Blanford's snowfinch | |
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Blanford's Snowfinch at Puga Valley, Ladakh, India | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Passeridae |
Genus: | Pyrgilauda |
Species: | P. blanfordi |
Binomial name | |
Pyrgilauda blanfordi (Hume, 1876) | |
Synonyms | |
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Blanford's snowfinch (Pyrgilauda blanfordi) or the plain-backed snowfinch, is a species of bird in the sparrow family.
It is found in China, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. Its natural habitat is temperate grassland.
The species epithet and common name commemorate the English zoologist William Thomas Blanford. [2]
William Thomas Blanford was an English geologist and naturalist. He is best remembered as the editor of a major series on The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma.
Struthio is a genus of birds in the order Struthioniformes, whose members are the ostriches. It is part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There are two living species of ostrich, the common ostrich and the Somali ostrich. They are large flightless birds of Africa who lay the largest eggs of any living land animal. With the ability to run at 70 km/h (43.5 mph), they are the fastest birds on land. It is farmed worldwide, particularly for its feathers as they are used as decoration and feather dusters. Its skin is also used for leather products.
The white-winged snowfinch, or snowfinch, is a small passerine bird. Despite its name, it is a sparrow rather than a true finch.
Myriopholis blanfordi, the Sindh thread snake, is a species of harmless blind snake in the family Leptotyphlopidae. The species is found in South Asia and Iran, possibly further west in the Middle East.
Montifringilla is a genus of passerine birds in the sparrow family Passeridae. It is one of three genera containing the snowfinches. As the English and scientific names suggest, these are high-altitude species, found in the mountain ranges of southern Eurasia, from the Pyrenees east to the Himalayas, Tibet and western China.
The flora and fauna of Ladakh was first studied by Ferdinand Stoliczka, an Austrian Czech palaeontologist, who carried out a massive expedition in the region in the 1870s. The fauna of Ladakh have much in common with that of Central Asia generally, and especially those of the Tibetan Plateau. An exception to this are the birds, many of which migrate from the warmer parts of India to spend the summer in Ladakh. For such an arid area, Ladakh has a great diversity of birds — a total of 318 species have been recorded. Many of these birds reside or breed at high-altitude wetlands such as Tso Moriri.
The Afghan snowfinch is a passerine bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, endemic to the northern parts of the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan. There are no major threats to the species despite its restricted range, so it is assessed as least concern on the IUCN Red List. This species is mostly a seed-eater, supplementing its diet with some insects. It builds its nest in the burrows or hollows of ground-dwelling rodents, lined with hair or feathers.
Blanford's bat, also known as the least false-serotine bat, is a species of vesper bat. It can be found in Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand, where it lives in various different forested habitats. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern".
Blanford's rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is the only species in the genus Madromys. Known as වලිග සුදු වන මීයා in Sinhala language. It is found throughout India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.
Blanford's rosefinch or the crimson rosefinch, is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is found in Bhutan, China, India, and Nepal. Its natural habitat is boreal forest.
Spizocorys is a genus of African larks in the family Alaudidae found in southern and eastern Africa.
The black-winged snowfinch or Adams's snowfinch, is a species of bird in the sparrow family.
Père David's snowfinch, also known as the small snowfinch, is a species of bird in the sparrow family.
The rufous-necked snowfinch is a species of bird in the sparrow family.
Blanford's fruit bat is a mountain species of megabat. It is found in several countries in South and Southeast Asia.
Blanford's jerboa is a species of rodent in the family Dipodidae. It is native to Central Asia and is found in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.
Blanford's lark or Blanford's short-toed lark is a small passerine bird of the lark family, Alaudidae, which is native to north-east Africa. Its common name commemorates the English zoologist William Thomas Blanford.
Erlanger's lark is a small passerine bird of the lark family endemic to the highlands of Ethiopia. The name of this bird commemorates the German ornithologist Carlo von Erlanger.
Pygostylia is a group of avialans which includes the Confuciusornithidae and all of the more advanced species, the Ornithothoraces.
The Tibetan snowfinch or Henri's snowfinch is a species of bird in the sparrow family.