The American crow is a large passerine bird species of the family Corvidae. It is a common bird found throughout much of North America. American crows are the New World counterpart to the carrion crow and the hooded crow of Eurasia; they all occupy the same ecological niche. Although the American crow and the hooded crow are very similar in size, structure and behavior, their calls and visual appearance are different.
The killdeer is a large plover found in the Americas. It gets its name from its shrill, two-syllable call, which is often heard. It was described and given its current scientific name in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae. Three subspecies are described. Its upperparts are mostly brown with rufous fringes, the head has patches of white and black, and two black bands cross the breast. The belly and the rest of the breast are white. The nominate subspecies breeds from southeastern Alaska and southern Canada to Mexico. It is seen year-round in the southern half of its breeding range; the subspecies C. v. ternominatus is resident in the West Indies, and C. v. peruvianus inhabits Peru and surrounding South American countries throughout the year. North American breeders winter from their resident range south to Central America, the West Indies, and the northernmost portions of South America.
The Gunnison grouse, Gunnison sage-grouse or lesser sage-grouse is a species of grouse endemic to the United States. It is similar to the closely related greater sage-grouse in appearance, but about a third smaller in size, with much thicker plumes behind the head; it also has a less elaborate courtship dance. It is restricted in range to southwestern Colorado and extreme southeastern Utah, with the largest population residing in the Gunnison Basin region in Colorado. Despite being native to a country where the avifauna is relatively well known, it was overlooked until the 1990s due to the similarities with the sage grouse, and only described as a new species in 2000—making it the first new avian species to be described from the USA since the 19th century. The description of C. minimus as a separate species is supported by a molecular study of genetic variation, showing that gene flow between the large-bodied and the small-bodied birds is absent.
Brewer's blackbird is a medium-sized New World blackbird. It is named after the ornithologist Thomas Mayo Brewer.
Nycticorax is a genus of night herons. The name Nycticorax means "night raven" and derives from the Ancient Greek νύκτος, nuktos "night" and κοραξ, korax, "raven". It refers to the largely nocturnal feeding habits of this group of birds, and the croaking crow-like call of the best known species, the black-crowned night heron.
The canyon wren is a small North American songbird of the wren family Troglodytidae. It is resident throughout its range and is generally found in arid, rocky cliffs, outcrops, and canyons. It is a small bird that is hard to see on its rocky habitat; however, it can be heard throughout the canyons by its distinctive, loud song. It is currently in a monotypic taxon and is the only species in the genus Catherpes.
The Armenian gull is a large gull found in the Caucasus and the Middle East. It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the European herring gull, but is now generally considered to be a separate species, although BirdLife International lumps it with the yellow-legged gull.
A fecal sac is a mucous membrane, generally white or clear with a dark end, that surrounds the feces of some species of nestling birds. It allows parent birds to more easily remove fecal material from the nest. The nestling usually produces a fecal sac within seconds of being fed; if not, a waiting adult may prod around the youngster's cloaca to stimulate excretion. Young birds of some species adopt specific postures or engage in specific behaviors to signal that they are producing fecal sacs. For example, nestling curve-billed thrashers raise their posteriors in the air, while young cactus wrens shake their bodies. Other species deposit the sacs on the rim of the nest, where they are likely to be seen by parent birds.
Bird conservation is a field in the science of conservation biology related to threatened birds. Humans have had a profound effect on many bird species. Over one hundred species have gone extinct in historical times, although the most dramatic human-caused extinctions occurred in the Pacific Ocean as humans colonised the islands of Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia, during which an estimated 750–1,800 species of birds became extinct. According to Worldwatch Institute, many bird populations are currently declining worldwide, with 1,200 species facing extinction in the next century. The biggest cited reason surrounds habitat loss. Other threats include overhunting, accidental mortality due to structural collisions, long-line fishing bycatch, pollution, competition and predation by pet cats, oil spills and pesticide use and climate change. Governments, along with numerous conservation charities, work to protect birds in various ways, including legislation, preserving and restoring bird habitat, and establishing captive populations for reintroductions.
The lined forest falcon is a species of bird of prey in subfamily Herpetotherinae of family Falconidae, the falcons and caracaras. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
Bird–window collisions are a problem in both low- and high-density areas worldwide. Birds strike glass because reflective or transparent glass is often invisible to them. It is estimated that between 100 million and 1 billion birds are killed by collisions in the United States annually, and an estimated 16 to 42 million birds are likewise killed each year in Canada.
John Whittle Terborgh is a James B. Duke Professor of Environmental Science at Duke University and co-director of the Center for Tropical Conservation. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and for the past thirty-five years, has been actively involved in tropical ecology and conservation issues. An authority on avian and mammalian ecology in Neotropical forests, Terborgh has published numerous articles and books on conservation themes. Since 1973, he has operated the Cocha Cashu Biological Station, a tropical ecology research station in Manú National Park, Peru.
The Oʻahu ʻelepaio is a monarch flycatcher found on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu.
Migrating birds face many perils as they travel between breeding and wintering grounds each year.
David Ian "Dave" Nurney is an English bird artist.
Edward "Jed" Howland Burtt Jr. was an American ornithologist, writer, and educator, and was responsible for many discoveries in ornithology.
Herbert L. Stoddard was an American naturalist, conservationist, forester, wildlife biologist, ecologist, ornithologist, taxidermist, and author. In the 20th century he earned a reputation for being one of the American Southeast's most prominent conservationists and a pioneering forest ecologist. He is most well known for his seminal book, The Bobwhite Quail: Its habits, preservation, and increase (1931). He is also widely credited with advocating for the practice of prescribed fire as a tool for wildlife management. He was married to Ada Wechselberg, with whom he had one son, Herbert "Sonny" L. Stoddard Jr.
Harold Ford Mayfield was an American business executive and amateur ornithologist who made a major study of Kirtland's warbler and worked for the preservation of their breeding areas. During his study of the warbler, he introduced a standardized measure of nesting success based on his professional experience in industry and from his training in mathematics. This method now widely known as the Mayfield Method involves probability calculations that take into account nests that the observer was unable to locate. Prior to his work, ornithologists used naïve approaches based on fractions of number of successful young or nests from a total of nests that they had found.
Millicent S. Ficken, also known as Millicent Sigler Ficken, was an American ornithologist who specialized in birds' vocalizations and their social behaviors.
