflage with the tree bark.

42. Gray Tree Frog : Life Cycle During mating season, males gather in trees and bushes and begin calling. The female chooses a mate based on the call. She lays her eggs on the surface of shallow water in ponds, swamps tire ruts, vernal pools or even swimming pools. They are attached to vegetation to keep them from floating away. The female lays 2000 eggs in groups of 10-40. The tadpoles hatch in 4-5 days and will change into froglets in about 2 months.

43. Conclusion In nature, every advantage increases an animal's chances of survival, and therefore its chances of reproducing. This simple fact has caused animal species to evolve a number of special adaptations that help them find food and keep them from becom­ing food. One of the most widespread and varied adaptations is natural camouflage, an animal's ability to hide itself from predator and prey.

44. The EndHope you Enjoyed!

45. Bibliography • http://what-when-how.com/birds/himalayan-snowcock-birds/ • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grasshopper • http://www.ehow.com/about_6586905_walking-stick-insects.html • http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/nw4.htm • http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/whitetailed_deer.htm • http://leopardanimal.com/leopard-facts/leopard-life-cycle.php • http://www.tfsd.k12.id.us/ol/O'Leary%20Web%20Tech%20Fishtopia/lifecycle.html • http://www.rainforestanimals.net/rainforestanimal/gaboonviper.html