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Drepanorhynchus
The golden-winged sunbird (''Drepanorhynchus reichenowi'') is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. Three subspecies are recognised. It is found in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Description The male golden-winged sunbird is about 9 in (23 cm) long and the female is about 6 in (15 cm) long, the male having long central tail feathers. Yellow-edged feathers in the wings and tail are key identification pointers in all plumages of both the male and female. Body feathers of the male in breeding condition are a conspicuous metallic reddish-copper colour, which are mostly replaced by dull-black feathers in the non-breeding condition. The underparts of the male are brownish-black. The female is olive above and yellowish below. Immature are similar to females, except their underparts are darker. Taxonomy German naturalist Gustav Fischer described the golden-winged sunbird in 1884, its species name honouring Anton Reichenow. It is classi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nectariniidae
Sunbirds and spiderhunters make up the family Nectariniidae of passerine birds. They are small, slender passerines from the Old World, usually with downward-curved bills. Many are brightly coloured, often with iridescent feathers, particularly in the males. Many species also have especially long tail feathers. Their range extends through most of Africa to the Middle East, South Asia, South-east Asia and southern China, to Indonesia, New Guinea and northern Australia. Species diversity is highest in equatorial regions. There are 145 species in 16 genera. Most sunbirds feed largely on nectar, but will also eat insects and spiders, especially when feeding their young. Flowers that prevent access to their nectar because of their shape (for example, very long and narrow flowers) are simply punctured at the base near the nectaries, from which the birds sip the nectar. Fruit is also part of the diet of some species. Their flight is fast and direct, thanks to their short wings. The s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nectarinia
''Nectarinia'' is a genus of birds in the sunbird family, Nectariniidae. What species belong to it has been highly contentious for many decades. Towards the late 20th century, the dominant trend was to use it to group all "typical" sunbirds. More recently taxonomists have divided the Nectarinia into eight genera which are now considered distinct from Nectarinia: ''Leptocoma, Anabathmis, Chalcomitra, Cinnyris ''Cinnyris'' is a genus of sunbirds. Its members are sometimes included in '' Nectarinia''. They are generally known as double-collared sunbirds because the fringe of their bib usually includes a band of contrastingly coloured feathers. The sun ..., Cyanomitra, Dreptes, Anthobaphes,'' and Drepanorhynchus. Species The genus now contains six species: References Bird genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Nectariniidae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leonotis
''Leonotis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae.Raymond M. Harley, Sandy Atkins, Andrey L. Budantsev, Philip D. Cantino, Barry J. Conn, Renée J. Grayer, Madeline M. Harley, Rogier P.J. de Kok, Tatyana V. Krestovskaja, Ramón Morales, Alan J. Paton, and P. Olof Ryding. 2004. "Labiatae" pages 167-275. In: Klaus Kubitzki (editor) and Joachim W. Kadereit (volume editor). ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' volume VII. Springer-Verlag: Berlin; Heidelberg, Germany. One species, '' Leonotis nepetifolia'', is native to tropical Africa and southern India. It is naturalized throughout most of the tropics. The other species are endemic to southern + eastern Africa.Mattias Iwarsson and Yvette Harvey. 2003. "Monograph of the genus ''Leonotis'' (Pers.) R.Br. (Lamiaceae)". ''Kew Bulletin'' 58(3):597-645. ''Leonotis'' was named by Robert Brown in 1810 in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen.Robert Brown. 1810. ''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erythrina Abyssinica
''Erythrina abyssinica'' (lucky bean or flame tree) is a tree species of the genus ''Erythrina'' belonging to the plant family of the Fabaceae (or Leguminosae) described by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in 1825. This leguminous tree species is native to East Africa , Eastern DRC and southern Africa. In Zimbabwe its range overlaps with the similar ''Erythrina latissima''. History Close-up of inflorescence The description of ''E. abyssinica'' has been complicated, because the first specimen of ''Erythrina'' from Ethiopia (Abyssinia) brought to Europe was actually a mix of the two species. The flowers and leaves belonged to ''E. brucei'' Schweinfurth (1868) and the pod and seeds to ''E. abyssinica'' Lam. ex DC (1825). In addition, the first three descriptions were invalid, i.e. not published correctly to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (syn. ''E. kuara'' James Bruce (1790), ''E. abyssinica'' Lam.Lamarck, J.B. (1786) Encyclopédie Méthodique (L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. It uses a set of precise criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of thousands of species and subspecies. These criteria are relevant to all species and all regions of the world. With its strong scientific base, the IUCN Red List is recognized as the most authoritative guide to the status of biological diversity. A series of Regional Red Lists are produced by countries or organizations, which assess the risk of extinction to species within a political management unit. The aim of the IUCN Red List is to convey the urgency of conservation issues to the public and policy makers, as well as help the international community to reduce species extinction. According to IUCN the formally stated goals of the Red List are to provide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Least Concern
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-evalua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Begging Behavior In Animals
Begging in animals is when an animal solicits being given resources by another animal. This is usually a young animal soliciting food from their parents, brood hosts or other adults. However, the resource is sometimes non-food related or may be solicited by adult animals. Begging behavior is most widely studied in birds, however, mammals, amphibians, and invertebrates perform begging displays. Generally in food solicitation, begging behavior is instinctive, although in some instances it is learned (e.g. pet cats and dogs). While the ultimate causation for begging is an increase in the animal's individual fitness, several theories have been proposed for how food begging evolved proximate causes including scramble competition, honest signalling of need, and cooperative begging by siblings. Various types of information such as nutritional status or immunocompetence can be transmitted with auditory and visual begging signals and the behavior can be modulated by several factors suc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bronzy Sunbird
The bronzy sunbird (''Nectarinia kilimensis'') is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. They are located mostly in parts of southern Africa. Description Bronzy sunbirds have a long, thin, well-curved bill. Males have bronze-and-green undertones but most often look black in light. While the male has the undertones, the female however has a pale eyebrow and an added yellowish park below the belly with fine streaking. On some subspecies specifically located in Angola there is a splash of odd green, but it does not overlap in range with malachite or scarlet-tufted sunbirds in similar areas which do not have this green streaking. Male sunbirds lack any purple tones to the plumage which is found on female species. Vocalizations Bronzy sunbirds use a jumble of twittering notes followed by cleaner whistle sounds. These sounds are most often heard during the early morning and mid day. Distribution and habitat The bronzy sunbird can be found in Africa. While not very com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dominance (ecology)
Ecological dominance is the degree to which one or several species have a major influence controlling the other species in their ecological community (because of their large size, population, productivity, or related factors) or make up more of the biomass. Most ecological communities are defined by their dominant species. *In many examples of wet woodland in western Europe, the dominant tree is alder (''Alnus glutinosa''). *In temperate bogs, the dominant vegetation is usually species of ''Sphagnum'' moss. * Tidal swamps in the tropics are usually dominated by species of mangrove (''Rhizophoraceae'') *Some sea floor communities are dominated by brittle stars. *Exposed rocky shorelines are dominated by sessile organisms such as barnacles and limpets. See also * National Vegetation Classification, a system for classifying British plant communities by their dominant species * Monodominance Monodominance is an ecological condition in which more than 60% of the tree canopy c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foraging
Foraging is searching for wild food resources. It affects an animal's fitness because it plays an important role in an animal's ability to survive and reproduce. Foraging theory is a branch of behavioral ecology that studies the foraging behavior of animals in response to the environment where the animal lives. Behavioral ecologists use economic models and categories to understand foraging; many of these models are a type of optimal model. Thus foraging theory is discussed in terms of optimizing a payoff from a foraging decision. The payoff for many of these models is the amount of energy an animal receives per unit time, more specifically, the highest ratio of energetic gain to cost while foraging. Foraging theory predicts that the decisions that maximize energy per unit time and thus deliver the highest payoff will be selected for and persist. Key words used to describe foraging behavior include ''resources'', the elements necessary for survival and reproduction which have a l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Field Research
Field research, field studies, or fieldwork is the collection of raw data outside a laboratory, library, or workplace setting. The approaches and methods used in field research vary across disciplines. For example, biologists who conduct field research may simply observe animals interacting with their environments, whereas social scientists conducting field research may interview or observe people in their natural environments to learn their languages, folklore, and social structures. Field research involves a range of well-defined, although variable, methods: informal interviews, direct observation, participation in the life of the group, collective discussions, analyses of personal documents produced within the group, self-analysis, results from activities undertaken off- or on-line, and life-histories. Although the method generally is characterized as qualitative research, it may (and often does) include quantitative dimensions. History Field research has a long histor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Territorial Behavior
In ethology, territory is the sociographical area that an animal consistently defends against conspecific competition (or, occasionally, against animals of other species) using agonistic behaviors or (less commonly) real physical aggression. Animals that actively defend territories in this way are referred to as being territorial or displaying territorialism. Territoriality is only shown by a minority of species. More commonly, an individual or a group of animals occupies an area that it habitually uses but does not necessarily defend; this is called its home range. The home ranges of different groups of animals often overlap, and in these overlap areas the groups tend to avoid each other rather than seeking to confront and expel each other. Within the home range there may be a ''core area'' that no other individual group uses, but, again, this is as a result of avoidance. Function The ultimate function of animals inhabiting and defending a territory is to increase the indiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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