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Delichon
''Delichon'' is a small genus of passerine birds that belongs to the swallow family and contains four species called house martins. These are chunky, bull-headed and short-tailed birds, blackish-blue above with a contrasting white rump, and with white or grey underparts. They have feathering on the toes and tarsus (skeleton), tarsi that is characteristic of this genus. The house martins are closely related to other swallows that build mud bird nest, nests, particularly the ''Hirundo'' barn swallows. They breed only in Europe, Asia and the mountains of North Africa. Three species, the Common house martin, common, Siberian house martin, Siberian and Asian house martins, bird migration, migrate south in winter, while the Nepal house martin is resident in the Himalayas year-round. The house martins nest in colonies on cliffs or buildings, constructing feather- or grass-lined mud nests. The typical clutch (eggs), clutch is two or three white bird egg, eggs; both parents build the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common House Martin
The western house martin (''Delichon urbicum''), sometimes called the common house martin, northern house martin or, particularly in Europe, just house martin, is a bird migration, migratory passerine bird of the swallow family which breeds in Europe, north Africa and across the Palearctic; and winters in sub-Saharan Africa and tropical Asia. It feeds on insects which are caught in flight, and it migrates to climates where flying insects are plentiful. It has a blue head and upperparts, white rump and pure white underparts, and is found in both open country and near human habitation. It is similar in appearance to the two other martin species of the genus ''Delichon'', which are both endemism, endemic to eastern and southern Asia. It has two accepted subspecies. Both the scientific and colloquial name of the bird are related to its use of human-made structures. It builds a closed cup nest from mud pellets under eaves or similar locations on buildings usually in Bird colony, co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asian House Martin
The Asian house martin (''Delichon dasypus'') is a migratory passerine bird of the swallow family Hirundinidae. It has mainly blue-black upperparts, other than its white rump, and has pale grey underparts. Its three subspecies breed in the Himalayas and in central and eastern Asia, and spend the winter lower in the mountains or in Southeast Asia. This species is locally abundant and is expanding northward in Siberia, so there are no concerns about its conservation status. This martin breeds in colonies, building mud nests under an overhang on a vertical cliff or the wall of a building. Both sexes build the nest, incubate the three or four white eggs and feed the chicks. The Asian house martin feeds on small insects taken in flight, usually caught high in the air. The presence of terrestrial springtails and Lepidoptera larvae in its diet indicates that food is sometimes picked from the ground. Taxonomy The Asian house martin was first formally described from a bird collected in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Delichon Nipalense
The Nepal house martin (''Delichon nipalense'')Frequently ''Delichon nipalensis'' in older sources, but ''nipalense'' is currently preferred in accordance with is a non-migratory passerine of the swallow family Hirundinidae. Its two subspecies breed in the Himalayas from northwestern India through Nepal to Myanmar, northern Vietnam, and just into China. It occurs in river valleys and rugged wooded mountain ridges at heights between altitude, where it nests in colonies beneath overhangs on vertical cliffs, laying three or four white eggs in an enclosed mud nest. This martin has blue-black upperparts with a contrasting white rump, and white underparts. It resembles its close relatives, the Asian house martin and common house martin, but unlike those species it has a black throat and black undertail. It feeds in flocks with other swallows, catching flies and other insects in flight. It is subject to predation and parasites, but its status within its limited range appears secure. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swallow
The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The term "swallow" is used as the common name for '' Hirundo rustica'' in the UK and Ireland. Around 90 species of Hirundinidae are known, divided into 21 genera, with the greatest diversity found in Africa, which is also thought to be where they evolved as hole-nesters. They also occur on a number of oceanic islands. A number of European and North American species are long-distance migrants; by contrast, the West and South African swallows are nonmigratory. This family comprises two subfamilies: Pseudochelidoninae (the river martins of the genus ''Pseudochelidon'') and Hirundininae (all other swallows, martins, and saw-wings). In the Old World, the name "martin" tends to be used for the squarer-tailed species, and the name "swallow" for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siberian House Martin
The Siberian house martin or eastern house martin (''Delichon lagopodum'') is a passerine bird in the swallow family Hirundinidae. It breeds in rocky areas of northeastern Russia, Mongolia and northern China and winters in Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. It was formerly considered conspecific with the western house martin. Taxonomy The Siberian house martin was formally described in 1811 by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas under the binomial name ''Hirundo lagopoda''. He specified the locality as Dauria, a mountainous region to the east of Lake Baikal in Russia. The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek ''lagōs'' meaning "hare" with ''pous, podos'' meaning foot, a reference to the Siberian martin's fully-feathered feet. The Siberian house martin is now placed in the genus ''Delichon''. This martin was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the common house martin but was promoted to species status based on morphological and vocal differences. The species ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sand Martin
The sand martin (''Riparia riparia''), also known as collared sand martin or common sand martin, and in the Americas as the bank swallow, is a migratory passerine bird in the swallow family Hirundinidae. It has a wide range in summer, embracing practically the whole Holarctic area, from Europe, across Asia to the Pacific Ocean, and throughout North America. It winters in eastern and southern Africa, southern Asia, and South America. Taxonomy This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', and originally named ''Hirundo riparia''; the description consisted of the simple "''H rundocinerea, gula abdomineque albis''" ("an ash-grey swallow, with white throat and belly") and the type locality was simply given as "Europa", subsequently refined to refer to Linnaeus's homeland of Sweden. The specific name means "of the riverbank"; it is derived from the Latin ''ripa'' "riverbank". There are three or four weakly-defined subspecies: * ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Sparrow
The house sparrow (''Passer domesticus'') is a bird of the Old World sparrow, sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. It is a small bird that has a typical length of and a mass of . Females and young birds are coloured pale brown and grey, and males have brighter black, white, and brown markings. One of about 25 species in the genus ''Passer'', the house sparrow is native to most of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin, and a large part of Asia. Its intentional or accidental introduced species, introductions to many regions, including parts of Australasia, Africa, and the Americas, make it the most widely distributed wild bird. The house sparrow is strongly associated with human habitation, and can live in urban or rural settings. Though found in widely varied habitats and climates, it typically avoids extensive woodlands, grasslands, polar regions, and hot, dry deserts far away from human development. For sustenance, the house sparrow routinely feeds at h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Molecular Phylogenetics And Evolution
''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of evolutionary biology and phylogenetics. The journal is edited by E.A. Zimmer. Indexing The journal is indexed in: * EMBiology *Journal Citation Reports *Scopus Scopus is a scientific abstract and citation database, launched by the academic publisher Elsevier as a competitor to older Web of Science in 2004. The ensuing competition between the two databases has been characterized as "intense" and is c ... * Web of Science External links * Elsevier academic journals Evolutionary biology journals Phylogenetics Academic journals established in 1992 Monthly journals {{biology-journal-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Martin
The river martins form a distinctive subfamily Pseudochelidoninae within the swallow and martin bird family Hirundinidae. The two species are the African river martin ''Pseudochelidon eurystomina'', found in the Congo and Gabon, and the white-eyed river martin ''Pseudochelidon sirintarae'', known only from one site in Thailand. These are medium-sized, largely black swallows that have a light buoyant flight and feed on insects caught in the air. They appear to be more terrestrial than other swallows, frequently walking rather than perching, and the white-eyed may be crepuscular. The African species excavates nest holes in sandy ridges in rivers, while the breeding locations and habits of the Asian bird are unknown. When the African river martin was first discovered in the 19th century, Gustav Hartlaub thought it was a roller, and later authors either placed it in its own family, or with the woodswallows. Study of the anatomy revealed that the species was closest to the swallow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avian Incubation
Egg incubation is the process by which an egg, of oviparous (egg-laying) animals, develops an embryo within the egg, after the egg's formation and ovipositional release. Egg incubation is done under favorable environmental conditions, possibly by brooding and hatching the egg. Multiple and various factors are vital to the incubation of various species of animal. In many species of reptile for example, no fixed temperature is necessary, but the actual temperature determines the sex ratio of the offspring. In birds, the sex of offspring is genetically determined, but in many species a constant and particular temperature is necessary for successful incubation. Especially in poultry, the act of sitting on eggs to incubate them is called brooding. The action or behavioral tendency to sit on a clutch of eggs is also called broodiness, and most egg-laying breeds of poultry have had this behavior selectively bred out of them to increase production. Avian incubation A wide rang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pesticide
Pesticides are substances that are used to control pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others (see table). The most common of these are herbicides, which account for approximately 50% of all pesticide use globally. Most pesticides are used as plant protection products (also known as crop protection products), which in general protect plants from weeds, fungi, or insects. In general, a pesticide is a chemical or biological agent (such as a virus, bacterium, or fungus) that deters, incapacitates, kills, or otherwise discourages pests. Target pests can include insects, plant pathogens, weeds, molluscs, birds, mammals, fish, nematodes (roundworms), and microbes that destroy property, cause nuisance, spread disease, or are disease vectors. Along with these benefits, pesticides also have drawbacks, such as potential toxicity to humans and other species. Definition The word pesticide derives from the Latin ''pestis'' (plagu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
