|
Orange-footed Scrubfowl
The orange-footed scrubfowl (''Megapodius reinwardt''), also known as orange-footed megapode or just scrubfowl, is a small megapode of the family Megapodiidae native to many islands in the Lesser Sunda Islands as well as southern New Guinea and northern Australia. Description It is a terrestrial bird the size of a domestic chicken and dark-coloured with strong orange legs and a pointed crest at the back of the head. It utilises a range of forest and scrub habitats and has colonised many small islands throughout its range. It is prolific in suburban Darwin gardens, where people refer to it as a bush chook, bush chicken, bush turkey, or most commonly, the bush boiby Conservation In general, populations seem to be stable and the conservation status of the species is considered to be of Least Concern. Diet The orange-footed scrubfowl feeds on seeds, fallen fruit and terrestrial invertebrates. Breeding As with other megapodes, it nests in large mounds of sand, leaf litt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Dumont De Sainte Croix
Charles Henri Frédéric Dumont de Sainte-Croix (27 April 1758 – 8 January 1830) was a French zoologist. A lawyer by trade, he was also an enthusiastic amateur ornithologist.Stresemann, p. 117 Between 1817 and 1818, he described a number of Javanese bird species discovered by Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour; he also contributed articles on ornithology to the ''Dictionnaire des sciences naturelles'', edited and published from 1816 to 1830 by F. G. Levrault. Dumont de Sainte-Croix's daughter, Marie Clémence Lesson, Clémence married René-Primevère Lesson, a surgeon and noted French naturalist. His younger brother, André Dumont was elected to the Political convention, Convention during the French Revolution. He was honoured in 1813, in the naming of ''Dumontia (alga), Dumontia'', which is a genus of red algae belonging to the family Dumontiaceae. References Bibliography * 1758 births 1830 deaths French ornithologists French zoologists {{ornithologist-stu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leaf Litter
Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall, or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituent nutrients are added to the top layer of soil, commonly known as the litter layer or O-horizon ("O" for "organic"). Litter is an important factor in ecosystem dynamics, as it is indicative of ecological productivity and may be useful in predicting regional nutrient cycling and soil fertility. Characteristics and variability Litterfall is characterized as fresh, undecomposed, and easily recognizable (by species and type) plant debris. This can be anything from leaves, cones, needles, twigs, bark, seeds/nuts, logs, or reproductive organs (e.g. the stamen of flowering plants). Items larger than 2 cm diameter are referred to as coarse litter, while anything smaller is referred to as fine litter or litter. The type of litterfall is m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birds Of Queensland
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 common ostrich. There are over 11,000 living species and they are split into 44 orders. More than half are passerine or "perching" birds. Birds have wings 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 furth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birds Of The Lesser Sunda Islands
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight Bird skeleton, skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the bee hummingbird to the common ostrich. There are over 11,000 living species and they are split into 44 Order (biology), orders. More than half are passerine or "perching" birds. Birds have Bird wing, wings 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 Flightless bird, loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and diverse endemism, endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megapodius
The scrubfowl are the genus '' Megapodius '' of the mound-builders, stocky, medium-large chicken-like birds with small heads and large feet in the family Megapodiidae. They are found from south-east Asia to north Australia and islands in the west Pacific. They do not incubate their eggs with their body heat in the orthodox way, but bury them. They are best known for building a massive mound of decaying vegetation, which the male attends, adding or removing litter to regulate the internal heat while the eggs hatch. The species in taxonomic order are: * † Pile-builder scrubfowl (''Megapodius molistructor'') * † Viti Levu scrubfowl (''Megapodius amissus'') In all of the above, the name "scrubfowl" is sometimes exchanged with "megapode". Traditionally, most have been listed as subspecies of ''M. freycinet'', but today all major authorities consider this incorrect. Nevertheless, there are unresolved issues within the genus, and for example the taxon ''forstenii'' has been ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Handbook Of Australian, New Zealand And Antarctic Birds
The ''Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds'', known as ''HANZAB'', is the pre-eminent scientific reference on birds in the region, which includes Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, and the surrounding ocean and subantarctic islands. It attempts to collate all that is known about each of the 957 species recorded. ''HANZAB'' is the largest project ever undertaken by the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU), also known as Birds Australia. It was prepared over 20 years by teams of full and part-time writers, editors and artists, and published by Oxford University Press in seven volumes between 1990 and 2006 (volumes 1 and 7 each in two parts). Contents of each volume # Ratites to Ducks (in two parts) (1990) 1408 pp. # Raptors to Lapwings (1993) 1048 pp. # Snipe to Pigeons (1996) 1086 pp. # Parrots to Dollarbird (1999) 1248 pp. # Tyrant-flycatchers to Chats (2001) 1272 pp. # Pardalotes to Shrike-thrushes (2002) 1263 pp. # Boatbill to Starlings (in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gunwinggu
The Kunwinjku (formerly written Gunwinggu) people are an Australian Aboriginal people, one of several groups within the Bininj people, who live around West Arnhem Land to the east of Darwin, Northern Territory. Kunwinjku people generally refer to themselves as "Bininj" (meaning people, or Aboriginal people) in much the same way that Yolŋu people refer to themselves as "Yolŋu". Language They traditionally speak the Kunwinjku language. Country Their original heartland is said to have been in the hilly terrain south of Goulburn Island and their frontier with the Maung running just south of Tor Rock. Their northern extension approached Sandy Creek, while they were also present south-east at the head of Cooper's Creek and part of the King River. In Norman Tindale's scheme, the Kunwinjku were allotted a tribal territory of around in the area south of Jungle Creek and on the headwaters of the East Alligator River. The Gumader swamps near Junction Bay and the creeks east of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dusky Megapode
The dusky megapode (''Megapodius freycinet''), also known as dusky scrubfowl or common megapode, is a medium-sized, approximately 41 cm (16 in) long, blackish bird with a short pointed crest, bare red facial skin, dark legs, brown irises, and a dark brown and yellow bill. The male and female are similar. This terrestrial species lives in forests and swamps, including mangroves, of the Maluku and Raja Ampat Islands in Indonesia. Like other megapodes, it lays its eggs in a mound made from earth mixed with leaves, sand, gravel, and sticks, which can be as large as in diameter and stand nearly tall. Many authorities include the Biak scrubfowl as a subspecies of this species, but the two are increasingly treated as separate species. At the same time, many authorities consider the taxon ''M. forsteni'' a separate species, Forsten's megapode, but measurements and molecular evidence suggest the two are very close,Birks, S. M., & Edwards, S. V. (2002). ''A phylogeny of the megapodes (Av ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tanimbar Scrubfowl
The Tanimbar megapode or Tanimbar scrubfowl (''Megapodius tenimberensis'') is a small megapode endemic to the Tanimbar Islands of Indonesia. It is sometimes considered to be a subspecies of the orange-footed scrubfowl, ''Megapodius reinwardt''. It is a terrestrial bird the size of a domestic chicken, which is found in a range of forest and scrub habitats. It feeds on seeds, fallen fruit and terrestrial invertebrates. Like other megapodes, it nests in large mounds of sand, leaf litter and other debris where the heat generated by the decomposition of organic material serves to incubate the eggs. References * Jones, Darryl N.; Dekker, Rene W.R.J.; & Roselaar, Cees S. (1995). ''The Megapodes''. Oxford University Press: Oxford. {{Taxonbar, from=Q968178 Tanimbar megapode Birds of the Tanimbar Islands Tanimbar megapode Tanimbar megapode The Tanimbar megapode or Tanimbar scrubfowl (''Megapodius tenimberensis'') is a small megapode endemic to the Tanimbar Islands of Indonesia. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
