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Phigys
The collared lory (''Vini solitaria'') is a species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae. It is endemic to the islands of Fiji. It is the only Fijian rainforest bird to adapt to urban landscapes and can be found in urban Suva. Measuring , it has bright red underparts and face with a purple crown and greenish upperparts. Males and females are similar in plumage, although the latter have a paler crown. Taxonomy The collared lory was first described by German naturalist Georg Adolf Suckow in 1800, and placed in the genus ''Phigys'' by English naturalist George Robert Gray in 1870. It was moved to the genus '' Vini'' based on a molecular phylogenetic study of the lorikeets published in 2020. The Fijian name is ''kula''. The bird was prized throughout western Polynesia for its vibrant plumage and the maritime trading networks based on "kula" feathers existed between Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga up until colonial times. Both the bird and its plumage are called "ula" in Samoan and "ku ...
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Phigys Solitarius -San Diego Zoo, California, USA-8a (1)
The collared lory (''Vini solitaria'') is a species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae. It is endemic to the islands of Fiji. It is the only Fijian rainforest bird to adapt to urban landscapes and can be found in urban Suva. Measuring , it has bright red underparts and face with a purple crown and greenish upperparts. Males and females are similar in plumage, although the latter have a paler crown. Taxonomy The collared lory was first described by German naturalist Georg Adolf Suckow in 1800, and placed in the genus ''Phigys'' by English naturalist George Robert Gray in 1870. It was moved to the genus '' Vini'' based on a molecular phylogenetic study of the lorikeets published in 2020. The Fijian name is ''kula''. The bird was prized throughout western Polynesia for its vibrant plumage and the maritime trading networks based on "kula" feathers existed between Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga up until colonial times. Both the bird and its plumage are called "ula" in Samoan and "ku ...
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Lakeba
Lakeba (pronounced ) is an island in Fiji’s Southern Lau Archipelago; the provincial capital of Lau is located here. The island is the tenth largest in Fiji, with a land area of nearly 60 square kilometers.Steadman (2006) It is fertile and well watered, and encircled by a 29-kilometer road. Its closest neighbors are Aiwa and Nayau. Separated by deep sea from the latter but only by shallow waters from the former, when sea levels were lower during glacial episodes Lakeba and Aiwa formed one large island. It has a population of around 2,100 in eight villages, the most important of which is the capital Tubou which lies in the island's south. Near Tubou is the village of Levuka; not to be confused with its namesake – Fiji's old capital – Levuka on Lakeba is home to a fishing tribe whose ancestors came from Bau Island. Another significant village is Nasaqalau, located in the northern part of Lakeba. Geography Situated at 18.20° South and 178.80° East, Lakeba ...
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Vini (genus)
''Vini'' is a genus of birds in the family Psittaculidae that are endemic to the islands of the tropical Pacific. There are eleven extant species of these small lorikeets ranging from eastern Fiji through Samoa, French Polynesia, and as far east as Henderson Island. All members of the genus have exceptional bright plumage, particularly the unusual all over blues of the blue lorikeet and the ultramarine lorikeet. The ''Vini'' lorikeets are highly threatened by human changes to their islands. Most species have been lost from a number of islands and two species became extinct before the arrival of European explorers in the Pacific. , two species are listed as endangered species by the IUCN and two are considered vulnerable. They are primarily threatened by introduced species, such as rats, and habitat loss. Taxonomy The genus ''Vini'' was introduced in 1833 by the French naturalist René Lesson for Kuhl's lorikeet. For the publication date see: The genus name is the Tahitian w ...
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Parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoidea ("true" parrots), the Cacatuoidea (cockatoos), and the Strigopoidea (New Zealand parrots). One-third of all parrot species are threatened by extinction, with higher aggregate extinction risk ( IUCN Red List Index) than any other comparable bird group. Parrots have a generally pantropical distribution with several species inhabiting temperate regions in the Southern Hemisphere, as well. The greatest diversity of parrots is in South America and Australasia. Characteristic features of parrots include a strong, curved bill, an upright stance, strong legs, and clawed zygodactyl feet. Many parrots are vividly coloured, and some are multi-coloured. Most parrots exhibit little or no sexual dimorphism in the visual spectrum. They form the most ...
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Georg Adolf Suckow
Georg Adolf Suckow sometimes Adolph (28 January 1751, Jena – 13 March 1813, Heidelberg) was a German physicist, chemist, mineralogist, mining engineer and naturalist. Suckow was a professor of physics, chemistry, and natural history at the University of Heidelberg. He wrote many books and articles on chemistry, botany, zoology and mineralogy. From 1808 he was a Member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. His son Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Suckow (1770–1838) was also a naturalist. Works * ''Von dem Nutzen der Chymie zum Behuf des bürgerlichen Lebens, und der Oekonomie. Nebst Ankündigung der Lesestunden des Sommers halben Jahres 1775 bei der kurfürstlichen oekonomischen Schule zu Lautern, von G.A. Suckow, der A.D. Professor der theoretischen Wissenschaften, und beständigen Sekretair der Kurfürstlichen oekonomischen Gesellschaft. Mannheim/Lautern'' (1775) * ''Oekonomische Botanik''. (1777) * ''Versuche über die Wirkungen verschiedener Luftarten auf die Vegetat ...
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Coconut
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which botanically is a drupe, not a nut. The name comes from the old Portuguese word '' coco'', meaning "head" or "skull", after the three indentations on the coconut shell that resemble facial features. They are ubiquitous in coastal tropical regions and are a cultural icon of the tropics. The coconut tree provides food, fuel, cosmetics, folk medicine and building materials, among many other uses. The inner flesh of the mature seed, as well as the coconut milk extracted from it, form a regular part of the diets of many people in the tropics and subtropics. Coconuts are distinct from other fruits because their endosperm contains a large quantity of clear liquid, called ''coconut water'' or ''coconut juice''. Mature, ripe coconuts ...
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Bird Nest
A bird nest is the spot in which a bird lays and incubates its eggs and raises its young. Although the term popularly refers to a specific structure made by the bird itself—such as the grassy cup nest of the American robin or Eurasian blackbird, or the elaborately woven hanging nest of the Montezuma oropendola or the village weaver—that is too restrictive a definition. For some species, a nest is simply a shallow depression made in sand; for others, it is the knot-hole left by a broken branch, a burrow dug into the ground, a chamber drilled into a tree, an enormous rotting pile of vegetation and earth, a shelf made of dried saliva or a mud dome with an entrance tunnel. The smallest bird nests are those of some hummingbirds, tiny cups which can be a mere across and high. At the other extreme, some nest mounds built by the dusky scrubfowl measure more than in diameter and stand nearly tall. The study of birds' nests is known as ''caliology''. Not all bird species buil ...
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Spathodea Campanulata
''Spathodea'' is a genus in the plant family Bignoniaceae. The single species it contains, ''Spathodea campanulata'', is commonly known as the African tulip tree. The tree grows between tall and is native to tropical dry forests of Africa. It has been nominated as among 100 of the "World's Worst" invaders. This tree is planted extensively as an ornamental tree throughout the tropics and is much appreciated for its very showy reddish-orange or crimson (rarely yellow), campanulate flowers. The generic name comes from the Ancient Greek words σπαθη (''spathe'') and οιδα (''oida''), referring to the spathe-like calyx. It was identified by Europeans in 1787 on the Gold Coast of Africa. Description The flower bud is ampule-shaped and contains water. Children sometimes play with these buds because of their ability to squirt water. The sap sometimes stains yellow on fingers and clothes. The open flowers are cup-shaped and hold rain and dew, making them attractive to many spec ...
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Coconut Palm
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which botanically is a drupe, not a nut. The name comes from the old Portuguese word '' coco'', meaning "head" or "skull", after the three indentations on the coconut shell that resemble facial features. They are ubiquitous in coastal tropical regions and are a cultural icon of the tropics. The coconut tree provides food, fuel, cosmetics, folk medicine and building materials, among many other uses. The inner flesh of the mature seed, as well as the coconut milk extracted from it, form a regular part of the diets of many people in the tropics and subtropics. Coconuts are distinct from other fruits because their endosperm contains a large quantity of clear liquid, called ''coconut water'' or ''coconut juice''. Mature, ripe coco ...
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Erythrina Variegata
''Erythrina variegata'', commonly known as tiger's claw or Indian coral tree, is a species of '' Erythrina'' native to the tropical and subtropical regions of eastern Africa, the Indian subcontinent, northern Australia, and the islands of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean east to Fiji. Description ''E. variegata'' is a thorny deciduous tree growing to tall. The leaves are pinnate with a petiole and three leaflets, each leaflet up to long and broad. It has dense clusters of scarlet or crimson flowers and black seeds. Uses ''Erythrina variegata'' is valued as an ornamental tree. Several cultivars have been selected, including 'Alba' with white flowers. In Vietnam, the leaves are used to wrap fermented meat ( vi, nem). ''E. variegata'' is known as ''dapdap'' in many languages of the Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan ...
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Lau Islands
The Lau Islands aka little Tonga (also called the Lau Group, the Eastern Group, the Eastern Archipelago) of Fiji are situated in the southern Pacific Ocean, just east of the Koro Sea. Of this chain of about sixty islands and islets, about thirty are inhabited. The Lau Group covers a land area of 188 square miles (487 square km), and had a population of 10,683 at the most recent census in 2007. While most of the northern Lau Group are high islands of volcanic origin, those of the south are mostly carbonate low islands. Administratively the islands belong to Lau Province. History The British explorer James Cook reached Vatoa in 1774. By the time of the discovery of the Ono Group in 1820, the Lau archipelago was the most mapped area of Fiji. Political unity came late to the Lau Islands. Historically, they comprised three territories: the Northern Lau Islands, the Southern Lau Islands, and the Moala Islands. Around 1855, the renegade Tongan prince Enele Ma'afu conquered ...
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