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Fischer's Sparrow-lark
Fischer's sparrow-lark (''Eremopterix leucopareia'') or Fischer's finch-lark is a species of passerine bird in the family Alaudidae. It is found from central Kenya to eastern Zambia, Malawi and north-western Mozambique. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland. This inconspicuous dull-coloured bird somewhat resembles a finch. It can be distinguished from the similar chestnut-headed sparrow-lark The chestnut-headed sparrow-lark (''Eremopterix signatus'') or chestnut-headed finch-lark is a species of passerine bird in the family Alaudidae. It is found in eastern and north-eastern Africa. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical ... by the absence of a white patch on the crown of its head. It is found on short grass plains where it congregates in large flocks except during the breeding season. The common name of the bird commemorates the German explorer Gustav Fischer. References External links Images and classification at the Anima ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gustav Fischer (explorer)
Gustav Adolf Fischer (3 March 1848 – 11 November 1886, Berlin) was a German explorer of Africa. Biography He was born at Barmen. In 1876 he accompanied Clemens Denhardt's expedition to Zanzibar, where he settled as a physician. In the following year he explored Wituland and the southern Oromo country. In 1878 he continued his journey to Wapokomoland and along the Tana River to Massa. With the support of the Geographical Society of Hamburg he visited the Maasai country in 1882 and penetrated from the mouth of the Pangani River to Lake Naivasha. The Maasai prevented him from advancing further. Equipped with funds by the brother of Wilhelm Junker, an explorer, who with Emin Pasha and Gaetano Casati had been lost in the equatorial provinces, he organized a relief expedition which, however, was compelled to return after reaching Lake Victoria. Shortly after his return to Germany in 1886 he died of a bilious fever contracted during his journey. He is commemorated in the name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anton Reichenow
Anton Reichenow (1 August 1847 in Charlottenburg – 6 July 1941 in Hamburg) was a German ornithologist and herpetologist. Reichenow was the son-in-law of Jean Cabanis, and worked at the Natural History Museum of Berlin from 1874 to 1921. He was an expert on African birds, making a collecting expedition to West Africa in 1872 and 1873, and writing ''Die Vögel Afrikas'' (1900–05). He was also an expert on parrots, describing all species then known in his book ''Vogelbilder aus Fernen Zonen: Abbildungen und Beschreibungen der Papageien'' (illustrated by Gustav Mützel, 1839–1893). He also wrote ''Die Vögel der Bismarckinseln'' (1899). He was editor of the '' Journal für Ornithologie'' from 1894 to 1921. A number of birds are named after him, including Reichenow's woodpecker and Reichenow's firefinch. His son Eduard Reichenow was a famous protozoologist. Reichenow is known for his classification of birds into six groups, described as "shortwings, swimmers, stiltbirds, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Passerine
A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by the arrangement of their toes (three pointing forward and one back), which facilitates perching. With more than 140 families and some 6,500 identified species, Passeriformes is the largest clade of birds and among the most diverse clades of terrestrial vertebrates, representing 60% of birds.Ericson, P.G.P. et al. (2003Evolution, biogeography, and patterns of diversification in passerine birds ''J. Avian Biol'', 34:3–15.Selvatti, A.P. et al. (2015"A Paleogene origin for crown passerines and the diversification of the Oscines in the New World" ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'', 88:1–15. Passerines are divided into three clades: Acanthisitti (New Zealand wrens), Tyranni (suboscines), and Passeri (oscines or songbirds). The passe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alaudidae
Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occurs in Australia. Habitats vary widely, but many species live in dry regions. When the word "lark" is used without specification, it often refers to the Eurasian skylark ''(Alauda arvensis)''. Taxonomy and systematics The family Alaudidae was introduced in 1825 by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors as a subfamily Alaudina of the finch family Fringillidae. Larks are a well-defined family, partly because of the shape of their . They have multiple scutes on the hind side of their tarsi, rather than the single plate found in most songbirds. They also lack a pessulus, the bony central structure in the syrinx of songbirds. They were long placed at or near the beginning of the songbirds or oscines (now often called Passeri), just ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ecological niche. Thus "habitat" is a species-specific term, fundamentally different from concepts such as environment or vegetation assemblages, for which the term "habitat-type" is more appropriate. The physical factors may include (for example): soil, moisture, range of temperature, and light intensity. Biotic factors will include the availability of food and the presence or absence of predators. Every species has particular habitat requirements, with habitat generalist species able to thrive in a wide array of environmental conditions while habitat specialist species requiring a very limited set of factors to survive. The habitat of a species is not necessarily found in a geographical area, it can be the interior ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica and are found in most ecoregions of the Earth. Furthermore, grasslands are one of the largest biomes on earth and dominate the landscape worldwide. There are different types of grasslands: natural grasslands, semi-natural grasslands, and agricultural grasslands. They cover 31–69% of the Earth's land area. Definitions Included among the variety of definitions for grasslands are: * "...any plant community, including harvested forages, in which grasses and/or legumes make up the dominant vegetation." * "...terrestrial ecosystems dominated by herbaceous and shrub vegetation, and maintained by fire, grazing, drought and/or freezing temperatures." (Pilot Assessment of Global Ecosystems, 2000) * " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chestnut-headed Sparrow-lark
The chestnut-headed sparrow-lark (''Eremopterix signatus'') or chestnut-headed finch-lark is a species of passerine bird in the family Alaudidae. It is found in eastern and north-eastern Africa. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland, and hot deserts. Taxonomy and systematics Subspecies Two subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ... are recognized: * ''E. s. harrisoni'' - ( Ogilvie-Grant, 1900): Found in south-eastern Sudan and north-western Kenya * ''E. s. signatus'' - ( Oustalet, 1886): Found in southern and eastern Ethiopia, Somalia and eastern Kenya Description The male chestnut-headed sparrow-lark has a black collar and bib, white cheeks and a white circular area on the nape of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eremopterix
''Eremopterix'' is the genus of sparrow-larks, songbirds in the family Alaudidae. The sparrow-larks are found from Africa to the Indian subcontinent. Taxonomy and systematics Extant species The genus ''Eremopterix'' contains the following extant species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...: Former species Formerly, some authorities also considered the following species (or subspecies) as species within the genus ''Eremopterix'': * Arabian Dunn's lark (as ''Pyrrhulauda eremodites'') References Bird genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Alaudidae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birds Of East Africa
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the bee hummingbird to the ostrich. There are about ten thousand living species, more than half of which are passerine, or "perching" birds. Birds have whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds. Wings, which are modified forelimbs, gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have further evolved for swimming. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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