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Coastal California Gnatcatcher
The coastal California gnatcatcher (''Polioptila californica californica'') is a small non-migratory songbird. The coastal California gnatcatcher is the northernmost subspecies of the California gnatcatcher. It lives in and around coastal sage scrub. This songbird has black, gray, and white feathers, and eats mainly insects. It often lives alone but joins with other birds in winter groups. Its call sounds like a kitten meowing, a rising and falling zeeeeer, zeeeeer. Physical characteristics The coastal California gnatcatcher is a small songbird that measures 4.5 inches (11 cm) and weighs up to .2 ounces (6 grams). It has dark grey feathers on its back, and light gray and white feathers on its chest. The wings are brownish, and the long tail is mostly black with a few white outer feathers. Gnatcatchers have a thin, small bill and white eye rings. Male gnatcatchers develop a black cap during the summer that is not present in the winter months. Diet The diet of the coasta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gnatcatcher
The Gnatcatchers are a family of small passerine birds called Polioptilidae. The 21 species occur in North and South America (except for the far south and the high Andean regions). Most species of this mainly tropical and subtropical group are resident, but the blue-grey gnatcatcher of the United States and southern Canada migrates south in winter. They are close relatives of the wrens.Atwood, J. & Lerman, S. (2006) Family Polioptilidae (Gnatcatchers). pp. 350–377 in: del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, and D. Christie. eds (2006). ''Handbook of Birds of the World'' Vol. 11. Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Description These dainty birds are intermediate between Old World warblers and wrens in their structure and habits, moving restlessly through foliage seeking insects. The gnatcatchers are mainly soft bluish grey in colour, and have the typical insectivore's long sharp bill. Many species have distinctive black head patterns (especially male ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
California Gnatcatcher
The California gnatcatcher (''Polioptila californica'') is a small long insectivorous bird which frequents dense coastal sage scrub growth. This species was recently split from the similar black-tailed gnatcatcher of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts. This bird is often solitary, but joins with other birds in winter flocks. Description The male California gnatcatcher is dusky gray overall, distinguished only by its black crown and thin black beak. It has a long, thin black tail with narrow white tips and edges on the underside of the tail feathers. However, the male loses its plumage colors by winter and obtains a plumage color similar to the females. The female is similar to the male, but with a blue-gray instead of a black crown. In its range from coastal Southern California south through Baja California and Baja California Sur, this inconspicuous non- migratory resident is most often seen flitting hastily into undergrowth, or heard giving its call, which sounds like a kitten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coastal Sage Scrub
Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is within the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion, of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. Characteristics ;Plant community Coastal sage scrub is characterized by low-growing aromatic, and drought-deciduous shrubs adapted to the semi-arid Mediterranean climate of the coastal lowlands. The community is sometimes called "soft chaparral" due to the predominance of soft, drought-deciduous leaves in contrast to the hard, waxy-cuticled leaves on sclerophyllous plants of California's chaparral communities. ;Flora Characteristic shrubs and subshrubs include: * California sagebrush (''Artemisia californica'') * Black sage (''Salvia mellifera'') * White sage (''Salvia apiana'') * California buckwheat (''Eriogonum f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coastal Scrub - Flickr - S
The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in natural ecosystems, often home to a wide range of biodiversity. On land, they harbor important ecosystems such as freshwater or estuarine wetlands, which are important for bird populations and other terrestrial animals. In wave-protected areas they harbor saltmarshes, mangroves or seagrasses, all of which can provide nursery habitat for finfish, shellfish, and other aquatic species. Rocky shores are usually found along exposed coasts and provide habitat for a wide range of sessile animals (e.g. mussels, starfish, barnacles) and various kinds of seaweeds. Along tropical coasts with clear, nutrient-poor water, coral reefs can often be found between depths of . According to a United Nations atlas, 44% of all people live within 5 k ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Critical Habitat
Critical habitat is a habitat area essential to the conservation of a listed species, though the area need not actually be occupied by the species at the time it is designated. This is a specific term and designation within the U.S. Endangered Species Act-ESA. Contrary to common belief, designating an area as critical habitat does not preclude that area from development. Rather, a critical habitat designation affects only federal agency actions. Such actions include federally funded activities or activities requiring a federal permit. Designation process Critical habitat must be designated for all threatened species and endangered species under the Endangered Species Act, with certain specified exceptions. Designations of critical habitats must be based on the best scientific information available and in an open public process within specific timeframes. Unless deemed necessary for the species' continued existence, critical habitat do not include the entire geographical area oc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Union For Conservation Of Nature
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in data gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, and education. IUCN's mission is to "influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable". Over the past decades, IUCN has widened its focus beyond conservation ecology and now incorporates issues related to sustainable development in its projects. IUCN does not itself aim to mobilize the public in support of nature conservation. It tries to influence the actions of governments, business and other stakeholders by providing information and advice and through building partnerships. The organization is best known to the wider p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Least-concern Species
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. They do not qualify as threatened, near threatened, or (before 2001) conservation dependent. Species cannot be assigned the "Least Concern" category unless they have had their population status evaluated. That is, adequate information is needed to make a direct, or indirect, assessment of its risk of extinction based on its distribution or population status. Evaluation Since 2001 the category has had the abbreviation "LC", following the IUCN 2001 Categories & Criteria (version 3.1). Before 2001 "least concern" was a subcategory of the "Lower Risk" category and assigned the code "LR/lc" or lc. Around 20% of least concern taxa (3261 of 15636) in the IUCN database still use the code "LR/lc", which indicates they have not been re-evalu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endangered Species Act Of 1973
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA or "The Act"; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) is the primary law in the United States for protecting imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation", the ESA was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973. The Supreme Court of the United States described it as "the most comprehensive legislation for the preservation of endangered species enacted by any nation"."Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill" 437 U.S. 153 (1978) Retrieved 24 November 2015. The purposes of the ESA are two-fold: to prevent extinction and to recover species to the point where the law's protections are not needed. It therefor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics ( morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species have subspecies, but for those that do there must be at least two. Subspecies is abbreviated subsp. or ssp. and the singular and plural forms are the same ("the subspecies is" or "the subspecies are"). In zoology, under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, the subspecies is the only taxonomic rank below that of species that can receive a name. In botany and mycology, under the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, other infraspecific ranks, such as variety, may be named. In bacteriology and virology, under standard bacterial nomenclature and virus nomenclature, there are recommendations but not strict requirements for recognizing other important infraspecific ranks. A taxonomist decides w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polioptila
''Polioptila'' is a genus of small insectivorous birds in the family Polioptilidae. They are found in North and South America. The genus ''Polioptila'' was introduced by the English zoologist Philip Sclater in 1855. Although he listed several members, he did not specify a type species. This was designated by the American ornithologist Spencer Baird in 1864 as ''Montacilla caerulea'', Linnaeus, now the blue-grey gnatcatcher, ''Polioptila caerulea''. The name of the genus combines the Ancient Greek words ''πολιος'' ''polios'' "grey" and ''πτιλον'' "plumage". The genus contains 17 species: * Rio Negro gnatcatcher, ''Polioptila facilis'' – split from ''P. guianensis'' * Guianan gnatcatcher, ''Polioptila guianensis'' * Slate-throated gnatcatcher, ''Polioptila schistaceigula'' * Para gnatcatcher, ''Polioptila paraensis'' – split from ''P. guianensis'' * Iquitos gnatcatcher, ''Polioptila clementsi'' – described in 2005 * Inambari gnatcatcher, ''Polioptila atten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic Birds Of Southwestern North America
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can be also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or in scientific literature as an ''endemite''. For example ''Cytisus aeolicus'' is an endemite of the Italian flora. ''Adzharia renschi'' was once believed to be an endemite of the Caucasus, but it was later discovered to be a non-indigenous species from South America belonging to a different genus. The extreme opposite of an endemic species is one with a cosmopolitan distribution, having a global or widespread range. A rare alternative term for a species that is endemic is "precinctive", which applies to s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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