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Blue Hole (park)
St. Herman's Blue Hole National Park is a national park located just off the Hummingbird Highway in Cayo District of Belize, near Belmopan, the capital city. It is over 500 acres (2 km²) in area, and contains two cave systems (St. Hermans and Crystal), various natural trails, and the cool jungle pool from which the park gets its name. The park is managed by the Belize Audubon Society. This inland "blue hole" is not to be confused with the offshore Great Blue Hole, also in Belize. History The Government of Belize acquired the land for the park in the 1960s and '70s. It was officially declared a national park on November 23, 1986. The park was originally named Blue Hole National Park, but its name was changed in 2005 in order to avoid confusion with Blue Hole National Monument. Flora and fauna The park has over 200 species of birds, including unusual tropical species such as the slaty antwren, piratic flycatcher and red-legged honeycreeper. Species considered local s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Blue Hole Park
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the Most common words in English, most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when fol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slaty Antwren
The slaty antwren (''Myrmotherula schisticolor'') is a small passerine bird in the antbird family. It is a resident breeder in tropical Central America, Central and South America from southern Mexico to western Ecuador and eastern Peru. This is a common bird in the understory of wet forest and in adjacent tall second growth in foothills typically from 700 m to 1700 m altitude, although locally it may be found down to sea level or up to 2000 m. The female lays two red-brown spotted white eggs, which are incubated by both sexes, in a deep pouch nest constructed from plant fibres. The nest is suspended from the fork of a thin twig less than 2 m up. The male and female parents both feed the chicks. The slaty antwren is typically 10 cm long, and weighs 9.5 g. The adult male is mainly dark slate with a black throat and breast, black wings with white spots, and a concealed white shoulder patch. The white on the wings is less extensive than in related species. The adult female is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cenote
A cenote ( or ; ) is a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater. The regional term is specifically associated with the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, where cenotes were commonly used for water supplies by the ancient Maya, and occasionally for sacrificial offerings. The term derives from a word used by the lowland Yucatec Maya——to refer to any location with accessible groundwater. Similar rock-sided sinkholes like cenotes are common geological forms in low-altitude regions, particularly on islands, coastlines, and platforms with young post-Paleozoic limestone with little soil development. The term ''cenote'' has also been used to describe similar karst features in other countries such as Cuba and Australia. Definition and description Cenotes are surface connections to subterranean water bodies. While the best-known cenotes are large open-water pools measuring tens of meters in diameter, such as those at Chichen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jaguar
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the third largest in the world. Its distinctively marked coat features pale yellow to tan colored fur covered by spots that transition to rosettes on the sides, although a melanistic black coat appears in some individuals. The jaguar's powerful bite allows it to pierce the carapaces of turtles and tortoises, and to employ an unusual killing method: it bites directly through the skull of mammalian prey between the ears to deliver a fatal blow to the brain. The modern jaguar's ancestors probably entered the Americas from Eurasia during the Early Pleistocene via the land bridge that once spanned the Bering Strait. Today, the jaguar's range extends from core Southwestern United States across Mexico and much of Central America, the Amazon rainforest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jaguarundi
The jaguarundi (''Herpailurus yagouaroundi'') is a wild cat native to the Americas. Its range extends from central Argentina in the south to northern Mexico, through Central and South America east of the Andes. The jaguarundi is a medium-sized cat of slender build. Its coloration is uniform with two color morphs, gray and red. It has an elongated body, with relatively short legs, a small, narrow head, small, round ears, a short snout, and a long tail, resembling mustelids in these respects. It is about twice as large as a domestic cat (''Felis catus''), reaching nearly at the shoulder, and weighs . Secretive and alert, the jaguarundi is typically solitary or forms pairs in the wild, though captive individuals are more gregarious. Unlike other sympatric cats such as the ocelot, the jaguarundi is more active during the day and hunts mainly during daytime and evening hours. Individuals live in large home ranges, and are sparsely distributed within a region. The jaguarundi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ocelot
The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Two subspecies are recognized. It is native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central and South America, and to the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Margarita. It prefers areas close to water sources with dense vegetation cover and high prey availability. Typically active during twilight and at night, the ocelot tends to be solitary and territorial. It is efficient at climbing, leaping and swimming. It preys on small terrestrial mammals, such as armadillos, opossums, and lagomorphs. Both sexes become sexually mature at around two years of age and can breed throughout the year; peak mating season varies geographically. After a gestation period of two to three months the female gives birth to a litter of one to three kittens. They stay with their mother for up to two years, after whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Nightingale-wren
The northern nightingale-wren (''Microcerculus philomela''), or nightingale wren, is a species of passerine bird in the family Troglodytidae. It is found in Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ Retrieved August 15, 2019 Taxonomy and systematics The northern nightingale-wren forms a species pair with the southern nightingale-wren (''Microcerculus marginatus'') and was in the past considered conspecific with it. It is currently treated as a species in its own right by the International Ornithological Committee (IOC) and the Clements taxonomy, though under different English names. It is monotypic.Rentschlar, K. (2020). Nightingale Wren (''Microcerculus philomela''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tody Motmot
The tody motmot (''Hylomanes momotula'') is a species of passerine bird in the motmot family Momotidae. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Hylomanes''. It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. Taxonomy and systematics The tody motmot is the sole member of its genus. It has three subspecies, the nominate ''Hylomanes momotula momotula'', Lichtenstein, MHC, 1939, ''M. m. chiapensis'' ( Brodkorb, 1938), and ''M. m. obscurus'' ( Nelson, 1911). Description The tody motmot is long. Males weigh and females . It is by far the smallest motmot, and named because it resembles the closely related todies (family Todidae) of the Caribbean. The nominate subspecies has a green crown, a rufous neck, and a green back and rump. It has a blue supercilium and a black mask with a white stripe below it. It has a white throat, a greenish breast with light streaks, and a white belly. The other two subspecies are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red-legged Honeycreeper
The red-legged honeycreeper (''Cyanerpes cyaneus'') is a small songbird species in the tanager family (Thraupidae). It is found in the tropical New World from southern Mexico south to Peru, Bolivia and central Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, and on Cuba, where possibly introduced. It is also rarely found in southern Texas. Taxonomy The red-legged honeycreeper was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Certhia cyanea''. Linnaeus based his description on "The Black and Blue Creeper" that had been described and illustrated in 1760 by the English naturalist George Edwards from a specimen collected in Suriname. The red-legged honeycreeper is now placed in the genus ''Cyanerpes'' that was introduced in 1899 by the American ornithologist Harry C. Oberholser. The specific epithet ''cyaneus'' is a Latin word meaning "dark-blue". Eleven subspecies are recognised: * ''C. c. carneipes'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piratic Flycatcher
The piratic flycatcher (''Legatus leucophaius'') is a passerine bird, the only member of the genus ''Legatus''. It is a resident breeder from southern Mexico and Trinidad south to Bolivia and Argentina. At least some birds from Central America and Trinidad are migratory, and this species also visits Tobago. This tyrant flycatcher is found in savannah and other semi-open habitat with large trees. It gets its name because it does not build its own nest, but appropriates the domed or enclosed nests of other, often far larger, bird species, such as yellow-rumped cacique or crested oropendola. Once the persistence of the flycatchers has driven the rightful owners away, their eggs are removed, and the female flycatcher lays up to four, but usually two, black-streaked brown eggs. She incubates these on her own for 16 days to hatching, with a further 18–20 days to fledging. Description The adult piratic flycatcher is 15 cm long and weighs 23 g. The upperparts are unstreaked ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Hole National Monument
The Great Blue Hole is a giant marine sinkhole off the coast of Belize. It lies near the center of Lighthouse Reef, a small atoll from the mainland and Belize City. The hole is circular in shape, across and deep. It has a surface area of . It was formed during several episodes of quaternary glaciation when sea levels were much lower. Analysis of stalactites found in the Great Blue Hole shows that formation took place 153,000, 66,000, 60,000, and 15,000 years ago. As the ocean began to rise again, the cave was flooded. The Great Blue Hole is a part of the larger Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Exploration The site was made famous by Jacques Cousteau, who declared it one of the top five scuba diving sites in the world. In 1971 he brought his ship, the ''Calypso'', to the hole to chart its depths. Investigations by this expedition confirmed the hole's origin as typical karst limestone formations, formed before rises in sea level in at least fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Park
A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently, there is a common idea: the conservation of 'wild nature' for posterity and as a symbol of national pride. The United States established the first "public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people", Yellowstone National Park, in 1872. Although Yellowstone was not officially termed a "national park" in its establishing law, it was always termed such in practice and is widely held to be the first and oldest national park in the world. However, the Tobago Main Ridge Forest Reserve (in what is now Trinidad and Tobago; established in 1776), and the area surrounding Bogd Khan Uul Mountain (Mongolia, 1778), which were restricted from cultivation in order to pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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