Soliva sessilis, one of up to nine species of the genus Soliva, is a low-growing herbaceous annual plant. Its common names include field burrweed, Onehunga-weed, lawn burrweed, lawnweed, and common soliva. It is one of several plants known as bindi weed, bindii, or bindi-eye.
A weedy plant known for its tiny sharp-needled seeds. It appears with small feathery leaves reminiscent of parsley, with an exposed upward-pointing rosette of seeds in a pod nestled at the branch junctions. Eventually small flowers appear if the plant is allowed to develop. Those familiar with the plant may also know it as "bindi patches", which can't be walked on barefoot. Dogs and cats are no less affected and tend to avoid areas where they have encountered it.
Originally native to South America, the plant is now well established in many places around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, southwest France, Hawaii, California, and several other states in the United States. It is mainly found in parks and ovals, though it has also become an invasive species in lawns in the southeast USA, Australia and New Zealand.
Bindi weed can be manually removed by pulling it out at the root, usually when it's grown big, and started to flower, and before seeding—especially after rain when the ground is softer. A hand tool that pinches the tap root and enables some leverage while getting in under the central core is the best method.
Bindi can be treated with herbicide. Late winter and early spring are the best times to destroy the weed before its seeds germinate. Effective herbicides are typically combinations of MCPA and Dicamba, which target broad-leaved plants but not grasses. These chemicals have similar effects as natural plant auxins, and their increased concentrations cause unnatural plant growth which kill the plant. Mowing grass to a higher level will allow more competitive plants to thrive in the area. Bindi weed also favours compacted ground, so aerating the soil should also reduce the presence of the plant


Somatochlora tenebrosa, the clamp-tipped emerald, is a species of emerald dragonfly in the family Corduliidae. It is found in North America.
The IUCN conservation status of Somatochlora tenebrosa is "LC", least concern, with no immediate threat to the species' survival. The population is stable. The IUCN status was reviewed in 2017.


Sonchus arvensis, the field milk thistle, field sowthistle, perennial sow-thistle, corn sow thistle, dindle, gutweed, swine thistle, or tree sow thistle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. S. arvensis often occurs in annual crop fields and may cause substantial yield losses.


The plant grows up to 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) in height, with leaves 10–35 cm (4–13+3⁄4 in) long and 4–14 cm (1+1⁄2–5+1⁄2 in) wide. It produces conspicuous yellow flowerheads about 3–5 cm (1+1⁄4–2 in) wide, which are visited by various types of insects—especially hoverflies of the genus Eristalis.


Sonchus arvensis is native to Europe, where it is widespread across most of the continent. It has also become naturalized in many other regions, and is considered an invasive noxious weed in some places, such as North America (including Prince Edward Island), Russia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Australia.
It grows in areas such as pastures, roadsides, bushlands and the shorelines of lakes, rivers and sea coast.


The young leaves, when less than a few inches long and not bitter in taste, can be mixed with other greens to make salad. They can also be boiled in a small quantity of water, changed once. The plant can contain toxic nitrates.


Sonchus asper, the prickly sow-thistle, rough milk thistle, spiny sowthistle, sharp-fringed sow thistle, or spiny-leaved sow thistle, is a widespread plant in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae.


Sonchus asper is an annual or biennial herb sometimes reaching a height of 200 cm.  with spiny leaves and yellow flowers resembling those of the dandelion. The leaves are bluish-green, simple, lanceolate, with wavy and sometimes lobed margins, covered in spines on both the margins and beneath. The base of the leaf surrounds the stem. The leaves and stems emit a milky sap when cut. One plant will produce several flat-topped arrays of flower heads, each head containing numerous yellow ray flowers but no disc flowers.


Sonchus asper is native to Europe, North Africa, and western Asia. It has also become naturalized on other continents and is regarded as a noxious, invasive weed in many places. Its edible leaves make a palatable and nutritious leaf vegetable.
It is found in cultivated soil, pastures, roadsides, edges of yards, vacant lots, construction sites, waste areas and in grasslands.


Sonchus oleraceus is a species of flowering plant in the tribe Cichorieae of the family Asteraceae, native to Europe and Western Asia. It has many common names including common sowthistle, sow thistle, smooth sow thistle, annual sow thistle, hare's colwort, hare's thistle, milky tassel, milk thistle. and soft thistle.
Its specific epithet oleraceus means "vegetable/herbal". The common name 'sow thistle' refers to its attractiveness to pigs, and the similarity of the leaf to younger thistle plants. The common name 'hare's thistle' refers to its purported beneficial effects on hare and rabbits.


This annual plant has a hollow, upright stem up to 30–100 cm high. It prefers full sun, and can tolerate most soil conditions. The flowers are hermaphroditic, and common pollinators include bees and flies. It spreads by seeds being carried by wind or water.
This plant is considered an invasive species in many parts of the world, where it is found mostly in disturbed areas.  In Australia it is a common and widespread invasive species, with large infestations a serious problem in crops.


Leaves are eaten as salad greens or cooked like spinach.  This is one of the species used in Chinese cuisine as kŭcài (苦菜; lit. bitter vegetable). The younger leaves are less bitter and better to eat raw. Steaming can remove the bitterness of older leaves. The younger roots are also edible and can suffice as a coffee substitute.


Nutritional analysis reveals 30 – 40 mg of vitamin C per 100g, 1.2% protein, 0.3% fat, 2.4% carbohydrate. Leaf dry matter analysis per 100g (likely to vary with growing conditions) shows: 45g Carbohydrate, 28g protein, 22g ash, 5.9g fibre, 4.5g fat; in all, providing 265 calories.
Minerals
Calcium: 1500 mg
Phosphorus: 500 mg
Iron: 45.6 mg
Magnesium: 0 mg
Sodium: 0 mg
Potassium: 0 mg
Zinc: 0 mg
Vitamins
A: 35 mg
Thiamine (B₁): 1.5 mg
Riboflavin (B₂): 5 mg
Niacin: 5 mg
B₆: 0 mg
C: 60 mg


Sonchus oleraceus has a variety of uses in herbalism. It also has been ascribed medicinal qualities similar to dandelion and succory. The early Māori people of New Zealand are likely to have gathered it for food and medical use.
Native Americans had many uses for this plant. Pima used its gum as a "cure for the opium habit," as a cathartic, and as a food, where the "{l}eaves and stems {were} rubbed between the palms of the hands and eaten raw" and sometimes "boiled." The Yaqui used the plant as a vegetable, where the "{t}ender, young leaves boiled in salted water with chile and eaten as greens." The Kamia (Kumeyaay) "boiled {the} leaves {and} used {it} for food as greens." The {Houma} used it as an abortifacient where an "{i}nfusion of {the} plant {was} taken to 'make tardy menstruation come;'" an antidiarrheal; for children that were teething; and as hog feed.


This plant can often be controlled by mowing, because it does not regrow from root fragments. Attempts at weed control by herbicide, to the neglect of other methods, may have led to proliferation of this species in some environments.


Sophora microphylla, common name kōwhai, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to New Zealand. Growing to 8 m (26 ft) tall and broad, it is an evergreen shrub or small tree. Each leaf is 10 cm (4 in) long with up to 40 pairs of shiny oval leaflets. In early spring it produces many racemes of pea-like yellow flowers.
Other common names include weeping kōwhai and small-leaved kōwhai. It is also referred to as South Island Kowhai although this name is misleading since it is widely distributed all over New Zealand including the North Island, though less common in Northland.
The specific epithet microphylla means "small-leaved". S. microphylla has smaller leaves (around 3–6 mm long by 2–5 mm wide) and flowers (1.8-5.0 cm long), than the other well known species Sophora tetraptera (large-leaved kōwhai).
When young S. microphylla has a divaricating and bushy growth habit with many interlacing branches, which begins to disappear as the tree ages.
The cultivar Sun King 'Hilsop' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Its nectar is toxic to the honeybee.


Studies of accumulated dried vegetation in the pre-human mid-late Holocene period suggests a low Sophora microphylla forest ecosystem in Central Otago that was used and perhaps maintained by giant moa birds, for both nesting material and food. Neither the forests nor moa existed when European settlers came to the area in the 1850s.


The tree species Sorbus americana is commonly known as the American mountain-ash. It is a deciduous perennial tree, native to eastern North America.
The American mountain-ash and related species (most often the European mountain-ash, Sorbus aucuparia) are also referred to as rowan trees.


Sorbus americana is a relatively small tree, reaching 12 metres (40 ft) in height. The American mountain-ash attains its largest specimens on the northern shores of Lake Huron and Lake Superior.
It resembles the European mountain-ash, Sorbus aucuparia.
Bark
Light gray, smooth, surface scaly. Branchlets downy at first, later become smooth, brown tinged with red, lenticular, finally they become darker and the papery outer layer becomes easily separable.
Wood
Pale brown; light, soft, close-grained but weak. Specific gravity, 0.5451; weight of cu. ft., 33.97 lbs.
Winter buds
Dark red, acute, one-fourth to three-quarters of an inch long. Inner scales are very tomentose and enlarge with the growing shoot.
Leaves
Alternate, compound, odd-pinnate, 6 to 10 inches (15 to 25 cm) long, with slender, grooved, dark green or red petiole. Leaflets 13 to 17, lanceolate or long oval, two to three inches long, one-half to two-thirds broad, unequally wedge-shaped or rounded at base, serrate, acuminate, sessile, the terminal one sometimes borne on a stalk half an inch long, feather-veined, midrib prominent beneath, grooved above. They come out of the bud downy, conduplicate; when full grown are smooth, dark yellow green above and paler beneath. In autumn they turn a clear yellow. Stipules leaf-like, caducous.
Flowers
May, June, after the leaves are full grown. Perfect, white, one-eighth of an inch across, borne in flat compound cymes three or four inches across. Bracts and bractlets acute, minute, caducous.
Calyx
Urn-shaped, hairy, five-lobed; lobes, short, acute, imbricate in bud.
Corolla
Petals five, creamy white, orbicular, contracted into short claws, inserted on calyx, imbricate in bud.
Stamens
Twenty to thirty, inserted on calyx tube; filaments thread-like; anthers introrse, two-celled; cells opening longitudinally.
Pistil
Two to three carpels inserted in the bottom of the calyx tube and united into an inferior ovary. Styles two to three; stigmas capitate; ovules two in each cell.
Fruit
Berry-like pome, globular, one-quarter of an inch across, bright red, borne in cymous clusters. Ripens in October and remains on the tree all winter. Flesh thin and sour, charged with malic acid; seeds light brown, oblong, compressed; cotyledons fleshy.


Native to eastern North America;
Eastern Canada – New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec
Northeastern United States – Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont
North-Central United States – Illinois [n. (Ogle Co.)], Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin. Listed as endangered by the State of Illinois
Southeastern United States – Appalachian Mountains, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia


The berries of American mountain-ash are eaten by numerous species of birds, including ruffed grouse, ptarmigans, sharp-tailed grouse, blue grouse, American robins, other thrushes, waxwings, jays, and small mammals, such as squirrels and rodents.
American mountain-ash is a preferred browse for moose and white-tailed deer. Moose will eat foliage, twigs, and bark. Up to 80 percent of American mountain-ash stems were browsed by moose in control plots adjacent to exclosures on Isle Royale. Fishers, martens, snowshoe hares, and ruffed grouse also browse American mountain-ash.


Sorbus americana is cultivated as an ornamental tree, for use in gardens and parks. It prefers a rich moist soil and the borders of swamps, but will flourish on rocky hillsides.
A cultivar is the red cascade mountain-ash, or Sorbus americana 'Dwarfcrown'. It is planted in gardens, and as a street tree.


After their first winter freeze, the fruits are edible raw or cooked. They can be used to make pie and jelly.


Sorbus sitchensis, commonly known as western mountain ash and Sitka mountain-ash, is a small shrub of northwestern North America.


A multistemmed shrub, it is endemic to northwestern North America, from the Pacific coast of Alaska, to the mountains of Washington, Oregon and northern California and eastward to parts of Idaho and western Alberta and Montana. It is widespread in British Columbia.
The otherwise similar Sorbus scopulina  has yellow-green sharp-pointed leaflets that are sharply serrated over most of their length.
Winter buds
Not sticky with rusty hairs.
Leaves
Alternate, compound, six to ten inches long,   Leaflets seven to ten, blue-green, lanceolate or long oval, with rounded tip, toothed usually from the middle to the end. In autumn they turn yellow, orange and red.  Stipules leaf-like, caducous.
Flowers
After the leaves are fully grown, June through September.  White, small, 80 or fewer, borne in flat compound cymes three or four inches across.
Fruit
Berry-like pome, globular, one-quarter of an inch across, bright pinkish red, borne in cymous clusters. They are enjoyed by the Richardson's grouse.


While not choice eating, the fruits are consumed by some birds in winter.


Sorghastrum nutans, commonly known as either Indiangrass or yellow Indiangrass, is a North American prairie grass found in the central and eastern United States and Canada, especially in the Great Plains and tallgrass prairies.


Indiangrass is a warm-season perennial bunchgrass. It is intolerant to shade. It grows 3 to 7 feet (1 to 2 m) tall, and is distinguished by a "rifle-sight" ligule where the leaf blade attaches to the leaf sheath. The leaf is about 3 feet (1 m) long.
It blooms from late summer to early fall, producing branched clusters (panicles) of spikelets. The spikelets are golden-brown during the blooming period, and each contain one perfect floret that has three large, showy yellow stamens and two feather-like stigmas. One of the two glumes at the base of the spikelets is covered in silky white hairs. The flowers are cross-pollinated by the wind.
The branches of pollinated flower clusters bend outwards. At maturity, the seeds fall to the ground. There are about 175,000 seeds per pound.


Sorghastrum nutans is prominent in the tallgrass prairie ecosystem and the northern, central, and Flint Hills tall grassland ecoregions, along with big bluestem (Andropogon gerardi), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). It is also common in areas of longleaf pine.
It is adapted in the United States from the southern border to Canada and from the eastern seaboard to Montana, Wyoming and Utah.
It regrows with renewed vitality after fires, so controlled burns are used, replacing extirpated large herbivores (i.e. bison), for habitat renewal.
It is a larval host to the pepper-and-salt skipper.


Indiangrass is the official state grass of both Oklahoma and South Carolina.
The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service lists the following uses for Indiangrass:
Erosion control
Livestock
Pollinators
Restoration
Wildlife


Spartium junceum, known as Spanish broom, rush broom, or weaver's broom, it is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and the sole species in the genus Spartium. It is closely related to the other brooms (in the genera Cytisus and Genista).


The Greek name Spartium given to the genus denotes the use of the plant for 'cordage'. The Latin specific epithet junceum means "rush-like", referring to the shoots, which show a passing resemblance to those of the rush genus Juncus.


This species is native to the Mediterranean in southern Europe, southwest Asia and northwest Africa, where it is found in sunny sites, usually on dry, sandy soils.


Spartium junceum is a vigorous, deciduous shrub growing to 2–4 m (7–13 ft) tall, rarely 5 m (16 ft), with main stems up to 5 cm (2 in) thick, rarely 10 cm (4 in). It has thick, somewhat succulent grey-green rush-like shoots with very sparse small deciduous leaves 1 to 3 cm long and up to 4 mm broad. The leaves are of little importance to the plant, with much of the photosynthesis occurring in the green shoots (a water-conserving strategy in its dry climate). The leaves fall away early. In late spring and summer shoots are covered in profuse fragrant yellow pea-like flowers 1 to 2 cm across. In late summer, the legumes (seed pods) mature black and reach 8–10 cm (3–4 in) long. They burst open, often with an audible crack, spreading seed from the parent plant.


The plant is used as an ornamental plant in gardens and in landscape plantings. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
In Bolivia and Peru, the plant is known as retama, (not to be confused with the genus Retama) and has become very well established in some areas. It is one of the most common ornamental plants, often seen growing along sidewalks in La Paz.
Retama has made its way into the ethnobotany of the indigenous Aymara and Quechua cultures.
The plant is also used as a flavoring, and for its essential oil, known as genet absolute. Its fibers have been used for cloth and it produces a yellow dye.


Spartium junceum has been widely introduced into other areas, and is regarded as a noxious invasive species in places with a Mediterranean climate such as California and Oregon, Hawaii, central Chile, southeastern Australia, the Western Cape in South Africa and the Canary Islands and Azores. It was first introduced to California as an ornamental plant.


Spathodea is a monotypic genus in the flowering plant family Bignoniaceae. The single species it contains, Spathodea campanulata, is commonly known as the African tulip tree. The tree grows between 7–25 m (23–82 ft) tall and is native to tropical dry forests of Africa. It has been nominated as among 100 of the "World's Worst" invaders.
This tree is planted extensively as an ornamental tree throughout the tropics and is much appreciated for its very showy reddish-orange or crimson (rarely yellow), campanulate flowers. The generic name comes from the Ancient Greek words σπαθη (spathe) and οιδα (oida), referring to the spathe-like calyx. It was identified by Europeans in 1787 on the Gold Coast of Africa.


The African tulip tree flower produces large flamboyant reddish-orange flowers that have approximately five petals and are 8-15 cm long. The flowers are bisexual and zygomorphic. These are displayed in a terminal corymb-like raceme inflorescence. Its pedicel is approximately 6 cm long. This flower also has a yellow margin and throat. The pistil can be found at center of four stamens that is inserted on the corolla tube.  This flower has a slender ovary that is superior and is two celled. The seeds of this tree are flat, thin, and broadly winged.


Native to: Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia
Exotic in: Australia, Bangladesh,Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Fiji, India, Jamaica, Mauritius, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Puerto Rico, Sri Lanka, Zanzibar, Hawaii, Philippines

It has become an invasive species in many tropical areas, such as Hawaii, Queensland (Australia), Fiji, Papua New Guinea, South Africa and the wet and intermediate zones of Sri Lanka.
Spathodea campanulata is a declared class 3 pest species in Queensland, Australia, under the Land Protection (Pest and Stock Route Management) Act 2002. It is known to be toxic to Australian native stingless bees, such as Lipotriches (Austronomia) flavoviridis.


In Uganda, two lepidopteran species, two termite species, and one bark beetle attack S. campanulata. In Puerto Rico nine insect species in the orders Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, and Thysanoptera have been reported as feeding on various parts of S. campanulata. The species is quite susceptible to butt and heart rot; wood of the tree rots quickly when in contact with the ground.


USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Spathodea campanulata". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
"GISD".
Gledhill, D. (2008). The Names of Plants (4 ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 357. ISBN 978-0-521-86645-3.
Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names. Vol. 4 R-Z. Taylor & Francis US. p. 2526. ISBN 978-0-8493-2678-3.
African Tulip Tropical Tree
Hargreaves, Dorothy; Hargreaves, Bob (1964). Tropical Trees of Hawaii. Kailua, Hawaii: Hargreaves. p. 2. ISBN 9780910690027.
Baza Mendonça & dos Anjos (2005)
de QUEIROZ, A. C. M., VENTURIERI, G., VENTURIERI, G., & de OLIVEIRA JUNIOR, M. C. M. (2012). Effect of toxicity of nectar and pollen of african tulip tree (Spathodea campanulata) on Melipona fasciculata and M. seminigra (Apidae, Meliponini). In Embrapa Amazônia Oriental-Resumo em anais de congresso (ALICE). In: ENCONTRO SOBRE ABELHAS, 10., 2012, Ribeirão Preto. Anais... Ribeirão Preto: FUNPEC, 2012
"ফুটেছে রুদ্রপলাশ | প্রথম আলো".
"African tulip tree – Invasive Species South Africa". Retrieved 2022-02-17.
Invasive Species Compendium and Lalith Gunasekera, Invasive Plants: A guide to the identification of the most invasive plants of Sri Lanka, Colombo 2009, pp. 70–71.
Land Protection (Pest and Stock Route) Regulation 2003 (Qld) - Schedule 2
O'Flaherty, Antonia (2021-02-17). "Brisbane beekeeper creates editable map to track African tulip trees killing native stingless bees". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2021-02-18.


Spathoglottis plicata, commonly known as the Philippine ground orchid, or large purple orchid is an evergreen, terrestrial plant with crowded pseudobulbs, three or four large, pleated leaves and up to forty resupinate, pink to purple flowers. It is found from tropical and subtropical Asia to Australia and the western Pacific including Tonga and Samoa.


Spathoglottis plicata is an evergreen, terrestrial herb which forms tall clumps. It has crowded pseudobulbs 40–60 mm (1.6–2.4 in) long and 20–40 mm (0.8–2 in) wide, each with three or four pleated leaves 50–90 mm (2–4 in) long and 8–15 mm (0.3–0.6 in) wide on a stalk 80–150 mm (3–6 in) long. Up to forty deep pink to purple resupinate flowers 35–55 mm (1–2 in) long and wide are borne on a hairy flowering stem 50–100 cm (20–40 in) tall. The dorsal sepal is 20–30 mm (0.8–1 in) long and the lateral sepals are slightly narrower. The petals are about the same length as the sepals but significantly wider. The labellum is 'T"-shaped, a similar size to the dorsal sepal and has three lobes with the side lobes close to vertical. At the tip of the column there is a cap, under which masses of yellow pollen grains can be seen.
Flowering occurs from September to April in Australia and in most months in China and New Guinea. The fruit is a capsule about 3 mm (0.1 in) long, green and cylindrical. After the flower is fertilized, the seeds take about six weeks to develop. When ripe, the capsule splits open and thousands of tiny seeds are carried away by wind.


Spathoglottis plicata was first formally described in 1825 by Carl Ludwig Blume who published the description in Bijdragen tot de flora van Nederlandsch Indië. The specific epithet (plicata) is a Latin word meaning "folded".


The large purple orchid is found in Taiwan, southern India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Guinea, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Tonga and Samoa. In Australia it occurs from Cooktown to the Jardine River on Cape York Peninsula. It grows in seasonally inundated and other moist areas, in sunny areas near swamps, seepages, and small streams. In Australia it flowers from September to April.


Spathoglottis plicata was previously listed as "vulnerable" under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 but was delisted in 2010.


Spathoglottis plicata and its varieties have been cultivated and selected. The typical one has a bright purple flower. Some of them have mauve or pale mauve flowers. The rare pure white form is called ‘Penang White’. Due to its hardiness and fast growth, Spathoglottis plicata is cultivated and used in hybridizing with other mountain Spathoglottis that are difficult to grown in lowland to produce more interesting varieties. The first Spathoglottis hybrid was produced in 1932 by Richard Eric Holttum who crossed S. plicata with S. aurea and gave it the name Spathoglottis 'Primrose'. ‘Dwarf Legion’ is a hybrid of 'Primrose' and S. tomentosa, a dwarf form that produces many colours of flower, from pink to yellow, and pure cream.Spathoglottis plicata needs to be grown in well-drained, well-aerated soil with the upper part of the ‘bulb’ above the ground level. Dilute manure water applied frequently is recommended.


The cinnamon teal (Spatula cyanoptera) is a species of duck found in western North and South America. It is a small dabbling duck, with bright reddish plumage on the male and duller brown plumage on the female. It lives in marshes and ponds, and feeds mostly on plants.


The adult male has a cinnamon-red head and body with a brown back, a red eye and a dark bill. The adult female has a mottled brown body, a pale brown head, brown eyes and a grey bill and is very similar in appearance to a female blue-winged teal; however its overall color is richer, the lores, eye line, and eye ring are less distinct. Its bill is longer and more spatulate. Male juvenile resembles a female cinnamon or blue-winged teal but their eyes are red. They are 16 in (41 cm) long, have a 22-inch (560 mm) wingspan, and weigh 14 oz (400 g). They have 2 adult molts per year and a third molt in their first year.


These birds feed by dabbling. They mainly eat plants; their diet may include molluscs and aquatic insects.


They are known to interbreed with blue-winged teals, which are very close relatives.
Subspecies are:
Spatula cyanoptera septentrionalium (Oberholser, 1906) northern cinnamon teal breeds from British Columbia to northwestern New Mexico, and they winter in northwestern South America.
Spatula cyanoptera tropica (Snyder & Lumsden, 1951) tropical cinnamon teal occurs in the Cauca Valley and Magdalena Valley in Colombia.
Spatula cyanoptera borreroi (Snyder & Lumsden, 1951) Borrero's cinnamon teal (possibly extinct) occurs in the eastern Andes of Colombia with records of apparently resident birds from northern Ecuador. It is named for Colombian ornithologist José Ignacio Borrero.
Spatula cyanoptera orinoma (Snyder & Lumsden, 1951) Andean cinnamon teal occurs in the Altiplano of Peru, northern Chile and Bolivia.
Spatula cyanoptera cyanoptera (Vieillot, 1816) Argentine cinnamon teal occurs in southern Peru, southern Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and the Falkland Islands.


The blue-winged teal (Spatula discors) is a species of bird in the duck, goose, and swan family Anatidae. One of the smaller members of the dabbling duck group, it occurs in North America, where it breeds from southern Alaska to Nova Scotia, and south to northern Texas. It winters along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts and south into the Caribbean islands and Central America.


The first formal description of the blue-winged teal was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae. He coined the binomial name Anas discors. A molecular phylogentic study comparing mitochondrial DNA sequences published in 2009 found that the genus Anas, as then defined, was non-monophyletic.  The genus was subsequently split into four monophyletic genera with ten species including the blue-winged teal moved into the resurrected genus Spatula. This genus had been originally proposed by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1822. The name Spatula is the Latin for a "spoon" or "spatula". The specific epithet discors is the Latin for "different" or "at variance".


The blue-winged teal is 40 cm (16 in) long, with a wingspan of 58 cm (23 in), and a weight of 370 g (13 oz). The adult male has a greyish blue head with a white facial crescent, a light brown body with a white patch near the rear and a black tail. The adult female is mottled brown, and has a whitish area at base of bill. Both sexes have sky-blue wing coverts, a green speculum, and yellow legs. They have two molts per year and a third molt in their first year. The call of the male is a short whistle; the female's call is a soft quack.


The range is all of North America except western and northern Alaska, northern Yukon Territory, northern Northwest Territories and the northeastern area of Canada. Blue-winged teal are rare in the desert southwest, and the west coast. The breeding habitat of the blue-winged teal is marshes and ponds.
The breeding range extends from east-central Alaska and southern Mackenzie District east to southern Quebec and southwestern Newfoundland. In the contiguous United States it breeds from northeast California east to central Louisiana, central Tennessee, and the Atlantic Coast. The western blue-winged teal inhabits that part of the breeding range west of the Appalachian Mountains. The Atlantic blue-winged teal nests along the Atlantic Coast from New Brunswick to Pea Island, North Carolina.
They migrate in flocks to winter in to the south of its breeding range. During migration, some birds may fly long distances over open ocean. They are occasional vagrants to Europe, where their yellow legs are a distinction from other small ducks like the common teal and garganey, and in recent years have been annual vagrants in Britain and Ireland. The blue-winged teal winters from southern California to western and southern Texas, the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic Coast, the Caribbean, and south to Central and South America. It is often seen wintering as far south as Brazil and central Chile.


Blue-winged teal inhabit shoreline more often than open water and prefer calm water or sluggish currents to fast water. They inhabit inland marshes, lakes, ponds, pools, and shallow streams with dense emergent vegetation. In coastal areas, breeding occurs in salt-marsh meadows with adjoining ponds or creeks. Blue-winged teal use rocks protruding above water, muskrat houses, trunks or limbs of fallen trees, bare stretches of shoreline, or mud flats for resting sites.
Blue-winged teal winter on shallow inland freshwater marshes and brackish and saltwater marshes. They build their nests on dry ground in grassy sites such as bluegrass meadows, hayfields, and sedge meadows. They will also nest in areas with very short, sparse vegetation. Blue-winged teal generally nest within several hundred yards of open water; however, nests have been found as far as 1.61 km (1 mi) away from water. Where the habitat is good, they nest communally.
Blue-winged teal often use heavy growth of bulrushes and cattails as escape cover. Grasses, sedges, and hayfields provide nesting cover for these ducks. Erik Fritzell reported that blue-winged teal nests located in light to sparse cover were more successful than those in heavy cover. Nesting success was 47% on grazed areas and 14% on ungrazed areas.
The blue-winged teal is primarily found in the northern prairies and parklands. It is the most abundant duck in the mixed-grass prairies of the Dakotas and the prairie provinces of Canada. The blue-winged teal is also found in wetlands of boreal forest associations, shortgrass prairies, tallgrass prairies, and deciduous woodlands.
This duck commonly inhabits wetland communities dominated by bulrush (Scirpus spp.), cattail (Typha spp.), pondweed (Potamogeton spp.), sedges (Carex spp.), widgeongrass (Ruppia maritima), and other emergent and aquatic vegetation. During molting, it often remains among extensive beds of bulrushes and cattails. The blue-winged teal favors areas dominated by bluegrass (Poa spp.) for nesting. Hayfields and plant communities of buckbrush (Ceonothus cuneatus) and sedges are also important as nest sites.


These birds feed by dabbling in shallow water at the edge of marshes or open water. They mainly eat plants; their diet may include molluscs and aquatic insects.
Blue-winged teal are generally the first ducks south in the fall and the last ones north in the spring. Adult drakes depart the breeding grounds well before adult hens and immatures. Most blue-winged teal flocks seen after mid-September are composed largely of adult hens and immatures. The northern regions experience a steady decline in blue-winged teal populations from early September until early November. Blue-winged teal in central migration areas tend to remain through September, then diminish rapidly during October, with small numbers remaining until December. Large numbers of blue-winged teal appear on wintering grounds in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas in September.


The onset of courtship among immature blue-winged teal often starts in late January or early February. In areas south of the breeding grounds, blue-winged teal are more active in courtship during the spring migration than are most other ducks.
Blue-winged teal are among the last dabbling ducks to nest, generally nesting between April 15 and May 15. Few nests are started after mid-July. Chronology of nesting can vary from year to year as a result of weather conditions. At Delta Marshes, Manitoba, blue-winged teal nesting was delayed a week in 1950 due to abnormally cold weather. The nest is a shallow depression on the ground lined with grass and down, usually surrounded by vegetation.
Blue-winged teal generally lay 10 to 12 eggs. Delayed nesting and renesting efforts have substantially smaller clutches, averaging five to six eggs. Clutch size can also vary with the age of the hen. Yearlings tend to lay smaller clutches. Incubation takes 21 to 27 days. Blue-winged teal are sexually mature after their first winter. During incubation, the drake leaves its mate and moves to suitable molting cover where it becomes flightless for a period of 3 to 4 weeks.
Blue-winged teal ducklings can walk to water within 12 hours after hatching but do not fledge until 6 to 7 weeks.


Blue-winged teal are surface feeders and prefer to feed on mud flats, in fields, or in shallow water where there is floating and shallowly submerged vegetation plus abundant small aquatic animal life. They mostly eat vegetative matter consisting of seeds or stems and leaves of sedge, grass, pondweed, smartweed (Polygonum spp.), duckweed (Lemna spp.), Widgeongrass, and muskgrass (Chara spp.). The seeds of plants that grow on mud flats, such as nutgrass (Cyperus spp.), smartweed, millet (Panicum spp.), and Rice Cut-grass (Leersia oryzoides), are avidly consumed by this duck. One-fourth of the food consumed by blue-winged teal is animal matter such as mollusks, crustaceans, and insects.


Common predators of blue-winged teal include humans, snakes, snapping turtles (Chlycha serpentina), dogs, cats, muskellunge, American crows (Corvus brachyrhnchos), magpies (Pica spp.), ground squirrels, coyotes (Canis latrans), red foxes (Vulpes fulva), gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), raccoons (Procyon lotor), long-tailed weasels (Mustela frenata), American minks (Mustela vison), striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis), spotted skunks (Spilogale putorius), and American badgers (Taxidea taxus).
During one study, about half of the nest failures of blue-winged teal were caused by mammals. Striped and Spotted Skunks were responsible for two-thirds of these losses. All nest losses caused by birds were attributed to either crows or magpies.


The Australasian shoveler (Spatula rhynchotis) is a species of dabbling duck in the genus Spatula.  It ranges from 46 to 53 cm.  It lives in heavily vegetated swamps.  In Australia it is protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974.  They occur in southwestern and southeastern Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. The male has a blue-grey head with a vertical white crescent in front of the eyes.


The common name for the species Spatula rhynchotis is Australasian shoveler no matter which country it is found in. It was previously categorised as two subspecies:
S. rhynchotis rhynchotis Australian shoveler, the nominate race, occurs in southwestern and southeastern Australia and Tasmania.
S. rhynchotis variegata New Zealand shoveler, occurs in New Zealand.
Other names used include: spoonbill, shoveler, spoony, spoonie and shoveller.
The Māori name of kuruwhengi is still valid.
The Australasian shoveler was described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801.


Spergularia rubra, the red sandspurry or red sand-spurrey, is a plant species in the family Caryophyllaceae. It is native to Europe, Asia and North Africa, and it is present on other continents, including North and South America and Australia, as an introduced species and in many areas a common weed. It grows in a wide variety of habitat types.
It is an annual or perennial herb producing a slender, glandular stem up to about 25 centimeters long. It is lined with slightly fleshy linear or threadlike leaves each under 2 centimeters long. The leaves may be tipped with hard points or spines, and they are accompanied by shiny white lance-shaped stipules. Flowers occur in the leaf axils and at the tips of the stems. They have hairy, glandular sepals and five round-oval pink petals.


The bronze mannikin or bronze munia (Spermestes cucullata) is a small passerine (i.e. perching) bird of the Afrotropics. This very social estrildid finch is an uncommon to locally abundant bird in much of Africa south of the Sahara Desert, where it is resident, nomadic or irruptive in mesic savanna or forest margin habitats. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 8,100,000 km². It is the smallest and most widespread of four munia species on the African mainland, the other being black-and-white, red-backed and magpie mannikin. It co-occurs with the Madagascar mannikin on the Comoro Islands, and was introduced to Puerto Rico. Especially in the West Africa, it is considered a pest in grain and rice fields. It is locally trapped for the pet bird trade.


The bronze mannikin was formally described in 1837 by the English naturalist William John Swainson and given the binomial name Spermestes cucullata. The specific epithet is from Late Latin cucullatus meaning "hooded". The type locality is Senegal.
Two subspecies are recognised:
S. c. cucullata Swainson, 1837 – Senegal and Gambia to south Sudan, Uganda, west Kenya and the island of Bioko
S. c. scutata Heuglin, 1863 – Ethiopia and east Kenya to southeast South Africa, east Angola and Comoro Islands


The bronze mannikin is one of the smallest munia species, measuring 9–10 cm in length and weighing 7–12 grams. The adult is a compact bird with a short black tail, and stubby black and pale grey (not distinctly bluish) mandibles. It is black to brownish black on the head, chin, throat and center of the chest, with some purple-green iridescence on the face and sides of the breast. It has greyish brown upper parts and white underparts with irregular barring on the flanks and rump. A small green iridescent patch is present on the outer scapular feathers, besides, especially in the western race, the sides of the lower breast. Wing coverts and remiges are bordered in a paler or warmer tone. The sexes are similar. Immature birds are dun brown above with buff head and underpart plumage. They moult into full adult plumage by age six months, when the males also begin to sing and exhibit breeding behaviour. The race S. c. scutata has barred rather than bronzy green plumage at the junction of the lower breast and flanks. Rump and upper tail feathers only finely barred and almost uniformly dark. These characters are however somewhat variable and unpredictable.
This species has a number of calls including a rreep-rreeep in flight, a twittering when perched, consisting of various wheezy or buzzing notes. The song is a concatenated and somewhat repetitive series of notes.


The bronze mannikin' is native to mainland Africa and the Bioko, Pemba, Zanzibar, Mafia and Comoro islands, and has been introduced to Puerto Rico, where it is established. The two accepted races have an extensive region around the upper Nile River which is inhabited by birds with intermediate features. A proposed third race, S. c. subsp. tressellata Clancey, 1964 is not generally recognized.


The bronze mannikin is a tiny gregarious bird which feeds mainly on seeds, including wild grass seeds, millet, rice and grain. Alternatively termites, nectar or strands of algae may also be eaten.  Before going to roost at nightfall, they usually visit a watering hole where vegetation is hanging into the water. They roost at night in ball-shaped nests, which in the non-breeding season are built solely for this purpose. These slovenly communal roosting nests are dismantled (for reuse of material) and rebuilt almost daily at the same or a new location, in a communal effort. Each party, numbering 8 to 20 birds, seems to be dominated by a single adult male. The flock defends the immediate vicinity of a nest against intruders, but newcomers to a flock are easily accepted. They may associate with waxbill or other mannikin species, and may also use their vacated nests. Pairs often allopreen.


The Aphrodite fritillary (Speyeria aphrodite) is a fritillary butterfly, from North America.
This orange coloured fritillary has rows of dark dots or chevrons at the wing edges and black or brown lines more proximally. The ventral sides of the wings are also orange with several rows of white dots. Its wingspan is between 51 and 73 mm.
Aphrodite fritillaries are sensitive to temperature  with population trajectories showing declines in response to climate warming trends.


Listed alphabetically:
S. a. alcestis (Edwards, 1876)
S. a. byblis (Barnes & Benjamin, 1926)
S. a. columbia (H. Edwards, 1877)
S. a. ethene (Hemming, 1933)
S. a. manitoba (F. & R. Chermock, 1940)
S. a. whitehousei (Gunder, 1932)
S. a. winni (Gunder, 1932)


Speyeria atlantis, the Atlantis fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae of North America. It is from the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland and Labrador to northern British Columbia, across the northern United States south as far as Colorado and West Virginia. It resides as far north as James Bay. The species is listed as endangered in Connecticut.
Its upperside is dark orange with many rows of black markings and black wing margins. Its underside is a light brown with many silvery-white spots. Wingspan ranges from 50–64 millimetres (2.0–2.5 in).
The larvae are hosted by violets. Adult foods include common milkweed, mint, mountain laurel, crown vetch, burdock, boneset, ox-eye daisy, spiraea, and virgin's bower.
Atlantis fritillaries are sensitive to temperature  with population trajectories showing declines in response to climate warming trends.


Speyeria callippe, the callippe fritillary, is a North American species of butterflies in the brush-footed family Nymphalidae.


Listed alphabetically:
S. c. calgariana (McDunnough, 1924)
S. c. callippe Boisduval, 1852
S. c. comstocki (Gunder, 1925) – Comstock's silverspot
S. c. elaine dos Passos & Grey, 1945
S. c. gallatini (McDunnough, 1929)
S. c. harmonia dos Passos & Grey, 1945
S. c. juba (Boisduval, 1869)
S. c. laura (Edwards, 1879)
S. c. laurina (Wright, 1905)
S. c. liliana (H. Edwards, 1877)
S. c. nevadensis (Edwards, 1870)
S. c. macaria (Edwards, 1877)
S. c. meadii (Edwards, 1872)
S. c. rupestris (Behr, 1863)
S. c. semivirida (McDunnough, 1924)
S. c. sierra dos Passos & Grey, 1945


This species can be found in North America, from Central British Columbia east to South Dakota and Manitoba, south to southern California, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado. These butterflies usually inhabit sagebrush, dry woodland, edge of forests, chaparral and grassy hillsides.


Speyeria callippe can reach a wingspan of 5–6.4 cm (2.0–2.5 in). In these large and widespread butterflies the color of the upperside of the wings varies from tawny to bright red-brown with black evenly-spaced zigzag stripes. The entire outer contour is black-brown, divided by a row of pale lunules. The underside of the forewings is  red fawn, with the same design as above, and a series of marginal silver lunules. The underside of the hindwings is brown, with  about twenty-two large silvered spots and triangular silver submarginal spots with narrow brown edges. In the last stage the larvae are greyish, with black and grey patches and black-orange spines.


Speyeria callippe is a univoltine species. Adults fly from May to August, usually patrolling for females, which emerge before males. Eggs are laid in litter near the host plants. Unfed first-stage caterpillars overwinter until spring, when they feed on leaves of Viola pedunculata, Viola nuttallii, Viola beckwithii, Viola douglasii and Viola purpurea.


Its wingspan ranges from 62 to 88 mm (2.4 to 3.5 in). It is characterized by its orange color above with five black dashes near forewing base and several irregular black dashes at the base of the hindwing. In addition, two rows of black crescents run along the edges of the wings. Below, the forewing is yellowish orange with black marks similar to the upperside, with a few silver spots on the tip of the wing. The hindwing is reddish brown with silver spots on the base and middle of the wing. A broad yellow band and silver triangles are the most notable qualities on the wing, next to the brown margin. Females tend to be darker than males and individuals from the western reaches of this species range tend to be brighter orange. Similar species include the Aphrodite fritillary (Speyeria aphrodite), the Atlantis fritillary (Speyeria atlantis) and the northwestern fritillary (Speyeria hesperis). It is distinguished from the Aphrodite and Atlantis fritillaries by a wide light submarginal band on the hindwing and instead of black spots, black dashes form on the margins of the forewing.


Listed alphabetically:
S. c. carpenterii (Edwards, 1876)
S. c. charlottii (Barnes, 1897)
S. c. cybele (Fabricius, 1775)
S. c. krautwurmi (Holland, 1931) – Krautwurm's fritillary
S. c. leto (Behr, 1862)
S. c. letona dos Passos & Grey, 1945
S. c. novascotiae (McDunnough, 1935)
S. c. pseudocarpenteri (F. & R. Chermock, 1940)
S. c. pugetensis Chermock & Frechin, 1947


The great spangled fritillary covers a wide range of North America stretching from southern Canada to northern California on the west to North Carolina on the east. Prime habitat for this species includes moist meadows and woodland edges.


Various species of native violets have reported to serve as a larval host plant for the great spangled fritillary, including the native round-leaf violet (Viola rotundifolia), the arrow-leaf violet (Viola fimbriatula) and the common blue violet (Viola sororia).


Sphaeralcea ambigua grows to 3 feet (0.91 m) in height and spreads to 2–3 feet (0.61–0.91 m) in width. The leaves (see image) are fuzzy with white hairs on both sides, lobed, palmately veined, and on long stems, the number of which increase with age. The fruit is a brown capsule containing numerous seeds, first quite spherical as implied by the genus name, later flattening to a disk.  The flowers are bowl-shaped, five-petaled, apricot to orange in color, and blooming in the spring.


Sphaeralcea ambigua has eight or nine named varieties. They include:
Sphaeralcea ambigua A. Gray var. ambigua
Sphaeralcea ambigua A. Gray var. aculeata Jeps. (synonym for S. a. var. ambigua)
Sphaeralcea ambigua A. Gray var. rosacea (Munz & I.M. Johnst.) Kearney
Sphaeralcea ambigua A. Gray var. rugosa (Kearney) Kearney


The plant is used by members of the Shoshoni tribe of Native Americans, as well as other Indigenous people and settlers in the region, as a food source and medicinal plant.


Sphaeralcea ambigua is cultivated as an ornamental plant by specialty plant nurseries for use in desert and drought tolerant gardens, and a native plant its desert region's natural landscaping and habitat restoration projects. It requires the following conditions:
Exposure: full sun
Water: natural rainfall; supplemental water will increase flowering
Soil: desert soil, tolerant of some clay, prefers good drainage
Propagation: easy by seed; tricky by vegetative cuttings; best results from first flush of new spring growth
Maintenance: low, periodically cut back to keep vegetative look
It is winter hardy in USDA Zones 6-10, withstanding temperatures as low as -10F.


Sphagnum squarrosum, commonly known as the spiky bog-moss or spreading-leaved bog moss is a species of moss which grows in nutrient-rich, damp soil. Typical habitats include woodland, the banks of streams and ditches; it can even be found at high altitude in damp cirques. The species often grows near sedges (Carex), rushes (Juncus) or purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea).
Sphagnum squarrosum plants are green, and have the appearance of spikiness.


The Australasian figbird (Sphecotheres vieilloti), also known as the green figbird (not to be confused with the Timor figbird), is a conspicuous, medium-sized passerine bird native to a wide range of wooded habitats in northern and eastern Australia, southern New Guinea, and the Kai Islands. It is common in large parts of its range, and occurs in numerous protected areas. Consequently, it is rated as least concern by BirdLife International and the IUCN.


Formerly, the Australasian figbird was considered as a subspecies of the green figbird and referred to as simply the figbird, a name still commonly used in Australia, where the Australasian figbird is the only figbird present. The Australasian figbird was split from the green figbird primarily based on differences in measurements, plumage, and  biogeography. Additionally, the Australasian figbird has sometimes been split into two separate species, the more northern, yellow figbird (S. flaviventris) and the green or southern figbird (S. vieilloti), but the two intergrade widely where they come into contact, supporting the view that they are part of a single biological species.


Five subspecies are recognized:
S. v. salvadorii – Sharpe, 1877: Originally described as a separate species. Found in south-eastern New Guinea
S. v. cucullatus – (Rosenberg, HKB, 1866): Originally described as a separate species. Found on Kai Islands (off south-western New Guinea). Possibly a junior synonym of S. v. flaviventris
S. v. ashbyi – Mathews, 1912: Found in northern Western Australia and Northern Territory, Australia
Yellow figbird (S. v. flaviventris) – Gould, 1850: Originally described as a separate species. Alternatively named the northern figbird. Found in north-eastern Australia and Torres Strait Islands
S. v. vieilloti  – Vigors & Horsfield, 1827: Found in eastern Australia


The Australasian figbird has a total length of 27.0–29.5 cm (10.6–11.6 in) and a jizz comparable to that of other orioles. With a body mass of around 111 to 130 g (3.9 to 4.6 oz), it is probably the largest of the Old World orioles. It is sexually dimorphic, and the racial differences are almost entirely limited to the male. Males of all subspecies have a black tail with broad white tips to the outer rectrices, white crissum (the undertail coverts surrounding the cloaca), blackish primaries, a black head, distinct bright red facial skin, a black bill with a red base, and pinkish legs. In the nominate subspecies, the body is largely olive-green, and the throat, neck and chest are grey. The subspecies cucullatus, ashbyi and flaviventris are yellowish olive-green above, and bright yellow below (including the throat). The last subspecies, salvadorii, resembles previous, but with a grey throat, collar and chest similar to the nominate subspecies, thereby giving it an intermediate appearance not unlike some hybrids between the nominate and flaviventris subspecies in Australia.
Females are drab-coloured, being dull brownish above, and white below with strong dark streaking. They have greyish facial skin, and a greyish-black bill. Juveniles resemble females, but the streaking below is typically not as strong. The other orioles in its range, the brown and olive-backed orioles, are superficially similar, but have entirely red bills when adult.
Australasian figbirds make a large number of different short calls, and are also able to mimic the voices of other birds, for example parrots and other species of orioles. The song consists of a series of simple whistles.


As suggested by their name, Australasian figbirds are largely frugivorous, but also take small insects, nectar and small seeds. While largely a resident species (although the southern population may be migratory), it is nomadic in response to the availability of food.
Unlike most orioles, Australasian figbirds are gregarious, often forming flocks of 20 to 40 birds during the nonbreeding season, and even breeding in small, loose colonies. The flimsy, saucer-shaped nest is made from plant material, and usually placed relatively high in a tree. The clutch of two to four eggs is incubated by both sexes, and typically hatches after 16–17 days. It has been recorded nesting near the aggressive spangled drongo and helmeted friarbird, possibly gaining an advantage as they keep potential nest predators away. Australasian figbirds sometimes fall victim to nest parasitism by Pacific koels.


The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus), also known as Cape penguin or South African penguin, is a species of penguin confined to southern African waters. Like all extant penguins, it is flightless, with a streamlined body and wings stiffened and flattened into flippers for a marine habitat. Adults weigh an average of 2.2–3.5 kg (4.9–7.7 lb) and are 60–70 cm (24–28 in) tall. The species has distinctive pink patches of skin above the eyes and a black facial mask. The body's upper parts are black and sharply delineated from the white underparts, which are spotted and marked with a black band. The pink glands above their eyes help them with thermoregulation. To cope with changing temperatures, blood is sent to the glands to be cooled by the air.
The African penguin is a pursuit diver and feeds primarily on fish and squid. Once extremely numerous, the African penguin is declining rapidly due to a combination of several threats and is classified as endangered. It is a charismatic species and is popular with tourists. Other vernacular names of the species include black-footed penguin and jackass penguin, due to the species' loud, donkey-like noise, although several related species of South Jackass penguins produce the same sound. They can be found along the coast of South Africa and Namibia.


In 1747 the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the African penguin in the second volume of his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. He used the English name "The Black-Footed Penguins". Edwards based his hand-coloured etching on two preserved specimens that had been brought to London. He suspected that they had been collected near the Cape of Good Hope. When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he placed the African penguin with the wandering albatross in the genus Diomedea. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Diomedea demersa and cited Edwards' work. The African penguin is now placed with the banded penguins in the genus Spheniscus that was introduced in 1760 by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson. The genus name Spheniscus is from Ancient Greek word σφήν (sphēn) meaning "wedge" and is a reference to the animal's thin, wedge-shaped flippers. The specific epithet demersus is Latin meaning "plunging" (from demergere meaning "to sink").
Banded penguins are found mainly in the Southern Hemisphere with the Humboldt penguin and Magellanic penguins found in southern South America and the Galápagos penguin found in the Pacific Ocean near the equator. All are similar in shape, colour and behaviour.


African penguins grow to 60–70 cm (24–28 in) tall and weigh between 2.2–3.5 kg (4.9–7.7 lb). The beak length of the African penguin varies, usually growing between 20–30 cm (8-11 in). They have a black stripe and black spots on the chest, the pattern of which is unique to each penguin, like human fingerprints. The sweat glands above the eyes cool the birds' blood and as the temperature rises, increased blood flow causes the glands to get pinker. This species exhibits slight sexual dimorphism; the males are slightly larger than the females and have longer beaks. Juveniles do not possess the bold, delineated markings of the adult, but instead have dark upperparts that vary from greyish-blue to brown; the pale underparts lack both spots and the band. The beak is more pointed than that of the Humboldt penguin. The African penguin's colouring is a form of protective colouration known as countershading. The white undersides of the birds are difficult to spot by predators under the water and the penguins' black backs blend in with the water when viewed from above.
African penguins resemble and are thought to be related to the Humboldt, Magellanic and Galápagos penguins. African penguins have a very recognisable appearance, with a thick band of black that is in the shape of an upside-down horseshoe. They have black feet and black spots that vary in size and shape between individuals. Magellanic penguins share a similar bar marking that often confuses the two; Magellanic have a double bar on the throat and chest, whereas the African has a single bar. These penguins have the nickname "jackass penguin", which comes from the loud penguin noises they make.


The African penguin is only found on the south-western coast of Africa, living in colonies on 24 islands between Namibia and Algoa Bay, near Port Elizabeth, South Africa. It is the only penguin species that breeds in Africa and its presence gave name to the Penguin Islands.
Two colonies were established by penguins in the 1980s on the mainland near Cape Town, namely Boulders Beach near Simon's Town and Stony Point in Betty's Bay. Mainland colonies likely became possible only in recent times due to the reduction of predator numbers, although the Betty's Bay colony has been attacked by leopards. The only other mainland colony is in Namibia, but it is not known when it was established.
Boulders Beach is a tourist attraction due to the beach, swimming and the penguins. The penguins will allow people to approach them as close as a metre.
Breeding populations of African penguins are being kept in numerous zoos worldwide. No colonies are known outside the south-western coast of Africa, although vagrants (mostly juveniles) may occasionally be sighted beyond the normal range.


Roughly 4 million African penguins existed at the beginning of the 19th century. Of the 1.5 million African penguins estimated in 1910, only some 10% remained at the end of the 20th century. African penguin populations, which breed in Namibia and South Africa, have declined by 95% since pre-industrial times.
Today, their breeding is largely restricted to 24 islands from Namibia to Algoa Bay, South Africa, with the Boulders Beach colony being an exception to this rule.
The total population fell to approximately 150,000–180,000 in 2000. Of those, 56,000 belonged to the Dassen Island colony and 14,000 to the Robben Island colony. The colony at Dyer Island in South Africa fell from 46,000 in the early 1970s to 3,000 in 2008.
In 2008, 5,000 breeding pairs were estimated to live in Namibia.
In 2010, the total African penguin population was estimated at 55,000. At the rate of decline seen from 2000 to 2010, the African penguin is expected to be extinct in the wild by 2026.
In 2012, about 18,700 breeding pairs were estimated to live in South Africa, with the majority on St. Croix Island in Algoa Bay.
The total breeding population across both South Africa and Namibia fell to a historic low of about 20,850 pairs in 2019.


African penguins forage in the open sea, where they feed on pelagic fish such as sardines and anchovies (specifically the Southern African anchovy) and marine invertebrates such as squids and small crustaceans, primarily krills and shrimps. Penguins normally swim within 20 km (12 mi) of the shore. A penguin may consume up to 540 grams (1.19 lb) of prey every day, but this may increase to over 1 kg (2.2 lb) when raising older chicks.
Due to the marked decline of sardines in the waters near its habitat, African penguins' diet has shifted towards anchovies to some extent, although available sardine biomass is still a notable determinant of penguin population development and breeding success. While a diet of anchovies appears to be generally sufficient for the penguins, it is not ideal due to anchovies' lower concentrations of fat and protein. The Penguin's diet changes throughout the year; as in many seabirds, it is believed that the interaction of diet choice and breeding success helps the penguins maintain their population size. Although parent penguins are protective of their chicks, they will not incur nutritional deficits themselves if food is scarce and hunting requires a greater time or energy commitment. This may lead to higher rates of brood loss under poor food conditions.
When foraging, African penguins carry out dives that reach an average depth of 25 m (82 ft) and last for 69 seconds, although a maximum depth of 130 m (430 ft) and duration of 275 seconds has been recorded.


The African penguin is monogamous; it breeds in colonies and pairs return to the same site each year. It has an extended breeding season, with nesting usually peaking from March to May in South Africa and November to December in Namibia. A clutch of two eggs are laid either in burrows burrowed in guano or nests in the sand under boulders or bushes. Incubation is undertaken equally by both parents for around 40 days. At least one parent guards the chicks for about one month, whereafter the chicks join a crèche with other chicks and both parents spend most of the day foraging in the sea.
Chicks fledge at 60 to 130 days, the timing depending on environmental factors such as the quality and availability of food. The fledged chicks then go to sea on their own, where they spend the next one to nearly two years. They then return to their natal colony to moult into adult plumage.
When penguins moult, they are unable to forage in the sea as their new feathers are not yet waterproof; therefore, they fast over the entire moulting period. African penguins typically take around three weeks to molt and lose about half of their body weight by burning up their fat reserves in the process.
African penguins spend most of their lives at sea until it comes time for them to lay their eggs. Females remain fertile for about 10 years. Due to high predation on the mainland, African penguins will seek protection on offshore islands, where they are safer from larger mammals and natural challenges. These penguins usually breed during the winter when temperatures are cooler. African penguins often will abandon their eggs if they become overheated in the hot sun and abandoned eggs never survive the heat. The eggs are three to four times bigger than chicken eggs. Ideally, the eggs are incubated in a burrow dug into the guano layer (which provides suitable temperature regulation), but the widespread human removal of guano deposits has rendered this type of nest unfeasible in many colonies. To compensate, penguins burrow holes in the sand, nest under rocks or bushes or make use of nest boxes if they are provided. The penguins spend three weeks on land caring for their offspring, after which chicks may be left alone during the day while the parents forage. The chicks are frequently killed by predators or succumb to the hot sun. Parents usually feed hatchlings during dusk or dawn.
In 2015, when foraging conditions were favourable, more male than female African penguin chicks were produced in the colony on Bird Island. Male chicks also had higher growth rates and fledging mass and therefore may have higher post-fledging survival than females. This, coupled with higher adult female mortality in this species, may result in a male-biased adult sex ratio and may indicate that conservation strategies focused on benefiting female African penguins may be necessary.


The average lifespan of an African penguin is 10 to around 25 years in the wild and up to 30 in captivity.
The primary predators of African penguins at sea include sharks and fur seals. While nesting: kelp gulls, Cape genets, mongooses, caracals and domestic cats and dogs may prey on the penguins and their chicks. Mortality from terrestrial predators is higher if penguins are forced to breed in the open in the absence of suitable burrows or nest boxes.


African penguin eggs were considered a delicacy and were still being eaten and collected for sale as recently as the 1970s. In the 1950s, they were being collected from Dassen Island and sold in nearby towns. In 1953, 12,000 eggs were collected. In the late 1950s, some French chefs expressed interest in recipes including African penguin eggs collected from the islands off the west coast of South Africa and placed annual orders for small quantities. In the mid 1960s, eggs were collected in the thousands and sold by the dozen, with each customer limited to two dozen eggs in total.
The practice of collecting African penguin eggs involved smashing those found a few days before a collecting effort to ensure that only freshly laid eggs were sold. This added to the drastic decline of the African penguin population around the Cape coast, a decline which was hastened by the removal of guano from islands for use as fertiliser, eliminating the burrowing material used by penguins.


Penguins remain susceptible to pollution of their habitat by petrochemicals from spills, shipwrecks and cleaning of tankers while at sea. Accounts of African penguins impacted by oil date back to the 1930s. African penguins' exposure to oil spills is both chronic (higher frequency small discharges of oil at sea) and acute (rare maritime disasters where large volumes of oil are released in a single event). Penguins of many species have been impacted by oil spills across the southern hemisphere.
In 1948, the tanker Esso Wheeling sank, subsequently oiling and killing thousands of penguins of the Dyer Island colony. In 1953, dead penguins were among a range of dead birds, fish and other marine life that washed ashore after the tanker Sliedrecht was holed and spilled oil near Table Bay. In 1971, the SS Wafra oil spill impacted the African penguin colony of Dyer Island. In 1972, oil spilt following the Oswego-Guardian and Texanita collision oiled roughly 500 penguins. In 1975, newspapers reported that oil pollution from shipwrecks and the pumping of bilges at sea had killed tens of thousands of African penguins. At the time, the Dassen Island colony was being passed by 650 oil tankers each month because the Suez Canal had become blocked with wrecked vessels, thus increasing maritime traffic past the Cape of Good Hope.
In 1979, an oil spill prompted the collection and treatment of 150 African penguins from St. Croix Island near Port Elizabeth. The animals were later released at Robben Island and four of them promptly swam back to St. Croix Island, surprising scientists.
In 1983, the exposure of penguins of Dassen Island to the oil slick from the Castillo de Bellver was also a topic of concern given the penguins' conservation status at the time, but owing to the prevailing wind and current, only gannets were oiled.


Small scale oil spills (of less than 400 litres (110 US gal)) have occurred at the Port of Ngqura since bunkering activities started there in 2016. Bunkering is a ship refuelling process that can result in oil spills and oil slicks entering the water. Hundreds of African penguins have been harmed following these spills due to the port's close proximity to penguin rookeries on St. Croix Island and seabird habitat on neighbouring Jahleel and Brenton Islands.


The African penguin is one of the species to which the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) applies. In September 2010, it was listed as endangered under the US Endangered Species Act. As of 2018, the African penguin is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List. Its population is approximately 50,000 birds and declining.


Many organisations such as: SANCCOB, Dyer Island Conservation Trust, SAMREC and Raggy Charters with the Penguin Research Fund in Port Elizabeth are working to halt the decline of the African penguin. Measures include: monitoring population trends, hand-rearing and releasing abandoned chicks, establishing artificial nests and proclaiming marine reserves in which fishing is prohibited. Some colonies (such as on Dyer Island) are suspected to be under heavy pressure from predation by Cape fur seals and may benefit from the culling of individual problem animals, which has been found effective (although requiring a large amount of management effort) in trials.
Established in 1968, SANCCOB is currently the only organisation mandated by the South African government to respond to crises involving seabirds along South Africa's coastline and is internationally recognised for the role it played during the MV Treasure oil spill. A modelling exercise conducted in 2003 by the University of Cape Town's FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology found that rehabilitating oiled African penguins has resulted in the current population being 19% larger than it would have been in the absence of SANCCOB's rehabilitation efforts.
In February 2015, the Dyer Island Conservation Trust opened the African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary (APSS) in Gansbaai, South Africa. The centre was opened by then-Department of Tourism minister Derek Hanekom and will serve as a hub for seabird research carried out by the Dyer Island Conservation Trust. The centre will also run local education projects, host international marine volunteers and seek to improve seabird handling techniques and rehabilitation protocols.


African penguins are a commonly seen species in zoos across the world. Because they do not require particularly low temperatures, they are often kept in outside enclosures. They adapt fairly well to this captive environment and are rather easy to breed compared to other species of the family. In Europe, the breeding programme EAZA is regulated by Artis Royal Zoo in the Netherlands, whilst in the United States the SSP programme is cooperatively managed by the AZA. The idea is to create a backup captive population, as well as to aid in the conservation of the population in its natural habitat. Between 2010 and 2013, American zoos spent $300,000 on in situ (wild population) conservation.


In Canada, there is one generation per year with adults on wing in June and July. More to the south, there are two generations per year with adults on wing from late May to June and again from July to August. There may be as many as six generations in Louisiana.
The larvae feed on Chionanthus, Kalmia, Syringa and Fraxinus species. They are blue-green or yellow-green with seven diagonal lines that are white edged with black above and usually yellow below.


The red-naped sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis) is a medium-sized North American woodpecker. Long thought to be a subspecies of the yellow-bellied sapsucker, it is now known to be a distinct species.


The red-naped sapsucker is one of four North American woodpeckers in the genus Sphyrapicus. It has no subspecies. First described by Spencer Fullerton Baird in 1858, it was initially thought to be a subspecies of the yellow-bellied sapsucker. However, there are significant genetic differences between this species and the yellow-bellied sapsucker, and the American Ornithologists' Union recognized it as a distinct species in the seventh edition of its North American birds checklist, published in 1998. Genetic analysis has shown that the red-naped sapsucker is a sister species with (and very closely related to) the red-breasted sapsucker, and that these two species form a superspecies with the yellow-bellied sapsucker. All three species are known to hybridize with each other, with hybrids between red-naped and red-breasted sapsuckers proving particularly common.
The genus name Sphyrapicus is a combination of the Greek words sphura, meaning "hammer" and pikos, meaning "woodpecker". The specific name nuchalis is a modern Latin word meaning "of the nape". In its common name, "red-naped" refers to the red patch on the back of the bird's head, while "sapsucker" refers to its distinctive method of feeding.


The red-naped sapsucker is a medium-sized woodpecker, measuring 19–21 cm (7.5–8.3 in) long and weighing 32–66 g (1.1–2.3 oz). Adults have a black head with a red forehead, white stripes, and a red spot on the nape; they have a white lower belly and rump. They have a yellow breast and upper belly. They are black on the back and wings with white bars; they have a large white wing patch. Adult males have a red throat patch; for females, the lower part of the throat is red, the upper part white.


Their breeding habitat is mixed forests in the Rocky Mountains and Great Basin areas of North America. They nest in a cavity in a dead tree. Other species which nest in tree cavities reuse nests formerly used by these birds.
To provide habitat and foraging for woodpeckers, forest management objectives on public land include snag and live tree retention. Numerous studies have shown woodpeckers will readily nest in logged areas as long as some stands are left standing. The drastic change in forest habitat caused by logging and tree retention drastically effects the quality of nesting sites and is detrimental to the red-naped sapsuckers habitat.
These birds migrate south and vacate areas at higher elevations.


Red-naped sapsuckers typically lay 3–7 white eggs. The young are altricial, naked, and helpless. The eggs are incubated for 12–13 days and the young are able to fly and leave the nest after 25–29 days of hatching.
Throughout western North America, red-naped sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis) nests have been described primarily in trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) with decay-softened wood. Heart-wood decay is reported to infect the roots of most aspens that red-naped sapsuckers choose to excavate for nesting. Red-naped sapsuckers typically excavate their first cavity relatively close to the ground and over subsequent years make progressively higher excavations. Most (68%) nest trees were live and 75% had broken tops. Western larch (Larix occidentalis) and birch were greatly over utilized compared to their availability.


The yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) is a medium-sized woodpecker that breeds in Canada and the northeastern United States.


The yellow-bellied sapsucker was described and illustrated using a hand-coloured plate by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands which was published between 1729 and 1732. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he included the yellow-bellied sapsucker, coined the binomial name Picus varius and cited Catesby's book. The specific epithet varius is the Latin word meaning "various", "diverse" or "variegated". Linnaeus specified the type locality as America septentrionali (North America) but the locality is now restricted to South Carolina. The yellow-bellied sapsucker is now placed in the genus Sphyrapicus that was erected in 1858 by the American naturalist Spencer Baird with the yellow-bellied sapsucker as the type species. Within the genus Sphyrapicus, the yellow-bellied sapsucker is sister to a clade containing the red-breasted sapsucker (Sphyrapicus ruber ) and the red-naped sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis). The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.


The yellow-bellied sapsucker has a length of around 19 to 21 centimetres (7+1⁄2 to 8+1⁄4 in), and an average weight of 50.3 grams (1.77 oz), although this can range anywhere from 35 to 62 grams (1.2 to 2.2 oz). The yellow-bellied sapsucker has a wingspan that ranges from 34 to 40 centimetres (13+1⁄2 to 15+3⁄4 in). The forehead is coloured bright red in the male (and very occasionally yellow), and a lighter shade of red in the female. Sometimes, this is the only place on the head a female will have red colouration, if it has any at all, as the female rarely has a black head with a few buff spots. The crown is bordered black, and is usually red, and is sometimes mixed with black in the female. There is a white stripe, starting above the eye, that extends and widens to the nape, being broken up by a thin black line on the hindneck. There is a broad black stripe going through the ear-coverts and down to the side of the neck. Below this black stripe is a white stripe that goes from the nasal tufts to the side of the breast. The throat and chin can be used to differentiated between the sexes, as they are white in the female, and red in the male.
The mantle of this sapsucker is white, and there are irregular black bars that extend from it to the rump. The lower rump is white, and the uppertail-coverts are white with some black webbing. The wing coverts are black, and there is a white panel on the medians and central greater-wing coverts. The flight feathers are black with white tips. The innermost tertials are white and black. The underwing is barred greyish and white. The uppertail is black, with some white webbing and white tips sometimes being present on the outer feathers. The underparts, excluding the pale breast and above, are tinged yellow, transitioning to a whiter colour in the lower region of them. The side of the breast down to the undertail coverts have black arrowhead-shaped markings.
The chisel-tipped bill is relatively short and straight, with a slate to blackish colour. The legs are blue-grey to green-grey in colour, and the irides are a deep brown. The juvenile is a dark olive-brown colour overall, with a buff-striped head and a streaked crown. The throat is usually white, although in the male, there may be some red. The upperparts are generally a mottled pale and blackish colour. The breast is scaly, and the central part of the belly is a very pale yellow colour. The tail is barred more than in the adult.


The yellow-bellied sapsucker, usually the male, utilizes a long distance nasal "neaaah, "owee-owee," "wee-wee-wee-wee," or "kwee-urk" at the start of breeding to attract its mate to various places within its territory. When birds of a family group meet, they exchange low "week week", "wurp wurp", or similar low calls. A scratchy "quirk quirk" is given when pairs meet at the breeding territory. When it is alarmed, this bird will utter a soft mew call, getting louder and hoarser as the threat increases. During a conflict, it produces a shrill "quarr".
This sapsucker drums on materials that reverberate loudly, with drums starting as rapid bursts but becoming more drawn out as time goes on. The bursts usually last between one and a half and five seconds. These drums were previously thought to be used to indicate quality of a nesting or feeding site, but it is likely that they are used as a form of long-distance communication. Trees chosen to drum on are dead, and thus are not those used for feeding or nesting.


The yellow-bellied sapsucker is found across Canada, eastern Alaska and the northeastern United States. These birds winter in the eastern United States, West Indies and Central America. This species has occurred as a very rare vagrant to Ireland and Great Britain.
When this sapsucker is breeding, it is generally found in deciduous and mixed coniferous forests up to 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) in height. During the non-breeding season, on the other hand, it usually inhabits forests, but the edge of the forest, open woodland, and semi-open habitats are sometimes utilized. It is also seen at larger trees in pastures, clearings, and suburban areas, in addition to the occasional appearance in palm groves. During this time, the yellow-bellied sapsucker ranges from sea level to elevations of 3,200 metres (10,500 ft), and even 3,400 metres (11,200 ft) in some areas, although the bird normally stays between altitudes of 900 and 3,000 metres (3,000 and 9,800 ft).


The yellow-bellied sapsucker usually forages by itself, although it sometimes joins small groups in the winter, and occasionally mixes into flocks of insectivores in the winter.
Arthropods, tree sap, fruits, and nuts compose the majority of the yellow-bellied sapsucker's diet. It also takes bast and cambium from trees. Berries are occasionally eaten, and in the Northern Hemisphere spring, buds are eaten. Arthropod prey is usually in the form of Lepidoptera, Odonata, or both the young and adults of beetles and ants. During the nesting season, insects comprise about half the diet of the adults. During the late Northern Hemisphere summer and throughout the same hemisphere's autumn, sap is the primary food of choice. Cambium is taken throughout the year, although it is primarily eaten during the Northern Hemisphere winter and spring. Fruit is mainly eaten during October to February.
The chicks are fed by both sexes. The primary food is insects which are occasionally coated in tree sap before eaten by the chick. The size of these insects varies by the age of the chicks, with younger chicks being fed smaller insects. The chicks beg for food through vocalizations that can be heard 100 metres (330 ft) away or more, likely stimulating the adults to catch more food. These vocalizations are usually done by the hungriest chick, with the other joining in only when the parent is at the nest. Because of this, the hungriest chick gets fed first. When the chick leaves the nest, it relies on both insects from its parents and sap from the holes they drill.
In the breeding season, this sapsucker prefers to take sap from the trees Betula papyrifera, Acer rubrum, Amelanchier, and Populus grandidentata. Other trees of the genera Populus, Betula, and Acer are also used, in addition to deciduous trees of the genera Salix, Carya, Alnus and coniferous trees of the genera Pinus, Picea, and Abies. In the Northern Hemisphere winter and spring, it usually feeds on conifers, while in its autumn, feeding on rough-barked trees is most common.
Before feeding consistently on a tree, this sapsucker lays down exploratory bands near a live branch. These bands are laid down in horizontal rows. When it finds a tree that is photosynthesizing, then it lays down more holes to feed, about 0.5 centimetres (0.20 in) above the primary bands. These form columns. Each hole is started as an oval elongated horizontally, drilled through the bark and phloem layers to the outside of the xylem. They are then drilled further, with the sapsucker enlarging it vertically, making it yield more sap, but only for a few days. The top holes in each column thus provides phloem sap, and this sapsucker also utilizes the bast from the edges of the holes drilled. In the winter, when the holes are drilled on conifers, bast is likely the most important food.


Yellow-bellied sapsuckers nest in a large cavity excavated in a live deciduous tree, often choosing one that has rotten heartwood; a suitable tree may be reused. It especially prefers Populus tremuloides trees that have conks of Fomes fomentarius var. populinus. Other trees in the genus Populus and those in the genus Betula are popular choices. A study in northern Canada found that the yellow-bellied sapsucker nested in trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ranging anywhere from 22 to 79 centimetres (8.7 to 31.1 in), with an average DBH of about 35 centimetres (14 in) for nestling trees, compared to the average DBH in the area of about 41 centimetres (16 in). A study in the northeastern United States, however, concluded that this sapsucker has a search image for trees with the ideal attributes; one of these attributes was having a DBH of 20 to 25 centimetres (7.9 to 9.8 in). The study also concluded that a deviance from this search image can be caused by the rarity of the trees that fulfill such criteria.
This bird is monogamous, and nests in pairs, with both sexes working to make the nest. Excavation of the cavity is done mostly by the male, with excavation usually being done continuously for 15 to 30 minutes at a time. Excavation takes about 15 to 28 days, although further hollowing out is done by both sexes after the chicks hatch. The cavity itself is anywhere from 2 to 20 metres (6.6 to 65.6 ft) above ground, although it is usually found between heights of 3 and 14 metres (9.8 and 45.9 ft). This sapsucker is also territorial, with territories having a radius ranging from about 46 to 137 metres (150 to 450 ft) away from the nest. Territories in less wooded areas are often larger than those in areas heavily wooded.
The male usually arrives on the nesting grounds about one week before the female. The sapsucker arrives early in the Northern Hemisphere spring, often before heavy snowfall has stopped. The actual breeding season is from April to July.
During nest excavation, a bird may perform a courtship flight. This flight consists of the sapsucker rapidly flapping its wings below its partner. It seems to build the pair bond and help increase attachment to the nest. Members of a pair also perform a dance where they bob their heads and repeatedly opening their wings halfway. They also have the courtship ritual of touching their bills together. Courtship additionally consists of giving "quirk" notes and, from a distance, "kwee-urk" calls. Copulation can consist of the female perching perpendicularly on a branch, the male mounting her back, gradually falling backwards and to the left, until he is upside down and at a right angle to the female.
This bird lays a clutch of four to seven eggs, with clutches being larger for birds in the northern part of the range. The eggs themselves are white and spotless, measuring around 24 by 17 millimetres (0.94 by 0.67 in). During egg laying, the female is dominant, sometimes driving the male away from the nest. Both sexes incubate the eggs during the 10 to 13 day incubation period, with the male usually doing so over the night. Sapsuckers are restless but quiet during this time, and the eggs are left uncovered about 16% of the time during the incubation period. Weather usually does not affect incubation, although on particularly hot days, the parents incubate the eggs for less time. When the chicks hatch, they are brooded for 8 to 10 days by both sexes. Nests with fewer young are brooded more, presumably because smaller broods lose heat faster. After 25 to 29 days, the young leave the nest for this first time, and become independent after about two weeks.


The yellow-bellied sapsucker is parasitized by Haemoproteus velans, a Sporozoan parasite that is transmitted to this bird through species of the genus Culicoides. It is also host to Philopterus californiens, a louse.
Adults and nestlings can be killed by raccoons, especially if the nest is either too low or not deep enough. Sapsuckers are also especially susceptible to raccoon attacks when nesting in trees other than P. tremuloides infected by F. fomentarius. This is theorized to contribute to the evolution of a search image for ideal nesting trees. Other nest predators include snakes.


Because the feeding habits of the yellow-bellied sapsucker can injure trees and attract insects, it is sometimes considered a pest. The birds can cause serious damage to trees, and intensive feeding has been documented as a source of tree mortality. Sapsucker feeding can kill a tree by girdling, which occurs when a ring of bark around the trunk is severely injured. Ring shake—spaces between rings of growth in trees—can be a result of sapsucker injury. Certain tree species are particularly susceptible to dying after being damaged by yellow-bellied sapsuckers. For example, a USDA forest study that examined trees injured by yellow-bellied sapsuckers noted a mortality of 67% for Betula populifolia, 51% for B. papyrifera, and 40% for Acer rubrum. In other tree species, injuries inflicted by yellow-bellied sapsuckers can result in significantly less mortality. The USDA study noted that only 3% of Picea rubens and 1% of Tsuga canadensis that were injured by sapsuckers succumbed to their wounds.


The yellow-bellied sapsucker is considered to be least concern by the IUCN, even though it has a decreasing population. This is because of its large range of about 7,830,000 square kilometres (3,020,000 sq mi). In addition, it has a large population, being common in its range, although it is not easily seen when not breeding. It has low genetic diversity; about half that of most birds.
In the United States, yellow-bellied sapsuckers are listed and protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, making taking, killing, or possessing it illegal without a permit.


The agreeable tiger moth (Spilosoma congrua) is one of three species of white tiger moth which are common in the United States. It has pronounced black eyes, white abdomen, and orange "bib" which set it apart from its cousin the Virginia tiger moth. Like its cousin, it tents its wings when as
at rest.
It was described by Francis Walker in 1855. It is found in the United States, Canada, and possibly India.


Spilosoma lubricipeda, the white ermine, is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is found throughout the temperate belt of Eurasia from Europe through Kazakhstan and southern Siberia to Amur Region, China, Korea and Japan. In China several sibling species occur.
The wingspan is 34–48 mm. Wing pattern is very variable, from entirely white wings to strongly covered with black dots. Hindwings often with one or several black dots (rarely without any black dot). Antennae branches long (much longer than in similar Spilosoma urticae), 3–5 times longer than the antenna stem diameter.


Milky white, abdomen orange with black dorsal dots. Forewing more or less sprinkled with sharply defined black dots, of which there are always some at the costa and others arranged in rows in the disc. Hindwing with discal dots and often with anal ones and others. Antennae black. In specimens from northern Scotland the forewing is sandy yellow, ab. ochrea, also found elsewhere as an exception among. The forewing may be darkened to brown; this is the case in ab. brunnea Ober. In ab. luxerii Godt. the forewing is suffused with rose-red distally and brownish proximally. In ab. walkeri Curt, the dots merge to form radial streaks.  In Japan it usually occurs in the form sangaica Walk. which is only distinguished from lubricipeda by the sparse dots, especially in the outer area of the forewing. Specimens similar to sangaica occur aberratively also in Europe, bearing the name paucipuncta Fuchs and in contradistinction to it there is the very strongly dotted krieghoffi Pabst. A still further reduction of the dots leads to ab. unipuncta Strand, in which there is only one dot on the hindwing. -punctarium Cr. [now full species Spilosoma punctarium (Stoll, [1782])] is distinguished from lubricipeda by the carmine abdomen with sharp transverse spots, and by the wings being rather more spotted.


The moth flies May to September depending on the location. They are not eaten by birds because they are poisonous.
Egg light yellow. Larva lilac-brown with deep dark brown hair and orange-yellow dorsal stripe. The larvae feed on stinging nettle, Cytisus scoparius, alfalfa, Echium vulgare and Taraxacum officinale.


Spilosoma virginica is a species of moth in the subfamily Arctiinae.  As a caterpillar, it is known as the yellow woolly bear or yellow bear caterpillar.  As an adult, it is known as the Virginian tiger moth.


The caterpillar varies in color, but is typically consistent in its coloration in a single specimen, without odd tufts of different-colored hair or separately colored heads.


It has a diet of a wide range of low-growing plants, including ground cover like grass and clover. The larvae are defoliators, skeletonizing the leaves they feed on, but only the late summer batch of caterpillars is plentiful enough to do much damage to crops. This species tends to have two to three life cycles per year, with one hibernating for the winter in temperate climates.


The adult moth tends to tent its wings over its back, rather than sitting with them spread. It is white with a darker-colored abdomen, but without the obvious, darker eyes of its close cousin the agreeable tiger moth.  It is not poisonous, but some people may have an allergic reaction to the bristles on its body.


The female is slightly larger than the male in larva form, and as an adult finds a mate by extruding an organ that emits a pheromone which the male can smell. The male, which unlike the female has the large, feathered antennae characteristic of pheromone-using moths, flies zigzag search patterns, eventually homing in on a female. After mating, he goes off to find other females, while the female stops to lay between 20 and 100 eggs in a single layer on the underside of a leaf. The larvae stay together when very young, but become solitary as they gain size.


The lesser goldfinch (Spinus psaltria) is a very small songbird of the Americas. Together with its relatives the American goldfinch and Lawrence's goldfinch, it forms the American goldfinches clade in the genus Spinus sensu stricto.
The American goldfinches can be distinguished by the males having a black (rarely green) forehead, whereas the latter is (like the rest of the face) red or yellow in the European goldfinch and its relatives. North American males are markedly polymorphic and five subspecies are often named; at least two of them seem to represent a less-progressed stage in evolution, however.


The lesser goldfinch was formally described by the American zoologist Thomas Say in 1822 under the binomial name Fringilla psaltria. The specific epithet psaltria is Ancient Greek for a female harpist. The type locality is Colorado Springs, Colorado. The lesser goldfinch is now placed in the genus Spinus that was introduced in 1816 by the German naturalist Carl Ludwig Koch.
Five subspecies are recognised:
 S. p. hesperophilus (Oberholser, 1903) – west USA and northwest Mexico
 S. p. witti Grant, PR, 1964 – Tres Marias Islands (off west Mexico)
 S. p. psaltria (Say, 1822) – west-central USA to south-central Mexico
 S. p. jouyi (Ridgway, 1898) – southeast Mexico and northwest Belize
 S. p. colombianus (Lafresnaye, 1843) – south Mexico to Peru and Venezuela


This petite species is not only the smallest North American Spinus finch, it may be the smallest true finch in the world. Some sources list more subtropical Spinus species as slightly smaller on average, including the Andean siskin (Spinus spinescens). This species ranges from 9 to 12 cm (3.5 to 4.7 in) in length and can weigh from 8 to 11.5 g (0.28 to 0.41 oz). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 5.5 to 7 cm (2.2 to 2.8 in), the tail is 3.9 to 4.7 cm (1.5 to 1.9 in), the bill is 0.9 to 1.1 cm (0.35 to 0.43 in) and the tarsus is 1.1 to 1.2 cm (0.43 to 0.47 in). There is a slight northwest-southeast cline in size, with the largest birds from Mexico and further south being up to one-fifth larger than the smallest from the extreme northwest of its range; this effect is more pronounced in females. There is also considerable variation in the amount of black on the head and back in males and thus five subspecies have been proposed. But this variation, too, seems to be simple and clinal changes in allele frequency and thus the "subspecies" might be better considered colour morphs or geographic forms.
Males are easily recognized by their bright yellow underparts and big white patches in the tail (outer rectrices) and on the wings (the base of the primaries). They range from having solid black from the back to the upper head including the ear-coverts to having these regions medium green; each of the back, crown and ear regions varies in darkness rather independently though; as a rule, the ears are not darker than the rest. In most of the range, dark birds termed psaltria (the Arkansas black-backed goldfinch) predominate. The light birds are termed hesperophilus (the green-backed goldfinch) and are most common in the far western U.S. and northwestern Mexico.
The zone in which both light and dark males occur on a regular basis is broadest in the north and extends across the width of the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Madre Occidental ranges. It reaches the Pacific Coast in southern Sonora to northern Sinaloa, roughly between the area of Ciudad Obregón to Culiacán. In the United States, the most diverse array of phenotypes can be found in Colorado and New Mexico. East of the 106th meridian west in southwestern Texas, as well as in most of Mexico, almost all males have black backs. S. p. colombianus, found east and south of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, is a richer yellow below in males. This subspecies, as well as the even yellower S. p. jouyi from the Yucatán Peninsula and adjacent regions of Mexico and S. p. witti from the Tres Marías Islands off Nayarit require more study, especially since at least the former two also seem to be significantly larger and longer-billed.
Females' and immatures' upperparts are more or less grayish olive-green; their underparts are yellowish, buffier in immatures. They have only a narrow strip of white on the wings (with other white markings in some forms) and little or no white on the tail. They are best distinguished from other members of the genus by the combination of small size, upperparts without white or yellow, and dark gray bill. In all plumages, this bird can easily be taken for a New World warbler if the typical finch bill is not seen well.
Like other goldfinches, it has an undulating flight in which it frequently gives a call: in this case, a harsh chig chig chig. Another distinctive call is a very high-pitched, drawn-out whistle, often rising from one level pitch to another (teeeyeee) or falling (teeeyooo). The song is a prolonged warble or twitter, more phrased than that of the American goldfinch, often incorporating imitations of other species.