Aktash Massif Important Bird Area
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Aktash Massif Important Bird Area
The Aktash Massif Important Bird Area lies in Sughd Province, the northernmost part of Tajikistan. Description The Important Bird Area (IBA) is a mountainous 47,421 ha site covering the southern slope of the Kuraminskiy ridge on the border with Uzbekistan, which forms the eastern, northern and western limits of the IBA. Its altitude ranges from 1700 to 3000 m above sea level. It contains many snowfield- and spring-fed streams which flow into the Aktash and Ashtsay rivers – tributaries of the Syr Darya. Its juniper forests consist largely of old trees with a relatively open canopy, with regeneration restricted by overgrazing. The site includes the Aktashsky Zakaznik (nature reserve) which was established for the conservation of Menzbier's marmot, at the time the only place in Tajikistan where the species occurred, though it has since become extinct there. Birds The site was identified as an IBA by BirdLife International because it supports populations of 162 spe ...
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Himalayan Snowcock
The Himalayan snowcock (''Tetraogallus himalayensis'') is a snowcock in the pheasant family Phasianidae found across the Himalayan ranges and parts of the adjoining Pamir range of Asia. It is found on alpine pastures and on steep rocky cliffs where they will dive down the hill slopes to escape. It overlaps with the slightly smaller Tibetan snowcock in parts of its wide range. The populations from different areas show variations in the colouration and about five subspecies have been designated. They were introduced in the mountains of Nevada in the United States in the 1960s and a wild population has established in the Ruby Mountains. Description The Himalayan snowcock is a large grey partridge-like bird, in length and weighing .''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), . The head pattern has a resemblance to that of the smaller and well marked chukar partridge. The white throat and sides of the head are bordered by chestnut moustac ...
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Solitary Snipe
The solitary snipe (''Gallinago solitaria'') is a small stocky wader. It is found in the Palearctic from northeast Iran to Japan and Korea. Description This is a large and heavy snipe 29–31 cm long with a stocky body and relatively short legs for a wader. Its upperparts, head and neck are streaked and patterned with medium brown stripes and whitish edges to the feathers forming lines down its back. The face is whitish. The breast is ginger-brown and the belly is white with brown barring on the flanks. The brown and black bill is long, straight and fairly slender. The legs and feet are yellowish-olive to yellowish-brown. All plumages are similar, but females average larger. There are two quite similar subspecies. Nominate ''G. s. solitaria'' is very widespread. The breeding range of ''G. s. japonica'', which is richer red and less white above, is unknown, but it winters in Japan. The solitary snipe makes a hoarse ''kensh'' call as it takes off, and has a far carrying '' ...
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White-winged Grosbeak
The white-winged grosbeak (''Mycerobas carnipes'') is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is found in Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Iran, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Its natural habitat is boreal forests. Phylogeny Eophona genus goes together with Mycerobas The ''Mycerobas'' grosbeaks are a genus of finch in the family Fringillidae The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often h ... genus. Both genera form a single phylogenetic group. References white-winged grosbeak Birds of Central Asia Birds of Afghanistan Birds of Pakistan Birds of Western China Birds of Central China white-winged grosbeak Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Fringillidae-stub ...
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Red-mantled Rosefinch
The red-mantled rosefinch (''Carpodacus rhodochlamys'') is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is found in Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, and Tajikistan. Its natural habitats are temperate forest and boreal shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m .... References red-mantled rosefinch Birds of Afghanistan Birds of Mongolia Birds of Central Asia Birds of Western China Birds of North India red-mantled rosefinch Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Fringillidae-stub ...
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Asian Crimson-winged Finch
The Asian crimson-winged finch (''Rhodopechys sanguineus'') is a pale-colored thickset finch with a heavy, dull yellowish bill. It is found from Turkey to NE Pakistan. The African crimson-winged finch was formerly considered conspecific and together known as the crimson-winged finch.Kirwan, Guy M., Phil W. Atkinson, Arnoud B. van den Berg and Hadoram Shirihai (2006) Taxonomy of the Crimson-winged Finch ''Rhodopechys sanguineus'': a test case for defining species limits between disjunct taxa ''Bulletin of the African Bird Club'' Vol. 13 No. 2 pages 136-46 It has an average length of and a wingspan of ca. . It is light brown overall, with a whitish mid-belly, a black cap and a pinkish pattern on the wings and tail. The female is slightly duller than the male. This species lives on rocky mountainsides, often at high elevation. It can be found in barren landscapes with little vegetation, and sometimes nests in rock crevices. It feeds on seeds, and during the winter descends in flocks ...
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Red-fronted Serin
The red-fronted serin or fire-fronted serin (''Serinus pusillus'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It prefers high mountain regions and is 11–12 cm long. This bird breeds in the Caucasus and the higher mountains of Turkey and Iran, with vagrants occasionally reaching the Greece, Greek Eastern Aegean Islands in winter. This bird is also found in Ladakh and other parts of the Indian Himalayas. Outside the breeding season, it occurs in small flocks, typically seen searching through thistle patches. It is a popular cagebird, and escapees from captivity are occasionally found throughout Europe. The bird is variable in plumage, with adults resembling very dark redpolls. The foreparts are sooty and the forehead is red; juveniles have buff-brown heads. The call is a rapid, shrill "titihihihihihi", resembling that of a Linnet. The bird will breed in captivity and thrives on a diet of canary grass seed, millet, and other small seeds. They bathe daily if ...
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Water Pipit
The water pipit (''Anthus spinoletta'') is a small passerine bird which breeds in the mountains of Southern Europe and the Palearctic eastwards to China. It is a short-distance migrant; many birds move to lower altitudes or wet open lowlands in winter. The water pipit in breeding plumage has greyish-brown upperparts, weakly streaked with darker brown, and pale pink-buff underparts fading to whitish on the lower belly. The head is grey with a broad white supercilium ("eyebrow"), and the outer tail feathers are white. In winter, the head is grey-brown, the supercilium is duller, the upperparts are more streaked, and the underparts are white, streaked lightly with brown on the breast and flanks. There are only minor differences among the three subspecies, the sexes are almost identical, and young birds resemble adults. The water pipit's song is delivered from a perch or in flight, and consists of four or five blocks, each consisting of about six repetitions of a different short n ...
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Brown Accentor
The brown accentor (''Prunella fulvescens'') is a species of bird in the family Prunellidae. It is found in Afghanistan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees .... References brown accentor Birds of Central Asia Birds of Afghanistan Birds of Bhutan Birds of China Birds of Nepal Birds of Mongolia brown accentor Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Passeroidea-stub ...
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White-winged Snowfinch
The white-winged snowfinch (''Montifringilla nivalis''), or snowfinch, is a small passerine bird. Despite its name, it is a sparrow rather than a true finch. Taxonomy In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the white-winged snowfinch in his ''Ornithologie'' based on a specimen but without specifying where it had been collected. He used the French name and the Latin ''Fringilla nivalis''. The two stars (**) at the start of the section indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his ''Systema Naturae'' for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the white-winged snowfinch. Linnaeus included a brief description, used the bi ...
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Wallcreeper
The wallcreeper (''Tichodroma muraria'') is a small passerine bird found throughout the high mountains of the Palearctic from southern Europe to central China. It is the only extant member of both the genus ''Tichodroma'' and the family Tichodromidae. Taxonomy and systematics There is some disagreement among ornithologists as to where the wallcreeper belongs in the taxonomic order. Initially, Linnaeus placed it in the family Certhiidae, along with the treecreepers. The wallcreeper is placed in a monotypic family Tichodromadidae by, amongst others, Clements 2007, while other authorities such as Dickinson 2003 put it in the monotypic Tichodromadinae, a subfamily of the nuthatch family Sittidae. In either case, it is very closely related to the nuthatches. A 2016 phylogenetic study of members in the superfamily Certhioidea suggests it is a sister of the Sittidae. At least one other species of wallcreeper is known from the fossil record, ''Tichodroma capeki'' (Late Miocene of Polgard ...
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Sulphur-bellied Warbler
The sulphur-bellied warbler (''Phylloscopus griseolus'') is a species of leaf-warbler found in the Palearctic region (Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russian Federation entral Asian Russia Tajikistan and Turkmenistan). It was earlier also known by the name of olivaceous leaf-warbler. Like other leaf-warblers, it gleans insects from small branches and leaves. It is found in rocky hill and scrub forest habitats. The species is found in small groups and has a tendency to forage low in the vegetation, sometimes even hopping on the ground. It has a single note ''cheep'' call. Gallery File:Sulpher-bellied Warbler (Phylloscopus griseolus) W IMG 4562.jpg, In Hyderabad, India File:Sulpher-bellied Warbler (Phylloscopus griseolus) W IMG 4560.jpg, In Hyderabad, India File:Sulphur Bellied Warbler.jpg, Vasai, Maharashtra, India File:Sulpher-bellied Warbler (Phylloscopus griseolus) at Sindhrot near Vadodara, Gujrat Pix 174.jpg, At Sindhrot in Vadodara District of Gujarat, In ...
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Hume's Short-toed Lark
Hume's short-toed lark (''Calandrella acutirostris'') is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. It is found in south-central Asia from Iran and Kazakhstan to China. Taxonomy and systematics The name commemorates the British naturalist Allan Octavian Hume who described the species. The alternate name short-toed lark may also be used for three other species in the genus ''Calandrella''. The alternate name lesser short-toed lark should not be confused with the species of the same name, ''Alaudala rufescens''. Other alternate names for Hume's short-toed lark include Hume's lark and Karakoram short-toed lark. Subspecies Two subspecies are recognized: * ''C. a. acutirostris'' - Allan Octavian Hume, Hume, 1873: Found from north-eastern Iran and eastern Kazakhstan to western China * Tibet short-toed lark (''C. a. tibetana'') - William Edwin Brooks, Brooks, WE, 1880: Originally described as a separate species. Found from north-eastern Pakistan to Tibetan Plateau Description Hume' ...
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