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Twitchers' Vocabulary
Twitchers' vocabulary is the set of jargon words used by twitchers (committed birdwatchers who travel long distances to see a new species to add a species to their "life list", year list or other list). Some terms may be specific to regional birding communities, and not all are used due to dialectic and cultural differences.Anon. 2008. "The A to Z of birding." Australian Geographic 90: 104-105.Saha, Purbita. "The Audubon Dictionary for Birders" http://www.audubon.org/news/the-audubon-dictionary-birdersSwick, Nate. "The Birder Jargon Dictionary" https://thedrinkingbirdblog.com/the-birder-jargon-dictionary Terms ;Big Day: a birding event in which a birder or team of birders tries to see as many species of birds as possible within a calendar day. ;Big Year: a birding event in which a birder tries to see as many species of birds as possible within a defined area (county, state, ABA area, etc.) within a calendar year; originated with the American Birding Association, and the basis fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birders At Caerlaverock
Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by listening for bird sounds, or by watching public webcams. Most birdwatchers pursue this activity for recreational or social reasons, unlike ornithologists, who engage in the study of birds using formal scientific methods. Birding, birdwatching, and twitching The first recorded use of the term ''birdwatcher'' was in 1901 by Edmund Selous; ''bird'' was introduced as a verb in 1918. The term ''birding'' was also used for the practice of ''fowling'' or hunting with firearms as in Shakespeare's ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' (1602): "She laments sir... her husband goes this morning a-birding." The terms ''birding'' and ''birdwatching'' are today used by some interchangeably, although some participants prefer ''birding'', partly because it in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of Russia since the latter half of the 16th century, after the Russians conquered lands east of the Ural Mountains. Siberia is vast and sparsely populated, covering an area of over , but home to merely one-fifth of Russia's population. Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk and Omsk are the largest cities in the region. Because Siberia is a geographic and historic region and not a political entity, there is no single precise definition of its territorial borders. Traditionally, Siberia extends eastwards from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, and includes most of the drainage basin of the Arctic Ocean. The river Yenisey divides Siberia into two parts, Western and Eastern. Siberia stretches southwards from the Arctic Ocean to the hills of north-ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bird Codes
Bird codes, also known as banding codes or alpha codes, are four-letter abbreviations for bird names used by bird banders, ornithologists, and birdwatchers in North and Central America. The codes are written in capital letters, and look like, e.g., MODO for mourning dove. There are two very similar systems of these codes currently in use, one maintained by the Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) of the North American Bird Banding Program, and the other by the Institute for Bird Populations (IBP). The codes used by the two systems are the same for most birds, but not for all. History The Bird Banding Laboratory codes first appeared in published form in 1978, and their use gradually spread from bird banders to ornithologists and birdwatchers. The Institute for Bird Populations codes were created in 2003 with the goal of addressing shortcomings of the BBL codes: * The BBL codes omit some birds, notably game birds. The IBP codes include all birds in the covered area. * The BBL codes i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yellow-rumped Warbler
The yellow-rumped warbler (''Setophaga coronata'') is a regular North American bird species that can be commonly observed all across the continent. Its extensive distribution range connects both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the U.S. as well as Canada and Central America, with the population concentrating in the continent's northern parts during the breeding season and migrating southwards to southern North and Central America in Winter. The species generally prefers coniferous forests or mixed coniferous-deciduous forests as its breeding habitat, while during the winter it can be found inhabiting more open areas such as shrublands that offer food resources. The diet of the yellow-rumped warbler is based primarily on insects, though the species does eat fruits such as juniper berries as well, especially in winter. The species combines four closely related forms: the eastern myrtle warbler (spp. ''coronata''); its western counterpart, Audubon's warbler (spp. group ''auduboni' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turkey Vulture
The turkey vulture (''Cathartes aura'') is the most widespread of the New World vultures. One of three species in the genus ''Cathartes'' of the family Cathartidae, the turkey vulture ranges from southern Canada to the southernmost tip of South America. It inhabits a variety of open and semi-open areas, including subtropical forests, shrublands, pastures, and deserts. Like all New World vultures, it is not closely related to the Old World vultures of Europe, Africa, and Asia. The two groups strongly resemble each other because of convergent evolution; natural selection often leads to similar body plans in animals that adapt independently to similar conditions. The turkey vulture is a scavenger and feeds almost exclusively on carrion. It finds its food using its keen eyes and sense of smell, flying low enough to detect the gasses produced by the beginnings of the process of decay in dead animals. In flight, it uses thermals to move through the air, flapping its wings infrequentl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler
Pallas's grasshopper warbler (''Helopsaltes certhiola''), also known as the rusty-rumped warbler, is an Old World warbler in the grass warbler genus ''Helopsaltes''. It breeds in the eastern Palearctic: from the Altai Mountains, Mongolia and Transbaikalia to northeastern China, the Korean Peninsula, and islands in the Sea of Okhotsk (Sakhalin and Kuril Islands). It is migratory, wintering from India eastward to Indonesia. It is a rare migrant in Sri Lanka. Etymology This bird was named after the German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas. The specific ''certhiola'' is a diminutive from the genus ''Certhia'', the treecreepers. The sixth edition of ''Clements Checklist'' Clements, James F. (2007) ''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'' Cornell University Press refers to this species as "Pallas's warbler", a name more commonly used for '' Phylloscopus proregulus.'' Habitat This small passerine bird is found in tall grass with some thicker vegetation, usually close to water in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PG Tips
PG Tips is a brand of tea in the United Kingdom manufactured by Ekaterra. Brand name In the 1930s, Brooke Bond launched PG Tips in the tea market in the United Kingdom under the name ''Pre-Gestee'' - a variant of the original name "Digestive Tea." The name implied that it could be drunk as a digestive aid prior to eating food. Grocers and salesmen abbreviated it to "PG." After the Second World War, labelling regulations ruled out describing tea as aiding digestion—a property that had been attributed to tea—and by 1950/1 the PG name was adopted. The company added "Tips" referring to the fact that only the tips (the top two leaves and bud) of the tea plants are used in the blend. Products The Brooke Bond name has now been dropped from all packaging and the product is now known as PG Tips. PG Tips is available as loose tea, tea bags, and in vending formats. A "Special Blend" tea, which is the same as the tea blended for the brand's 75th anniversary, is available in tea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grasshopper Warbler
The grass warblers are small passerine birds belonging to the genus ''Locustella''. Formerly placed in the paraphyletic "Old World warbler" assemblage, they are now considered the northernmost representatives of a largely Gondwanan family, the Locustellidae. These are rather drab brownish "warblers" usually associated with fairly open grassland, shrubs or marshes. Some are streaked, others plain, all are difficult to view. They are insectivorous. The most characteristic feature of this group is that the song of several species is a mechanical insect-like reeling which gives rise to the group's scientific name. Species breeding in temperate regions are strongly migratory. Taxonomy The genus ''Locustella'' was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1829 with the common grasshopper warbler (''Locustella naevia'') as the type species. The genus name ''Locustella'' is from Latin and is a diminutive of ''locusta'', "grasshopper". Like the English name, this ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. Because it is on the North American Plate, North American Tectonic Plate, Greenland is included as a part of North America geographically. North America covers an area of about , about 16.5% of Earth's land area and about 4.8% of its total surface. North America is the third-largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the list of continents and continental subregions by population, fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2013, its population was estimated at nearly 579 million people in List of sovereign states and dependent territories in North America, 23 independent states, or about 7.5% of the world's population. In Americas (terminology)#Human ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New World Warblers
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 am ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alder Flycatcher
The alder flycatcher (''Empidonax alnorum'') is a small insect-eating bird of the tyrant flycatcher family. The genus name ''Empidonax'' is from Ancient Greek ''empis'', "gnat", and ''anax'', "master". The specific ''alnorum'' is Latin and means "of the alders". Description ''E. alnorum'' is one of the larger ''Empidonax'' species, attaining a length of , and a mass of . The wingspan ranges from . Upperparts of ''E. alnorum'' are dull greenish-olive. The crown is a slightly darker olive-green than the back. The throat is white, with a darker breast band. Thin white rings surround the eyes. The bill is wide and moderate in length, with pinkish or yellow-orange lower mandible and black upper mandible. Wings are generally black, with white wing bars and white edges of the innermost secondaries (tertials). Juveniles have brownish upperparts, yellow underparts, and yellowish brown or buff wingbars.All about birds nternet(2015). Ithaca (NY): Cornell University; pdated 2015; cited 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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