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Steenkampsberg, Mpumalanga
Steenkampsberg ( af, Steenkampsberge) is a South African mountain in the Dullstroom - Belfast district of Mpumalanga Province. The mountain ranges between 1,700 and 2,274 metres in altitude, and is covered largely by high-altitude grassland, broken in places by rocky outcrops. The northern slope of the mountain is drained by the Groot-Dwarsrivier, which enters a deep linear valley, to eventually join the Steelpoort River. The mountain is traversed from west to east by the De Berg Pass. Ecology 250px, The nominate subspecies of '' Protea roupelliae'' on the slopes of the mountain The mountain plateau retains extensive tracts of unspoilt habitat, supporting a large diversity of mammals, birds and plant life. The common tree fern ''Cyathea dregei'' occurs along watercourses and streams, while overgrazed mountain slopes and eroded ravines are often dominated by ''Leucosidea sericea'' shrubs. The area is home to more than 150 bird species, a fair number being endemic to South Africa. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Die Berg
Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life. Die may also refer to: Games * Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers Manufacturing * Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semiconductor wafer * Die (manufacturing), a material-shaping device * Die (philately) * Coin die, a metallic piece used to strike a coin * Die casting, a material-shaping process ** Sort (typesetting), a cast die for printing * Die cutting (web), process of using a die to shear webs of low-strength materials * Die, a tool used in paper embossing * Tap and die, cutting tools used to create screw threads in solid substances * Tool and die, the occupation of making dies Arts and media Music * ''Die'' (album), the seventh studio album by rapper Necro * Die (musician), Japanese musician, guitarist of the band Dir en grey * DJ Die, British DJ and musician with Reprazent * "DiE", a 2013 single by the Japanese idol group BiS * die!, an inactive German ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Crane
The blue crane (''Grus paradisea''), also known as the Stanley crane and the paradise crane, is the national bird of South Africa. The species is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN. Description The blue crane is a tall, ground-dwelling bird, but is fairly small by the standards of the crane family. It is tall, with a wingspan of and weighs . Among standard measurements, the wing chord measures , the exposed culmen measures and the tarsus measures . This crane is pale blue-gray in color becoming darker on the upper head, neck and nape. From the crown to the lores, the plumage is distinctly lighter, sometimes whitish. The bill is ochre to greyish, with a pink tinge. The long wingtip feathers which trail to the ground. The primaries are black to slate grey, with dark coverts and blackish on the secondaries. Unlike most cranes, it has a relatively large head and a proportionately thin neck. Juveniles are similar but slightly lighter, with tawny coloration on the head, and n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Fish Eagle
The African fish eagle (''Haliaeetus vocifer'') or the African sea eagle, is a large species of eagle found throughout sub-Saharan Africa wherever large bodies of open water with an abundant food supply occur. It is the national bird of Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. As a result of its large range, it is known in many languages. Examples of names include: Vis Arend in Afrikaans, ''nkwazi'' in Chewa, ''aigle pêcheur'' in French, ''hungwe'' in Shona, ''inkwazi'' in isiZulu, and ''ntšhu'' (pronounced "ntjhu") in Northern Sotho. This species may resemble the bald eagle in appearance; though related, the two species occurs on different continents, with the bald eagle being resident in North America. Taxonomy The African fish eagle is a species placed in the genus ''Haliaeetus'' ( sea eagles). Its closest relative appears to be the critically endangered Madagascar fish eagle (''H. vociferoides''). Like all sea eagle species pairs, this one consists of a white-headed spec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Long-crested Eagle
The long-crested eagle (''Lophaetus occipitalis'') is an African bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae. It is currently placed in a monotypic genus ''Lophaetus''. It is characterized by the feathers making up the shaggy crest. It is found throughout mid- to southern-Africa with differing home ranges due to food availability and suitable habitat area but lives mainly on forest edges and near moist areas. Breeding usually occurs year-round depending on food availability with 1 to 2 eggs being laid as is characteristic by raptors. Furthermore, as a raptor species, they commonly eat smaller mammals, however other vertebrates and invertebrates are also consumed. Description The long-crested eagle is a distinctive eagle when perched due to the long, shaggy crest and all dark plumage often called Kamusungu-sungu in Uganda. The adults are blackish-brown with long, thin feathers growing from the rear of the crown which are held erect to form a crest. The seconda ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snake Eagle
''Circaetus'', the snake eagles, is a genus of medium-sized eagles in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. They are mainly resident African species, but the migratory short-toed snake eagle breeds from the Mediterranean basin into Russia, the Middle East and India, and winters in sub-Saharan Africa and east to Indonesia. Snake eagles are found in open habitats like cultivated plains arid savanna, but require trees in which to build a stick nest. The single egg is incubated mainly or entirely by the female. ''Circaetus'' eagles have a rounded head and broad wings. They prey on reptiles, mainly snakes, but also take lizards and occasionally small mammals. Taxonomy and species The genus ''Circaetus'' was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot to accommodate a single species, the short-toed snake eagle, which is therefore considered the type species. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jackal Buzzard
The jackal buzzard (''Buteo rufofuscus'') is a fairly large African bird of prey. The taxonomy of this species has caused some confusion in the past and it almost certainly belongs in a species complex with other African ''Buteo'' species. Some taxonomists have considered this species, the Archer's buzzard, and the augur buzzard to be the same superspecies. Many taxonomists consider them all to be distinct, having different calls, different home ranges and variations in plumage. This is a species that lives among mountains, and on adjacent savanna and grassland. It is resident and non-migratory throughout its range. Description The jackal buzzard is one of the two larger ''Buteo'' species native to Africa, alongside its close cousin, the augur buzzard. Adults may measure in total length. In weight, one survey found 55 unsexed birds to weight from while another found seven males to weigh from and eleven females to weigh from .Ferguson-Lees, J., & Christie, D. A. (2001). ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steppe Buzzard
The common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') is a medium-to-large bird of prey which has a large range. A member of the genus ''Buteo'', it is a member of the family Accipitridae. The species lives in most of Europe and extends its breeding range across much of the Palearctic as far as northwestern China (Tian Shan), far western Siberia and northwestern Mongolia.Ferguson-Lees, J., & Christie, D. A. (2001). ''Raptors of the world''. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Over much of its range, it is a year-round resident. However, buzzards from the colder parts of the Northern Hemisphere as well as those that breed in the eastern part of their range typically migrate south for the northern winter, many journeying as far as South Africa.Bildstein, K. L., & Zalles, J. I. (2005). ''Old World versus New World long-distance migration in accipiters, buteos, and falcons''. Birds of two worlds: the ecology and evolution of migration. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, 154–167. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bald Ibis
__NOTOC__ The small bird genus ''Geronticus'' belongs to the ibis subfamily (Threskiornithinae). Its name is derived from the Greek ''gérontos'' (γέρωντος, "old man") in reference to the bald head of these dark-plumaged birds; in English they are called bald ibises. The genus was erected by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler in 1832. The type species was subsequently designated as the southern bald ibis (''Geronticus calvus''). Species Like most ibises, they are gregarious long-legged wading birds with long down-curved bills; they form one subfamily of the Threskiornithidae, the other subfamily being the spoonbills. The two ''Geronticus'' species differ from other ibises in that they have unfeathered faces and heads, breed on cliffs rather than in trees, and prefer arid habitats to the wetlands used by their relatives. Their food contains fewer aquatic animals and more terrestrial ones; they are known to gather together and feed on locust swarms, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whiskered Tern
The whiskered tern (''Chlidonias hybrida'') is a tern in the family Laridae. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''khelidonios'', "swallow-like", from ''khelidon'', " swallow". The specific ''hybridus'' is Latin for ''hybrid''; Peter Simon Pallas thought it might be a hybrid of white-winged black tern and common tern, writing "''Sterna fissipes 'Chlidonias leucopterus''et Hirundine 'Sterna hirundo''natam''”. This bird has a number of geographical races, differing mainly in size and minor plumage details. ''C. h. hybrida'' breeds in warmer parts of Europe and the Palearctic (northwestern Africa and central and southern Europe to southeastern Siberia, eastern China and south to Pakistan and northern India). The smaller-billed and darker ''C. h. delalandii'' is found in east and south Africa, and the paler ''C. h. javanicus'' from Java to Australia. The tropical forms are resident, but European and Asian birds winter south to Africa and the Indian Subcontinent. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sacred Ibis
The African sacred ibis (''Threskiornis aethiopicus'') is a species of ibis, a wading bird of the family Threskiornithidae. It is native to much of Africa, as well as small parts of Iraq, Iran and Kuwait. It is especially known for its role in the religion of the Ancient Egyptians, where it was linked to the god Thoth. The species is currently extirpated from Egypt. Taxonomy It is very closely related to the black-headed ibis and the Australian white ibis, with which it forms a superspecies complex, so much so that the three species are considered conspecific by some ornithologists. In mixed flocks these ibises often hybridise. The Australian white ibis is often called the sacred ibis colloquially. Although known to the ancient civilisations of Greece, Rome and especially Africa, ibises were unfamiliar to western Europeans from the fall of Rome until the 19th century, and mentions of this bird in the ancient works of these civilisations were supposed to describe some ty ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red-knobbed Coot
The red-knobbed coot or crested coot, (''Fulica cristata''), is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. It is a resident breeder across much of Africa and in southernmost Spain on freshwater lakes and ponds. It builds a nest of dead reeds near the water's edge or more commonly afloat, laying about 7 eggs (or more in good conditions).Liversidge, Richard. “The birds around us: Birds of the Southern African region” Pub: Fontein 1991 Taxonomy The red-knobbed coot was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's ''Systema Naturae''. He placed it with all the other coots in the genus '' Fulica'' and coined the binomial name ''Fulica cristata''. Gmelin based his account on the earlier descriptions by the French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon and the English ornithologist John Latham, neither of whom had included a binomial name. They gave the type locality ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spur-winged Goose
The spur-winged goose (''Plectropterus gambensis'') is a large bird in the family Anatidae, related to the geese and the shelducks, but distinct from both of these in a number of anatomical features, and therefore treated in its own subfamily, the Plectropterinae. It occurs in wetlands throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Description Adults are long and weigh on average , rarely up to , with males noticeably larger than the females. The wingspan can range from .Ogilvie & Young, ''Wildfowl of the World''. New Holland Publishers (2004), One source claims the average weight of males is around and the weight of females is around . However, 11 geese of this species banded in South Africa were found to average only , with a range of .''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses, 2nd Edition'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (2008), . Another study in South Africa found that 58 males weighed an average of and measured in total length; while 34 females averaged in weight and in tot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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