Songbird Remix Sparrows of the World
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Rare Birds in Iran in the Late 1960S and 1970S
Podoces, 2008, 3(1/2): 1–30 Rare Birds in Iran in the Late 1960s and 1970s DEREK A. SCOTT Castletownbere Post Office, Castletownbere, Co. Cork, Ireland. Email: [email protected] Received 26 July 2008; accepted 14 September 2008 Abstract: The 12-year period from 1967 to 1978 was a period of intense ornithological activity in Iran. The Ornithology Unit in the Department of the Environment carried out numerous surveys throughout the country; several important international ornithological expeditions visited Iran and subsequently published their findings, and a number of resident and visiting bird-watchers kept detailed records of their observations and submitted these to the Ornithology Unit. These activities added greatly to our knowledge of the status and distribution of birds in Iran, and produced many records of birds which had rarely if ever been recorded in Iran before. This paper gives details of all records known to the author of 92 species that were recorded as rarities in Iran during the 12-year period under review. These include 18 species that had not previously been recorded in Iran, a further 67 species that were recorded on fewer than 13 occasions, and seven slightly commoner species for which there were very few records prior to 1967. All records of four distinctive subspecies are also included. The 29 species that were known from Iran prior to 1967 but not recorded during the period under review are listed in an Appendix. Keywords: Rare birds, rarities, 1970s, status, distribution, Iran. INTRODUCTION Eftekhar, E. Kahrom and J. Mansoori, several of whom quickly became keen ornithologists. -
Birds Along Lehi's Trail
Journal of Book of Mormon Studies Volume 15 Number 2 Article 10 7-31-2006 Birds Along Lehi's Trail Stephen L. Carr Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Carr, Stephen L. (2006) "Birds Along Lehi's Trail," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies: Vol. 15 : No. 2 , Article 10. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol15/iss2/10 This Feature Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Book of Mormon Studies by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Title Birds Along Lehi’s Trail Author(s) Stephen L. Carr Reference Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 15/2 (2006): 84–93, 125–26. ISSN 1065-9366 (print), 2168-3158 (online) Abstract When Carr traveled to the Middle East, he observed the local birds. In this article, he suggests the possi- bility that the Book of Mormon prophet Lehi and his family relied on birds for food and for locating water. Carr discusses the various birds that Lehi’s family may have seen on their journey and the Mosaic law per- taining to those birds. Birds - ALOnG LEHI’S TRAIL stephen l. cARR 84 VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2, 2006 PHOTOGRAPHy By RICHARD wELLINGTOn he opportunity to observe The King James translators apparently ex- birds of the Middle East came to perienced difficulty in knowing exactly which me in September 2000 as a member Middle Eastern birds were meant in certain pas- Tof a small group of Latter-day Saints1 traveling in sages of the Hebrew Bible. -
L O U I S I a N A
L O U I S I A N A SPARROWS L O U I S I A N A SPARROWS Written by Bill Fontenot and Richard DeMay Photography by Greg Lavaty and Richard DeMay Designed and Illustrated by Diane K. Baker What is a Sparrow? Generally, sparrows are characterized as New World sparrows belong to the bird small, gray or brown-streaked, conical-billed family Emberizidae. Here in North America, birds that live on or near the ground. The sparrows are divided into 13 genera, which also cryptic blend of gray, white, black, and brown includes the towhees (genus Pipilo), longspurs hues which comprise a typical sparrow’s color (genus Calcarius), juncos (genus Junco), and pattern is the result of tens of thousands of Lark Bunting (genus Calamospiza) – all of sparrow generations living in grassland and which are technically sparrows. Emberizidae is brushland habitats. The triangular or cone- a large family, containing well over 300 species shaped bills inherent to most all sparrow species are perfectly adapted for a life of granivory – of crushing and husking seeds. “Of Louisiana’s 33 recorded sparrows, Sparrows possess well-developed claws on their toes, the evolutionary result of so much time spent on the ground, scratching for seeds only seven species breed here...” through leaf litter and other duff. Additionally, worldwide, 50 of which occur in the United most species incorporate a substantial amount States on a regular basis, and 33 of which have of insect, spider, snail, and other invertebrate been recorded for Louisiana. food items into their diets, especially during Of Louisiana’s 33 recorded sparrows, Opposite page: Bachman Sparrow the spring and summer months. -
Phylogeography of Finches and Sparrows
In: Animal Genetics ISBN: 978-1-60741-844-3 Editor: Leopold J. Rechi © 2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Chapter 1 PHYLOGEOGRAPHY OF FINCHES AND SPARROWS Antonio Arnaiz-Villena*, Pablo Gomez-Prieto and Valentin Ruiz-del-Valle Department of Immunology, University Complutense, The Madrid Regional Blood Center, Madrid, Spain. ABSTRACT Fringillidae finches form a subfamily of songbirds (Passeriformes), which are presently distributed around the world. This subfamily includes canaries, goldfinches, greenfinches, rosefinches, and grosbeaks, among others. Molecular phylogenies obtained with mitochondrial DNA sequences show that these groups of finches are put together, but with some polytomies that have apparently evolved or radiated in parallel. The time of appearance on Earth of all studied groups is suggested to start after Middle Miocene Epoch, around 10 million years ago. Greenfinches (genus Carduelis) may have originated at Eurasian desert margins coming from Rhodopechys obsoleta (dessert finch) or an extinct pale plumage ancestor; it later acquired green plumage suitable for the greenfinch ecological niche, i.e.: woods. Multicolored Eurasian goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) has a genetic extant ancestor, the green-feathered Carduelis citrinella (citril finch); this was thought to be a canary on phonotypical bases, but it is now included within goldfinches by our molecular genetics phylograms. Speciation events between citril finch and Eurasian goldfinch are related with the Mediterranean Messinian salinity crisis (5 million years ago). Linurgus olivaceus (oriole finch) is presently thriving in Equatorial Africa and was included in a separate genus (Linurgus) by itself on phenotypical bases. Our phylograms demonstrate that it is and old canary. Proposed genus Acanthis does not exist. Twite and linnet form a separate radiation from redpolls. -
A Systematic Ornithological Study of the Northern Region of Iranian Plateau, Including Bird Names in Native Language
Available online a t www.pelagiaresearchlibrary.com Pelagia Research Library European Journal of Experimental Biology, 2012, 2 (1):222-241 ISSN: 2248 –9215 CODEN (USA): EJEBAU A systematic ornithological study of the Northern region of Iranian Plateau, including bird names in native language Peyman Mikaili 1, (Romana) Iran Dolati 2,*, Mohammad Hossein Asghari 3, Jalal Shayegh 4 1Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran 2Islamic Azad University, Mahabad branch, Mahabad, Iran 3Islamic Azad University, Urmia branch, Urmia, Iran 4Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary, Shabestar branch, Islamic Azad University, Shabestar, Iran ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT A major potation of this study is devoted to presenting almost all main ornithological genera and species described in Gilanprovince, located in Northern Iran. The bird names have been listed and classified according to the scientific codes. An etymological study has been presented for scientific names, including genus and species. If it was possible we have provided the etymology of Persian and Gilaki native names of the birds. According to our best knowledge, there was no previous report gathering and describing the ornithological fauna of this part of the world. Gilan province, due to its meteorological circumstances and the richness of its animal life has harbored a wide range of animals. Therefore, the nomenclature system used by the natives for naming the animals, specially birds, has a prominent stance in this country. Many of these local and dialectal names of the birds have been entered into standard language of the country (Persian language). The study has presented majority of comprehensive list of the Gilaki bird names, categorized according to the ornithological classifications. -
Lhasa and the Tibetan Plateau Cumulative
Lhasa and the Tibetan Plateau Cumulative Bird List Column A: Total number of tours (out of 6) that the species was recorded Column B: Total number of days that the species was recorded on the 2016 tour Column C: Maximum daily count for that particular species on the 2016 tour Column D: H = Heard Only; (H) = Heard more than seen Globally threatened species as defined by BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-Rom Cambridge, U.K. BirdLife International are identified as follows: EN = Endangered; VU = Vulnerable; NT = Near- threatened. A B C D 6 Greylag Goose 2 15 Anser anser 6 Bar-headed Goose 4 300 Anser indicus 3 Whooper Swan 1 2 Cygnus cygnus 1 Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna 6 Ruddy Shelduck 8 700 Tadorna ferruginea 3 Gadwall 2 3 Anas strepera 1 Eurasian Wigeon Anas penelope 5 Mallard 2 8 Anas platyrhynchos 2 Eastern Spot-billed Duck Anas zonorhyncha 1 Indian or Eastern Spot-billed Duck Anas poecilorhynchos or A. zonorhyncha 1 Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata 1 Northern Pintail Anas acuta 1 Garganey 2 15 Anas querquedula 4 Eurasian Teal 2 50 Anas crecca 6 Red-crested Pochard 3 2000 Netta rufina 6 Common Pochard 2 200 Aythya ferina 3 Ferruginous Duck NT 1 8 Aythya nyroca 6 Tufted Duck 2 200 Aythya fuligula 5 Common Goldeneye 2 11 Bucephala clangula 4 Common Merganser 3 51 Mergus merganser 5 Chinese Grouse NT 2 1 Tetrastes sewerzowi 4 Verreaux's Monal-Partridge 1 1 H Tetraophasis obscurus 5 Tibetan Snowcock 1 5 H Tetraogallus tibetanus 4 Przevalski's Partridge 1 1 Alectoris magna 1 Daurian Partridge Perdix dauurica 6 Tibetan Partridge 2 11 Perdix hodgsoniae ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ WINGS ● 1643 N. -
Effects of Insularity and Species Interactions Ec
Beak shape variation in a hybrid species: effects of diet, insularity and species interactions Laura Piñeiro Fernández Master of Science Thesis 2015 Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis Department of Biosciences Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences University of Oslo, Norway © Laura Piñeiro Fernández 2015 Beak shape variation in a hybrid species: effects of diet, insularity and species interactions Laura Piñeiro Fernández http://www.duo.uio.no/ Trykk: Reprosentralen, Universitetet i Oslo. Beak shape variation in a hybrid species: effects of diet, insularity and species interactions Acknowledgments This thesis was written at the Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES) at the Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, under the supervision of Professor Glenn-Peter Sætre, Dr. Fabrice Eroukhmanoff and Dr. Anna Runemark. Glenn , I am really thankful to you from the day you decided to accept me as a student in the sparrow group. It has been a great pleasure to work with you in such an incredible environment. Thanks for all the suggestions, notes and tips during this process. Fabrice and Anna , I have no words to describe your amount of patient with me! Your doors were always open when I needed to go in with a new question. I couldn’t ask for a better team of supervisors, it is amazing how much I’ve learned from both of you, and how I’ve enjoyed your thoughts and comments. This thesis exists thanks to both of you; your 24/7 e-mail presence (I really thought at some point you would have just ended up blocking me) Statistics would still be my worst nightmare without your help. -
Nesting Sites of the Cape Sparrow Passer Melanurus in Maloti/Drakensber, Southern Africa
Intern. Stud. Sparrows 2013, 37: 28-31 Grzegorz KOPIJ Department of Wildlife Management , University of Namibia, Katima Mulilo Campus, Private Bag 1096, Wenela Rd., Katima Mulilo, Namibia E-mail: [email protected] NESTING SITES OF THE CAPE SPARROW PASSER MELANURUS IN MALOTI/DRAKENSBER, SOUTHERN AFRICA ABSTRACT In Maloti/Drakensberg region, southern Africa, Cape Sparrow locates nests (N=108) mainly in trees (38.9%), shrubs (27.8%) and man-made structures (29.6%). Most oc- cupied trees were exotic (31.6%), while all (27.8%) occupied shrubs were indigenous. A few nests (3.8%) were found in disused weavers’ nests. Nesting sites ranged in height from 1.5 m to 10 m above the ground; on average – 4.2 m (N=52). Key words: nest sites, weavers, Lesotho INTRODUCTION The Cape SparrowPasser melanurus is a common species in southern Africa, occurring in arid savanna, woodlands, farmlands and human habitations. It is monogamous and territorial, breeding singly or in loose colonies. Up to 15 nests may be located in one tree. Nests are relatively large, placed 2-20 m above ground (Hockey et al. 2005). Cape Sparrow places their nests on shrubs and trees, both indigenous and exotic, and on various man-made structures (Hockey at al. 2005). A detailed analysis of nesting sites was hitherto made only in the city of Bloemfontein, South Africa, where most nests were placed in trees such as Celtis africana, Acacia karroo and Ulmus parvifolia (Kopij 1999). In this note, further contribution is made on this aspect of breeding ecology. It is expected that, the species will show different preferences for nesting sites, being highly dependent on man-made structures in basically treeless grasslands. -
Namibia & the Okavango
Pel’s Fishing Owl - a pair was found on a wooded island south of Shakawe (Jan-Ake Alvarsson) NAMIBIA & THE OKAVANGO 21 SEPTEMBER – 8 OCTOBER 2017 LEADER: STEVE BRAINE For most of the country the previous three years drought had been broken and although too early for the mi- grants we did however do very well with birding generally. We searched and found all the near endemics as well as the endemic Dune Lark. Besides these we also had a new write-in for the trip! In the floodplains after observing a wonderful Pel’s Fishing Owl we travelled down a side channel of the Okavango River to look for Pygmy Geese, we were lucky and came across several pairs before reaching a dried-out floodplain. Four birds flew out of the reedbeds and looked rather different to the normal weavers of which there were many, a closer look at the two remaining birds revealed a beautiful pair of Cuckoo Finches. These we all enjoyed for a brief period before they followed the other birds which had now disappeared into the reedbeds. Very strong winds on three of the birding days made birding a huge challenge to say the least after not finding the rare and difficult Herero Chat we had to make alternate arrangements at another locality later in the trip. The entire tour from the Hosea Kutako International Airport outside the capital Windhoek and returning there nineteen days later delivered 375 species. Out of these, four birds were seen only by the leader, a further three species were heard but not seen. -
SICHUAN (Including Northern Yunnan)
Temminck’s Tragopan (all photos by Dave Farrow unless indicated otherwise) SICHUAN (Including Northern Yunnan) 16/19 MAY – 7 JUNE 2018 LEADER: DAVE FARROW The Birdquest tour to Sichuan this year was a great success, with a slightly altered itinerary to usual due to the closure of Jiuzhaigou, and we enjoyed a very smooth and enjoyable trip around the spectacular and endemic-rich mountain and plateau landscapes of this striking province. Gamebirds featured strongly with 14 species seen, the highlights of them including a male Temminck’s Tragopan grazing in the gloom, Chinese Monal trotting across high pastures, White Eared and Blue Eared Pheasants, Lady Amherst’s and Golden Pheasants, Chinese Grouse and Tibetan Partridge. Next were the Parrotbills, with Three-toed, Great and Golden, Grey-hooded and Fulvous charming us, Laughingthrushes included Red-winged, Buffy, Barred, Snowy-cheeked and Plain, we saw more Leaf Warblers than we knew what to do with, and marvelled at the gorgeous colours of Sharpe’s, Pink-rumped, Vinaceous, Three-banded and Red-fronted Rosefinches, the exciting Przevalski’s Finch, the red pulse of Firethroats plus the unreal blue of Grandala. Our bird of the trip? Well, there was that Red Panda that we watched for ages! 1 BirdQuest Tour Report: Sichuan Including Northern Yunnan 2018 www.birdquest-tours.com Our tour began with a short extension in Yunnan, based in Lijiang city, with the purpose of finding some of the local specialities including the rare White-speckled Laughingthrush, which survives here in small numbers. Once our small group had arrived in the bustling city of Lijiang we began our birding in an area of hills that had clearly been totally cleared of forest in the fairly recent past, with a few trees standing above the hillsides of scrub. -
Factors Influencing Numbers of Syntopic House Sparrows and Eurasian Tree Sparrows on Farms
382 ShortCommunications and Commentaries [Auk, Vol. 110 The Auk 110(2):382-385, 1993 Factors Influencing Numbers of Syntopic House Sparrows and Eurasian Tree Sparrows on Farms PEDROJ. CORDERO InstitutoPirenaico de Ecologœa,Consejo Superior de InvestigacionesCient•ficas, Apartado202, 50080 Zaragoza,Spain The House Sparrow(Passer domesticus) and the Eur- was mappedand classifiedinto agriculturalland, in- asianTree Sparrow(P. montanus)show differencesin cluding: (FORAGE)orchards, cereals and associated habitat use. The former is predominantly an urban natural vegetationwhere sparrowsforaged; (FOR- and suburbanspecies, while the EurasianTree Spar- EST)woodlands, including Mediterranean oak, pine row is more rural (Summers-Smith 1963, Pinowski forestand Mediterranean scrub;and (GARDEN) gar- 1967, Lack 1971, Cody 1974, Dyer et al. 1977). How- dens, including groves of several tree speciesand ever, they often coexistalong suburban-ruralgradi- ornamentalshrubs where the sparrowsdid not forage. ents (Cody 1974), where extensivediet overlap (An- Open fields supportedagricultural activities, mostly derson1978, 1984) and nest-sitesegregation (Anderson intensivevegetable growing (89%),with the rest in 1978,Cordero and Rodriguez-Teijeiro1990) have been alfalfa, wheat, barley and maize. found. Some ecological(Pinowski 1967, Anderson To evaluate livestock I considered cattle equiva- 1978)and geographical(Summers-Smith 1963, 1988) lents of domestic animal biomass (LIVESIND; Table evidence suggeststhat habitat differences,in part, 1). To obtain this, total -
Flying High: Limits to Flight Performance by Sparrows on the Qinghai-Tibet
© 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd | Journal of Experimental Biology (2016) 219, 3642-3648 doi:10.1242/jeb.142216 RESEARCH ARTICLE Flying high: limits to flight performance by sparrows on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Yan-Feng Sun1,2, Zhi-Peng Ren1, Yue-Feng Wu1, Fu-Min Lei3, Robert Dudley4,* and Dong-Ming Li1,* ABSTRACT hypoxic air, in parallel with reduced capacity for aerodynamic force Limits to flight performance at high altitude potentially reflect variable production, impose limits to locomotor performance at high constraints deriving from the simultaneous challenges of hypobaric, altitudes (Altshuler and Dudley, 2003; Altshuler et al., 2004). hypodense and cold air. Differences in flight-related morphology and Among different hummingbird species, high-altitude hovering is maximum lifting capacity have been well characterized for different associated interspecifically with relatively longer wings, and also hummingbird species across elevational gradients, but relevant with a decline in maximum lifting capacity associated with limiting within-species variation has not yet been identified in any bird stroke amplitudes and thus with total force production by the wings species. Here we evaluate load-lifting capacity for Eurasian tree (Altshuler and Dudley, 2003; Altshuler et al., 2004). Hummingbirds sparrow (Passer montanus) populations at three different elevations are nonetheless a highly derived avian lineage with wing kinematics in China, and correlate maximum lifted loads with relevant anatomical and behavior radically different from all other birds, and the features including wing shape, wing size, and heart and lung masses. potential generality of the decline in elevation-dependent flight Sparrows were heavier and possessed more rounded and longer performance remains to be established for other small birds.