C. familiaris C. brachydactyla C. americana C. himalayana C. nipalensis C. discolor
The treecreepers are a group of very similar small passerinebirds with representatives throughout the Northern hemisphere, although only one species occurs in North America.
The treecreeper family, Certhidae, contains six very closely related species, all very similar in appearance, which can present serious identification problems where two species occur. They do not migrate other than for local movements.
The treecreepers are small woodland birds, brown above and white below. They have thin pointed down-curved bills, which they use to extricate insects from bark. They have stiff tail feathers, like woodpeckers, which they use to support themselves on vertical trees.
Nests are in tree crevices or behind bark.
The list of species follows below.
- Common Treecreeper or Eurasian Treecreeper Certhia familiaris - Short-toed TreecreeperCerthia brachydactyla - Brown CreeperCerthia americana - Himalayan Treecreeper or Bar-tailed Treecreeper Certhia himalayana - Nepal Treecreeper or Rusty-flanked Treecreeper Certhia nipalensis - Sikkim Treecreeper or Brown-throated Treecreeper Certhia discolor
There are three other small bird families with treecreeper or creeper in their name. See also Australian treecreepers, Spotted Creeper and Philippine creepers.
Category:Passeriformes
Passerine
Many, see text
A passerine is a bird of the giant order Passeriformes. More than half of all species of bird are passerines. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines are one of the most spectacularly successful vertebrate orders: with around 5,400 species, they are roughly twice as diverse as the largest of the mammal orders, the Rodentia.
The group gets its name from the Latin name for the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus).
Characteristics
Many passerines are songbirds and have complex muscles to control their syrinx; all of them gape in the nest as infants to beg for food.
The order is divided into two suborders, Tyranni, and Passeri (oscines). Oscines have the most control of their syrinx muscles and are true songbirds (though some of them, such as the crow, do not sound like it).
Most passerines are smaller than typical members of other avian orders.
Origin
The evolutionary history of and relationships among the passerine families remained rather mysterious until around the end of the 20th century. Many passerine families were grouped together on the basis of morphological similarities which, it is now believed, are the result of convergent evolution, not a close genetic relationship. For example, the "wrens" of the northern hemisphere, of Australia, and of New Zealand all look very similar and behave in similar ways, and yet belong to three far-flung branches of the passerine family tree: they are as unrelated as it is possible to be while yet remaining Passeriformes.
Much research remains to be done, but a series of biochemical studies are gradually revealing a clearer picture of passerine origins and evolution. It is now thought that the early passerines evolved in Gondwana at about the time that the southern supercontinent was breaking up. This led to the Tyranni and, a little later, to a great radiation of forms in Australia-New Guinea (the Passeri or songbirds). A major branch of the passerine tree, the Passerida (or sparrow-like forms), emerged either as the sister group to another (the Corvida, or crow-like birds), or more likely as a subgroup of the Corvida, and reached the northern hemisphere, where there was a further explosive radiation of new species. Since then, there has been extensive mixing, with northern forms returning to the south, southern forms moving north, and so on.
Corvida]
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet's surface (or celestial sphere) that is north of the equator (the word hemisphere literally means 'half ball'). On Earth, the Northern Hemisphere contains most of the land and population.
In the temperate regions of the hemisphere, winter lasts from December to February (though winter weather can begin as early as November and last into March or sometimes even April) and Summer from around June to August (though summer weather can begin as early as May and last into September or sometimes even October). The Earth's perihelion, during which its orbital motion is fastest, occurs in January. Therefore, northern hemisphere winters tend to be shorter and less severe than southern hemisphere winters at equivalent latitudes. Tropical regions tend to experience a rainy season during the 'summer' months, and a dry season during the 'winter' months.
Regions north of the Arctic Circle will experience some days in summer on which the sun never sets, and some days in winter on which the sun never rises. The duration of these phases varies from one day for places right on the Arctic circle to several months near the North Pole itself.
In temperate and polar regions of the Northern Hemisphere most of the year, the sun passes from east to west in the south, causing sun-cast shadows to turn clockwise through the day. In the tropics, the noonday sun is always virtually overhead, but will sometimes be in the south and sometimes in the north.
north
Continents and countries on Earth's Northern Hemisphere
Many species of land birds migrate very long distances, the most common pattern being for birds to breed in the temperate or arctic northern hemisphere and winter in warmer regions, often in the tropics or the southern hemisphere.
There is a strong genetic component to migration in terms of timing and route, but this may be modified by environmental influences. An interesting example where a change of migration route has occurred because of such a geographical barrier is the trend for some Blackcaps in central Europe to migrate west and winter in Britain rather than cross the Alps.
The advantage of the migration strategy is that, in the long days of the northern summer, breeding birds have more hours to feed their young on often abundant food supplies, particularly insects. As the days shorten in autumn and food supplies become scarce, the birds can return to warmer regions where the length of the day varies less and there is an all year round food supply.
The downside of migration is the hazards of the journey, especially when difficult habitats such as deserts and oceans must be crossed, and weather conditions may be adverse.
The risks of predation are also high. The Eleonora's Falcon which breeds on Mediterranean islands has a very late breeding season, timed so that autumn passerine migrants can be hunted to feed its young.
Whether a particular species migrates depends on a number of factors. The climate of the breeding area is important, and few species can cope with the harsh winters of inland Canada or northern Eurasia. Thus the BlackbirdTurdus merula is migratory in Scandinavia, but not in the milder climate of southern Europe.
The nature of the staple food is also important. Most specialist insect eaters are long-distance migrants, and have little choice but to head south in winter.
Certain areas, because of their location, have become famous as watchpoints for migrating birds. Examples are the Point Pelee National Park in Canada, and Spurn in England. Drift migration of birds blown off course by the wind can result in "falls" of large numbers of migrants at coastal sites.
Another cause of birds occurring outside their normal ranges is the "spring overshoot" in which birds returning to their breeding areas overshoot and end up further north than intended.
A mechanism which can lead to great rarities turning up as vagrants thousands of kilometres out of range is reverse migration, where the genetic programming of young birds fails to work properly.
Recent research suggests that long-distance passerine migrants are of South American and African, rather than northern hemisphere, evolutionary origins. They are effectively southern species coming north to breed rather than northern species going south to winter.
Broad-winged long distance migrants
Some large broad-winged birds rely on thermal columns of rising hot air to enable them to soar. These include many birds of prey such as vultures, eagles and buzzards, but also storks.
Migratory species in these groups have great difficulty crossing large bodies of water, since thermals can only form over land, and these birds cannot maintain active flight for long distances.
The Mediterranean and other seas therefore present a major obstacle to soaring birds, which are forced to cross at the narrowest points. This means that massive numbers of large raptors and storks pass through areas such as Gibraltar, Falsterbo and the Bosphorus at migration times. Commoner species, such as the Honey Buzzard, can be counted in hundreds of thousands in autumn.
Other barriers, such as mountain ranges, can also cause funnelling, particularly of large diurnal migrants.
Short-distance land bird migration
The long-distance migrants in the previous section are effectively genetically programmed to respond to changing lengths of days. However many species move shorter distances, but may do so only in response to harsh weather conditions.
Thus mountain and moorland breeders, such as Wallcreeper and White-throated Dipper, may move only altitudinally to escape the cold higher ground. Other species such as Merlin and Skylark will move further to the coast or to a more southerly region.
Species like the Chaffinch are not migratory in Britain, but will move south or to Ireland in very cold weather. Interestingly, in Scandinavia, the female of this species migrates, but not the male, giving rise to the specific name coelebs, a bachelor.
Short-distance passerine migrants have two evolutionary origins. Those which have long-distance migrants in the same family, such as the Chiffchaff, are species of southern hemisphere origins which have progressively shortened their return migration so that they stay in the northern hemisphere.
Those species which have no long-distance migratory relatives, such as the waxwings, are effectively moving in response to winter weather, rather than enhanced breeding opportunities.
Wildfowl and waders
The typical image of migration is of northern landbirds such as swallows and birds of prey making long flights to the tropics. Many northern-breeding ducks, geese and swans are also long-distance migrants, but need only to move from their arctic breeding grounds far enough south to escape frozen waters.
This means that most wildfowl remain in the Northern hemisphere, but in milder countries. For example, the Pink-footed Goose migrates from Iceland to Britain and neighbouring countries. Usually wintering grounds are traditional and learned by the young when they migrate with their parents.
Some ducks, such as the Garganey, do move completely or partially into the tropics.
A similar situation occurs with waders (called "shorebirds" in North America). Many species, such as Dunlin and Western Sandpiper, undertake long movements from their arctic breeding grounds to warmer locations in the same hemisphere, but others such as Semipalmated Sandpiper travel huge distances to the tropics.
Most of the wildfowl are large and powerful, and even the waders are strong fliers. This means that birds wintering in temperate regions have the capacity to make further shorter movements in the event of particularly inclement weather.
The same considerations about barriers and detours that apply to long-distance land-bird migration apply to water birds, but in reverse: a large area of land without bodies of water that offer feeding sites is a barrier to a water bird. Open sea may also be a barrier to a bird that feeds in coastal waters. Detours avoiding such barriers are observed: for example, Brent Geese migrating from the Taymyr Peninsula to the Wadden Sea travel via the White Sea coast and the Baltic Sea rather than directly across the Arctic Ocean and northern Scandinavia.
For some species of waders, migration success depends on the availability of certain key food resources at stopover points along the migration route. This gives the migrants an opportunity to "refuel" for the next leg of the voyage. Some examples of important stopover locations are the Bay of Fundy and Delaware Bay.
Some Alaskan Bar-tailed Godwits have the longest non-stop flight of any migrant, flying 11,000 km to their New Zealand wintering grounds (BTO News 258: 3, 2005). Prior to migration, 55% of their bodyweight is stored fat to fuel this uninterrupted journey.
Seabirds
New Zealand
Much of what has been said in the previous section applies to many seabirds. Some, such as the Black Guillemot and some gulls, are quite sedentary; others, such as most of the terns and auks breeding in the temperate northern hemisphere, move south varying distances in winter. The Arctic Tern has the longest-distance migration of any bird, and sees more daylight than any other, moving from its arctic breeding grounds to the antarctic wintering areas. One Arctic Tern, ringed (banded) as a chick on the Farne Islands off the British east coast, reached Melbourne, Australia in just three months from fledging, a sea journey of over 22,000 km (14,000 miles). Seabirds, of course, have the advantage that they can feed on migration.
The most pelagic species, mainly in the 'tubenose' order Procellariiformes, are great wanderers, and the albatrosses of the southern oceans may circle the globe as they ride the "roaring forties" outside the breeding season. The tubenoses in general spread thinly over large areas of open ocean, but congregate when food becomes available. Many of them are also among the longest-distance migrants; Sooty Shearwaters nesting on the Falkland Islands migrate 14,000 km (9,000 miles) between the breeding colony and the North Atlantic Ocean off Norway, and some Manx Shearwaters do the same journey in reverse. As they are long-lived birds, they may cover enormous distances during their lives; one record-breaking Manx Shearwater is calculated to have flown 8 million km (5 million miles) during its over-50 year lifespan.
Pelagic birding trips attract petrels and other procellarids by tipping "chum", a mixture of fish oil and offal, into the sea. Within minutes, a previously apparently empty ocean is full of petrels, fulmars and shearwaters attracted by the food.
A few seabirds, such as Wilson's Petrel and Great Shearwater, breed in the southern hemisphere and migrate north in the southern winter.
The tropics
In the tropics there is little variation in the length of day throughout the year, and it is always warm enough for an adequate food supply. Apart from the seasonal movements of northern hemisphere wintering species, most species are in the broadest sense resident. However many species undergo movements of varying distances depending on the rainfall.
Many tropical regions have wet and dry seasons, the monsoons of India being perhaps the best known example. An example of a bird whose distribution is rain associated is the Woodland Kingfisher of west Africa.
There are a few species, notably cuckoos, which are genuine long-distance migrants within the tropics. An example is the Lesser Cuckoo, which breeds in India and winters in Africa.
In the high mountains, such as the Himalayas and the Andes, there are of course also altitudinal movements of greater or lesser extent by many species.
Australasia
Bird migration is primarily, but not entirely, a Northern-Hemisphere phenomenon. In the Southern Hemisphere, seasonal migration tends to be much less marked. There are several reasons for this.
First, the largely uninterrupted expanses of land mass or ocean tend not to funnel migrations into narrow and obvious pathways, making them less obvious to the human observer. Second, at least for terrestrial birds, climatic regions tend to fade into one another over a long distance rather than be entirely separate: this means that rather than make long trips over unsuitable habitat to reach particular destinations, migrant species can usually travel at a relaxed pace, feeding as they go. Short of banding studies it is often not obvious that the birds seen in any particular locality as the seasons change are in fact different members of the same species passing through, gradually working their way north or south.
Relatively few Australasian birds migrate in the way that so many European and North American species do. This is largely a matter of geography: the Australasian climate has seasonal extremes no less compelling than those of Europe; however, they are far less predictable and tend to take place over periods both shorter and longer. A couple of weeks of heavy rain in one part or another of the usually dry centre of Australia, for example, produces dramatic plant and invertebrate growth, attracting birds from all directions. This can happen at any time of year, summer or winter and, in any given area, may not happen again for a decade or more.
Broader climatic extremes are highly unpredictable also: expected seasonal heat or rain arrives or does not arrive, depending on the vagaries of El Niño. It is commonplace to have stretches of five or ten years at a time when winter rains do not eventuate during the El Niño cycle, and equally common to have La Niña periods which turn arid zones into areas of lush grass and shallow lakes. Long distance migration requires a heavy investment in time and body mass—and, given the random nature of El Niño, an investment with an uncertain return.
In broad terms, Australasian birds tend to be sedentary or nomadic, moving on whenever conditions become unfavourable to whichever area happens to be more suitable at the time.
There are many exceptions, however. Some species make the long haul to breed in far distant northern climes every year, notably swifts, and a great many wading birds that breed in the Arctic Circle during the southern winter.
Many others arrive for the southern spring and summer to breed, then fly to tropical northern Australia, New Guinea, or the islands of South East Asia for the Southern winter. Examples include cuckoos, the Satin Flycatcher, the Dollarbird, and the Rainbow Bee-eater.
Others again are altitudinal migrants, moving to higher country during summer, returning to warmer areas in winter such as several robins, or travel north and south with the seasons but within a relatively restricted range. The tiny 10 cm Silvereye is an example: most of the southernmost Tasmanian race crosses the 200 miles of Bass Strait after breeding to disperse into Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales and even southern Queensland, replacing the normal residents who fly still further north, following the band of fertile country along the coast, feeding through the day and travelling mostly at night. The northernmost populations, however, are nomadic rather than migratory, as are the Silvereyes of southern Western Australia, which is bounded by thousands of miles of desert to the north and east, and sea to the south and west.
Study techniques
Bird migration has been studied by a variety of techniques of which ringing has been the oldest. Color marking, use of radar, satellite tracking and use of stable hydrogen isotopes include some of the newer techniques being used to study the migration of birds.
- Alerstam, T. (2001). Detours in bird migration. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 209, 319-331.
- Weidensaul, Scott. Living On the Wind: Across the Hemisphere With Migratory Birds. Douglas & McIntyre, 1999.
- Dingle, Hugh. Migration: The Biology of Life on The Move. Oxford Univ. Press, 1996.
A few smaller groups with similar body plans, such as springtails (Collembola), are united with the insects in the Subphylum Hexapoda. The true insects (that is, species classified in the Class Insecta) are distinguished from all other arthropods in part by having ectognathous, or exposed, mouthparts and eleven (11) abdominal segments. Most species, but by no means all, have wings as adults. Terrestrial arthropods, such as centipedes, millipedes, scorpions and spiders, are sometimes confused with insects due to the fact that both have similar body plans, sharing (as do all arthropods) a jointed exoskeleton.
Morphology and development
Insects range in size from less than a millimeter to over 18 centimeters (some walkingsticks) in length. Insects possess segmented bodies supported by an exoskeleton, a hard outer covering made mostly of chitin. The body is divided into a head, a thorax, and an abdomen. The head supports a pair of sensory antennae, a pair of compound eyes, and a mouth. The thorax has six legs (one pair per segment) and wings (if present in the species). The abdomen has excretory and reproductive structures.
Insects have a complete digestive system. That is, their digestive system consists basically of a tube that runs from mouth to anus, contrasting with the incomplete digestive systems found in many simpler invertebrates. The excretory system consists of Malpighian tubules for the removal of nitrogenous wastes and the hindgut for osmoregulation. At the end of the hindgut, insects are able to reabsorb water along with potassium and sodium ions. Therefore, insects don't usually excrete water with their feces, a fact which allows them to store water in the body. This process of reabsorption enables them to withstand hot, dry environments.
osmoregulation
Most insects have two pairs of wings located on the second and third thoracic segments. Insects are the only invertebrate group to have developed flight, and this has played an important part in their success. The winged insects, and their secondarily wingless relatives, make up the subclass Pterygota. Insect flight is not very well understood, relying heavily on turbulent atmospheric effects. In more primitive insects it tends to rely heavily on direct flight muscles, which act upon the wing structure. More advanced flyers, which make up the Neoptera, generally have wings that can be folded over their back, keeping them out of the way when not in use. In these insects, the wings are powered mainly by indirect flight muscles that move the wings by stressing the thorax wall. These muscles are able to contract when stretched without nervous impulses, allowing the wings to beat much faster than would be otherwise possible.
Insects use tracheal respiration in order to transport oxygen through their bodies. Openings on the surface of the body called spiracles lead to the tubular tracheal system. Air reaches internal tissues via this system of branching trachea. The circulatory system of insects, like that of other arthropods, is open: the heart pumps the hemolymph through arteries to open spaces surrounding the internal organs; when the heart relaxes, the hemolymph seeps back into the heart.
Insects hatch from eggs, and undergo a series of moults as they develop and grow in size. This manner of growth is necessitated by the exoskeleton. Moulting is a process by which the individual escapes the confines of the exoskeleton in order to increase in size, then grows a new outer covering. In most types of insects, the young, called nymphs, are basically similar in form to the adults (an example is the grasshopper), though wings are not developed until the adult stage. This is called incomplete metamorphosis. Complete metamorphosis distinguishes the Endopterygota, which includes many of the most successful insect groups. In these species, an egg hatches to produce a larva, which is generally worm-like in form. The larva grows and eventually becomes a pupa, a stage sealed within a cocoon or chrysalis in some species. In the pupal stage, the insect undergoes considerable change in form to emerge as an adult, or imago. Butterflies are an example of an insect that undergoes complete metamorphosis.
imago.]]
Behavior
Many insects possess very refined organs of perception. In some cases, their senses can be more capable than humans. For example, bees can see in the ultraviolet spectrum, and male moths have a specialized sense of smell that enables them to detect the pheromones of female moths over distances of many kilometers.
Social insects, such as the ant and the bee, are the most familiar species of eusocial animal. They live together in large well-organized colonies that are so tightly integrated and genetically similar the colonies are sometimes considered superorganisms.
Roles in the environment and human society
Many insects are considered pests by humans, because they transmit diseases
(mosquitos, flies), damage structures (termites), or destroy
agricultural goods (locusts, weevils). Many entomologists are involved in various forms of pest control, often using insecticides, but more and more relying on methods of biocontrol.
Although pest insects attract the most attention, many insects are beneficial to the environment and to humans. Some pollinateflowering plants (for example wasps, bees, butterflies, ants). Pollination is a trade between plants which need to reproduce, and pollinators which receive rewards of nectar and pollen. A serious environmental problem today is the decline of populations of pollinator insects, and a number of species of insects are now cultured primarily for pollination management in order to have sufficient pollinators in the field, orchard or greenhouse at bloom time.
Insects also produce useful substances such as honey, wax, lacquer or silk. Honeybees, (pictured above) have been cultured by humans for thousands of years for honey, although contracting for crop pollination is becoming more significant for beekeepers. The silkworm has greatly affected human history as silk-driven trade established relationships between China and the rest of the world. Fly larvae (maggots) were formerly used to treat wounds to prevent or stop gangrene, as they would only consume dead flesh. This treatment is finding modern usage in some hospitals. Insect larvae of various kinds are also commonly used as fishing bait.
In some parts of the world, insects are used for human food ("Entomophagy"), while being a taboo in other places. There are proponents of developing this use to provide a major source of protein in human nutrition. Since it is impossible to entirely eliminate pest insects from the human food chain, insects already are present in many foods, especially grains. Most people do not realize that food laws in many countries do not prohibit insect parts in food, but rather limit the quantity. According to cultural materialist anthropologist Marvin Harris, the eating of insects is taboo in cultures that have protein sources that require less work like farm birds or cattle.
Many insects, especially beetles, are scavengers, feeding on dead animals and fallen trees, recycling the biological materials into forms found useful by other organisms. The ancient Egyptian religion adored beetles and represented them as scarabeums.
Although mostly unnoticed by most humans, arguably the most useful of all insects are insectivores, those that feed on other insects. Many insects, such as grasshoppers can potentially reproduce so fast that they could literally bury the earth in a single season. However there are hundreds of other insect species that feed on grasshopper eggs, and some that feed on grasshopper adults. This role in ecology is usually assumed to be primarily one of birds, but insects, though less glamorous, are much more significant. For any pest insect one can name, there is a species of wasp that is either a parasitoid or predator upon that pest, and plays a significant role in controlling it.
Human attempts to control pests by insecticides can backfire, because important but unrecognized insects already helping to control pest populations are also killed by the poison, leading eventually to population explosions of the pest species.
Fossils and evolution
predator
The relationships of insects are unclear. Although traditionally grouped with millipedes and centipedes, evidence has emerged favoring a relationship with the crustaceans.
Apart from some tantalizing Devonian fragments, insects first appear suddenly in the fossil record during the very start of the Late Carboniferous period, Early Bashkirian age, about 350 million years ago. As they are already specialized, and represented by more than half a dozen different orders, their anscestry must be sought earlier the Carboniferous, if not the Devonian.
Little is known about the origin of insect flight, since the earliest winged insects appear to be capable fliers. Wings themselves are now thought to be highly modified gills, and some insects (e.g. the Palaeodictyoptera) had an additional pair of winglets attaching to the first segment of the thorax, for a total of three pairs.
Late Carboniferous and Early Permian insect orders include both several current very long-lived groups (mayflies, (Ephemeroptera), dragonflies (Odonata), cockroaches (Blattodea), and Orthoptera (grasshoppers and their relatives)) and a number of Paleozoic forms. During this time, some giant dragonfly-like forms - e.g. Meganeura and Meganeuropsis (Order Protodonata) and Mazothairos (Order Palaeodictyoptera) - reached wingspans of 55 to 70 cm, making them far larger than any living insect.
The Permian, around 270 million years, saw the development of most extant orders; while many of the early groups became extinct during the Permian-Triassic extinction event, the largest mass extinction in the history of the earth.
The remarkably successful Hymenopterans appeared in the Cretaceous but achieved their diversity more recently, in the Cenozoic. A number of highly successful insect groups — especially the Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera (butterflies), as well as many types of Diptera (flies) and Coleoptera (beetles) — evolved in conjunction with flowering plants, a powerful illustration of co-evolution.
Many modern insect genera developed during the Cenozoic; from this period on we find insects preserved in amber, often in perfect condition and easily compared with modern species.
The study of fossilized insects is called paleoentomology.
References
- — a classic textbook in North America
- — an up to date review of the evolutionary history of the insects
Quotes
- "Something in the insect seems to be alien to the habits, morals, and psychology of this world, as if it had come from some other planet: more monstrous, more energetic, more insensate, more atrocious, more infernal than our own."
::—Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949)
- [http://cmave.usda.ufl.edu/~rmankin/soundlibrary.html Bug Bytes] A reference library of digitized insect sounds.
- [http://www.sonoma.edu/users/r/rank/Bio355/BIOL355inslinks.html Entomological Links] A long list of links about insects
- [http://www.insects.org/index.html INSECTS .org] A shameless promotion of insect appreciation.
- [http://www.food-insects.com/ Insects as Food] by Gene DeFoliart. Information about insects as a food resource.
- [http://www.kendall-bioresearch.co.uk/index.htm Kendall Bioresearch] Bug Index, Featured Bugs, Classification, ID, Fossils, Body-parts, Micro Views, Life Cycles, Pesticide Safety.
- [http://www.ub.es/dpep/meganeura/meganeura.htm Meganeura] Website about insect evolution and fossil record.
- [http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Insecta&contgroup=Hexapoda Tree of Life Project] – Insecta
- [http://ufbir.ifas.ufl.edu/ UF Book of Insect Records], documenting "insect champions" in different categories
Category:ArthropodsCategory:Entomology - ko:곤충ms:Seranggaja:昆虫類simple:Insectth:แมลง
Woodpecker
Jynx Picumnus Sasia Nesoctites Melanerpes Sphyrapicus Xiphidiopicus Campethera Geocolaptes Dendropicos Dendrocopos Picoides Veniliornis Piculus Colaptes Celeus Dryocopus Campephilus Picus Dinopium Chrysocolaptes Gecinulus Sapheopipo Blythipicus Reinwardtipicus Meiglyptes Hemicircus Mulleripicus
Woodpeckers are near passerinebirds of the order Piciformes. They have a world-wide distribution with many species, usually numbered at 218 (including the Ivory-billed).
Some woodpeckers and wrynecks in the order Piciformes have zygodactyl or “yoked" feet, with two toes pointing forward, and two backward. These feet, though adapted for clinging to a vertical surface, can be used for grasping or perching. Several species have only three toes. The long tongue found in some woodpeckers can be darted forward to capture insects.
Woodpeckers gained their English name because of the habit of some species of tapping and pecking noisily on tree trunks with their beaks. This is both a means of communication to signal possession of territory to their rivals, and a method of echo-locatinggrubs under the bark of the tree.
This group is related to other Piciformes as below:
Order Piciformes
- Family Picidae, (woodpeckers, piculets, and wrynecks)
- Family Capitonidae, (barbets)
- Family Ramphastidae, (toucans)
- Family Indicatoridae, (honeyguides)
- Galbulidae, (jacamars)
- Family Bucconidae, (puffbirds etc)
The last two families are sometimes separated as the order Galbuliformes.
Some distinctive groups of woodpeckers, including the sapsuckers (genus Sphyrapicus) and the small wrynecks (genus Jynx) and piculets (genera Picumnus, Sasia and Nesoctites) have their own group articles.
In February 2005 the CanadianscientistDr Louis Lefebvre announced a method of measuring avian IQ in terms of their innovation in feeding habits. Woodpeckers were named among the most intelligent birds based on this scale.
Trivia
Woodpeckers inspired Walter Lantz to create the cartoon character Woody Woodpecker - Fictional woodpeckers
The term "Peckerwood", an inversion of "Woodpecker", is used as a pejorative term. This word was coined in the 19th century by southern blacks to describe poor whites. They considered them loud and troublesome like the bird, and often with red hair like the woodpecker's head plumes. This word is still widely used by southern blacks to refer to southern whites.
The Common Treecreeper, Certhia familiaris, is a small passerinebird found through much of temperate Europe and into Asia. It is a member of the treecreeper family. It is closely related to the very similar Short-toed Treecreeper. It has a generally more northerly distribution than that species, although there is extensive range overlap in western Europe. Where both occur, Common Treecreeper tends to prefer conifers.
Common Treecreeper is the only treecreeper which breeds in Ireland, Great Britain and most of Scandinavia.
It is a resident in woodlands throughout its range, and nests in tree crevices or behind the bark of introduced Wellingtonia. Up to nine eggs are laid.
This is a small 12.5-14cm long bird, fairly drab in appearance, streaked brownish above and white below. It has long stiff tail feathers which help it creep up tree trunks like a mouse looking for insects. It has a long curved bill.
Short-toed Treecreeper
The Short-toed Treecreeper, Certhia brachydactyla, is a small passerinebird found through much of warmer temperate Europe and into north Africa. It is a member of the treecreeper family. It is closely related to the very similar Common Treecreeper. It has a generally more southerly distribution than that species, although there is extensive range overlap in western Europe. Where both occur, Short-toed Treecreeper tends to prefer deciduous trees.
The Short-toed Treecreeper is the only treecreeper which breeds in southern Spain or eastern Turkey. It is a major rarity in Great Britain.
It is a resident in woodlands throughout its range, and nests in tree crevices or behind bark flakes. About six eggs are laid.
This is a small bird12-13.5 cm in length, fairly drab in appearance, streaked brownish above and white below. It has long stiff tail feathers which help it creep up tree trunks like a mouse looking for insects. It has a long curved bill.
Brown Creeper
The Brown Creeper (Certhia americana) is a small songbird, the only North American member of the treecreeper family Certhidae.
Adults are brown on the upperparts with light spotting, resembling a piece of tree bark, with white underparts. They have a long thin bill with a slight downward curve and a long tail.
Their breeding habitat is mature forests, especially conifers, in Canada, Alaska and the northeastern and western United States. They make a partial cup nest under a piece of bark partially detached from the tree, sometimes in a tree cavity.
They are permanent residents through much of their range; many northern birds migrate further south to the United States.
They forage on tree trunks and branches, creeping slowly with their body flattened against the bark, typically circling up the tree, sometimes feeding on the ground. They mainly eat insects, sometimes seeds in winter.
The song is a short series of high-pitched sees.
As a migratory species with a northern range, this species is a conceivable vagrant to western Europe. However, it is intermediate in its characteristics between Common Treecreeper and Short-toed Treecreeper, and has sometimes in the past been considered a subspecies of the former.
Since the two European treecreepers are themselves among the most difficult species on that continent to distinguish from each other, a Brown Creeper would probably not even be suspected, other than on a treeless western island, and would be difficult to verify even then.
Brown Creeper has occurred as a vagrant to Bermuda.
Spotted Creeper
The Spotted Creeper, Salpornis spilonotus, is a small passerinebird, which is the only member of the family Salpornithidae. It is found in sub-Saharan Africa and northern India in open deciduous forest and mangrove swamps. It does not migrate other than local movements.
The Spotted Creeper is similar to the treecreepers, but its plumage is strongly spotted and barred.
They have thin pointed down-curved bills, which they use to extricate insects from bark, but they lack the stiff tail feathers which the true treecreepers use to support themselves on vertical trees.
Nests are tree crevices.
There are three other small bird families with 'treecreeper' or 'creeper' in their name. See also Australian treecreepers, Philippine creepers and treecreepers.
Category:Passeriformes
In the United States, a money order is a type of check intended to provide a safe alternative to sending cash (in the mail). Money orders are typically sold by third parties such as the Postal Service, grocery stores, convenience stores, and financial service companies such as banks.
A money order as purchased by a presenter typically consists of two portions: the negotiable check for remittance to the creditor, and a receipt he retains for his records. The amount is imprinted by machine or checkwriter on both portions, and similar documentation, either as a third hard copy or in electronic form, is retained at the issuer and agent locations.
A money order is purchased for the amount desired. In this way it is similar to a certified check. The main difference is that money orders are usually limited in face value to some specified figure (usually under $1,000) while certified checks are not.
One of the reasons for the growing popularity of money orders is that, unlike a personal bank check, they are pre-paid and therefore cannot bounce. The only hypothetical reasons a money order could ever bounce are if the payment is stopped by the maker of the money order, if the issuing company goes bankrupt, or if the money order is fraudulent or counterfeit.
Money orders are generally considered safer for payments from parties unknown to the payee, as opposed to a personal check drawn on the maker's bank account. This is mainly because money orders are unlikely to bounce due to insufficient funds, since a money order is drawn on a bank's funds rather than on an individual's bank account like a personal check is. And while an individual's checking account balance is susceptible to running out due to personal whims and incompetencies, a banking institution's funds generally are not. In recent years, partly for this reason, money orders have become a preferred method of payment by sellers of goods over the Internet, but are rapidly being replaced by electronic transfer services (such as Paypal) as the most popular method.
Security features of U.S. Postal Money Orders
- PMOs are generally regarded as one of the more difficult financial documents to counterfeit
- Watermarks. Telltale watermark when held up to the light should reveal images of Benjamin Franklin, repeated on the left side (top to bottom)
- Dark security strip running alongside the watermark (top to bottom), just to the right. If held to the light, a microfiber strip will show tiny letters "USPS" along its length, facing backward and forward.
- Rainbow of inked patterns and tones.
- PMOs are printed on crisp, clean, textured paper stock.
- Maximum value of $1000 for domestic (US) postal money orders, and $700 for International Postal Money Orders.
- Denominations appear in two locations. If the denomination amounts are discolored, that indicates that they have been erased.
Money Order in India
In India, a Money Order is a service provided by the postal service. A payer who wants to send money to a payee, pays the amount and a small commission at a post office and gets a receipt from the post office. The amount is then delivered as cash to the payee after a few days by a postal employee, at the address specified by the payer. A receipt from the payee is collected and delivered back to the payer at his address. This is reliable and safer than sending cash in the mail.
This is a very valuable service for transferring funds to a payee who is in a remote, rural area, where banks may not be conveniently accessible or where most people may not use a bank account at all.
Ahmadiyya (soefi's)
De Ahmadiyya (soefi orde) is een school binnen het islamietische soefisme, die is opgericht door Ahmad ibn Idriss uit Marokko.
De Ahmadiyya soefi's zijn momenteel vooral actief in Indonesië en in Egypte.
In Egypte is de orde zeer populair. Ze is er gelieerd met de Badawiyya or
CBC
De CBC of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is de publieke omroep van Canada. Het is een staatsinstelling die verantwoordelijk is voor radio- en televisieuitzendingen in het Engels en het Frans. Die laatsten vallen onder de noemer van SRC (Société Radio-Canada).
De CBC zendt uit op twee landelijke televisiekanalen, respectievelijk een Engelstalig en ee
Sjabloon:MexicoAVDW 40
De Paseo de la Reforma, bijgenaamd de Seine van beton, is een avenue in Mexico-stad. De Paseo loopt tussen de parken Chapultepec en Alameda. De straat wordt gekenmerkt door de vele monumenten. Onder anderen Simón Bolívar, Christoffel Columbus, Cuauhtemoc en Winston Churchill worden door monumenten geëerd. Het bekendste monument aan de Paseo de la Reforma is wellicht de Ángel de la Independencia. In een mausoleum aan de voet van dit monument liggen twaalf
Lavatera trimestris
Lavatera trimestris is een zomerbloeiende plant uit het geslacht Lavatera, (familie Malvaceae) en is oorspronkelijk afkomstig uit het Mediterranegebied, van Marokko, Portugal, Spanje en Zuid-Frankrijk tot Turkije en de Levant
Badawiyya
De Badawiyya-orde werd opgericht door Ahmad al-Badawi, een Egyptische soefi die leefde van 1199 tot1276.
Zijn leermeester was de befaamde Ahmad Ibn Ali ar- Rifa'i.
De tombe van al- Badawi te Tantah (Egypte) is drie keer per jaar doel van een pelgrimage; een keer in het midden van januari, een keer in april ten tijde van de dag- en nachtevening, en een keer bij de zonnewende.
De orde kan technisch beschouwd worden als een afgeleidde van de Rifa'i orde, en s
Funda
Funda N.V. is een website waar het volledige huizenaanbod, zowel koop als huur, van de makelaars die aangesloten zijn bij de Nederlandse Vereniging van Makelaars exclusief op wordt getoond. Funda is een samenwerkingsverband tussen de NVM en uitgeverij Koninklijke Wegener. De aandeelhouders in Funda zijn NVM-makelaars en de uitgeverij Koninklijke Wegener.
Funda is in januari 2000<
