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Taita Falcon
The Taita falcon (''Falco fasciinucha'') is a small falcon found in central and eastern Africa. It was first described from the Taita Hills of Kenya from which it derives its name. Description The Taita falcon is a small, rare raptor species. The biology and ecology of this falcon is not well-understood. It is robust, long winged with a short tail, and is adept at aerial hunting. This falcon bears some resemblance to the African hobby, with which it is often confused; however, the white throat and rufous patches on the nape offer a unique characteristic for identification. The wingspan of the males is , and that of females is . Males weigh and the females . The plumage of the males is more brightly coloured than the females. Abundance, Distribution and Habitat The Taita falcon is globally listed as Vulnerable (VU). This species is predicted to be represented by less than 1500 individuals of 500 breeding pairs in its distribution range and only 50 nest sites are known. Howeve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anton Reichenow
Anton Reichenow (1 August 1847 in Charlottenburg – 6 July 1941 in Hamburg) was a German ornithologist and herpetologist. Reichenow was the son-in-law of Jean Cabanis, and worked at the Natural History Museum of Berlin from 1874 to 1921. He was an expert on African birds, making a collecting expedition to West Africa in 1872 and 1873, and writing ''Die Vögel Afrikas'' (1900–05). He was also an expert on parrots, describing all species then known in his book ''Vogelbilder aus Fernen Zonen: Abbildungen und Beschreibungen der Papageien'' (illustrated by Gustav Mützel, 1839–1893). He also wrote ''Die Vögel der Bismarckinseln'' (1899). He was editor of the ''Journal für Ornithologie'' from 1894 to 1921. A number of birds are named after him, including Reichenow's woodpecker and Reichenow's firefinch. His son Eduard Reichenow was a famous protozoologist. Reichenow is known for his classification of birds into six groups, described as "shortwings, swimmers, stiltbirds, skinb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red-billed Quelea
The red-billed quelea (; ''Quelea quelea''), also known as the red-billed weaver or red-billed dioch, is a small—approximately long and weighing —migratory, sparrow-like bird of the weaver family, Ploceidae, native to Sub-Saharan Africa. It was named by Linnaeus in 1758, who considered it a bunting, but Ludwig Reichenbach assigned it in 1850 to the new genus ''Quelea''. Three subspecies are recognised, with ''Quelea quelea quelea'' occurring roughly from Senegal to Chad, ''Q. q. aethiopica'' from Sudan to Somalia and Tanzania, and ''Q. q. lathamii'' from Gabon to Mozambique and South Africa. Non-breeding birds have light underparts, striped brown upper parts, yellow-edged flight feathers and a reddish bill. Breeding females attain a yellowish bill. Breeding males have a black (or rarely white) facial mask, surrounded by a purplish, pinkish, rusty or yellowish wash on the head and breast. The species avoids forests, deserts and colder areas such as those ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Falco (genus)
Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons have thin, tapered wings, which enable them to fly at high speed and change direction rapidly. Fledgling falcons, in their first year of flying, have longer flight feathers, which make their configuration more like that of a general-purpose bird such as a broad wing. This makes flying easier while learning the exceptional skills required to be effective hunters as adults. The falcons are the largest genus in the Falconinae subfamily of Falconidae, which itself also includes another subfamily comprising caracaras and a few other species. All these birds kill with their beaks, using a tomial "tooth" on the side of their beaks—unlike the hawks, eagles, and other birds of prey in the Accipitridae, which use their feet. The largest falcon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peregrine Falcon
The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae. A large, Corvus (genus), crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey back, barred white underparts, and a black head. The peregrine is renowned for its speed, reaching over during its characteristic hunting stoop (high-speed dive), making it the fastest bird in the world, as well as the Fastest animals, fastest member of the animal kingdom. According to a ''National Geographic (U.S. TV channel), National Geographic'' TV program, the highest measured speed of a peregrine falcon is . As is typical for avivore, bird-eating raptors, peregrine falcons are Sexual dimorphism, sexually dimorphic, with females being considerably larger than males. The peregrine's breeding range includes land regions from the Arctic tundra to the tropics. It can b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lanner Falcon
The lanner falcon (''Falco biarmicus'') is a medium-sized bird of prey that breeds in Africa, southeast Europe and just into Asia. It prefers open habitat and is mainly resident, but some birds disperse more widely after the breeding season. A large falcon, it preys on birds and bats. Taxonomy and etymology The lanner falcon was described by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1825 under the current binomial name ''Falco biarmicus''. The type locality is Caffraria and the Cape of Good Hope. ''Falco'' is Late Latin for a "falcon", from ''falx'', ''falcis'' "sickle". The Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus had used the specific epithet ''biarmicus'' for the bearded reedling and Temminck clearly believed that the word meant "bearded" but it is likely that Linnaeus was using the Latinized form for Bjarmaland, a district in northern Russia. The English word "lanner" is believed to come from the Old French ''lanier'' meaning "cowardly". The first recorded use of the word in E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Black Swift
The African black swift (''Apus barbatus''), also known as the African swift or black swift, is a medium-sized bird in the swift family. It breeds in Africa discontinuously from Liberia, Cameroon, Zaire, Uganda and Kenya southwards to South Africa. The "black swifts" of Madagascar and the Comoros are either taken as two subspecies of the African black swift, or otherwise deemed a full species, the Malagasy black swift. Distinctive features The African black swift is long and bulky like a pallid swift; it appears entirely blackish-brown except for a small white or pale grey patch on the chin which is not visible from a distance. It has a short forked tail and very long swept-back wings that resemble a crescent or a boomerang. This species is very similar to the common swift but can be distinguished under optimum viewing conditions by the contrast between its black back and paler secondary wing feathers. The heavier build also gives it a distinctive flight action, which consisted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emerald-spotted Wood Dove
The emerald-spotted wood dove (''Turtur chalcospilos'') is a bird of the family Columbidae, resident across eastern and southern Africa. It is a species of open drier deciduous woodland and second growth. It is absent from evergreen rainforests and semidesert areas. Description Emerald-spotted wood dove is a small plump pigeon, typically 20 cm in length. Its back, hindneck, wings and tail are pale grey brown, and the folded wings have green metallic patches. There are blackish bands on the lower back and tail. The forehead, crown and nape are bluish grey, fading to pinkish grey on the throat. The underparts are mauve-pink, becoming whiter on the belly. The bill of this dove is blackish with a red base. The sexes are similar, but the female may be slightly duller than the male. The immature has duller green spots and buff fringes to the feathers. When flying, black-billed wood dove is told from this species by its bright chestnut underwings. The call is in three parts: t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hirundine
The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae, are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The term "swallow" is used colloquially in Europe as a synonym for the barn swallow. Around 90 species of Hirundinidae are known, divided into 19 genera, with the greatest diversity found in Africa, which is also thought to be where they evolved as hole-nesters. They also occur on a number of oceanic islands. A number of European and North American species are long-distance migrants; by contrast, the West and South African swallows are nonmigratory. This family comprises two subfamilies: Pseudochelidoninae (the river martins of the genus ''Pseudochelidon'') and Hirundininae (all other swallows, martins, and saw-wings). In the Old World, the name "martin" tends to be used for the squarer-tailed species, and the name "swallow" for the more fork ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swift (bird)
The swifts are a family, Apodidae, of highly aerial birds. They are superficially similar to swallows, but are not closely related to any passerine species. Swifts are placed in the order Apodiformes with hummingbirds. The treeswifts are closely related to the true swifts, but form a separate family, the Hemiprocnidae. Resemblances between swifts and swallows are due to convergent evolution, reflecting similar life styles based on catching insects in flight. The family name, Apodidae, is derived from the Greek ἄπους (''ápous''), meaning "footless", a reference to the small, weak legs of these most aerial of birds.Jobling (2010) pp. 50–51.Kaufman (2001) p. 329. The tradition of depicting swifts without feet continued into the Middle Ages, as seen in the heraldic martlet. Taxonomy Taxonomists have long classified swifts and treeswifts as relatives of the hummingbirds, a judgment corroborated by the discovery of the Jungornithidae (apparently swift-like hummingbird-relati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trumpeter Hornbill
The trumpeter hornbill (''Bycanistes bucinator'') is a medium-sized hornbill, with length between , characterized by a large grey casque on the bill, smaller in females. The eyes are brown or red, with pink surrounding skin. Body mass is between .''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), . It is similar to silvery-cheeked hornbill. Distinguishing features include an all-black back, white belly and white underwing coverts (in flight, wings present white tips), and red facial skin. The trumpeter hornbill is a gregarious bird, usually living in groups of two to five individuals, although sometimes as many as fifty. This hornbill is a locally common resident of the tropical evergreen forests of Burundi, Mozambique, Botswana, Congo, Kenya, the Caprivi strip of Namibia and eastern South Africa, where it feeds on fruits and large insects. Like other hornbills, the females incubate four to five white eggs while sealed in the nest compartme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oscar Rudolph Neumann
Oscar Rudolph Neumann (3 September 1867 in Berlin – 17 May 1946 in Chicago) was a German ornithologist and naturalist who explored and collected specimens in Africa. He fled via Cuba and settled in the United States to escape Nazi persecution of Jews. Neumann's starling (''Onychognathus neumanni'') and several other species are named after him. Neumann was born in wealthy Jewish family, the son of Maximilian and Anna née Meyer. A younger sister of his was Elsa Neumann (1872-1902) who became one of the first physics doctorates from Berlin University. Another sister Alice was a sculptor. He travelled to German East Africa across Tanganyika, Uganda and Kenya in 1892 and collected for the Berlin Museum publishing descriptions. In 1899 he accompanied Baron Carlo von Erlanger through Somaliland and southern Ethiopia, collecting birds that went to Lord Walter Rothschild's bird collection in Tring. In 1915 he went to New Guinea and also made an expedition to Sulawesi in 1938 sponso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limpopo Province
Limpopo is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is situated in Lebowakgomo. The province is made up of 3 former homelands of Lebowa, Gazankulu and Venda and the former parts of the Transvaal province. The Limpopo province was established as one of the new nine provinces after South Africa's first democratic election on the 27th of April 1994. The province's name was first "Northern Transvaal", later changed to "Northern Province" on the 28th of June 1995, together with two other provinces. The name was later changed again in 2002 to the Limpopo province. Limpopo is made up of 3 main ethnic groups namely; Pedi people, Tsonga people, Tsonga and Venda people. Traditional leaders and chiefs still form a strong backbone of the province's political landscape. Establ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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