|
Nightingale Islands
The Nightingale Islands are a group of three islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, part of the Tristan da Cunha territory. They consist of Nightingale Island, Middle Island and Stoltenhoff Island. The islands are administered by the United Kingdom as part of the overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. The Nightingale Islands are uninhabited. Nightingale Island is the smallest of the four main islands of the Tristan da Cunha Group, measuring only , and lies away from Tristan and from Inaccessible. Stoltenhoff and Alex (also known as Middle Island), are really two large islets rather than conventional islands. Geology Nightingale Island is the heavily eroded remnant of a volcano that was once much larger. The oldest potassium–argon dating from the island is 18 ± 4 Ma. The youngest volcanic activity on the island is indirectly dated to 39,160 uncalibrated years BP by radiocarbon dates on peat overlain by volcanic tuff. History Originally na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tristan Map
Tristan (Latin/Brythonic: ''Drustanus''; cy, Trystan), also known as Tristram or Tristain and similar names, is the hero of the legend of Tristan and Iseult. In the legend, he is tasked with escorting the Irish princess Iseult to wed Tristan's uncle, King Mark of Cornwall. Tristan and Iseult accidentally drink a love potion during the journey and fall in love, beginning an adulterous relationship that eventually leads to Tristan's banishment and death. The character's first recorded appearance is in retellings of British mythology from the 12th century by Thomas of Britain and Gottfried von Strassburg, and later in the Prose ''Tristan''. He is featured in Arthurian legends, including the seminal text ''Le Morte d'Arthur'', as a skilled knight and a friend of Lancelot. The historical roots of Tristan are unclear; his association with Cornwall may originate from the Tristan Stone, a 6th-century granite pillar in Cornwall inscribed with the name ''Drustanus'' (a varia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nightingale Island Finch
The Nightingale Island finch (''Nesospiza questi'') is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae (formerly in Emberizidae). It is endemic to Nightingale Island of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago where its natural habitats are temperate shrubland and subantarctic grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby .... References Nightingale Island finch Nightingale Island finch Nightingale Island finch {{TristandaCunha-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antarctic Tern
The Antarctic tern (''Sterna vittata'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. It ranges throughout the southern oceans and is found on small islands around Antarctica as well as on the shores of the mainland. Its diet consists primarily of small fish and crustaceans. It is very similar in appearance to the closely related Arctic tern, but it is stockier, and it is in its breeding plumage in the southern summer, when the Arctic tern has shed old feathers to get its non-breeding plumage. The Antarctic tern does not migrate like the Arctic tern does, but it can still be found on a very large range. This tern species is actually more closely related to the South American tern. Gulls, skuas and jaegers are the primary predators of the bird's eggs and young. The Antarctic tern can be further divided into six subspecies. The total global population of this bird is around 140,000 individuals. Taxonomy The Antarctic tern was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Frie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White-bellied Storm Petrel
The white-bellied storm petrel (''Fregetta grallaria'') is a species of seabird in the family Oceanitidae. It is found in Angola, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, Maldives, Namibia, New Zealand, Perú, Saint Helena, and South Africa. Its natural habitat is open seas. Taxonomy The white-bellied storm petrel was formally described in 1818 by the French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot. He used the French name "Le pétrel échasse" and coined the binomial name ''Procellaria grallaria''. The white-bellied storm petrel is now placed in the genus ''Fregetta'' that was introduced in 1855 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte. The specific epithet ''grallaria'' is from Modern Latin ''grallarius'' meaning "stilt-walker". Four subspecies are recognised: *''F. g. grallaria'' (Vieillot, 1818) – tropical western Pacific Ocean, breeding on Lord Howe Island and the Kermadec Islands *''F. g. leucogaster'' (Gould, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White-faced Storm Petrel
The white-faced storm petrel (''Pelagodroma marina''), also known as white-faced petrel is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Pelagodroma''. Description The white-faced storm petrel is in length with a wingspan. It has a pale brown to grey back, rump and wings with black flight feathers. It is white below, unlike other north Atlantic petrels, and has a white face with a black eye mask like a phalarope. Its plumage makes it one of the easier petrels to identify at sea. Behaviour The white-faced storm petrel is strictly pelagic outside the breeding season, and this, together with its often-remote breeding sites, makes this petrel a difficult bird to see from land. Only in severe storms might this species be pushed into headlands. There have been a handful of western Europe records from France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. It has a direct gliding flight and will patter on the water surface as i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Shearwater
The great shearwater (''Ardenna gravis'') is a large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It breeds colonially on rocky islands in the south Atlantic. Outside the breeding season it ranges widely in the Atlantic. Taxonomy The great shearwater was formally described in 1818 by the Irish naturalist Bernard O'Reilly and given the binomial name ''Procellaria gravis''. The great shearwater is now placed in the genus ''Ardenna'' that was introduced in 1853 by Ludwig Reichenbach. The genus name ''Ardenna'' was used to refer to a seabird by Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1603. The specific epithet ''gravis'' is Latin meaning "heavy" or "weighty". The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. Description This shearwater is 43–51 cm (16.9–20.1 in) in length with a 105–122 cm (3.5–4.0 ft) wingspan. It is identifiable by its size, dark upper parts, and white under parts, with the exception of a brown belly patch and dark shoulder markings. It has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soft-plumaged Petrel
The soft-plumaged petrel (''Pterodroma mollis'') is a species of seabird in the family Procellariidae. Distribution It breeds on islands in the Southern Hemisphere, nesting on Tristan da Cunha, Gough Island, the Prince Edward Islands, Crozet Islands, Macquarie Island, and on the Antipodes Islands of New Zealand. Small numbers breed in the Maatsuyker Island Group of southern Tasmania. It disperses outside the breeding season, reaching eastern South America north to Brazil, southern Africa and Australia. It has occurred as a vagrant in Israel, Norway and Jordan. Taxonomy Fea's petrel (''P. feae''), Desertas petrel (''P. desertae'') and Zino's petrel Zino's petrel (''Pterodroma madeira'') or the freira, is a species of small seabird in the gadfly petrel genus, endemic to the island of Madeira. This long-winged petrel has a grey back and wings, with a dark "W" marking across the wings, and a ... (''P. madeira'') of the North Atlantic were formerly treated as subspecies ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Broad-billed Prion
The broad-billed prion (''Pachyptila vittata'') is a small pelagic seabird in the shearwater and petrel family, Procellariidae. It is the largest prion, with grey upperparts plumage, and white underparts. The sexes are alike. It ranges from the southeast Atlantic to New Zealand mainly near the Antarctic Convergence. In the south Atlantic it breeds on Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island; in the south Pacific it breeds on islands off the south coast of South Island, New Zealand and on the Chatham Islands. It has many other names that have been used such as blue-billed dove-petrel, broad-billed dove-petrel, long-billed prion, common prion, icebird, and whalebird. Taxonomy The broad-billed prion was described in 1777 by the German naturalist Georg Forster in his book ''A Voyage Round the World''. He had accompanied James Cook on Cook's second voyage to the Pacific. He included a brief description: "the blue petrel, so called from its having a blueish-grey colour, and a band of bla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross
The Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross (''Thalassarche chlororhynchos'') is a large seabird in the albatross family Diomedeidae. This small mollymawk was once considered conspecific with the Indian yellow-nosed albatross and known as the yellow-nosed albatross. Some authorities still consider these taxa to be conspecific, such as the Clements checklist and the SACC, which recognizes that a proposal is needed. Taxonomy The Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's ''Systema Naturae''. He placed it with the albatrosses in the genus '' Diomedea'' and coined the binomial name ''Diomedea chlororhynchos''. Gmelin based his description on the "yellow-nosed albatross" that had been described and illustrated in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham from a specimen that had been collected off the coast of the Cape of Good Hope. The Atlantic yellow-nosed alba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sooty Albatross
The sooty albatross, dark-mantled sooty albatross or dark-mantled albatross,BirdLife International (2008b) (''Phoebetria fusca''), is a species of bird in the albatross family. They breed on sub-Antarctic islands and range at sea across the Southern Ocean from South America to Australia.Brooke, M. (2004) Taxonomy Sooty albatrosses are a type of albatross that belongs to family Diomedeidae of the order Procellariiformes, along with shearwaters, fulmars, storm petrels, and diving petrels. They share certain identifying features. First, they have nasal passages which attach to the upper bill called naricorns. Although the nostrils on the albatross are on the sides of the bill, the bills of Procellariiformes are also unique in that they are split into between 7 and 9 horny plates. Finally, they produce a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides which is stored in the proventriculus. This is used against predators as well as being an energy-rich food source for chicks ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Rockhopper Penguin
The northern rockhopper penguin, Moseley's rockhopper penguin, or Moseley's penguin (''Eudyptes moseleyi'') is a penguin species native to the southern Indian and Atlantic Oceans. It is described as distinct from the southern rockhopper penguin. A study published in 2009 showed that the population of the northern rockhopper had declined by 90% since the 1950s. For this reason, the northern rockhopper penguin is classified as endangered. Taxonomy The rockhopper penguins have been considered to consist of two species, northern and southern rockhopper penguin, since research published in 2006 demonstrated morphological, vocal, and genetic differences between the two populations. Molecular datings suggest that the genetic divergence with the southern rockhopper penguin may have been caused by a vicariant event caused by a shift in the position of the Subtropical Front during the mid-Pleistocene climate transition. Analysis of a part of a mitochondrial control region from a nort ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations. The first seabirds evolved in the Cretaceous period, and modern seabird families emerged in the Paleogene. In general, seabirds live longer, breed later and have fewer young than other birds do, but they invest a great deal of time in their young. Most species nest in colonies, which can vary in size from a few dozen birds to millions. Many species are famous for undertaking long annual migrations, crossing the equator or circumnavigating the Earth in some cases. They feed both at the ocean's surface and below it, and even feed on each other. Seabirds can be highly pelagic, coastal, or in some cases spend a part of the year away from the sea entirely. Seabirds ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Tristan Map")
