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Sibley State Park
Sibley State Park is a Minnesota state park near New London, on the shores of Lake Andrew. It is named for Henry Hastings Sibley, the first governor of the state. A city park in Mankato, Minnesota is also named for Sibley. The rustic style stone structures in the park were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps between 1935 and 1938. These structures are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The layout of the park was a very functional example of master planning because it reduced congestion and overcrowding for swimmers, picnickers, and campers. It is rumored that a secret cache of memorabilia and other various items are buried underground in one of the park areas near the beach. Wildlife This park is home to mammalian species of white-tailed deer, red and gray foxes, coyote, raccoon, chipmunk, red and gray squirrels, mink, striped skunk, badger, and woodchuck. Bird watchers receive an opportunity to view ruffed grouses, great blue herons, egrets, wood ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kandiyohi County, Minnesota
Kandiyohi County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, its population is 43,732. As of November 20, 1871, its county seat is Willmar. Kandiyohi County comprises the US Census Bureau's "Willmar, MN Micropolitan Statistical Area". History Kandiyohi County is named for a Dakota word meaning "where the buffalo fish come". (''kandi’'' - the buffalo fish + ''oh-hi’-yu'' - v. of ''hiyu'' - to come through). It was organized on March 20, 1858, with Kandiyohi established as the county seat in 1870 (it was then called Kandiyohi Station, as it was merely a stop on the railroad line). The original county occupied only the southern half of its current area. Development was slow, and in 1870 the state legislature called for Monongalia County to merge with Kandiyohi. It took until November 21, 1871, to agree on the centrally located Willmar as the county seat. Geography The terrain of Kandiyohi County consists of rolling hills, partly wooded, mostly d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Mink
The American mink (''Neogale vison'') is a semiaquatic species of mustelid native to North America, though human intervention has expanded its range to many parts of Europe, Asia and South America. Because of range expansion, the American mink is classed as a least-concern species by the IUCN. The American mink was formerly thought to be the only extant member of the genus ''Neovison'' following the extinction of the sea mink (''N. macrodon''), but recent studies, followed by taxonomic authorities, have reclassified it and the sea mink within the genus ''Neogale'', which also contains a few New World weasel species. The American mink is a carnivore that feeds on rodents, fish, crustaceans, frogs, and birds. In its introduced range in Europe it has been classified as an invasive species linked to declines in European mink, Pyrenean desman, and water vole populations. It is the animal most frequently farmed for its fur, exceeding the silver fox, sable, marten, and skunk in econo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bluebird
The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. Bluebirds have blue, or blue and rose beige, plumage. Female birds are less brightly colored than males, although color patterns are similar and there is no noticeable difference in size. Taxonomy and species The genus ''Sialia'' was introduced by the English naturalist William John Swainson in 1827 with the eastern bluebird (''Sialia sialis'') as the type species. A molecular phylogenetic study using mitochondrial sequences published in 2005 found that ''Sialia'', ''Myadestes'' (solitaires) and ''Neocossyphus'' (African ant-thrushes) formed a basal clade in the family Turdidae. Within ''Sialia'' the mountain bluebird was sister to the eastern bluebird. The genus contains three species: Behavior Bluebirds are territorial and prefe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loon
Loons (North American English) or divers (British / Irish English) are a group of aquatic birds found in much of North America and northern Eurasia. All living species of loons are members of the genus ''Gavia'', family Gaviidae and order Gaviiformes . Description Loons, which are the size of large ducks or small geese, resemble these birds in shape when swimming. Like ducks and geese, but unlike coots (which are Rallidae) and grebes ( Podicipedidae), the loon's toes are connected by webbing. The loons may be confused with the cormorants (Phalacrocoracidae), but can be distinguished from them by their distinct call. Cormorants are not-too-distant relatives of loons, and like them are heavy-set birds whose bellies, unlike those of ducks and geese, are submerged when swimming. Loons in flight resemble plump geese with seagulls' wings that are relatively small in proportion to their bulky bodies. The bird points its head slightly upwards while swimming, but less so than cormorants ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pelican
Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before swallowing. They have predominantly pale plumage, except for the brown and Peruvian pelicans. The bills, pouches, and bare facial skin of all pelicans become brightly coloured before the breeding season. The eight living pelican species have a patchy global distribution, ranging latitudinally from the tropics to the temperate zone, though they are absent from interior South America and from polar regions and the open ocean. Long thought to be related to frigatebirds, cormorants, tropicbirds, and gannets and boobies, pelicans instead are now known to be most closely related to the shoebill and hamerkop, and are placed in the order Pelecaniformes. Ibises, spoonbills, herons, and bitterns have been classified in the same order. Fossil ev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indigo Bunting
The indigo bunting (''Passerina cyanea'') is a small seed-eating bird in the cardinal family, Cardinalidae. It is migratory, ranging from southern Canada to northern Florida during the breeding season, and from southern Florida to northern South America during the winter. It often migrates by night, using the stars to navigate. Its habitat is farmland, brush areas, and open woodland. The indigo bunting is closely related to the lazuli bunting and interbreeds with the species where their ranges overlap. The indigo bunting is a small bird, with a length of . It displays sexual dimorphism in its coloration; the male is vibrant blue in the summer, with brightly colored plumage during the breeding season to attract a mate. It is brown during the winter months, while the female is brown year-round. Nest-building and incubation are done solely by the female. The diet of the indigo bunting consists primarily of insects during the summer months and seeds during the winter months. Ta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scarlet Tanager
The scarlet tanager (''Piranga olivacea'') is a medium-sized American songbird. Until recently, it was placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), but it and other members of its genus are now classified as belonging to the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). The species' plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family, although the ''Piranga'' species lacks the thick conical bill (well suited to seed and insect eating) that many cardinals possess. The species resides in thick deciduous woodlands and suburbs. Etymology The genus name ''Piranga'' is from Tupi ''Tijepiranga'', the name for an unknown small bird, and the specific ''olivacea'' is from New Latin ''olivaceus'', "olive-green". Description The scarlet tanager, a mid-sized passerine, is marginally the smallest of the four species of ''Piranga'' that breed north of the Mexican border. It can weigh from , with an average of during breeding and an average of at the beginning of migration. Scarle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canada Goose
The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), or Canadian goose, is a large wild goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North America, and it is occasionally found during migration across the Atlantic in northern Europe. It has been introduced to the United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, New Zealand, Japan, Chile, Argentina, and the Falkland Islands. Like most geese, the Canada goose is primarily herbivorous and normally migratory; often found on or close to fresh water, the Canada goose is also common in brackish marshes, estuaries, and lagoons. Extremely adept at living in human-altered areas, Canada geese have established breeding colonies in urban and cultivated habitats, which provide food and few natural predators. The success of this common park species has led to its often being considered a pest species because of its excrement, its depredation of crops, its n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wood Duck
The wood duck or Carolina duck (''Aix sponsa'') is a species of perching duck found in North America. The drake wood duck is one of the most colorful North American waterfowl. Description The wood duck is a medium-sized perching duck. A typical adult is from ( or 1.5 feet max.) In length with a wingspan of between . The wood duck's weight ranges from 454-862 g (16.0-30.4 oz). This is about three-quarters of the length of an adult mallard. It shares its genus with the Asian Mandarin duck (''Aix galericulata''). The adult male has stunning multicolored iridescent plumage and red eyes, with a distinctive white flare down the neck. The female, less colorful, has a white eye-ring and a whitish throat. Both adults have crested heads. The male's call is a rising whistle, ''jeeeeee''; the females utter a drawn-out, rising squeal, ''do weep do weep'', when flushed, and a sharp ''cr-r-ek, cr-e-ek'' for an alarm call. Behavior Their breeding habitat is wooded swamps, shallow l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Egret
Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build. Biology Many egrets are members of the genera ''Egretta'' or '' Ardea'', which also contain other species named as herons rather than egrets. The distinction between a heron and an egret is rather vague, and depends more on appearance than biology. The word "egret" comes from the French word ''aigrette'' that means both "silver heron" and "brush", referring to the long, filamentous feathers that seem to cascade down an egret's back during the breeding season (also called "egrets"). Several of the egrets have been reclassified from one genus to another in recent years; the great egret, for example, has been classified as a member of either ''Casmerodius'', ''Egretta'', or ''Ardea''. In the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries, s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Blue Heron
The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America, as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos Islands. It is a rare vagrant to coastal Spain, the Azores, and areas of far southern Europe. An all-white population found in south Florida and the Florida Keys is known as the great white heron. Debate exists about whether this represents a white color morph of the great blue heron, a subspecies of it, or an entirely separate species. The status of white individuals known to occur elsewhere in the Caribbean, and their existence is rarely found elsewhere besides in eastern North America. Taxonomy The great blue heron was one of the many species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his 18th-century work, '' Systema Naturae''. The scientific name comes from Latin ''ardea'', and Ancient Greek (), both meaning "heron". The great blue ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruffed Grouse
The ruffed grouse (''Bonasa umbellus'') is a medium-sized grouse occurring in forests from the Appalachian Mountains across Canada to Alaska. It is the most widely distributed game bird in North America. It is non-migratory. It is the only species in the genus ''Bonasa''. The ruffed grouse is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a "partridge", an unrelated phasianid, and occasionally confused with the grey partridge, a bird of open areas rather than woodlands. The ruffed grouse is the state game bird of Pennsylvania, United States. Taxonomy ''Bonasa umbellus'' was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1766 12th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. He classified it as ''Tetrao umbellus'', placing it in a subfamily with Eurasian grouse. The genus ''Bonasa'' was applied by British naturalist John Francis Stephens in 1819. Ruffed grouse is the preferred common name because it applies only to this species. Misleading vernacular names abound, however, and it is often called partridge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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