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Thick-billed Cuckoo
The thick-billed cuckoo (''Pachycoccyx audeberti'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Pachycoccyx''. It can easily be distinguished from other brood parasitic cuckoo species by its very thick bill, which is shaped in a rather hawk-like fashion. Taxonomy In a molecular genetic study by Sorenson and Payne (2005), the thick-billed cuckoo appeared to be most closely related to the koels, consisting of the dwarf koel (''Microdynamis parva'') and the true koels (''Eudynamys''), although the evidence was not very strong and further research was required. Range and habitat The thick-billed cuckoo is found in humid to subhumid woodlands and gallery forests from Guinea in the northwest to Mozambique in the southeast, though it is absent from large areas of the Congo Basin. Johnsgard, Paul A.; ''The Avian Brood Parasites: Deception at the Nest''; pp. 159-161 It formerly occurred in the rainforests of northeastern Madagascar, but has not b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of . South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town respectively. The largest city is Johannesburg. About 80% of the population are Black South Afri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dry Season
The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The temperate counterpart to the tropical dry season is summer or winter. Rain belt The tropical rain belt lies in the southern hemisphere roughly from October to March; during that time the northern tropics have a dry season with sparser precipitation, and days are typically sunny throughout. From April to September, the rain belt lies in the northern hemisphere, and the southern tropics have their dry season. Under the Köppen climate classification, for tropical climates, a dry season month is defined as a month when average precipitation is below . The rain belt reaches roughly as far north as the Tropic of Cancer and as far south as the Tropic of Capricorn. Near these latitudes, there is one wet season and one dry season annually. At the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birds Of Sub-Saharan Africa
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] |
Bush Shrike
The bushshrikes are smallish passerine birds. They were formerly classed with the true shrikes in the family Laniidae, but are now considered sufficiently distinctive to be separated from that group as the family Malaconotidae, a name that alludes to their fluffy back and rump feathers. Like their shrike-like relatives, the helmetshrikes, the bushshrikes have arisen in Africa in relatively recent times. The family is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa but completely absent from Madagascar, where the vangas are their closest relatives. They are found in scrub or open woodland, and less often in marshes, Afromontane or tropical forest. They are similar in habits to shrikes, hunting insects and other small prey from a perch on a bush. Although similar in build to the shrikes, these tend to be either colourful species or largely black; some species are quite secretive. Some bushshrikes have flamboyant displays. The male puffbacks puff out the loose feathers on their rump and lower back, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Cuckoo
The black cuckoo (''Cuculus clamosus'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. The species is distributed widely across sub-Saharan Africa. There are two subspecies. This cuckoo has a very wide range and is quite common so it is classified as a least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Description The black cuckoo is a medium-sized cuckoo. The sexes are similar, the plumage varying by subspecies; ''Cuculus clamosus clamosus'' has upper parts black glossed with green, slatey-grey wings and black tail tipped with white and sometimes with the outer feathers barred or spotted with white or buff; ''Cuculus clamosus gabonensis'' is mostly black with a red throat and black and white barring on the belly. Distribution and habitat The subspecies ''Cuculus clamosus gabonensis'' is a resident in Central Africa, whereas the Southern African subspecies ''Cuculus clamosus clamosus'' is bird migration, migratory, breeding in Southern Africa in Sept ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vanga
The family Vangidae (from ''vanga'', Malagasy for the hook-billed vanga, ''Vanga curvirostris'') comprises a group of often shrike-like medium-sized birds distributed from Asia to Africa, including the vangas of Madagascar to which the family owes its name. Many species in this family were previously classified elsewhere in other families. Recent molecular techniques made it possible to assign these species to Vangidae, thereby solving several taxonomic enigmas. Taxonomy In addition to the small set of Malagasy species traditionally called the vangas, Vangidae includes some Asian groups: the woodshrikes (''Tephrodornis''), flycatcher-shrikes (''Hemipus'') and philentomas. Vangidae belongs to a clade of corvid birds that also includes bushshrikes (Malaconotidae), ioras (Aegithinidae) and the Australian butcherbirds, magpies and currawongs (Cracticidae) and woodswallows (Artamidae), which has been defined as the superfamily Malaconotoidea. They seem closely related to some enig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chestnut-bellied Helmetshrike
The red-billed helmetshrike or chestnut-bellied helmetshrike (''Prionops caniceps'') is a species of bird in the Vanga family, Vangidae, formerly usually included in the Malaconotidae. It is found in West Africa, occurring in Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo. In Central Africa it is replaced by the rufous-bellied helmet-shrike (''P. rufiventris'') which is sometimes regarded as a subspecies of the chestnut-bellied Helmetshrike. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. References * African Bird Club (2008) ABC African Checklist: Passerines' Accessed 20/08/08. red-billed helmetshrike Birds of West Africa red-billed helmetshrike red-billed helmetshrike The red-billed helmetshrike or chestnut-bellied helmetshrike (''Prionops caniceps'') is a species of bird in the Vanga family, Vangidae, formerly usually included in the Malaconotidae. It is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chestnut-fronted Helmetshrike
The chestnut-fronted helmetshrike (''Prionops scopifrons'') is a species of bird in the Vanga family Vangidae, formerly usually included in the Malaconotidae. It is found in Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland found around the equator. References External links * Chestnut-fronted helmetshrike Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds chestnut-fronted helmetshrike Birds of East Africa chestnut-fronted helmetshrike chestnut-fronted helmetshrike The chestnut-fronted helmetshrike (''Prionops scopifrons'') is a species of bird in the Vanga family Vangidae, formerly usually included in the Malaconotidae. It is found in Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Its ... Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Corvoidea-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red-billed Helmetshrike
The red-billed helmetshrike or chestnut-bellied helmetshrike (''Prionops caniceps'') is a species of bird in the Vanga family, Vangidae, formerly usually included in the Malaconotidae. It is found in West Africa, occurring in Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo. In Central Africa it is replaced by the rufous-bellied helmet-shrike (''P. rufiventris'') which is sometimes regarded as a subspecies of the chestnut-bellied Helmetshrike. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. References * African Bird Club (2008) ABC African Checklist: Passerines' Accessed 20/08/08. red-billed helmetshrike Birds of West Africa red-billed helmetshrike red-billed helmetshrike The red-billed helmetshrike or chestnut-bellied helmetshrike (''Prionops caniceps'') is a species of bird in the Vanga family (biology), family, Vangidae, formerly usually included in the Malac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helmetshrikes
Helmetshrikes are a family uniting some smallish to mid-sized songbird species. They were included with the true shrikes in the family Laniidae, later on split between several presumably closely related groups such as bushshrikes ( Malaconotidae) and cuckooshrikes ( Campephagidae), but are now considered sufficiently distinctive to be separated from that group into the family Vangidae. Description and ecology This is an African group of species which are found in scrub or open woodland. They are similar in feeding habits to shrikes, hunting insects and other small prey from a perch on a bush or tree. Although similar in build to the shrikes, these tend to be colourful species with the distinctive crests or other head ornaments, such as wattles, from which they get their name. Helmetshrikes are noisy and sociable birds, some of which breed in loose colonies. They lay 2–4 eggs in neat, well-hidden nests. Systematics As the relationships of the shrike-like birds are increasin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brood Parasite
Brood parasites are animals that rely on others to raise their young. The strategy appears among birds, insects and fish. The brood parasite manipulates a host, either of the same or of another species, to raise its young as if it were its own, usually using egg mimicry, with eggs that resemble the host's. The evolutionary strategy relieves the parasitic parents from the investment of rearing young. This benefit comes at the cost of provoking an evolutionary arms race between parasite and host as they coevolve: many hosts have developed strong defenses against brood parasitism, such as recognizing and ejecting parasitic eggs, or abandoning parasitized nests and starting over. It is less obvious why most hosts do care for parasite nestlings, given that for example cuckoo chicks differ markedly from host chicks in size and appearance. One explanation, the mafia hypothesis, proposes that parasitic adults retaliate by destroying host nests where rejection has occurred; there is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Praying Mantis
Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. They have triangular heads with bulging eyes supported on flexible necks. Their elongated bodies may or may not have wings, but all Mantodea have forelegs that are greatly enlarged and adapted for catching and gripping prey; their upright posture, while remaining stationary with forearms folded, has led to the common name praying mantis. The closest relatives of mantises are termites and cockroaches (Blattodea), which are all within the superorder Dictyoptera. Mantises are sometimes confused with stick insects ( Phasmatodea), other elongated insects such as grasshoppers (Orthoptera), or other more distantly related insects with raptorial forelegs such as mantisflies (Mantispidae). Mantises are mostly ambush predators, but a few ground-dwelling s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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