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Chestnut-breasted Mannikin
The chestnut-breasted mannikin (''Lonchura castaneothorax''), also known as the chestnut-breasted munia or bully bird (in Australia), is a small brown-backed munia with a black face and greyish crown and nape. It has a broad ferruginous breast bar above a white belly. The species is found in Australia, New Caledonia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. This species has also been introduced to French Polynesia. Subspecies and location The chestnut-breasted mannikin has a total of six subspecies and seven forms. The subspecies are as follows: * ''L. c. castaneothorax'' – (Gould, 1837): nominate, occurs in eastern Australia. * ''L. c. assimilis'' – Mathews, 1910: occurs in northern Australia. Not recognized as a valid subspecies by some authorities. Identification: Richer breast and cream ground color to belly and flanks. * ''L. c. ramsayi'' – Delacour, 1943: occurs in southeastern Papua New Guinea. Identification: Distinctive black head with faint scalloping. Female is more noti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Gould
John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist. He published a number of monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, including Edward Lear, Henry Constantine Richter, Joseph Wolf and William Matthew Hart. He has been considered the father of bird study in Australia and the Gould League in Australia is named after him. His identification of the birds now nicknamed "Darwin's finches" played a role in the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. Gould's work is referenced in Charles Darwin's book, ''On the Origin of Species''. Early life Gould was born in Lyme Regis, the first son of a gardener. Both father and son probably had little education. After working on Dowager Lady Poulett's glass house, his father obtained a position on an estate near Guildford, Surrey, and then in 1818, Gould Snr became foreman in the Royal Gardens of Windsor. Gould then be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birds Described In 1837
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the bee hummingbird to the ostrich. There are about ten thousand living species, more than half of which are passerine, or "perching" birds. Birds have whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds. Wings, which are modified forelimbs, gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have further evolved for swimming. Birds ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birds Of New Caledonia
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the bee hummingbird to the ostrich. There are about ten thousand living species, more than half of which are passerine, or "perching" birds. Birds have whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds. Wings, which are modified forelimbs, gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have further evolved for swimming. Birds ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birds Of Melanesia
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the bee hummingbird to the ostrich. There are about ten thousand living species, more than half of which are passerine, or "perching" birds. Birds have whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds. Wings, which are modified forelimbs, gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have further evolved for swimming. Birds ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birds Of Australia
Australia and its offshore islands and territories have 898 recorded bird species as of 2014. Of the recorded birds, 165 are considered vagrant or accidental visitors, of the remainder over 45% are classified as Australian endemics: found nowhere else on earth. It has been suggested that up to 10% of Australian bird species may go extinct by the year 2100 as a result of climate change. Australian species range from the tiny weebill to the huge, flightless emu. Many species of Australian birds will immediately seem familiar to visitors from the Northern Hemisphere: Australian wrens look and act much like northern wrens, and Australian robins seem to be close relatives of the northern robins. However, the majority of Australian passerines are descended from the ancestors of the crow family, and the close resemblance is misleading: the cause is not genetic relatedness but convergent evolution. For example, almost any land habitat offers a nice home for a small bird that specia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lonchura
''Lonchura'' is a genus of the estrildid finch family, and includes munias (or minias) and mannikins. They are seedeating birds that are found in South Asia from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka east to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines. The name mannikin is from Middle Dutch ''mannekijn'' 'little man' (also the source of the different bird name manakin). Some of the ''Lonchura'' species were formerly placed in ''Spermestes''. Others have been placed in a genus of their own, ''Euodice''. Characteristics They are small gregarious birds which feed mainly on seeds, usually in relatively open habitats, preferring to feed on the ground or on reeds of grasses. Several species have been noted to feed on algae such as ''Spirogyra''. The nest is a large domed grass structure into which four to ten white eggs are laid. Some species also build communal roosting nests for overnight rest. The species in this genus are similar in size and structure, with stubby bills, stocky bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Slater Field Guide To Australian Birds
''The Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds '' is one of the main national bird field guides used by Australian birders. Description The guide was first published in 1986 in Sydney by Rigby Publishers and authored by Peter Slater and other members of his family. It is 215 mm high by 113 mm wide and weighs 440 g. The imprint page asserts copyright of the paintings for Peter Slater, of the text for Pat Slater, and of the maps for Raoul Slater. History In 1970-74 Slater had produced a two-volume guide to Australian birds which was the first of the new generation of Australian field guides to appear after the Second World War. It was shortly followed by guides authored by Graham Pizzey in 1980 and by Ken Simpson and Nicolas Day in 1984. Slater's second guide continued the evolutionary succession only two years later. In a review in the ornithological journal ''Emu The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecotone
An ecotone is a transition area between two biological communities, where two communities meet and integrate. It may be narrow or wide, and it may be local (the zone between a field and forest) or regional (the transition between forest and grassland ecosystems). An ecotone may appear on the ground as a gradual blending of the two communities across a broad area, or it may manifest itself as a sharp boundary line. Etymology The word ''ecotone'' was coined by Alfred Russel Wallace, who first observed the abrupt boundary between two biomes in 1859. It is formed as a combination of ''ecology'' plus ''-tone'', from the Greek ''tonos'' or tension – in other words, a place where ecologies are in tension. Features There are several distinguishing features of an ecotone. First, an ecotone can have a sharp vegetation transition, with a distinct line between two communities. For example, a change in colors of grasses or plant life can indicate an ecotone. Second, a change in physiogn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grey-headed Mannikin
The grey-headed mannikin or grey-headed munia (''Lonchura caniceps'') is a species of estrildid finch, native to the Papuan Peninsula. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 50,000 to 100,000 km2. It is found in moist savanna, shrubland & wetlands. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T .... References BirdLife Species Factsheet grey-headed mannikin Birds of the Papuan Peninsula grey-headed mannikin {{Estrildidae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bearded Tit
The bearded reedling (''Panurus biarmicus'') is a small, sexually dimorphic reed-bed passerine bird. It is frequently known as the bearded tit, due to some similarities to the long-tailed tit, or the bearded parrotbill. It is the only species in the family Panuridae. Taxonomy and systematics The bearded reedling was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' in 1758. He placed it in the genus ''Parus'' with the tits. The species has since been placed with the parrotbills in the family Paradoxornithidae, after they were removed from the true tits in the family. More recent research suggests it is a unique songbird – no other living species seems to be particularly closely related to it. The species is now placed in the monotypic family Panuridae. Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that the bearded reedling is most closely related to the lark family Alaudidae. The current genus name, ''Panurus'', is from Ancient Greek ''panu'', "exceeding ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tahiti
Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Australia. Divided into two parts, ''Tahiti Nui'' (bigger, northwestern part) and ''Tahiti Iti'' (smaller, southeastern part), the island was formed from volcanic activity; it is high and mountainous with surrounding coral reefs. Its population was 189,517 in 2017, making it by far the most populous island in French Polynesia and accounting for 68.7% of its total population. Tahiti is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity and an overseas country of the French Republic. The capital of French Polynesia, Papeete, is located on the northwest coast of Tahiti. The only international airport in the region, Faaā International Airport, is on Tahiti near Papeete. Tahiti was originally settled by Pol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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