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Mkhombo Nature Reserve
Mkhombo Nature Reserve is a protected area in Mpumalanga, South Africa. It is a large, 11,223 ha reserve which conserves an easterly Kalahari thornveld environment around the shores of a Mkhombo dam. The reserve has typical Highlands grassland with a network of wetlands and rocky outcrops. The nature reserve is known for its bird life. Among the species native to the reserve are the reed cormorant, African yellow-billed hornbill, African grey hornbill, white-breasted cormorant, little swift, hamerkop, red-winged starling, pectoral sandpiper, grey plover, barred wren-warbler The barred wren-warbler or southern barred warbler (''Calamonastes fasciolatus'') is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is found in Namibia, Botswana, western Angola, northern South Africa and southwestern Zimbabwe. Its natural ha ..., and yellow wagtail. It is a frequent safari destination for visitors from around the world. Species found in the reserve include elephants, lions, leopards, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It constitutes 6.5% of South Africa's land area. It shares borders with the South African provinces of Limpopo to the north, Gauteng to the west, the Free State to the southwest, and KwaZulu-Natal to the south. The capital is Mbombela. Mpumalanga was formed in 1994, when the area that was the Eastern Transvaal was merged with the former bantustans KaNgwane, KwaNdebele and parts of Lebowa and Gazankulu. Although the contemporary borders of the province were only formed at the end of apartheid, the region and its surroundings has a history that extends back thousands of years. Much of its history, and current significance is as a region of trade. History Precolonial Era Archeological sites in the Mpumalanga region indicate settlem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of . South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town respectively. The largest city is Johannesburg. About 80% of the population are Black Sou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reed Cormorant
The reed cormorant (''Microcarbo africanus''), also known as the long-tailed cormorant, is a bird in the cormorant family Phalacrocoracidae. It breeds in much of Africa south of the Sahara, and Madagascar. It is resident but undertakes some seasonal movements. Taxonomy The reed cormorant was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's ''Systema Naturae''. He placed it in the genus '' Pelecanus'' and coined the binomial name ''Pelecanus africanus''. Gmelin based his description on the "African shag" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his book ''A General Synopsis of Birds''. The reed cormorant is now one of five small cormorants placed in the genus ''Microcarbo'' that was introduced in 1856 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte. Two subspecies are recognised: * ''M. a. africanus'' (Gmelin, JF, 1789) – inland and coastal Sub-Saharan Afri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill
The southern yellow-billed hornbill (''Tockus leucomelas'') is a hornbill found in southern Africa. Yellow-billed hornbills feed mainly on the ground, where they forage for seeds, small insects, spiders and scorpions. This hornbill species is a common and widespread resident of dry thornveldt and broad-leafed woodlands. They can often be seen along roads and water courses. Description left, Adult female in Mapungubwe National Park, South Africa. She has a shorter bill, with shorter casque, than the male. It is a medium-sized bird, in length, in weight and is characterized by a long yellow and down-curved beak. This beak is huge in comparison to its body and can account for up 1/6th of the entire body length. Male beaks are on average 90 mm long while female beaks are an average of 74 mm. Males are generally bigger than females but there is overlap between the sexes. The size difference of the beak is a fairly reliable way of differentiating sex in wild hornbills. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Grey Hornbill
The African grey hornbill (''Lophoceros nasutus'') is a member of the hornbill family of mainly tropical near-passerine birds found in the Old World. It is a widespread resident breeder in much of sub-Saharan Africa and the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula. The African grey hornbill has escaped or been deliberately released into Florida, USA, but there is no evidence that the population is breeding and may only persist due to continuing releases or escapes. Taxonomy In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the African grey hornbill in the fourth volume of his ''Ornithologie'' based on a specimen collected in Senegal. He used the French name ''Le calao à bec noir du Sénégal'' and the Latin name ''Hydrocorax Senegalensis Melanorynchos''. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White-breasted Cormorant
The white-breasted cormorant (''Phalacrocorax lucidus'') is much like the widespread great cormorant and if not a regional variant of the same species, is at least very closely related. It is distinguished from other forms of the great cormorant by its white breast and by the fact that subpopulations are freshwater birds.J.A. Harrison, D.G. Allan, L.G. Underhill, M. Herremans, A.J. Tree, V. Parker, C.J. Brown (eds). The Atlas of Southern African Birds. Published by BirdLife South Africa, P.O. Box 84394, Greenside 2034, Johannesburg, South Africa 1997 ''Phalacrocorax lucidus'' is not to be confused with the smaller and very different endemic South Australian black-faced cormorant, which also is sometimes called the white-breasted cormorant. Taxonomy and description The white-breasted cormorant (''Phalacrocorax lucidus'') is a member of the cormorant family Phalacrocoracidae. Its taxonomic status has been under discussion for some decadesBrooke RK, Cooper J, Shelton PA, Crawford ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Swift
The little swift (''Apus affinis''), is a small species of Swift (bird), swift found in Africa and southwestern Asia, and are vagrants and local breeders in southern Europe. They are found both in urban areas and at rocky cliffs where they build nests in a way typical of all members of the order Apodiformes. The genus name ''Apus'' is Latin for a swift, thought by the ancients to be a type of swallow without feet (from Ancient Greek α, ''a'', "without", and πούς, ''pous'', "foot"). The Latin specific ''affinis'' means similar to or related to, but in this case the species that the little swift supposedly resembles is not clear from the description. A population formerly considered to be an eastern subspecies of little swift is now separated as a distinct species, the house swift (House swift, ''Apus nipalensis''). Description Little swifts are readily identified by their small size. Their wingspan is only 33 cm compared to 42 cm in the case of common swift. Their pl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamerkop
The hamerkop (''Scopus umbretta'') is a medium-sized wading bird. It is the only living species in the genus ''Scopus'' and the family Scopidae. The species and family was long thought to sit with the Ciconiiformes but is now placed with the Pelecaniformes, and its closest relatives are thought to be the pelicans and the shoebill. The shape of its head with a long bill and crest at the back is reminiscent of a hammer, which has given this species its name after the Afrikaans word for hammerhead. It is a medium-sized waterbird with brown plumage. It is found in Africa, Madagascar and Arabia, living in a wide variety of wetlands, including estuaries, lakesides, fish ponds, riverbanks, and rocky coasts. The hamerkop is a sedentary bird that often shows local movements. The hamerkop takes a wide range of prey, mostly fish and amphibians, but shrimps, insects and rodents are taken too. Prey is usually hunted in shallow water, either by sight or touch, but the species is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red-winged Starling
The red-winged starling (''Onychognathus morio'') is a bird of the starling family Sturnidae native to eastern Africa from Ethiopia to the Cape in South Africa. An omnivorous, generalist species, it prefers cliffs and mountainous areas for nesting, and has moved into cities and towns due to similarity to its original habitat. Taxonomy In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the red-winged starling in his ''Ornithologie'' based on a specimen collected from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. He used the French name ''Le merle du Cap de Bonne Espérance'' and the Latin ''Merula Capitis Bonae Spei''. The two stars (**) at the start of the section indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus upda ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pectoral Sandpiper
The pectoral sandpiper (''Calidris melanotos'') is a small, migratory wader that breeds in North America and Asia, wintering in South America and Oceania. It eats small invertebrates. Its nest, a hole scraped in the ground and with a thick lining, is deep enough to protect its four eggs from the cool breezes of its breeding grounds. The pectoral sandpiper is long, with a wingspan of . Taxonomy The pectoral sandpiper is sometimes separated with the "stint" sandpipers in ''Erolia''. This may or may not represent a good monophyletic group, depending on the placement of the phylogenetically enigmatic curlew sandpiper (''"C." ferruginea''), the type species of ''Erolia''. In any case, the genus name ''Ereunetes''—formerly used for the western sandpiper (''"C." mauri'') and semipalmated sandpiper (''"C." pusilla''), which are also members of the stint clade—was established before ''Erolia''. " Cox's sandpiper" (''"Calidris"'' × ''paramelanotos'') is a stereotyped hybrid betw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grey Plover
The grey plover or black-bellied plover (''Pluvialis squatarola'') is a large plover breeding in Arctic regions. It is a long-distance migrant, with a nearly worldwide coastal distribution when not breeding. Taxonomy The grey plover was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Tringa squatarola''. It is now placed with three other plovers in the genus '' Pluvialis'' that was introduced by the French onithologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The genus name is Latin and means relating to rain, from ''pluvia'', "rain". It was believed that they flocked when rain was imminent. The species name ''squatarola'' is a Latinised version of ''Sgatarola'', a Venetian name for some kind of plover. The English common name used for this species differs in different parts of the world. It is generally known as "grey plover" in the Old World and "black-bellied plover" in the New World. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barred Wren-warbler
The barred wren-warbler or southern barred warbler (''Calamonastes fasciolatus'') is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is found in Namibia, Botswana, western Angola, northern South Africa and southwestern Zimbabwe. Its natural habitat is dry savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to .... References External links * Barred (wren) warbler Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds barred wren-warbler Birds of Southern Africa barred wren-warbler Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Cisticolidae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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