|
Bicknell's Thrush
Bicknell's thrush (''Catharus bicknelli'') is a medium-sized thrush, at and . One of North America's rarest and most localized breeders, it inhabits coniferous mountain tops and disturbed habitats of the Northeast. While very similar in appearance and vocalization to the gray-cheeked thrush (''Catharus minimus''), the two species, with two completely different breeding ranges, differ slightly in their morphology and vocalizations. It was named after Eugene Bicknell, an American amateur ornithologist, who made the first scientific discovery of the species on Slide Mountain in the Catskills in the late 19th century. Description Bicknell's thrush is just slightly smaller than the other northern migratory ''Catharus'' thrushes, with an average length of approximately and a weight ranging generally from 26 to 30g. Both sexes are identical in the field and are roughly the same size, although males average slightly larger in wing length.Rimmer, Christopher C., Kent P. Mcfarland, Walt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Ridgway
Robert Ridgway (July 2, 1850 – March 25, 1929) was an American ornithologist specializing in systematics. He was appointed in 1880 by Spencer Fullerton Baird, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, to be the first full-time curator of birds at the United States National Museum, a title he held until his death. In 1883, he helped found the American Ornithologists' Union, where he served as officer and journal editor. Ridgway was an outstanding descriptive taxonomist, capping his life work with ''The Birds of North and Middle America'' (eight volumes, 1901–1919). In his lifetime, he was unmatched in the number of North American bird species that he described for science. As technical illustrator, Ridgway used his own paintings and outline drawings to complement his writing. He also published two books that systematized color names for describing birds, ''A Nomenclature of Colors for Naturalists'' (1886) and ''Color Standards and Color Nomenclature'' (1912). Ornitholo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bird Migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting by humans, and is driven primarily by the availability of food. It occurs mainly in the northern hemisphere, where birds are funneled onto specific routes by natural barriers such as the Mediterranean Sea or the Caribbean Sea. Migration of species such as storks, turtle doves, and swallows was recorded as many as 3,000 years ago by Ancient Greek authors, including Homer and Aristotle, and in the Book of Job. More recently, Johannes Leche began recording dates of arrivals of spring migrants in Finland in 1749, and modern scientific studies have used techniques including bird ringing and satellite tracking to trace migrants. Threats to migratory birds have grown with habitat destruction, especially of stopover and wintering sites, as wel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Long-tailed Weasel
The long-tailed weasel (''Neogale frenata''), also known as the bridled weasel, masked ermine, or big stoat, is a species of Mustelidae, mustelid distributed from southern Canada throughout all the United States and Mexico, southward through all of Central America and into northern South America. It is distinct from the Stoat, short-tailed weasel (''Mustela erminea''), also known as a "stoat", a close relation in the genus ''Mustela'' that originated in Eurasia and crossed into North America some half million years ago; the two species are visually similar, especially the black tail tip. Taxonomy Originally described in the genus ''Mustela'', a 2021 study reclassified it into the genus ''Neogale'' along with 2 other former ''Mustela'' species, as well as the two species formerly classified in ''Neovison''. Evolution The long-tailed weasel is the product of a process begun 5–7 million years ago, when northern forests were replaced by open grassland, thus prompting an explosiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sharp-shinned Hawk
The sharp-shinned hawk (''Accipiter striatus'') is a small hawk, with males being the smallest hawks in the United States and Canada, but with the species averaging larger than some Neotropical realm, Neotropical species, such as the tiny hawk. The Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy is far from resolved, with some authorities considering the southern taxon, taxa to represent three separate species: white-breasted hawk (''A. chionogaster''), plain-breasted hawk (''A. ventralis''), and rufous-thighed hawk (''A. erythronemius''). The American Ornithological Society keeps all four variations conspecific. Taxonomy The sharp-shinned hawk is sometimes separated into four species, with the northern group (''see distribution'') retaining both the scientific name and the common name: sharp-shinned hawk (''A. striatus''). In addition to the nominate taxon (''A. s. striatus''), it includes subspecies ''perobscurus'', ''velox'', ''suttoni'', ''madrensis'', ''fringilloides'', and ''venator''. The t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Squirrel
The red squirrel (''Sciurus vulgaris'') is a species of tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' common throughout Europe and Asia. The red squirrel is an arboreal, primarily herbivorous rodent. In Great Britain, Ireland, and in Italy numbers have decreased drastically in recent years. This decline is associated with the introduction by humans of the eastern grey squirrel (''Sciurus carolinensis'') from North America. However, the population in Scotland is stabilising due to conservation efforts, awareness and the increasing population of the pine marten, a European predator that selectively controls grey squirrels. Description The red squirrel has a typical head-and-body length of , a tail length of , and a mass of . Males and females are the same size. The red squirrel is somewhat smaller than the eastern grey squirrel which has a head-and-body length of and weighs between . The long tail helps the squirrel to balance and steer when jumping from tree to tree and running ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lice
Louse ( : lice) is the common name for any member of the clade Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera has variously been recognized as an order, infraorder, or a parvorder, as a result of developments in phylogenetic research. Lice are obligate parasites, living externally on warm-blooded hosts which include every species of bird and mammal, except for monotremes, pangolins, and bats. Lice are vectors of diseases such as typhus. Chewing lice live among the hairs or feathers of their host and feed on skin and debris, while sucking lice pierce the host's skin and feed on blood and other secretions. They usually spend their whole life on a single host, cementing their eggs, called nits, to hairs or feathers. The eggs hatch into nymphs, which moult three times before becoming fully grown, a process that takes about four weeks. Genetic evidence indicates that lice are a highly modified lineage of Psocoptera (now called Ps ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blowflies
The Calliphoridae (commonly known as blow flies, blow-flies, carrion flies, bluebottles, greenbottles, or cluster flies) are a family of insects in the order Diptera, with almost 1,900 known species. The maggot larvae, often used as fishing bait, are known as gentles. The family is known to be polyphyletic, but much remains disputed regarding proper treatment of the constituent taxa, some of which are occasionally accorded family status (e.g., Bengaliidae and Helicoboscidae). The name blowfly comes from an older English term for meat that had eggs laid on it, which was said to be flyblown. The first known association of the term "blow" with flies appears in the plays of William Shakespeare: '' Love's Labour's Lost'', '' The Tempest'', and '' Antony and Cleopatra''. Description Characteristics Calliphoridae adults are commonly shiny with metallic colouring, often with blue, green, or black thoraces and abdomens. Antennae are three-segmented and aristate. The aristae are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tick
Ticks (order Ixodida) are parasitic arachnids that are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, species, and "fullness". Ticks are external parasites, living by feeding on the blood of mammals, birds, and sometimes reptiles and amphibians. The timing of the origin of ticks is uncertain, though the oldest known tick fossils are from the Cretaceous period, around 100 million years old. Ticks are widely distributed around the world, especially in warm, humid climates. Ticks belong to two major families, the Ixodidae or hard ticks, and the Argasidae, or soft ticks. ''Nuttalliella,'' a genus of tick from southern Africa is the only member of the family Nuttalliellidae, and represents the most primitive living lineage of ticks. Adults have ovoid/pear-shaped bodies (idiosomas) which become engorged with blood when they feed, and eight legs. Their cephalothorax and abdomen are completely fused. In addit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conifer
Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class (biology), class, Pinopsida. All Neontology, extant conifers are perennial plant, perennial woody plants with secondary growth. The great majority are trees, though a few are shrubs. Examples include Cedrus, cedars, Pseudotsuga, Douglas-firs, Cupressaceae, cypresses, firs, junipers, Agathis, kauri, larches, pines, Tsuga, hemlocks, Sequoioideae, redwoods, spruces, and Taxaceae, yews.Campbell, Reece, "Phylum Coniferophyta". Biology. 7th. 2005. Print. P. 595 As of 1998, the division Pinophyta was estimated to contain eight families, 68 genera, and 629 living species. Although the total number of species is relatively small, conifers are ecology, ecologically important. They are the dominant plants over large areas of land, most ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polyandry In Nature
In behavioral ecology, polyandry is a class of mating system where one female mates with several males in a breeding season. Polyandry is often compared to the polygyny system based on the cost and benefits incurred by members of each sex. Polygyny is where one male mates with several females in a breeding season (e.g., lions, deer, some primates, and many systems where there is an alpha male). A common example of polyandrous mating can be found in the field cricket (''Gryllus bimaculatus'') of the invertebrate order Orthoptera (containing crickets, grasshoppers, and groundhoppers). Polyandrous behavior is also prominent in many other insect species, including the red flour beetle and the species of spider ''Stegodyphus lineatus''. Polyandry also occurs in some primates such as marmosets, mammal groups, the marsupial genus' '' Antechinus'' and bandicoots, around 1% of all bird species, such as jacanas and dunnocks, insects such as honeybees, and fish such as pipefish. Predictors ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island which it shares with the Dominican Republic. To its south-west lies the small Navassa Island, which is claimed by Haiti but is disputed as a United States territory under federal administration."Haiti" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Haiti is in size, the third largest country in the Caribbean by area, and has an estimated population of 11.4 million, making it the most populous country in the Caribb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with Haiti, making Hispaniola one of only two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that is shared by two sovereign states. The Dominican Republic is the second-largest nation in the Antilles by area (after Cuba) at , and third-largest by population, with approximately 10.7 million people (2022 est.), down from 10.8 million in 2020, of whom approximately 3.3 million live in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo, the capital city. The official language of the country is Spanish. The native Taíno people had inhabited Hispaniola before the arrival of Europeans, dividing it into five chiefdoms. They had constructed an advanced farming and hunting society, and were in the process of becoming an organized civilization. The Taínos also in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Red Squirrel")
