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Sandgrouse
Sandgrouse is the common name for Pteroclidae , a family (biology), family of sixteen species of bird, members of the order Pterocliformes . They are traditionally placed in two Genus, genera. The two central Asian species are classified as ''Syrrhaptes'' and the other fourteen species, from Africa and Asia, are placed in the genus ''Pterocles''. They are ground dwelling birds restricted to treeless, open country, such as plains, savannahs, and semi-deserts. They are distributed across northern, southern, and eastern Africa, Madagascar, the Middle East, and India through central Asia. The ranges of the black-bellied sandgrouse and the pin-tailed sandgrouse even extend into the Iberian Peninsula and France, and Pallas's sandgrouse occasionally Irruptive growth, breaks out in large numbers from its normal range in Asia. Description Sandgrouse have small, pigeon-like heads and necks and sturdy compact bodies. They range in size from in length and from in weight. The adults are sex ...
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Pterocles
''Pterocles '' is a genus of near passerine birds in the sandgrouse family. It includes all the species in the family except for two central Asian species in '' Syrrhaptes'' These sandgrouse have small, pigeon-like heads and necks, but sturdy compact bodies. They have long pointed wings and sometimes tails. Their legs are feathered down to the toes, but unlike species of the genus ''Syrrhaptes'' the toes are not feathered. ''Pterocles'' species have a fast direct flight, and flocks fly to watering holes at dawn and dusk. Two to three eggs are laid directly on the ground. They are buff or greenish with cryptic markings. All species are resident. Taxonomy The genus ''Pterocles'' was introduced in 1815 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck. The type species was subsequently designated by the English zoologist George Robert Gray as the pin-tailed sandgrouse. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in a ...
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Calopterocles
''Pterocles '' is a genus of near passerine birds in the sandgrouse family. It includes all the species in the family except for two central Asian species in ''Syrrhaptes'' These sandgrouse have small, pigeon-like heads and necks, but sturdy compact bodies. They have long pointed wings and sometimes tails. Their legs are feathered down to the toes, but unlike species of the genus ''Syrrhaptes'' the toes are not feathered. ''Pterocles'' species have a fast direct flight, and flocks fly to watering holes at dawn and dusk. Two to three eggs are laid directly on the ground. They are buff or greenish with cryptic markings. All species are resident. Taxonomy The genus ''Pterocles'' was introduced in 1815 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck. The type species was subsequently designated by the English zoologist George Robert Gray as the pin-tailed sandgrouse. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in an ...
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Nyctiperdix
''Pterocles '' is a genus of near passerine birds in the sandgrouse family. It includes all the species in the family except for two central Asian species in ''Syrrhaptes'' These sandgrouse have small, pigeon-like heads and necks, but sturdy compact bodies. They have long pointed wings and sometimes tails. Their legs are feathered down to the toes, but unlike species of the genus ''Syrrhaptes'' the toes are not feathered. ''Pterocles'' species have a fast direct flight, and flocks fly to watering holes at dawn and dusk. Two to three eggs are laid directly on the ground. They are buff or greenish with cryptic markings. All species are resident. Taxonomy The genus ''Pterocles'' was introduced in 1815 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck. The type species was subsequently designated by the English zoologist George Robert Gray as the pin-tailed sandgrouse. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in an ...
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Double-banded Sandgrouse
The double-banded sandgrouse (''Pterocles bicinctus'') is a species of ground-living bird in the family Pteroclidae. It is found in arid parts of southern Africa. Subspecies There are three subspecies: ''P. b. ansorgei'' is found in south west Angola, ''P. b. bicinctus'' is found in Namibia, Botswana and the north west of Cape Province and ''P. b. multicolor'' is found in Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and Transvaal. Description A moderate sized bird with a plump body, the double-banded sandgrouse has a small Pigeon, pigeon-like head and long wings and tail. The general colour of the plumage is light brown with darker mottling and rows of whitish specks. The male is distinguished by having a conspicuous black and white band on its forehead and a chestnut throat area delineated by another black and white band. Both sexes have an area of bare yellow skin surrounding their eye and the male has an orange beak. The female is smaller and duller in colour. The juvenile resembles the female. ...
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Pallas's Sandgrouse
Pallas's sandgrouse (''Syrrhaptes paradoxus'') is a medium to large bird in the sandgrouse family. Naming Marco Polo mentions a bird called ''Bargherlac'' (from Turkmen ''bağırlak'') in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'', published around 1300. This is probably ''Syrrhaptes paradoxus ''(''S. pallasii''). Pallas's sandgrouse is named after the German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus ''Syrrhaptes'' is from ''surrhaptos'', meaning "sewn together" (the feathered toes of both species in the genus are fused together) and ''paradoxus'' is from ''paradoxos'', meaning "strange". Description Pallas's sandgrouse is long with small, pigeon-like head and neck, but sturdy compact body. It has long pointed wings and tail and legs and toes are feathered. Its plumage is buff-coloured, barred above with a black belly patch and pale underwings. The black belly and pale underwing distinguish this species from the related Tibetan sandgrouse. The ...
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Bird
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. B ...
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Syrrhaptes
''Syrrhaptes'' is a genus of birds in the sandgrouse family. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''surrhaptos'', "sewn together"; the feathered toes of birds in this genus are fused together. There are two central Asian species. These are large birds breeding in open steppes or plateau. They nest in a ground scrape into which three eggs are laid. Both species have mainly buff upperparts, an orange face and feathered legs and toes. They are smaller-headed than other sandgrouse, but have sturdy compact bodies. The small feet lack a hind toe, and the three front toes are fused together. The upper surface is feathered, and the underneath has a fleshy pad. The appearance of the foot is more like a paw than an avian foot. Although there is range overlap, they are easily distinguished. Tibetan sandgrouse has a white belly and black underwings, whereas Pallas's has a black belly and white underwings. These birds are gregarious like other sandgrouse. Flocks fly to watering holes at ...
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Syrrhaptes Paradoxus 1
''Syrrhaptes'' is a genus of birds in the sandgrouse family. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''surrhaptos'', "sewn together"; the feathered toes of birds in this genus are fused together. There are two central Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...n species. These are large birds breeding in open steppes or plateau. They nest in a ground scrape into which three eggs are laid. Both species have mainly buff upperparts, an orange face and feathered legs and toes. They are smaller-headed than other sandgrouse, but have sturdy compact bodies. The small feet lack a hind toe, and the three front toes are fused together. The upper surface is feathered, and the underneath has a fleshy pad. The appearance of the foot is more like a paw than an avian foot. Although ...
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Black-bellied Sandgrouse
The black-bellied sandgrouse (''Pterocles orientalis'') is a medium large bird in the sandgrouse family. The nominate race breeds in Iberia, northwest Africa, the Canary Islands, Turkey, Iran, Cyprus and Israel. The eastern form ''P. o. arenarius'' (Peter Simon Pallas, Pallas, 1775) is found in Kazakhstan, western China and northern Pakistan. It is a partial bird migration, migrant, with central Asian birds moving to the Pakistan and northern India in winter. Taxonomy The black-bellied sandgrouse was Species description, formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. He placed it with all the other grouse-like birds in the genus ''Tetra'' and coined the binomial nomenclature, binomial name ''Tetra orientalis''. The black-bellied sandgrouse is now placed with 13 other species in the genus ''Pterocles'' that was introduced in 1815 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck. T ...
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China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen countries by land, the most of any country in the world, tied with Russia. Covering an area of approximately , it is the world's third largest country by total land area. The country consists of 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four municipalities, and two Special Administrative Regions (Hong Kong and Macau). The national capital is Beijing, and the most populous city and financial center is Shanghai. Modern Chinese trace their origins to a cradle of civilization in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. The semi-legendary Xia dynasty in the 21st century BCE and the well-attested Shang and Zhou dynasties developed a bureaucratic political system to serve hereditary monarchies, or dyna ...
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Bird Migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting by humans, and is driven primarily by the availability of food. It occurs mainly in the northern hemisphere, where birds are funneled onto specific routes by natural barriers such as the Mediterranean Sea or the Caribbean Sea. Migration of species such as storks, turtle doves, and swallows was recorded as many as 3,000 years ago by Ancient Greek authors, including Homer and Aristotle, and in the Book of Job. More recently, Johannes Leche began recording dates of arrivals of spring migrants in Finland in 1749, and modern scientific studies have used techniques including bird ringing and satellite tracking to trace migrants. Threats to migratory birds have grown with habitat destruction, especially of stopover and wintering sites, as wel ...
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Down Feather
The down of birds is a layer of fine feathers found under the tougher exterior feathers. Very young birds are clad only in down. Powder down is a specialized type of down found only in a few groups of birds. Down is a fine thermal insulator and padding, used in goods such as jackets, bedding (duvets and featherbeds), pillows and sleeping bags. The discovery of feathers trapped in ancient amber suggests that some species of dinosaur may have possessed down-like feathers. Description and etymology The word ''down'' comes from the Old Norse word ''dúnn'', which had the same meaning as its modern equivalent. The down feather is considered to be the most "straightforward" of all feather types. It has a short or vestigial rachis (shaft), few barbs, and barbules that lack hooks. There are three types of down: natal down, body down and powder down. Natal down is the layer of down feathers that cover most birds at some point in their early development. Precocial nestlings are alre ...
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