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Razo Lark
The Raso lark (''Alauda razae'') is a small passerine bird with a highly restricted range, being found only on Ilhéu Raso, Raso islet in the Cape Verde Islands. This critically endangered member of the family Alaudidae lives in very arid terrain, and is considered one of the least known birds in the Western Palaearctic region, due to its remoteness and the lack of much ornithology, ornithological study on the archipelago as a whole. Taxonomy and systematics Originally, the Raso lark was classified as belonging to the genus ''Spizocorys''. Formerly or presently, some authorities considered the Raso lark to belong to the genus ''Calandrella''. Alternate names for the Raso lark include Cape Verde Islands lark, Raso Island lark, Raso short-toed lark and Razo skylark. Description Raso larks are relatively small in size. The Raso larks can range from sizes between 14 and 18 cm. The adult population is mostly made up of males who are larger than the females. The body has black an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boyd Alexander
Lieutenant Boyd Alexander (16 January 1873 – 2 April 1910) was an English officer in the British Army, as well as an List of explorers, explorer and ornithologist. Early life Boyd was the oldest son (with a twin brother) of Lt Colonel Boyd Francis Alexander. On his mother's side he was the grandson of David Wilson (Calcutta), David Wilson, the founder of the Places of interest in Kolkata#Historic hotels, Great Eastern Hotel in Calcutta. He was born at Swifts Park at Cranbrook, Kent, Cranbrook in Kent and educated at Radley and Sandhurst. Alexander was commissioned in a Militia (United Kingdom), Militia battalion of the Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own), and in October 1900 took up a commission in a regular battalion of that regiment. Promotion to Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines), lieutenant followed on 22 January 1902. During 1902 he visited the Gold Coast Colony, where he made an ornithological survey of that colony, and in September that year he left for th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurasian Skylark
The Eurasian skylark (''Alauda arvensis'') is a passerine bird in the lark family, Alaudidae. It is a widespread species found across Europe and the Palearctic with introduced populations in Australia, New Zealand and on the Hawaiian Islands. It is a bird of open farmland and heath, known for the song of the male, which is delivered in hovering flight from heights of . The sexes are alike. It is streaked greyish-brown above and on the breast and has a buff-white belly. The female Eurasian skylark builds an open nest in a shallow depression on open ground well away from trees, bushes and hedges. She lays three to five eggs which she incubates for around 11 days. The chicks are fed by both parents but leave the nest after eight to ten days, well before they can fly. They scatter and hide in the vegetation but continue to be fed by the parents until they can fly at 18 to 20 days of age. Nests are subject to high predation rates by larger birds and small mammals. The parents can hav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic Birds Of Cape Verde
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or, in scientific literature, as an ''endemite''. Similarly, many species found in the Western ghats of India are examples of endemism. Endemism is an important concept in conservation biology for measuring biodiversity in a particular place and evaluating the risk of extinction for species. Endemism is also of interest in evolutionary biology, because it provides clues about how changes in the environment cause species to undergo range shifts (potentially expanding their range into a larger area or becoming ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alauda
''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands. Further, at least two additional species are known from the fossil record. The current genus name is from Latin ''alauda'', "lark". Pliny the Elder thought the word was originally of Celtic origin. Taxonomy and systematics The genus ''Alauda'' was introduced by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. The type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ... was subsequently designated as the Eurasian skylark. The genus ''Alauda'' has four extant and at least two extinct species. Formerly, many other species have al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conservation Biology
Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an interdisciplinary subject drawing on natural and social sciences, and the practice of natural resource management. The nature conservation, conservation ethic is based on the findings of conservation biology. Origins The term conservation biology and its conception as a new field originated with the convening of "The First International Conference on Research in Conservation Biology" held at the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla, California, in 1978 led by American biologists Bruce A. Wilcox and Michael E. Soulé with a group of leading university and zoo researchers and conservationists including Kurt Benirschke, Sir Otto Frankel, Thomas Lovejoy, and Jared Diamond. The meeting was prompted due to concern over tropical de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Santa Luzia Island
Santa Luzia is an island of the Barlavento archipelago in Cape Verde located between São Nicolau and São Vicente, the channel of Santa Luzia separates the island of São Vicente and is 8 km wide. The area is 34.2 km2.Resolução nº 36/2016 Estratégia e Plano Nacional de Negócios das Áreas Protegidas Like all Cape Verdean islands, it is of volcanic origin. The highest point is Topona (elevation ). Santa Luzia is 12.4 km long and 5.3 km wide.Cabo Verde, Statistical Yearbook 2015 [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Feral Cat
A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat (''Felis catus'') that lives outdoors and avoids human contact; it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens of generations and become a local apex predator in urban, savannah and bushland environments, and especially on islands where native animals did not evolve alongside predators. Some feral cats may become more comfortable with people who regularly feed them, but even with long-term attempts at socialization of animals, socialization, they usually remain aloof and reject human touch. Of the 700 million cats in the world, an estimated 480 million are feral. Feral cats are devastating to wildlife, and conservation biologists consider them to be one of the worst invasive species on Earth. They are included in the list of 100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species, the world's 100 worst invasive alien species. Attempts to control feral cat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic (ecology)
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or, in scientific literature, as an ''endemite''. Similarly, many species found in the Western ghats of India are examples of endemism. Endemism is an important concept in conservation biology for measuring biodiversity in a particular place and evaluating the risk of extinction for species. Endemism is also of interest in evolutionary biology, because it provides clues about how changes in the environment cause species to undergo range shifts (potentially expanding their range into a larger area or bec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Verde Barn Owl
The western barn owl (''Tyto alba'') is a species of barn owl ''Tyto'' native to Europe, southwestern Asia, and Africa. It was formerly considered a subspecies group together with barn owls native to other parts of the world, but this classification was found to be paraphyletic with respect to some other members of the genus. The plumage on the head and back is a mottled shade of grey or brown; that on the underparts varies from white to brown and is sometimes speckled with dark markings. The facial disc is characteristically large and heart-shaped, with white plumage in most subspecies. This owl does not hoot, but utters an eerie, drawn-out screech. The western barn owl is nocturnal over most of its range, but in Great Britain, it also hunts by day. Barn owls specialise in hunting animals on the ground, and nearly all of their food consists of small mammals, which they locate by sound, their hearing being very acute. The owls usually mate for life unless one of the pair is kill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brown-necked Raven
The brown-necked raven (''Corvus ruficollis'') is a larger bird (52–56 cm in length) than the carrion crow though not as large as the common raven. It has similar proportions to the common raven but the bill is not so large or deep and the wings tend to be a little more pointed in profile. The head and throat are a distinct brownish-black giving the bird its English name, while the rest of the plumage is black glossed with purple, blue or purplish-blue. Like the common raven, thick-billed raven and white-necked raven, it is one of the larger raven species. The feathers of this species often fade quite quickly to a brownish black (even the truly black feathers) and the bird can look distinctly brown by the time it moults. The feet, legs and bill are black. The dwarf raven was formerly considered a subspecies (''Corvus ruficollis edithae'') but this bird now appears to be closer to the pied crow (''C. albus'') than this species. Distribution and habitat This species ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lesser Cape Verde Kestrel
The common kestrel (''Falco tinnunculus''), also known as the European kestrel, Eurasian kestrel or Old World kestrel, is a species of predatory bird belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. In the United Kingdom, where no other kestrel species commonly occurs, it is generally just called the "kestrel". This species occurs over a large native range. It is widespread in Europe, Asia and Africa, as well as occasionally reaching the east coast of North America. It has colonized a few oceanic islands, but vagrant individuals are generally rare; in the whole of Micronesia for example, the species was only recorded twice each on Guam and Saipan in the Marianas. Taxonomy The common kestrel was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the current binomial name ''Falco tinnunculus''. Linnaeus specified the type location as Europe but restricted this to Sweden in 1761. The genus name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
