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Crowned Hornbill
The crowned hornbill (''Lophoceros alboterminatus'') is an African hornbill. Description It is a medium-sized bird, in length, and is characterized by its white belly and black back and wings. The tips of the long tail feathers are white. The eyes are yellow; the beak is red and presents a stocky casque on the upper mandible. In females, the casque is smaller. The crowned hornbill can be distinguished from the similar Bradfield's hornbill by its shorter beak. Habitat The crowned hornbill is a common resident of the coastal and riverine forests of southern (only the eastern coast) to northeastern Africa. Diet It forages mainly in trees, where it feeds on insects (often caught in flight), small rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...s, small reptiles, eg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ndumo Game Reserve
Ndumo Game Reserve is a small () South African game reserve located in the far northeast district of KwaZulu-Natal known as Maputaland. It is situated on the border with Mozambique where the Pongola River joins the Great Usutu River. It is adjacent to the Tembe Elephant Park. Ndumo is relatively remote, being over from Durban. The town of Mkuze is away. Ndumo hosts a diverse range of habitats including sand forest, dense riverine forest, floodplains, alluvial plains, reedbeds, grassland, broad-leaved and acacia woodlands and extremely dense thornveld. Ndumo is popular for its birdlife and despite its small size, the reserve has recorded in excess of 430 bird species including residents and seasonal migrants. The park's abundance of pans, floodplains and rivers (Pongola & Usutu) provide suitable habitat for many aquatic species. The Maputaland area in general is relatively rich in birdlife due to ecosystem diversity as well as its geographical location: the area forms the southern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
KwaZulu Natal
KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is located in the southeast of the country, with a long shoreline on the Indian Ocean and sharing borders with three other provinces and the countries of Mozambique, Eswatini and Lesotho. Its capital is Pietermaritzburg, and its largest city is Durban. It is the second-most populous province in South Africa, with slightly fewer residents than Gauteng. Two areas in KwaZulu-Natal have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park. These areas are extremely scenic as well as important to the surrounding ecosystems. During the 1830s and early 1840s, the northern part of what is now KwaZulu-Natal was established as the Zulu Kingdom while the southern part was, briefly, the Boer Natalia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of . South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town respectively. The largest city is Johannesburg. About 80% of the population are Black South Afri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johann Büttikofer
Dr. Johann Büttikofer (9 August 1850 – 24 June 1927) was a Swiss zoologist. Büttikofer was born in Ranflüh (part of Rüderswil, Canton of Bern) in the Emmental. He is best known for his two zoological expeditions to the Republic of Liberia (1879 to 1882 and 1886 to 1887) and resulting publications; from 1897 to 1924 he was the Director of the Blijdorp Zoological Garden in Rotterdam. After his retirement he settled in Bern, Switzerland. For his extensive contributions to the knowledge of Liberian fauna he is regarded as the 'Father of Liberian Natural History'. Scientific career Johann Büttikofer learned his love of nature from his father Jakob, who was a school teacher in his native Ranflüh. He attended village school until the age of 16 and then studied French for one year, after which he attended a teacher training college in Hofwil until the age of 20. He taught school in Graswil, Switzerland for six years, hunted, began to learn taxidermy, read travel accounts, and lon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020. About two-thirds of these inhabitants live in the metropolitan area of Cape Town, which is also the provincial capital. The Western Cape was created in 1994 from part of the former Cape Province. The two largest cities are Cape Town and George. Geography The Western Cape Province is roughly L-shaped, extending north and east from the Cape of Good Hope, in the southwestern corner of South Africa. It stretches about northwards along the Atlantic coast and about eastwards along the South African south coast (Southern Indian Ocean). It is bordered on the north by the Northern Cape and on the east by the Eastern Cape. The total land area of the province is , about 10.6% of the country's total. It is roughly the size of England or the S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hornbill
Hornbills (Bucerotidae) are a family (biology), family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly coloured and sometimes has a Casque (anatomy), casque on the upper mandible. Both the common English (language), English and the scientific name of the family refer to the shape of the bill, "buceros" being "cow horn" in Greek language, Greek. Hornbills have a two-lobed kidney. They are the only birds in which the first and second vertebra, neck vertebrae (the atlas (anatomy), atlas and axis (anatomy), axis respectively) are fused together; this probably provides a more stable platform for carrying the bill. The family is omnivorous, feeding on fruit and small animals. They are monogamous breeders nesting in natural cavities in trees and sometimes cliffs. A number of mainly Island, insular species of hornbill with small ranges are Threatened species, threatened with extinction, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bradfield's Hornbill
Bradfield's hornbill (''Lophoceros bradfieldi'') is an African hornbill. It is a medium-sized bird, in length, characterized by black back and wings and a white belly. The tip feathers of the long tail are white. Females are smaller than males and can be recognized by turquoise facial skin. The eyes are yellow and the beak is red. The beak is long and presents no casque. This is an uncommon resident of the mopane woodlands and mixed thorn fields of northeastern Namibia (especially on the Waterberg plateau), northern Botswana, southern Angola and eastern Zimbabwe. They feed on fruits, large insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...s, nuts and small reptiles. The common name and Latin binomial commemorate the South African naturalist R. D. Bradfield (1882-1949). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes and one pair of antennae. Their blood is not totally contained in vessels; some circulates in an open cavity known as the haemocoel. Insects are the most diverse group of animals; they include more than a million described species and represent more than half of all known living organisms. The total number of extant species is estimated at between six and ten million; In: potentially over 90% of the animal life forms on Earth are insects. Insects may be found in nearly all environments, although only a small number of species reside in the oceans, which are dominated by another arthropod group, crustaceans, which recent research has indicated insects are nested within. Nearly all insects hatch from eggs. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are native to all major land masses except for New Zealand, Antarctica, and several oceanic islands, though they have subsequently been introduced to most of these land masses by human activity. Rodents are extremely diverse in their ecology and lifestyles and can be found in almost every terrestrial habitat, including human-made environments. Species can be arboreal, fossorial (burrowing), saltatorial/richochetal (leaping on their hind legs), or semiaquatic. However, all rodents share several morphological features, including having only a single upper and lower pair of ever-growing incisors. Well-known rodents include mice, rats, squirrels, prairie dogs, porcupines, beavers, guinea pigs, and hamsters. Rabbits, hares, and pikas, whose i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hornbills
Hornbills (Bucerotidae) are a family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly coloured and sometimes has a casque on the upper mandible. Both the common English and the scientific name of the family refer to the shape of the bill, "buceros" being "cow horn" in Greek. Hornbills have a two-lobed kidney. They are the only birds in which the first and second neck vertebrae (the atlas and axis respectively) are fused together; this probably provides a more stable platform for carrying the bill. The family is omnivorous, feeding on fruit and small animals. They are monogamous breeders nesting in natural cavities in trees and sometimes cliffs. A number of mainly insular species of hornbill with small ranges are threatened with extinction, namely in Southeast Asia. In the Neotropical realm, toucans occupy the hornbills' ecological niche, an example of convergent evolution. De ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lophoceros
''Lophoceros'' is a genus of birds in the hornbill family, Bucerotidae, which are native to Africa. Taxonomy The genus ''Lophoceros'' was introduced in 1833 by the German naturalists Wilhelm Hemprich and Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg to accommodate ''Buceros, Lophoceros, forskålii''. This is now considered as a junior synonym of the nominate subspecies of the African grey hornbill (''Lophoceros nasutus nasutus''). The genus name combines the Ancient Greek ''lophos'' meaning "crest" with ''kerōs'' meaning "horn". The species now placed in this genus were formerly included in the genus ''Tockus ''Tockus'' is a genus of birds in the hornbill family, Bucerotidae, which are native to Africa. Description Hornbills in the genus ''Tockus'' are medium-sized African birds with triangular shaped curved bills. They can be found in tropical an ...''. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2013 found that ''Tockus'' was divided by a deep phylogenetic split into two major grou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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