"Razorbill The razorbill or lesser auk (""Alca torda"") is a colonial seabird in the monotypic genus Alca of the family Alcidae, the auks. It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (""Pinguinis impennis""). Wild populations live in the subarctic waters of the Atlantic. Razorbills are primarily black with a white underside. The male and female are identical in plumage; however, males are generally larger than females. This agile bird, which is capable of both flight and diving, has a predominantly aquatic lifestyle and only comes to land in order to breed. It is monogamous, choosing one partner"
"Scimitarbill Scimitarbills (also spelt scimitar-bills) are three species of African bird belonging to the genus Rhinopomastus. They are often classified in the woodhoopoe family, Phoeniculidae; however, genetic studies show that they diverged from the true woodhoopoes about 10 million years ago and so they are sometimes placed in a family of their own, the Rhinopomastidae. They are smaller than most woodhoopoes and their bills are strongly curved like a scimitar, giving them their name. They are mostly glossy black in colour with a few white markings on the wings. While other woodhoopoes are gregarious birds which gather in flocks, the"
"together are a sister group to Recurvostridae-Haematopodidae and Charadriidae. Recent research on the Magellanic plover (""Pluvianellus socialis"") of southern South America has indicated it too may be classified within the sheathbill family. The two species are the snowy sheathbill (""Chionis albus"") and the black-faced sheathbill (""C. minor""). Sheathbill The sheathbills are a family of birds, Chionidae. Classified in the wader order Charadriiformes, the family contains one genus, ""Chionis"", with only two species. They breed on subantarctic islands and the Antarctic Peninsula, and the snowy sheathbill migrates to the Falkland Islands and coastal southern South America in the southern winter; they"
"Uria Uria is a genus of seabirds in the auk family known in Britain as guillemots, in most of North America as murres, and in Newfoundland and Labrador as turr. These are medium-sized birds with mainly brown or black plumage in the breeding season. They breed on the coasts of the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. There are two species: ""Uria"" auks are relatives of the razorbill, little auk and the extinct great auk and together make up the tribe Alcini. Despite the similar British common names, they are not so closely related to the ""Cepphus"" guillemots, which form the"
"to be most closely related to the bearded helmetcrest (""Oxypogon guerinii"") and the rufous-capped thornbill (""Chalcostigma ruficeps""). The other member of the genus ""Chalcostigma"" lay outside the group, suggesting the genus might need revising in the future. Two subspecies are recognised - the more widespread nominate subspecies ""nobilis"" has a blue eyebrow, while the more restricted ""albolimbata"" has white. Measuring in length, it is a large hummingbird with a long tail and a long bill. The underparts of both sexes are white, while the tail is white underneath with black feather tips. The male has a green and purple throat."
"closer to taxa such as the yellow-eyed babbler (""Chrysomma sinense"") (traditionally held to be an atypical timaliid) and the wrentit (""Chamaea fasciata""), an enigmatic species generally held to be the only American Old World babbler. The parrotbills, formerly considered a family Paradoxornithidae (roughly, ""puzzling birds"") of unclear affiliations also were part of what apparently was a well distinctive clade. Cibois suggested that the Sylviidae should officially be suppressed by the ICZN as a taxon and the genus ""Sylvia"" merged into the Timaliidae (Cibois 2003b), but doubts remained. Clearly, the sheer extent of the groups concerned made it necessary to study"
"to either this species or alternatively to new species in their own right, but as yet, research into them is still at a very early stage. Parrot crossbill The parrot crossbill (""Loxia pytyopsittacus"") is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. ""Loxia"" derives from ""loxos"", ""crosswise"", and ""pytyopsittacus"" is from ""pitus, pituos"", ""pine"", and ""psittakos"", ""parrot"". This bird breeds in the pine forests of northwest Europe and into western Russia. There is also a small population in Scotland, adding to the difficulty of distinguishing it from red crossbill and the endemic"
"notably SACC, which consider both ""T. niger"" and ""T. leucurus"" as valid species. Additionally, Mallet-Rodrigues (2006) suggested the taxon ""loehkeni"" should be considered a valid species, the bronze-tailed barbthroat. Three additional species, the tooth-billed hummingbird (""Androdon aequatorialis""), the green-fronted lancebill (""Doryfera ludovicae"") and the blue-fronted lancebill (""D. johannae""), have been included in this subfamily in the past, but are now placed in ""Trochilinae"". Hermit (hummingbird) The hermits are tropical and subtropical hummingbirds in the subfamily Phaethornithinae, comprising 30–40 species in six genera. They occur from southern Mexico, through Central America, to South America as far south as northern Argentina. Their"
"of eastern Brazil is sometimes considered a separate species: Margaretta's Hermit (""P. margarettae""). Great-billed hermit The great-billed hermit (""Phaethornis malaris"") is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. The taxonomy of this species and the long-tailed hermit is confusing. Most taxa previously consider subspecies of the latter (""insolitus"", ""moorei"", ""ochraceiventris"", ""bolivianus"" and ""margarettae"") are now considered subspecies of the former. A satisfactory taxonomic treatment of the entire ""P. longirostris/P. superciliosus/P. malaris"" group is still lacking"
"scimitarbills are usually seen alone or in pairs. They feed mainly on insects and other invertebrates, which they find by using their bills to probe into holes and crevices. They are acrobatic birds, well-adapted for clambering through trees. The eggs are laid in a tree cavity. Scimitarbill Scimitarbills (also spelt scimitar-bills) are three species of African bird belonging to the genus Rhinopomastus. They are often classified in the woodhoopoe family, Phoeniculidae; however, genetic studies show that they diverged from the true woodhoopoes about 10 million years ago and so they are sometimes placed in a family of their own, the"
"Great-billed hermit The great-billed hermit (""Phaethornis malaris"") is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. The taxonomy of this species and the long-tailed hermit is confusing. Most taxa previously consider subspecies of the latter (""insolitus"", ""moorei"", ""ochraceiventris"", ""bolivianus"" and ""margarettae"") are now considered subspecies of the former. A satisfactory taxonomic treatment of the entire ""P. longirostris/P. superciliosus/P. malaris"" group is still lacking according to some Neotropical ornithologists. Additionally, the taxon ""margarettae"" of the Atlantic Forest"
"Parrotbill The parrotbills are a group of peculiar birds native to East and Southeast Asia, though feral populations exist elsewhere. They are generally small, long-tailed birds which inhabit reedbeds and similar habitat. They feed mainly on seeds, e.g. of grasses, to which their bill, as the name implies, is well-adapted. Living in tropical to southern temperate climates, they are usually non-migratory. The bearded reedling or ""bearded tit"", an Eurasian species long placed here, is more insectivorous by comparison, especially in summer. It also strikingly differs in morphology, and was time and again placed in a monotypic family Panuridae. DNA sequence"
"Ptiloris The genus Ptiloris consists of four allopatric species of birds in the Paradisaeidae family. These birds of paradise are commonly known as riflebirds, so named for the likeness of their black velvety plumage to the uniform of the Rifle Brigade. Alternatively, the bird’s cry is similar to a rifle being fired and hitting its target but a call like this is not commonly reported (see Behaviour and Ecology). They are distributed in the rainforests of New Guinea and Eastern Australia. The four species of riflebirds are part of the bird-of-paradise family, Paradisaeidae, in the order Passeriformes (songbirds). ""Ptiloris"" [pronounced"
"and the true relationship remains unclear. Genus ""Ailuroedus"" Genus ""Scenopoeetes"" Genus ""Archboldia"" Genus ""Amblyornis"" Genus ""Prionodura"" Genus ""Sericulus"" Genus ""Ptilonorhynchus"" Genus ""Chlamydera"" Note that the grey catbird (""Dumetella carolinensis"") and black catbird (""Melanoptila glabrirostris"") from the Americas and the Abyssinian catbird (""Parophasma galinieri"") from Africa are unrelated birds that belong to different families. Bowerbird Bowerbirds () make up the bird family Ptilonorhynchidae. They are renowned for their unique courtship behaviour, where males build a structure and decorate it with sticks and brightly coloured objects in an attempt to attract a mate. The family has 20 species in eight genera. These"
"Ring ouzel The ring ouzel (""Turdus torquatus"") is a European member of the thrush family, Turdidae. It is the mountain equivalent of the closely related common blackbird, and breeds in gullies, rocky areas or scree slopes. ""Ouzel"" (or ""ousel"") is an old name for common blackbird from Old English ""osle"". ""Ouzel"" may also be applied to a group of superficially similar but unrelated birds, the dippers, the European representative of which is sometimes known as the water ouzel. As with the English name, the scientific name also refers to the male's obvious white neck crescent, being derived from the Latin"
"sicklebills, ""Paradigalla"" and the astrapias. The final clade includes the ""Cicinnurus"" and the ""Paradisaea"" birds-of-paradise. The exact limits of the family have been the subject of revision as well. The three species of satinbird (the genera ""Cnemophilus"" and ""Loboparadisea"") were treated as a subfamily of the birds-of-paradise, Cnemophilinae. In spite of differences in the mouth, foot morphology and nesting habits they remained in the family until a 2000 study moved them to a separate family closer to the berrypeckers and longbills (Melanocharitidae). The same study found that the Macgregor's bird-of-paradise was actually a member of the large Australasian honeyeater family."
"Straight-billed hermit The straight-billed hermit (""Phaethornis bourcieri"") is a species of bird in the family Trochilidae, the hummingbirds. It is found in the Guyanas of Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana; also the northern Amazon basin of Brazil, and Amazonian Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru; it is in eastern Venezuela and the Orinoco River Basin. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. Two subspecies are currently recognised: ""P. b. bourcieri"" and ""P. b. major"". However, recent molecular analysis has shown that ""P. b. major"" is more closely related to ""Phaethornis philippii"" and"
"Parrot crossbill The parrot crossbill (""Loxia pytyopsittacus"") is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. ""Loxia"" derives from ""loxos"", ""crosswise"", and ""pytyopsittacus"" is from ""pitus, pituos"", ""pine"", and ""psittakos"", ""parrot"". This bird breeds in the pine forests of northwest Europe and into western Russia. There is also a small population in Scotland, adding to the difficulty of distinguishing it from red crossbill and the endemic Scottish crossbill, both of which breed within its range. This crossbill is mainly resident, but will irrupt south and west if its food source fails. This"
"Rock ptarmigan The rock ptarmigan (') is a medium-sized gamebird in the grouse family. It is known simply as the ptarmigan""' in the UK and in Canada, where it is the official bird for the territory of Nunavut, Canada, and the official game bird for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. In Japan, it is known as the ""raichō"" (雷鳥), which means ""thunder bird"". It is the official bird of Gifu, Nagano, and Toyama Prefectures and is a protected species nationwide. The rock ptarmigan is long (tail ) with a wingspan of . It is smaller than the willow"
"unknown and in poverty. Vieillot is commemorated in the binomials of a number of birds, such as ""Lybius vieilloti"" (Vieillot's barbet) and ""Saurothera vieilloti"" (the Puerto Rican lizard-cuckoo). Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot Louis Pierre Vieillot (May 10, 1748, Yvetot – August 24, 1830, Sotteville-lès-Rouen) was a French ornithologist. Vieillot is the author of the first scientific descriptions and Linnaean names of a number of birds, including species he collected himself in the West Indies and North America and South American species discovered but not formally named by Felix de Azara and his translator Sonnini de Manoncourt. At least 26 of"
"Jerdon's babbler Jerdon's babbler (""Chrysomma altirostre"") is an endangered passerine bird native to South Asia. Formerly placed in the Timaliidae family – hence the common name ""babbler"" –, the genus ""Chrysomma"" and its relatives are actually closer to the typical warblers and parrotbills in the Sylviidae. The common name commemorates the surgeon-naturalist Thomas C. Jerdon. Measuring 16–17 cm in length, it is quite intermediate in habitus between certain typical warblers (""Sylvia"") and the parrotbills (""Paradoxornis""). Like these, it is a drab bird with a long tail used to balance when creeping through the vegetation; its bill is thicker than in"
"nest with their parents within hours of hatching. There is an annual hunt for this bird in some places. The hunting season usually lasts from October to February. Gambel's quail The Gambel's quail (""Callipepla gambelii"") is a small ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail family. It inhabits the desert regions of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Texas, and Sonora; also New Mexico-border Chihuahua and the Colorado River region of Baja California. The Gambel's quail is named in honor of William Gambel, a 19th-century naturalist and explorer of the Southwestern United States. The species is not as widely"
"which is slightly smaller and lacks the dark wing wedge present in the pigeon guillemot. Combined, the two form a superspecies. This seabird is found on North Pacific coastal waters, from Siberia through California to Alaska. The pigeon guillemot breeds and sometimes roosts on rocky shores, cliffs, and islands close to shallow water. In the winter, some birds move slightly south in the northern-most part of their range in response to advancing ice and migrate slightly north in the southern part of their range, generally preferring more sheltered areas. This species feeds on small fish and marine invertebrates, mostly near"
"Jewel-babbler The jewel-babblers are a genus, Ptilorrhoa of birds in the Cinclosomatidae family. The genus contains four species that are endemic to New Guinea. The genus was once considered to contain the rail-babbler, but that species is now considered to belong to its own family. The genus is closely related to the better known quail-thrushes (""Cinclosoma"") of New Guinea and Australia. Together with a number of other genera they comprise the family Cinclosomatidae, although the validity of this family as a whole has been questioned. The jewel-babblers resemble the quail-thrushes in shape, being plump, long-tailed and short winged. They are"
"pale brown, the wings dark brown, and the tail black with outer feathers tipped with white. The underparts are white. The bill has a dark brown upper mandible and pinkish-brown lower mandible. Red-billed streamertail The red-billed streamertail (""Trochilus polytmus""), also known as the doctor bird, scissor-tail or scissors tail hummingbird, is indigenous to Jamaica, where it is the most abundant and widespread member of the hummingbird family. While most authorities now consider it a separate species, some (including the American Ornithologists' Union) continue to consider it conspecific with the black-billed streamertail. The red-billed streamertail is the national bird of Jamaica."
"often was placed in the genus ""Alca"", following Linnaeus. The fossil record (especially the sister species, ""Pinguinus alfrednewtoni"") and molecular evidence show that the three closely related genera diverged soon after their common ancestor, a bird probably similar to a stout Xantus's murrelet, had spread to the coasts of the Atlantic. Apparently, by that time, the murres, or Atlantic guillemots, already had split from the other Atlantic alcids. Razorbill-like birds were common in the Atlantic during the Pliocene, but the evolution of the little auk is sparsely documented. The molecular data are compatible with either possibility, but the weight of"
"(which they closely resemble). Sibley and Ahlquist placed the berrypeckers and longbill family close to the painted berrypeckers (Paramythiidae), sunbirds and flowerpeckers, but a 2002 study found them closer to the satinbirds (Cnemophilidae, a recent split from the birds-of-paradise). It comprises ten species in four genera, the ""Melanocharis"" berrypeckers and the longbills in the genera ""Toxorhamphus"" and ""Oedistoma"". The two longbill genera are sometimes incorrectly lumped into the same genus, ""Toxorhamphus"", in spite of ""Oedistoma"" being erected forty years prior to ""Toxorhamphus"" (a violation of the taxonomic principal of priority). There are both molecular and morphological reasons to keep the"
"Geoffroy's wedgebill The Geoffroy's wedgebill or eastern wedge-billed hummingbird (""Schistes geoffroyi"") is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It is sometimes merged with the visorbearers in ""Augastes"". It has been split from the white-throated wedgebill by most taxonomic authorities. Some authorities, including the American Ornithological Society, continue to lump both species together, calling them the wedge-billed hummingbird. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. Geoffroy's wedgebills typically reside in the understory of cloud forest interiors, with preference to areas containing thick moss, ravines, and thick"
"""Phaethornis koepckeae"" than populations grouped under the ""bourcieri"" noninate, suggesting it should be treated as a separate species. Straight-billed hermit The straight-billed hermit (""Phaethornis bourcieri"") is a species of bird in the family Trochilidae, the hummingbirds. It is found in the Guyanas of Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana; also the northern Amazon basin of Brazil, and Amazonian Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru; it is in eastern Venezuela and the Orinoco River Basin. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. Two subspecies are currently recognised: ""P. b. bourcieri"" and ""P. b. major""."
"the two extremes in the divergent evolution of the Sylviidae. This is underscored by looking at the closest living relatives of the parrotbills in the rearranged Sylviidae: The genus ""Chrysomma"" are non-specialized species altogether intermediate in habitus, habitat and habits between the typical warblers and the parrotbills. Presumably, the ancestral sylviids looked much like these birds. How dramatic the evolutionary changes wrought upon the parrotbills in their adaptation to feeding on grass caryopses and similar seeds were can be seen by comparing them with the typical fulvettas, which were formerly considered Timaliidae and united with the alcippes (Pasquet 2006). These"
"looks black. In all plumages, the are plain and dark. Adults moult into their winter or between August and October, taking around a month to complete and leaving the bird unable to fly for around four weeks. Birds moult into their breeding plumage between January and March. The legs and feet are red, with black claws. The iris is brown and the eye is surrounded by a thin unbroken white eye-ring. The bill is long and black and the inside of the mouth is red. The juvenile pigeon guillemot resembles a winter adult but has underpart feathers tipped in brown,"
"by lesser honeyguides, which lay eggs in the barbets' nest and leave them for the barbets to raise as their own. Sometimes the honeyguides will destroy some of the barbet chicks offspring and replace them with the parasite offspring. Chaplin's barbet The Chaplin's barbet or Zambian barbet (""Lybius chaplini"") is a bird species in the family Lybiidae, which was until recently united with the other barbets in the Capitonidae. This bird was named in honor of Sir Francis Drummond Percy Chaplin, a former colonial governor. The species was renamed to emphasize its status as Zambia's only true endemic bird species."
"Bird Areas. At least 250 bird species have been recorded, 28 being endemic to the Guinean zone. There are 143 species typical of primary forest, including African crowned eagle (""Stephanoaetus coronatus""), lesser kestrel (""Falco naumanni""), white-breasted guineafowl (""Agelastes meleagrides""), rufous fishing owl (""Scotopilia ussheri""), brown-cheeked hornbill (""Ceratogymna cylindricus""), yellow-casqued hornbill (""Ceratogymna elata""), western wattled cuckooshrike (""Campephaga lobata""), rufous-winged thrush-babbler (""Illadopsis rufescens""), green-tailed bristlebill (""Bleda eximia""), yellow-throated olive greenbul (""Criniger olivaceus""), black-capped rufous-warbler (""Bathmocercus cerviniventris""), Nimba flycatcher (""Melaenornis annamarulae""), Sierra Leone prinia (""Prinia leontica""), Lagden's bushshrike (""Maloconotus lagdeni""), copper-tailed glossy-starling (""Lamprotornis cupreocauda""), white-necked rockfowl (""Picathartes gymnocephalus"") and Gola malimbe (""Malimbus ballmanni"")"