The species lives in Sri Lanka, the Himalayas from Kashmir to Sikkim at elevations below 6,000 feet (1,800 m), and through the plains to southern India. In the Nilgiris observed up to 8,000 feet (2,400 m) (George Hampson). To the west it spreads through Persia and Arabia to East Africa. The species occurs over the greater part of Sub-Saharan Africa.


Belenois aurota, the pioneer or pioneer white or caper white, is a small to medium-sized butterfly of the family Pieridae, that is, the yellows and whites, which is found in South Asia and Africa. In Africa, it is also known as the brown-veined white, and is well known during summer and autumn when large numbers migrate north-east over the interior.


The willy (or willie) wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys) is a passerine bird native to Australia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Bismarck Archipelago, and Eastern Indonesia. It is a common and familiar bird throughout much of its range, living in most habitats apart from thick forest. Measuring 19–21.5 cm (7+1⁄2–8+1⁄2 in) in length, the willie wagtail is contrastingly coloured with almost entirely black upperparts and white underparts; the male and female have similar plumage.
Three subspecies are recognised;  Rhipidura leucophrys leucophrys from central and southern Australia, the smaller R. l. picata from northern Australia, and the larger R. l. melaleuca from New Guinea and islands in its vicinity. It is unrelated to the true wagtails of the genus Motacilla; it is a member of the fantail genus Rhipidura and is a part of a "core corvine" group that includes true crows and ravens, drongos and birds of paradise. Within this group, fantails are placed either in the family Dicruridae, alongside drongos, or in their own small family, Rhipiduridae.
The willie wagtail is insectivorous and spends much time chasing prey in open habitat. Its common name is derived from its habit of wagging its tail horizontally when foraging on the ground. Aggressive and territorial, the willie wagtail will often harass much larger birds such as the laughing kookaburra and wedge-tailed eagle. It has responded well to human alteration of the landscape and is a common sight in urban lawns, parks, and gardens. It is widely featured in Aboriginal folklore around Australia and New Guinea in a variety of roles, from stealer of secrets and liar to a good omen for successful crops.


Widespread and abundant, the willie wagtail is found across most of Australia and New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Bismarck Archipelago, and eastern Indonesia. It is sedentary across most of Australia, though some areas have recorded seasonal movements; it is an autumn and winter visitor to northeastern New South Wales and southeast Queensland, as well as the Gulf Country and parts of Cape York Peninsula in the far north. It is a vagrant to Tasmania, and on occasion reaches Lord Howe Island. There is one record from Mangere Island in the Chatham Islands archipelago east of New Zealand in 2002. The willie wagtail was released in Hawaii around 1922 to control insects on livestock, but the introduction was unsuccessful and the last sighting was at Koko Head in 1937.
The willie wagtail is at home in a wide variety of habitats, but avoids densely forested areas such as rainforest. It prefers semi-open woodland or grassland with scattered trees, often near wetlands or bodies of water. In New Guinea, it inhabits man-made clearings and grasslands, as well as open forest and mangroves. On Guadalcanal, it was reported from open areas and coconut groves. It has responded well to human alteration of the landscape and can often be seen hunting in open, grassed areas such as lawns, gardens, parkland, and sporting grounds. The species spread into the Western Australian Wheatbelt after the original vegetation had been cleared for agriculture.


The willie wagtail perches on low branches, fences, posts, and the like, watching for insects and other small invertebrates in the air or on the ground. It usually hunts by hawking flying insects such as gnats, flies, and small moths, but will occasionally glean from the ground. It will often hop along the ground and flit behind people and animals, such as cattle, sheep or horses, as they walk over grassed areas, to catch any creatures disturbed by their passing. It wags its tail in a horizontal fashion while foraging in this manner; the exact purpose of this behaviour is unknown but is thought to help flush out insects hidden in vegetation and hence make them easier to catch. The willie wagtail takes ticks from the skin of grazing animals such as cattle or pigs, even from lions asleep in a zoo. It kills its prey by bashing it against a hard surface, or holding it and pulling off the wings before extracting the edible insides.
The adaptability and opportunistic diet of the willie wagtail have probably assisted it in adapting to human habitation; it eats a wide variety of arthropods, including butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, dragonflies, bugs, spiders, centipedes, and millipedes, and has been recorded killing small lizards such as skinks and geckos in a study in Madang on Papua New Guinea's north coast. The tailbones of these lizards have been found in their faeces although it is unclear whether the whole animal was eaten or merely the tail. Either way, lizards are only a very occasional prey item forming between 1 and 3% of the total diet. Evidence from the study in Madang suggested that the willie wagtail selectively fed nestlings larger prey.


Willie wagtails usually pair for life. The breeding season lasts from July to December, more often occurring after rain in drier regions. Anywhere up to four broods may be raised during this time. It builds a cup-like nest on a tree branch away from leaves or cover, less than 5 m (16 ft) above the ground. Rafters and eaves may also be used. It has been observed to build its nest in the vicinity of those of the magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca), possibly taking advantage of the latter bird's territoriality and aggression toward intruders. Similarly, it is not afraid to build near human habitation.
The nest consists of grass stems, strips of bark, and other fibrous material which is bound and woven together with spider web. Even hair from pet dogs and cats may be used. It has also been observed attempting to take hair from a pet goat. An alpaca breeder in the Mudgee District of New South Wales has observed alpaca fleece in the nests of willy wagtails (the results of scraps of fleece not picked up at shearing time). The female lays two to four small cream-white eggs with brownish markings measuring 16 mm × 21 mm (0.63 in × 0.83 in), and incubates them for 14 days. Like all passerines, the chicks are altricial and nidicolous; they are born naked and helpless with closed eyes, and remain in the nest. Both parents take part in feeding the young, and may continue to do so while embarking on another brood. Nestlings remain in the nest for around 14 days before fledging. Upon leaving, the fledglings will remain hidden in cover nearby for one or two days before venturing further afield, up to 20 m (66 ft) away by the third day. Parents will stop feeding their fledglings near the end of the second week, as the young birds increasingly forage for themselves, and soon afterwards drive them out of the territory.
The female pallid cuckoo (Cuculus pallidus) will lay eggs in a willie wagtail nest, although the hosts often recognise and eject the foreign eggs, so successful brood parasitism is rare. Parasitism by the fan-tailed (Cacomantis flabelliformis), brush, (C. variolosus), Horsfield's bronze (Chrysococcyx basalis), and shining bronze cuckoo (C. lucidus) has also been reported.
Although the willie wagtail is an aggressive defender of its nest, predators do account for many eggs and young. About two thirds of eggs hatch successfully, and a third leave the nest as fledglings. Nestlings may be preyed upon by both pied butcherbirds, (Cracticus nigrogularis) black butcherbirds (C. quoyi), the spangled drongo (Dicrurus bracteatus), and the pied currawong (Strepera graculina), as well as the feral cat (Felis catus), and rat species. The proximity of nesting to human habitation has also left nests open to destruction by children. Mostly male willie wagtails sing at night only during breeding season. The song rate increases with lunar illumination.


An adult willie wagtail is between 19 and 21.5 cm (7.5 and 8.5 in) in length and weighs 17–24 g (0.6–0.85 oz), with a tail 10–11 cm (approx 4 in) long. The short, slender bill measures 1.64–1.93 cm (around 0.75 in), and is tipped with a small hook. This species has longer legs than other fantails, which may be an adaptation to foraging on the ground. The male and female have similar plumage; the head, throat, upper breast, wings, upperparts, and tail are all black, with a white eyebrow, "whiskers" and underparts. The bill and legs are black and the iris dark brown. Immature birds in their first year after moulting from juvenile plumage may have pale tips in their wings, while juvenile birds themselves have duller plumage, their upperparts brown-tinged with some pale brown scallops on the head and breast.


There are 20 or 3 broods in much of the range, and larvae can mature in as few as 3 weeks. Larvae hide on the midribs of their host leaves and are nocturnal feeders. During July and August, this species is abundant in many areas, particularly Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Adults emerge in the mid-afternoon and females begin calling bob after dusk. In spring, adults are more likely to feed, nectaring from flowers and drinking fluids from rotting fruit. In areas where they are common, D. myron readily come to both lights and sugar baits, being most active between sunset and midnight. Females have much rounder abdomens while the end of the male's abdomen is spade-shaped. Pairing is fairly quick and captive adults do not need to be fed, although females lay more eggs when fed. Sometimes adults refuse food altogether.
Mated females deposit up to 150 small eggs that start out green but turn yellow within 48 hours, indicating fertility. Incubation lasts about 6 days. Fully grown larvae turn a purplish brown before spinning a sparse, wiry cocoon among host leaves. Pupae either eclose within about 5000 days or diapause, eclosing in late May.
The caterpillars are known to feed on virginia creeper, Ampelopsis, and grape.


It is found in southern Ontario and Quebec in Canada, and in the United States is found from Maine south to south Florida; west to North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. It also can be found in Mexico.


The acorn woodpecker was formally described in 1827 by the English naturalist William John Swainson under the binomial name Picus formicivorus from a specimen collected in Mexico. The specific epithet combines the Latin formica meaning "ant" with -vorus meaning "eating". The type locality is Temascaltepec in Mexico. The acorn woodpecker is one of 24 species now placed in the genus Melanerpes that was introduced by Swainson in 1832. Within Melanerpes the acorn woodpecker is sister to a clade containing two South American species: the white woodpecker (Melanerpes candidus) and the white-fronted woodpecker (Melanerpes cactorum).
Seven subspecies are recognised:
M. f. bairdi Ridgway, 1881 – Oregon (USA) to north Baja California (Mexico)
M. f. angustifrons Baird, SF, 1870 – south Baja California (Mexico)
M. f. formicivorus (Swainson, 1827) – southwest USA to southeast Mexico
M. f. albeolus Todd, 1910 – east Chiapas (southeast Mexico) to Belize and northeast Guatemala
M. f. lineatus (Dickey & Van Rossem, 1927) – Chiapas (south Mexico) to north Nicaragua
M. f. striatipectus Ridgway, 1874 – Nicaragua to west Panama
M. f. flavigula (Malherbe, 1849) – Colombia


Acorn woodpeckers, as their name implies, depend heavily on acorns for food. Acorns are such an important resource to the California populations that acorn woodpeckers may nest in the fall to take advantage of the fall acorn crop, a rare behavior in birds. Acorns are stored in small holes drilled especially for this purpose in "granaries" or "storage trees"--usually snags, dead branches, utility poles, or wooden buildings. Storage holes--always in dead tissue such as bark or dead limbs--are used year after year, and granaries can consist of thousands of holes, each of which may be filled by an acorn in the autumn. Access to acorn crops influences the composition of acorn woodpecker communities. In one study in New Mexico, there were about 90% of non-breeding adults per social unit in 1976, a year of a poor acorn crop. The following year, 1977, there was a significant increase in acorn production and a correlating decrease in non-breeding adults per unit.
Although acorns are an important back-up food resource, acorn woodpeckers primarily feed on insects, sap, and fruit. They can be seen sallying from tree limbs to catch insects, eating fruit and seeds, and drilling holes to drink sap.
The woodpeckers then collect acorns and find a hole that is just the right size for the acorn. As acorns dry out, they are moved to smaller holes and granary maintenance requires a significant amount of the bird's time. The acorns are visible, and a group defends its granary against potential cache robbers like Steller's jays and western scrub-jays.
In some more tropical parts of its range the acorn woodpecker does not construct a "granary tree", but instead stores acorns in natural holes and cracks in bark. If the acorn crop is poor and birds cannot find enough to store, the woodpeckers will move to other areas over the winter.


The acorn woodpecker's habitat is forested areas with oaks in the coastal areas and foothills of Oregon, California, and the southwestern United States, south through Central America to Colombia. This species may occur at low elevations in the north of its range, but rarely below 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in Central America, and it breeds up to the timberline. Nests are excavated in a  cavity in a dead tree or a dead part of a tree.


The adult acorn woodpecker has a brownish-black head, back, wings and tail, white forehead, throat, belly and rump. The eyes are initially dark in fledglings, turning to white within a few months. There is a small part on the small of their backs where there are some greenish feathers. In most subspecies, adult males have a red cap starting at the forehead, whereas females have a black area between the forehead and the cap. The white neck, throat, and forehead patches are distinctive identifiers. When flying, they take a few flaps of their wings and drop a foot or so. White circles on their wings are visible when in flight. Acorn woodpeckers have a call that sounds almost like they are laughing.
Measurements:
Length: 19–23 cm (7.5–9.1 in)
Weight: 65–90 g (2.3–3.2 oz)
Wingspan: 35–43 cm (14–17 in)


The barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) is the most widespread species of swallow in the world. In fact, it appears to have the largest natural distribution of any of the world's passerines, ranging over 251 million square kilometres globally. It is a distinctive passerine bird with blue upperparts and a long, deeply forked tail. It is found in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. In Anglophone Europe it is just called the swallow; in northern Europe it is the only common species called a "swallow" rather than a "martin".
There are six subspecies of barn swallow, which breed across the Northern Hemisphere. Four are strongly migratory, and their wintering grounds cover much of the Southern Hemisphere as far south as central Argentina, the Cape Province of South Africa, and northern Australia. Its huge range means that the barn swallow is not endangered, although there may be local population declines due to specific threats.
The barn swallow is a bird of open country that normally uses man-made structures to breed and consequently has spread with human expansion. It builds a cup nest from mud pellets in barns or similar structures and feeds on insects caught in flight. This species lives in close association with humans, and its insect-eating habits mean that it is tolerated by humans; this acceptance was reinforced in the past by superstitions regarding the bird and its nest. There are frequent cultural references to the barn swallow in literary and religious works due to both its living in close proximity to humans and its annual migration. The barn swallow is the national bird of Austria and Estonia.


The preferred habitat of the barn swallow is open country with low vegetation, such as pasture, meadows and farmland, preferably with nearby water. This swallow avoids heavily wooded or precipitous areas and densely built-up locations. The presence of accessible open structures such as barns, stables, or culverts to provide nesting sites, and exposed locations such as wires, roof ridges or bare branches for perching, are also important in the bird's selection of its breeding range.
Barn swallows are semi-colonial, settling in groups from a single pair to a few dozen pairs, particularly in larger wooden structures housing animals. The same individuals often breed at the same site year after year, although settlement choices have been experimentally shown to be predicted by nest availability rather than any characteristics of available mates. Because it takes around 2 weeks for a pair to build a nest from mud, hair, and other materials, old nests are highly prized.
This species breeds across the Northern Hemisphere from sea level to 2,700 m (8,900 ft), but to 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in the Caucasus and North America, and it is absent only from deserts and the cold northernmost parts of the continents. Over much of its range, it avoids towns, and in Europe is replaced in urban areas by the house martin. However, in Honshū, Japan, the barn swallow is a more urban bird, with the red-rumped swallow (Cecropis daurica) replacing it as the rural species.
In winter, the barn swallow is cosmopolitan in its choice of habitat, avoiding only dense forests and deserts. It is most common in open, low vegetation habitats, such as savanna and ranch land, and in Venezuela, South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago it is described as being particularly attracted to burnt or harvested sugarcane fields and the waste from the cane. In the absence of suitable roost sites, they may sometimes roost on wires where they are more exposed to predators. Individual birds tend to return to the same wintering locality each year and congregate from a large area to roost in reed beds. These roosts can be extremely large; one in Nigeria had an estimated 1.5 million birds. These roosts are thought to be a protection from predators, and the arrival of roosting birds is synchronised in order to overwhelm predators like African hobbies. The barn swallow has been recorded as breeding in the more temperate parts of its winter range, such as the mountains of Thailand and in central Argentina.
Migration of barn swallows between Britain and South Africa was first established on 23 December 1912 when a bird that had been ringed by James Masefield at a nest in Staffordshire, was found in Natal. As would be expected for a long-distance migrant, this bird has occurred as a vagrant to such distant areas as Hawaii, Bermuda, Greenland, Tristan da Cunha, the Falkland Islands, and even Antarctica.


The barn swallow is similar in its habits to other aerial insectivores, including other swallow species and the unrelated swifts. It is not a particularly fast flier, with a speed estimated at about 11 m/s (40 km/h), up to 20 m/s (72 km/h) and a wing beat rate of approximately 5, up to 7–9 times each second.
The barn swallow typically feeds in open areas 7–8 m (23–26 ft) above shallow water or the ground often following animals, humans or farm machinery to catch disturbed insects, but it will occasionally pick prey items from the water surface, walls and plants. In the breeding areas, large flies make up around 70% of the diet, with aphids also a significant component. However, in Europe, the barn swallow consumes fewer aphids than the house or sand martins. On the wintering grounds, Hymenoptera, especially flying ants, are important food items. When egg-laying, barn swallows hunt in pairs, but otherwise will form often large flocks.
The amount of food a clutch will get depends on the size of the clutch, with larger clutches getting more food on average. The timing of a clutch also determines the food given; later broods get food that is smaller in size compared to earlier broods. This is because larger insects are too far away from the nest to be profitable in terms of energy expenditure.
Isotope studies have shown that wintering populations may utilise different feeding habitats, with British breeders feeding mostly over grassland, whereas Swiss birds utilised woodland more. Another study showed that a single population breeding in Denmark actually wintered in two separate areas.
The barn swallow drinks by skimming low over lakes or rivers and scooping up water with its open mouth. This bird bathes in a similar fashion, dipping into the water for an instant while in flight.
Swallows gather in communal roosts after breeding, sometimes thousands strong. Reed beds are regularly favoured, with the birds swirling en masse before swooping low over the reeds. Reed beds are an important source of food prior to and whilst on migration; although the barn swallow is a diurnal migrant that can feed on the wing whilst it travels low over ground or water, the reed beds enable fat deposits to be established or replenished.


The male barn swallow returns to the breeding grounds before the females and selects a nest site, which is then advertised to females with a circling flight and song. Plumage may be used to advertise: in some populations, like in the subspecies H. r. gutturalis, darker ventral plumage in males is associated with higher breeding success. In other populations, the breeding success of the male is related to the length of the tail streamers, with longer streamers being more attractive to the female. Males with longer tail feathers are generally longer-lived and more disease resistant, females thus gaining an indirect fitness benefit from this form of selection, since longer tail feathers indicate a genetically stronger individual which will produce offspring with enhanced vitality. Males in northern Europe have longer tails than those further south; whereas in Spain the male's tail streamers are only 5% longer than the female's, in Finland the difference is 20%. In Denmark, the average male tail length increased by 9% between 1984 and 2004, but it is possible that climatic changes may lead in the future to shorter tails if summers become hot and dry.
Males with long streamers also have larger white tail spots, and since feather-eating bird lice prefer white feathers, large white tail spots without parasite damage again demonstrate breeding quality; there is a positive association between spot size and the number of offspring produced each season.
The breeding season of the barn swallow is variable; in the southern part of the range, the breeding season usually is from February or March to early to mid September, although some late second and third broods finish in October. In the northern part of the range, it usually starts late May to early June and ends the same time as the breeding season of the southernmost birds.
Both sexes defend the nest, but the male is particularly aggressive and territorial. Once established, pairs stay together to breed for life, but extra-pair copulation is common, making this species genetically polygamous, despite being socially monogamous. Males guard females actively to avoid being cuckolded. Males may use deceptive alarm calls to disrupt extrapair copulation attempts toward their mates.
As its name implies, the barn swallow typically nests inside accessible buildings such as barns and stables, or under bridges and wharves. Before man-made sites became common, it nested on cliff faces or in caves, but this is now rare. The neat cup-shaped nest is placed on a beam or against a suitable vertical projection. It is constructed by both sexes, although more often by the female, with mud pellets collected in their beaks and lined with grasses, feathers, algae or other soft materials. The nest building ability of the male is also sexually selected; females will lay more eggs and at an earlier date with males who are better at nest construction, with the opposite being true with males that are not. After building the nest, barn swallows may nest colonially where sufficient high-quality nest sites are available, and within a colony, each pair defends a territory around the nest which, for the European subspecies, is 4 to 8 m² (40 to 90 sq ft) in size. Colony size tends to be larger in North America.
In North America at least, barn swallows frequently engage in a mutualist relationship with ospreys. Barn swallows will build their nest below an osprey nest, receiving protection from other birds of prey that are repelled by the exclusively fish-eating ospreys. The ospreys are alerted to the presence of these predators by the alarm calls of the swallows.
There are normally two broods, with the original nest being reused for the second brood and being repaired and reused in subsequent years. The female lays two to seven, but typically four or five, reddish-spotted white eggs. The clutch size is influenced by latitude, with clutch sizes of northern populations being higher on average than southern populations. The eggs are 20 mm × 14 mm (3⁄4 in × 1⁄2 in) in size, and weigh 1.9 grams (29 grains), of which 5% is shell. In Europe, the female does almost all the incubation, but in North America the male may incubate up to 25% of the time. The incubation period is normally 14–19 days, with another 18–23 days before the altricial chicks fledge. The fledged young stay with, and are fed by, the parents for about a week after leaving the nest. Occasionally, first-year birds from the first brood will assist in feeding the second brood. Compared to those from early broods, juvenile barn swallows from late broods have been found to migrate at a younger age, fuel less efficiently during migration and have lower return rates the following year.
The barn swallow will mob intruders such as cats or accipiters that venture too close to their nest, often flying very close to the threat. Adult barn swallows have few predators, but some are taken by accipiters, falcons, and owls. Brood parasitism by cowbirds in North America or cuckoos in Eurasia is rare.
Hatching success is 90% and the fledging survival rate is 70–90%. Average mortality is 70–80% in the first year and 40–70% for the adult. Although the record age is more than 11 years, most survive less than four years. Barn swallow nestlings have prominent red gapes, a feature shown to induce feeding by parent birds. An experiment in manipulating brood size and immune system showed the vividness of the gape was positively correlated with T-cell–mediated immunocompetence, and that larger brood size and injection with an antigen led to a less vivid gape.
The barn swallow has been recorded as hybridising with the cliff swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and the cave swallow (P. fulva) in North America, and the house martin (Delichon urbicum) in Eurasia, the cross with the latter being one of the most common passerine hybrids.


The adult male barn swallow of the nominate subspecies H. r. rustica is 17–19 cm (6+1⁄2–7+1⁄2 in) long including 2–7 cm (1–3 in) of elongated outer tail feathers. It has a wingspan of 32–34.5 cm (12+1⁄2–13+1⁄2 in) and weighs 16–22 g (9⁄16–3⁄4 oz). It has steel blue upperparts and a rufous forehead, chin and throat, which are separated from the off-white underparts by a broad dark blue breast band. The outer tail feathers are elongated, giving the distinctive deeply forked "swallow tail". There is a line of white spots across the outer end of the upper tail. The female is similar in appearance to the male, but the tail streamers are shorter, the blue of the upperparts and breast band is less glossy, and the underparts paler. The juvenile is browner and has a paler rufous face and whiter underparts. It also lacks the long tail streamers of the adult.
Although both sexes sing, female song was only recently described. (See below for details about song.) Calls include witt or witt-witt and a loud splee-plink when excited (or trying to chase intruders away from the nest). The alarm calls include a sharp siflitt for predators like cats and a flitt-flitt for birds of prey like the hobby. This species is fairly quiet on the wintering grounds.
The distinctive combination of a red face and blue breast band renders the adult barn swallow easy to distinguish from the African Hirundo species and from the welcome swallow (Hirundo neoxena) with which its range overlaps in Australasia. In Africa the short tail streamers of the juvenile barn swallow invite confusion with juvenile red-chested swallow (Hirundo lucida), but the latter has a narrower breast band and more white in the tail.


The habitats include meadows, hedgerows, forest and field edges with large shrubs and spruce or cedar trees. Adults feed on mostly small wasps and bees like Lasioglossum and Hylaeus. Also reported feeding on small Diptera and pygmy grasshoppers Tetrigidae. Flies May to July


It has a mottled, greyish body, a long tail and sometimes a pale stripe along its back. It is an adaptable little forager, hiding under debris, beneath bark, among rocks and even in city houses.
These geckos eat large numbers of small insects, so a population of them living on one's property serves as a natural form of pest-control. However, domestic cats - as introduced predators - will usually kill large numbers of these little lizards, often exterminating them from the immediate area. Their diet is an array of invertebrates, including feeder insects.


This gecko occurs commonly in the southern parts of South Africa, from Cape Town (where it now inhabits suburban gardens) eastwards as far as the Eastern Cape.
A. porphyreus are not aggressive or territorial, and several of them will often live together in a single retreat. These sociable lizards will even share nests, where several females will lay their eggs.


The common firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla), also known as the firecrest, is a very small passerine bird in the kinglet family. It breeds in most of temperate Europe and northwestern Africa, and is partially migratory, with birds from central Europe wintering to the south and west of their breeding range. Firecrests in the Balearic Islands and north Africa are widely recognised as a separate subspecies, but the population on Madeira, previously also treated as a subspecies, is now treated as a distinct species, the Madeira firecrest, Regulus madeirensis. A fossil ancestor of the firecrest has been identified from a single wing bone.
This kinglet is greenish above and has whitish underparts. It has two white wingbars, a black eye stripe and a white supercilium. The head crest, orange in the male and yellow in the female, is displayed during breeding, and gives rise to the English and scientific names for the species. This bird superficially resembles the goldcrest, which largely shares its European range, but the firecrest's bronze shoulders and strong face pattern are distinctive. The song is a repetition of high thin notes, slightly lower-pitched than those of its relative.
The common firecrest breeds in broadleaved or coniferous woodland and gardens, building its compact, three-layered nest on a tree branch. Seven to twelve eggs are incubated by the female alone. Both parents feed the chicks, which fledge 22–24 days after hatching. This kinglet is constantly on the move and frequently hovers as it searches for insects to eat, and in winter it is often found with flocks of tits. Despite some possible local declines, the species is not the subject of significant conservation concerns owing to its large European population and an expansion of its range over the last century. It may be hunted and killed by birds of prey, and can carry parasites. It is possible that this species was the original "king of the birds" in European folklore.


The common firecrest breeds in lowland broadleaf forest, preferring cork oak and alder where available, otherwise beech and holly. It also uses mixed broadleaf and conifer woodland, and stands of spruce, European silver fir, cedar and pines, often with undergrowth of juniper, ivy and wild rose. In drier Mediterranean habitats it is found in conifers, evergreen oak, and mixed woodlands up to 2,800 m (9,200 ft). Unlike more specialised birds such as Eurasian nuthatch and common treecreeper, both of which forage on trunks, the crests do not need large woodlands, and their population density is independent of forest size. In winter it is less reliant on conifers than the goldcrest, moving from forest to fringes and scrub. It occurs singly or in pairs, spending much time in the tree canopy, although frequently venturing into bushes and other lower vegetation. This species can thrive in fairly urban areas, provided that suitable habitat is available in parks or large gardens; population densities in gardens can be comparable with the maximum levels found in natural habitats.
The nominate subspecies breeds in Europe from southern England, France, Spain and Portugal east to Belarus, northwestern Ukraine, and Greece, and north to the Baltic and southern Latvia. There are isolated populations east of the main range in Abkhazia, the Crimea and Turkey. Its range lies between the 16 and 24 °C (61 and 75 °F) July isotherms. Southern birds are largely resident, unlike northern and eastern populations which are migratory, wintering mainly in Mediterranean areas and the far west of Europe from Portugal north to Britain. R. i. balearicus is resident in the Balearic Islands and the northern parts of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. This species has been recorded as a vagrant from Norway, Finland, Estonia, Cyprus, Egypt and Lebanon. In July 2020, it was reported that the common firecrest was now nesting in at least two locations in southern Finland.


All species of kinglet are almost exclusively insectivorous, preying on small arthropods with soft cuticles, such as springtails, aphids and spiders. They also feed on the cocoons and eggs of spiders and insects, and occasionally take pollen. All species will hover to catch flying insects. Although the similarly sized firecrest and goldcrest are often found together, there are a number of factors that reduce direct competition for food. Common firecrests prefer larger prey than goldcrests. Although both will take trapped insects from spider webs on autumn migration, firecrests will also eat the large orb-web spiders (on rare occasions kinglets have been found stuck in a spider web, either unable to move or dead).
The common firecrest feeds in trees, exploiting mainly the upper surface of branches in coniferous habitat and of leaves in deciduous trees. This is in contrast to the goldcrest, which frequently feeds on the undersides of branches and leaves. In winter, flocks of common firecrests cover a given distance about three times faster than do goldcrests, and ignore the smallest prey items preferred by their relative; large invertebrates are killed by beating them repeatedly against a branch. The differences in behaviour are facilitated by subtle morphological differences; firecrests have broader bills with longer rictal bristles (which protect a bird's eye from food items it is trying to capture), and these features reflect the larger prey taken by the species. The firecrest's less forked tail may reflect its longer episodes of hovering while hunting. Firecrests forage more often while standing, and have a foot better adapted for perching, whereas the goldcrest's longer hind toe reflects its habit of moving vertically along branches while feeding. It also has a deep grooves in the soles of its feet capable of gripping individual needles, while firecrests have a smoother underside to the foot.
Young common firecrests are fed almost exclusively with springtails; larger food items are not accepted, and spiders are occasionally regurgitated. From the fifth day onwards, the nestling diet includes aphids and a high amount of snail shells, the latter being needed for bone growth. After the second week, the food includes larger moths and caterpillars, as well as various arthropods typically avoided by adults, such as harvestmen, earwigs, and centipedes.
In winter, the firecrest joins loose flocks of other wanderers such as tits and warblers. This kinglet, like other species that prefer mixed-species foraging flocks in winter, hunts over a greater range of heights and vegetation types than when feeding alone. For species that tend to feed in flocks, foraging success while in a flock was about twice that for solitary birds. In some areas, wintering birds have developed the habit of coming to feeding stations and bird tables for fatty food, sometimes with goldcrests or warblers such as the common chiffchaff and blackcap. The kinglet's digestive system is adapted to an entirely insectivorous diet, whereas Sylvia warblers include fruit in their autumn diet. A Spanish study compared that genus with the insectivorous firecrest and Phylloscopus warblers. The results showed that, relative to body weight, the insect-eaters had shorter intestines, but longer gut passage times than the Sylvia species. The insect-eaters are also generally slightly smaller than the omnivores.


Throughout the firecrest's range, the main predator of small woodland birds is the Eurasian sparrowhawk, which takes avian prey as up to 98% of its diet. The tawny owl relies more on mammalian catches, but about one-third of its food is forest birds. Eggs and young may be taken by grey squirrels, Eurasian jays and great spotted woodpeckers. The firecrest appears to be virtually unknown as a host of the common cuckoo, a widespread European brood parasite.
The invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) is common in the Mediterranean area, and reduces arthropod numbers by removing most native ant species. The reduction in prey items is greatest in the tree canopy, and has a greater effect on species like the firecrest that feed high in the foliage. Less food is available for chicks, and parents have to spend more time foraging.
Data on specific parasites of the firecrest is lacking, but the widespread moorhen flea, Dasypsyllus gallinulae has been recorded in a related Regulus species. A number of feather mites have been recorded in the genus, including Proctophyllodes glandarinus on firecrest. These mites live on fungi growing on the feathers. The fungi found on the plumage may feed on the keratin of the outer feathers or on feather oil.


The common firecrest is monogamous. The male sings during the breeding season, often with its crest raised, and has a display  which involves pointing its bill at another bird, showing the crest and strong face pattern. This differs from the display of the plainer-faced goldcrest, which bows its head to emphasise the crest. The breeding territory is about 0.5 hectares (1.2 acres), and may overlap with neighbouring goldcrest territories. Firecrests will sometimes defend their territories against goldcrests with the crest raised and a great deal of wing-fluttering, but the amount of actual competition between the species may not be very great. A Spanish study suggested that territorial conflicts between the species, and other phenomena like males singing mixed or alternating songs, were most frequent when one species locally far outnumbered the other; in other circumstances, the two kinglets learned to ignore each other's songs. In his courtship display the male firecrest raises his crest, points it towards his mate and hovers over her before mating takes place.
The nest is often suspended from a hanging branch usually at no great altitude, although Eric Simms reported nests at heights from 2.5 to 20 m (8.2 to 65.6 ft). Firecrests may favour breeding close to northern goshawk nests. That large bird will prey on potential predators of the firecrest such as Eurasian sparrowhawks, and nest robbers like grey squirrels, Eurasian jays and great spotted woodpeckers. As is typical for the family, the nest is a closed cup built in three layers with a small entrance hole near its top. The nest's outer layer is made from moss, small twigs, cobwebs and lichen, the spider webs also being used to attach the nest to the thin branches that support it. The middle layer is moss, and this is lined with feathers (up to 3,000) and hair. The nest is smaller, deeper and more compact than that of the goldcrest, about 8 cm (3.1 in) across and 5–7 cm (2.0–2.8 in) deep, with a wall thickness of about 2 cm (0.79 in). The nest is constructed by the female alone, although the male will accompany the female while she builds the nest over a period of a few days to three weeks.
Laying starts in western Europe at the end of April, and in the east of the range in late May; second clutches, which are common, commence in June to July. The eggs are pink with very indistinct reddish markings at the broad end, unlike those of Madeira firecrest which are described as like those of a Phylloscopus warbler (white with some brown speckles). The eggs are 14 mm × 10 mm (0.55 in × 0.39 in) and weigh 0.7 g (0.025 oz), of which 5% is shell. The clutch size in Europe is 7–12 eggs, but probably smaller in northwest Africa. The female incubates the eggs for 14.5 to 16.5 days to hatching, and broods the chicks, which fledge eight to ten days later. Both parents feed the chicks and fledged young. This species becomes sexually mature after one year, and has a life expectancy of less than two years.
Although their ranges overlap substantially, hybridisation between goldcrests and firecrests seems to be prevented by differences in courtship rituals and different facial patterns. Even in aviary studies in which a female goldcrest was given an artificial eyestripe to facilitate mating with a male firecrest, the chicks were never raised by the mixed pair, and appeared to be poorly adapted compared to the parent species.


The common firecrest is a small plump bird, 9 cm (3.5 in) in length with a wingspan of 13–16 cm (5.1–6.3 in), and weighs 4–7 grams (0.14–0.25 oz). It has bright olive-green upperparts with a bronze-coloured patch on each shoulder, and whitish underparts washed with brownish-grey on the breast and flanks. It has two white wingbars, a tiny black pointed bill, and brownish-black legs. The head pattern is striking, with a black eye stripe, long white supercilium, and a crest which is bright yellow in the female and mainly orange in the male. The sexes are very similar, apart from the crest colour, although the female is a little duller in plumage and on average slightly smaller. Juveniles have a grey tinge to the duller upperparts, and lack the coloured crown; the other head markings are present, but duller than in the adult. By their first winter, only the flight and tail feathers remain unmoulted, and the young birds are virtually indistinguishable from the adults in the field. This kinglet usually hops with its body held horizontally, and its flight is weak and whirring, with occasional quick evasive turns.
Adult firecrests are unlikely to be confused with any other species; Pallas's warbler has a similar head and wing pattern, but its crown stripe is pale lemon, not bright yellow or orange, and its supercilium is also pale yellow, not bright white. The juvenile common firecrest might be confused with the goldcrest, but usually shows enough face pattern to distinguish it from its relative, which has a very plain face at all ages. The firecrest can also be separated from Pallas's warbler by the warbler's pale crown stripe and yellow rump. There is more likelihood of confusing the juvenile firecrest with the yellow-browed warbler, which has a similar head pattern; the warbler (an Asiatic species) has pale fringes to the feathers of the closed wing, a whitish belly and darker brown legs. The yellow-browed warbler also lacks the pale half circle present below the young firecrest's eye.


The black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa) is a large, long-legged, long-billed shorebird first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. It is a member of the godwit genus, Limosa. There are four subspecies, all with orange head, neck and chest in breeding plumage and dull grey-brown winter coloration, and distinctive black and white wingbar at all times.
Its breeding range stretches from Iceland through Europe and areas of central Asia. Black-tailed godwits spend (the northern hemisphere) winter in areas as diverse as the Indian subcontinent, Australia, New Zealand, western Europe and west Africa. The species breeds in fens, lake edges, damp meadows, moorlands and bogs and uses estuaries, swamps and floods in (the northern hemisphere) winter; it is more likely to be found inland and on freshwater than the similar bar-tailed godwit. The world population is estimated to be 634,000 to 805,000 birds and is classified as Near Threatened. The black-tailed godwit is the national bird of the Netherlands.


Black-tailed godwits have a discontinuous breeding range stretching from Iceland to the far east of Russia. Their breeding habitat is river valley fens, floods at the edges of large lakes, damp steppes, raised bogs and moorlands. An important proportion of the European population now uses secondary habitats: lowland wet grasslands, coastal grazing marshes, pastures, wet areas near fishponds or sewage works, and saline lagoons. Breeding can also take place in sugar beet, potato and rye fields in the Netherlands and Germany.
In spring, black-tailed godwits feed largely in grasslands, moving to muddy estuaries after breeding and for winter. On African wintering grounds, swamps, floods and irrigated paddy fields can attract flocks of birds. In India, inland pools, lakes and marshes are used, and occasionally brackish lakes, tidal creeks and estuaries.
Godwits from the Icelandic population winter mainly in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and the Netherlands, though some fly on to Spain, Portugal and perhaps Morocco. Birds of the limosa subspecies from western Europe fly south to Morocco and then on to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. Birds from the eastern European populations migrate to Tunisia and Algeria, then on to Mali or Chad. Young birds from the European populations stay on in Africa after their first winter and return to Europe at the age of two years. Asian black-tailed godwits winter in Australia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.
Black-tailed godwits are much more likely to be found on inland wetlands than the more coastal bar-tailed godwit. They migrate in flocks to western Europe, Africa, south Asia and Australia. Although this species occurs in Ireland and Great Britain all year-round, they are not the same birds. The breeding birds depart in autumn, but are replaced in winter by the larger Icelandic race. These birds occasionally appear in the Aleutian Islands and, rarely, on the Atlantic coast of North America.


Black-tailed godwits are mostly monogamous; although it was not recorded in a four-year study of 50–60 pairs, bigamy was considered "probably frequent". A study of the Icelandic population showed that despite spending winter apart, pairs are reunited on their breeding grounds within an average of three days of each other. If one partner does not arrive on time, 'divorce' occurs. They nest in loose colonies. Unpaired males defend a temporary territory and perform display flights to attract a mate. Several nest scrapes are made away from the courtship territory, and are defended from other godwits. Once eggs are laid, an area of 30–50 m (98–164 ft) around the nest is defended. The nest is a shallow scrape on the ground, usually in short vegetation. The eggs may be hidden with vegetation by the incubating parent.
The single brood of three to six eggs, coloured olive-green to dark brown, measure 55 mm × 37 mm (2.2 in × 1.5 in) and weigh 39 g (1.4 oz) each (of which 6% is shell). Incubation lasts 22–24 days and is performed by both parents. The young are downy and precocial and are brooded while they are small and at night during colder weather. After hatching, they are led away from the nest and may move to habitats such as sewage farms, lake edges, marshes and mudflats. The chicks fledge after 25–30 days.
Black-tailed godwit productivity varies, positively, with spring temperatures.  However, during extreme events, such as a volcanic eruption, complete breeding failures can occur.


The black-tailed godwit is a large wader with long bill (7.5 to 12 cm (3.0 to 4.7 in) long), neck and legs. During the breeding season, the bill has a yellowish or orange-pink base and dark tip; the base is pink in winter. The legs are dark grey, brown or black. The sexes are similar, but in breeding plumage, they can be separated by the male's brighter, more extensive orange breast, neck and head. In winter, adult black-tailed godwits have a uniform brown-grey breast and upperparts (in contrast to the bar-tailed godwit's streaked back). Juveniles have a pale orange wash to the neck and breast.
In flight, its bold black and white wings and white rump can be seen readily. When on the ground it can be difficult to separate from the similar bar-tailed Godwit, but the black-tailed godwit's longer, straighter bill and longer legs are diagnostic. Black-tailed godwits are similar in body size and shape to bar-taileds, but stand taller.
It measures 42 cm (17 in) from bill to tail with a wingspan of 70–82 cm (28–32 in). Males weight around 280 g (9.9 oz) and females 340 g (12 oz). The female is around 5% larger than the male, with a bill 12–15% longer.
The most common call is a strident weeka weeka weeka.
A study of black-tailed godwits in the Netherlands found a mortality rate of 37.6% in the first year of life, 32% in the second year, and 36.9% thereafter.


X. virginica survive mostly on nectar and pollen.  Newly emerged bees do not have food stored in their nest, but they are occasionally brought nectar.  X. virginica use their maxillae to penetrate the corolla of plants and reach the nectar stores, a behavior known as nectar robbing. This happens when the bee pierces the corollas of long-tubed flowers, thus accessing nectar without making contact with the anthers and bypassing pollination. In some plants this reduces fruit production and seed number. In other plants, defensive mechanisms allow pollination to occur despite perforation of the corolla.


Xylocopa virginica, sometimes referred to as the eastern carpenter bee, extends through the eastern United States and into Canada. They are sympatric with Xylocopa micans in much of southeastern United States. They nest in various types of wood and eat pollen and nectar. In X. virginica, dominant females do not focus solely on egg-laying, as in other bee species considered to have "queens". Instead, dominant X. virginica females are responsible for a full gamut of activities including reproduction, foraging, and nest construction, whereas subordinate bees may engage in little activity outside of guarding the nest.


X. virginica visits many different kinds of flowers in order to gather pollen and nectar to bring back to the nest for larvae.  Most of the plants they visit are wild grown or grown for decorative value; however, they can be good pollinators of blueberry crops. Their active seasons are quite long, and they forage on a wide variety of plant species.  Also, because the start of their activity season is dependent on temperature, it is easy for greenhouse workers to manipulate the beginning of foraging activity.  However, in comparison to species such as the honey bee, their smaller nest makes them less powerful as pollinators.


Philanthus triangulum, commonly known as the European beewolf, bee-killer wasp or the bee-eating philanthus (from the now obsolete synonym Philanthus apivorus), is a solitary wasp that lives in the Western Palearctic and Afrotropics. Although the adults of the species are herbivores (feeding on nectar and pollen), the species derives its name from the behaviour of the inseminated females, who hunt Western honey bees. The female places several of its paralysed prey together with an egg in a small underground chamber, to serve as food for the wasp larvae. All members of the genus Philanthus hunt various species of bees, but P. triangulum is apparently the only one that specialises in Western honey bees.


The European beewolf is found mainly in areas of open sandy ground in areas such as lowland heathland and coastal dunes. They are infrequently found in clay areas and in Britain have been recorded digging burrows in coal dust and ash and have been found on spoil heaps from coal mining.


The Nashville warbler (Leiothlypis ruficapilla) is a small songbird in the New World warbler family, found in North and Central America. It breeds in parts of the northern and western United States and southern Canada, and migrates to winter in southern California and Texas, Mexico, and the north of Central America. It has a gray head and a green back, and its underparts are yellow and white.


Nashville warblers forage by gleaning in the lower parts of trees and shrubs, frequently flicking their tails. In winter, they join together into loose flocks, and sometimes join mixed-species feeding flocks. These birds mainly eat insects, but will supplement this diet with berries and nectar in the winter.
Nashville warblers conceal their nests on the ground under shrubs. Nests are open cups built out of bark strips, leaves, and moss, and are lined with fine materials such as feathers or hairs. Typically four or five eggs are laid in a clutch, and incubated for 11–12 days. Only the female incubates the eggs, though the male brings her food. On hatching, the young have no feathers apart from some brown down, and their eyes are closed. Juveniles fledge and leave the nest 11 days after hatching.
There is a single record of hybridization with the Tennessee warbler.


Nashville warblers breed in two distinct areas, one in Canada and the northeastern United States, and another in the western United States. The northeastern part of its range extends from Côte-Nord and Cape Breton Island in eastern Canada to central Alberta. For the most part, it only breeds between about 52 and 45.5 degrees north, but it is also found less commonly in the Appalachians of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Although named after Nashville, Tennessee, the Nashville warbler only visits that area during migration. They migrate to southernmost Texas and California, mid-Mexico, and the northernmost parts of Central America (Guatemala and El Salvador) in winter. In their breeding range, they prefer open mixed woods and bog habitats.


The Nashville warbler is a small warbler. Both male and female Nashville warblers have a gray head fading into a greenish back and wings, a white belly and a yellow throat and breast. They have a complete white eye ring, no wing bars, and a thin pointed black bill. Adult males have a rusty brown patch on their crown, which is usually hard to see and often covered by gray feathers. Males will raise it slightly when agitated. Females and immature birds have a duller olive-grey head, and less bold yellow on their throat. The Nashville warbler is closely related to Virginia's warbler, Lucy's warbler, and the Colima warbler, the four sharing generally similar plumage.
Measurements:
Length: 4.3–5.1 in (11–13 cm)
Weight: 0.2–0.5 oz (5.7–14.2 g)
Wingspan: 6.7–7.9 in (17–20 cm)


The spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) is a planthopper indigenous to parts of China. It has spread invasively to Japan, South Korea, and the United States. Its host plants include grapes, stone fruits, and Malus species, although its preferred host is Ailanthus altissima (Chinese sumac or tree of heaven). In its native habitat, L. delicatula populations are kept in check by parasitic wasps.
The spotted lanternfly's life cycle is often centered around its preferred host Ailanthus altissima but L. delicatula can associate with more than 173 plants. Early life stages (instars) of the spotted lanternfly are characterized by spotted black and white planthoppers that develop a red pigmentation and wings as they mature. Early life instars display a large host range that narrows with maturation. Fully matured spotted lanternflies display a black head, grey wings, and red hind wings. These adults do not display any known associations with herbaceous plants but have been known to cause extensive damage to crops and ornamental plants. The specialized mouthparts and honeydew waste L. delicatula excretes have been found to be significantly detrimental to the health of host plants.
The species was accidentally introduced into South Korea in 2006 and Japan in 2009, and has since been considered a pest. In September 2014, L. delicatula was first recorded in the United States, and as of 2020, it is an invasive species in much of Northeastern United States. L. delicatula's egg masses have been found to be the primary vector of spread, with Ailanthus altissima populations seen as a risk factor for further infestation globally. Ongoing pest control efforts have sought to limit population growth, due to the threat L. delicatula poses to global agricultural industries.


Beginning in late April to early May, nymphs hatch from their egg cases. A nymph passes through several immature stages, all of which are wingless. In the first instar, it is black with white spots. Later instars have red patches in addition to the white spots. The final nymphal instar has red wing pads and a red upper body, before molting to the adult form, with a black head and grayish wings with black spots. Nymphs hop or crawl to search for plants on which to feed. Young nymphs (first through third instars) appear to have a wider host range early on, which narrows as they grow older. Though lanternflies have been recorded feeding on several herbaceous plants, this is most likely due to early-instar nymphs climbing or falling onto these plants; late-instar nymphs and adult lanternflies have no reliable association with herbaceous plants.
As early as July, adults can be seen, and they mate and lay eggs from late September through the onset of winter. During mating periods, spotted lanternflies will perform migratory flights. During these migrations, adult L. delicatula will perform a brief courtship and copulation which will last for up to 4 hours. In their native Indomalayan habitat, they lay their eggs preferably on tree of heaven (A. altissima), which has toxic metabolites, and is an introduced invasive tree in North America. This host choice is thought to have evolved as a mechanism of protection from natural enemies.
The spotted lanternfly has been found to be capable of completing its life cycle with hosts other than A. altissima, but generally fail to thrive unless A. altissima is present. Many hypotheses are given as to why L. delicatula may have preferences for feeding on certain plants. Two examples of possible factors being investigated are the contribution of the overall sugar composition in the plant and the presence of toxic chemicals. The lanternfly lays eggs upon any smooth-trunked tree, stone, or vertical smooth surface, including man-made items such as vehicles, yard furniture, farm equipment, or other items stored outside.

The egg masses contain 30–50 eggs covered in a yellowish-brown, waxy deposit, often referred to as an egg case. L. delicatula eggs undergo diapause during embryonic development, requiring 2 weeks of warm temperatures following winter before hatching is induced. Eggs overwintered for 5 months or longer demonstrate higher hatch rates and more synchronous hatching, suggesting that cold temperatures increase overall egg survival rates. The lanternfly's life expectancy is one year and the majority of adults die off by the end of December.
Testing has been done to determine how overwintering affects the eggs of the species. The highest temperature that will still kill eggs was estimated by South Korean researchers to be between
−12.7 and −3.4 °C (9.1 and 25.9 °F) on the basis of mean daily temperatures during their winter of 2009–2010. This estimate contrasts with eggs having survived the much colder winter 2013–14 temperatures in Pennsylvania, United States. Another study done at The State University of New Jersey suggested that −25 °C (−13 °F) is about the temperature at which no eggs are hatched, while −15 °C (5 °F) still had limited hatching, depending upon how long they were chilled and where they were kept.


They eat mostly harvester ants, and can eat twenty-five hundred ants in one meal. They are slow eaters, because they spend most of their time in the  intense heat of the desert during meals. They eat flies, spiders, and a variety of insects.


This horned lizard occupies primarily level or gently sloping terrain with openly spaced desert vegetation such as mesquite, creosote bush, and saguaro cactus. It can be found primarily in a hot and dry climate where the Earth may be covered in limestone dust. It is found in the Sonoran Desert Mountains is where it prefers its climate, but can be found in Texas, southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico.


The regal horned lizard is a small, flat lizard about the size of the palm of a man's hand. Though it has spikes all around its body, the regal horn's main defense is the ability to squirt blood from its eyes.
3–4 inches or 117 mm in length from nose to tail as a full adult.
Pale grey to yellow-brown or reddish topped with dark blotches alongside the body and back.
4 legs each leg with 4 toes and claws on each toe.
Slow runner that uses camouflage to escape predators.


Mating for the regal horned lizard begins in late April, peaks in June, and stops abruptly in July. Egg laying starts a few weeks later, usually in late July and early August. About 10–30 eggs are laid (15 on average). The eggs are laid in the sand and are required to stay there for several weeks. The egg shells are white and flexible and average about one-half inch in diameter. The hatch-lings receive no parental care upon hatching and immediately bury themselves in the sand. They are now responsible for finding and hunting for their own food. Several diverting tactics are used to attract a mate, such as: head bopping, push ups, and nodding of the head.


The northern shoveler (/ˈʃʌvələr/; Spatula clypeata), known simply in Britain as the shoveler, is a common and widespread duck. It breeds in northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and across most of North America, wintering in southern Europe, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Central, the Caribbean, and northern South America. It is a rare vagrant to Australia. In North America, it breeds along the southern edge of Hudson Bay and west of this body of water, and as far south as the Great Lakes west to Colorado, Nevada, and Oregon.
The northern shoveler is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies. The conservation status of this bird is Least Concern.


Northern shovelers feed by dabbling for plant food, often by swinging its bill from side to side and using the bill to strain food from the water. They use their highly specialized bill (from which their name is derived) to forage for aquatic invertebrates. Their wide-flat bill is equipped with well-developed lamellae – small, comb-like structures on the edge of the bill that act like sieves, allowing the birds to skim crustaceans and plankton from the water's surface. This adaptation, more specialized in shovelers, gives them an advantage over other puddle ducks, with which they do not have to compete for food resources during most of the year. Thus, mud-bottomed marshes rich in invertebrate life are their habitat of choice.
The shoveler prefers to nest in grassy areas away from open water. Their nest is a shallow depression on the ground, lined with plant material and down. Hens typically lay about nine eggs. The drakes are very territorial during breeding season and will defend their territory and partners from competing males. Drakes also engage in elaborate courtship behaviors, both on the water and in the air; it is not uncommon for a dozen or more males to pursue a single hen. Despite their stout appearance, shovelers are nimble fliers.
This is a fairly quiet species. The male has a clunking call, whereas the female has a Mallard-like quack.


This is a bird of open wetlands, such as wet grassland or marshes with some emergent vegetation. It breeds in wide areas across Eurasia, western North America and the Great Lakes region of the United States.
This bird winters in southern Europe, the Indian Subcontinent, the Caribbean, northern South America, Malay Archipelago, Japan and other areas. Those wintering in the Indian Subcontinent make the taxing journey over the Himalayas, often taking a break in wetlands just south of the Himalaya before continuing further south to warmer regions. In North America it winters south of a line from Washington to Idaho and from New Mexico east to Kentucky, also along the Eastern Seaboard as far north as Massachusetts. In the British Isles, home to more than 20% of the North Western European population, it is best known as a winter visitor, although it is more frequently seen in southern and eastern England, especially around the Ouse Washes, the Humber and the North Kent Marshes, and in much smaller numbers in Scotland and western parts of England. In winter, breeding birds move south, and are replaced by an influx of continental birds from further north. It breeds across most of Ireland, but the population there is very difficult to assess. Surveys in 2017 and 2018 suggest that it is more common and widespread  in Ireland
than previously thought.
It is strongly migratory and winters further south than its breeding range. It has occasionally been reported as a vagrant as far south as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It is not as gregarious as some dabbling ducks outside the breeding season and tends to form only small flocks. Among North America's duck species, northern shovelers trail only mallards and blue-winged teal in overall abundance. Their populations have been healthy since the 1960s, and have soared in recent years to more than 5 million birds (2015), most likely because of favorable breeding, migration, and wintering habitat conditions.


This species is unmistakable in the northern hemisphere due to its large spatulate bill. The breeding drake has an iridescent dark green head, white breast and chestnut belly and flanks. In flight, pale blue forewing feathers are revealed, separated from the green speculum by a white border. In early fall the male will have a white crescent on each side of the face. In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage, the drake resembles the female.
The female is a drab mottled brown like other dabblers, with plumage much like a female mallard, but easily distinguished by the long broad bill, which is gray tinged with orange on cutting edge and lower mandible. The female's forewing is gray.
They are 48 cm (19 in) long and have a wingspan of 76 cm (30 in) with a weight of 600 g (1.3 lb).


The grey-headed tanager (Eucometis penicillata) is a widely distributed species of small Neotropical bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is the only member of the genus Eucometis.
It is found in Central America and northern South America from Mexico to Brazil.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical swamps, and heavily degraded former forest.


As a caterpillar, the common blue eats leaves. As an adult butterfly, it feeds on wildflower nectar and excrement.  The adult lives 3 weeks.
Males are often very obvious as they defend territories against rivals and seek out the more reclusive females. In the south of Britain there are two broods a year, flying in May and June and again in August and September. Northern England has one brood, flying between June and September. In a year with a long warm season, there is sometimes a partial third brood in the south flying into October.


The common blue butterfly is found in Europe, North Africa, the Canary Islands, and east across the Palearctic  to Northern China. Recently it was discovered in Quebec, Canada. It is widespread in the British Isles. Its distribution trend shows a 15% decline since the 1970s.


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


Mute swans nest on large mounds that they build with waterside vegetation in shallow water on islands in the middle or at the very edge of a lake. They are monogamous and often reuse the same nest each year, restoring or rebuilding it as needed. Male and female swans share the care of the nest, and once the cygnets are fledged it is not uncommon to see whole families looking for food. They feed on a wide range of vegetation, both submerged aquatic plants which they reach with their long necks, and by grazing on land. The food commonly includes agricultural crop plants such as oilseed rape and wheat, and feeding flocks in the winter may cause significant crop damage, often as much through trampling with their large webbed feet, as through direct consumption.
Unlike black swans, mute swans are usually strongly territorial with just a single pair on smaller lakes, though in a few locations where a large area of suitable feeding habitat is found they can be colonial. The largest colonies have over 100 pairs, such as at the colony at Abbotsbury Swannery in southern England, and at the southern tip of Öland Island, Ottenby Preserve, in the coastal waters of the Baltic Sea, and can have nests spaced as little as 2 m (7 ft) apart. Non-mated juveniles up to 3–4 years old commonly form larger flocks, which can total several hundred birds, often at regular traditional sites. A notable flock of non-breeding birds is found on the River Tweed estuary at Berwick-upon-Tweed in northeastern England, with a maximum count of 787 birds. A large population exists near the Swan Lifeline Station in Windsor, and live on the Thames in the shadow of Windsor Castle. Once the adults are mated they seek out their own territories and often live close to ducks and gulls, which may take advantage of the swan's ability to reach deep water weeds, which tend to spread out on the water surface.
The mute swan is less vocal than the noisy whooper and Bewick's swans; they do, however, make a variety of sounds, often described as "grunting, hoarse whistling, and snorting noises." During a courtship display, mute swans utter a rhythmic song. The song help synchronize the movements of their heads and necks. It could technically be employed to distinguish a bonded couple from two dating swans, as the rhythm of the song typically fails to match the pace of the head movements in two dating swans. Mute swans usually hiss at competitors or intruders trying to enter their territory. The most familiar sound associated with mute swans is the vibrant throbbing of the wings in flight which is unique to the species, and can be heard from a range of 1 to 2 km (0.6 to 1 mi), indicating its value as a contact sound between birds in flight. Cygnets are especially vocal, and communicate through a variety of whistling and chirping sounds when content, as well as a harsh squawking noise when distressed or lost.
Mute swans can be very aggressive in defence of their nests and are highly protective of their mate and offspring. Most defensive acts from a mute swan begin with a loud hiss and, if this is not sufficient to drive off the predator or intruder, are followed by a physical attack. Swans attack by striking at the threat with bony spurs in their wings, accompanied by biting with their large bill, while smaller waterbirds such as ducks are normally grabbed with the swan's bill and dragged or thrown clear of the swan and its offspring. The wings of the swan are very powerful, though not strong enough to break an adult man's leg, as is commonly misquoted. Large waterfowl, such as Canada geese, (more likely out of competition than in response to potential predation) may be aggressively driven off, and mute swans regularly attack people who enter their territory.
The cob is responsible for defending the cygnets while on the water, and will sometimes attack small watercraft, such as canoes, that it feels are a threat to its young. The cob will additionally try to chase the predator out of his family territory, and will keep animals such as foxes and raptors at bay. In New York (outside its native range), the most common predators of cygnets are common snapping turtles. Healthy adults are rarely preyed upon, though canids such as coyotes, felids such as lynx, and bears can pose a threat to infirm ones (healthy adults can usually swim away from danger and nest defense is usually successful.) and there are a few cases of healthy adults falling prey to golden eagles. In England, there has been an increased rate of attacks on swans by out-of-control dogs, especially in parks where the birds are less territorial. This is considered criminal in British law, and the birds are placed under the highest protection due to their association with the monarch. Mute swans will readily attack dogs to protect themselves and their cygnets from an attack, and an adult swan is capable of overwhelming and drowning even large dog breeds.
The familiar pose with neck curved back and wings half raised, known as busking, is a threat display. Both feet are paddled in unison during this display, resulting in more jerky movement. The swans may also use the busking posture for wind-assisted transportation over several hundred meters, so-called windsurfing.
Like other swans, mute swans are known for their ability to grieve for a lost or dead mate or cygnet. Swans will go through a mourning process, and in the case of the loss of their mate, may either stay where its counterpart lived, or fly off to join a flock. Should one of the pair die while there are cygnets present, the remaining parent will take up their partner's duties in raising the clutch.


The mute swan is found naturally mainly in temperate areas of Europe then across the Palearctic as far east as Primorsky Krai, near Sidemi.
It is partially migratory throughout northern latitudes in Europe and Asia, as far south as North Africa and the Mediterranean. It is known and recorded to have nested in Iceland and is a vagrant to that area as well as to Bermuda, according to the UN Environment Programme chart of international status chart of bird species, which places it in 70 countries, breeding in 49 countries, and vagrant in 16 countries. While most of the current population in Japan is introduced, mute swans are depicted on scrolls more than 1,000 years old, and wild birds from the mainland Asian population still occur rarely in winter. Natural migrants to Japan usually occur along with whooper and sometimes Bewick's swans.
The mute swan is protected in most of its range, but this has not prevented illegal hunting and poaching. It is often kept in captivity outside its natural range, as a decoration for parks and ponds, and escapes have happened. The descendants of such birds have become naturalised in the eastern United States and Great Lakes, much as the Canada goose has done in Europe.


Mute swans lay from 4 to 10 eggs. The female broods for around 36 days, with cygnets normally hatching between the months of May and July. The young swans do not achieve the ability to fly before about 120 to 150 days old. This limits the distribution of the species at the northern edge of its range as the cygnets need to learn to fly before the ponds and lakes freeze over.


Adults of this large swan typically range from 140 to 160 cm (55 to 63 in) long, although can range in extreme cases from 125 to 170 cm (49 to 67 in), with a 200 to 240 cm (79 to 94 in) wingspan. Males are larger than females and have a larger knob on their bill. On average, this is the second largest waterfowl species after the trumpeter swan, although male mute swans can easily match or even exceed a male trumpeter in mass. Among standard measurements of the mute swan, the wing chord measures 53–62.3 cm (20.9–24.5 in), the tarsus is 10–11.8 cm (3.9–4.6 in) and the bill is 6.9–9 cm (2.7–3.5 in). The plumage is white, while the legs are dark grey. The beak of the mute swan is bright orange, with black around the nostrils and a black nail.
The mute swan is one of the heaviest flying birds. In several studies from Great Britain, males (known as cobs) were found to average from about 10.6 to 11.87 kg (23.4 to 26.2 lb), with a weight range of 9.2–14.3 kg (20–32 lb) while the slightly smaller females (known as pens) averaged about 8.5 to 9.67 kg (18.7 to 21.3 lb), with a weight range of 7.6–10.6 kg (17–23 lb). While the top normal weight for a big cob is roughly 15 kg (33 lb), one unusually big Polish cob weighed almost 23 kg (51 lb) and this counts as the largest weight ever verified for a flying bird, although it has been questioned whether this heavyweight could still take flight.
Young birds, called cygnets, are not the bright white of mature adults, and their bill is dull greyish-black, not orange, for the first year. The down may range from pure white to grey to buff, with grey/buff the most common. The white cygnets have a leucistic gene. Cygnets grow quickly, reaching a size close to their adult size in approximately three months after hatching. Cygnets typically retain their grey feathers until they are at least one year old, with the down on their wings having been replaced by flight feathers earlier that year.
All mute swans are white at maturity, though the feathers (particularly on the head and neck) are often stained orange-brown by iron and tannins in the water.


Charaxes epijasius is a medium to large butterfly. West African and Ethiopian examples tend to be smaller than more central and eastern African specimens. The male has a wingspan of 62–84 mm in West Africa, up to 80-95mm further east, females larger up to 95-102mm. Each hindwing bears two tails, characteristic of most species of the genus, which tend to curve slightly towards each other to a variable degree. The upperside ground colour of the wings is very dark brownish-black, with a slight purplish bloom. Forewing sometimes with suggestion of slightly lighter discal bars, usually with no post-discal spots on the forewing, though sometimes one or two near the costa, often faint; hindwing with pale whitish-yellow patch near costal border, dusted with blackish scales; admarginal outer band of both wings light golden-yellow colour, divided by black-scaled veins. Hindwing has a post-discal broad wedge of bright sky blue clearly demarcated from the admarginal yellow by a well-defined black scalloped border. The underside has a characteristic mosaic appearance, in common with other members of the Charaxes jasius species Group, traversed by a jumble of bands and of brown, reddish, and grey-blackish patches, all edged with a filigree of white. Beyond the inner mosaic, a white complete discal band bridges across fore- to hindwings, tapering down towards the forewing costa. The outer orange marginal coloration is present on the underside also, whitish stripes are evident within the marginal border, above each greyish vein. The female resembles the male but is larger.


The larva eats the shell immediately after emerging. At first the yellowish olive 1st Instar larva closely resembles that of other species in the jasius subgroup, but after the first moult it is bright emerald green with very fine papillation, which separates it from related species C. castor. It has a yellow lateral line. The facial disc is green. The head bears 4 long pointed pink-tipped horns. The 5th and final larval stage lasts 14–18 days (up to 28 days), when it becomes slightly translucent and ready to pupate.


This tropical savannah species occurs in Africa from Senegal (the Type Location) in the west, encompassing all the Sub-Saharan savanna belt countries to Nigeria, Cameroun, Central African Republic, across to South Sudan, north-eastwards to Ethiopa, and southwards to Uganda, SW Kenya, and the non-forested margins of N & NE Democratic Republic of Congo. It is not known to occur in Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, or any of Southern Africa.


The organ pipe mud dauber (Trypoxylon politum) is a predatory wasp in the family Crabronidae. They are fairly large wasps, ranging from 3.9–5.1 cm, and have been recorded to fly from May to September. Female and male are similar in colour, a shiny black with pale yellow to white hind hindtarsomere. The organ pipe mud dauber feeds mainly on three genera of spider: Neoscona, Araneus, and Eustala. Melittobia, a parasitoid wasp, is a common ectoparasite of T. politum prepupae. Other sources of parasitism include the Bombyliid fly  Anthrax, Chrysidid wasps, and various species of scavenger flies (Miltogramminae). The tufted titmouse (Parus bicolor) is a known predator of T. politum, and may feed on them more commonly than previously thought as the holes made by the titmouse are similar in shape and size to those made by T. politum leaving the nest after pupation.
Organ pipe mud daubers are also an exceedingly docile species of wasp, and generally pleasant to have around, as they serve to keep spider populations down. Stings to humans are only in self-defence, such as if a wasp is squeezed. There are a great many other species in the genus Trypoxylon (over 700 worldwide), mostly smaller in size and less abundant.


The Organ pipe mud dauber ranges from Southeastern Canada to Eastern United States Mud daubers use tree holes or the underside of bridges to construct their nests out of mud. Nest site choice usually depends on 3 specifications: a smooth vertical surface with ample shade and rainfall protection, a source of mud nearby, as well as an adjacent forest. The females form long mud tubes consisting of multiple cells, which they will fortify with paralyzed spiders. The female then lays an egg in each cell, leaves the nest and, once hatched, the larvae feed on the spiders. The larvae then pupate until they become adults. A female can either build a new nest, use an abandoned one, challenge another female making one to claim it as her own, or (on rare occasions) enter a freshly constructed one and remove the egg to replace it with her own. The female constructs, on average, 5 to 6 pipes in a cluster. These pipes can either be built side-by-side or on top of each other. When pipes are added in layers, the survivability of the freshly hatched adults decreases as they chew their way out of a pipe to emerge. The more pipes clustered on top of one another, the less successful the new mud daubers are going to be to chew their way out alive. A newly hatched adult female will usually begin building her new nest within 48 hours of leaving her birth nest.


In the southern populations, T. politum has a partially bivoltine life history pattern: Some wasps in these populations have offspring which emerge after winter, before the end of June. Other offspring in this geographical range overwinter and reproduce after winter. North of central Virginia the wasps have a univoltine life history pattern, and only produce one generation per year


In Russia Verpa bohemica is a commercial species. It is usually sold frozen. No clinical cases have been registered within the Russian Federation concerning intoxications to this mushroom up to date. Despite that, the edibility of this species has been source of different opinions. Although Verpa bohemica is eaten by many, consumption of large amounts in a single sitting, or on successive days, has been reported to cause poisoning in susceptible individuals. Symptoms include gastrointestinal upset and lack of muscular coordination, similar to the effects reported by some individuals after consuming the false morel species Gyromitra esculenta. The responsible toxin in G. esculenta is gyromitrin; it was suspected that V. bohemica may be able to synthesize low levels of the toxin, however, no experiments on V. bohemica have concluded that it contains any level of gyromitrin. Over-consumption of the mushroom has been reported to have induced a coma. The edibility of Verpa has been concluded to be the same as that of Morchella: always cook thoroughly and if eating for the first time, restrict consumption to small portions to test tolerance. Some advocate only eating the caps and discarding the stems. Opinions on the flavor of the mushrooms vary, ranging from "strong but not on a par with true morels", to "pleasant", to "not distinctive".


The fruit bodies of V. bohemica grow singly or scattered on the ground in woods in early spring, often before the appearance of the morel, and throughout the morel season. It is often found along riverbanks, near cottonwoods, willows and aspens, often buried in plant litter. The fungus prefers to fruit in moist areas with ample sunlight. Its minimum growth temperature is 3 °C (37 °F), with an optimum of 22 °C (72 °F), and a maximum of about 30 °C (86 °F). A study of carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios indicated that Verpa bohemica is saprobic, that is, obtaining nutrients from decomposing organic matter. It has been suggested, however, that the fungus is mycorrhizal for at least part of its life cycle. The fungus has a wide distribution throughout northern North America; its range extends south to the Great Lakes in the Midwestern United States, and south to northern California on the West Coast. In Europe, the fungus is widely distributed, and has been collected from Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the Ukraine. In Asia, it has been recorded from India and Turkey.
A 10-year study of the distribution, time of fruiting and habitats of morel and false morel population in Iowa showed that early false morels are the first morels to fruit in the spring, appearing shortly after leaves begin to form on deciduous trees.  Narrow-head morels (Morchella angusticeps) fruit next, followed by the yellow or white morels (Morchella esculenta), then lastly Morchella crassipes. The fruit bodies serve as a habitat for breeding dipterans (flies), including Porricondyla media, Pegomya geniculata, and Trichocera annulata.


The cap of this fungus (known technically as an apothecium) is 2 to 4 cm (3⁄4 to 1+5⁄8 in) in diameter by 2 to 5 cm (3⁄4 to 2 in) long, with a conical or bell shape. It is folded into longitudinal ridges that often fuse together (anastomose) in a vein-like network. The cap is attached to the stem at the top only—hanging from the top of the stipe, with the lobed edge free from the stem—and varies in color from yellowish brown to reddish brown; the underside of the cap is pale. The stem is 6 to 12 cm (2+3⁄8 to 4+3⁄4 in) long by 1 to 2.5 cm (3⁄8 to 1 in) thick, cream-white in color, and tapers upward so that the stem is thicker at the base than at the top. Although the stem is initially loosely stuffed with cottony hyphae, it eventually becomes hollow in maturity; overall, the mushroom is rather fragile. The spore deposit is yellow, and the flesh is white.
Relative to other typical mushroom species, the spores of V. bohemica are huge, typically measuring 60–80 by 15–18 µm. They are elliptical, smooth, sometimes curved, and appear hyaline (translucent)  to yellowish. The spores, which number two (more rarely three) per ascus are characteristic for this species. The smooth, elliptical asci measure 275–350 µm long by 16–23 µm wide. The British-Canadian mycologist Arthur Henry Reginald Buller determined that the asci are heliotropic—they bend toward light. As he noted, "I cut transverse sections though their pilei, examined these sections under the microscope, and at once perceived that in all the hymenial grooves and depressions the asci were curved outwards so that their opercula must have faced the strongest rays of light to which the ends of the asci has been subjected in the places where the fruit-bodies developed." This response to the stimulus of light is significant because it permits a fruit body to point and later discharge its asci towards open spaces, thus increasing the chances that the spores will be dispersed by wind. The paraphyses are thick and club-shaped, with diameters of 7–8 µm at their tips.


The closely related species Verpa conica typically has a smooth cap, although specimens with wrinkled caps are known. V. conica may be distinguished microscopically by its eight-spored asci. Its North American range extends much further south than V. bohemica. Another similar group of species are the "half-free" morels, Morchella semilibera and others, which have a honeycombed cap that is attached to the stalk for about half of its length, and with ridges that are darker than the pits. Additionally, a cross-sectioned stem of a specimen of M. semilibera is hollow, while V. bohemica usually has cottony wisps in the stem, and M. semilibera usually has vertical perforations near the base, while V. bohemica lacks them. Verpa bohemica may be reliably distinguished from all similar species by its much larger spores.


The Veracruz wren (Campylorhynchus rufinucha) is a songbird of the family Troglodytidae. It is endemic to Mexico.


The Veracruz wren preys on a variety of insects.


The Veracruz wren is found primarily in central Veracruz state and very slightly into north-central Oaxaca. It inhabits lowland dry tropical forest, primarily in arid and semi-arid areas. It also occurs in human-modified landscapes and coastal mangroves.


Cantao ocellatus is a species of shield bug in the family Scutelleridae found across Asia. Reddish or ochre in overall colour it has dark legs and bluish black antennae. A dark bluish black stripe is present along the central line of the head. The pronotum sometimes has two black spots on the front margin and sometimes has eight spots. The scutellum has eight or six black spots of variable size but with yellowish borders. The lateral angle of the pronotum is elongated into a curved spine but this can be much reduced. A distinctive symbiotic bacterial genus Sodalis from phylum Gammaproteobacteria is found in its midgut. Maternal care of eggs and nymphs has been noted in this species. The female covers the eggs after they are laid but eggs on the edge that she cannot cover are often parasitized by wasps.
They suck sap from a wide range of plants including Macaranga, Kigelia, Mallotus, Bischofia javanica and Broussonetia papyrifera.


The Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) is a large duck native to the Americas, from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and Mexico south to Argentina and Uruguay. Small wild and feral breeding populations have established themselves in the United States, particularly in Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, the Big Island of Hawaii, as well as in many other parts of North America, including southern Canada. Feral Muscovy ducks are found in New Zealand, Australia, and in parts of Europe.
It is a large duck, with the males about 76 cm (30 in) long, and weighing up to 7 kg (15 lb). Females are considerably smaller, and only grow to 3 kg (6.6 lb), roughly half the males' size. The bird is predominantly black and white, with the back feathers being iridescent and glossy in males, while the females are more drab. The amount of white on the neck and head is variable, as well as the bill, which can be yellow, pink, black, or any mixture of these colors. It may have white patches or bars on the wings, which become more noticeable during flight. Both sexes have pink or red wattles around the bill, those of the male being larger and more brightly colored.
Although the Muscovy duck is a tropical bird, it adapts well to cooler climates, thriving in weather as cold as −12 °C (10 °F) and able to survive even colder conditions. In general, Barbary duck is the term used for C. moschata in a culinary context.
The domestic subspecies, Cairina moschata domestica, is commonly known in Spanish as the pato criollo. They have been bred since pre-Columbian times by Native Americans and are heavier and less able to fly long distances than the wild subspecies. Their plumage color is also more variable. Other names for the domestic breed in Spanish are pato casero ("backyard duck") and pato mudo ("mute duck").


This species, like the mallard, does not form stable pairs. They will mate on land or in water (note the submerged female in the image below). Domestic Muscovy ducks can breed up to three times each year.
The hen lays a clutch of 8–16 white eggs, usually in a tree hole or hollow, which are incubated for 35 days. The sitting hen will leave the nest once a day from 20 minutes to one and a half hours, and will then defecate, drink water, eat and sometimes bathe. Once the eggs begin to hatch, it may take 24 hours for all the chicks to break through their shells. When feral chicks are born, they usually stay with their mother for about 10–12 weeks. Their bodies cannot produce all the heat they need, especially in temperate regions, so they will stay close to the mother, especially at night.
Often, the drake will stay in close contact with the brood for several weeks. The male will walk with the young during their normal travels in search for food, providing protection. Anecdotal evidence from East Anglia, U.K. suggests that, in response to different environmental conditions, other adults assist in protecting chicks and providing warmth at night. It has been suggested that this is in response to local efforts to cull the eggs, which has led to an atypical distribution of males and females, as well as young and mature birds.
For the first few weeks of their lives, Muscovy chicks feed on grains, corn, grass, insects, and almost anything that moves. Their mother instructs them at an early age how to feed.


All Muscovy ducks have long claws on their feet and a wide, flat tail. In the domestic drake (male), length is about 86 cm (34 in) and weight is 4.6–6.8 kg (10–15 lb), while the domestic hen (female) is much smaller, at 64 cm (25 in) in length and 2.7–3.6 kg (6.0–7.9 lb) in weight. Large domesticated males often weigh up to 8 kg (18 lb), and large domesticated females up to 5 kg (11 lb).
The true wild Muscovy duck, from which all domestic Muscovies originated, is blackish, with large white wing patches. Length can range from 66 to 84 cm (26 to 33 in), wingspan from 137 to 152 cm (54 to 60 in) and weight from 1.1 to 4.1 kg (2.4 to 9.0 lb). On the head, the wild male has a short crest on the nape. The bill is black with a speckling of pale pink. A blackish or dark red knob can be seen at the bill base, which is similar in colour to the bare skin of the face. The eyes are yellowish-brown. The legs and webbed feet are blackish. The wild female is similar in plumage, but much smaller, with a feathered face and lacking the prominent knob. The juvenile is duller overall, with little or no white on the upperwing.
Domesticated birds may look similar; most are dark brown or black mixed with white, particularly on the head. Other colors, such as lavender or all-white, are also seen. Both sexes have a nude black-and-red or all-red face; the drake also has pronounced caruncles at the base of the bill and a low erectile crest of feathers. C. moschata ducklings are mostly yellow with buff-brown markings on the tail and wings. For a while after hatching, juveniles lack the distinctive wattles associated with adult individuals, and resemble the offspring of various other ducks, such as mallards. Some domesticated ducklings have a dark head and blue eyes, others a light brown crown and dark markings on their nape. They are agile and speedy precocial birds.
The drake has a low breathy call, and the hen a quiet trilling coo.
The karyotype of the Muscovy duck is 2n=80, consisting of three pairs of macrochromosomes, 36 pairs of microchromosomes, and a pair of sex chromosomes. The two largest macrochromosome pairs are submetacentric, while all other chromosomes are acrocentric or probably telocentric for the smallest microchromosomes. The submetacentric chromosomes and the Z (female) chromosome show rather little constitutive heterochromatin (C bands), while the W chromosomes are at least two-thirds heterochromatin.
Male Muscovy ducks have helical penises that become erect to 19 cm (7 in) in 0.3 s. Females have vaginas that coil in the opposite direction that appear to have evolved to limit forced copulation by males.


The ashy mining bee (Andrena cineraria), also known as the Danubian miner or grey mining bee, is a species of sand bee found in Europe. Its distinctive colouring makes it one of the most easily recognised of the genus. The females are black, with two broad grey hair bands across the thorax. The male is also black although the thorax is entirely covered with grey hairs. The male has a tuft of white hairs on the lower face and white hairs on all femora while the female has white hairs only on the front femora. The female has twelve segments to their antennae and the male has thirteen.
The ashy mining bee is common and widespread throughout Europe, ranging from Ireland across central Europe and into Scandinavia. They are common throughout the United Kingdom although less frequent in northern Scotland. Generally docile, they are considered safe around children and pets. The ashy mining bee flies from April until early June, most noticeably during the flowering periods of fruit trees, of which they are an important pollinator. They are also commonly seen hovering just above the ground after mating in spring. Following mating, the male dies and the female starts to build a nest. Each female has her own nest and the ashy mining bee is therefore classified amongst solitary bees. They prefer to nest in tended lawns, flowerbeds, parkland, calcareous grassland, orchards and on the borders of agricultural land.
The nest is a simple burrow with several brood cells branching off it. The entrances to the burrows are identifiable by the conical mounds of excavated spoil on the surface. The female fills the brood cells with a mixture of nectar and pollen, and lays one egg in each cell. The larva hatches within a few days, grows quickly and pupates within a few weeks. The adults emerge the following spring after hibernation. The male emerges before the female. The nests are frequently invaded by cleptoparasitic "cuckoo bees."