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Mixed Species Flocks
A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species that join each other and move together while foraging. These are different from feeding aggregations, which are congregations of several species of bird at areas of high food availability. While it is currently unknown how mixed-species foraging flocks originate, researchers have proposed a few mechanisms for their initiation. Many believe that nuclear species play a vital role in mixed-species flock initiation. Additionally, the forest structure is hypothesized to play a vital role in these flocks' formation. In Sri Lanka, for example, vocal mimicry by the greater racket-tailed drongo might have a key role in the initiation of mixed-species foraging flocks, while in parts of the American tropics packs of foraging golden-crowned warblers might play the same role. Composition Mixed-species foraging f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flock (birds)
A flock is a gathering of individual birds to forage or travel collectively. Avian flocks are typically associated with migration. Flocking also offers foraging benefits and protection from predators, although flocking can have costs for individual members. Flocks are often defined as groups consisting of individuals from the same species. However, mixed flocks consisting of two or more species are also common. Avian species that tend to flock together are typically similar in taxonomy and share morphological characteristics such as size and shape. Mixed flocks offer increased protection against predators, which is particularly important in closed habitats such as forests where early warning calls play a vital importance in the early recognition of danger. The result is the formation of many mixed-species feeding flocks. Mixed flocks While mixed flocks are typically thought to be composed of two different species, it is specifically the two different behaviours of the species ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuthatch
The nuthatches () constitute a genus, ''Sitta'', of small passerine birds belonging to the family Sittidae. Characterised by large heads, short tails, and powerful bills and feet, nuthatches advertise their territory using loud, simple songs. Most species exhibit grey or bluish upperparts and a black eye stripe. Most nuthatches breed in the temperate or montane woodlands of the Northern Hemisphere, although two species have adapted to rocky habitats in the warmer and drier regions of Eurasia. However, the greatest diversity is in Southern Asia, and similarities between the species have made it difficult to identify distinct species. All members of this genus nest in holes or crevices. Most species are non-migratory and live in their habitat year-round, although the North American red-breasted nuthatch migrates to warmer regions during the winter. A few nuthatch species have restricted ranges and face threats from deforestation. Nuthatches are omnivorous, eating mostly insects, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Three-striped Warbler
The three-striped warbler (''Basileuterus tristriatus'') is a species of bird in the family Parulidae. It was previously considered conspecific with the Tacarcuna warbler and the black-eared warbler. This bird is found in South America from Venezuela to Peru. The Yungas warbler (''Basileuterus punctipectus'') was previously considered a subspecies. Description The three-striped warbler measures in length. It is mostly olive-brown with a buffy belly and underparts. It has distinct black and white striping on the head and a dark cheek. Male and female three-striped warblers have similar plumages. Their song is a rapid series of squeaky chirps. Distribution and habitat It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Mexico covers ,Mexico ''''. . making it the world's 13th-largest country by are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neotropic
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeography, the Neotropic or Neotropical realm is one of the eight terrestrial realms. This realm includes South America, Central America, the Caribbean islands, and southern North America. In Mexico, the Yucatán Peninsula and southern lowlands, and most of the east and west coastlines, including the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula are Neotropical. In the United States southern Florida and coastal Central Florida are considered Neotropical. The realm also includes temperate southern South America. In contrast, the Neotropical Floristic Kingdom excludes southernmost South America, which instead is placed in the Antarctic kingdom. The Neotropic is delimited by similarities in fauna or flora. Its fauna and flora are distinct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tropical Forest
Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: ''i.e.'' land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds. Some tropical forest types are difficult to categorise. While forests in temperate areas are readily categorised on the basis of tree canopy density, such schemes do not work well in tropical forests. There is no single scheme that defines what a forest is, in tropical regions or elsewhere.Anatoly Shvidenko, Charles Victor Barber, Reidar Persson et al. 2005 "Millennium Ecosystem Assessment." Ecosystems and human wellbeing: a framework for assessment Washington, DC: Island Press Because of these difficulties, information on the extent of tropical forests varies between sources. However, tropical forests are extensive, making up just under half the world's forests. The tropical domain has the largest proportion of the world’s forests (45 percent), followed by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vireonidae
The vireos make up a family, Vireonidae, of small to medium-sized passerine birds found in the New World (Canada to Argentina, including Bermuda and the West Indies) and Southeast Asia. "Vireo" is a Latin word referring to a green migratory bird, perhaps the female golden oriole, possibly the European greenfinch. They are typically dull-plumaged and greenish in color, the smaller species resembling wood warblers apart from their heavier bills. They range in size from the Chocó vireo, dwarf vireo and lesser greenlet, all at around 10cm and 8g, to the peppershrikes and shrike-vireos at up to 17cm and 40g.Forshaw, Joseph & Parkes, Kenneth C. 1991. ''Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds,'' p. 209. Merehurst Press, London. Distribution and habitat Most species are found in Middle America and northern South America. Thirteen species of true vireos occur farther north, in the United States, Bermuda and Canada; of these all but Hutton's vireo are migratory. Members of the famil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insectivore
A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores were amphibians. When they evolved 400 million years ago, the first amphibians were piscivores, with numerous sharp conical teeth, much like a modern crocodile. The same tooth arrangement is however also suited for eating animals with exoskeletons, thus the ability to eat insects is an extension of piscivory. At one time, insectivorous mammals were scientifically classified in an order called Insectivora. This order is now abandoned, as not all insectivorous mammals are closely related. Most of the Insectivora taxa have been reclassified; those that have not yet been reclassified and found to be truly related to each other remain in the order Eulipotyphla. Although individually small, insects exist in enormous numbers. Insects make u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parulidae
The New World warblers or wood-warblers are a group of small, often colorful, passerine birds that make up the family Parulidae and are restricted to the New World. They are not closely related to Old World warblers or Australian warblers. Most are arboreal, but some, like the ovenbird and the two waterthrushes, are primarily terrestrial. Most members of this family are insectivores. This group likely originated in northern Central America, where the greatest number of species and diversity between them is found. From there, they spread north during the interglacial periods, mainly as migrants, returning to the ancestral region in winter. Two genera, '' Myioborus'' and ''Basileuterus'', seem to have colonized South America early, perhaps before the two continents were linked, and together constitute most warbler species of that region. The scientific name for the family, Parulidae, originates from the fact that Linnaeus in 1758 named the northern parula as a tit, ''Parus ame ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kinglet
A kinglet is a small bird in the family Regulidae. Species in this family were formerly classified with the Old World warblers. "Regulidae" is derived from the Latin word ''regulus'' for "petty king" or prince, and refers to the coloured crowns of adult birds. This family has representatives in North America and Eurasia. There are six species in this family; one, the Madeira firecrest, ''Regulus madeirensis'', was only recently split from common firecrest as a separate species. One species, the ruby-crowned kinglet, differs sufficiently in its voice and plumage to be afforded its own genus, ''Corthylio''. Description Kinglets are among the smallest of all passerines, ranging in size from and weighing ; the sexes are the same size. They have medium-length wings and tails, and small needle-like bills. The plumage is overall grey-green, offset by pale wingbars, and the tail tip is incised. Five species have a single stiff feather covering the nostrils, but in the ruby-crowned ki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
The lesser spotted woodpecker (''Dryobates minor'') is a member of the woodpecker family Picidae. It was formerly assigned to the genus ''Dendrocopos'' (sometimes incorrectly spelt as ''Dendrocopus''). Some taxonomic authorities continue to list the species there. The range of the lesser spotted woodpecker is the Palearctic region, but several subspecies are recognised. Taxonomy The lesser spotted woodpecker was listed by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Picus minor''. The species was moved to the genus ''Dendrocopos'' by the German naturalist Carl Ludwig Koch in 1816. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2015 based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences found that the species placed in the genus ''Dendrocopos'' did not form a monophyletic group. In the revised generic classification, the lesser spotted woodpecker was placed in the resurrected genus ''Dryobates'', that had originall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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