Large-billed tern | |
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at Cuiaba river, Pantanal, Mato Grosso state, Brazil | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Charadriiformes |
Family: | Laridae |
Genus: | Phaetusa Wagler, 1832 |
Species: | P. simplex |
Binomial name | |
Phaetusa simplex (Gmelin, JF, 1789) | |
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The large-billed tern (Phaetusa simplex) is a species of tern in the family Laridae. It is placed the monotypic genus Phaetusa. It is found in most of South America (east of the Andes and north of the Pampas). It has occurred as a vagrant in Aruba, Bermuda, Cuba, Panama and the United States. Its natural habitats are rivers and freshwater lakes.
The large-billed tern was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae . He placed it with the other terns in the genus Sterna and coined the binomial name Sterna simplex. [2] Gmelin based his description on the "simple tern" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his book A General Synopsis of Birds from a specimen that had been collected in Cayenne, French Guiana. [3] The large-billed tern is now the only species placed in the genus Phaetusa that was introduced for the species in 1832 by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler. [4] [5] The genus name comes from Greek mythology. Phaetusa (or Heliades) was sister to Phaethon and one of the daughters of Phoebus (Helios) and Clymene. The specific epithet simplex is Latin meaning "simple" or "plain". [6] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. [5]
The large-billed tern is large, short-tailed tern with a large yellow bill. It is around 38 cm (15 in) in overall length and weighs 208–247 g (7.3–8.7 oz). The crown and ear-coverts are black, the upperparts are grey, the secondaries , primary coverts, lores and underparts are white. The legs and feet are yellow. A non-breeding adult has a paler crown and forehead. [7]
The Cape teal also Cape wigeon or Cape widgeon is a 44–46 cm long dabbling duck of open wetlands in sub-Saharan Africa.
The gull-billed tern, formerly Sterna nilotica, is a tern in the family Laridae. It is widely distributed and breeds in scattered localities in Europe, Asia, northwest Africa, and the Americas. The Australian gull-billed tern was previously considered a subspecies.
The cinnamon bittern or chestnut bittern is a small Old World bittern, breeding in tropical and subtropical Asia from India east to China and Indonesia. It is mainly resident, but some northern birds migrate short distances. This species was formerly placed in the genus Ixobrychus.
The red-billed teal or red-billed duck is a dabbling duck which is an abundant resident breeder in southern and eastern Africa typically south of 10° S. This duck is not migratory, but will fly great distances to find suitable waters. It is highly gregarious outside the breeding season and forms large flocks.
The giant cowbird is a large passerine bird in the New World family Icteridae. It breeds from southern Mexico south to northern Argentina, and on Trinidad and Tobago. It may have relatively recently colonised the latter island. It is a brood parasite and lays its eggs in the nests of other birds.
The Tahiti Sandpiper or Tahitian Sandpiper is an extinct member of the large wader family Scolopacidae that was endemic to Tahiti in French Polynesia until its extinction sometime before 1819.
The whiskered auklet is a small seabird of the auk family. It has a more restricted range than other members of its genus, Aethia, living only around the Aleutian Islands and on some islands off Siberia, and breeding on these islands. It is one of the smallest alcids, only the closely related least auklet being smaller. Its name is derived from the long white feathers on its face that are part of its breeding plumage.
The wandering tattler, is a medium-sized wading bird. It is similar in appearance to the closely related gray-tailed tattler, T. brevipes. The tattlers are unique among the species of Tringa for having unpatterned, greyish wings and backs, and a scaly breast pattern extending more or less onto the belly in breeding plumage, in which both also have a rather prominent supercilium.
The Phoenix petrel is a medium-sized tropical seabird, measuring up to 35 cm (1.15 ft) long, with a wingspan of 83 cm (2.72 ft). It has a dark brown upperparts plumage, white below and whitish throat. The sexes are similar.
The Antarctic tern is a seabird in the family Laridae. It ranges throughout the southern oceans and is found on small islands around Antarctica as well as on the shores of the mainland. Its diet consists primarily of small fish and crustaceans. It is very similar in appearance to the closely related Arctic tern, but it is stockier, and it is in its breeding plumage in the southern summer, when the Arctic tern has shed old feathers to get its non-breeding plumage. The Antarctic tern does not migrate like the Arctic tern does, but it can still be found on a very large range. This tern species is actually more closely related to the South American tern.
The African rail is a small wetland bird of the rail family that is found in eastern and southern Africa.
The Cape spurfowl or Cape francolin is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae. It is endemic to southern Africa, where it is the largest francolin. It occurs in the Western Cape province of South Africa, and locally northwards to southern Namibia. It has adapted to alien vegetation and a variety of human-altered habitats, but scrubby roosting and nesting space is a prerequisite. The species is not threatened.
The red-throated parrotfinch is a species of estrildid finch found in New Caledonia. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 20,000 to 50,000 km2.
The red-and-black grosbeak is a species of bird in the family Cardinalidae, the cardinals or cardinal grosbeaks. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.
The black-faced ibis is a species of bird in the family Threskiornithidae. It is found in grassland and fields in southern and western South America. It has been included as a subspecies of the similar buff-necked ibis, but today all major authorities accept the split. The black-faced ibis also includes the Andean ibis as a subspecies. Some taxonomic authorities still do so.
The Society kingfisher or Tahiti kingfisher is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae. It is endemic to the Society Islands of French Polynesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.
The pale thrush is a passerine bird of the eastern Palearctic belonging to the genus Turdus in the thrush family Turdidae. It is closely related to the eye-browed thrush and grey-backed thrush.
The Jamaican becard is a species of bird in the family Tityridae. Its genus, Pachyramphus, has traditionally been placed in Cotingidae or Tyrannidae, but evidence strongly suggest it is better placed in Tityridae.
The white-eyed thrush is a species of bird in the family Turdidae that is endemic to Jamaica. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest.
The New Caledonian whistler is a species of bird in the family Pachycephalidae. It is endemic to New Caledonia.