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Azraq Wetlands Reserve
The Azraq Wetland Reserve is a nature reserve located in the town of Azraq in the eastern desert of Jordan. An oasis for migratory birds, the reserve was established in 1978 and covers . The natural springs dried up in 1992 and most migratory birds subsequently moved away from the area. Artificial springs are maintained today in order to keep the site a tourist destination. History The wetlands were created around 250,000 BC as a result of being fed by aquifers. Azraq has, since ancient times, been the crossroads of both human trade routes and bird migrations. Millions of cubic meters of freshwater attracted camels caravans carrying spices and herbs traveling between Arabia, Mesopotamia, and Syria. Millions of migrating birds stopped in Azraq between Africa and Europe. However, in the 1960s, water began to be pumped to support Amman's booming population. In 1978, the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature established Azraq as a wetlands reserve. By 1992, however, the sprin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Azraq
Azraq ( ar, الأزرق meaning "blue") is a small town in Zarqa Governorate in central-eastern Jordan, east of Amman. The population of Azraq was 9,021 in 2004. The Muwaffaq Salti Air Base is located in Azraq. History Prehistory Archaeological evidence indicates that Azraq has been occupied for hundreds of thousands of years, with the oldest known remains dating to the Lower Palaeolithic, around 500–300,000 years ago. The spring-fed oasis provided a more or less constant source of water throughout this period, and probably acted as a refugium for humans and other animals at times when the surrounding area dried out. The oasis itself changed as the climate fluctuated: at times a permanent lake, a marsh, or a seasonal playa. During the Epipalaeolithic period the oasis was also an important focus of settlement. Later history Azraq has long been an important settlement in a remote and now-arid desert area of Jordan. The strategic value of the town and its castle (Qasr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Azraq Marsh Trail
Azraq ( ar, الأزرق meaning "blue") is a small town in Zarqa Governorate in central-eastern Jordan, east of Amman. The population of Azraq was 9,021 in 2004. The Muwaffaq Salti Air Base is located in Azraq. History Prehistory Archaeological evidence indicates that Azraq has been occupied for hundreds of thousands of years, with the oldest known remains dating to the Lower Palaeolithic, around 500–300,000 years ago. The spring-fed oasis provided a more or less constant source of water throughout this period, and probably acted as a refugium for humans and other animals at times when the surrounding area dried out. The oasis itself changed as the climate fluctuated: at times a permanent lake, a marsh, or a seasonal playa. During the Epipalaeolithic period the oasis was also an important focus of settlement. Later history Azraq has long been an important settlement in a remote and now-arid desert area of Jordan. The strategic value of the town and its castle (Qasr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Syrian Wild Ass
The Syrian wild ass (''Equus hemionus hemippus''), less commonly known as a hemippe, an achdari, or a Mesopotamian or Syrian onager, is an extinct subspecies of onager native to the Arabian peninsula and surrounding areas. It ranged across present-day Iraq, Palestine, Israel, Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey. Description The Syrian wild ass, one metre high at its shoulder, was the smallest equine, and it could not be domesticated. Its coloring changed with the seasons — a tawny olive coat for the summer months, and pale sandy yellow for the winter. It was known, like other onagers, to be untameable, and was compared to a thoroughbred horse for its beauty and strength. Distribution and habitat The Syrian wild ass lived in deserts, semi-deserts, arid grasslands, and mountain steppes. Native to West Asia, they were found in Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Turkey, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. Ecology and behavior Diet The Syrian wild ass was a grazer and a browser. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montagu's Harrier
Montagu's harrier (''Circus pygargus'') is a migratory bird of prey of the harrier family. Its common name commemorates the British naturalist George Montagu. Taxonomy The first formal description of Montagu's harrier was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Falco pygargus''. The genus ''Circus'' was introduced by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1799. The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek. ''Circus'' is from ''kirkos'', referring to a bird of prey named for its circling flight (''kirkos'', "circle"), probably the hen harrier, and ''pygargus'' is Modern Latin derived from Greek ''pugargos'', from ''puge'',"rump" and ''argos'', "shining white". The species name was formerly used for the hen harrier before Montagu's was identified as a different species. Identification Plumage Sexual dimorphism is particularly apparent in the plumage of this species. Adul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Honey Buzzard
The European honey buzzard (''Pernis apivorus''), also known as the pern or common pern, is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Etymology Despite its English name, this species is more closely related to kites of the genera '' Leptodon'' and ''Chondrohierax'' than to true buzzards in ''Buteo''. The binomen is derived from Ancient Greek ''pernes'' περνης, a term used by Aristotle for a bird of prey, and Latin ''apivorus'' "bee-eating", from ''apis'', "bee" and ''-vorus'', "-eating". In fact, bees are much less important than wasps in the birds' diet. Note that it is accordingly called ("wasp buzzard") in German and similarly in some other Germanic languages and also in Hungarian ("darázsölyv"). Description file:Pernis apivorus i080515 w ad 080519.jpg, Scale-like feathers around the eyes and forehead provide armour against the stings of its prey species.Ferguson-Lees, J.; Christie, D.A. (2001) Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London. file:Beine Wespenbussard ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Ringed Plover
The little ringed plover (''Charadrius dubius'') is a small plover. The genus name ''Charadrius'' is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from Ancient Greek ''kharadrios'' a bird found in river valleys (''kharadra'', "ravine"). The specific ''dubius'' is Latin for doubtful, since Sonnerat, writing in 1776, thought this bird might be just a variant of common ringed plover. Description Adult little ringed plovers have a grey-brown back and wings, a white belly and a white breast with one black neckband. They have a brown cap, a white forehead, a black mask around the eyes with white above and a short dark bill. The legs are flesh-coloured and the toes are all webbed. This species differs from the larger ringed plover in leg colour, the head pattern, and the presence of a clear yellow eye-ring. Gallery Little Ringedplover by Sreedev Puthur.jpg, Little Ringed Plover Little ringed plover3.jpg, Little ringed plover in Kannur, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Stint
The little stint (''Calidris minuta'' or ''Erolia minuta''), is a very small wader. It breeds in arctic Europe and Asia, and is a long-distance migrant, wintering south to Africa and south Asia. It occasionally is a vagrant to North America and to Australia. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific ''minuta'' is Latin for "small. Description Its small size, fine dark bill, dark legs and quicker movements distinguish this species from all waders except the other dark-legged stints. It can be distinguished from these in all plumages by its combination of a fine bill tip, unwebbed toes and long primary projection. The call is a sharp "stit". The breeding adult has an orange wash to the breast, a white throat and a strong white V on its back. In winter plumage identification is difficult. Juveniles have pale crown stripes and a pinkish breast. An apparent hybrid between thi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avocet
The four species of avocets are a genus, ''Recurvirostra'', of waders in the same avian family as the stilts. The genus name comes from Latin , 'curved backwards' and , 'bill'. The common name is thought to derive from the Italian ( Ferrarese) word . Francis Willughby in 1678 noted it as the "Avosetta of the Italians". Biology Avocets have long legs and they sweep their long, thin, upcurved bills from side to side when feeding in the brackish or saline wetlands they prefer. Their plumage is pied, sometimes also with some red. Members of this genus have webbed feet and readily swim. Their diet consists of aquatic insects and other small creatures. They nest on the ground in loose colonies. In estuarine settings, they may feed on exposed bay muds or mudflats. The pied avocet is the emblem of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Taxonomy The genus ''Recurvirostra'' was introduced in 1758 by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his to contain a sin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruff (bird)
The ruff (''Calidris pugnax'') is a medium-sized wading bird that breeds in marshes and wet meadows across northern Eurasia. This highly gregarious sandpiper is migratory and sometimes forms huge flocks in its winter grounds, which include southern and western Europe, Africa, southern Asia and Australia. The ruff is a long-necked, pot-bellied bird. This species shows marked sexual dimorphism; the male is much larger than the female (the reeve), and has a breeding plumage that includes brightly coloured head tufts, bare orange facial skin, extensive black on the breast, and the large collar of ornamental feathers that inspired this bird's English name. The female and the non-breeding male have grey-brown upperparts and mainly white underparts. Three differently plumaged types of male, including a rare form that mimics the female, use a variety of strategies to obtain mating opportunities at a lek, and the colourful head and neck feathers are erected as part of the elaborate m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marsh Harrier
The marsh harriers are birds of prey of the harrier subfamily. They are medium-sized raptors and the largest and broadest-winged harriers. Most of them are associated with marshland and dense reedbeds. They are found almost worldwide, excluding only the Americas. Until recently two species were generally recognized: the marsh harrier (''Circus aeruginosus'') and the African marsh harrier (''C. ranivorus''). The marsh harrier is now usually split into several species, sometimes as many as six. These are the western marsh harrier (''C. aeruginosus''), eastern marsh harrier (''C. spilonotus''), Papuan harrier (''C. spilonotus spilothorax'' or ''C. spilothorax''), swamp harrier (''C. approximans''), Réunion harrier (''C. maillardi maillardi'' or ''C. maillardi'') and Madagascar marsh harrier (''C. maillardi macrosceles'' or ''C. macrosceles''). At the beginning of the 20th century, the marsh harrier was hunted to extinction in the United Kingdom. After being reintroduced from ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desert Finch
The desert finch (''Rhodospiza obsoleta''), sometimes called Lichtenstein's desert finch, is a large brown true finch found in southern Eurasia. Its taxonomy is confused, and it has formerly been placed in ''Fringilla'', '' Bucanetes'', ''Carduelis'' and '' Rhodopechys''. It has an average wingspan of . It has a stout black bill, black and white remiges and rectrices, and a slash of rosy-pink on each wing. The female is more dull in color than the male, but other than that the adult sexes are similar in color pattern. The bird is indeed a desert resident in areas where water is readily available, but it can also be found in low mountains and foothills, and in cultivated valleys. It feeds on seeds and the occasional insect. Nesting occurs in trees in the spring, often in fruit trees in orchards, and the female lays and incubates 4 to 6 pale green, lightly speckled eggs. This species does not migrate except locally. The desert finch congregates near rural and remote human se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cetti's Warbler
Cetti's warbler (''Cettia cetti'') is a small, brown bush-warbler which breeds in southern and central Europe, northwest Africa and the east Palearctic as far as Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan. The sexes are alike. The bird is named after the 18th century Italy, Italian zoology, zoologist, Francesco Cetti. This species is very difficult to see because of its skulking habits. Taxonomy Cetti's warbler was species description, described in 1820 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck from specimens collected by Alberto della Marmora in Sardinia. Temminck coined the binomial name ''Sylvia cetti''. The specific epithet was chosen to commemorate the Italian zoologist Francesco Cetti. Cetti's warbler is now placed in the genus ''Cettia'' that was erected in 1834 by the French ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte with Cetti's warbler as the type species. Three subspecies are recognised: * ''C. c. cetti'' (Temminck, 1820) – west Europe to Greece and the Balkans, northwest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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