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Australian Bird Of The Year
Australian Bird of the Year is a biennial poll organised bThe Guardian Australiaand BirdLife Australia. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Australian bird in an online poll. Winners References {{Reflist Competitions in Australia The Guardian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Superb Fairywren
The superb fairywren (''Malurus cyaneus'') is a passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae, and is common and familiar across south-eastern Australia. It is a sedentary and territorial species, also exhibiting a high degree of sexual dimorphism; the male in breeding plumage has a striking bright blue forehead, ear coverts, mantle, and tail, with a black mask and black or dark blue throat. Non-breeding males, females and juveniles are predominantly grey-brown in colour; this gave the early impression that males were polygamous, as all dull-coloured birds were taken for females. Six subspecies groups are recognized: three larger and darker forms from Tasmania, Flinders and King Island respectively, and three smaller and paler forms from mainland Australia and Kangaroo Island. Like other fairywrens, the superb fairywren is notable for several peculiar behavioural characteristics; the birds are socially monogamous and sexually promiscuous, meaning that although they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guardian Australia
''Guardian Australia'' is the Australian website of the British global online and print newspaper, ''The Guardian''. Available solely in an online format, the newspaper's launch was led by Katharine Viner in time for the 2013 Australian federal election and followed the introduction of ''Guardian US'' in 2011. ''Guardian Australia'' is owned by Guardian Media Group, which is in turn owned by the Scott Trust, which aims to stay independent and free from 'commercial pressures'. The online publication relies on digital advertising and voluntary reader donations or subscriptions for revenue, eschewing enforced paywalls implemented by other news websites. ''Guardian Australias headquarters is based in the Sydney suburb of Surry Hills, with bureaux in Brisbane, Melbourne and Canberra. It employs more than 70 journalists, editors and other personnel as of 2020, including editor-in-chief Lenore Taylor who assumed responsibilities in 2016. History Prior to its 2013 launch the Bri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birds Of Australia
Australia and its offshore islands and territories have 898 recorded bird species as of 2014. Of the recorded birds, 165 are considered vagrant or accidental visitors, of the remainder over 45% are classified as Australian endemics: found nowhere else on earth. It has been suggested that up to 10% of Australian bird species may go extinct by the year 2100 as a result of climate change. Australian species range from the tiny weebill to the huge, flightless emu. Many species of Australian birds will immediately seem familiar to visitors from the Northern Hemisphere: Australian wrens look and act much like northern wrens, and Australian robins seem to be close relatives of the northern robins. However, the majority of Australian passerines are descended from the ancestors of the crow family, and the close resemblance is misleading: the cause is not genetic relatedness but convergent evolution. For example, almost any land habitat offers a nice home for a small bird that specia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Magpie
The Australian magpie (''Gymnorhina tibicen'') is a black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea. Although once considered to be three separate species, it is now considered to be one, with nine recognised subspecies. A member of the Artamidae, the Australian magpie is placed in its own genus ''Gymnorhina'' and is most closely related to the black butcherbird (''Melloria quoyi''). It is not closely related to the European magpie, which is a corvid. The adult Australian magpie is a fairly robust bird ranging from in length, with black and white plumage, gold brown eyes and a solid wedge-shaped bluish-white and black bill. The male and female are similar in appearance, but can be distinguished by differences in back markings. The male has pure white feathers on the back of the head and the female has white blending to grey feathers on the back of the head. With its long legs, the Australian magpie walks rather than waddles or hops and spends mu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian White Ibis
The Australian white ibis (''Threskiornis molucca'') is a wading bird of the ibis family, Threskiornithidae. It is widespread across much of Australia. It has a predominantly white plumage with a bare, black head, long downcurved bill and black legs. While it is closely related to the African sacred ibis, the Australian white ibis is a native Australian bird – contrary to urban myth, it is not a feral species introduced to Australia by people, and it does not come from Egypt. Historically rare in urban areas, the Australian white ibis has established in urban areas of the east coast in increasing numbers since the late 1970s; it is now commonly seen in Wollongong, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide (where it mostly is in Mawson Lakes wetlands), Darwin, the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Townsville. In recent years, the bird has also become increasingly common in Perth, Western Australia, and surrounding towns in south-western Australia. Populations have disappeared from natural breedin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black-throated Finch
The black-throated finch (''Poephila cincta''), or parson finch, is a species of estrildid finch found in grassy woodlands throughout north-east Australia from Cape York Peninsula to central Queensland. The southern black-throated finch (''Poephila cincta cincta'') is endangered, with a population in decline and its habitat is threatened by development, and has become extinct in New South Wales, while the northern black-throated finch (''Poephila cincta atropygialis'') is not listed as threatened at this point. Taxonomy and systematics Originally described by ornithologist John Gould as ''Amadina cincta'' in 1837, its specific epithet is Latin ''cincta'' may be interpreted to mean "girdled". Gould described before his visit to Australia, using a specimen deposited at the British Museum. It is placed in the Australo-Papuan finch family Estrildidae, although this family itself was previously placed in the sparrow family Passeridae. A genetic study published in 2005 showed that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tawny Frogmouth
The tawny frogmouth (''Podargus strigoides'') is a species of frogmouth native to the Australian mainland and Tasmania and found throughout. It is a big-headed, stocky bird, often mistaken for an owl, due to its nocturnal habits and similar colouring, and sometimes, at least archaically, referred to as ''mopoke'' or ''mopawk'', a name also used for the Australian boobook, the call of which is often confused with that of the tawny frogmouth. Names Its name in reconstructed Proto-Pama–Nyungan is ''*tawa'' or ''*tawu''.Alpher, Barry. 2004. Pama-Nyungan: Phonological Reconstruction and Status as a Phylo-Genetic Group. In Claire Bowern and Harold Koch (eds.), ''Australian Languages: Classification and the Comparative Method'', 93–126, 387–574. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Taxonomy The tawny frogmouth was first described in 1801 by the English naturalist John Latham. Its specific epithet is derived from Latin ''strix'' 'owl' and ''oides'' 'form'. Tawny frogmouths belong to the fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Superb Fairywren
The superb fairywren (''Malurus cyaneus'') is a passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae, and is common and familiar across south-eastern Australia. It is a sedentary and territorial species, also exhibiting a high degree of sexual dimorphism; the male in breeding plumage has a striking bright blue forehead, ear coverts, mantle, and tail, with a black mask and black or dark blue throat. Non-breeding males, females and juveniles are predominantly grey-brown in colour; this gave the early impression that males were polygamous, as all dull-coloured birds were taken for females. Six subspecies groups are recognized: three larger and darker forms from Tasmania, Flinders and King Island respectively, and three smaller and paler forms from mainland Australia and Kangaroo Island. Like other fairywrens, the superb fairywren is notable for several peculiar behavioural characteristics; the birds are socially monogamous and sexually promiscuous, meaning that although they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swift Parrot
The swift parrot (''Lathamus discolor'') is a species of broad-tailed parrot, found only in southeastern Australia. The species breeds in Tasmania during the summer and migrates north to south eastern mainland Australia from Griffith-Warialda in New South Wales and west to Adelaide in the winter. It is a nomadic migrant, and it settles in an area only when there is food available. The species is critically endangered, and the severe predation of introduced sugar gliders (''Petaurus breviceps'') on breeding females and nests in some locations has demonstrated an unexpected but potentially serious new threat. Sugar glider predation is worst where logging is severe; these threats interact in a synergistic manner. Genetic evidence for the effective population size suggests that the minimum potential population size is now fewer than 300 individual swift parrots. The genetic evidence supports the results of earlier studies that use demographic information about swift parrots to sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Competitions In Australia
Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, individuals, economic and social groups, etc. The rivalry can be over attainment of any exclusive goal, including recognition: Competition occurs in nature, between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. Animals compete over water supplies, food, mates, and other biological resources. Humans usually compete for food and mates, though when these needs are met deep rivalries often arise over the pursuit of wealth, power, prestige, and fame when in a static, repetitive, or unchanging environment. Competition is a major tenet of market economies and business, often associated with business competition as companies are in competition with at least one other firm over the same group of customers. Competition inside a company is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
