Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds. It has also been an area with a large contribution made by amateurs in terms of time, resources, and financial support. Studies on birds have helped develop key concepts in biology including evolution, behaviour and ecology such as the definition of species, the process of speciation, instinct, learning, ecological niches, guilds, island biogeography, phylogeography, and conservation.
Struthionidae is a family of flightless birds, containing the extant ostriches and their extinct relatives. The two extant species of ostrich are the common ostrich and Somali ostrich, both in the genus Struthio, which also contains several species known from Holocene fossils such as the Asian ostrich. The common ostrich is the more widespread of the two living species, and is the largest living bird species. The extinct genus Pachystruthio from the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene of Eurasia is one of the largest birds ever.
The southern ground hornbill is one of two species of ground hornbill, both of which are found solely within Africa, and is the largest species in the hornbill order worldwide. It can be found in the southern regions of Africa, ranging from Kenya to South Africa. Within these regions, they inhabit both woodlands and savannas. The other species of the genus Bucorvus is the Abyssinian ground hornbill, B. abyssinicus.
Austin Roberts was a South African zoologist. He is best known for his Birds of South Africa, first published in 1940. He also studied the mammalian fauna of the region: his work The mammals of South Africa was published posthumously in 1951. The 7th edition of Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa which appeared in 2005, is the standard work on the region's birds.
The fulvous whistling duck or fulvous tree duck is a species of whistling duck that breeds across the world's tropical regions in much of Mexico and South America, the West Indies, the southern United States, sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent. It has plumage that is mainly reddish brown, long legs and a long grey bill, and shows a distinctive white band across its black tail in flight. Like other members of its ancient lineage, it has a whistling call which is given in flight or on the ground. Its preferred habitat consists of wetlands with plentiful vegetation, including shallow lakes and paddy fields. The nest, built from plant material and unlined, is placed among dense vegetation or in a tree hole. The typical clutch is around ten whitish eggs. The breeding adults, which pair for life, take turns to incubate, and the eggs hatch in 24–29 days. The downy grey ducklings leave the nest within a day or so of hatching, but the parents continue to protect them until they fledge around nine weeks later.
The Cape vulture, also known as Cape griffon and Kolbe's vulture, is an Old World vulture in the family Accipitridae. It is endemic to southern Africa, and lives mainly in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, and in some parts of northern Namibia. It nests on cliffs and lays one egg per year. In 2015, it had been classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, but was down-listed to Vulnerable in 2021 as some populations increased and have been stable since about 2016.
Pamela Cecile Rasmussen is an American ornithologist and expert on Asian birds. She was formerly a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and is based at the Michigan State University. She is associated with other major centers of research in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Ostriches are large flightless birds. They are the heaviest living birds, and 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. They are farmed worldwide, with significant industries in the Philippines and Namibia. Ostrich leather is a lucrative commodity, and the large feathers are used as plumes for the decoration of ceremonial headgear. Ostrich eggs have been used by humans for millennia.
The impact factor (IF) or journal impact factor (JIF) of an academic journal is a scientometric index calculated by Clarivate that reflects the yearly mean number of citations of articles published in the last two years in a given journal, as indexed by Clarivate's Web of Science.
Ornithological Applications, formerly The Condor and The Condor: Ornithological Applications, is a peer-reviewed quarterly scientific journal covering ornithology. It is an official journal of the American Ornithological Society.
Palaeognathae is a infraclass of birds, called paleognaths or palaeognaths, within the class Aves of the clade Archosauria. It is one of the two extant infraclasses of birds, the other being Neognathae, both of which form Neornithes. Palaeognathae contains five extant branches of flightless lineages, termed ratites, and one flying lineage, the Neotropic tinamous. There are 47 species of tinamous, five of kiwis (Apteryx), three of cassowaries (Casuarius), one of emus (Dromaius), two of rheas (Rhea) and two of ostriches (Struthio). Recent research has indicated that paleognaths are monophyletic but the traditional taxonomic split between flightless and flighted forms is incorrect; tinamous are within the ratite radiation, meaning flightlessness arose independently multiple times via parallel evolution.
Emu, subtitled Austral Ornithology, is the peer-reviewed scientific journal of BirdLife Australia. The journal was established in 1901 and is the oldest ornithological journal published in Australia. The current editor-in-chief is Kate Buchanan. The journal was published quarterly for the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union in print and online by CSIRO Publishing until 2016. According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2012 impact factor of 1.895, ranking it 4th out of 22 journals in the category "Ornithology".
The augur buzzard is a fairly large African bird of prey. This species is distinct in typical adult plumage for its blackish back, whitish underside and orange-red tail, however a dark morph is known while juvenile augur buzzards are generally rather brown in colour. This member of the Buteo genus is distributed in several parts of the central and southern Africa, normally being found from Ethiopia to southern Angola and central Namibia. It is resident and non-migratory throughout its range. This is a species of mountains, and adjacent savannah and grassland. This is a typical buteonine raptor, being a generalist predator which tends to prefer small mammals supplemented by reptiles and birds among various prey items.
African Journals OnLine (AJOL) is a South African non-profit organisation, headquartered in Grahamstown, which is dedicated to improving the online visibility and access to the published scholarly research of African-based academics. By using the internet as a gateway, AJOL aims to enhance conditions for African learning as well as African development.
Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 1979.
Sexual and Relationship Therapy is a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal offering a multidisciplinary forum for review and debate in the field of sex and relationship therapies. The journal presents original research and best practice and is a vehicle for new theory, methodology, and application. The focus of the journal is international and interdisciplinary in nature, with a range of contributions from diverse places on the globe, and myriad disciplines like sex therapy, sexual medicine, psychology, sexology, family therapy, public health, sociology, counselling, and medical ethics. It is the official journal of the College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists (COSRT). The journal was established in 1986 under the title Sexual and Marital Therapy, and under its current title since 2000. The editor-in-chief is Dr. Markie Twist.
James David Macdonald FLS FZS FIB was a Scottish-Australian ornithologist and ornithological writer. A traditional museum ornithologist, he did much to build up the collections of African and Australian birds held by the British Museum, as well as popularising ornithology through his writings.
The Nuttall Ornithological Club is the oldest ornithology organization in the United States.
The Cartographic Journal is an established peer-reviewed academic journal of record and comment that is published on behalf of the British Cartographic Society by Taylor & Francis. An official journal of the International Cartographic Association (ICA), it contains authoritative papers on all aspects of cartography: the art, science and technology of presenting, communicating and analysing spatial relationships by means of maps and other geographical representations of the Earth's surface. This includes coverage of related technologies where appropriate, for example, remote sensing and geographical information systems (GIS), the internet, satellite navigation and positioning systems, laser scanning, and terrain modelling. The Journal also publishes articles on social, political and historical aspects of cartography. Occasionally, Special Issues are published that focus on a particular research theme.
Stephanie Joy Tyler, also known as Steph Tyler, is a British ornithologist, zoologist, naturalist, conservationist, and author from Monmouthshire. She is particularly known for her work on Dippers and the preservation of river habitats.
