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White-browed Sparrow-weaver
The white-browed sparrow-weaver (''Plocepasser mahali'') is a predominantly brown, sparrow-sized bird found throughout central and north-central southern Africa. It is found in groups of two to eleven individuals consisting of one breeding pair and other non-reproductive individuals. Taxonomy and systematics During his expedition to the interior of southern Africa in 1834–35, Andrew Smith collected specimens of the white-browed sparrow weaver at the Modder River, which he described in 1836, giving it the scientific name ''Plocepasser mahali''. Etymology Smith did not provide an explanation for the species epithet ''mahali'', but is clear it is not a Latin name. Probably it is derived from the vernacular name for the bird in Setswana ''mogale'' or from the Sesotho word ''mohale'', a brave or fierce person, which suggests the bird's name may refer to its angry scolding. Vernacular names Other common names used in English include black-billed mahali weaverbird, black-bi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baringo Lake
Lake Baringo is, after Lake Turkana, the most northern of the Kenyan Rift Valley lakes, with a surface area of and an elevation of . The lake is fed by several rivers: the Molo, Perkerra and Ol Arabel. It has no obvious outlet; the waters are assumed to seep through lake sediments into the faulted volcanic bedrock. It is one of the two freshwater lakes in the Rift Valley in Kenya, the other being Lake Naivasha. See "Kenya designates freshwater lake in Great Rift Valley," aRamsar 2009 - 2002 The lake is in a remote hot and dusty area with over 470 species of birds, occasionally including migrating flamingos. A Goliath heronry is located on a rocky islet in the lake known as Gibraltar. Description The lake is part of the East African Rift system. The Tugen Hills, an uplifted fault block of volcanic and metamorphic rocks, lies west of the lake. The Laikipia Escarpment lies to the east. Water flows into the lake from the Mau Hills and Tugen Hills. It is a critical habitat and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thornveld
Veld ( or ), also spelled veldt, is a type of wide open rural landscape in :Southern Africa. Particularly, it is a flat area covered in grass or low scrub, especially in the countries of South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswana. A certain sub-tropical woodland ecoregion of Southern Africa has been officially defined as the Bushveld by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Trees are not abundant—frost, fire and grazing animals allow grass to grow but prevent the build-up of dense foliage. Etymology The word ''veld'' () comes from the Afrikaans word for "field". The etymological origin is older modern Dutch ''veldt'', a spelling that the Dutch abandoned in favour of ''veld'' during the 19th century, decades before the first Afrikaans dictionary.Eric Anderson Walker (ed). The Cambridge History of the British Empire, Volume 4. Cambridge University Press 1963 (Afrikaans: pp. 890–894) A cognate to the English ''field'', it was spelt ''velt'' in Middle Dutch and ''fe ... [...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] |
Plocepasser
The sparrow-weavers (''Plocepasser'') are a genus of birds in the family Ploceidae (weavers), but some taxonomic authorities place them in the family Passeridae (Old World sparrows). Taxonomy and systematics The genus ''Plocepasser'' contains the following species: Phylogeny Based on recent DNA-analysis (which only included ''P. mahali''), the genus ''Plocepasser'' belongs to the group of sparrow weavers (subfamily Plocepasserinae), and is most related to the clade that consists of '' Philetairus socius'' and the genus ''Pseudonigrita''. This clade is sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a family, familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ... to the most basic genus of the subfamily, '' Sporopipes''. Provided that genera are correct clades, the following tree expresses current insights. References Exter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Okavango Delta
The Okavango Delta (or Okavango Grassland; formerly spelled "Okovango" or "Okovanggo") in Botswana is a swampy inland delta formed where the Okavango River reaches a tectonic trough at an altitude of 930–1,000 m in the central part of the endorheic basin of the Kalahari. All the water reaching the delta is ultimately evaporated and transpired and does not flow into any sea or ocean. Each year, about of water spreads over the area. Some flood waters drain into Lake Ngami. The area was once part of Lake Makgadikgadi, an ancient lake that had mostly dried up by the early Holocene. The Moremi Game Reserve, a national park, is on the eastern side of the delta. The delta was named as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa, which were officially declared on 11 February 2013 in Arusha, Tanzania. On 22 June 2014, the Okavango Delta became the 1000th site to be officially inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Geography Floods The Okavango is produced by seasonal flood ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matetsi
Matetsi is a village in Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe and is located about 55 km west of Hwange. The village started as a railway siding and took its name from the nearby Matetsi River. Most of the surrounding land is under forest and the Matetsi Safari Area. The nearest airports are Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe), Kasane Airport, Kasane (Botswana), and Livingstone, Zambia, Livingstone (Zambia) Matetsi Private Game Reserve: 55,000 hectare private wildlife concession, which forms a key part of the KAZA trans frontier. MPRG is the north-eastern section of the Matetsi Safari Area. MPGR is also bordered by the Zambezi, Zambezi River (North), Zambezi National Park (East) and Panda-Masuie Forest Reserve, home of the Zimbabwe Elephant Nursery (South). Within the reserve, close to the Sambesi river, there is a luxury accommodation, called Matetsi Victoria Falls. Matetsi Safari Area: one of the largest hunting complexes in Zimbabwe, consisting of 7 separate conc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tswalu Kalahari Reserve
The Tswalu Kalahari Reserve is a privately owned game reserve in the Northern Cape, South Africa. It is South Africa's largest private game reserve, covering an area of over 111,000 hectares. History The Tswalu Game Reserve in the Southern Kalahari was created by Stephen Boler. He bought dozens of farms to create a conservation reserve, introducing African wildlife back into their natural habitat, including lions, rare types of antelope, giraffes, buffalos, and zebras. The reserve is home to the world's largest population of black rhinos. To control the numbers and create a form or revenue to support the estate, there was a controversial hunting side called Tarkuni. After Stephen Boler's untimely death in 1998 on his way to Tswalu, he specified in his will that Nicky Oppenheimer should have first refusal on Tswalu, and the Oppenheimer family now owns and operates it. Hunting was stopped by the Oppenheimers and some man-made structures, farm buildings and fences were removed. Ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Etosha National Park
Etosha National Park is a national park in northwestern Namibia and one of the largest national parks in Africa. It was proclaimed a game reserve in March 1907 in Ordinance 88 by the Governor of German South West Africa, Friedrich von Lindequist. It was designated as ''Wildschutzgebiet'' in 1958, and was elevated to the status of a national park in 1967 by an act of parliament of the Republic of South Africa. It spans an area of and gets its name from the large Etosha pan which is almost entirely within the park. With an area of , the Etosha pan covers 23% of the total area of the national park. The area is home to hundreds of species of mammals, birds and reptiles, including several threatened and endangered species such as the black rhinoceros. The park is located in the Kunene region and shares boundaries with the regions of Oshana, Oshikoto and Otjozondjupa. History Areas north of the Etosha pan were inhabited by Ovambo people, while various Otjiherero-speaking groups ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Ziway
Hora-Dambal also known as Lake Zway or Dambal ( Oromo: ''Hora Dambal'', Amharic: ዟይ ሐይቅ) is one of the freshwater Rift Valley lakes of Ethiopia. It is located about 100 miles south of Addis Ababa, on the border between the Oromia and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region; the woredas holding the lake's shoreline are Adami Tullu Jido Kombolcha, Dugda, and Batu town. The town of Batu lies on the lake's western shore. The lake is fed primarily by two rivers, the Meki from the west and the Katar from the east, and is drained by the Bulbula which empties into Lake Abijatta. The lake's catchment has an area of 7025 square kilometers. Hora-Dambal is 31 kilometers long and 20 km wide, with a surface area of 440 square kilometers. It has a maximum depth of 9 meters and is at an elevation of 1,636 meters. According to the ''Statistical Abstract of Ethiopia for 1967/68'', Lake Ziway is 25 kilometers long and 20 km wide, with a surface area of 434 squa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heterothermy
Heterothermy or heterothermia (from Greek ἕτερος ''heteros'' "other" and θέρμη ''thermē'' "heat") is a physiological term for animals that vary between self-regulating their body temperature, and allowing the surrounding environment to affect it. In other words, they exhibit characteristics of both poikilothermy and homeothermy. Definition Heterothermic animals are those that can switch between poikilothermic and homeothermic strategies. These changes in strategies typically occur on a daily basis or on an annual basis. More often than not, it is used as a way to dissociate the fluctuating metabolic rates seen in some small mammals and birds (e.g. bats and hummingbirds), from those of traditional cold blooded animals. In many bat species, body temperature and metabolic rate are elevated only during activity. When at rest, these animals reduce their metabolisms drastically, which results in their body temperature dropping to that of the surrounding environment. This ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashy Tit
The ashy tit (''Melaniparus cinerascens'') is a species of bird in the family Paridae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and dry savanna. The ashy tit was formerly one of the many species in the genus ''Parus ''Parus'' is a genus of Old World birds in the tit family. It was formerly a large genus containing most of the 50 odd species in the family Paridae. The genus was split into several resurrected genera following the publication of a detailed mo ...'' but was moved to '' Melaniparus'' after a molecular phylogenetic analysis published in 2013 showed that the members of the new genus formed a distinct clade. References External links * Ashy tit Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds ashy tit Birds of Southern Africa ashy tit Taxa named by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Paridae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red-headed Finch
The red-headed finch (''Amadina erythrocephala'') (also known as the paradise finch) is a common species of estrildid finch found in Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 1,600,000 km2. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Males have vibrant red heads and chests while the females are duller. The resemblance to the cut-throat finch is unmistakable. The red-headed and cut-throat finch are the only members of the genus ''Amadina''. ''Amadinas'' with their heavy beaks resemble members of the ''Lonchura'', so they are actually more closely related to the ''Pytilias'' such as the Melba finch. Taxonomy The red-headed finch was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his '' Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Loxia eryocephala'', a misspelling of ''Loxia erythrocephala''. The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek ''eruthros'' meaning "red" with ''-keph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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