Taro is called dasheen, in contrast to the smaller variety of corms called eddo, or tanya in the English speaking countries of the West Indies, and is cultivated and consumed as a staple crop in the region. There are differences among the roots mentioned above: taro or dasheen is mostly blue when cooked, tanya is white and very dry, and eddoes are small and very slimy.
In the Spanish-speaking countries of the Spanish West Indies taro is called ñame, the Portuguese variant of which (inhame) is used in former Portuguese colonies where taro is still cultivated, including the Azores and Brazil.  In Puerto Rico and Cuba, and the Dominican Republic it is sometimes called malanga or yautia.  In some countries, such as Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica, the leaves and stem of the dasheen, or taro, are most often cooked and pureed into a thick liquid called callaloo, which is served as a side dish similar to creamed spinach. Callaloo is sometimes prepared with crab legs, coconut milk, pumpkin, and okra. It is usually served alongside rice or made into a soup along with various other roots.


It breeds in trees in woods, parks and gardens, laying two white eggs in a simple stick nest which hatch after 17 to 19 days. Wood pigeons seem to have a preference for trees near roadways and rivers. Males exhibit aggressive behaviour towards each other during the breeding season by jumping and flapping wings at each other. Their plumage becomes much darker, especially the head, during hot summer periods. Breeding can happen year round if there is food abundant however breeding season most commonly occurs in autumn usually in the months of August and September.
The nests are vulnerable to attack, particularly by crows, because they live in the countryside, the more so early in the year when the leaf cover is not fully formed. The young usually fly at 33 to 34 days; however, if the nest is disturbed, some young may be able to survive having left the nest as early as 20 days from hatching.
In a study carried out using ring-recovery data, the survival rate for juveniles in their first year was 52 per cent, and the adult annual survival rate was 61 per cent. For birds that survive the first year the typical lifespan is thus only three years, but the maximum recorded age is 17 years and 8 months for a bird ringed and recovered on the Orkney Islands.


It measures 12-18 centimeters in length and weighs about 35-56 grams. The male , with reddish brown feathers, dominant color on the adult's body , in contrast to the head, bluish gray. The female is all brown. In both sexes, on the wing there are a series of black spots on the feathers. The chicks come out with traces of the plumage of each sex.
Subspecies
It has 4 subspecies, only one of which occurs in Brazil:
Columbina talpacoti caucae (Chapman, 1915) - occurs in the Colca River valley in western Colombia.
Columbina talpacoti eluta (Bangs, 1901) - occurs on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Mexico from the north of the state of Sinaloa to the south of the state of Chiapas.
Columbina talpacoti rufipennis (Bonaparte, 1855) - Central and Eastern Mexico, Central America to Colombia and Northern Venezuela including Margarita Island and the islands of Trinidad and Tobago.
Columbina talpacoti talpacoti (Temminck, 1810) - Eastern Ecuador and Eastern and Northern Peru, Eastern Guyana, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Northern Argentina and Brazil. Occasionally as a visitor in the central region and the Lakes region in Chile.


C. leuconotus breeds from late February through early March; most adult females are pregnant by the end of March. Typically, gestation lasts about 60 days. Birth occurs in April and May. Half-grown young have been observed in late July and mid-August, and by late August young begin to disperse. The litter size is one to five young, although two to four are most common.


The blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus), also called the common wildebeest, white-bearded wildebeest, white-bearded gnu or brindled gnu, is a large antelope and one of the two species of wildebeest. It is placed in the genus Connochaetes and family Bovidae, and has a close taxonomic relationship with the black wildebeest. The blue wildebeest is known to have five subspecies. This broad-shouldered antelope has a muscular, front-heavy appearance, with a distinctive, robust muzzle. Young blue wildebeest are born tawny brown, and begin to take on their adult coloration at the age of 2 months. The adults' hues range from a deep slate or bluish-gray to light gray or even grayish-brown. Both sexes possess a pair of large curved horns.
The blue wildebeest is a herbivore, feeding primarily on short grasses. It forms herds which move about in loose aggregations, the animals being fast runners and extremely wary. The mating season begins at the end of the rainy season and a single calf is usually born after a gestational period of about 8.5 months. The calf remains with its mother for 8 months, after which it joins a juvenile herd. Oddly, rare blue wildebeest can have a glow or luminescent coat during the change of seasons between fall and winter. Blue wildebeest are found in short-grass plains bordering bush-covered acacia savannas in southern and eastern Africa, thriving in areas that are neither too wet nor too arid. Three African populations of blue wildebeest take part in a long-distance migration, timed to coincide with the annual pattern of rainfall and grass growth on the short-grass plains where they can find the nutrient-rich forage necessary for lactation and calf growth.
The blue wildebeest is native to Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Today, it is extinct in Malawi, but has been successfully reintroduced in Namibia. The southern limit of the blue wildebeest range is the Orange River, while the western limit is bounded by Lake Victoria and Mount Kenya. The blue wildebeest is widespread and is being introduced into private game farms, reserves, and conservancies. So, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources  rates the blue wildebeest as being of least concern. The population has been estimated to be around 1.5 million, and the population trend is stable.


C. taurinus has five subspecies:
C. t. taurinus (Burchell, 1823), the blue wildebeest, common wildebeest, or brindled gnu is found in southern Africa. Its range extends from Namibia and South Africa to Mozambique (north of the Orange River) and from southwestern Zambia (south of the Zambezi River) to southern Angola.
C. t. johnstoni (Sclater, 1896), the Nyassaland wildebeest, occurs from Mozambique (north of the Zambezi River) to east-central Tanzania. It is now extinct in Malawi.
C. t. albojubatus (Thomas, 1912), the eastern white-bearded wildebeest, is found in the Gregory Rift Valley (south of the equator). Its range extends from northern Tanzania to central Kenya.
C. t. mearnsi (Heller, 1913), the western white-bearded wildebeest, is found in northern Tanzania and southern Kenya. Its range extends from the west of the Gregory Rift Valley to Speke Bay on Lake Victoria.
C. t. cooksoni (Blaine, 1914), Cookson's wildebeest, is restricted to the Luangwa Valley in Zambia. Sometimes, it may wander into the plateau region of central Malawi.
In addition, the distinctive appearance of a western form, ranging from the Kalahari to central Zambia, suggests that subspecies mattosi (Blaine, 1825) may also prove distinct from subspecies taurinus. The western form can be recognised even at a distance by its upright mane, long beard, and minimal brindling.


The blue wildebeest is native to Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, Eswatini, and Angola. Today, it is extinct in Malawi, but has been successfully reintroduced into Namibia.
Blue wildebeest are mainly found in short-grass plains bordering bush-covered acacia savannas in southern and eastern Africa, thriving in areas that are neither too wet nor too arid. They can be found in habitats that vary from overgrazed areas with dense bush to open woodland floodplains. Trees such as Brachystegia and Combretum spp. are common in these areas. Blue wildebeest can tolerate arid regions as long as a potable water supply is available, normally within about 15–25 km (9.3–15.5 mi) distance. The southern limit of the blue wildebeest stops at the Orange River, while the western limit is bounded by Lake Victoria and Mount Kenya. The range does not include montane or temperate grasslands. These wildebeest are rarely found at altitudes over 1,800–2,100 m (5,900–6,900 ft). With the exception of a small population of Cookson's wildebeest that occurs in the Luangwa Valley (Zambia), the wildebeest is absent in the wetter parts of the southern savanna country, and particularly is not present in miombo woodlands.
Three African populations of blue wildebeest take part in long-distance migrations, timed to coincide with the annual pattern of rainfall and grass growth on the short-grass plains, where they can find the nutrient-rich forage necessary for lactation and calf growth. The timing of the migration in both directions can vary considerably from year to year. At the end of the rainy season, they migrate to dry-season areas in response to a lack of drinking water. When the rainy season begins again a few months later, the animals trek back to their wet-season range. These movements and access to nutrient-rich forage for reproduction allow migratory wildebeest populations to grow to much larger numbers than resident populations. Many long-distance migratory populations of wildebeest existed 100 years ago, but currently, all but three migrations (Serengeti, Tarangire, and Kafue) have been disrupted, cut off, and lost.


Conocephalus fasciatus, the slender meadow katydid, is a species of katydid of the family Tettigoniidae that is native to the United States and Canada.


Conocephalus fuscus, the long-winged conehead, is a member of the family Tettigoniidae, the bush-crickets and is distributed through much of Europe and temperate Asia. This bush-cricket is native to the British Isles where it may confused with the short-winged conehead (Conocephalus dorsalis). These two species are phenotypically similar; however, the distinguishing factor between the two is the fully developed set of wings the long-winged conehead possesses that allows for flight. In the short-winged coneheads the hind wings are shorter than the abdomen, causing the wings to be vestigial and the species is incapable of flight. For this reason it is hard to discriminate between the two species during the early stages of their life cycle before the wings have fully developed. The colouration of the conehead is typically a grass green with a distinctive brown stripe down its back, though there are some brown phenotypes.


C. fuscus can be found in parts of France, Italy, and the Netherlands, but it has made is biggest appearance in the United Kingdom. When the species was first discovered in Britain in the 1940s it was confined to the South Coast but in the 1980s there was dramatic population growth and its range expanded more than 150 miles in 20 years. Today the long-winged conehead can be found in northwestern parts of the country beyond the River Thames and as far west as Wales.
The increase in the global climate over the past few decades has had a significant impact on the spread of this species. The northward range expansion coincides with the worldwide increase in temperature due to the greenhouse effect. Universally, species respond to fluctuations in climate by increasing or contracting their breeding ranges. If the opportunity arises for a species to expand its realised niche due to favourable conditions that have become available, it is advantageous for them to do so. In the 1950s the climate began to cool in the northern hemisphere, causing longer winters in southern Europe. This kept the long-winged coneheads in the southern part of the UK, where they were first sited, for a period of time. In 1975 the effects of the greenhouse gases began to neutralise the cooling effects from the previous decades, and as the climate in the United Kingdom slowly rose, the long-winged coneheads started to increase the limits of their range farther northward. However, the major expansion did not occur until 1980 when global warming caused a significant increase in temperature in the northern hemisphere. Since 1980 the temperature has risen linearly by 0.13 °C or 0.23 °F ± 0.03 °C or 0.05 °F per decade and the greatest impact fell between 40°N and 70°N latitude. This latitudinal region includes the United Kingdom and southern Europe, which explains why the long-wing conehead, and other European fauna, has responded most readily to the warming climate and expanded its range.
Another factor propagating this expansion is the presence of extra long-winged individuals within the species. The populations found farther north, at the range borders, have a higher percentage of extra long-winged (macropterous) individuals in comparison to populations in range core. Ando and Hartley (1982) found the macropters to be more active and capable of sustained flight. The long-winged individuals would engage flight for short periods of time if disturbed but would more readily seek cover. Simmons and Thomas (2004) also found that there was a difference in flight capability between the range populations. Individuals in border populations were able to fly up to four times longer (16.7 km or 10.4 mi ± 2.3 km or 1.4 mi) than those in the core (4.2 km or 2.6 mi ± 0.8 km or 0.50 mi). This suggests that there may be genetic differences between the two range populations and that the effect density on the formation of one phenotype or another is a plastic response; however, this evidence is not definitive. It is clear that macropterous individuals have a selective advantage due to their capability for sustained flight, allowing them to form new colonies and benefit from habitats that have opened up farther north.
This expansion is beneficial for the species as well as the individuals within the species. As the species expands its range as a whole the individuals can take advantage of the unclaimed territory, which previously had an unsuitable climate. The individuals that now inhabit the area do not have to compete for resources such as food and shelter, and therefore can put more time and energy into ensuring the reproductive success of their offspring and the prorogation of their own genes. This is especially beneficial for the extra long-winged individuals who experience a reproductive trade off with wing morphology.
Conocephalus fuscus shares the same habitat as many species of bush-crickets. It makes its home in grassy meadows, woodlands, dry heaths, and among course vegetation. They can also be found living near water in reed beds, marshes, or bogs. This species prefers areas with a warm climate, as evident by their recent northern dispersal due to the increase in global climate.


Conopholis alpina, known as the alpine cancer-root, is an achlorophyllous (lacking chlorophyll), root parasitic plant (holoparasite).
It is native to Northern Mexico, and to the Southwestern United States in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Texas.
Varieties
Conopholis alpina var. mexicana — Mexican cancer-root.


The greater pewee prefers montane pine forests with an oak understory. Also found in montane deciduous especially Arizona sycamore forests and mixed montane oak-pine forest. They are found more easily in elevations over 6,500 feet in Arizona and New Mexico. They are rare in western Texas.


The greater pewee is found year-round in central and southern Mexico south through Costa Rica and Nicaragua. It breeds from central Mexico north to southeast and central Arizona and southwest New Mexico. Rarely does it reach southern California, southern Nevada or western Texas.


The magpie inkcap  is common in Europe and Australia. In Europe, the area extends from Great Britain and France in the west to Poland, Hungary and Romania in the east and south to Spain and the Balearic Islands, Italy and Greece and to Germany and Denmark in the north.


American mycologist Charles Horton Peck described three similar species over the course of a 24-year time period. The first, Coprinus variegata (1873), followed later by C. ebulbosus (1895), and finally C. quadrifidus (1897). C. ebulbosus  was initially considered a variety of the European species Coprinus picaceus (Bull. ex Fr.) S.F.Gray (currently known as Coprinopsis picacea). Four years later, Peck published a more complete description of var. ebulbosus and raised it to species rank, having found it to differ consistently from C. picaceus in its smaller stature, lack of a bulbous stem base, and much smaller spores.
The three species described by Peck were distinguished on the basis of physical features that were later found to be somewhat overlapping. In terms of microscopic characters, spore sizes were not sufficiently different between them to be used as discriminating taxonomic characters. Subsequent investigators of North American mushroom flora had difficulties in interpreting Peck's concepts of these three taxa and in confirming their presence in their regional investigations. For example, McIlvaine (1902), Hard (1908), and McDougall (1925) reported (as variety or species) only C. ebulbosus. Bisby (1938), Christensen (1946), Smith (1958), and Groves (1962) mentioned only C. quadrifidus. Both Kauffman (1918) and Graham (1944) described C. ebulbosus and C. quadrifidus; Graham, however, only included C. quadrifidus in his key to his descriptions of Coprinus species. In 1979, W. Patrick published a comparative analysis of the three taxa from material collected by Peck, and, after concluding that the three were not sufficiently distinct to be considered separate species, reduced them to synonymy with Coprinopsis variegata, the earliest name.
The specific epithet variegata derives from the Latin passive verb participle variegatus meaning "to have different colors, to variegate".  The synonym name quadrifidus refers to the four segments into which the cap frequently split when mature, while ebulbosus means "not being bulbous". The mushroom is commonly known as the "scaly ink cap" or the "feltscale inky cap".


The species is native to the North Island, South Island, Kermadec Islands and Three Kings Islands in New Zealand.
In Australia, it has become naturalised in coastal areas of Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania, and it is now classified as an environmental weed.


The coprosma rhamnoides prefers lowland areas, including the lower ranges of mountains.  The habitat preferences is around the edges of forests or in shrubland.   Furthermore, the species has a notable preference to grow as understorey vegetation of Leptospermum (Manuka) and Kunzea.  It is not common, in coastal areas, it prefers to grow far inland.  This suggests that low salinity areas, provide optimum conditions for the coprosma rhamnoides.


This magpie-robin is a resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and eastern Pakistan, eastern Indonesia, Thailand, south China, Malaysia, and Singapore.
The Oriental magpie-robin is found in open woodland and cultivated areas often close to human habitations.


The Indian roller is distributed from Iraq and United Arab Emirates through the Indian subcontinent, including Sri Lanka. In Pakistan, it is resident in the wetlands around Chotiari Dam in Sindh, in Jiwani Coastal Wetland in Balochistan, and in Punjab along the Taunsa Barrage and Chenab River. It has been recorded as a summer visitor to Jalalabad in northeastern Afghanistan. It has been recorded as a vagrant in Syria,Saudi Arabia, Masirah Island, Qatar, Yemen, Socotra, Bahrain, where it was sighted in 1996 and in 2008, Lakshadweep islands, the Maldive Islands, and Turkey.
In Kuwait, it is a common winter visitor at Green Island and farmlands near Al Jahra.
In the 1970s, it was reported as a common winter visitor to the marshes and mudflats of Shadegan County in Iran. However, it is listed as resident in Iran.
The species is common, and often found in open woodland dominated by trees of the genera Acacia and Prosopis, and has adapted well to human-modified landscapes such as parks and gardens, fields, date and coconut palm plantations. It has been nicknamed "roundabout bird" in northern Oman, where pairs live in vegetation at roundabouts. In Oman, it is common in the Al Batinah Region and in cultivated areas east of the Sharqiya Sands below elevations of 1,000 m (3,300 ft). In India, it was sighted at elevations ranging from sea level in the Bhitarkanika Mangroves and the Gulf of Mannar to about 2,100 m (6,900 ft) in the Nilgiri Mountains.


The Indian roller is associated with Hindu legends and said to be sacred to Vishnu; it used to be caught and released during festivals such as Dussera or the last day of Durga Puja. Adding its chopped feathers to fodder for cows was believed to increase the latter's milk yield, giving it the Telugu name of "paala-pitta" (పాలపిట్ట, pālapiṭṭa), meaning 'milk bird'. A Hindustani name is "neelkanth" (Hindi: नीलकंठ; Urdu: نیل کنٹھ, romanized: nīlkaṇṭh), meaning 'blue throat', a name associated with the deity Shiva due to a legend that he drank poison but stopped it from going past his throat, turning it blue.
The Kol people traditionally considered a sighting of an Indian roller as a good omen as did people in Bengal who, upon seeing the bird, would chant a couplet showing devotion to Vishnu and seeking a vision of the bird at the time of their death. A nomadic tribe of fortune-tellers from the Vishakapatnam area wore feathers of the Indian roller on their head utilizing folk belief that the bird could foretell events. The Indian roller is the state bird of the Indian states of Odisha, Telangana, and Karnataka.
At the height of the plume trade in the early 20th century, the Indian roller was sought for export of its colourful feathers, and was  among the most widely killed bird species in India.


The European roller is a bird of warmer regions. The nominate subspecies breeds in northern Africa from Morocco to Tunisia, in southern and east-central Europe, and eastwards through northwestern Iran to southwestern Siberia. The subspecies C. g. semenowi breeds from Iraq and southern Iran east through Kashmir and southern Kazakhstan to Xinjiang. The European range was formerly more extensive, but there has been a long-term decline in the north and west, with extinction as a nesting bird in Sweden and Germany. The European roller is a long-distance migrant, wintering in Africa south of the Sahara in two distinct regions, from Senegal east to Cameroon and from Ethiopia west (with observations in the Degua Tembien mountains) to Congo and south to South Africa. Some populations migrate to Africa through India. A collision with an aircraft over the Arabian Sea has been recorded.
It is a bird of warm, dry, open country with scattered trees, preferring lowlands, but occurs up to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in Europe and 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in Morocco. Oak and pine woodlands with open areas are prime breeding habitat, but farms, orchards and similar areas with mixed vegetation are also used. In Africa, a similarly wide range of dry, open land with trees is used. It winters primarily in dry, wooded savanna and bushy plains, where it typically nests in tree holes.


The advent of sufficiently lightweight tracking technology has facilitated several recent studies of roller migration, providing new information on the non-breeding sites used by rollers from different breeding populations. Individuals from south-west European populations migrate to south-west Africa (Angola, Namibia, and Botswana), with French and north-Spanish birds taking a direct southerly route across the Sahara, while Portuguese and south-Spanish birds take a more westerly route around the west African coast. Rollers from eastern European populations also spend the winter period in southern Africa, but further east in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. The Sahel savannah region immediately south of the Sahara Desert (particularly the area around Lake Chad) appears to be important for rollers from many populations as an autumn re-fuelling site, and Latvian and other north and north-eastern populations migrate northwards via the Arabian Peninsula in spring. Individuals from different breeding populations use distinct but overlapping winter sites; there is a good correlation between the longitude of individual breeding and non-breeding sites, suggesting parallel migration. In the east, the northernmost breeders (from Latvia) tend to winter south of the southernmost breeders (from Cyprus) - this suggests a pattern of 'leap-frog' migration.


C. officinalis is common, to be found on solid rock around Great Britain, Ireland and Isle of Man. Also recorded from the North Atlantic coast, from northern Norway to Morocco, and intermittently from Greenland to Argentina. Corallina is also found in USA, Argentina and elsewhere including some parts of Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand. In New Zealand this species is found on the intertidal zone of the coasts of the Kermadec Islands, the North, South, Chatham and Stewart Islands as well as the Antipodes and Auckland Islands.


Corbicula fluminea is a species of freshwater clam native to eastern Asia which has become a successful invasive species throughout North America, South America, and Europe. Corbicula fluminea is commonly known in the west as the Asian clam or Asiatic clam. In Southeast Asia, C. fluminea is known as the golden clam, prosperity clam, pygmy clam, or good luck clam.


Corbicula have had global success as an aquatic invasive species, having been introduced to a novel range including South America, North America and Europe. Human industrial activity, such as transport of larvae via ballast water in container ships, has been noted in the literature as a chief invasion vector. A market exists for Asian clams for human consumption in Japan, China, and other countries in the region. According to the United States Geological Survey, C. fluminea is likely to continue to expand its North American range until it reaches the maximum extent of its low temperature tolerance. The periostracum of the shell is normally yellow-green, with concentric growth rings of the prismatic layer visible through the proteinous outer layer. The periostracum can flake, allowing the white prismatic layer to show through. The shells exhibit a light purple nacre on the inside.


The first recorded instance of Corbicula presence in the scientific literature in the Western Hemisphere was of its introduction into British Columbia circa 1924, followed by a spread throughout the Pacific Northwest and across the American south through South America. Invasions in Europe and Central America were more recent, first appearing in Caribbean countries in 1998.


The white-winged chough will forage in litter and rotten wood for termites and beetles. Although birds have eaten pieces of apple placed out for them on feeding tables, they have not been recorded eating fruit on trees. This species has been observed eating cherry tomatoes, whole, in eastern Australian, Newcastle region.
The diet is varied, the white-winged chough eats seeds of various grasses (Poaceae), Gahnia grandis, Atriplex, Epacris, Hibbertia, Solanum, Acacia and Exocarpos species, as well as introduced species such as the cursed thistle (Cirsium arvense), roadside thistle (C. vulgare), winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima), Convolvulus and Oxalis species. Berries of the introduced Cotoneaster and Crataegus are also consumed. It eats a wide variety of arthropods, including centipedes, millipedes and many types of insect—beetles, cockroaches, termites, grasshoppers and crickets, flies, butterflies and moths, and ants, bees and wasps. In some areas, it will readily approach tourist sites to find supplementary food.


Ti has many uses but it is most notable as one of the most important plants related to the indigenous animist religions of Austronesians. It is very widely regarded as having mystical or spiritual powers in various Austronesian (as well as Papuan) cultures. Among a lot of ethnic groups in Austronesia it is regarded as sacred. Common features include the belief that they can hold souls and thus are useful in healing "soul loss" illnesses and in exorcising against malevolent spirits, their use in ritual attire and ornamentation, and their use as boundary markers. Red and green cultivars also commonly represented dualistic aspects of culture and religion and are used differently in rituals. Red ti plants commonly symbolize blood, war, and the ties between the living and the dead; while green ti plants commonly symbolize peace and healing. They are also widely used for traditional medicine, dye, and ornamentation  throughout Austronesia and New Guinea. Their ritual uses in Island Southeast Asia have largely been obscured by the introduction of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity, but they still persist in certain areas or are coöpted for the rituals of the new religions.
In Philippine anitism, ti were commonly used by babaylan (female shamans) when conducting mediumship or healing rituals. A common belief in Filipino cultures is that the plant has the innate ability to host spirits. Among the Ifugao people of Northern Luzon, it is planted around terraces and communities to drive away evil spirits as well as mark boundaries of cultivated fields. The red leaves are believed to be attractive to spirits and is worn during important rituals as part of the headdresses and tucked into armbands. In the past, it was also worn during ceremonial dances called bangibang, which was performed by both men and women for warriors who died in battle or through violent means. They are also used to decorate ritual objects. Among the Palaw'an people, it is planted in burial grounds to prevent the dead from becoming malevolent spirits.
In Indonesia, red ti are used similarly as in the Philippines. Among the Dayak, Sundanese, Kayan, Kenyah, Berawan, Iban and Mongondow people, red ti are used as wards against evil spirits and as boundary markers. They are also used in rituals like in healing and funerals and are very commonly planted in sacred groves and around shrines. The Dayak also extract a natural green dye from ti.  During healing rituals of the Mentawai people, the life-giving spirit are enticed with songs and offerings to enter ti stems which are then reconciled with the sick person. Among the Sasak people, green ti leaves are used as part of the offerings to spirits by the belian shamans. Among the Baduy people, green ti represent the body, while red ti represent the soul. Both are used in rice planting rituals. They are also planted on burial grounds. Among the Balinese and Karo people, ti plants are planted near village or family shrines in a sacred grove. Among the Toraja people, red ti plants are used in rituals and as decorations of ritual objects. They are believed to occur in both the material and the spirit worlds (a common belief in Austronesian animism). In the spirit world, they exist as fins and tails of spirits. In the material world, they are most useful as guides used to attract the attentions of spirits. The red leaves are also symbolic of blood and thus of life and vitality. Among the Ngaju people, ti plants were symbolic of the sacred groves of ancestors. They were also important in ritual promises dedicated to high gods. They were regarded as symbolic of the masculine "Tree of Life", in a dichotomy against Ficus species which symbolize the feminine "Tree of the Dead".
In New Guinea, ti are commonly planted to indicate land ownership for cultivation and are also planted around ceremonial men's houses. They are also used in various rituals and are commonly associated with blood and warfare. Among the Tsembaga Maring people, they are believed to house "red spirits" (spirits of men who died in battle). Prior to a highly ritualized (but lethal) warfare over land ownership, they are uprooted and pigs are sacrificed to the spirits. After the hostilities, they are re-planted in the new land boundaries depending on the outcome of the fight. The men involved ritually place their souls into the plants. The ritual warfare have been suppressed by the Papua New Guinea government, but parts of the rituals still survive. Among the Ankave people, red ti is part of their creation myth, believed as having arisen from the site of the first murder. Among the Mendi and Sulka people they are made into dyes used as body paint, and their leaves are used for body adornments and purification rituals. Among the Nikgini people, the leaves have magical abilities to bring good luck and are used in divination and in decorating ritual objects. Among the Kapauku people, ti plants are regarded as magical plants and are believed to be spiritual beings themselves. Unlike other magical plants which are controlled by other spirits, ti plants had their own spirits and are powerful enough to command other spiritual beings. Red plants are used in white magic rituals, while green plants are used in black magic rituals. They are also commonly used in protection and warding rituals. Among the Baktaman people, red plants are used for initiation rites, while green plants are used for healing. The Ok-speaking peoples also regard ti plants as their collective totem.
In Island Melanesia, ti are regarded as sacred by various Austronesian-speaking peoples and are used in rituals for protection, divination, and fertility. Among the Kwaio people, red ti are associated with feuding and vengeance, while green ti are associated with ancestor spirits, markers of sacred groves, and wards against evil. The Kwaio cultivate these varieties around their communities. Among the Maenge people of New Britain, ti leaves are worn as everyday skirts by women. The color and size of leaves can vary by personal preference and fashion. New cultivars with different colors are traded regularly and strands of ti are grown near the village. Red leaves can only worn by women past puberty. Ti is also the most important plant in magic and healing rituals of the Maenge. Some ti cultivars are associated with supernatural spirits and have names and folklore around them.  In Vanuatu, Cordyline leaves, known locally by the Bislama name nanggaria, are worn tucked into a belt in traditional dances like Māʻuluʻulu, with different varieties having particular symbolic meanings. Cordylines are often planted outside nakamal buildings. In Fiji, red ti leaves are used as skirts for dancers and are used in rituals dedicated to the spirits of the dead. They are also planted around ceremonial buildings used for initiation rituals.
In Micronesia, ti leaves are buried under newly built houses in Pohnpei to ward of malign sorcery. In instances of an unknown death, shamans in Micronesia communicate with the dead spirit through ti plants, naming various causes of death until the plant trembles. There is also archaeological evidence that the rhizomes of the plants were eaten in the past in Guam prior to the Latte Period.
In Polynesia, green ti were cultivated widely for food and religious purposes. They are commonly planted around homes, in sacred places (including marae and heiau), and in grave sites. The leaves are also carried as a charm when traveling and the leaves are used in rituals that communicate with the species. Like in Southeast Asia, they are widely believed to protect against evil spirits and bad luck; as well as having the ability to host spirits of dead people, as well as nature spirits.
In ancient Hawaiʻi the plant was thought to have great spiritual power; only kahuna (shamans) and aliʻi (chiefs) were able to wear leaves around their necks during certain ritual activities. Ti was sacred to the god of fertility and agriculture Lono, and the goddess of the forest and the hula dance, Laka. Ti leaves were also used to make lei, and to outline borders between properties it was also planted at the corners of the home to keep evil spirits away. To this day some Hawaiians plant tī near their houses to bring good luck. The leaves are also used for lava sledding. A number of leaves are lashed together and people ride down hills on them. The leaves were also used to make items of clothing including skirts worn in dance performances. The Hawaiian hula skirt is a dense skirt with an opaque layer of at least fifty green leaves and the bottom (top of the leaves) shaved flat. The Tongan dance dress, the sisi, is an apron of about 20 leaves, worn over a tupenu, and decorated with some yellow or red leaves.
In Aotearoa, certain place names are derived from the use and folklore of ti, like Puketī Forest and Temuka. The ti plants in Kaingaroa are known as  nga tī whakāwe o Kaingaroa ("the phantom trees of Kaingaroa"), based on the legend of two women who were turned into ti plants and seemingly follow people traveling through the area.


Coreopsis basalis, the golden-mane coreopsis, is a North American plant species in the sunflower family. It is native to the southeastern and south-central United States from Texas to the Carolinas. Isolated populations (apparently escapees from cultivation) have been reported from Connecticut, Illinois, and California.


Introduced to Japan and China as an ornamental species and later used extensively in greenification projects, particularly along river banks and railways, Coreopsis lanceolata is now known to be outcompeting native plant life and has since 2006 been labeled an invasive species by the Invasive Alien Species Act. The cultivation, transplantation, sale, or purchase of Coreopsis lanceolata is now prohibited and the plant has become the subject of a nationwide destruction campaign, even earning a spot on the Ecological Society of Japan's 100 Worst Invasive Species list.
The species is also considered an invasive weed in Eastern Australia.


Plains coreopsis, garden tickseed, golden tickseed,
 or calliopsis, Coreopsis tinctoria, is an annual forb.  The plant is common in Canada (from Quebec to British Columbia), northeast Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas), and much of the United States, especially the Great Plains and Southern states where it is often called "calliopsis." The species is also widely cultivated and naturalized in China.
It often grows in disturbed areas such as roadsides and cultivated fields.


Cornus alternifolia is a species of flowering plant in the dogwood family Cornaceae, native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland west to southern Manitoba and Minnesota, and south to northern Florida and Mississippi. It is rare in the southern United States. It is commonly known as green osier, alternate-leaved dogwood, and pagoda dogwood.


It is a small deciduous shrub or tree growing to 25 feet (8 m) (rarely 30 feet (9 m)) tall, with a trunk up to 6 inches (152 mm) in diameter. The branches develop characteristic horizontal layers separated by gaps, with a flat-topped crown. Its leaves are elliptic to ovate and grow to 2–5 inches (5–13 cm) long and 1–2 inches (25–51 mm) broad, arranged alternately on the stems, not in opposite pairs typical of the majority of Cornus species. The leaves are most often arranged in crowded clusters around the ends of the twigs and appear almost whorled. The upper sides of the leaves are smooth and green, while the undersides are hairy and a bluish color. The bark is colored gray to brown, becoming ridged as it ages. Small cream colored flowers are produced, with four small petals. The flowers are grouped into cymes, with the inflorescences 2–5 inches (5–13 cm) across. It bears berries with a blackish blue color.
Bark: Dark reddish brown, with shallow ridges.  Branchlets at first pale reddish green, later dark green.
Wood: Reddish brown, sapwood pale; heavy, hard, close-grained.  Sp. gr., 0.6696; weight 41–73 lb/cu ft (660–1,170 kg/m³).
Winter buds: Light chestnut brown, acute.  Inner scales enlarge with the growing shoot and become half an inch long before they fall.
Leaves: Alternate, rarely opposite, often clustered at the ends of the branch, simple, three to five inches long, two to three wide, oval or ovate, wedge-shaped or rounded at base; margin is wavy toothed, slightly reflexed, apex acuminate.  They come out of the bud involute, reddish green above, coated with silvery white tomentum beneath, when full grown are bright green above, pale, downy, almost white beneath.  Feather-veined, midrib broad, yellowish, prominent beneath, with about six pairs of primary veins.  In autumn they turn yellow, or yellow and scarlet.  Petioles slender, grooved, hairy, with clasping bases.
Flowers: April, May.  Perfect, cream color, borne in many-flowered, broad, open cymes, at the end of short lateral branches.
Calyx: The cup-shaped flowers have four petals that are valvate in bud, unwrapping when in bloom with cream colored, oblong shaped petals with rounded ends. The petals are inserted on disk and the stamens are inserted too and arranged alternately to the petals, being four in number also. The stamens are exserted with filaments long and slender.  Anthers oblong, introrse, versatile, two-celled; cells opening longitudinally.
Pistil: Ovary inferior, two-celled; style columnar; stigma capitate.
Fruit: Drupe, globular, blue-black, 0.3 in (8 mm) across, tipped with remnant of style which rises from a slight depression; nut obovoid, many-grooved.  October.


Cornus amomum, the silky dogwood, is a species of dogwood native to the eastern United States, from Michigan and Vermont south to Alabama and Florida. Other names include red willow, silky cornel, kinnikinnick, and squawbush.


Cornus amomum is a native eastern North American shrub, finding suitable habitat in wetland areas like swamps, marshes, and bogs. The distribution of the shrub also extends west past the Mississippi river to the eastern borders of Kansas, Nebraska, and parts of northern Oklahoma. Cornus amomum is only found within the U.S. while other species such as the Cornus obliqua can be found in Canada. Cornus amomum prefers partial shade but can tolerate full sun. When planted, the use of organic materials to maintain a wet environment will help the shrub when insufficient water is present. Cornus amomum is grows near or around creeks or water systems. Cornus amomum can be found in the following states: West Virginia, Virginia, Vermont, South Carolina, Maine, Kentucky, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Georgia, Florida, District of Columbia, Delaware, Connecticut, Alabama, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Cornus amomum has been found at elevations from 0 feet to 1500 feet of elevation.


The species was first described scientifically by Miles Joseph Berkeley and Moses Ashley Curtis in 1853. The type collection was made by American botanist Henry William Ravenel in South Carolina. Joseph Ammirati and Howard Bigelow considered Cortinarius heliotropicus, described by Charles Horton Peck 1914, to be the same species as C. iodes after examining the holotype specimens of both. According to the nomenclatural databases MycoBank and Index Fungorum, however, Cortinarius iodes does not have any synonyms. If they are indeed the same species, the name C. iodes has priority. C. iodes is classified in the subgenus Myxacium, along with other Cortinarius species that have a slimy cap and stem.
The specific epithet iodes means "violet-like". It is commonly known as the "spotted cort" or the "viscid violet cort".


Most of this bird's food is obtained from the ground, but it will take food from trees as well. It has been seen to drop a tortoise from a height on to hard ground, preferably on rocks, and then swoop down to eat it, or even pick it up again if not sufficiently broken. White-necked ravens will also readily take carrion from road kills. Fruit, grain, insects, small reptiles, peanuts and human food are also readily taken, and the bird forages in back yards and gardens quite openly. Like all or most raven species, White-necked ravens form flocks after leaving their parents and, once fully matured, will pair off and form territories. They are often found in the company of other scavengers such as kites or vultures.
Nests are bowls of sticks lined with grass, hair, and wool, built mainly on cliff ledges but occasionally found in trees. There are usually 3-5 eggs laid.


The common raven (Corvus corax), also known as the western raven or  northern raven when discussing the raven at the subspecies level, is a large all-black   passerine bird. Found across the Northern Hemisphere, it is the most widely distributed of all corvids. There are at least eight subspecies with little variation in appearance, although recent research has demonstrated significant genetic differences among populations from various regions. It is one of the two largest corvids, alongside the thick-billed raven, and is possibly the heaviest passerine bird; at maturity, the common raven averages 63 centimetres (25 inches) in length and 1.2 kilograms (2.6 pounds) in mass. Although their typical lifespan is considerably shorter, common ravens can live more than 23 years in the wild. Young birds may travel in flocks but later mate for life, with each mated pair defending a territory.
Common ravens have coexisted with humans for thousands of years and in some areas have been so numerous that people have regarded them as pests. Part of their success as a species is due to their omnivorous diet: they are extremely versatile and opportunistic in finding sources of nutrition, feeding on carrion, insects, cereal grains, berries, fruit, small animals, nesting birds, and food waste.
Some notable feats of problem-solving provide evidence that the common raven is unusually intelligent. Over the centuries, it has been the subject of mythology, folklore, art, and literature. In many cultures, including the indigenous cultures of Scandinavia, ancient Ireland and Wales, Bhutan, the northwest coast of North America, and Siberia and northeast Asia, the common raven has been revered as a spiritual figure or godlike creature.


The common raven can thrive in varied climates; indeed this species has the largest range of any member of the genus, and one of the largest of any passerine. They range throughout the Holarctic from Arctic and temperate habitats in North America and Eurasia to the deserts of North Africa, and to islands in the Pacific Ocean. In the British Isles, they are more common in Scotland, Wales, northern England and the west of Ireland. In Tibet, they have been recorded at altitudes up to 5,000 m (16,400 ft), and as high as 6,350 m (20,600 ft) on Mount Everest. The population sometimes known as the Punjab raven—described as Corvus corax laurencei (also spelt lawrencii or laurencii) by Allan Octavian Hume but more often considered synonymous with subcorax—is restricted to the Sindh district of Pakistan and adjoining regions of northwestern India. They are generally resident within their range for the whole year. In his 1950 work, Grønlands Fugle [Birds of Greenland], noted ornithologist Finn Salomonsen indicated that common ravens did not overwinter in the Arctic. However, in Arctic Canada and Alaska, they are found year-round. Young birds may disperse locally.
In the United Kingdom, the common raven's range has been increasing, though it favours mountainous or coastal terrain, but can also be found in parks with tall trees suitable for use as habitation. Its population is at its most dense in the north and west of the country, though the species is expanding its population southwards.
Most common ravens prefer wooded areas with large expanses of open land nearby, or coastal regions for their nesting sites and feeding grounds. In some areas of dense human population, such as California in the United States, they take advantage of a plentiful food supply and have seen a surge in their numbers. On coasts, individuals of this species are often evenly distributed and prefer to build their nest sites along sea cliffs. Common ravens are often located in coastal regions because these areas provide easy access to water and a variety of food sources. Also, coastal regions have stable weather patterns without extreme cold or hot temperatures.
In general, common ravens live in a wide array of environments but prefer heavily contoured landscapes. When the environment changes in vast degrees, these birds will respond with a stress response. The hormone known as corticosterone is activated by the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. Corticosterone is activated when the bird is exposed to stress, such as migrating great distances.


The hooded crow breeds in northern and eastern Europe, and closely allied forms inhabit southern Europe and western Asia. Where its range overlaps with that of the carrion crow, as in northern Britain, Germany, Denmark, northern Italy, and Siberia, their hybrids are fertile. However, the hybrids are less well-adapted than purebred birds (one of the reasons behind its reclassification as a distinct species from the carrion crow). Little or no interbreeding occurs in some areas, such as Iran and central Russia.
In the British Isles, the hooded crow breeds regularly in Scotland, the Isle of Man, and the Scottish Islands; it also breeds widely in Ireland. In autumn, some migratory birds arrive on the east coast of Britain. In the past, this was a more common visitor.


The Australian raven (Corvus coronoides) is a passerine bird in the genus Corvus native to much of southern and northeastern Australia. Measuring 46–53 centimetres (18–21 in) in length, it has all-black plumage, beak and mouth, as well as strong grey-black legs and feet. The upperparts are glossy, with a purple, blue, or green sheen, and its black feathers have grey bases. The Australian raven is distinguished from the Australian crow species by its throat hackles, which are prominent in adult birds. Older adult individuals have white irises, younger adults have white irises with an inner blue rim, while younger birds have dark brown irises until fifteen months of age, and hazel irises with an inner blue rim around each pupil until age two years and ten months. Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield described the Australian raven in 1827, its species name (coronoides) highlighting its similarity with the carrion crow (C. corone). Two subspecies are recognized, which differ slightly in calls and are quite divergent genetically.
The preferred habitat is open woodland and transitional zones. It has adapted well to urban environments and is a common city bird in Sydney, Canberra, and Perth. An omnivorous and opportunistic feeder, it eats a wide variety of plant and animal material, as well as food waste from urban areas. In eastern Australia, its range is strongly correlated with the presence of sheep, and it has been blamed for killing lambs. However, this is very rare, and the raven most often scavenges for afterbirth and stillborn animals as well as newborn lamb faeces. The Australian raven is territorial, with pairs generally bonding for life. Breeding takes place between July and September, with almost no variation across its range. The nest is a bowl-shaped structure of sticks sited high in a tree, or occasionally in a man-made structure such as a windmill or other building.


The Australian raven is common throughout eastern Australia, and southern Western Australia (the populations being connected by a narrow strip across the Nullarbor Plain), but it is rarer and more scattered in the north, with isolated sightings in Cape York at Coen, Windmill Creek and the Mitchell River, and becoming more common south of Rockhampton in central Queensland. It is found throughout New South Wales, though is uncommon in the northeast of the state. It is rare in the Australian Alps, being replaced there by the little raven. It occurs across Victoria and eastern South Australia, through the Eyre Peninsula and Nullarbor Plain into Western Australia, across the state north to the Wooramel River. It is found on some offshore islands such as Rottnest Island and Kangaroo Island. It is a rare vagrant to Lord Howe Island., though it was recorded as a vagrant in New Zealand in the 1870s, this has not been confirmed.
The Australian raven can be found in a wide range of natural and modified habitats. It requires available water and trees (or buildings) to roost in or perch on. Preferred habitats include eucalypt-dominated sclerophyll forest, and farmland adjacent to trees. It is also found in heath and mangroves. In areas where it occurs with the little raven, namely over much of central New South Wales, Victoria and into South Australia, the Australian raven is restricted to more forested areas while the latter species prefers more open areas. Similarly, in inland Australia it can share a range with the little crow, as the two do not appear to compete. However, the ranges of similar-sized forest raven and Torresian crow only narrowly overlap with the Australian raven as all three compete with each other. In central and western regions, Australian ravens and Torresian crows vie for the scattered uncommon trees and outcrops, and only one or the other are found there. It co-occurs with the forest raven in northeastern New South Wales from Port Stephens northwards. The Australian raven has adapted very well to human habitation in some cities and is the most common corvid in Canberra, Sydney and Perth; in Melbourne and Adelaide it is replaced by the little raven, and by the Torresian crow in Brisbane. Its large range, abundance and increasing population mean it is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.


Nesting in a rookery is always colonial, usually in the very tops of large trees, often on the remnants of the previous year's nest. In hilly regions, rooks may nest in smaller trees or bushes, and exceptionally on chimneys or church spires. Both sexes participate in nest-building, with the male finding most of the materials and the female putting them in place. The nest is cup-shaped and composed of sticks, consolidated with earth and lined with grasses, moss, roots, dead leaves and straw. Small branches and twigs are broken off trees, though as many are likely to be stolen from nearby nests as are collected direct, and the lining material is also often taken from other nests.
Eggs are usually three to five in number (sometimes six and occasionally seven) and may be laid by the end of March or early April in Britain, but in the harsher conditions of eastern Europe and Russia, it may be early May before the clutch is completed. The background colour is bluish-green to greyish-green but this is almost completely obscured by the heavy blotching of ashy grey and brown. The eggs average 40.0 by 28.3 millimetres (1.57 in × 1.11 in) in size. They are incubated for 16–18 days, almost entirely by the female who is fed by the male. After hatching, the male brings food to the nest while the female broods the young. After ten days, she joins the male in bringing food, which is carried in a throat pouch. The young are fledged by the 32nd or 33rd day but continue to be fed by the parents for some time thereafter. There is normally a single clutch each year, but there are records of birds attempting to breed in the autumn.
In autumn, the young birds of the summer collect into large flocks together with unpaired birds of previous seasons, often in company with jackdaws. It is during this time of year that spectacular aerial displays are performed by the birds. The species is monogamous, with the adults forming long-term pair bonds. Partners often support each other in agonistic encounters and a bird may return to its partner after a quarrel where bill twining, an affiliative behaviour, may take place.


The little raven ranges over southeastern Australia from southern South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. Also in Kangaroo Island (S.A) and King Island (Bass Strait).
Living within scrub, agricultural areas, grazing pasture, woodlands to treeless plains, coasts, and suburbs.
Little ravens are absent from west Gippsland, where the land is dominated by forest ravens
Its large range, abundance and stable population mean it is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List.
The little raven appears to have become more abundant and widespread in Melbourne since the 1980s, spreading northwards and westwards, adapting well to its urban surrounds. Meanwhile, the Australian raven has only been rarely recorded in the city's outer fringes. The opposite phenomenon has taken place in Canberra and Sydney, where it is the Australian raven that has adapted and become common while the little raven has remained uncommon.


The nominate race C. s. splendens is found in Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh and has a grey neck collar. The subspecies C. s. zugmayeri is found in the dry parts of South Asia and Iran and has a very pale neck collar. The subspecies C. s. protegatus is found in southern India, the Maldives (sometimes separated as maledivicus) and Sri Lanka and is darker grey. C. s. insolens, found in Myanmar, is the darkest form and lacks the grey collar.


It has a widespread distribution in southern Asia, being native to Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Laccadive Islands, South West Thailand and coastal southern Iran. It was introduced to East Africa around Zanzibar (about 1897) and Port Sudan. It arrived in Australia via ship but has up to now been exterminated. Recently, it has made its arrival in Europe and has been breeding in the Dutch harbour town Hook of Holland since 1998.
A population between 200 and 400 birds has been present in Sham Shui Po, New Kowloon, Hong Kong, in particular Lai Kok Estate and Sham Shui Po Park, as well as Kowloon Tsai Park in Kowloon Tsai. An individual has been present in Cork Harbour on the south coast of Ireland since early September 2010.
In the New World, a small population of house crows is established in the area around St. Petersburg, Florida.
It is associated with human settlements throughout its range, from small villages to large cities. In Singapore, there was a density of 190 birds/km² in 2001 with efforts to suppress the population in planning.
Due to a human population explosion in the areas it inhabits, this species has also proportionately multiplied. Being an omnivorous scavenger has enabled it to thrive in such circumstances.


At least some trees in the local environment seem to be necessary for successful breeding although house crows occasionally nest on telephone towers. It lays 3–5 eggs in a typical stick nest, and occasionally there are several nests in the same tree. In South Asia they are parasitized by the Asian koel. Peak breeding in India as well as Peninsular Malaysia is from April to July. Large trees with big crowns are preferred for nesting.


Although C. cornuta is somewhat shade tolerant, it is more common in forests with fairly open canopies than denser ones. However, it is intolerant of entirely open areas that get hot and dry.
Fire kills the above-ground portion of the shrub, but it resprouts fairly readily after fire from its root crown or rhizomes. It recovers after fire to the extent that American Indians in California and Oregon used fire to encourage its growth.
In boreal regions, it is threatened by the invasive Siberian peashrub, which can invade and achieve dominance in understories.


Studies conducted on Corynactis californica suggest that the anemone grows well under the canopies of macroalgae rather than outside of them. Species of macroalgae that the strawberry anemone live under include Macrocystis pyrifera and Eisenia arborea. Eisenia arborea may assist the anemone in protecting planktonic larvae, and directing food particles to polyps.


This species is common to reeds and aquatic vegetation near slow-moving water or ponds. It occurs throughout Sub-Saharan Africa except for the very arid parts of Somalia, Kenya, Namibia and Botswana.
The flight of the malachite kingfisher is rapid, with the short, rounded wings whirring until they appear a mere blur. It usually flies low over water.


It has a preference for Populus, Quercus and Salix.


In southern Africa, the Cape robin-chat is a common species at Afromontane forest edges, in forest scrub and ravines, fynbos, karoo, plantations, gardens and parks. Most areas with dense cover with scattered trees or song posts are however suitable. In dry areas they are restricted to thickets that fringe water courses. In southern Africa it is found from sea level up to 3,000 m where Leucosidea provides cover. It is absent from arid Karoo and Kalahari.
In tropical East Africa, the Cape robin-chat likewise frequents forest edge and gardens, but is restricted to the uplands. It occurs at 1,100 m in the Ulugurus, but generally upwards of 1,500 m in Uganda and the remainder of Tanzania, and above 1,800 m in Kenya. The tropical races are also at home at the edges of bamboo, in woodland, scrub, tea and coffee plantations, or in association with giant heather beside moorland streams, up to 3,400 m in altitude.


The pied butcherbird is found across much of Australia, excepting the far south of the mainland, and Tasmania. It is only rarely recorded in the Sydney Basin, and absent from the Illawarra, Southern Tablelands and south coast of New South Wales. In Victoria it is found along the Murray Valley and west of Chiltern. In South Australia it is not found in the northeast of the state, nor on the Adelaide plain. It is found across Western Australia, though is absent from the Great Sandy Desert. It is generally sedentary across most of its range, with minimal seasonal movements.
It is a bird of open sclerophyll forests, eucalypt and acacia woodlands and scrublands, with sparse or no understory, or low cover with shrubs such as Triodia, Lomandra or Hibbertia. It is less common in mallee scrub. In arid areas and northern Australia, it is more restricted to woodland alongside rivers and billabongs. It has become more common in southwest Western Australia with land clearing, though has become rare around Darwin on account of urban development.


The grey butcherbird (Cracticus torquatus) is a widely distributed species endemic to Australia. It occurs in a range of different habitats including arid, semi-arid and temperate zones. It is found across southern Australia, but is absent from the deserts of central Australia and the monsoon tropics of northern Australia.  It has a characteristic "rollicking" birdsong. It appears to be adapting well to city living, and can be encountered in the suburbs of many Australian cities including Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney. The grey butcherbird preys on small vertebrates including other birds.
Other birds in the same family include the Australian magpie, the currawongs, woodswallows and other members of the butcherbird genus Cracticus.


Crassadoma gigantea is found on the Pacific Coast of North America, from British Columbia south to Baja California and Mexico. It does not move around as an adult but lives on the sea floor. Its favoured habitats include inside crevices and under boulders, or cemented to rock surfaces, corals or man-made structures such as harbour pilings. It is found at depths down to about 80 metres (260 ft).


The eastern oyster is the state shellfish of Connecticut, its shell is the state shell of Virginia and Mississippi, and its shell in cabochon form is the state gem of Louisiana.


The great curassow is the most northerly Crax species. It is part of a clade that inhabited the north of South America since about 9 mya (Tortonian, Late Miocene). As the Colombian Andes were uplifted around 6 mya, this species' ancestors were cut off from the population to their southeast. The latter would in time evolve into the blue-billed curassow. The ancestral great curassows then spread along the Pacific side of the Andes, and into Central America during the Pliocene and Pleistocene as part of the Great American Interchange.


Due to ongoing habitat loss and overhunting in some areas, the great curassow is evaluated as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix III of CITES in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia and Honduras. Of the smaller subspecies C. r. griscomi of Cozumel Island, only a few hundred remain. Its population seems either to have been slowly increasing since the 1980s, or to be fluctuating at a low level; it is vulnerable to hurricanes.
This species has proven to produce fertile hybrids with its closest living relative, the blue-billed curassow, and also with the much more distantly related black curassow.
In Mexico, there are Unidades de Manejo para la Conservación de la Vida Silvestre [Management Units for the Conservation of Wildlife] (UMAs) who are breeding great curassows in captivity.


Similar species include Crepidotus applanatus, C. crocophyllus, and Pleurotus ostreatus.


Crescentia cujete, commonly known as the calabash tree, is a species of flowering plant native to the Americas, that is grown in Africa, Central America, South America, the West Indies and extreme southern Florida. It is the national tree of St. Lucia. It is a dicotyledonous plant with simple leaves, which are alternate or in fascicles (clusters) on short shoots. It is naturalized in India. The tree shares its common name with that of the vine calabash, or bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria).
In Cuba, this tree is known to grow in both disturbed habitat and areas of poor drainage. It can grow up to 10 meters tall.


In Western and Southern Africa it is also used for decoration and musical instruments. Calabash bowls are also widely used by women working as artisanal gold miners, to 'pan for' & recover fine grains of gold.


Crinum americanum is an aquatic angiosperm native to North America from Texas to South Carolina, as well as Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Common names for this species include Florida swamp-lily, string lily, and southern swamp crinum. The species grows in small groups in still water habitats.
Crinum species are now members of the family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae; they were formerly placed in the family Liliaceae.  They are monocots with six flower petals in white at approximately 10 cm across.


Crithagra mozambica mozambica: coastal Kenya and Mafia Island (Tanzania) south to Zimbabwe, Mozambique, eastern and southeastern Botswana, and northeastern South Africa (North West and Limpopo to Free State)
Crithagra mozambica punctigula: Cameroon (north to Toukte, Grand Capitaine and Koum)
Crithagra mozambica caniceps: Senegal to Cameroon (south to Benue plain)
Crithagra mozambica tando: Gabon to north Angola and south west Democratic Republic of the Congo; introduced São Tomé island, São Tomé and Príncipe
Crithagra mozambica vansoni: Extreme south east Angola and adjacent Namibia to north Botswana, south west Zambia
Crithagra mozambica barbata: southern Chad, Central African Republic, western Sudan, western and southern South Sudan, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, southwestern Kenya, and central Tanzania
Crithagra mozambica samaliyae: SE Democratic Republic of the Congo to sw Tanzania and adjacent Zambia
Crithagra mozambica grotei: southeastern Sudan (east of the Nile), eastern South Sudan, and western and southwestern Ethiopia
Crithagra mozambica gommaensis: Eritrea and northwestern and central Ethiopia
Crithagra mozambica granti: eastern South Africa (Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal south to Eastern Cape), eastern Eswatini, and southern Mozambique


Crithmum is a monospecific  genus of flowering plant in the carrot family Apiaceae, with the sole species Crithmum maritimum, known as  rock samphire, sea fennel or samphire. The name "samphire" is also used for several other unrelated succulent halophyte species of coastal plant.
Sea fennel, or Rock samphire, is an edible wild plant. It is found on coastlines throughout much of Europe (north to the British Isles), Macaronesia, parts of West Asia and North Africa in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts.


Crocus tommasinianus, the woodland crocus, early crocus, or Tommasini's crocus, was named after the botanist Muzio G. Spirito de Tommasini (1794-1879). It is native to Bulgaria, Hungary, Albania, and the former Yugoslavia. It is often referred to as the early or snow crocus, but these terms are shared with several other species, although C. tommasinianus is amongst the first to bloom. Multiple plants are often called tommies in the horticultural trade.


The species in found growing around 1000 meters in woods and on shady hillsides, commonly on limestone with flowering occurring in January and February; the narrow leaves are fully developed by the time the purple flowers with white tubes blooms.


Croton glandulosus can be found throughout the Southeastern United States, Central America, and in some parts of South America. It is native to the south-central U.S. and is mostly prevalent in the coastal plain and Piedmont in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. It has even spread to regions as far north as Indiana and Iowa. Much of its southeastern U.S. range is considered non-native or potentially non-native. This plant is becoming problematic for many agronomic crops such as corn, soybeans, cotton, and many others in southeast Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia.


The smooth-billed ani (Crotophaga ani) is a bird in the cuckoo family. It is a resident breeding species from southern Florida, the Caribbean, parts of Central America, south to western Ecuador, Brazil, northern Argentina and southern Chile. It was introduced to Galápagos around the 1960s and is potentially impacting native and endemic species across the archipelago.


The groove-billed ani (Crotophaga sulcirostris) is a tropical bird in the cuckoo family with a long tail and a large, curved beak. It is a resident species throughout most of its range, from southern Texas, central Mexico and The Bahamas, through Central America, to northern Colombia and Venezuela, and coastal Ecuador and Peru. It only retreats from the northern limits of its range in Texas and northern Mexico during winter.


Like other bird's nest fungi, Crucibulum species are saprobic and derive their nutrients from decomposing organic matter. They are typically found growing on wood and woody debris such as stems, twigs, wood chips, old nut shells, and old matting; they are sometimes found on "dried manure cakes". Brodie notes (of C. laeve) they are "never" found on soil or large logs. C. parvulum has been found on the roots and stems of old or dead dry land plants such as Juniperus horizontalis and Artemisia species.
C. laeve, the most well-known species of Crucibulum, is a temperate-zone species with a circumpolar distribution. It has been collected in most European countries and the Canary Islands; in North America it has been found from Alaska to Mexico, while South American locations include Chile and Tierra del Fuego. It has also been found in Australia, Iceland, Japan, and New Zealand. C. parvulum has a primarily North American distribution, having been found in Alaska, southern Alberta Badlands, the Canadian Rocky Mountains and in semi-deserts of Idaho; in 2004 it was collected in China. C. cyathiforme is only known from Colombia—where it was discovered growing at an elevation of nearly 7000 feet (2146 metres)— and Armenia.


The gumboot chiton (Cryptochiton stelleri), also known as the giant western fiery chiton or giant Pacific chiton, is the largest of the chitons, growing to 36 cm (14 in) and capable of reaching a weight of more than 2 kg (4.4 lb). It is found along the shores of the northern Pacific Ocean from Central California to Alaska, across the Aleutian Islands to the Kamchatka Peninsula and south to Japan. It inhabits the lower intertidal and subtidal zones of rocky coastlines. The gumboot chiton's appearance has led some tidepoolers to refer to it, fondly, as the "wandering meatloaf". The name "gumboot chiton" seems to derive from a resemblance to part of a rubber Wellington boot or "gum rubber" boot.
Chitons are molluscs that have eight armored plates (called valves) running in a flexible line down their back. Unlike most chitons, the gumboot's valves are completely hidden by its leathery upper skin or girdle that usually is reddish-brown or brown, but occasionally is orange in color.
Chitons have long arrays of fine teeth that are partially made of magnetite, making its teeth hard enough to scrape algae off rocks. The styli enclosing their teeth contain the mineral santabarbaraite, making the gumboot the first organism known to use this material that was discovered during 2000 in Italy.


The black spiny-tailed iguana is native to Central America, and has the widest range of all Ctenosaura species from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to northeastern Nicaragua and western Panama on the respective Atlantic and Pacific coasts. It is commonly found throughout Costa Rica, Honduras and has been reported from some islands of Colombia in both the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.
The black spiny-tailed iguana has been introduced to South Florida and reproduces in the wild in several feral populations. On the southwestern Florida coast, it has been discovered from Collier County north to Tampa Bay. On the southeastern Florida coast, black spiny-tailed iguanas have been found on Key Biscayne, Hialeah, and in Broward County. This iguana has also been introduced to several islands in the Caribbean. As this species will opportunistically feed on small vertebrates, such as fish, rodents, eggs, birds, and even hatchling sea turtles it may pose a threat to endangered native species.


The common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, Cuculiformes, which includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals.
This species is a widespread summer migrant to Europe and Asia, and winters in Africa. It is a brood parasite, which means it lays eggs in the nests of other bird species, particularly of dunnocks, meadow pipits, and reed warblers. Although its eggs are larger than those of its hosts, the eggs in each type of host nest resemble the host's eggs. The adult too is a mimic, in its case of the sparrowhawk; since that species is a predator, the mimicry gives the female time to lay her eggs without being attacked.


Essentially a bird of open land, the common cuckoo is a widespread summer migrant to Europe and Asia, and winters in Africa. Birds arrive in Europe in April and leave in September. The common cuckoo has also occurred as a vagrant in countries including Barbados, the United States, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Indonesia, Palau, Seychelles, Taiwan and China. Between 1995 and 2015, the distribution of cuckoos within the UK has shifted towards the north, with a decline by 69% in England but an increase by 33% in Scotland.


The naked, altricial chick hatches after 11–13 days. It methodically evicts all host progeny from host nests. It is a much larger bird than its hosts, and needs to monopolize the food supplied by the parents. The chick will roll the other eggs out of the nest by pushing them with its back over the edge. If the host's eggs hatch before the cuckoo's, the cuckoo chick will push the other chicks out of the nest in a similar way. At 14 days old, the common cuckoo chick is about three times the size of an adult Eurasian reed warbler.
The necessity of eviction behavior is unclear. One hypothesis is that competing with host chicks leads to decreased cuckoo chick weight, which is selective pressure for eviction behavior. An analysis of the amount of food provided to common cuckoo chicks by host parents in the presence and absence of host siblings showed that when competing against host siblings, cuckoo chicks did not receive enough food, showing an inability to compete. Selection pressure for eviction behavior may come from cuckoo chicks lacking the correct visual begging signals, hosts distributing food to all nestlings equally, or host recognition of the parasite. Another hypothesis is that decreased cuckoo chick weight is not selective pressure for eviction behavior. An analysis of resources provided to cuckoo chicks in the presence and absence of host siblings also showed that the weights of cuckoos raised with host chicks were much smaller upon fledging than cuckoos raised alone, but within 12 days cuckoos raised with siblings grew faster than cuckoos raised alone and made up for developmental differences, showing a flexibility that would not necessarily select for eviction behavior.
Species whose broods are parasitised by the common cuckoo have evolved to discriminate against cuckoo eggs but not chicks. Experiments have shown that common cuckoo chicks persuade their host parents to feed them by making a rapid begging call that sounds "remarkably like a whole brood of host chicks." The researchers suggested that "the cuckoo needs vocal trickery to stimulate adequate care to compensate for the fact that it presents a visual stimulus of just one gape." However, a cuckoo chick needs the amount of food of a whole brood of host nestlings, and it struggles to elicit that much from the host parents with only the vocal stimulus. This may reflect a tradeoff—the cuckoo chick benefits from eviction by receiving all the food provided, but faces a cost in being the only one influencing feeding rate. For this reason, cuckoo chicks exploit host parental care by remaining with the host parent longer than host chicks do, both before and after fledging.
Common cuckoo chicks fledge about 17–21 days after hatching, compared to 12–13 days for Eurasian reed warblers. If the hen cuckoo is out-of-phase with a clutch of Eurasian reed warbler eggs, she will eat them all so that the hosts are forced to start another brood.
The common cuckoo's behaviour was firstly observed and described by Aristotle and the combination of behaviour and anatomical adaptation by Edward Jenner, who was elected as Fellow of the Royal Society in 1788 for this work rather than for his development of the smallpox vaccine. It was first documented on film in 1922 by Edgar Chance and Oliver G Pike, in their film The Cuckoo's Secret.
A study in Japan found that young common cuckoos probably acquire species-specific feather lice from body-to-body contact with other cuckoos between the time of leaving the nest and returning to the breeding area in spring. A total of 21 nestlings were examined shortly before they left their hosts' nests and none carried feather lice. However, young birds returning to Japan for the first time were found just as likely as older individuals to be lousy.


The brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans) is a small freshwater fish that is distributed across the US and Canada. It grows to a length of about 2 inches.  It occupies the northern part of the eastern United States, as well as the southern half of Canada. Small populations are scattered throughout the Mississippi-Great Lakes basin extending to Colorado, New Mexico, Kentucky, Tennessee, etc., though some of these areas are not native to the species. This small fish inhabits clear, cool streams and lakes. They eat small invertebrates, algae, insect larvae, and occasionally their own eggs. They are also preyed upon by smallmouth bass and northern pike. Feeding time is usually dawn and sunset. The brook stickleback does have active competition mostly from minnows, but feeding times are different, along with diet. Spawning occurs in midsummer. Males secure a territory, build a nest, and mate with females. Males provide protection for the eggs, ward off predators, and usually die later in the season. This is considered an annual species. The nests are built out of aquatic grasses. Though the brook stickleback is not considered a threatened species, deforesting and changing waters are altering ecosystems of the species. Harvesting of trees around riparian environments is having a large effect of the stream ecosystem where the brook stickleback resides.


Culaea inconstans, commonly known as the brook stickleback, is a small fish (<87 mm) that occurs throughout the southern half of Canada and the northern part of the eastern United States. It is one of the smallest fishes in the region. Brackish water populations are uncommon but certainly exist. It extends down to the southern reaches of the Mississippi River – Great Lakes drainage basins. Populations also exist in Colorado and Nebraska to the west, and in Alberta, Manitoba, and Northwest Territory to the north. Though these are typically the native ranges of the brook stickleback, the species has been introduced to Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, northwestern Colorado, northeastern Utah and California, and even in parts of South Dakota and Washington State. Certain geographical distribution studies have found that certain populations may have been native in New Mexico and still exist today. Nebraska does have brook stickleback populations, but they are generally found in small streams in the northern portion of the state. The fish have been found in Nebraska since the early part of the nineteen hundreds. River drainages that sustain brook stickleback populations are the Loup, Middle Platt, Niobrara, and smaller distributions in the Lower Platte, Missouri River tributaries, North Platte, and South Platte. Though the species appears to have an abundant distribution across North America, the Nature Conservancy has declared the species to be a S3 (vulnerable) level. Reasons for the level of vulnerability could be due to increased dam construction, especially in the eastern United States. This can lead to a destruction of habitat, increase in silted waterways, alteration of stream nutrient transport, and damaged breeding grounds. Alteration of stream dynamics could also lead to a change in predator frequency, thus exposing the brook stickleback to unforeseen predators.


Culex quinquefasciatus (originally named Culex fatigans), commonly known as the southern house mosquito, is a medium-sized mosquito found in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It is a vector of Wuchereria bancrofti, avian malaria, and arboviruses including St. Louis encephalitis virus, Western equine encephalitis virus, Zika virus and West Nile virus. It is taxonomically regarded as a member of the Culex pipiens species complex. Its genome was sequenced in 2010, and was shown to have 18,883 protein-coding genes.


The southern house mosquito is a principal vector of numerous pathogens, transmitting the phlebovirus Rift Valley fever virus, and the two flaviviruses St. Louis encephalitis virus and West Nile virus, plus filarial worms and avian malarial parasites.
It transmits zoonotic diseases that affect humans and wild and domestic animals, such as lymphatic filariasis, avian malaria, St. Louis encephalitis, Western equine encephalitis, and West Nile fever, and may be a vector of the Zika virus. It causes infection through biting during blood meal. In the southern U.S., it is the primary vector of St. Louis encephalitis virus. In India and Southeast Asia, it is the primary vector of Wuchereria bancrofti, a nematode that causes lymphatic filariasis. It acts as an intermediate host for the helminth parasite by harbouring the larval stages. In Hawaii, it is the principal vector of avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum), to which historic extinctions and significant contemporary population declines in Hawaii's native honeycreeper species are attributed. It is the definitive host for the malarial parasite as it harbours the sexual cycle.  In 2013 West Nile Virus positive specimens were collected in Southern California.


The western tailed-blue (Cupido amyntula) is a Nearctic non-migratory butterfly that commonly takes flight during the spring and summer seasons of March–July. They can be best classified as having a presence of a tail on their hindwing, an upper surface that's bluish while the under surface is chalky-white with occasional black spots, and an orange spot toward the base of their tail. Their wingspan ranges from 0.875 to 1.125 inches (2.2 to 2.9 cm). Larvae feed on various plant species including Astragalus (several species), Lathyrus (several species), Oxytropis, and Vicia (several species). Adults feed on various things such as flower nectar, horse and coyote manure, urine, and mud.


The western tailed-blue can be most abundantly found in open areas containing low shrubs extending throughout western North America from as high as south Alaska to as low as northern Baja California. These species prefer to reside more in forest densities, with equal presence in mature and young forests, compared to grassland habitats within these regions. They also have no preference for an open tree canopy cover and are equally likely to be found in mature forests adjacent to agricultural fields, young forests, and grasslands. They are found in higher densities of host plant cover and nectar plants among certain sites including meadows, prairies, and young forests. Within these locations, adult C. amynula visits white, purplish, yellow, or pinkish flowers, including Sedum lanceolatum and Astragalus flexuosus. The density of these species is highest where nectar plants and forest openings are widely available. Other habitat characteristics these species are known for include moist woodland openings under mature, open forests.


The short-tailed blue or tailed Cupid (Cupido argiades)  is a butterfly that forms part of the family Lycaenidae. It is found from Europe to Japan and in India.


In the Palearctic it is found from north of Spain via Central Europe, Southern Europe and Eastern Europe then east to Central Asia and Japan. It is missing in much of Italy and the south of Greece and Turkey. The butterfly flies from May to September depending on the location. An isolated population in Southern Armenia is on wing starting from late April. In  the Oriental region it is found in India.


The small blue is known for being the smallest butterfly found in the United Kingdom.  It has a very patchy distribution across the UK with its strongholds on the chalk and limestone grasslands of southern England such as the Cotswolds and Salisbury Plain. Across the rest of Great Britain and Ireland it is often associated with coastal habitats with widely scattered colonies in northern England and the far north of Scotland. It is a Priority Species for conservation in Northern Ireland and under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.


The common dodder can be found in every state of the United States with the exceptions of Utah, Nevada, California, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii. It can also be found in all provinces of Canada with the exceptions of British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. The plant is native in all of these areas.
This species has naturalized in France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Italy.
This species is commonly found growing in temperate forest habitats. Because it requires an abundance of moisture, the common dodder is usually found in floodplains.


It occurs naturally from southern and eastern South Africa to the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia and northwards into tropical Africa.


There are currently around 20–44 million pairs in Europe.
The Eurasian blue tit and the related hybrids are considered native species in areas of the European continent with a mainly temperate or Mediterranean climate, and in parts of the Middle East. These areas include Ireland, the United Kingdom and most of the European Union and EFTA (except Malta, where they are considered vagrant, and Iceland, where they are absent), plus: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Vatican City and Ukraine.
In Great Britain the Eurasian blue tit can be found in a variety of environments, and is typically found in deciduous woodland, parks, gardens and even in the centre of towns.


The azure tit (Cyanistes cyanus) is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder throughout Russia and Central Asia and northwest China, Manchuria and Pakistan.
It is found in temperate and subarctic deciduous or mixed woodlands, scrub and marshes. It is resident, and most birds do not migrate. It nests in a tree hole, laying about 10 eggs. The bird is a close sitter, hissing and biting when disturbed. Its food is insects, seeds, small invertebrates, larvae of bugs, and eggs.
This 12–13 cm bird is unmistakable. The head, tail corners, wing bars and underparts are white. There is a dark line through the eye, and the upperparts are blue.
This is the eastern counterpart of the common Eurasian blue tit. It will hybridise with that species, but the offspring usually show a blue crown, rather than the white of azure tit. The calls are similar to blue tit, calling dee, dee, dee or a scolding churr. The song is a tsi-tsi-tshurr-tsi-tsi-tshurr, which has been described as intermediate between blue tit and crested tit.


The nominate subspecies of blue bunting is the most widespread. It occurs from Veracruz in eastern Mexico south and east through Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador into northwestern Nicaragua. C. p. beneplacita is mostly confined to Nuevo León in northeastern Mexico, though it occasionally wanders into Texas and Louisiana. C. p. lucida is found in northeastern and eastern Mexico. C. p. indigotica ranges in western Mexico from Sinaloa south to Oaxaca and Chiapas.
The blue bunting inhabits dense vegetation such as scrubby areas, thickets, and the undergrowth and edges of tall forest. In elevation it ranges up to 1,800 m (5,900 ft) in Mexico and to 900 m (3,000 ft) in Guatemala.


The plush-crested jay (Cyanocorax chrysops) is a jay of the family Corvidae (which includes the crows and their many allies). It is found in central-southern South America: in southwestern Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina, including southern regions of the Amazon Basin river systems bordering the Pantanal.


The red-crowned parakeet is a member of the order Psittaciformes, also known as the parrots. It is part of the genus Cyanoramphus, which currently includes 12 species of parakeets. C. novaezelandiae was once lumped with several other parrots from New Zealand's outlying islands, New Caledonia and Norfolk Island, but these have now been afforded full species status.


Red-crowned parakeets were once widespread across the North and South Island of New Zealand. Nowadays, however, most of those mainland populations have disappeared due to predation by introduced species.
On the mainland, this species occurs in large forest blocks in Northland, Coromandel and central North Island. In the South Island, there has been records of them along the West, South and South-East coasts. Nevertheless, those mainland populations remain extremely scarce. The rest of the species is confined to Stewart Island/Rakiura and a number of offshore islands (such as Kapiti Island, Tiritiri Matangi Island and Matiu/Somes Island) as well as the Auckland Islands to the south. The other subspecies live on their respective islands, namely the Kermadec Islands and the Chatham Islands.


The rufous-browed peppershrike (Cyclarhis gujanensis) is a passerine bird in the vireo family. It is widespread and often common in woodland, forest edge, and cultivation with some tall trees from Mexico and Trinidad south to Argentina and Uruguay.
The adult rufous-browed peppershrike is approximately 15 cm (5.9 in) long and weighs 28 g (0.99 oz). It is bull-headed with a thick, somewhat shrike-like bill, which typically is blackish below and pinkish-grey above. The head is grey with a strong rufous eyebrow. The crown is often tinged with brown. The upperparts are green, and the yellow throat and breast shade into a white belly. The subspecies ochrocephala from the south-eastern part of its range has a shorter rufous eyebrow and a brown-tinged crown, while the subspecies virenticeps, contrerasi and saturata from north-western Peru and western Ecuador have greenish-yellow (not grey, as in the "typical" subspecies) nape, auriculars and cheeks.
The song is a whistled phrase with the rhythm "Do you wash every week?", but there are extensive variations depending on both individual and range. It is often heard but hard to see as it feeds on insects and spiders high in the foliage, though it has been observed to take small lizards as well.
The nest is a flimsy cup high in a tree with a typical clutch of two or three pinkish-white eggs lightly blotched with brown. Like most vireos, the peppershrike ejects parasitic cowbird eggs.


Baculoviruses are common viruses of lepidopteran insects, and divide into two genera: Nucleopolyhedrovirus and Granulovirus. Of these, a granulovirus species specific to codling moths has been identified and studied. Granuloviruses form small granules that each carry one virion, and can be divided into two classes: the 'slow' and 'fast' granuloviruses, which refers to the rate at which the virus kills the host. Fast-killing granuloviruses usually kill the host during the same instar in which it was infected. Cydia pomonella granulovirus is a species of fast granulovirus that is fatally pathogenic to codling moths. Because Cydia pomonella granulovirus is a fast granulovirus, the codling moth larvae dies within the same instar as when infected. The complete genome of Cydia pomonella granulovirus has been sequenced and was found to have 123,500 bp.
Three main Cydia pomonella granulovirus isolates have been identified: Cydia pomonella granulovirus-M, E, R. These can be categorized into four genome types: genomes A, B, C, and D. It is believed that genome C is ancestral to the other genomes. Genome C is also less pathogenic to codling moth neonates compared to other genome types. Isolates from Iran have also been identified and were found to have same genome types as the other isolates.


In 1918 Joseph Grinnell wrote that trumpeter swans once bred in North America from northwestern Indiana west to Oregon in the U.S., and in Canada from James Bay to the Yukon, and they migrated as far south as Texas and southern California. In 1960 Winston E. Banko also placed their breeding range as far south as Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, northwestern Indiana, but in Michigan turned this line northwards, placing a hypothetical eastern boundary up through Ontario to western Quebec and the eastern shore of James Bay. In 1984, Harry G. Lumsden posited that trumpeter swans may have been extirpated from eastern Canada by native people armed with firearms prior to the arrival of European explorers and noted archaeological remains of trumpeter swans as far east as Port au Choix, Newfoundland dating to 2,000 BCE. He cited historical observer records of what must have been breeding trumpeters, such as Father Hennepin's August report of swans on the Detroit River from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie in 1679 and Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac's 1701 report of summering swans (July 23 – October 8) in the same area: "There are such large numbers of swans that the rushes among which they are massed might be taken for lilies." In the eastern United States the breeding range is potentially extended to North Carolina by the detailed report of John Lawson (1701) that "Of the swans we have two sorts, the one we call Trompeters...These are the largest sort we have...when spring comes on they go the Lakes to breed" versus "The sort of Swans called Hoopers; are the least."


The smallest member in its genus, it is found in freshwater marshes, lagoon and lake shores in southern South America. The black-necked swan breeds in Chilean Southern Zone, Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego and on the Falkland Islands. In the austral winter, this species migrates northwards to Paraguay, Bolivia and southern Brazil. The wetlands created by the 1960 Valdivia earthquake like Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary in Cruces River have become important population centers for the black-necked swan.


The mute swan (Cygnus olor) is a species of swan and a member of the waterfowl family Anatidae. It is native to much of Eurosiberia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is an introduced species in North America, home to the largest populations outside of its native range, with additional smaller introductions in Australasia and southern Africa. The name 'mute' derives from it being less vocal than other swan species. Measuring 125 to 160 cm (49 to 63 in) in length, this large swan is wholly white in plumage with an orange beak bordered with black. It is recognizable by its pronounced knob atop the beak, which is larger in males.


Mute swan subfossils, 6,000 years old, have been found in post-glacial peat beds of East Anglia, Great Britain. They have been recorded from Ireland east to Portugal and Italy, and from France, 13,000 BP (Desbrosse and Mourer-Chauvire 1972–1973). The paleosubspecies. Cygnus olor bergmanni, which differed only in size from the living bird, is known from fossils found inAzerbaijan.Another Paleo-species was the Giant Swan Cygnus falconeri a type of flightless Swan that lived on the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Sicily.
Fossils of swan ancestors more distantly allied to the mute swan have been found in four U.S. states: California, Arizona, Idaho and Oregon. The timeline runs from the Miocene to the late Pleistocene, or 10,000 BP. The latest find was in Anza Borrego Desert, a state park in California. Fossils from the Pleistocene include Cygnus paloregonus from Fossil Lake, Oregon, Froman's Ferry, Idaho, and Arizona, referred to by Howard in The Waterfowl of the World as "probably the mute type swan".


Since being introduced into North America, the mute swan has increased greatly in number to the extent that it is considered as an invasive species there. Populations introduced into other areas remain small, with around 200 in Japan, fewer than 200 in New Zealand and Australia, and about 120 in South Africa.


Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa, commonly referred to as buckhorn cholla, is a cholla native to the Mojave, Sonoran, and Colorado Deserts of North America. Along with Cylindropuntia bigelovii (the "teddy bear" cholla), it is the most common cholla found in these deserts.