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Sri Lanka Frogmouth
The Sri Lanka frogmouth, Sri Lankan frogmouth or Ceylon frogmouth (''Batrachostomus moniliger'') is a small frogmouth found in the Western Ghats of south India and Sri Lanka. Related to the nightjars, it is nocturnal and is found in forest habitats. The plumage coloration resembles that of dried leaves and the bird roosts quietly on branches, making it difficult to see. Each has a favourite roost that it uses regularly unless disturbed. It has a distinctive call that is usually heard at dawn and dusk. The sexes differ slightly in plumage. Description This bird reaches in length. Like all frogmouths, this species has a wide and hooked bill with slit-like nostrils and the large head with eyes facing forward to provide a wide field of binocular vision. Compared to others of its genus it has small wings, which are distinguished by the wing coverts ending in black spots tipped with white. The male is gray-brown with fine barring and a spotted crown. Some males are browner and look ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Blyth
Edward Blyth (23 December 1810 – 27 December 1873) was an English zoologist who worked for most of his life in India as a curator of zoology at the Asiatic Society, Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal in Calcutta. He set about updating the museum's catalogues, publishing a ''Catalogue of the Birds of the Asiatic Society'' in 1849. He was prevented from doing much fieldwork himself, but received and described bird specimens from Allan Octavian Hume, A.O. Hume, Samuel Tickell, Robert Swinhoe among others. His ''Natural History of the Cranes'' was published posthumously in 1881. Early life and work On 23 December 1810, Blyth was born in London. His father, a cloth merchant, clothier, died in 1820 and his mother sent him to Dr. Fennell's school in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon. He took an interest in reading, but was often to be found spending time in the woods nearby. Leaving school in 1825, he went to study chemistry, at the suggestion of Dr. Fennell, in London under Dr. Keating at S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Camouflage
Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the battledress of a modern soldier, and the leaf-mimic katydid's wings. A third approach, motion dazzle, confuses the observer with a conspicuous pattern, making the object visible but momentarily harder to locate. The majority of camouflage methods aim for crypsis, often through a general resemblance to the background, high contrast disruptive coloration, eliminating shadow, and countershading. In the open ocean, where there is no background, the principal methods of camouflage are transparency, silvering, and countershading, while the bioluminescence, ability to produce light is among other things used for counter-illumination on the undersides of cephalopods such as squid. Some animals, such as chameleons and octopuses, are capable of Active ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birds Of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is a tropical island situated close to the southern tip of India. The bird life of Sri Lanka is very rich for its size and more than 500 species have been recorded. In addition to the many resident birds, a considerable number of bird migration, migratory species winter in the country to escape their northern breeding grounds. 35 species are confirmed as endemic (ecology), endemic, the latest addition being the Sri Lanka shama, which previously considered as a subspecies of the white-rumped shama. The other resident species are also found in the nearby Indian mainland, but over 80 have developed distinct Sri Lankan races. Some of these races are very different in their plumage characteristics from the related forms in India. 26 species are globally threatened. Bird distribution in Sri Lanka is largely determined by its climatic zones. The dry zone is largest of the three, covering more than half of the island, with a prolonged dry and hot period and only one monsoon (the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birds Of South India
This list of birds of South India includes birds from India south approximately of the Narmada River. Notable bird watching locations in South India include Rollapadu Wildlife Sanctuary, Rollapadu in Andhra Pradesh; Nagarhole National Park and Bandipur National Park in Karnataka; Rajamalai (Eravikulam National Park) and Periyar National Park in Kerala; Mudumalai National Park, Udhagamandalam, Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary in Anamalai; Vedanthangal and Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary in Kodikkarai, Tamil Nadu. Francolins and spurfowls *Painted francolin, ''Francolinus pictus'' *Grey francolin, ''Francolinus pondicerianus'' *Red spurfowl, ''Galloperdix spadicea'' *Painted spurfowl, ''Galloperdix lunulata'' Quails and buttonquails *Blue-breasted quail, ''Coturnix chinensis'' *Common quail, ''Coturnix coturnix'' *Rain quail, ''Coturnix coromandelica'' *Jungle bush quail, ''Perdicula asiatica'' *Rock bush quail, ''Perdicula argoondah'' *Painted bush quail, ''Perdicula ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Batrachostomus
''Batrachostomus'' is a genus of frogmouths. The generic name is a direct translation from the Greek for 'frogmouth'; / 'frog' and / 'mouth'. It includes the following species: * Large frogmouth, ''Batrachostomus auritus'' * Dulit frogmouth, ''Batrachostomus harterti'' * Philippine frogmouth, ''Batrachostomus septimus'' * Palawan frogmouth, ''Batrachostomus chaseni'' * Blyth's frogmouth, ''Batrachostomus affinis'' * Gould's frogmouth, ''Batrachostomus stellatus'' * Sri Lanka frogmouth, ''Batrachostomus moniliger'' * Hodgson's frogmouth, ''Batrachostomus hodgsoni'' * Sumatran frogmouth, ''Batrachostomus poliolophus'' * Javan frogmouth, ''Batrachostomus javensis'' * Sunda frogmouth The Sunda frogmouth (''Batrachostomus cornutus'') is a medium-sized, old world species of bird within the order Podargiformes. It is also uncommonly referred to as the long-tailed frogmouth or the horned frogmouth. The term "Sunda" is based on t ..., ''Batrachostomus cornutus'' * Bornean frogmou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thattekad Bird Sanctuary
The Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary, covering an area of barely 25 km2, and located about 12 km from Kothamangalam (Kerala state, India), was the first bird sanctuary in Kerala. Salim Ali, one of the best known ornithologists, described this sanctuary as ''the richest bird habitat on peninsular India.'' Thattekkad literally means flat forest, and the region is a deciduous but generally moist low-land forest surrounding the Periyar River, the longest river in Kerala. Species The Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary has a rich and varied birdlife. Several species of birds, both forest birds as well as water birds, visit the sanctuaries; notable ones include the following: The Indian pitta, which visits the sanctuary during winter and spends almost six months here. * Orange-headed thrush * Large-billed leaf-warbler * Jerdon's nightjar *Indian cuckoo *Oriental darter * Cormorants * Whiskered terns * Collared scops owl * Ceylon frogmouth * Grey-fronted green pigeon * Yellow-browed bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lichen
A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), mutualistic relationship.Introduction to Lichens – An Alliance between Kingdoms . University of California Museum of Paleontology. . Lichens are the lifeform that first brought the term symbiosis (as ''Symbiotismus'') into biological context. Lichens have since been recognized as important actors in nutrient cycling and producers which many higher trophic feeders feed on, such as reindeer, gastropods, nematodes, mites, and springtails. Lichens have properties different from those of their component organisms. They come in man ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Down Feather
The down of birds is a layer of fine feathers found under the tougher exterior feathers. Very young birds are clad only in down. Powder down is a specialized type of down found only in a few groups of birds. Down is a fine thermal insulator and padding, used in goods such as Down jacket, jackets, bedding (duvets and featherbeds), pillows and sleeping bags. The discovery of feathers trapped in ancient amber suggests that some species of non-avian dinosaur likely possessed down-like feathers. Description and etymology The word ''down'' comes from the Old Norse word ''dúnn'', which had the same meaning as its modern equivalent. The down feather is considered to be the most "straightforward" of all feather types. It has a short or vestigial rachis (shaft), few barb (feather), barbs, and barbules that lack hooks. There are three types of down: natal down, body down and powder down. Natal down is the layer of down feathers that cover most birds at some point in their early developmen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plantation
Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tobacco, coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar cane, opium, sisal, oil seeds, oil palms, fruits, rubber trees and forest trees. Protectionist policies and natural comparative advantage have sometimes contributed to determining where plantations are located. In modern use, the term usually refers only to large-scale estates. Before about 1860, it was the usual term for a farm of any size in the southern parts of British North America, with, as Noah Webster noted, "farm" becoming the usual term from about Maryland northward. The enslavement of people was the norm in Maryland and states southward. The plantations there were forced-labor farms. The term "plantation" was used in most British colonies but very rarely in the United Kingdom itself i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frogmouth
The frogmouths (Podargidae) are a group of nocturnal birds related to owlet-nightjars, swifts, and hummingbirds. Species in the group are distributed in the Indomalayan and Australasian realms. Biology They are named for their large flattened hooked bill and huge frog-like gape, which they use to capture insects. The three ''Podargus'' species are large frogmouths restricted to Australia and New Guinea, that have massive flat broad bills. They are known to take larger prey, such as small vertebrates (frogs, mice, etc.), which are sometimes beaten against a stone before swallowing. The ten ''Batrachostomus'' frogmouths are found in tropical Asia. They have smaller, more rounded bills and are predominantly insectivorous. Both ''Podargus'' and ''Batrachostomus'' have bristles around the base of the bill, and ''Batrachostomus'' has other, longer bristles which may exist to protect the eyes from insect prey. In April 2007, a new species of frogmouth was described from the Solomon I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mithan Lal Roonwal
Mithan Lal Roonwal (18 September 1908 – 22 July 1990) was an Indian zoologist and director of the Zoological Survey of India. Roonwal studied a range of taxa from termites to mammals. Education and career Roonwal was born in Jodhpur where he received his early education at Sir Pratap School, Sardar School and Darbar High Schools. He then studied at University of Lucknow where he obtained a Bachelors (1929) and a Master of Science in 1930. He began work at the Locust Research Institute in 1931 at Lyallpur and went to Cambridge where he worked on the embryology of ''Schistocerca gregaria'' under the guidance of Augustus Daniel Imms and obtained a Ph.D. in 1935. He was a demonstrator at Cambridge University for a term in 1934 and taught at the Government College Ajmer for a few months in 1935. He joined the Zoological Survey of India where he worked at the birds and mammals section from 1939 to 1940. Roonwal joined the army during the Second World War and served as a Major in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Binocular Vision
Binocular vision is seeing with two eyes. The Field_of_view, field of view that can be surveyed with two eyes is greater than with one eye. To the extent that the visual fields of the two eyes overlap, #Depth, binocular depth can be perceived. This allows objects to be recognized more quickly, camouflage to be detected, spatial relationships to be perceived more quickly and accurately (#Stereopsis, stereopsis) and perception to be less susceptible to optical illusions, optical illusions. In secion #Medical, Medical attention is paid to the occurrence, defects and sharpness of binocular vision. In section #Biological, Biological the occurrence of binocular vision in animals is described. Geometric terms When the left eye (LE) and the right eye (RE) observe two objects X and Y, the following concepts are important:Krol J.D.(1982),"Perceptual ghosts in stereopsis, a ghosly problem in binocular vision", PhD thesis ISBN 90-9000382-7.Koenderink J.J.;van Doorn A.J. (1976) "Geometry of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
