The imagos fly in two generations from May-June and July-August but in northern regions and at the high altitudes, there is only a single generation. The flight period in Bavaria extends from the middle of April to the beginning of September with a focus from the beginning of May to the end of June and a maximum in the last May decade. First and second generation overlap. The second generation, which occurs only irregularly or regionally, is always significantly weaker.
The imagos prefer low-growing or very patchy vegetation and often stay on bare ground to sunbathe or to absorb moisture and minerals. On the ground or on low plants, the males also move from perch in order to track down the females by approaching insects of suitable size. The flight is usually very fast and low, whereby the locally loyal imagos usually only cover short distances of a few meters and soon settle again.
There is very little information on flower visits. In Bavaria out of a total of 14 listed plant species, only three are mentioned several times, in addition to the most important egg-laying plants Hippocrepis comosa and Lotus corniculatus, Ajuga reptans also is visited. Other suction plants are yellow-flowered Fabaceae such as Anthyllis vulneraria, Chamaecytisus ratisbonensis and Medicago falcata as well as blue- and violet-flowered mint flowers such as Salvia pratensis and Thymus spp. Visits to flowers on taller perennials such as Cirsium arvense, Eupatorium cannabinum or Echium vulgare are rare, as the imagos mainly stay near the ground. In addition to visiting flowers, the imagos regularly suckle on moist soil, carrion and excrement.
Eggs are laid individually on the upper side of mostly terminal leaflets near the ground, with gaps or weak-growing, microclimatically favored locations being preferred. Observations of egg laying or of egg and caterpillar finds are only available in isolated cases. The following egg-laying and host plants have been reported from Bavaria: Hippocrepis comosa, Lotus corniculatus, Securigera varia, Tetragonalobus maritimus. Almost all reports relate to observations of oviposition or egg discoveries, only a single detection of an adult caterpillar was found in Lotus corniculatus. In Great Britain eggs were found on the tender young leaves of bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), the favoured food plant here (although horseshoe vetch (Hippocrepis comosa) and greater bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus pendunculatus) are sometimes used). Other larval host plants in Europe are Eryngium, Coronilla, Medicago, etc.
The hemispherical egg with clear longitudinal ribs is initially light yellow and later orange-red in color and is easily recognizable on the green upper side of the leaf with a targeted search. This combination of features results in a further, reliable detection method for the species. During the day, the caterpillar hides in a hiding place made of spun leaves and mainly eats at night. The caterpillar creates a shelter by spinning leaves together and feeds until fully grown in August. It then creates a larger tent to form a hibernaculum where it hibernates. Pupation occurs the following spring without further feeding. The winter web is dense like parchment, so that no water can penetrate. Spun threads in summer, the pupae of which result in second generation butterflies, are of a loose texture.


It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California to the Rocky Mountains, where it grows in moist meadows and stream banks.
It also occurs in eastern North America where it may be native or introduced. It is known from Chile and parts of Europe, including England and Finland, where it grows wild after having escaped cultivation.


Erythrostemon mexicanus is a species of flowering plant in the pea family, Fabaceae. Common names include Mexican holdback, Mexican caesalpinia, and tabachín del monte. It is native to the extreme lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the United States and native range central to south to  Mexico. Its range in Mexico includes the northeast and further south along the Gulf coast as well as the Pacific coast in Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, and a small portion of Sinaloa.


Escobaria missouriensis, the Missouri foxtail cactus and formerly Coryphantha missouriensis, is a species of low-growing North American cacti. It is found in along the Missouri River in the tallgrass prairie and shortgrass Great Plains, from Texas to Montana and the Dakotas, and in the Rocky Mountains woodlands of Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), pinyon-juniper, and Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii) west of it. It is also native to the Southwestern United States in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.


The northern pike (Esox lucius) is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (i.e. holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a pike in Britain, Ireland, and most of Eastern Europe, Canada and the United States.
Pike can grow to a relatively large size: the average length is about 40–55 cm (16–22 in), with maximum recorded lengths of up to 150 cm (59 in) and published weights of 28.4 kg (63 lb). The IGFA currently recognizes a 25 kg (55 lb) pike caught by Lothar Louis on Greffern Lake, Germany, on 16 October 1986, as the all-tackle world-record northern pike. Northern pike grow to larger sizes in Eurasia than in North America, and typically grow to larger sizes in coastal than inland regions of Eurasia.


The northern pike gets its common name from its resemblance to the pole-weapon known as the pike (from the Middle English for 'pointed'). Various other unofficial trivial names are common pike, Lakes pike, great northern pike, northern (in the U.S. Upper Midwest and in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan), jackfish, jack, slough shark, snake, slimer, slough snake, gator (due to a head similar in shape to that of an alligator), hammer handle, and other such names as "long head" or "pointy nose". Numerous other names can be found in Field Museum Zool. Leaflet Number 9. Its earlier common name, the luci (now lucy) or luce when fully grown, was used to form its taxonomic name (Esox lucius) and is used in heraldry.


Esox lucius is found in fresh water throughout the Northern Hemisphere, including Russia, Europe, and North America. It has also been introduced to lakes in Morocco, and is even found in brackish water of the Baltic Sea, but they are confined to the low-salinity water at the surface of the sea, and are seldom seen in brackish water elsewhere.
Within North America, northern pike populations are found in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, northern Texas, northern New Mexico, northern Arizona, Alaska, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Québec (pike are rare in British Columbia and east coast provinces). Watersheds in which pike are found include the Ohio Valley, the upper Mississippi River and its tributaries, and the Great Lakes Basin. They are also stocked in, or have been introduced to, some western lakes and reservoirs for sport fishing, although some fisheries managers believe this practice often threatens other species of fish such as bass, trout, and salmon, causing government agencies to attempt to exterminate the pike by poisoning lakes, such as Stormy Lake, Alaska. E. lucius is a severe invasive predator in Box Canyon Reservoir on the Pend Oreille River in northeastern Washington.


Its range is along the eastern coast of North America from southern Canada to Florida, and west to Texas. On the Atlantic Coast,  in  Maine, New Hampshire, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia although it is considered an invasive species in Nova Scotia, the chain pickerel extend as far as 46°N. The fish inhabits fresh and brackish water from the Mississippi Valley. It also is commonly found in Lake Michigan and the lower portion of the Great Lakes. It is considered invasive in northern areas.


This moth is generally seen from May to August, but it is seen all year in southern Florida and southern Texas.


The common waxbill was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Loxia astrild. The etymology of astrild is uncertain. It may either be from a German or Dutch avicultural term for a waxbill or alternatively it may be a misprint for Estrilda. Linnaeus based his description on the "Wax Bill" that had been described and illustrated in 1751 by the English naturalist George Edwards in his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. Linnaeus specified the locality as "Canaries, America, Africa" but this was restricted to Cape Town in South Africa by William Lutley Sclater and Cyril Mackworth-Praed in 1918. This species is now placed in the genus Estrilda that was introduced in 1827 by the English naturalist William John Swainson.
There are 15 recognised subspecies:
E. a. kempi Bates, GL, 1930 – Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia
E. a. occidentalis Jardine & Fraser, 1852 – south Mali and Ivory Coast to north DR Congo and Bioko Island
E. a. peasei Shelley, 1903 – Ethiopia
E. a. macmillani Ogilvie-Grant, 1907 – Sudan
E. a. adesma Reichenow, 1916 – east DR Congo, Uganda, west Kenya to northwest Tanzania
E. a. massaica Neumann, 1907 – central Kenya to north Tanzania
E. a. minor (Cabanis, 1878) – south Somalia, east Kenya, northeast Tanzania and Zanzibar
E. a. cavendishi Sharpe, 1900 – south DR Congo and south Tanzania to Zimbabwe and Mozambique
E. a. niediecki Reichenow, 1916 – central Angola to west Zimbabwe
E. a. angolensis Reichenow, 1902 – inland west Angola
E. a. jagoensis Alexander, 1898 – coastal west Angola and São Tomé
E. a. rubriventris (Vieillot, 1817) – Gabon to northwest Angola
E. a. damarensis Reichenow, 1902 – Namibia
E. a. astrild (Linnaeus, 1758) – south Botswana and west, south South Africa
E. a. tenebridorsa Clancey, 1957 – north, east South Africa


There are about 17 subspecies distributed widely across much of Africa south of the Sahara. They are present in most parts of East, Central and Southern Africa except for regions of desert or dense forest. In West Africa they are more local with the main population centred on Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Ivory Coast. Common waxbills inhabit open country with long grass and rank vegetation. They are often found near water in marshes and among reeds. They can be tame and will enter gardens, parks and farmland.


Birds have often escaped from captivity or been deliberately released. Breeding populations have become established in many places where the climate is sufficiently warm and where there is a sufficient supply of grass seeds. They are now found on many islands around Africa: Saint Helena, Ascension Island, the Cape Verde Islands, São Tomé and Príncipe, Mauritius, Réunion, Rodrigues, the Seychelles and Ile Amsterdam. They may possibly be native on some of these islands. In Europe the common waxbill has become widespread in Portugal and is spreading through Spain. There are small populations on Madeira and Gran Canaria and it has recently appeared on Tenerife and the Azores. In the Americas waxbills are found in Trinidad, several parts of Brazil and there are a few on Bermuda. In the Pacific there are populations on New Caledonia, Efate Island in Vanuatu, Tahiti and the Hawaiian Islands. In Spain it has been introduced in the largest cities in the last ten years and is now quite commonly seen in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, as well as along the Spanish-Portuguese border.


The rainbow darter is a small, benthic freshwater fish found in many creeks and small to medium-sized rivers throughout North America. In particular, it is common throughout the eastern United States, specifically throughout the Great Lakes and Ohio River Valley regions. Its distribution extends south to northern parts of Alabama and as far west as Missouri and Arkansas. This distribution has been suggested to be due to once existing glaciers and to its intolerance of brackish water. One study to examine the phylogeography of E. caeruleum and its colonization patterns found its distribution is greatly due to historic glaciations, and furthermore, due to distributions from drainages which have since then resulted in the current morphological diversity of the rainbow darter. Geographically, the rainbow darter is one of the most abundant and common Darter species. Current distribution shown may be outdated and should be verified with state agencies.  Particularly Texas where the species exists in limited number.


Euchrysops cnejus cnejus
Euchrysops cnejus cnidus Waterhouse & Lyell, 1914 (Torres Strait Islands, northern Australia to Southport, New Guinea, Papua New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, Solomons)
Euchrysops cnejus vitiensis (Butler, 1883) (Fiji)
Euchrysops cnejus luzonicus (Röber, 1886) (Sangihe, Talaud, Philippines: Palawan, Cebu, Leyte, Luzon, Tawitawi)


The burnet companion moth (Euclidia glyphica) is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is found in most of the Palearctic realm, from Ireland in the west to Mongolia and Siberia in the east and south to the Mediterranean and North Africa.


Eucnide urens, also known as desert rock nettle or desert stingbush, is a shrub which is native to desert areas in California, Arizona, Utah and Baja California.  Other common names are velcro plant and vegetable velcro.
The  flowers, which appear from spring to early summer, are cream or pale yellow with 5 petals and are 2.5 to 5 cm long. The coarsely serrated leaves are 2 to 6.5 cm long with stinging hairs which are also found on the stems and buds. It grows in the desert on cliffs and dry, rocky places.
The plant is round and bushy and is usually between 30 and 60 cm in height and is often found on cliff faces. Desert bighorn sheep feed on the flowers.


The American white ibis (Eudocimus albus) is a species of bird in the ibis family, Threskiornithidae. It is found from Virginia via the Gulf Coast of the United States south through most of the coastal New World tropics. This particular ibis is a medium-sized bird with an overall white plumage, bright red-orange down-curved bill and long legs, and black wing tips that are usually only visible in flight. Males are larger and have longer bills than females. The breeding range runs along the Gulf and Atlantic Coast, and the coasts of Mexico and Central America. Outside the breeding period, the range extends further inland in North America and also includes the Caribbean. It is also found along the northwestern South American coastline in Colombia and Venezuela. Populations in central Venezuela overlap and interbreed with the scarlet ibis. The two have been classified by some authorities as a single species.
Their diet consists primarily of small aquatic prey, such as insects and small fishes. Crayfish are its preferred food in most regions, but it can adjust its diet according to the habitat and prey abundance. Its main foraging behavior is probing with its beak at the bottom of shallow water to feel for and capture its prey. It does not see the prey.
During the breeding season, the American white ibis gathers in huge colonies near water. Pairs are predominantly monogamous and both parents care for the young, although males tend to engage in extra-pair copulation with other females to increase their reproductive success. Males have also been found to pirate food from unmated females and juveniles during the breeding season.
Human pollution has affected the behavior of the American white ibis via an increase in the concentrations of methylmercury, which is released into the environment from untreated waste. Exposure to methylmercury alters the hormone levels of American white ibis, affecting their mating and nesting behavior and leading to lower reproduction rates.


The American white ibis is most common in Florida, where over 30,000 have been counted in a single breeding colony. It also occurs throughout the Caribbean, on both coasts of Mexico (from Baja California southwards) and Central America, and as far south as Colombia and Venezuela. The non-breeding range extends further inland, reaching north to Virginia, and west to eastern Texas.
 The species is known to wander, and has been sighted, sometimes in small flocks, in states far out of its usual range.
In North America, breeding takes place along the Atlantic coast, from the Carolinas south to Florida and thence west along the Gulf Coast. Laguna Cuyutlán is an isolated and regionally important wetland in the state of Colima on México's west coast where a breeding colony has been recorded. American white ibises are not faithful to the sites where they breed, and large breeding colonies composed of ten thousand birds or more can congregate and disband in one or two breeding seasons. Breeding populations across its range have fluctuated greatly with wholesale movement between states.
Until the 1940s, the species bred only in large numbers in Florida, mostly within the Everglades. Drought conditions elsewhere in the United States led to more than 400,000 American white ibis breeding there in the 1930s. In the 1950s and 1960s, large colonies appeared in Alabama, Louisiana, and then North and South Carolina and the Gulf Coast of Florida, and finally Texas in the 1970s. Between the 1970s and early 1990s, breeding colonies declined and disappeared in South Carolina and Florida, and greatly increased in North Carolina and Louisiana. Colonies last between one and seventeen years, their longevity related to size and quality of nearby wetlands. The longest-lasting are associated with wetlands over 800 km² (310 sq mi) in size. Degradation of wetland or breeding sites are reasons for abandonment. The population of American white ibises in a colony at Pumpkinseed Island in Georgetown County, South Carolina, dropped from 10,000 to zero between 1989 and 1990 as Hurricane Hugo had inundated nearby freshwater foraging areas with salt water.
The American white ibis is found in a variety of habitats, although shallow coastal marshes, wetlands and mangrove swamps are preferred. It is also commonly found in muddy pools, on mudflats and even wet lawns. Populations that are away from the coast and shoreline, particularly in southern Florida, often reside in other forms of wetlands such as marshes, ponds and flooded fields. In summer, these move to more coastal and estuarine habitats as inland waterways become flooded with summer rains and the ibis find the water levels too deep to forage effectively.


Causes of death of adult ibis are not well known. Alligators could feasibly prey on nesting ibises but there has been little research in the area. A flock of fifty adult American white ibis were killed in a fire in the Everglades. The corpses were found in a dense swathe of cattail (Typha angustifolia), which suggested they had taken shelter there. It is unclear why they had not been able to fly away from the fire, but one hypothesis was that they had been foraging for insects disturbed by the fire.
A total of 51 species of parasitic worm have been recovered from the American white ibis, predominantly from the gastrointestinal system and particularly the small intestine. These include Cestoda (tapeworms), Acanthocephala (thorny headed worms), Nematoda (roundworms), Digenea and Spirurida. Several roundworm and spirurid species have been found in the lining of the gizzard. Nematodes are more prevalent in American white ibis from freshwater habitats, and cestodes more frequent in those from saltwater areas. One nematode found in adult birds, Skrjabinoclavia thapari, is borne in the fiddler crab as an intermediate host, while the thorny headed worm species Southwellina dimorpha is carried in crayfish and infests both adult and juvenile ibis.
Parasitic protozoa of the genus Sarcocystis have been recovered from the smooth muscles of adult American white ibis, and another species, Haemoproteus plataleae, has been recovered from the blood of adults and nestlings, and can hence be transmitted before the young leave the nest. The larvae of two species of mite of the family Hypoderidae, Phalacrodectes whartoni and Neoattialges eudocimae, have been recovered from under the skin. Two species of the louse suborder Mallophaga, Plegadiphilus eudocimus and Ardeicola robusta, also parasitise the bird.


The American white ibis is classed as being of least concern on the IUCN Red List. The population consists of 150,000 mature adults, and is stable, although some populations have unknown trends. A partial survey of under 50% of the North American population published in 2007 found an almost six-fold increase in the last four decades. The estimated breeding range is huge, at 1,200,000 km² (460,000 sq mi). Fluctuating breeding populations and high mobility of colonies make estimating the population difficult. Attempted censuses of breeding colonies across Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and the Carolinas yielded a count of 166,000 breeding birds in 2001, and 209,000 in 2004. The conservation status has been listed in two states—it is a Species of Special Concern in Florida, and a species of Moderate Conservation Concern in Alabama. The preservation of colony sites and freshwater foraging areas is important to maintaining populations; however, the highly mobile nature of breeding colonies makes this challenging.


The Asian koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus) is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes. It is found in the Indian Subcontinent, China, and Southeast Asia. It forms a superspecies with the closely related black-billed koels, and Pacific koels which are sometimes treated as subspecies. The Asian koel like many of its related cuckoo kin is a brood parasite that lays its eggs in the nests of crows and other hosts, who raise its young. They are unusual among the cuckoos in being largely frugivorous as adults. The name koel is echoic in origin with several language variants.  The bird is a widely used symbol in Indian and Nepali poetry.


In 1747 the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the Asian koel in the second volume of his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. He used the English name "The Brown and Spotted Indian Cuckow". Edwards based his hand-coloured etching on a specimen from Bengal that belonged to the London silk-pattern designer and naturalist Joseph Dandridge. When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he placed the Asian koel with the other cuckoos in the genus Cuculus. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Cuculus scolopaceus and cited Edwards' work. The Asian koel is now placed in the genus Eudynamys that was introduced in 1827 by the English naturalists Nicholas Vigors and Thomas Horsfield. The genus name Eudynamys combines the Ancient Greek eu meaning "fine" with dunamis meaning "power" or "strength". The specific epithet scolopaceus is Modern Latin meaning "snipe-like" from Latin scolopax meaning "snipe" or "woodcock".
The species has variations within its wide range with several island populations and a number of taxonomic variations have been suggested. The black-billed koel (E. melanorhynchus) of the Sulawesi region and the Pacific koel of Australasia are sometimes considered conspecific with the Asian koel in which case the "combined" species is known as the common koel. Due to differences in plumage, colour of bill and voice, the three are increasingly treated as separate species. Alternatively, only the black-billed koel has been considered as a separate species, or the Asian koel has included all subspecies otherwise included in the Pacific koel, except for the subspecies breeding in Australia, which then has the name Australian koel (E. cyanocephalus).
The Asian koel has several geographic forms that have well marked plumage differences or have been geographically isolated with little gene flow. The following is a list of named subspecies with their distributions and synonyms as given by Payne:
E. s. scolopaceus (Linnaeus, 1758) – Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Laccadives and Maldives
E. s. chinensis Cabanis and Heine 1863 – Southern China and Indochina, except the Thai-Malay Peninsula
E. s. harterti Ingram, C 1912 – Hainan
E. s. malayana Cabanis and Heine, 1863 – Thai-Malay Peninsula, Lesser Sundas and Greater Sundas, except Sulawesi. May include the race dolosa described from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands
E. s. mindanensis (Linnaeus, 1766) – (includes E. s. paraguena) (Hachisuka, 1934) from Palawan, and E. s. corvina (Stresemann, 1931) from Halmahera, the Philippines (including Palawan and the Babuyan Islands), islands between Mindanao and Sulawesi, and North Maluku, except the Sula Islands


The Asian koel is a bird of light woodland and cultivation. It is a mainly resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from Iran, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to southern China and the Greater Sundas. They have great potential in colonizing new areas, and were among the pioneer birds to colonize the volcanic island of Krakatau. They first arrived in Singapore in the 1980s and became very common birds.
Some populations may make long-distance movements being found in places like Australia.


The Asian koel is a brood parasite, and lays its single egg in the nests of a variety of birds, including the jungle crow, and house crow. In Sri Lanka before 1880 it was only known to parasitize the jungle crow, later shifting to the house crow. A study in India found 5% of Corvus splendens and 0.5% of Corvus macrorhynchos nests parasitized.
In Bangladesh, they parasitise long-tailed shrike (Lanius schach), common myna (Acridotheres tristis) and house crows (Corvus splendens) at about 35.7, 31.2 and 10.8% rates respectively. Host nests at low heights and nearer to fruit trees tended to be preferred by koels. In southern Thailand and the Malay Peninsula, koels have shifted host from crows to mynas (Acridotheres sp.) as the latter became more common in the late 1900s. In the Indian Subcontinent they have sometimes been found to parasitize the black drongo, the European magpie and possibly the black-headed oriole. Males may distract the hosts so that the female gets a chance to lay an egg in the nest. More often however, the female visits the nest of the host alone. The koel is not known to lay eggs in an empty host nest and a study in Pakistan found that the first koel eggs were laid, on average, within one and half days of the laying of the host's first egg. The chicks of the koel hatched about 3 days ahead of the host chicks. Koels usually lay only an egg or two in a single nest but as many as seven to eleven eggs have been reported from some host nests. A female may remove a host egg before laying. Eggs hatch in 12 to 14 days. The young koel does not always push out eggs or evict the host chicks, and initially calls like a crow. The young fledge in 20 to 28 days. Unlike some other cuckoos, the young do not attempt to kill the host chicks, a trait that is shared with the channel-billed cuckoos which are also largely frugivorous as adults. It has been suggested that koels, like some other brood parasites do not evict the host chicks due presumably due to the higher cost of evicting nestmates. A small parasite may not be able to evict large host eggs or chicks from a deep Corvid nest without risking starvation and possibly accidental self-eviction. An alternative hypothesis that retaining host chicks might benefit the koel chicks did not gain much support. Adult female parents have been known to feed young koels in the nests of the hosts, a behaviour seen in some other brood parasitic species as well. Adult males have however not been noted to feed fledglings.
The Asian koel is omnivorous, consuming a variety of insects, caterpillars, eggs and small vertebrates. Adults feed mainly on fruit. They will sometimes defend fruiting trees that they forage in and chase away other frugivores. They have been noted to be especially important in the dispersal of the sandalwood tree (Santalum album) in India. Large seeded fruits are sometimes quickly regurgitated near the parent tree while small seeded fruits are ingested and are likely to be deposited at greater distances from the parent tree. They have a large gape and are capable of swallowing large fruits including the hard fruit of palms such as Arenga and Livistona. They have been known to occasionally take eggs of small birds.
They feed on the fruits of Cascabela thevetia which are known to be toxic to mammals.
A number of parasites of the species have been described, including malaria-like protozoa, lice and nematodes.


Eulamprus quoyii belongs to the genus Eulamprus which is a part of the subfamily Lygosominae of the family Scincidae. The genus, among others such as Ctenotus and Anomalopus, falls within a clade in the Sphenomorphus group. phylogenetic research into the genus revealed that the Eulamprus assigned species were four independent lineages, causing the Eulamprus genus to be confined to water skinks alone. Other species previously categorised within the Eulamprus genus were assigned to Concinnia, Silvascincus and Tumbunascincus. Eulamprus quoyii has several derived character states which separate the species from other species within the genus. However, it is noted that there are few if any differences in preferred habitat selection within the E. quoyii group, implying a strong evolutionary consequence for the species due to previous environmental changes.


Eumenes fraternus is found in the eastern United States and Canada. Its range extends west as far as Ontario, Minnesota, Kansas and Texas. It is on the wing from about April to November in North Carolina and is found in glades, rough shrubby areas and forest verges.


The range of the Steller sea lion extends from the Kuril Islands in the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia to the Gulf of Alaska in the north, down to Año Nuevo Island off the coast of central California to the south. They formerly bred as far south as the Channel Islands, but have not been observed there since the 1980s. Based on genetic anаlyses and local migration patterns, the global Steller sea lion population has traditionally been divided into an eastern and western stock at 144°W longitude, roughly through the middle of the Gulf of Alaska. Recent evidence suggests the sea lions in Russia in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Kuril Islands comprise a third Asian stock, while the sea lions on the eastern seaboard of Kamchatka and the Commander Islands belong to the western stock.
In the summer, Steller sea lions tend to shift their range somewhat southward. Therefore, though there are no reproductive rookeries in Japan, several consistent haul-out sites are found around Hokkaidō in the winter and spring. Vagrants have been spotted in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Gulf and along the coast of Korea and China. The oldest fossil known of the species was found near Kanazawa, Japan and dates to the late Early Pleistocene (0.8 Ma).


While the populations of the eastern and Asian stocks appear stable, the population of the western stock, particularly along the Aleutian Islands, was estimated to have fallen by 70–80% since the 1970s. As a consequence, in 1997 the western stock of Steller sea lions was listed as endangered and the eastern stock was listed as threatened under the United States Endangered Species Act. They have since been the object of intense study and the focus of much political and scientific debate in Alaska.
One suspected cause of their precipitous decline was the overfishing of Alaska pollock, herring, and other fish stocks in the Gulf of Alaska. This stems largely from the "junk-food hypothesis" representing a shift in their diet from fatty herring and capelin to leaner fare such as pollock and flounder, thereby limiting their ability to consume and store fat. Other hypotheses include increased predation by orcas and sharks, indirect effects of prey species composition shifts due to changes in climate, effects of disease or contaminants, shooting by fishermen, and others. The decline is certainly due to a complex of interrelated factors which have yet to be defined by the research effort.
Another possible reason for decline in this species has been tied to the Nutritional Stress Hypothesis. The lack of prey corresponds to the decrease in population. In females specifically, obtaining an insufficient amount of nutrients has resulted in the failure to complete their pregnancies to full term.
In October 2013, the eastern Steller sea lion was taken off the U.S. Endangered Species List after a major population comeback over the past several years.


Euonymus alatus, known variously as winged spindle, winged euonymus, or burning bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Celastraceae, native to central and northern China, Japan, and Korea.
The common name "burning bush" comes from the bright red fall color.
It is a popular ornamental plant in gardens and parks due to its bright pink or orange fruit and attractive fall color. The species and the cultivar 'Compactus' have both gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
This plant is regarded as an invasive species of woodlands in eastern North America, and its importation and sale is prohibited in the states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.


It has an extensive native range, including many parts of China (from sea level to 3400 m elevation), India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.  It resembles Euonymus japonicus, which is also widely cultivated but is a shrub, without climbing roots.  It also is related to a variety of similar species, including Euonymus theifolius, or Euonymus vagans and also a number of named "species" which are found only in cultivation and better treated as cultivars.


Euonymus fortunei is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant, with numerous cultivars selected for such traits as yellow, variegated and slow, dwarfed growth. It is used as a groundcover or a vine to climb walls and trees. The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:
'Emerald Gaiety'
'Emerald 'n' Gold'
'Emerald Surprise'
'Kewensis'
'Wolong Ghost'
Plants propagated from mature flowering stems (formerly sometimes named "f. carrierei") always grow as non-climbing shrubs. Some popular cultivars such as 'Moon Shadow' are shrub forms.
Most of the cultivated plants belong to var. radicans (Huxley 1992). It is generally considered cold hardy in USDA zones 5 to 9, and is considered an invasive species in some parts of the world, notably the eastern United States and Canada.


Euparthenos is a monotypic moth genus in the family Erebidae erected by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1876. Its only species, Euparthenos nubilis, the locust underwing, was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1823. The adults resemble some of the underwing moths of genus Catocala, which are fairly close relatives, in color, pattern, and the habit of resting on tree trunks. But E. nubilis can usually be immediately recognized by the four concentric black bands per hindwing, as opposed to one or two (at most three) in Catocala. Color morphs of E. nubilis with altered pattern are known, however, and these may be hard to recognize without detailed examination.
This moth has light grey forewings with a pattern of darker grey and brown lines and shading. The hindwings are yellow orange with the aforementioned four black bands each. The wingspan is 56–70 mm (over 2 to almost 3 inches.
The species is found in North America from Maine, Ontario and Quebec, south to northern Florida, west to Nebraska and Arizona. Adults are on wing from April to September. There are two generations per year. The larvae feed on Robinia (locust tree) species, such as black locust (R. pseudoacacia). The adults like to drink the juice of fermenting fruit, and are attracted to lights.


The swallow-tailed hummingbird mainly forages at mid-levels, but good food sources are exploited from anywhere near ground level right up to the tree tops. It chiefly feeds on flower nectar, particularly from Fabaceae, Gesneriaceae, Malvaceae (especially Bombacoideae and Malvoideae), Myrtaceae, Rubiaceae and epiphytic Bromeliaceae. It is not a very specialized feeder however, and has also been recorded from plants of other families, such as Asteraceae or Caryocaraceae. It utilizes flowers of native as well as those of some introduced ornamental plants. It will also take insects caught by hawking. In south-eastern Brazil where it is plentiful even in urban parks and gardens, it is commonly attracted to hummingbird feeders.


The scrub euphonia ranges on both coasts of Mexico, south from the states Sonora and Nuevo Leon, as well as much of the country east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, including the Yucatan Peninsula.  It is found throughout Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua and along the Atlantic and Central and Northern Pacific coastal lowlands in Costa Rica. It can be found in areas of secondary growth, stands of trees, agricultural areas and gardens and other human-disturbed areas.


The elegant or blue-hooded euphonia (Chlorophonia elegantissima) is a species of bird in the family Fringillidae. It is found in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. It was formerly classified in the genus Euphonia, but phylogenetic evidence indicates that it groups with Chlorophonia.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forest and heavily degraded former forest.


The yellow-throated euphonia has a northern range limit in eastern Mexico of southern Tamaulipas, eastern San Luis Potosí, northeastern Puebla (east of Huauchinango), and northern Veracruz south to Tuxpan and Tlapacoyan. Its range extends south into Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, eastern Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and western Panama. E. h. gnatho is found in northeastern Nicaragua, Costa Rica (absent in southwest and Caribbean lowlands), and extreme Western Panama. It is found mainly in dry to humid regions along forest borders, second growth, shady plantations, and medium-height thick growing woods along river gorges and streams. Occurs from lowlands to 2100 m in Mexico and primarily in plateau and hill country in El Salvador and Costa Rica. Presumed to reside in foothills between 900 m and 1200 m elevation in western Panama. Resident over most of range with some local seasonal movement in response to food availability. In Mexico it is considered likely only a non-breeding visitor from October to May on the Pacific slope of Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca. Found to be present in El Salvador only during the spring and summer months, so possible that it is migratory.


Leafy spurge was transported to the United States possibly as a seed impurity in the early 19th century. It now occurs across much of the northern U.S., with the most extensive infestations reported for Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Since the introduction of leafy spurge to the United States, it has been found in 458 counties in 26 states. It has been identified as a serious weed on a number of national parks and on reserves of The Nature Conservancy in eleven northern states. It is now classified as an invasive species by the United States Department of Agriculture.
Leafy spurge grows in a variety of different climate environments. It displaces native vegetation in prairie habitats and fields through shading and by usurping available water and nutrients and through plant toxins that prevent the growth of other plants underneath it. It is an aggressive invader and, once present, can completely overtake large areas of open land. Leafy spurge quickly colonizes in areas with bare soil, especially those caused by human disturbance where native species are removed. One method of control suggested is to limit the amount of bare soil from these disturbances. It is toxic as well.
Because of its persistent nature and ability to regenerate from small pieces of root, leafy spurge is extremely difficult to eradicate. In Saskatchewan, leafy spurge spread on trails used by settlers and traders. More recently, the travel of leafy spurge has been linked to railroads and the use and transport of infested hay used for agriculture. Biological control offers a highly promising management tactic for leafy spurge. Goats, apparently able to graze on the plant without ill effect, have been used on rail trails in Idaho to clear leafy spurge from the trail shoulders.   Sheep have been used in North Dakota, along with herbicides and flea beetles, to fight it. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has shown success using six European insects that feed on leafy spurge. These include a stem and root-boring beetle (Oberea erythrocephala), five root-mining flea beetles (Aphthona spp.), The Spurge Hawk-moth (Hyles euphorbiae), and a shoot-tip gall midge (Spurgia esulae). Large scale field-rearing and release programs are carried out cooperatively by federal and state officials in many northern U.S. states. The results are not as immediate as when herbicides are used but, if pesticide use is kept to a minimum, large numbers of these insects build up within a few years and have shown impressive results.
Several systemic herbicides have been found to be effective if applied in June, when the flowers and seeds are developing, or in early-to-mid-September, when the plants are moving nutrients downward into the roots. Preliminary research suggests that chemical treatment in the fall followed by a spring burn to reduce seed germination may be an effective strategy for reducing leafy spurge infestations. Multiple treatments are necessary every year for several years, making leafy spurge control an extremely expensive undertaking. If left uncontrolled for a single year, leafy spurge can reinfest rapidly. Prescribed burning, in conjunction with herbicides, may also be effective.


Euphyia intermediata, the sharp-angled carpet, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Achille Guenée in 1858. It is found from coast-to-coast in southern Canada and the northern United States, south in the east to North Carolina, south in the west to California, Utah, and possibly Arizona. It is also found north to the Northwest Territories and Alaska.
The European species Euphyia unangulata was previously thought to be Holarctic. The name was therefore also applied to the North American populations. Malcolm J. Scoble et al. in Geometrid Moths of the World (1999) split them into distinct species.
The wingspan is 21–27 mm. Adults are on wing from April to September. There is one generation per year.
The larvae feed on various plants, including bedstraw, carnation, chickweed, elm, and mustard.


The brown-tail moth (Euproctis chrysorrhoea) is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is native to Europe, neighboring countries in Asia, and the north coast of Africa. Descriptions of outbreaks, i.e., large population increases of several years duration, have been reported as far back as the 1500s. The life cycle of the moth is atypical, in that it spends approximately nine months (August to April) as larvae (caterpillars), leaving about one month each for pupae, imagos and eggs. Larvae (caterpillars) are covered in hairs. Two red spots on the back, toward the tail, distinguish these species from other similarly hairy moth larvae. The winged adults have white wings and a hairy white body with a tuft of brown hair at the tip of the abdomen. Females lay one egg cluster, usually on the underside of a leaf of a host plant. The species is polyphagous, meaning that it feeds on many different species of trees, including pear, apple, maple and oak.
This species was accidentally introduced to the United States in the 1890s. During the early 20th century it was present from eastern Connecticut northward into New Brunswick, Canada, but a subsequent severe population collapse reduced the territory to parts of coastal Maine and Cape Cod, Massachusetts, by the late 20th century. One theory for the decline appeared to be parasitism by a fly introduced to combat spongy moths. Starting in 2015 there has been a population spike and territory expansion in coastal Maine. In Europe, there are multiple parasitic and predator species, yet there is still a history of population outbreaks.
Hairs from the caterpillars are toxic for humans, causing a poison ivy-like itchy rash of up to sometimes weeks-long duration due to mechanical and chemical irritation. Direct contact with larvae is not necessary, as the hairs are shed and can become windblown. Toxins in the hairs remain potent for up to three years. Outdoor activities such as mowing a lawn or raking leaves in the fall can cause exposure.


This species can be found throughout Europe, except in the most northern countries, also in the westernmost countries of Asia, such as Turkey, Syria and Israel, and the countries across the northern parts of Africa. Charles H. Fernald and Archie H. Kirkland recount historic mentions of brown-tail moths dating back to 1500s, describing outbreaks in Paris, London and Berlin so severe as to completely strip all trees of leaves. Carl Linnaeus described the species in the tenth edition (1758) of Systema Naturae.


The brown-tail moth is an invasive species in the United States and Canada, having arrived in Somerville, Massachusetts, circa 1890 and becoming widespread there and in neighboring Cambridge by 1897. Initial outbreaks were most evident in pear and apple trees. Doctors reported "poisonings" (skin rash) far worse than poison ivy rash. Within a few years it was seen as a serious, fast-spreading, horticultural and health problem. Through the early parts of the 20th century it was present in much of New England from eastern Connecticut to Maine, and northward into New Brunswick, Canada, but the 1906 introduction of the parasitic tachinid fly Compsilura concinnata to counter spongy moths collaterally impacted brown-tail moths. By the late 20th century the habitat was reduced to the coast and islands of Maine, and also parts of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Cold and wet weather hinders re-expansion of the population outside its current territories, although starting in 2015 there has been a population spike and territory expansion in coastal Maine, from Portland to Bar Harbor. In addition to North America, there have been reports of this species appearing in China, Japan and New Guinea.


The olive-throated parakeet (Eupsittula nana), also known as the olive-throated conure in aviculture, is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is found in forest and woodland in Jamaica, Mexico and Central America, and has been introduced to Hispaniola, in the Dominican Republic.


The brown-throated parakeet is mostly green, with the lower parts being a lighter green than the upperparts. Black/grey beak. Some blue in the wing feathers. Head and face colours depend on the subspecies. Though most subspecies are brown-throated, both E. p. pertinax and E. p. xanthogenia have most of the head, including the throat, orange-yellow. It is not to be confused with the similarly-named extinct brown-headed parakeet of Raiatea in the Society Islands (Tahiti and its neighbors), more commonly known as the Society parakeet. This species of parakeet predominantly eat seeds (such as Acacia and Cassia) and forage for them in small groups. They also feed on fruits (such as Mangifera), nuts, blossoms and occasionally insects. They utter loud calls while flying through the habitat, foraging groups either respond or stay silent. If the foraging group responds, groups flying above may join the foraging group or carry on.


It is found widely in woodland, savanna and scrub throughout northern South America and the southeastern Caribbean in Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Trinidad and Tobago, the ABC islands in the Netherlands Antilles, and northern Brazil (mainly the Rio Negro/Branco region) with a disjunct population in south-western Pará. Another disjunct population is found in southern Central America in Panama and Costa Rica, and is sometimes considered a separate species, the Veraguas parakeet (A. ocularis). The brown-throated parakeet has been introduced to Puerto Rico (where now possibly extirpated), the U.S. Virgin Islands (mainly Saint Thomas, hence the alternative name St. Thomas conure), and various other islands in the Lesser Antilles (at least Dominica; recent sightings also from Martinique and Guadeloupe).


This butterfly may be seen almost all year in Arizona and Texas, and April to November in New Mexico.  It strays northward in late summer, rarely reaching Canada.


Eurybia macrophylla, commonly known as the bigleaf aster, large-leaved aster, largeleaf aster or  bigleaf wood aster, is an herbaceous perennial in the family Asteraceae that was formerly treated in the genus Aster. It is native to eastern North America, with a range extending from eastern and central  Canada (from Nova Scotia to Manitoba) through the northeastern  deciduous and mixed forests of New England and the Great Lakes region and south along the Appalachians as far as the northeastern corner of Georgia, and west as far as Minnesota, Missouri and Arkansas. The flowers appear in the late summer to early fall and show ray florets that are usually either a deep lavender or violet, but sometimes white, and disc florets that are cream-coloured or light yellow, becoming purple as they mature. It is one of the parent species of the hybrid Eurybia × herveyi.


Eurybia macrophylla is native to southern parts of eastern and central Canada and to northern parts of the eastern and central United States, south to northern Georgia in the Appalachian Mountains. In Canada, it is common in Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. In the United States, it can be found in all states east of and including Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee. It may also be present in Mississippi. The plant has also been introduced outside of its native range into northern Europe. It is most often encountered at 0 to 1300 metre (0–4300 feet) elevations in moist to dry soils in association with hemlock–northern hardwood, beech–maple or pine forests, Appalachian spruce–fir forests, as well as with aspen, pine or open spruce woodlands. It can also be found in thickets, clearings or along shaded roadsides.


Eurybia sibirica is present in much of the subarctic region of world, in northwestern North America and Northern Europe and Northern Asia. It is common in northern Asia (Buryatia, Yakutia, Mongolia, Japan, Chinese Province of Heilongjiang and other parts of North of China). It is also found in European Russia and Scandinavia, as well as northern and western Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, and all 3 Arctic provinces) and United States (Alaska plus the mountains of Washington, Idaho, and Montana). It is found at heights ranging from sea level up to 2200 metres in sandy or gravely soils in disturbed or open areas of boreal forests. It is also present in wet meadows, in open areas of aspen and spruce woods and along riparian thickets. In addition, it is common growing in sandy or gravelly stream flats, along stream banks and the shores of lakes, on bluffs,  in sand dunes and other sandy places, and in both sub-alpine and mountain meadows.
Subspecies
Eurybia sibirica subsp. sibirica
Eurybia sibirica subsp. subintegerrima (Trautv.) Greuter


The Oriental dollarbird (Eurystomus orientalis) is a bird of the roller family, so named because of the distinctive pale blue or white, coin-shaped spots on its wings. It can be found from Australia to Korea, Japan and India.


The Oriental dollarbird was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Coracias orientalis. Linnaeus based his description on "Le Rollier des Indes" that had been described and illustrated by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The type locality is the island of Java in Indonesia. The Oriental dollarbird is now placed in the genus Eurystomus that was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot.
A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2018 found that the azure dollarbird (Eurystomus azureus) was nested in a clade containing subspecies of the Oriental dollarbird. Formerly, some authorities have also considered the broad-billed roller and the azure dollarbird to have been subspecies of the oriental dollarbird.  The generic name derives from Ancient Greek eurustomos 'wide-mouthed' and the specific epithet is Latin orientalis 'eastern'. Alternate names for the oriental dollarbird include the Asian dollarbird, dark roller, dollar roller, dollarbird, eastern broad-billed roller and oriental broad-billed roller.
Ten subspecies are recognized:
E. o. cyanocollis - Vieillot, 1819: Found from the Himalayas through China to south-eastern Siberia, Korea and Japan
E. o. orientalis - (Linnaeus, 1766): Found from the southern Himalayas to Indochina, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Borneo and the Philippines
E. o. laetior - Sharpe, 1890: Found in south-western India
E. o. gigas - Stresemann, 1913: Found on southern Andaman Islands
E. o. irisi - Deraniyagala, 1951: Found in Sri Lanka
E. o. oberholseri - Junge, 1936: Found on Simeulue (off north-western Sumatra)
Australian roller (E. o. pacificus) - (Latham, 1801): Originally described as a separate species in the genus Coracias. Found on the Lesser Sunda Islands, northern and eastern Australia
E. o. waigiouensis - Elliot, DG, 1871: Originally described as a separate species. Found on New Guinea, western Papuan islands, D'Entrecasteaux Islands and the Louisiade Archipelago
E. o. crassirostris - Sclater, PL, 1869: Originally described as a separate species. Found in the Bismarck Archipelago
E. o. solomonensis - Sharpe, 1890: Originally described as a separate species. Found in the Solomon Islands


Males will patrol near host plants in search of females, flying swiftly and directly. They usually fly 0.5 to 1.8 meters (2 to 6 ft) above the ground. Females will fly slowly when searching for suitable host plants. Both males and females avidly visit flowers, including species from the families Apocynaceae, Brassicaceae, Fabaceae, Lythraceae, Polemoniaceae, and Rosaceae. Males participate in a behavior known as puddling, in which individuals congregate on sand, gravel, or moist soil to obtain salts and amino acids. These nutrients aid the male in reproduction. Other food sources include rotting fruit and urine.


Eustixia is a monotypic moth genus of the family Crambidae described by Jacob Hübner in 1823. Its only species, Eustixia pupula, the spotted peppergrass moth, described by the same author in the same publication, is found in North America from Massachusetts to Florida, west to Texas and north to Ontario.
The wingspan is about 17 mm. Adults are on wing from June to August.
The larvae feed on the leaves of Lepidium species, Thlaspi arvense and cabbage.


The Siberian chipmunk (Eutamias sibiricus), also called common chipmunk is native to northern Asia from central Russia to China, Korea, and Hokkaidō in northern Japan. It was imported from South Korea and introduced in Europe as a pet in the 1960s.


This species is native to Russia in northern European, Siberia to Sakhalin and Kunashir, extreme eastern Kazakhstan, northern Mongolia, northern and central China, Korea, and in Japan in Hokkaido, Iturup, Rishiri, Rebun, Teuri, and Yagishiri. It has been introduced at one confirmed locality, Karuizawa, on Honshu.
During the 1960s, South Korea began to export these animals to Europe as pets. Between 1960 and 1980, South Korea exported more than 200,000 individuals to Europe.
In the 1970s there were sightings in parks in Europe, and a number of small populations have become resident in suburban forests and urban parks in Belgium, France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Austria. This is mostly caused by owners releasing these animals because they no longer wanted them as pets, or the owners purposefully freed the chipmunks to live naturally in the wild. Other Siberian chipmunks escaped from captivity and inhabited the forested areas of Europe. The Dutch chipmunks for example are escapees from a former zoo in Tilburg. When the zoo was shut down and all animals were moved away, many chipmunks got forgotten due to their underground residence. While thousands of animals were introduced to new environments, they are not very invasive and are naturally slow spreading, 200 to 250 metres (660 to 820 ft) per year, which prevented them from rapidly moving to areas far beyond where they escaped. In 2009, 22 introduced populations in Europe, and 11 in France, were identified in forests and urban parks since the 1970s (not all may still be extant).


Siberian chipmunks usually live solitary lives, but during the winter they create a burrow, which they often share with another chipmunk. Its burrow, which can be 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) long and 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) deep, consists of a nest chamber, several storage chambers and chambers for the waste. During this winter season, these chipmunks store 3–4 kg (6.6–8.8 lb) of food in order to survive underground until April or May. In addition to pairing off during hibernation, they also use a complex voice communication system to interact. They have two vocal sounds, a fast, sharp sound for when they are frightened and a deep croak sound that is thought to be used for mating.
Chipmunks with more active and curious behaviour, based on trappability of marked individuals, have a greater number of ticks.


This herb used in traditional medicine of East Asia for its purported psychotropic and nootropic properties. although such claims are not medically verified.
Chemical compounds isolated from E. alsinoides include scopoletin, umbelliferone, scopolin and 2-methyl-1,2,3,4-butanetetrol.


Exidia recisa is a wood-rotting species, typically found on dead attached twigs and branches. It was originally recorded on willow and most frequently occurs on this substrate, although it has also been reported on poplar, alder, and Prunus species. Exidia recisa typically fruits in autumn and winter. It is widely distributed in North and Central America, Europe, and northern Asia.


The contiguous range of Texas kidneywood covers the three neighboring Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas in northeast Mexico, the Rio Grande valley, from Big Bend southeastwards, but not the coastal Gulf of Mexico areas, only 25–50 miles inland. Part of the range extends southwards into extreme northern San Luis Potosí, and some isolated locales towards east-central and southern Texas.


In 1747 the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of a female spruce grouse in the second volume of his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. He used the English name "The Brown and Spotted Heathcock". Edwards based his hand-coloured etching on a preserved specimen that had been sent to him in London from the Hudson Bay in Canada by a Mr Light. Edwards was later sent what he assumed was a specimen of the male bird by James Isham. In 1750 he included the male bird in the third volume of his book under the English name "The Black and Spotted Heathcock". When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he placed the spruce grouse with other grouse in the genus Tetrao. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Tetrao canadensis and cited Edwards' work. The spruce grouse is now the only species placed in the genus Canachites that was introduced in 1885 by the zoologist Leonhard Stejneger. The genus name Canachites combines the name Canace from Greek mythology with the Ancient Greek -itēs meaning "resembling".
In the first half of the 20th century, spruce grouse were classified as two separate species in the genus Canachites: spruce grouse (C. canadensis) and Franklin's grouse (C. franklinii), a position reinstated by Birdlife International in 2014. However, as of early 2021 the International Ornithological Congress (IOC), the American Ornithological Society, and the Clements taxonomy retain Franklin's grouse as a subspecies of spruce grouse.
The species was later moved to the genus Dendragapus, congeneric with the blue grouse with which spruce grouse often share coniferous habitats. However, spruce grouse do not have inflatable cervical sacs as in blue grouse, and the natal plumage of the two species is different. Based on its stronger resemblance to the Siberian grouse (Falcipennis falcipennis), the spruce grouse was later reclassified into the genus Falcipennis. However, taxonomic studies found this classification to be paraphyletic, with the Siberian grouse being basal to a clade containing the spruce grouse, Tetrao, and Lyrurus. Due to this, the spruce grouse was again reclassified in Canachites, bringing its taxonomy full-circle. Six subspecies are recognized by the IOC in these ranges:
C. c. osgoodi Bishop, 1900 – north Alaska
C. c. atratus Grinnell, 1910 – south Alaska
C. c. canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) – central Alberta to Labrador and Nova Scotia. Introduced in Newfoundland in 1964 and Anticosti Island in 1985–86.
C. c. canace (Linnaeus, 1766) – southeast Canada and northeast United States
C. c. isleibi (Dickerman & Gustafson, 1996) – southeast Alaska
C. c. franklinii (Douglas, 1829) – southeast Alaska to northwest Wyoming and Idaho


As a specialist of the taiga, the spruce grouse is found throughout Canada. In the United States, it is present in Alaska, northern New England, the Adirondacks in New York, northern Michigan, northeastern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and the montane coniferous forests of Montana, Idaho, Maine, Oregon, and Washington. Spruce grouse are always associated with conifer-dominated forests, be they pine, spruce, or fir. They seem to prefer young successional stands. In summer they can be found near rich understory of blueberries and other shrub, and in winter they prefer denser stands.
The spruce grouse is essentially a permanent resident. However, in southwestern Alberta up to 35% of females and 7% of males move several kilometers (up to 11) between summer breeding sites and wintering sites. Similar movements have also been documented in Alaska and New Brunswick (Canada).


The brown falcon (Falco berigora) is a relatively large falcon native to Australia and New Guinea.
A number of plumage morphs occur, with the primary distinction being between the pale morph and the dark morph. Both morphs usually have dark brown upper parts and wing coverts. Dark morph birds have predominantly dark under parts, although some light streaking is common. Pale morph birds have white underparts that are varyingly streaked with brown, sometimes heavily so. Pale individuals may also have prominently white under tail coverts and these may be diagnostic. A distinctive aspect of their behaviour is shown in the breeding season when Brown Falcons make a loud, high pitched, cackle call (like a laying hen) and screeching while in flight.
The species name berigora has Aboriginal origins.


The merlin was described and illustrated by the English naturalist Mark Catesby (as the "pigeon hawk") in his Natural history of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands published in 1729–1732. Based on this description, in 1758 Carl Linnaeus included the species in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae and introduced the present binomial name Falco columbarius with the type locality as "America". The genus name is Late Latin; falco derives from falx, falcis, a sickle, referring to the claws of the bird. The species name columbarius is Latin for "of doves" from "columba", "dove". Thirteen years after Linnaeus's description Marmaduke Tunstall recognized the Eurasian birds as a distinct taxon Falco aesalon in his Ornithologica Britannica. If two species of merlins are recognized, the Old World birds would thus bear the scientific name F. aesalon.
The name "merlin" is derived from Old French esmerillon via Anglo-Norman merilun or meriliun. There are related Germanic words derived through older forms such as Middle Dutch smeerle, Old High German smerle and Old Icelandic smyrill. Wycliffe's Bible, around 1382, mentions An Egle, & agriffyn, & a merlyon. The species was once known as 'pigeon hawk' in North America. The same name, associated with the legendary wizard Merlin from the Arthurian legends, is a coincidence. The wizard's name is an English cognate of the Welsh name “Myrddin” and is unrelated to the name of the bird.


That the merlin has a long-standing presence on both sides of the Atlantic is evidenced by the degree of genetic distinctness between Eurasian and North American populations. Arguably, they might be considered distinct species, with gene flow having ceased at least a million years ago, but probably more.
By and large, color variation in either group independently follows Gloger's Rule. The Pacific temperate rain forest subspecies suckleyi's males are almost uniformly black on the upperside and have heavy black blotches on the belly, whereas those of the lightest subspecies, pallidus, have little non-dilute melanin altogether, with grey upperside and reddish underside pattern.
American group
Falco columbarius columbarius (Linnaeus, 1758) – taiga merlin, boreal merlin, tundra merlin
Canada and northernmost United States east of Rocky Mountains, except Great Plains. Migratory, winters in S North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and N South America from the Guyanas to the northern Andes foothills. Rarely winters in the northern USA.
Falco columbarius richardsonii (Ridgway, 1871) – prairie merlin
Great Plains from Alberta to Wyoming. Resident (some winter dispersal).
Falco columbarius suckleyi (Ridgway, 1873) – black merlin, coastal forest merlin
Pacific coast of North America, from S Alaska to N Washington state. Resident (some altitudinal movements).
Eurasian group
Falco columbarius/aesalon aesalon (Tunstall, 1771) – Eurasian merlin
Northern Eurasia from British Isles through Scandinavia to central Siberia. Population of northern Britain shows evidence of gene flow from subaesalon. British Isles population resident, rest migratory; winters in Europe and the Mediterranean region to about Iran.
Falco columbarius/aesalon subaesalon (C.L. Brehm, 1827) – Icelandic merlin, smyril (Faroese), smyrill (Icelandic)
Iceland and Faroe Islands. Latter population has some gene flow with aesalon. Resident (some winter dispersal).
Falco columbarius/aesalon pallidus (Sushkin, 1900) – pallid merlin, steppe merlin
Asian steppes between Aral Sea and Altay Mountains. Migratory, winters in S Central Asia and N South Asia.
Falco columbarius/aesalon insignis (Clark, 1907) – East Siberian merlin
Siberia between Yenisei and Kolyma Rivers. Migratory, winters in continental East Asia.
Falco columbarius/aesalon lymani (Bangs, 1913) – Central Asian merlin
Mountains of eastern Kazakhstan and surrounding countries. Short-distance migrant.
Falco columbarius/aesalon pacificus (Stegmann, 1929) – Pacific merlin
Russian Far East to Sakhalin. Migratory, winters in Japan, Korea and nearby.


Merlins inhabit fairly open country, such as willow or birch scrub, shrubland, but also taiga forest, parks, grassland such as steppe and prairies, or moorland. They are not very habitat-specific and can be found from sea level to the treeline. In general, they prefer a mix of low and medium-height vegetation with some trees, and avoid dense forests as well as treeless arid regions. During migration however, they will utilize almost any habitat.
Most of its populations are migratory, wintering in warmer regions. Northern European birds move to southern Europe and North Africa, and North American populations to the southern United States to northern South America. In the milder maritime parts of its breeding range, such as Great Britain, the Pacific Northwest and western Iceland, as well as in Central Asia, it will merely desert higher ground and move to coasts and lowland during winter. The migration to the breeding grounds starts in late February, with most birds passing through the US, Central Europe and southern Russia in March and April, and the last stragglers arriving in the breeding range towards the end of May. Migration to winter quarters at least in Eurasia peaks in August/September, while e.g. in Ohio, just south of the breeding range, F. c. columbarius is typically recorded as a southbound migrant as late as September/October.  In Europe, merlins will roost communally in winter, often with hen harriers (Circus cyaneus). In North America, communal roosting is rare.
Merlins rely on speed and agility to hunt their prey. They often hunt by flying fast and low, typically less than 1 m (3.3 ft) above the ground, using trees and large shrubs to take prey by surprise. But they actually capture most prey in the air, and will "tail-chase" startled birds. Throughout its native range, the merlin is one of the most able aerial predators of small to mid-sized birds, more versatile if anything than the larger hobbies (which prefer to attack in mid-air) and the more nimble sparrowhawks (which usually go for birds resting or sleeping in dense growth). Breeding pairs will frequently hunt cooperatively, with one bird flushing the prey toward its mate.
The merlin will readily take prey that is flushed by other causes, and can for example be seen tagging along sharp-shinned hawks (Accipiter striatus) to catch birds that escape from this ambush predator into the open air. It is quite unafraid, and will readily attack anything that moves conspicuously. Merlins have even been observed trying to "catch" automobiles and trains, and to feed on captive birds such as those snared in the mist nets used by ornithologists. Even under adverse conditions, one in 20 targets is usually caught, and under good conditions almost every other attack will be successful. Sometimes, merlins cache food to eat it later.
In particular during the breeding season, most of the prey are smallish birds weighing 10–40 g (0.35–1.41 oz). Almost any such species will be taken, with local preferences for whatever is most abundant—be it larks (Alaudidae), pipits (Anthus), finches (Fringillidae), house sparrows (Passer domesticus), other Old World sparrows (Passeridae) or buntings (Emberiza)—and inexperienced yearlings always a favorite. Smaller birds will generally avoid a hunting merlin if possible. In the Cayman Islands (where it only occurs in winter), bananaquits were noted to die of an apparent heart attack or stroke, without being physically harmed, when a merlin went at them and they could not escape.
Larger birds (e.g. sandpipers, flickers, ptarmigan, other grouse and even rock pigeons as heavy as the merlin itself) and other animals—insects (especially dragonflies, moths and grasshoppers), small mammals (especially bats, rabbits, voles and other small rodents) and reptiles (such as lizards and snakes)—complement its diet. These are more important outside the breeding season, when they can make up a considerable part of the merlin's diet. But for example in Norway, while small birds are certainly the breeding merlin's staple food, exceptional breeding success seems to require an abundance of Microtus voles.
Corvids are the primary threat to eggs and nestlings. Adult merlins may be preyed on by larger raptors, especially peregrine falcons (F. peregrinus), eagle-owls (e.g., great horned owl, Bubo virginianus), and larger Accipiter hawks (e.g., northern goshawk, A. gentilis). In general however, carnivorous birds avoid merlins due to their aggressiveness and agility.  Their desire to drive larger raptors away from their territory is so pronounced that it is an identifying characteristic.  Quoting from one popular raptor watching reference, "An observer may use this aggressive tendency for identification purposes and as a means of detection. High-flying merlins often betray themselves and distinguish themselves because they are vigorously harassing another raptor (even ones as large as the Golden Eagle)."


Altogether, the merlin is not particularly rare, and due to this and its wide range it is considered a species of least concern by the IUCN. Its numbers are—except in the Asian part of its range, where the situation is less well determined—regularly censused. In about every major country it inhabits, many hundreds to many thousands are found, ranging from a "mere" 250–300 pairs in Belarus to perhaps as many as 30,000 pairs of aesalon in European Russia as determined in 1993. It is listed on CITES Appendix II and on a local level protected as other birds of prey; while some countries allow to capture merlins, e.g. for falconry, international trade requires an export permit.
By far the most serious long-term threat to these birds is habitat destruction, especially in their breeding areas. Ground-nesting populations in moorland have a preference for tall heather, and are thus susceptible to overmanagement by burning vast tracts instead of creating a habitat mosaic containing old and new growth. Still, the merlin is rather euryoecious (adaptable to various conditions) and will even live in settled areas, provided they have the proper mix of low and high vegetation, as well as sufficient prey (which is usually the case) and nesting sites (which is a common limiting factor).
In North America, the species seems to have been more widespread in the past, or perhaps its range has shifted northwards: F. c. columbarius was an uncommon breeding bird in Ohio before the 20th century, but in Seneca County, as early as the 1900s even single adults were rarely seen in the breeding season. It is encountered in Ohio as a passage migrant and rarely as a winter guest, though two recent nestings have been confirmed. Changing land-use in Ohio mainly turned forest into agricultural land and thus is not very likely to have rendered the region inhospitable to the merlin; global warming on the other hand cannot be dismissed as a reason, given that the merlin is essentially a subarctic species that barely ranges even into temperate climes. Also, it may be that the number of merlins wintering in the northern USA has increased during the 20th century.
Perhaps the most frequent cause of accidental death for individuals is collision with man-made objects, particularly during attacks. This may account for almost half of all premature deaths of merlins. In the 1960s and 1970s, organochlorine pesticides were responsible for declines—particularly in Canada—due to eggshell thinning and subsequent brood failure, and compromising the immune system of adults. This has since been remedied with restrictions on the use of DDT and similar chemicals, and numbers have rebounded. Overall, merlin stocks appear globally stable; while they may decline temporarily in places, they will usually increase again eventually, suggesting that this phenomenon is due to the fluctuations of supplementary food stocks discussed above.


Similar to the merlin, the aplomado falcon will chase after game such as small birds and quail, by pursuit flight, which is flying after quarry flushed out. It is mainly acquired from breeders because of its scarcity in the United States, and many falconers in Europe will buy a pair for about £4000. It's admired for its accipiter-like hunting style, which has made the bird famous for being more like an accipiter than a falcon. This is also shown through its determination to catch the quarry even going into heavy cover. They are ideal for quail, doves, and will sometimes even go after squirrel or rabbits. Unfortunately, these birds are also known for carrying their game, like many small falcons, where they try to fly away from the falconer with their catch. The range of quarry vary from sparrows to adult pheasants.  One of the most difficult quarry for the aplomado is the partridge because of its strength, speed and flight distance.
American falconer Jim Nelson has written, "During the time of Shakespeare a new bird from the New World came upon the falconry scene in Spain, Portugal and France.  It was known to courtiers of Henry IV and Louis XIII as the Alethe... prized as "high mettled" partridge hawks...French falconer Charles d'Arcussia is the only writer who actually saw game taken with trained Alethes."  Nelson concluded that the true identity of the Old World Alethe is the modern day aplomado falcon.


The natural habitat of the prairie falcon is open country, especially arid, in summer including alpine tundra to shortgrass prairie and high desert. In winter it is more widespread, ranging to low deserts and occasionally to towns. It breeds from southern Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and south-central British Columbia south through the western United States–roughly between the eastern edge of the Mountain Time Zone and the Cascade Mountains, as well as the Central Valley of California–to the Mexican states of Baja California, Durango, and northern San Luis Potosí. It is much less migratory than the other North American falcons, but in winter it does withdraw somewhat from the northernmost and highest-elevation parts of its breeding range and spreads west to the deserts and Pacific coast of California, east to about the 100th meridian, and south to Baja California Sur, Jalisco, and Hidalgo.


The lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni) is a small falcon. This species breeds from the Mediterranean across Afghanistan and Central Asia, to China and Mongolia. It is a summer migrant, wintering in Africa and Pakistan and sometimes even to India and Iraq. It is rare north of its breeding range, and declining in its European range. The genus name derives from Late Latin falx, falcis, a sickle, referencing the claws of the bird, and the species name commemorates the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Naumann.


Numerous subspecies of Falco peregrinus have been described, with 19 accepted by the 1994 Handbook of the Birds of the World, which considers the Barbary falcon of the Canary Islands and coastal North Africa to be two subspecies (pelegrinoides and babylonicus) of Falco peregrinus, rather than a distinct species, F. pelegrinoides. The following map shows the general ranges of these 19 subspecies.
Falco peregrinus anatum, described by Bonaparte in 1838, is known as the American peregrine falcon or "duck hawk"; its scientific name means "duck peregrine falcon". At one time, it was partly included in leucogenys. It is mainly found in the Rocky Mountains today. It was formerly common throughout North America between the tundra and northern Mexico, where current reintroduction efforts are seeking to restore the population. Most mature anatum, except those that breed in more northern areas, winter in their breeding range. Most vagrants that reach western Europe seem to belong to the more northern and strongly migratory tundrius, only considered distinct since 1968. It is similar to the nominate subspecies, but is slightly smaller; adults are somewhat paler and less patterned below, but juveniles are darker and more patterned below. Males weigh 500 to 700 g (1.1–1.5 lb), while females weigh 800 to 1,100 g (1.8–2.4 lb). It has become extinct in eastern North America and populations there are hybrids as a result of reintroductions of birds from elsewhere.
Falco peregrinus babylonicus, described by P.L. Sclater in 1861, is found in eastern Iran along the Hindu Kush and the Tian Shan to the Mongolian Altai ranges. A few birds winter in northern and northwestern India, mainly in dry semi-desert habitats. It is paler than pelegrinoides and somewhat similar to a small, pale lanner falcon (Falco biarmicus). Males weigh 330 to 400 grams (12 to 14 oz), while females weigh 513 to 765 grams (18.1 to 27.0 oz).
Falco peregrinus brookei, described by Sharpe in 1873, is also known as the Mediterranean peregrine falcon or the Maltese falcon. It includes caucasicus and most specimens of the proposed race punicus, though others may be pelegrinoides (Barbary falcons), or perhaps the rare hybrids between these two which might occur around Algeria. They occur from the Iberian Peninsula around the Mediterranean, except in arid regions, to the Caucasus. They are non-migratory. It is smaller than the nominate subspecies and the underside usually has a rusty hue. Males weigh around 445 g (0.981 lb), while females weigh up to 920 g (2.03 lb).
Falco peregrinus calidus, described by John Latham in 1790, it was formerly called leucogenys and includes caeruleiceps. It breeds in the Arctic tundra of Eurasia from Murmansk Oblast to roughly Yana and Indigirka Rivers, Siberia. It is completely migratory and travels south in winter as far as South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. It is often seen around wetland habitats. It is paler than the nominate subspecies, especially on the crown. Males weigh 588 to 740 g (1.296–1.631 lb), while females weigh 925 to 1,333 g (2.039–2.939 lb).
Falco peregrinus cassini, described by Sharpe in 1873, is also known as the austral peregrine falcon. It includes kreyenborgi, the pallid falcon, a leucistic colour morph occurring in southernmost South America, which was long believed to be a distinct species. Its range includes South America from Ecuador through Bolivia, northern Argentina and Chile to Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands. It is non-migratory. It is similar to the nominate subspecies, but slightly smaller with a black ear region. The pallid falcon morph kreyenborgi is medium grey above, has little barring below and has a head pattern like the saker falcon (Falco cherrug), but the ear region is white.
Falco peregrinus ernesti, described by Sharpe in 1894, is found from the Sunda Islands to the Philippines and south to eastern New Guinea and the nearby Bismarck Archipelago. Its geographical separation from nesiotes requires confirmation. It is non-migratory. It differs from the nominate subspecies in the very dark, dense barring on its underside and its black ear coverts.
Falco peregrinus furuitii, described by Momiyama in 1927, is found on the Izu and Ogasawara Islands south of Honshū, Japan. It is non-migratory. It is very rare and may only remain on a single island. It is a dark form, resembling pealei in colour, but darker, especially on the tail.
Falco peregrinus japonensis, described by Gmelin in 1788, includes kleinschmidti, pleskei, and harterti, and seems to refer to intergrades with calidus. It is found from northeast Siberia to Kamchatka (though it is possibly replaced by pealei on the coast there) and Japan. Northern populations are migratory, while those of Japan are resident. It is similar to the nominate subspecies, but the young are even darker than those of anatum.
Falco peregrinus macropus, described by Swainson in 1837, is the Australian peregrine falcon. It is found in Australia in all regions except the southwest. It is non-migratory. It is similar to brookei in appearance, but is slightly smaller and the ear region is entirely black. The feet are proportionally large.
Falco peregrinus madens, described by Ripley and Watson in 1963, is unusual in having some sexual dichromatism. If the Barbary falcon (see below) is considered a distinct species, it is sometimes placed therein. It is found in the Cape Verde Islands and is non-migratory; it is also endangered, with only six to eight pairs surviving. Males have a rufous wash on the crown, nape, ears and back; the underside is conspicuously washed pinkish-brown. Females are tinged rich brown overall, especially on the crown and nape.
Falco peregrinus minor, first described by Bonaparte in 1850. It was formerly often known as perconfusus. It is sparsely and patchily distributed throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa and widespread in Southern Africa. It apparently reaches north along the Atlantic coast as far as Morocco. It is non-migratory and dark-coloured. This is the smallest subspecies, with smaller males weighing as little as approximately 300 g (11 oz).
Falco peregrinus nesiotes, described by Mayr in 1941, is found in Fiji and probably also Vanuatu and New Caledonia. It is non-migratory.
Falco peregrinus pealei, described by Ridgway in 1873, is Peale's falcon and includes rudolfi. It is found in the Pacific Northwest of North America, northwards from Puget Sound along the British Columbia coast (including the Haida Gwaii), along the Gulf of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands to the far eastern Bering Sea coast of Russia, and may also occur on the Kuril Islands and the coasts of Kamchatka. It is non-migratory. It is the largest subspecies and it looks like an oversized and darker tundrius or like a strongly barred and large anatum. The bill is very wide. Juveniles occasionally have pale crowns. Males weigh 700 to 1,000 g (1.5–2.2 lb), while females weigh 1,000 to 1,500 g (2.2–3.3 lb).
Falco peregrinus pelegrinoides, first described by Temminck in 1829, is found in the Canary Islands through North Africa and the Near East to Mesopotamia. It is most similar to brookei, but is markedly paler above, with a rusty neck, and is a light buff with reduced barring below. It is smaller than the nominate subspecies; females weigh around 610 g (1.34 lb).
Falco peregrinus peregrinator, described by Sundevall in 1837, is known as the Indian peregrine falcon, black shaheen, Indian shaheen or shaheen falcon. It was formerly sometimes known as Falco atriceps or Falco shaheen. Its range includes South Asia from across the Indian subcontinent to Sri Lanka and southeastern China. In India, the shaheen falcon is reported from all states except Uttar Pradesh, mainly from rocky and hilly regions. The shaheen falcon is also reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal. It has a clutch size of 3 to 4 eggs, with the chicks fledging time of 48 days with an average nesting success of 1.32 chicks per nest. In India, apart from nesting on cliffs, it has also been recorded as nesting on man-made structures such as buildings and cellphone transmission towers. A population estimate of 40 breeding pairs in Sri Lanka was made in 1996. It is non-migratory and is small and dark, with rufous underparts. In Sri Lanka this species is found to favour the higher hills, while the migrant calidus is more often seen along the coast.
Falco peregrinus peregrinus, the nominate (first-named) subspecies, described by Tunstall in 1771, breeds over much of temperate Eurasia between the tundra in the north and the Pyrenees, Mediterranean region and Alpide belt in the south. It is mainly non-migratory in Europe, but migratory in Scandinavia and Asia. Males weigh 580 to 750 g (1.28–1.65 lb), while females weigh 925 to 1,300 g (2.039–2.866 lb). It includes brevirostris, germanicus, rhenanus and riphaeus.
Falco peregrinus radama, described by Hartlaub in 1861, is found in Madagascar and the Comoros. It is non-migratory.
Falco peregrinus submelanogenys, described by Mathews in 1912, is the Southwest Australian peregrine falcon. It is found in southwestern Australia and is non-migratory.
Falco peregrinus tundrius, described by C.M. White in 1968, was at one time included in leucogenys. It is found in the Arctic tundra of North America to Greenland, and migrates to wintering grounds in Central and South America. Most vagrants that reach western Europe belong to this subspecies, which was previously considered synonymous with anatum. It is the New World equivalent to calidus. It is smaller and paler than anatum; most have a conspicuous white forehead and white in ear region, but the crown and "moustache" are very dark, unlike in calidus. Juveniles are browner and less grey than in calidus and paler, sometimes almost sandy, than in anatum. Males weigh 500 to 700 g (1.1–1.5 lb), while females weigh 800 to 1,100 g (1.8–2.4 lb). Despite its current recognition as a valid subspecies, a population genetic study of both pre-decline (i.e., museum) and recovered contemporary populations failed to distinguish genetically the anatum and tundrius subspecies.


The peregrine falcon became an endangered species over much of its range because of the use of organochlorine pesticides, especially DDT, during the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. Pesticide biomagnification caused organochlorine to build up in the falcons' fat tissues, reducing the amount of calcium in their eggshells. With thinner shells, fewer falcon eggs survived until hatching. In addition, the PCB concentrations found in these falcons is dependent upon the age of the falcon. While high levels are still found in young birds (only a few months old) and even higher concentrations are found in more mature falcons, further increasing in adult peregrine falcons. These pesticides caused falcon prey to also have thinner eggshells. In several parts of the world, such as the eastern United States and Belgium, this species became extirpated (locally extinct) as a result. An alternate point of view is that populations in the eastern North America had vanished due to hunting and egg collection. Following the ban of organochlorine pesticides, the reproductive success of Peregrines increased in Scotland in terms of territory occupancy and breeding success, although spatial variation in recovery rates indicate that in some areas Peregrines were also impacted by other factors such as persecution.


Contra Helbig et al. 1994, Wink et al. 1998. The supposed basal position of the hierofalcons was due to them having a cytochrome b numt: see Wink & Sauer-Gürth 2000
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor levied a nominal rent of these birds on the Knights Hospitallers when he donated the territories of Malta, Gozo and Tripoli to them. The source of the name for Dashiell Hammett's novel.
Also called "Kleinschmidt's falcon", but this might equally refer to F. p. kleinschmidti, which is a junior synonym of japonensis.
The shaheen (شاهین) of Arabic and Persian writers are usually Barbary falcons; those in Indian (शाहीन) and Pakistani (شاہین) sources normally refer to peregrinator.
Colpocephalum falconii which was described from specimens found on the peregrine falcon, Colpocephalum subzerafae, Colpocephalum zerafae and Nosopon lucidum (all Menoponidae), Degeeriella rufa (Philopteridae), Laemobothrion tinnunculi (Laemobothriidae). All are known from other Falco species too.
See, for example, Cal Falcons Webcam and W.E.B. Du Bois FalconCam


The rock kestrel (Falco rupicolus) is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It was previously considered a subspecies of the common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus).
This species occurs in Africa, from northwestern Angola and southern Democratic Republic of Congo to southern Tanzania, and south to South Africa.


American kestrels are found in a wide variety of habitats, including grasslands, meadows, deserts and other open to semi-open regions. They can also be found in both urban and suburban areas. A kestrel's habitat must include perches, open space for hunting, and cavities for nesting (whether natural or man-made). The American kestrel is able to live in very diverse conditions, ranging from above the Arctic Circle, to the tropics of Central America, to elevations of over 4,500 m (14,800 ft) in the Andes Mountains. The bird is distributed from northern Canada and Alaska to the southernmost tip of South America, Tierra del Fuego. It is the only kestrel found in the Americas, though as mentioned above this classification is genetically inaccurate. It has occurred as a vagrant in the UK, Denmark, Malta and the Azores.
American kestrels in Canada and the northern United States typically migrate south in the winter, sometimes going as far as Central America and the Caribbean. Birds that breed south of about 35° north latitude are usually year-round residents. Migration also depends on local weather conditions. American Kestrels breeding at lower latitudes – below 48ºN to be precise – arrive earlier after warmer springs, whereas birds from higher latitudes return to their breeding grounds at the same time each year. These patterns suggest that short-distance migrants are better able to cope with climate change. Wintering kestrels' choice of habitat varies by sex. Females are found in open areas more often than males during the non-breeding season. A common explanation for this behavior is that the larger females who are bigger than the males arrive at the preferred habitat first and exclude males from their territory.
The American kestrel is not long-lived, with a lifespan of <5 years for wild birds. The oldest banded wild bird was 11 years and 7 months, while captive kestrels can live up to 14–17 years. In a study, humans accounted for 43.2% of 1,355 reported deaths, which included direct killing and roadkills, while predation (including by larger birds of prey) accounted for 2.8%. This statistic is likely biased, however, as reported deaths are usually found near or in areas populated by humans.


The American kestrel is likely the most abundant falcon in North America, although its total population is difficult to quantify, as local populations can change quickly due to resource availability. Count data from the USGS Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) indicate that the North American breeding population is experiencing long-term and gradual but sustained declines, with some regions, such as New England and coastal California, exhibiting more rapid declines. Count data from raptor migration corridors also indicate regional population declines and largely corroborate BBS data. The North American population has been estimated at 1.2 million pairs, with the Central and South American populations being as large. A smaller estimate is 236,000 birds wintering in North America. A population increase occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries, probably due to deforestation for agriculture. The resulting pastures provided an ideal habitat for kestrels.
The southeastern U.S. subspecies (Falco sparverius paulus) has declined 82% since 1940 due to a decrease in nest site availability. This decline is a result of longleaf pines being cleared for agricultural fields. Despite this, the American kestrel is classed as least concern on the IUCN Red List.
The Peregrine Fund, a leading non-profit organization advancing research and conservation of birds of prey worldwide, launched the American Kestrel Partnership in 2012. The American Kestrel Partnership developed and maintains a web-based network for citizen and professional scientists to enter, manage, and consolidate data from kestrel nest box monitoring programs in the Western Hemisphere. The database is being used by researchers to model and understand relationships between kestrel nesting parameters (e.g., phenology, occupancy, survival, productivity, and nestling weight and exposure to environmental toxins) and environmental factors, such as land use, landscape composition and configuration, climate conditions (e.g., drought), and point sources of environmental toxins. Each breeding season, the American Kestrel Partnership features a live-streaming video feed from the nest box located at The Peregrine Fund's campus in Boise, Idaho.