Pashtuns, historically known as Afghans, are an Iranian ethnic group native to Central and South Asia. The ethnic group's native language is Pashto, an Eastern Iranian language. Additionally, ethnic Pashtuns in Afghanistan speak the Dari dialect of Persian as a second language, while those in the Indian subcontinent use Hindi-Urdu as a second language. However, a significant minority speaks Persian or Hindi-Urdu as their first language. The total number of Pashtuns is estimated to be around 63 million; however, this figure is disputed, because of the lack of an official census in Afghanistan since 1979.
Pashto, sometimes spelled Pukhto or Pakhto, is an Eastern Iranian language of the Indo-European family. It is known in Persian literature as Afghani.
The goitered or black-tailed gazelle is a gazelle found in Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran, parts of Iraq and Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and in northwest China and Mongolia. The specific name, meaning "full below the throat", refers to the male having an enlargement of the neck and throat during the mating season.
The Dead Sea sparrow is a species of bird in the Old World sparrow family Passeridae, with one subspecies breeding in parts of the Middle East and another in western Afghanistan and eastern Iran. The eastern subspecies P. m. yatii is sometimes considered a separate species known as Yate's sparrow.
The chinkara, also known as the Indian gazelle, is a gazelle species native to Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
The russet sparrow, also called the cinnamon or cinnamon tree sparrow, is a passerine bird of the sparrow family Passeridae. A chunky little seed-eating bird with a thick bill, it has a body length of 14 to 15 cm (5.5–5.9 in). Its plumage is mainly warm rufous above and grey below. It exhibits sexual dimorphism, with the plumage of both sexes patterned similarly to that of the corresponding sex of house sparrow. Its vocalisations are sweet and musical chirps, which when strung together form a song.
The Somali sparrow is a species of bird in the family Passeridae found in Somaliland, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya.
The white-eared bulbul, or white-cheeked bulbul, is a member of the bulbul family. It is found in south-western Asia from India to the Arabian peninsula.
The great rosefinch is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is found in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan and east to China. Its natural habitats are tundra and temperate grassland.
The bar-tailed lark, or bar-tailed desert lark, is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. Two other species, the rufous-tailed lark and the Cape clapper lark are both also sometimes referred to using the name bar-tailed lark. It is found from Morocco to Pakistan. Its natural habitat is hot deserts. This is in many places a common species, but elsewhere rather less common. It has a very wide distribution and faces no obvious threats, but surveys have shown that it is slowly decreasing in numbers. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
The Himalayan rubythroat is a species of passerine bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is closely related to the Siberian rubythroat which however lacks the distinctive white tail-tips and white tail bases. It was also previously considered conspecific with the Chinese rubythroat, together called the white-tailed rubythroat. It is found along the Himalayan ranges from Afghanistan to Burma. Three subspecies are recognized across its wide range.
Güldenstädt's redstart also sometimes called the white-winged redstart, is a species of bird in the genus Phoenicurus, family Muscicapidae. It is found in the high mountains of the southwestern and central Palearctic in the Caucasus, Karakoram, Pamir, Himalaya, Tian Shan, and Altai, in the countries of Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, China, Georgia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
The Afghan pika is a species of small mammal in the pika family, Ochotonidae. It is found in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Turkmenistan and the IUCN lists it as being of "least concern".
The red-tailed wheatear, also known as the rusty-tailed wheatear, Persian wheatear or Afghan wheatear, is a small passerine bird breeding in mountainous areas of south-west and central Asia. It belongs to the wheatear genus Oenanthe which was formerly placed in the thrush family Turdidae but is now in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. The red-tailed wheatear used to be considered a subspecies of the Kurdish wheatear but is now often regarded as a separate species.
The Afghan babbler is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is found from southeastern Iraq to south western Pakistan. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the common babbler.
Turanana is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in the east Palearctic from Greece to Central Asia.
Grey-headed swamphen is a species of swamphen occurring from the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent to southern China and northern Thailand. It used to be considered a subspecies of the purple swamphen, but was elevated to full species status in 2015; today the purple swamphen is considered a superspecies and each of its six races are designated full species.
Ancylolomia westwoodi, the Westwood's grass-moth is a moth in the family Crambidae. It was described by Zeller in 1863. It is found in Afghanistan, Iran, western Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Java, Bali, Malaysia, Sumatra and Australia, where it has been recorded from the Northern Territory and Queensland. This species is externally indistinguishable from Ancylolomia indica, but generally darker. A.w.bitubirosella is one of the most common Crambinae in India.
Drasteria saisani is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is found in Crimea and in southern Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan, Daghestan, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and China.
