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Pinarornis
The boulder chat (''Pinarornis plumosus'') is a species of bird in the thrush family Turdidae native to dry woodland and savanna in Southern Africa. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Pinarornis''. Taxonomy The boulder chat was formally described in 1876 by the English ornithologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe. He introduced a new genus specifically for this species and coined the binomial name ''Pinarornis plumosus''. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek ''pinaros'' meaning "dirty" with ''ornis'' meaning "bird". The specific epithet ''plumosus'' is Latin and means "feathered" or "downy". Although formerly classified in the family Muscicapidae, a 2020 phylogenetic study, the results of which were followed by the International Ornithological Congress, indicates that ''Pinarornis'' is in fact a basal clade within the thrush family Turdidae. Description The boulder chat is a large chat, in length, with brownish-black plumage and white tips to the outer tail feath ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chat (bird)
Chats (formerly sometimes known as "chat-thrushes") are a group of small Old World insectivorous birds formerly classified as members of the thrush family (Turdidae), but following genetic DNA analysis, are now considered to belong to the Old World flycatcher family (Muscicapidae). The name is normally applied to the more robust ground-feeding flycatchers found in Europe and Asia and most northern species are strong migrants. There are many genera and these birds in particular make up most of the subfamily Saxicolinae. Other songbirds called "chats" are: * Australian chats, genera ''Ashbyia'' and '' Epthianura'' of the honeyeater family (Meliphagidae). They belong to a more ancient lineage than Saxicolinae. * American chats, genus ''Granatellus'' of the cardinal family (Cardinalidae), formerly placed in the wood-warbler family. They belong to a more modern lineage than Saxicolinae. * Yellow-breasted chat (''Icteria virens''), an enigmatic North American songbird tentatively p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turdidae
The thrushes are a passerine bird family, Turdidae, with a worldwide distribution. The family was once much larger before biologists reclassified the former subfamily Saxicolinae, which includes the chats and European robins, as Old World flycatchers. Thrushes are small to medium-sized ground living birds that feed on insects, other invertebrates and fruit. Some unrelated species around the world have been named after thrushes due to their similarity to birds in this family. Characteristics Thrushes are plump, soft-plumaged, small to medium-sized birds, inhabiting wooded areas, and often feeding on the ground. The smallest thrush may be the forest rock thrush, at and . However, the shortwings, which have ambiguous alliances with both thrushes and Old World flycatchers, can be even smaller. The lesser shortwing averages . The largest thrush is the Great thrush at and , though the commonly recognized Blue whistling-thrush is an Old world flycatcher. The Amami thrush might, h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thrush (bird)
The thrushes are a passerine bird family, Turdidae, with a worldwide distribution. The family was once much larger before biologists reclassified the former subfamily Saxicolinae, which includes the chats and European robins, as Old World flycatchers. Thrushes are small to medium-sized ground living birds that feed on insects, other invertebrates and fruit. Some unrelated species around the world have been named after thrushes due to their similarity to birds in this family. Characteristics Thrushes are plump, soft-plumaged, small to medium-sized birds, inhabiting wooded areas, and often feeding on the ground. The smallest thrush may be the forest rock thrush, at and . However, the shortwings, which have ambiguous alliances with both thrushes and Old World flycatchers, can be even smaller. The lesser shortwing averages . The largest thrush is the Great thrush at and , though the commonly recognized Blue whistling-thrush is an Old world flycatcher. The Amami thrush might, howe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Chivero
Lake Chivero is a reservoir on the Manyame River in Zimbabwe. It was formerly called Lake McIlwaine in memory of Sir Robert McIlwaine, a former judge of the High Court and founder of Southern Rhodesia's (later Rhodesia's, now Zimbabwe's) soil and water conservation movement. Located southwest of Harare, it provides the main water supply for the city. The lake was constructed over two-and-a-half years and opened to the public in 1952. The dam wall is 400 metres long. The water is also used for irrigation purposes and commercial fishing. Some of the fishes that are found in the lake include common grass carp, tigerfish, black bream, Clarias gariepinus, yellowfish, and green-headed bream. The lake and hinterland are protected as part of Lake Chivero Recreational Park. The lake was designated a Ramsar wetland of international importance on 3 January 2013. Remembrance Island is a small island in the reservoir. See also *Lake Chivero Recreational Park Lake Chivero Recreational Park ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boulder
In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In common usage, a boulder is too large for a person to move. Smaller boulders are usually just called rocks or stones. The word ''boulder'' derives from ''boulder stone'', from the Middle English ''bulderston'' or Swedish ''bullersten''. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved December 9, 2011, from Dictionary.com website. In places covered by s during s, s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozambique to the east. The capital and largest city is Harare. The second largest city is Bulawayo. A country of roughly 15 million people, Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, with English, Shona language, Shona, and Northern Ndebele language, Ndebele the most common. Beginning in the 9th century, during its late Iron Age, the Bantu peoples, Bantu people (who would become the ethnic Shona people, Shona) built the city-state of Great Zimbabwe which became one of the major African trade centres by the 11th century, controlling the gold, ivory and copper trades with the Swahili coast, which were connected to Arab and Indian states. By the mid 15th century, the city-state had been abandoned. From there, the Kingdom of Zimbabwe was established, fol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luangwa River
The Luangwa River is one of the major tributaries of the Zambezi River, and one of the four biggest rivers of Zambia. The river generally floods in the rainy season (December to March) and then falls considerably in the dry season. It is one of the biggest unaltered rivers in Southern Africa and the that make up the surrounding valley are home to abundant wildlife. Source and Upper-Middle Luangwa Valley ''Note: distances stated are approximate straight-line distances from source''. The Luangwa rises in the Lilonda and Mafinga Hills in north-east Zambia at an elevation of around 1500 m, near the border with Tanzania and Malawi, and flows in a southwesterly direction through a broad valley. About 150 km from its source it has dropped to an elevation of about 690 m and becomes a meandering river with a flood-plain several kilometres wide. Over the next 300 km the meanders increase, with many oxbow lakes and abandoned meanders. Near Mfuwe, the river's elevat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies underground. It is common in the continental crust of Earth, where it is found in igneous intrusions. These range in size from dikes only a few centimeters across to batholiths exposed over hundreds of square kilometers. Granite is typical of a larger family of ''granitic rocks'', or ''granitoids'', that are composed mostly of coarse-grained quartz and feldspars in varying proportions. These rocks are classified by the relative percentages of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase (the QAPF classification), with true granite representing granitic rocks rich in quartz and alkali feldspar. Most granitic rocks also contain mica or amphibole minerals, though a few (known as leucogranites) contain almost no dark minerals. Granite is nearly alway ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miombo
The Miombo woodland is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome (in the World Wide Fund for Nature scheme) located primarily in Central Africa. It includes four woodland savanna ecoregions (listed below) characterized by the dominant presence of ''Brachystegia'' and ''Julbernardia'' species of trees, and has a range of climates ranging from humid to semi-arid, and tropical to subtropical or even temperate. The trees characteristically shed their leaves for a short period in the dry season to reduce water loss and produce a flush of new leaves just before the onset of the wet season with rich gold and red colours masking the underlying chlorophyll, reminiscent of autumn colours in the temperate zone. The woodland gets its name from ''miombo'' (plural, singular ''muombo''), the Bemba word for ''Brachystegia'' species. Other Bantu languages of the region, such as Swahili and Shona, have related if not identical words, such as Swahili ''miyombo'' (singular ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scree
Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. Talus deposits typically have a concave upwards form, where the maximum inclination corresponds to the angle of repose of the mean debris particle size. The exact definition of scree in the primary literature is somewhat relaxed, and it often overlaps with both ''talus'' and ''colluvium''. The term ''scree'' comes from the Old Norse term for landslide, ''skriða'', while the term ''talus'' is a French word meaning a slope or embankment. In high-altitude arctic and subarctic regions, scree slopes and talus deposits are typically adjacent to hills and river valleys. These steep slopes usually originate from late-Pleistocene periglacial processes. Notable scree sites in Eastern North America include the Ice Caves at White Rocks National Recreation Area in southern Ve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Africa to the southwest. The sovereign state is separated from the Comoros, Mayotte and Madagascar by the Mozambique Channel to the east. The capital and largest city is Maputo. Notably Northern Mozambique lies within the monsoon trade winds of the Indian Ocean and is frequentely affected by disruptive weather. Between the 7th and 11th centuries, a series of Swahili port towns developed on that area, which contributed to the development of a distinct Swahili culture and language. In the late medieval period, these towns were frequented by traders from Somalia, Ethiopia, Egypt, Arabia, Persia, and India. The voyage of Vasco da Gama in 1498 marked the arrival of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in data gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, and education. IUCN's mission is to "influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable". Over the past decades, IUCN has widened its focus beyond conservation ecology and now incorporates issues related to sustainable development in its projects. IUCN does not itself aim to mobilize the public in support of nature conservation. It tries to influence the actions of governments, business and other stakeholders by providing information and advice and through building partnerships. The organization is best known to the wider ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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