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White-quilled Rock Pigeon
The white-quilled rock pigeon (''Petrophassa albipennis'') is a dark brown rock pigeon with a white patch on its wing. It has distinctive pale lines across its face curving above and below its eye. It is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is a rock dweller found roosting on sandstone cliffs and towers in the Kimberley, WA and east of the Victoria River, NT. It is endemic to Australia. Taxonomy and systematics There are two species of rock pigeon in Australia, the white-quilled and the chestnut-quilled. Their name reflects their habitat specialisation of sandstone gorges and rocky escarpments. ''Petrophassa albipennis'' was identified and named by John Gould in 1841. It reflects the aptness of the name that no alternatives have ever been recorded. The genus name derives from Greek words: ''petros'' meaning rock (its preferred habitat) and ''phassa'' a wild pigeon giving ''Petrophassa,'' and the species name derives from the Latin ''albus'' meaning dull white an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wyndham, Western Australia
Wyndham is the northernmost town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, northeast of Perth via the Great Northern Highway. It was established in 1886 to service a new goldfield at Halls Creek, and it is now a port and service centre for the east Kimberley with a population of 941 as of the 2021 census. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make up 54% of the population. Wyndham comprises two areas - the original town site at Wyndham Port situated on Cambridge Gulf, and by road to the south, the Three Mile area with the residential and shopping area for the port, also founded in 1886. Wyndham is part of the Shire of Wyndham-East Kimberley. History Wyndham is within traditional Doolboong country. The first European to visit the area was Phillip Parker King in 1819. He was instructed to find a river "likely to lead to an interior navigation into the great continent". He sailed into Cambridge Gulf, which he named after the Duke of Cambridge, and then sailed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wing
A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the benefit of lift with the air resistance of a given wing shape, as it flies. Aerodynamics is the study of wing performance in air. Equivalent Foil (fluid mechanics), foils that move through water are found on Hydrofoil, hydrofoil power vessels and Sailing hydrofoil, foiling sailboats that lift out of the water at speed and on submarines that use diving planes to point the boat upwards or downwards, while running submerged. Hydrodynamics is the study of foil performance in water. Etymology and usage The word "wing" from the Old Norse ''vængr'' for many centuries referred mainly to the foremost limb (anatomy), limbs of birds (in addition to the architectural aisle). But in recent centuries the word's meaning ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic Birds Of Australia
This article is one of a series providing information about endemic (ecology), endemism among birds in the world's various zoogeographic zones. For an overview of this subject see Endemism in birds. Patterns of endemism Family-level endemism is prominent in Australia. The Australasian realm, Australasian biogeographic region has the highest number of endemic family (biology), families of any zoogeographic region except the Neotropics, and many of these families are endemic to Australia itself — the country therefore stakes a strong claim to be the world's greatest hotspot of bird endemism. Australian endemic and near-endemic families The Australian endemic families are: * Emu (Dromaiidae), a well-known monotypic family; the emu is found in rural areas throughout the continent * Plains-wanderer (Pedionomidae), a monotypic family; plains-wanderer is restricted to arid inland areas in the southeast of Australia * Lyrebirds (Menuridae), two forest-dwelling species of southea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birds Of Western Australia
This is a list of the Wildness#Degrees of domestication, wild birds found in Western Australia. The list includes introduced species, common vagrancy (biology), vagrants, recently Extinction, extinct species, Local extinction, extirpated species, some very rare vagrants (seen once) and species only present in captivity. 629 species are listed. The Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy is based on Christidis and Boles, 2008. Their system has been developed over nearly two decades and has strong local support, but deviates in important ways from more generally accepted schemes. This list's Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic treatment (designation and sequence of orders, families and species) and nomenclature (common and scientific names) follow the conventions of ''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'', 2022 edition. All of the birds below are included in the total bird count for Western Australia. The following tags have been used to highlight several categories. The commonly occurri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birds Of The Northern Territory
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] |
Discoveries In Australia
''Discoveries in Australia; with an account of the coasts and rivers explored and surveyed during the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, in the years 1837-38-39-40-41-42-43, by command of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. Also a narrative of Captain Owen Stanley's visits to the islands in the Arafura Sea.'', widely known as ''Discoveries in Australia'', is an 1846 two-volume work by John Lort Stokes Admiral John Lort Stokes (1 August 1811 – 11 June 1885) was a Royal Navy officer who served onboard for almost eighteen years.Although 1812 is frequently given as Stokes's year of birth, it has been argued by author Marsden Hordern that Stok .... It comprises the edited journals of the explorations and surveys, both maritime and inland, of Stokes and other members of the crew of HMS ''Beagle'', during a surveying expedition in Australia that lasted from 1837 to 1843. The work is of immense historical significance, as a great many places in Australia were discovered during the e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Lort Stokes
Admiral John Lort Stokes (1 August 1811 – 11 June 1885) was a Royal Navy officer who served onboard for almost eighteen years.Although 1812 is frequently given as Stokes's year of birth, it has been argued by author Marsden Hordern that Stokes was born in 1811, citing a letter by fellow naval officer Crawford Pasco congratulating him on his birthday in 1852. Biography Born on 1 August 1811, son of Henry Stokes, of Scotchwell, near Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, and Anne, daughter of Dr George Phillips, Stokes joined the Royal Navy on 20 September 1824. The first ship he served on was , and then in October 1825 he joined the crew of ''Beagle'' under Captain Phillip Parker King. ''Beagle'' was involved in a survey of the waters of South America. In 1828 the commander of HMS ''Beagle'', Pringle Stokes (not related to John Lort Stokes), committed suicide and Robert FitzRoy assumed command; the ship returned to England in 1830 and was recommissioned. From 1831 to 1836 Stokes s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commander
Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries, this naval rank is termed as a frigate captain. Commander is also a generic term for an officer commanding any armed forces unit, such as "platoon leader, platoon commander", "brigade commander" and "Squadron (army), squadron commander". In the police, terms such as "borough commander" and "incident commander" are used. Commander as a naval and air force rank Commander is a rank used primarily in Navy, navies, and is very rarely used as a rank in army, armies. In most armies, the term "commander" is used as a job title. For example, in the US Army, an officer with the rank of captain (armed forces), captain (Ranks and insignia of NATO, NATO rank code OF-2) may hold the title of "company (military unit), company commander (United Stat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Beagle
HMS ''Beagle'' was a 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, one of more than 100 ships of this class. The vessel, constructed at a cost of £7,803, was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames. Later reports say the ship took part in celebrations of the coronation of George IV, passing under the old London Bridge, and was the first rigged man-of-war afloat upriver of the bridge. There was no immediate need for ''Beagle'', so she " lay in ordinary", moored afloat but without masts or rigging. She was then adapted as a survey barque and took part in three survey expeditions. The second voyage of HMS ''Beagle'' is notable for carrying the recently graduated naturalist Charles Darwin around the world. While the survey work was carried out, Darwin travelled and researched geology, natural history and ethnology onshore. He gained fame by publishing his diary journal, best known as '' The Voyage of the Beagle'', and his findings played a pivotal role ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jizz (birding)
Jizz or giss is the overall impression or appearance of a bird garnered from such features as shape, posture, flying style or other habitual movements, size and colouration combined with voice, habitat and location. The concept was popularised in birdwatching, but is so useful that it has since been adopted increasingly widely by field biologists in referring to the impression of the general characteristics of other animals. It similarly appears in such fields of observational biology as microscopy. Ecologists and botanists may speak of "habitat jizz" or the jizz of a plant. Sean Dooley described jizz as "the indefinable quality of a particular species, the 'vibe' it gives off" and notes that although it is "dismissed by many as some kind of birding alchemy, there is some physical basis to the idea of jizz." Experienced birders can often make reliable identifications in the field at a glance by using jizz. Often jizz is useful for identifying to the family or genus level, rather t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canyon
A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cut through underlying surfaces, eventually wearing away rock layers as sediments are removed downstream. A river bed will gradually reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water into which the river drains. The processes of weathering and erosion will form canyons when the river's headwaters and estuary are at significantly different elevations, particularly through regions where softer rock layers are intermingled with harder layers more resistant to weathering. A canyon may also refer to a rift between two mountain peaks, such as those in ranges including the Rocky Mountains, the Alps, the Himalayas or the Andes. Usually, a river or stream carves out such splits between mountains. Examples of mountain- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Escarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used interchangeably with ''escarpment.'' ''Escarpment'' referring to the margin between two landforms, and ''scarp'' referring to a cliff or a steep slope. In this usage an escarpment is a ridge which has a gentle slope on one side and a steep scarp on the other side. More loosely, the term ''scarp'' also describes a zone between a coastal lowland and a continental plateau which shows a marked, abrupt change in elevation caused by coastal erosion at the base of the plateau. Formation and description Scarps are generally formed by one of two processes: either by differential erosion of sedimentary rocks, or by movement of the Earth's crust at a geologic fault. The first process is the more common type: the escarpment is a transition from one seri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
