"females away from the hotshot. A manipulative experiment using the little bustard, ""Tetrax tetrax"", was done to test the various lek evolution models. The experiment involved varying the size and sex ratio of leks using decoys. To test whether or not the presence of a hotshot determined lek formation, a hotshot little bustard decoy was placed within a lek. After the fake hotshot was added to the lek, both male and female visitation to the lek increased. The hotspot model considers the female density to be the catalyst for the clustering of males. This model predicts that leks will form"
"in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus, and still bears its original binomial name. Both ""Tetrao"" and ""tetrix"" come from Ancient Greek words referring to some form of game bird. The male and female are sometimes referred to by their folk names, ""blackcock"" and ""greyhen"" respectively. These names first occur in the literature with John Ray in 1674. ""Heathcock"" and ""Heathhen"" are also common names. The black grouse is a large bird with males being around long and weighing and females approximately and weighing . The cock is very distinctive, with black plumage, apart from red wattles and a white wingbar, and"
"Greater short-toed lark The greater short-toed lark (""Calandrella brachydactyla"") is a small passerine bird. The current scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus name, ""Calandrella"", is a diminutive of ""kalandros"", the calandra lark, and ""brachydactila"" is from ""brakhus"", ""short"", and ""daktulos"", ""toe"". It breeds in southern Europe, north-west Africa, and across temperate Asia from Turkey and southern Russia to Mongolia. During migration they form large, tight flocks that move in unison; at other times they form loose flocks. The greater short-toed lark was described by the German naturalist Johann Leisler in 1814 and given the binomial name ""Alauda brachydactila""."
"during winter and are sometimes attracted to short grass areas along aerodromes and become a bird strike risk to aircraft. Greater short-toed lark The greater short-toed lark (""Calandrella brachydactyla"") is a small passerine bird. The current scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus name, ""Calandrella"", is a diminutive of ""kalandros"", the calandra lark, and ""brachydactila"" is from ""brakhus"", ""short"", and ""daktulos"", ""toe"". It breeds in southern Europe, north-west Africa, and across temperate Asia from Turkey and southern Russia to Mongolia. During migration they form large, tight flocks that move in unison; at other times they form loose flocks. The"
"the Rodriguez bird was as large as a good-sized Southern boobook, with females reaching the size of a long-eared owl, and had ear tufts like an ""Otus"" owl and nearly naked legs. In the original description, Milne-Edwards referred the bones to a ""Strix"" owl, mistakenly assuming that Tafforet had described a species of the tuftless owl genera. One larger tibiotarsus was assigned by him to the same sort of bird, but not described further. Günther & E. Newton, in their discussion of additional bones, quite logically assigned this bone to a female of this species, given that the small size"
"Little tern The little tern (""Sternula albifrons"") is a seabird of the family Sternidae. It was formerly placed into the genus ""Sterna"", which now is restricted to the large white terns. The genus name is a diminutive of ""Sterna"", ""tern"". The specific ""albifrons"" is from Latin ""albus"", ""white"", and ""frons"", ""forehead"". The former North American (""S. a. antillarum"") and Red Sea ""S. a. saundersi"" subspecies are now considered to be separate species, the least tern (""Sternula antillarum"") and Saunders's tern (""Sternula saundersi""). This bird breeds on the coasts and inland waterways of temperate and tropical Europe and Asia. It is"
"toe and tarsus length and the fact that its plumage has conspicuous differences from that of the cinereous tinamou created enough of a question for the new species to be named. ""Crypturellus"" is formed from three Latin or Greek words. ""kruptos"" meaning covered or hidden, ""oura"" meaning tail, and ""ellus"" meaning diminutive. Therefore, ""Crypturellus"" means small hidden tail. ""berlepschi"" comes from the Latin form of Berlepsch to commemorate the German ornithologist and collector Hans von Berlepsch. Berlepsch's tinamou is a medium-sized bird, about , with the male weighing and the female weighing . The plumage of this bird varies somewhat;"
"Great tit The great tit (""Parus major"") is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common species throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central and Northern Asia, and parts of North Africa where it is generally resident in any sort of woodland; most great tits do not migrate except in extremely harsh winters. Until 2005 this species was lumped with numerous other subspecies. DNA studies have shown these other subspecies to be distinctive from the great tit and these have now been separated as two distinct species, the cinereous tit of southern Asia, and the"
"Great knot The great knot (""Calidris tenuirostris"") is a small wader. It is the largest of the calidrid species. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ""kalidris"" or ""skalidris"", a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific "" tenuirostris "" is from Latin ""tenuis"" ""slender"" and ""rostrum"" ""bill"". Their breeding habitat is tundra in northeast Siberia. They nest on the ground laying about four eggs in a ground scrape. They are strongly migratory wintering on coasts in southern Asia through to Australia. This species forms enormous flocks in winter. The species is recorded in low numbers"
"he named ""Tetrao australis"". Considering that all ""Tetrao"" species have feathered legs, Anderson's bird might well have been a megapode. Pile-builder megapode The pile-builder megapode (""Megapodius molistructor"") is an extinct species of megapode. The subfossil remains were found by Jean-Christophe Balouet and Storrs L. Olson in the Pindai Caves of New Caledonia. Its remains have also been found on Tonga. With a weight of 3.5 kg, ""M. molistructor"" was heavier than all existing ""Megapodius"" species. On Tonga, it was the largest ground-dwelling bird species. The fossil material consists of a left tarsometatarsus, a complete left scapula, a half right scapula,"
"due to several features of the trochea. Wetmore referred to the bird as ""a large edition of ""Bathornis celeripes"" from the same deposits"", but posterior analysis showcases strong distinction from that taxon as well, and it occurs in considerably earlier deposits. A species first described by Alexander Wetmore in 1942. An upper Oligocene species from deposits in South Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming, quite possibly a direct descendent of ""B. veredus"" itself. It is a larger bird than ""B. veredus"" and ""B. cursor"", quite possibly the largest described member of the genus, and it co-existed with the similar sized ""Paracrax gigantea"""
"genera has varied considerably, ranging from one to as many as nine. In his 1863 work ""A Monograph of the Pittidae"" Daniel Elliot split the pittas into two genera, ""Pitta"" for the species with comparatively long tails and ""Brachyurus"" for the shorter tailed species. Barely two decades later, in 1880/81, John Gould split the family into nine genera, to which he also included the lesser melampitta (""Melampitta""), where it was kept until 1931 when Ernst Mayr demonstrated it had the syrinx of an oscine bird. Soon afterwards Philip Sclater's ""Catalogue of the Birds of the British Museum"" brought the number"
"Greater yellowlegs The greater yellowlegs (""Tringa melanoleuca"") is a large North American shorebird. The genus name ""Tringa"" is the New Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based on Ancient Greek ""trungas"", a thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific "" melanoleuca"" is from Ancient Greek ""melas"", ""black"", and ""leukos"", ""white"". The greater yellowlegs is similar in appearance to the smaller lesser yellowlegs. Its closest relative, however, is the greenshank, which together with the spotted redshank form a close-knit group. Among them, these three species show all the basic leg and foot colors"
"growth, shrub vegetation, and cultivated areas. Extensive research has shown only very few migrations between the fragmented populations. Taita thrush The Taita thrush (""Turdus helleri""), also known as Taita olive thrush or Heller's ground thrush, is a critically endangered bird from the family of thrushes (Turdidae), endemic to the Taita Hills in Kenya. The Taita thrush was previously classified as subspecies of the olive thrush (""Turdus olivaceus""), but it is regarded as distinct species since 1985. It reaches a length between 20 and 22 centimetres. Head, breast and upperparts are coloured darkly. The underparts are white and the flanks have"
"Taita thrush The Taita thrush (""Turdus helleri""), also known as Taita olive thrush or Heller's ground thrush, is a critically endangered bird from the family of thrushes (Turdidae), endemic to the Taita Hills in Kenya. The Taita thrush was previously classified as subspecies of the olive thrush (""Turdus olivaceus""), but it is regarded as distinct species since 1985. It reaches a length between 20 and 22 centimetres. Head, breast and upperparts are coloured darkly. The underparts are white and the flanks have a rufous hue. The eyes and the bill exhibit a pale orange coloration. It was named after zoologist"
"in Provence. These were described as the ootaxon ""Ornitholithus"" and are presumably from ""Gastornis"". While no direct association exists between ""Ornitholithus"" and ""Gastornis"" fossils, no other birds of sufficient size are known from that time and place; while the large ""Diogenornis"" and ""Eremopezus"" are known from the Eocene, the former lived in South America (still separated from North America by the Tethys Ocean then) and the latter is only known from the Late Eocene of North Africa, which also was separated by an (albeit less wide) stretch of the Tethys Ocean from Europe. Some of these fragments were complete enough"
"tailed, which may be an aide to navigating their largely arboreal existence. They are generally dull-plumaged, but the curassows and some guans have colourful facial ornaments. The birds in this family are particularly vocal, with the chachalacas taking their name from the sound of their call. Cracids range in size from the little chachalaca (""Ortalis motmot""), at as little as and , to the great curassow (""Crax rubra""), at nearly and . These species feed on fruit, insects and worms. They build nests in trees, and lay two to three large white eggs, which only the female incubates alone. The"
"for a mythical bird and the specific ""alba"" is Latin for ""white"". Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that the white tern is more closely related to the noddies than it is to the other terns. This implies that ""white noddy"" would be a more appropriate English name. The white tern has the following subspecies: The subspecies ""G. a. microrhyncha"", the little white tern, is sometimes considered as a separate species, ""Gygis microrhyncha"". Related to the noddies, the white tern is small bird with a wingspan of . It has white plumage and a long black bill. Nesting on coral islands,"
"Little owl The little owl (""Athene noctua"") is a bird that inhabits much of the temperate and warmer parts of Europe, Asia east to Korea, and north Africa. It was introduced into Britain at the end of the nineteenth century and into the South Island of New Zealand in the early twentieth century. This owl is a member of the typical or true owl family, Strigidae, which contains most species of owl, the other grouping being the barn owls, Tytonidae. It is a small, cryptically coloured, mainly nocturnal species and is found in a range of habitats including farmland, woodland"
"major"", during the dawn chorus. There have been several studies carried out in which results have contradicted the anti-exhaustion hypothesis. Recent studies have shown that there is no evidence that the anti-exhaustion hypothesis is the cause of large repertoires in birds. Since the proposal of the anti-exhaustion hypothesis, several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the existence of repertoires and song switching behaviour in birds, including the motivation hypothesis and the warm-up hypothesis. The great tit, ""Parus major"", is a passerine bird belonging to the family Paridae. Passerines are commonly referred to as songbirds, with most passerines singing multiple species-specific"
"internal taxonomy is not well-resolved. An earlier-described pseudotooth bird, ""Cyphornis magnus"" from Vancouver Island (Canada), was believed to be of Eocene age but is nowadays assumed to have lived in the Early Miocene, not too long before the Clarendonian (Middle/Late Miocene) ""O. orri"". It may be that ""Osteodontornis"" is a junior synonym of ""Cyphornis"". With a wingspan of and a height of when on the ground, ""Osteodontornis orri"" and similar giant pseudotooth birds were the second-largest flying birds known, surpassed only by the teratorn ""Argentavis magnificens"". The head, from neck to bill-tip, measured about , and the eyesockets were about"
"imitative (onomatopoeic) τέττιξ, ""tettix"", cicada. All of these names such as ""tettix"" with repeated sounds are onomatopoeic, imitating the stridulation of these insects. The common name katydid is also onomatopoeic and comes from the particularly loud, three-pulsed song, ka-ty-did, of the nominate subspecies of the North American ""Pterophylla camellifolia"", often called the common true katydid. Tettigoniids range in size from as small as to as large as . The smaller species typically live in drier or more stressful habitats which may lead to their small size. The small size is associated with greater agility, faster development, and lower nutritional needs."
"Lydekker. The type species """"N."" miranda"", on the other hand, is a junior synonym of the large ""Dasornis emuinus"". In a peculiar twist, some material assigned to """"N."" minor"" eventually turned out to be remains of the paleognath ""Lithornis vulturinus""; the very first described bone of ""Dasornis emuinus"" on the other hand – a humerus piece – was at first mistaken for to be a ""Lithornis"" tarsometatarsus. ""O. toliapica"" is among the smallest pseudotooth birds known to date – but this still means that to would have rivalled, if not exceeded, most living albatrosses in wingspan and the brown pelican"
"first described by Linnaeus in his 1758 ""Systema naturae"" as ""Alauda magna"". The type locality is mistakenly given as ""America, Africa"". Linnaeus' error is explained by two facts: first, he did not distinguish between the eastern and western meadowlarks. The peculiar belief that this bird also occurred in Africa is due to confusion of the yellow-breasted meadowlarks with certain longclaws (""Macronyx""), quite unrelated African songbirds. Specifically the Cape longclaw (""M. capensis"") and the yellow-throated longclaw (""M. croceus"") share similar habitat and habits, explaining the long hind toe; their plumage pattern however is all but identical, a striking example of convergent"
"Greek ""philos"" for ""-loving"" and ""hudōr"", ""water"". The specific epithet ""lictor"" is the Latin word for a magistrate's bodyguard who carried out sentences. It is sometimes placed in the genus ""Pitangus"" with the great kiskadee. There are two subspecies: The lesser kiskadee is in length and weighs around . It lives in eastern Panama and throughout the northern parts of South America, usually near water. Lesser kiskadee The lesser kiskadee (""Philohydor lictor"") is a species of passerine bird in the family Tyrannidae. It is the only species in the genus Philohydor. It is found in Argentina, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia,"
"Large-billed lark The large-billed lark or southern thick-billed lark (""Galerida magnirostris"") is a small passerine bird found in southern Africa. The name ""large-billed lark"" may also refer to Bradfield's lark. The name ""thick-billed lark"" more commonly refers to the species of the same name (i.e. ""Rhamphocoris clotbey""). The large-billed lark was originally placed in the genus ""Alauda"", and then ""Calendula"" until that genus was subsequently re-named to the present ""Galerida"". Another alternate name used for the large-billed lark is the long-billed lark. Three subspecies are recognized: The large-billed lark is 18 cm in length. It is relatively short-tailed and has"
"is a small tree-dwelling bird described by Aristotle and others, and ""brachydactyla"" comes from ""brakhus"", ""short"" and ""dactulos"" ""finger"", which refers, like the English name, to the fact that this species has shorter toes than the common treecreeper. This species is one of a group of very similar treecreeper species, all placed in the single genus ""Certhia"". Eight species are currently recognised, in two evolutionary lineages, a Holarctic radiation, and a Sino-Himalayan group south and east of the Himalayas. The former group has a more warbling song, always (except in ""C. familiaris"" from China) starting or ending with a shrill"
"These birds forage in shallow water, sometimes using their bill to stir up the water. They mainly eat insects, small fish and crustaceans. The call of this bird is softer than that of the greater yellowlegs. Lesser yellowlegs The lesser yellowlegs (""Tringa flavipes"") is a medium-sized shorebird. The genus name ""Tringa"" is the New Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based on Ancient Greek ""trungas"", a thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific ""flavipes"" is from Latin ""flavus"", ""yellow"", and ""pes"", ""foot"". This species is similar in appearance to the larger greater"
"The lesser whitethroat's song is a fast and rattling sequence of ""tet"" or ""che"" calls, quite different from the whitethroat's scolding song. Like most ""warblers"", it is insectivorous, but will also take berries and other soft fruit. This is a bird of fairly open country and cultivation, with large bushes for nesting and some trees. The nest is built in low shrub or brambles, and 3–7 eggs are laid. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 edition of ""Systema Naturae"", from a specimen collected in southern Sweden. The genus name is from Modern Latin ""silvia"", a"
"ranges from a harsh ""'hark-hark-hark-hark'"" to a more raven like ""'ah-ah-ah'"". Little crow (bird) The little crow (""Corvus bennetti"") is an Australian species of crow, very similar to the Torresian crow in having white bases to the neck and head feathers (shown when ruffled in strong wind) but slightly smaller (38–45 cm in length) and with a slightly smaller bill. It has the same white iris that distinguish the Australian species from all other ""Corvus"" except a few island species to the north of Australia, and one from Eurasia, the jackdaw (""Corvus monedula""). Like the Australian raven, this species has"
"Great antshrike The great antshrike (""Taraba major"") is a passerine bird in the antbird family, Thamnophilidae. It is the only member of the genus Taraba. It is a resident breeder in the tropical New World in southern Mexico, Central America, Trinidad and South America down to northern Argentina and southeastern Brazil. The great antshrike was described by the French ornithologist Louis Vieillot in 1816 and given the binomial name ""Thamnophilus major"". The current genus ""Taraba"" was introduced by the French naturalist René Lesson in 1831. There are ten recognised subspecies. The great antshrike is a large and distinctive antbird, typically"
"fish by the male to the female is part of the courtship display. Bridled tern The bridled tern (""Onychoprion anaethetus"") is a seabird of the family Laridae. It is a bird of the tropical oceans. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus is ""onux"", ""claw"", and ""prion"", ""nail"". The specific ""anaethetus"" means ""senseless, stupid"". This is a medium-sized tern, at 30–32 cm in length and with a 77–81 cm wingspan similar to the common tern in size, but more heavily built. The wings and deeply forked tail are long, and it has dark grey upperparts and white underparts."
"Greater sand plover The greater sand plover (""Charadrius leschenaultii"") is a small wader in the plover family of birds. The spelling is commonly given as ""greater sandplover"" or ""greater sand-plover"", but the official British Ornithologists' Union spelling is ""Greater Sand Plover"". The genus name ""Charadrius"" is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from Ancient Greek ""kharadrios"" a bird found in ravines and river valleys (""kharadra"", ""ravine""). The specific ""leschenaultii"" commemorates the French botanist Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour. It breeds in the semi-deserts of Turkey and eastwards through Central Asia."