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Long-tailed Koel
The Pacific long-tailed cuckoo (''Urodynamis taitensis''), also known as the long-tailed cuckoo, long-tailed koel, sparrow hawk, home owl, screecher, screamer or in Māori, is a species of the Cuculidae bird family (the cuckoos). It is a migratory bird that spends spring and summer in New Zealand, its only breeding place, and spends winter in the Pacific islands. It is a brood parasite, laying its eggs in the nests of other bird species and leaving them to raise its chicks. Taxonomy ''Urodynamis taitensis'' is most closely related to the channel-billed cuckoo (''Scythrops novaehollandiae''), which lives in Australia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, according to Sorenson and Payne (2005). Accordingly, it is not part of the ''Eudynamys'' genus (the true koels), with which it has previously been placed. Description The long-tailed cuckoo has a length of approximately 40–42 cm; wingspan of approximately 47–52 cm and weighs about 120 grams. Large cuckoo with broad po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicholas Aylward Vigors
Nicholas Aylward Vigors (1785 – 26 October 1840) was an Ireland, Irish zoologist and politician. He popularized the classification of birds on the basis of the quinarian system. Early life Vigors was born at Old Leighlin, County Carlow on 1785 as first son from Capt. Nicholas Aylward Vigors which served in 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot, 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment and, his first wife, Catherine Vigors, daughter of Solomon Richards of Solsborough. He matriculated at Trinity College, Oxford on November 1803 before he was admitted at Lincoln's Inn on November 1806. Without completing his studies, he served in the army during the Peninsular War from 1809 to 1811 and wounded in Battle of Barrosa, Battle of Barossa on 5 March 1811. Though, he haven't completed his studies yet, he still published "An inquiry into the nature and extent of poetick licence" in London at 1810. He then returned to Oxford to continued his studies and achieved his Bachelor of Arts on 1817 an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It may be the mature vegetation type in a particular region and remain stable over time, or a transitional community that occurs temporarily as the result of a disturbance, such as fire. A stable state may be maintained by regular natural disturbance such as fire or browsing. Shrubland may be unsuitable for human habitation because of the danger of fire. The term was coined in 1903. Shrubland species generally show a wide range of adaptations to fire, such as heavy seed production, lignotubers, and fire-induced germination. Botanical structural form In botany and ecology a shrub is defined as a much-branched woody plant less than 8 m high and usually with many stems. Tall shrubs are mostly 2–8 m high, small shrubs 1–2 m high and su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old World Sparrow
Old World sparrows are a group of small passerine birds forming the family Passeridae. They are also known as true sparrows, a name also used for a particular genus of the family, ''Passer''. They are distinct from both the New World sparrows, in the family Passerellidae, and from a few other birds sharing their name, such as the Java sparrow of the family Estrildidae. Many species nest on buildings and the house and Eurasian tree sparrows, in particular, inhabit cities in large numbers. They are primarily seed-eaters, though they also consume small insects. Some species scavenge for food around cities and, like gulls or pigeons, will eat small quantities of a diversity of items. Description Generally, Old World sparrows are small, plump, brown and grey birds with short tails and stubby, powerful beaks. The differences between sparrow species can be subtle. Members of this family range in size from the chestnut sparrow (''Passer eminibey''), at and , to the parrot-billed spa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, and to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean. The South Island covers , making it the world's 12th-largest island. At low altitude, it has an oceanic climate. The South Island is shaped by the Southern Alps which run along it from north to south. They include New Zealand's highest peak, Aoraki / Mount Cook at . The high Kaikōura Ranges lie to the northeast. The east side of the island is home to the Canterbury Plains while the West Coast is famous for its rough coastlines such as Fiordland, a very high proportion of native bush and national parks, and the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers. The main centres are Christchurch and Dunedin. The economy relies on agriculture and fishing, tourism, and general manufacturing and services. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pipipi
The pipipi ( mi, pīpipi;Gill, B. J. C., Bell, B. D., Chambers, G. K., Medway, D. G., Palma, R. L., Scofield, R. P., . . . Worthy, T. H. (2010). Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica (Fourth ed.). Wellington, New Zealand: Te Papa Press. ''Mohoua novaeseelandiae''), also known as brown creeper, New Zealand creeper or New Zealand titmouse, is a small passerine bird endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. They are specialist insectivores, gleaning insects from branches and leaves. They have strong legs and toes for hanging upside down while feeding.Worthy, Trevor H., & Holdaway, Richard N. (2002) ''The Lost World of the Moa'', Indiana University Press:Bloomington, Taxonomy German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin gave the pipipi its first formal description in 1789. It is one of three species of bird from the ''Mohoua genus'', including yellowhead, ''Mohoua ochrocephala'' and whitehead, ''Mohoua albicilla''. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yellowhead (bird)
The yellowhead or mōhua (''Mohoua ochrocephala'') is a small insectivorous passerine bird endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. Once a common forest bird, its numbers declined drastically after the introduction of rats and stoats, and it is now near threatened. Name The yellowhead was known in the 19th century as the "bush canary", after its trilling song. Today it is often known by its Māori name mōhua in New Zealand English, but Māori also knew it as ''mōhoua'' and ''houa''. Recent classification places this species and its close relative, the whitehead, in the family Mohouidae. Distribution The yellowhead and the whitehead have allopatric distributions as, conversely, the latter is found only in the North Island and several small islands surrounding it. Although abundant in the 19th century, particularly in southern beech forests on the South Island and Stewart Island / Rakiura, mōhua declined dramatically in the early 20th century due to the introduction ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest island. The world's 28th-most-populous island, Te Ika-a-Māui has a population of accounting for approximately % of the total residents of New Zealand. Twelve main urban areas (half of them officially cities) are in the North Island. From north to south, they are Whangārei, Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Rotorua, Gisborne, New Plymouth, Napier, Hastings, Whanganui, Palmerston North, and New Zealand's capital city Wellington, which is located at the south-west tip of the island. Naming and usage Although the island has been known as the North Island for many years, in 2009 the New Zealand Geographic Board found that, along with the South Island, the North Island had no official name. After a public consultation, the board officially ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whitehead (bird)
The whitehead (''Mohoua albicilla''; mi, pōpokotea) is a small species (15 cm in length, 18.5/14.5 g.Barrie Heather and Hugh Robertson, ''"The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand" (revised edition)'', Viking, 2005) of passerine bird endemic to New Zealand. It is classified in the family Mohouidae. The male whitehead's upperparts, wings and tail are a pale brown in colour, while the head and underparts are white – in the case of the male an almost pure white in colour. Females and juveniles have similar colouration except that the nape and crown (top of the head) are shaded brown.R.A Falla, R.B. Sibson and E.G. Turbott, ''" The new guide to the Birds of New Zealand"'', Collins, 1979 The black beak and eyes contrast with the white head and the feet are bluish black in colouration. Formerly quite common and widespread in native forests in the North Island, the whitehead has suffered a marked decline in the past two centuries since European colonisation and today is res ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mohoua
''Mohoua'' is a small genus of three bird species endemic to New Zealand. The scientific name is taken from ''mohua'' – the Māori name for the yellowhead.''"Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds"; Volume 7'', edited by Peter Higgins, OUP, 2000 Their taxonomic placement has presented problems: They have typically been placed in the whistler family, Pachycephalidae, but in 2013 it was established that they are best placed in their own family, Mohouidae.Zachary Aidala et al. Phylogenetic relationships of the genus Mohoua, endemic hosts of New Zealand’s obligate brood parasitic Long-tailed Cuckoo (''Eudynamys taitensis''). Journal of Ornithology, published online June, 2013; doi: 10.1007/s10336-013-0978-8 All three species display some degree of sexual dimorphism in terms of size, with the males being the larger of the two sexes.Barrie Heather and Hugh Robertson, ''"The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand" (revised edition)'', Viking, 2005 ''Mohoua'' are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Māori People
The Māori (, ) are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several centuries in isolation, these settlers developed their own distinctive culture, whose language, mythology, crafts, and performing arts evolved independently from those of other eastern Polynesian cultures. Some early Māori moved to the Chatham Islands, where their descendants became New Zealand's other indigenous Polynesian ethnic group, the Moriori. Initial contact between Māori and Europeans, starting in the 18th century, ranged from beneficial trade to lethal violence; Māori actively adopted many technologies from the newcomers. With the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, the two cultures coexisted for a generation. Rising tensions over disputed land sales led to conflict in the 1860s, and massive land confiscations, to which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pitcairn Island
Pitcairn Island is the only inhabited island of the Pitcairn Islands, of which many inhabitants are descendants of mutineers of HMS ''Bounty''. Geography The island is of volcanic origin, with a rugged cliff coastline. Unlike many other South Pacific islands, it is not surrounded by coral reefs that protect the coast. The only access to the island is via a small pier on Bounty Bay. Adamstown is the sole settlement. Pawala Valley Ridge is the island's highest point at 346 m above sea level. The volcanic soil and tropical climate with abundant rainfall make the soil productive. The average temperature ranges from 19 to 24°C. The annual rainfall is 1,800 mm. As there are no rivers or lakes, drinking water is collected from the rain with cisterns. Fauna Indigenous fauna consists of insects and lizards. Since their introduction, rats have become an invasive species. A large number of seabirds nest along the steep shorelines. Due to the absence of coral reefs, fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palau
Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caroline Islands with parts of the Federated States of Micronesia. It has a total area of . The most populous island is Koror, home to the country's most populous city of the same name. The capital Ngerulmud is located on the nearby island of Babeldaob, in Melekeok State. Palau shares maritime boundaries with international waters to the north, the Federated States of Micronesia to the east, Indonesia to the south, and the Philippines to the northwest. The country was originally settled approximately 3,000 years ago by migrants from Maritime Southeast Asia. Palau was first drawn on a European map by the Czech missionary Paul Klein based on a description given by a group of Palauans shipwrecked on the Philippine coast on Samar. Palau islands ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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