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Cephalopyrus
The fire-capped tit (''Cephalopyrus flammiceps'') is a small, long, weighing about bird species assigned to the family Paridae, that breeds in the temperate forest bordering the Himalayas to the south, in the Hengduan Shan and Nujiang Shan on the Myanmar-China border, the Micah Shan and Daba Shan on the Northern Sichuan border. It winters down hill and further south. Further to the east, birds tend to be smaller and the plumage becomes gradually darker. Taxonomy The species was once considered to be a kinglet but is today treated as a tit. It is placed in a monotypic genus, ''Cephalopyrus''. Its previous assignment to the family Remizidae was not entirely satisfactory, as this species nests in hollows in trees, as do the true tits and chickadees (Paridae), so it was placed there. It also lays blue eggs, like the verdin ''Auriparus flaviceps'', and not white. Its small cone-shaped bill, and its song however are typical for a penduline tit. Description Male Outside the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tit (bird)
The tits, chickadees, and Titmouse, titmice constitute the Paridae, a family of small passerine birds which occur mainly in the Northern Hemisphere and Africa. Many were formerly classified in the genus ''Parus''. Eurasian and African members of this family are referred to as "tits", while North American species are called either "chickadees" (onomatopoeic, derived from their distinctive "chick-a dee dee dee" alarm call) or "titmice". The name titmouse is recorded from the 14th century, composed of the Old English language, Old English name for the bird, ''mase'' (Proto-Germanic ''*maison'', Dutch language, Dutch ''mees'', German language, German ''Meise''), and tit, denoting something small. The former spelling, "titmose", was influenced by ''mouse'' in the 16th century. Emigrants to New Zealand presumably identified some of the superficially similar birds of the genus ''Petroica'' of the family Petroicidae, the Australian robins, as members of the tit family, giving them the ti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paridae
The tits, chickadees, and titmice constitute the Paridae, a family of small passerine birds which occur mainly in the Northern Hemisphere and Africa. Many were formerly classified in the genus ''Parus''. Eurasian and African members of this family are referred to as "tits", while North American species are called either "chickadees" ( onomatopoeic, derived from their distinctive "chick-a dee dee dee" alarm call) or "titmice". The name titmouse is recorded from the 14th century, composed of the Old English name for the bird, ''mase'' (Proto-Germanic ''*maison'', Dutch ''mees'', German ''Meise''), and tit, denoting something small. The former spelling, "titmose", was influenced by ''mouse'' in the 16th century. Emigrants to New Zealand presumably identified some of the superficially similar birds of the genus ''Petroica'' of the family Petroicidae, the Australian robins, as members of the tit family, giving them the title tomtit, although, in fact, they are not related. Thes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Gould
John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist who published monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould (illustrator), Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, including Edward Lear, Henry Constantine Richter, Joseph Wolf and William Matthew Hart. Because of his 1840s seven-volume series ''The Birds of Australia (Gould), The Birds of Australia'' and its updates he has been considered the father of bird study in Australia, and the Gould League in Australia is named after him. His identification of the birds now nicknamed "Darwin's finches" played a role in the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. Gould's work is referenced in Charles Darwin's book, ''On the Origin of Species''. Early life John Gould was born in Lyme Regis, the first son of a gardener. Both father and son probably had little education. After working on Dowager Lady Poulett's glass house, his father obtained ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cone
In geometry, a cone is a three-dimensional figure that tapers smoothly from a flat base (typically a circle) to a point not contained in the base, called the '' apex'' or '' vertex''. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines connecting a common point, the apex, to all of the points on a base. In the case of line segments, the cone does not extend beyond the base, while in the case of half-lines, it extends infinitely far. In the case of lines, the cone extends infinitely far in both directions from the apex, in which case it is sometimes called a ''double cone''. Each of the two halves of a double cone split at the apex is called a ''nappe''. Depending on the author, the base may be restricted to a circle, any one-dimensional quadratic form in the plane, any closed one-dimensional figure, or any of the above plus all the enclosed points. If the enclosed points are included in the base, the cone is a solid object; otherwise it is an open surface ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pollen
Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophytes during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants, or from the male Conifer cone, cone to the female cone of gymnosperms. If pollen lands on a compatible pistil or female cone, it Germination, germinates, producing a pollen tube that transfers the sperm to the ovule containing the female gametophyte. Individual pollen grains are small enough to require magnification to see detail. The study of pollen is called palynology and is highly useful in paleoecology, paleontology, archaeology, and Forensic science, forensics. Pollen in plants is used for transferring Ploidy#Haploid and monoploid, haploid male genetic ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insect
Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, Thorax (insect anatomy), thorax and abdomen (insect anatomy), abdomen), three pairs of jointed Arthropod leg, legs, compound eyes, and a pair of antenna (biology), antennae. Insects are the most diverse group of animals, with more than a million described species; they represent more than half of all animal species. The insect nervous system consists of a insect brain, brain and a ventral nerve cord. Most insects reproduce Oviparous, by laying eggs. Insects Respiratory system of insects, breathe air through a system of Spiracle (arthropods), paired openings along their sides, connected to Trachea#Invertebrates, small tubes that take air directly to the tissues. The blood therefore does not carry oxygen; it is only partly contained in ves ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Finches
The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches generally have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usually resident and do not migrate. They have a worldwide native distribution except for Australia and the polar regions. The family Fringillidae contains more than two hundred species divided into fifty genera. It includes the canaries, siskins, redpolls, serins, grosbeaks and euphonias, as well as the morphologically divergent Hawaiian honeycreepers. Many birds in other families are also commonly called "finches". These groups include the estrildid finches ( Estrildidae) of the Old World tropics and Australia; some members of the Old World bunting family ( Emberizidae) and the New World sparrow family ( Passerellidae); and the Darwin's finches of the Galapagos islands, now considered members of the tanager family (Thraup ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bird Vocalization
Bird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs (often simply ''birdsong'') are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology and birding, songs (relatively complex vocalizations) are distinguished by function from calls (relatively simple vocalizations). Definition The distinction between songs and calls is based upon complexity, length, and context. Songs are longer and more complex and are associated with territory and courtship and mating, while calls tend to serve such functions as alarms or keeping members of a flock in contact. Other authorities such as Howell and Webb (1995) make the distinction based on function, so that short vocalizations, such as those of pigeons, and even non-vocal sounds, such as the drumming of woodpeckers and the " winnowing" of snipes' wings in display flight, are considered songs. Still others require song to have syllabic diversity and temporal regularity akin to the re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plumage
Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can be different colour morph (zoology), morphs. The placement of feathers on a bird is not haphazard but rather emerges in organized, overlapping rows and groups, and these are known by standardized names. Most birds moult twice a year, resulting in a breeding or ''nuptial plumage'' and a ''basic plumage''. Many ducks and some other species such as the red junglefowl have males wearing a bright nuptial plumage while breeding and a drab ''eclipse plumage'' for some months afterward. The painted bunting's juveniles have two inserted moults in their first autumn, each yielding plumage like an adult female. The first starts a few days after fledging replacing the ''juvenile plumage'' with an ''auxiliary formative plumage''; the second a month o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Covert Feather
A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are small feathers behind the bird's eye which cover the ear opening (the ear of a bird has no external features). Tail coverts The uppertail and undertail coverts cover the base of the tail feathers above and below. Sometimes these coverts are more specialised. The "tail" of a peacock is made of elongated uppertail coverts. Wing coverts The upperwing coverts fall into two groups: those on the inner wing, which overlay the secondary flight feathers, known as the secondary coverts, and those on the outer wing, which overlay the primary flight feathers, the primary coverts. Within each group, the feathers form a number of rows. The feathers of the outermost, largest, row are termed greater (primary-/secondary-) coverts; those in the next row are the median (primar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crest (feathers)
The crest is a prominent feature exhibited by several bird species on their heads. It is distinct from features such as casques and cockscombs - sometimes erroneously referred to as "crests", which are bony and fleshy structures respectively. The crest is made up of semiplume feathers: a long rachis with barbs on either side. These are plumulaceous feathers, meaning that they are soft and bendable. In birds, these semiplumes are common along the head, neck, and upper back, and may be used for buoyancy and sensing vibrations. Crests on birds are generally used for display purposes. Cockatoos (a family that also includes corellas and the cockatiel) are part of the parrot family Cacatuidae found in Australia, the Bismarck Archipelago and the Philippines, and are probably the most recognizable birds to feature crests. Cockatoos and cockatiels possess crests which may be raised or lowered at will. Their crests are used to communicate with fellow members of their species, or as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
