|
Cuban Warbler
The Cuban warblers are a genus, ''Teretistris'', and family, Teretistridae, of birds endemic to Cuba and its surrounding cays. Until 2002 they were thought to be New World warblers, but DNA studies have shown that they are not closely related to that family. The family consists of two species, the yellow-headed warbler and the Oriente warbler. Both species are found in forest and scrub, with the yellow-headed warbler ranging in the west of the island and the Oriente warbler in the east. The Cuban warblers are long and have similar yellow and grey plumage. The Cuban warblers are insectivores, with beetles forming a large part of the diet. Small reptiles and fruit are also taken. They feed in bushes and trees, in pairs or in small flocks during the non-breeding season, and are often the nucleus species for mixed-species feeding flocks with other birds, particularly migrants from North America. Taxonomy The genus ''Teretistris'' was long thought to sit in the New World warble ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yellow-headed Warbler
The yellow-headed warbler (''Teretistris fernandinae'') is one of two species of bird in the Cuban warbler family Teretistridae. It is endemic to western Cuba. Taxonomy and systematics The yellow-headed warbler shares its family and genus with the Oriente warbler (''T. fornsi''). They were originally placed in the New World warblers (Parulidae) but phylogenetic studies of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA led to reassessment of several genera and in 2017 the Cuban warblers were moved to their own family. Their closest relatives are the four members of family Spindalidae, the yellow-breasted chat (''Icteria virens''), and the New World blackbirds of family Icteridae. Chesser, R. T., S. M. Billerman, K. J. Burns, C. Cicero, J. L. Dunn, B. E. Hernández-Baños, R. A. Jiménez, A. W. Kratter, N. A. Mason, P. C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., D. F. Stotz, and K. Winker. 2022. Check-list of North American Birds (online). American Ornithological Society. https://checklist.aou.org/taxa T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plumage
Plumage ( "feather") 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 morphs. The placement of feathers on a bird is not haphazard, but rather emerge 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] |
Oriente Warbler (Teretistris Fornsi) - Cropped
The Oriente warbler (''Teretistris fornsi'') is one of two species of bird in the Cuban warbler family Teretistridae. It is endemic to central and eastern Cuba. Taxonomy and systematics The Oriente warbler shares its family and genus with the yellow-headed warbler (''T. fernandinae''). They were originally placed in the New World warblers (Parulidae) but phylogenetic studies of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA led to reassessment of several genera and in 2017 the Cuban warblers were moved to their own family. Their closest relatives are the four members of family Spindalidae, the yellow-breasted chat (''Icteria virens''), and the New World blackbirds of family Icteridae. Chesser, R. T., S. M. Billerman, K. J. Burns, C. Cicero, J. L. Dunn, B. E. Hernández-Baños, R. A. Jiménez, A. W. Kratter, N. A. Mason, P. C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., D. F. Stotz, and K. Winker. 2022. Check-list of North American Birds (online). American Ornithological Society. https://checklist.aou.org/t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matanzas Province
Matanzas () is one of the provinces of Cuba. Major towns in the province include Cárdenas, Colón, Jovellanos and the capital of the same name, Matanzas. The resort town of Varadero is also located in this province. Among Cuban provinces, Matanzas is one of the most industrialized, with petroleum wells, refineries, supertanker facilities, and 21 sugar mills to process the harvests of the fields of sugarcane in the province. Geography The second largest in Cuba, Matanzas province is largely flat, with its highest point (Pan de Matanzas) at only 380m above sea level. The north-western coast is largely rocky, with a few beaches, while the north-eastern coast has numerous small cays of its coast (part of Sabana-Camaguey Archipelago), and scrubland and mangroves near the shoreline. Cuba's northernmost point is located in on Hicacos Peninsula. The southern coast has one of Cuba's most distinctive features: an enormous marsh, Ciénaga de Zapata that covers both the sout ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oriente Province
Oriente (, "East") was the easternmost province of Cuba until 1976. The term "Oriente" is still used to refer to the eastern part of the country, which currently is divided into five different provinces. Fidel and Raúl Castro were born in a small town in this province ( Birán). The origins of Oriente lie in the 1607 division of Cuba into a western and eastern administration. The eastern part was governed from Santiago de Cuba and it was subordinate to the national government in Havana. In 1807, Cuba was divided into three ''departamentos'': Occidental, Central and Oriental. This arrangement lasted until 1851, when the central department was merged back into the West. In 1878, Cuba was divided into six provinces. Oriente remained intact but was officially renamed to Santiago de Cuba Province until the name was reverted to Oriente in 1905. This lasted until 1976, when the province was split into five different provinces: Las Tunas Province, Granma Province, Holguín Provin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isla De La Juventud
Isla de la Juventud (; en, Isle of Youth) is the second-largest Cuban island (after Cuba's mainland) and the seventh-largest island in the West Indies (after mainland Cuba itself, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and Andros Island). The island was called the Isle of Pines ( es, Isla de Pinos) until 1978. It has an area and is south of the island of Cuba, across the Gulf of Batabanó. The island lies almost directly south of Havana and Pinar del Río and is a Special Municipality (), not part of any province and is therefore administered directly by the central government of Cuba. The island has only one municipality, also named Isla de la Juventud. The largest of the 350 islands in the Canarreos Archipelago (''Archipiélago de los Canarreos''), the island has an estimated population of 83,544 (in 2019). The capital and largest city is Nueva Gerona in the north, and the second largest and oldest city is Santa Fe in the interior. Other communities include Colum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guanahacabibes Peninsula
Guanahacabibes Peninsula is the westernmost point on the island of Cuba. It is located in Pinar del Río Province, in the municipality of Sandino and is sparsely populated. The waters surrounding the peninsula are important spiny lobster and red snapper fishing grounds. It also boasts the category of ''Biosphere Reserve'', listed by UNESCO in 1987. Its western extremity, Cape San Antonio ( es, Cabo San Antonio), is the westernmost point of Cuba. Overview Its location in the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico makes it vulnerable to hurricanes. The area was severely affected by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Guanahacabibes was the site of Cuba's first forced labor camp, started at the end of 1960. Conservation The Guanahacabibes National Park on the peninsula is one of the country's largest natural reserves and is separated from the rest of the island by white-sand plains where one of Cuba's largest lakeside areas lies. A relatively small area holds some 10 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zapata Peninsula
Zapata Peninsula ( es, Península de Zapata) is a large peninsula in Matanzas Province, southern Cuba, at . Ciénaga de Zapata National Park is located on the peninsula. It is located south of Ensenada de la Broa, east of the gulf of Batabano and north of the Gulf of Cazones. The Bay of Pigs The Bay of Pigs ( es, Bahía de los Cochinos) is an inlet of the Gulf of Cazones located on the southern coast of Cuba. By 1910, it was included in Santa Clara Province, and then instead to Las Villas Province by 1961, but in 1976, it was reas ... defines its eastern limit. To the north, it is bounded by the Carretera Central highway. Geography of Matanzas Province Peninsulas of Cuba {{Cuba-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allopatric
Allopatric speciation () – also referred to as geographic speciation, vicariant speciation, or its earlier name the dumbbell model – is a mode of speciation that occurs when biological populations become geographically isolated from each other to an extent that prevents or interferes with gene flow. Various geographic changes can arise such as the movement of continents, and the formation of mountains, islands, bodies of water, or glaciers. Human activity such as agriculture or developments can also change the distribution of species populations. These factors can substantially alter a region's geography, resulting in the separation of a species population into isolated subpopulations. The vicariant populations then undergo genetic changes as they become subjected to different selective pressures, experience genetic drift, and accumulate different mutations in the separated populations' gene pools. The barriers prevent the exchange of genetic information between th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pico Turquino
Pico Turquino (), sometimes erroneously spelled as Pico Torquino, is the highest point in Cuba. It is located in the southeast part of the island, in the Sierra Maestra mountain range in the municipality of Guamá, Santiago de Cuba Province. Etymology The name is believed to be a corruption of the phrase for " turquoise peak" ( es, ), so-named for its apparent blue hues seen by the heights in certain views. History The peak was first mentioned (under the name "Tarquino") on a map drawn by Geert de Kremer in the late 16th century. The first documented ascent of the peak was in 1860 by Fred W. Ramsden, a twenty-year-old Englishman then living in Santiago de Cuba. The climb was not widely publicized at the time. In 1915 the Swedish botanist Erik Leonard Ekman climbed the mountain and speculated that he was probably the first person to have done so. The following year, in response, Ramsden's son published a letter his father had written to his own mother describing the origina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Integrated Taxonomic Information System
The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) is an American partnership of federal agencies designed to provide consistent and reliable information on the taxonomy of biological species. ITIS was originally formed in 1996 as an interagency group within the US federal government, involving several US federal agencies, and has now become an international body, with Canadian and Mexican government agencies participating. The database draws from a large community of taxonomic experts. Primary content staff are housed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and IT services are provided by a US Geological Survey facility in Denver. The primary focus of ITIS is North American species, but many biological groups exist worldwide and ITIS collaborates with other agencies to increase its global coverage. Reference database ITIS provides an automated reference database of scientific and common names for species. As of May 2016, it contains over 839,000 scientific nam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
