The Chilean flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis) is a species of large flamingo at 110–130 cm (43–51 in) closely related to the American flamingo and the greater flamingo, with which it was sometimes considered conspecific. The species is listed as near threatened by the IUCN.
It breeds in South America from Ecuador and Peru to Chile and Argentina and east to Brazil; it has been introduced into the Netherlands. Like all flamingos, it lays a single chalky-white egg on a mud mound.
These flamingos are mainly restricted to salt lagoons and soda lakes but these areas are vulnerable to habitat loss and water pollution.


The American flamingo breeds in South America (in the Galápagos Islands of Ecuador, coastal Colombia and Venezuela, and northern Brazil), in the West Indies (Trinidad and Tobago,  Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic and Haiti), The Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, and the Turks and Caicos Islands), and tropical areas of continental North America (along the northern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, and Cameron Parish, Louisiana, and extreme southern Florida in the United States). It is a vagrant to Puerto Rico, Anguilla, Barbados, and Honduras. The population in the Galápagos Islands differs genetically from that in the Caribbean; the Galápagos flamingos are significantly smaller, exhibit sexual dimorphism in body shape, and lay smaller eggs. They are sometimes separated as Phoenicopterus ruber glyphorhynchus.
Its preferred habitats are similar to those of its relatives: saline lagoons, mudflats, and shallow, brackish coastal or inland lakes. An example habitat is the Petenes mangroves ecoregion of the Yucatán.


The American flamingo is also found in South Florida and the Florida Keys, both of which were likely the northernmost extent of its distribution. The existence of flamingo eggs in museum collections labeled as collected from Florida indicates that they likely nested there as well. Since the arrival of Europeans, the population started to decline, up until the 1900s, where it was considered completely extirpated. During the 1950s, birds from the captive population at Hialeah Park frequently escaped, thus leading to the conclusion that all modern flamingos in Florida were escapees, although at least one bird banded as a chick in the Yucatán Peninsula has been sighted in Everglades National Park.
However, a study published in 2018, involving an abandoned young flamingo named Conchy found in Key West, indicates that the occasional flamingos observed in parts of Florida are in fact natives, with some even permanently staying in Florida Bay year-round. The study also indicated that these flamingos may be increasing in population and reclaiming their lost range, slowly but steadily returning home.  Large flocks of flamingos are still known to visit Florida from time to time, most notably in 2014, when a very large flock of over 147 flamingos temporarily stayed at Stormwater Treatment Area 2, on Lake Okeechobee, with a few returning the following year. From a distance, untrained eyes can also confuse it with the roseate spoonbill.


It was widely thought that avian blood had special properties which attributed to a very efficient extraction and transportation of oxygen in comparison to mammalian blood. This is not true; there is no real difference in the efficiency of the blood, and both mammals and birds use a hemoglobin molecule as the primary oxygen carrier with little to no difference in oxygen carrying capacity. Captivity and age have been seen to have an effect on the blood composition of the American flamingo. A decrease in white blood cell numbers was predominate with age in both captive and free living flamingos, but captive flamingos showed a higher white blood cell count than free living flamingos. One exception occurs in free living flamingos with regards to white blood cell count. The number of eosinophils in free living birds are higher because these cells are the ones that fight off parasites with which a free living bird may have more contact than a captive one. Captive birds showed higher hematocrit and red blood cell numbers than the free living flamingos, and a blood hemoglobin increase was seen with age. An increase in hemoglobin would correspond with an adults increase in metabolic needs. A smaller mean cellular volume recorded in free living flamingos coupled with similar mean hemoglobin content between captive and free living flamingos could show different oxygen diffusion characteristics between these two groups. Plasma chemistry remains relatively stable with age but lower values of protein content, uric acid, cholesterol, triglycerides, and phospholipids were seen in free living flamingos. This trend can be attributed to shortages and variances in food intake in free living flamingos.


The place of origin of the date palm is uncertain because of long cultivation. According to some sources it probably originated from the Fertile Crescent region straddling Egypt and Mesopotamia while others state that they are native to the Persian Gulf area or even western India. Fossil records show that the date palm has existed for at least 50 million years.


Dates are a traditional crop throughout the Middle East and north Africa. Dates (especially Medjool and Deglet Nour) are also cultivated in the southwestern United States, and in Sonora and Baja California in Mexico.
Date palms can take 4 to 8 years after planting before they will bear fruit, and start producing viable yields for commercial harvest between 7 and 10 years. Mature date palms can produce 70–140 kilograms (150–300 pounds) of dates per harvest season. They do not all ripen at the same time so several harvests are required. To obtain fruit of marketable quality, the bunches of dates must be thinned and bagged or covered before ripening so that the remaining fruits grow larger and are protected from weather and animals, such as birds, that also like to eat them.
Date palms require well-drained deep sandy loam soils with a pH of 8–11 (alkaline). The soil should have the ability to hold moisture and also be free of calcium carbonate.
Dates have been cultivated in the Middle East and the Indus Valley for thousands of years, and there is archaeological evidence of date cultivation in Mehrgarh, a Neolithic civilization in western Pakistan, around 7000 BCE and in eastern Arabia between 5530 and 5320 calBC. Dates have been cultivated since ancient times from Mesopotamia to prehistoric Egypt. The ancient Egyptians used the fruits to make date wine and ate dates at harvest. Evidence of cultivation is continually found throughout later civilizations in the Indus Valley, including the Harappan period from 2600 to 1900 BCE.
One cultivar, the Judean date palm, is renowned for its long-lived orthodox seed, which successfully sprouted after accidental storage for 2,000 years. The upper survival time limit of properly stored seeds remains unknown. A genomic study from New York University Abu Dhabi Center for Genomics and Systems Biology showed that domesticated date palm varieties from North Africa, including well-known varieties such as Medjool and Deglet Nour, are a hybrid between Middle East date palms and the Cretan wild palm, P. theophrasti. Date palms appear in the archaeological record in North Africa about 2,800 years ago, suggesting that the hybrid was spread by the Minoans or Phoenicians.
An article on date palm tree cultivation is contained in Ibn al-'Awwam's 12th-century agricultural work, Book on Agriculture.


Phoradendron californicum, the desert mistletoe or mesquite mistletoe, is a hemiparasitic plant native to southern California, Nevada, Arizona, Sonora, Sinaloa and Baja California. It can be found in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts at elevations of up to 1400 m (4600 feet).
The mistletoe is a leafless plant that attaches to host plants, often leguminous woody desert trees such as Cercidium and Prosopis. Desert mistletoe takes water and minerals from its host plants but it does its own  photosynthesis, making it a hemiparasite.
During the winter it produces inconspicuous, fragrant flowers. Female desert mistletoe plants produce red to clear berries that are eaten by the phainopepla (Phainopepla nitens), a silky flycatcher, which then spreads the seeds. Phainopeplas cannot digest the seed of desert mistletoe, so the birds disperse the seeds when they defecate or wipe their bills.


Phrissogonus is a monotypic moth genus in the family Geometridae erected by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1882. Its only species, Phrissogonus laticostata, the apple looper, was first described by Francis Walker in 1862. It is found in Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand.
The wingspan is about 15 mm.
The larvae feed on Helianthus annuus, Hypericum perforatum, Clematis aristata and Acacia species.


The Texas horned lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum) is one of about 14 North American species of spikey-bodied reptiles called horned lizards, all belonging the genus Phrynosoma. P. cornutum ranges from Colorado and Kansas to northern Mexico (in the Sonoran desert), and from southeastern Arizona to Texas. Also, isolated introduced populations are found in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Most records of the Texas horned lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum) from the Piney Woods region of east Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas are from the early and mid-twentieth century, a time when horned lizard were popular pets, and are thought to represent released or escaped pets and not the species natural range. Though some populations are stable, severe population declines have occurred in many areas of Texas and Oklahoma. The Texas spiny lizard (Sceloporus olivaceus) may be confused for a Texas horned lizard due to its appearance and overlapping habitat.


Research aimed at preservation has revealed the Texas horned lizard is extremely genetically diverse, and isolated pockets of genetically distinct subspecies have been found throughout Texas. Though each of these subspecies is physically identical to all other subspecies, they are likely specifically adapted for the region in which they are found. This makes it difficult to know how one subspecies would survive if it were reintroduced into a new area.
The most numerous and widespread subspecies of Texas horned lizard is found in the Panhandle region of Texas. Other distinct subspecies have been identified in East Texas, the Hill Country, and along the coastline. It is not known whether these subspecies can reproduce with one another over the long term, making preservation of all of the subspecies even more crucial to the animals' preservation. It is also unknown whether any of these subspecies will show a particular resistance to the pesticides and fire ants threatening them.


The greater short-horned lizard is the most widely distributed lizard in North America and occurs in the widest range of habitats: West into central Nevada, east into North and South Dakota, north to southern Saskatchewan and Alberta, and then south into the Texas Panhandle to central Mexico. This species of lizard is mostly an arid mountain dweller living in the range of 900–11,300 feet (170–3440 m). It is the only member of its genus in Wyoming, which counts Phrynosoma as its state reptile. It is also considered an endangered species in Saskatchewan and Alberta.


The roundtail horned lizard (Phrynosoma modestum) is one of the smaller species of horned lizard. Their specific epithet is from the Latin word modestum, meaning modest or calm. They are found in the United States, in western Texas, New Mexico eastern Arizona, southeastern Colorado and eight states in northcentral Mexico where they are referred to as "tapayaxtin".


They typically range from southern Idaho in the north to northern Mexico in the south. These lizards can generally be found in areas with desert climates throughout western North America.
Changes in the environment due to climate change can trigger shifts in the geographic ranges of animals. Phrynosoma platyrhinos has experienced some changes after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) which ended approximately 21,000 years ago. The end of the LGM resulted in the expansion of deserts throughout western North America, and with that expansion Phrynsoma platyrhinos had more areas suitable for them to live in. At the end of the LGM P. platyrhinos was able to expand north into the Great Basin, which is now part of their current geographical range.
There are two subspecies which are found in a different geographic ranges: the northern desert horned lizard (Phrynosoma platyrhinos platyrhinos) ranging in Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, the Colorado front range, and parts of southeastern Oregon; and the southern desert horned lizard (Phrynosoma platyrhinos calidiarum) ranging in southern Utah and Nevada to southeast California, western Arizona, and northern Baja California.


The leafy seadragon is found only in southern Australian waters, from Wilson’s Promontory in Victoria at the eastern end of its range, westward to Jurien Bay,  220 km (140 mi) north of Perth in Western Australia. Individuals were once thought to have very restricted ranges; but further research has discovered that seadragons actually travel several hundred metres from their habitual locations, returning to the same spot using a strong sense of direction. They are mostly found over sand patches in waters up to 50 m (160 ft) deep, around kelp-covered rocks and clumps of sea grass. They are commonly sighted by scuba divers near Adelaide in South Australia, especially at Rapid Bay, Edithburgh, and Victor Harbor.


In both 2009 and 2012 it was deemed to be "Not Threatened" under the New Zealand Threat Classification System, and this New Zealand classification was reaffirmed in 2018.


The common chiffchaff has an enormous range, with an estimated global extent of 10 million square kilometres (3.8 million square miles) and a population of 60–120 million individuals in Europe alone. Although global population trends have not been quantified, the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (that is, declining more than 30 percent in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as "least concern".
None of the major subspecies is under threat, but exsul, as noted above, is probably extinct. There is a slow population increase of common chiffchaff in the Czech Republic. The range of at least P. c. collybita seems to be expanding, with northward advances in Scotland, Norway and Sweden and a large population increase in Denmark.


Willow warblers prefer young, open, scrubby woodland with small trees, including human-altered habitats such as coppice and young plantations up to 10–20 years old. High amounts of birch, alder and willow, with good lichen amounts, and water features (e.g. streams), fields with large amounts of bracken and mosses, and patches of low bramble (for nest cover) are preferred, but it will use a wide range of other species, including young or open coniferous forests. Incorporating woodland ride edge thickets of varying structure and height is beneficial. They prefer damp woodland areas. Thicket forming shrubs like blackthorn provide pockets of habitat. Deer browsing can degrade the required low cover.
The highest population densities are found in Scandinavia (where it is the commonest bird of any), with up to 1,100 pairs per square kilometre, and a total population in Sweden and Finland of 24 million pairs. Lower densities occur further east, with peak densities of 27 pairs per square kilometre in central Siberia. Even lower densities are found on the southern edge of the breeding range, with just 9 pairs per square kilometre in Switzerland, and a total of just 100 pairs in the whole of northern Spain.
In England this species has on average decreased in population by 70% within the last 25 years, with the biggest declines in the southeast. In Scotland some increases have occurred. The Forestry Commission offers grants under a scheme called England's Woodland Improvement Grant (EWIG); as does Natural England's Environmental Stewardship Scheme.


It is found at low and middle elevations in southern Alaska east to Montana and Utah, and south to southern California. It is most common west of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada, often abundant on the north slopes of coastal mountains. It is less prevalent in the east of its range, where it overlaps with that of the mallow ninebark.


Physocarpus opulifolius is found in eastern North America on rocky hillsides and banks of streams as well as in moist thickets, especially in counties south of the Missouri River. There is also a scarcely distinguishable form in the Rocky Mountain region and the Pacific Northwest. Its native range is from New York to Minnesota and South Dakota, south to Florida, Arkansas and Kansas. But it can be found from Quebec west to Minnesota, South Dakota and Colorado, south to Oklahoma to Georgia and north to New York. The shrub is an escape, or a wild plant formerly cultivated, northeastward.


The species is non-migratory. It ranges from coastal southern Alaska, southwest Yukon Territory, central British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba in the north, through the Rocky Mountains down south to all the Rocky Mountain states including New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and some bordering states as well. The range can extend as far east as northern Minnesota and Iowa, with casual records in northern Wisconsin and upper Michigan, but is thought to be limited further east and south by high temperature and humidity. The species is absent in California west of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada ranges, where it is replaced by the yellow-billed magpie.
During the breeding season the preferred habitat is riparian areas with thickets. The predilection for open habitats with clumps of trees means that the species also breeds in some meadows and suburbs. Outside the breeding season, magpies can be found in their breeding habitat but also near feedlots, grain elevators, landfills, and around barns and houses.


The adult male of the nominate subspecies, P. p. pica, is 44–46 cm (17–18 in) in length, of which more than half is the tail. The wingspan is 52–62 cm (20–24 in). The head, neck and breast are glossy black with a metallic green and violet sheen; the belly and scapulars (shoulder feathers) are pure white; the wings are black glossed with green or purple, and the primaries have white inner webs, conspicuous when the wing is open. The graduated tail is black, glossed with green and reddish purple. The legs and bill are black; the iris is dark brown. The plumage of the sexes is similar but females are slightly smaller. The tail feathers of both sexes are quite long, about 12–28 cm long. Males of the nominate subspecies weigh 210–272 g (7.4–9.6 oz) while females weigh 182–214 g (6.4–7.5 oz). The young resemble the adults, but are at first without much of the gloss on the sooty plumage. The young have the malar region pink, and somewhat clear eyes. The tail is much shorter than the adults.
The subspecies differ in their size, the amount of white on their plumage and the colour of the gloss on their black feathers. The Asian subspecies P. p. bactriana has more extensive white on the primaries and a prominent white rump.
Adults undergo an annual complete moult after breeding. Moult begins in June or July and ends in September or October. The primary flight feathers are replaced over a period of three months. Juvenile birds undergo a partial moult beginning about one month later than the adult birds in which their body feathers are replaced but not those of the wings or the tail.
Eurasian magpies have a well-known call. It is a choking chatter "chac-chac" or a repetitive "chac-chac-chac-chac". The young also emit the previous call, although they also emit an acute call similar to a "Uik Uik", which may resemble the barking of a small dog. Both adults and young can emit a kind of hiss barely noticeable from afar.


The Norway spruce grows throughout Europe from Norway in the northwest and Poland eastward, and also in the mountains of central Europe, southwest to the western end of the Alps, and southeast in the Carpathians and Balkans to the extreme north of Greece. The northern limit is in the arctic, just north of 70° N in Norway. Its eastern limit in Russia is hard to define, due to extensive hybridization and intergradation with the Siberian spruce, but is usually given as the Ural Mountains. However, trees showing some Siberian spruce characters extend as far west as much of northern Finland, with a few records in northeast Norway. The hybrid is known as Picea × fennica (or P. abies subsp. fennica, if the two taxa are considered subspecies), and can be distinguished by a tendency towards having hairy shoots and cones with smoothly rounded scales.
Norway spruce cone scales are used as food by the caterpillars of the tortrix moth Cydia illutana, whereas Cydia duplicana feeds on the bark around injuries or canker.


p-Hydroxybenzoic acid glucoside, picein, piceatannol and its glucoside (astringin), isorhapontin (the isorhapontigenin glucoside), catechin and ferulic acid are phenolic compounds found in mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal roots of Norway spruces. Piceol and astringin are also found in P. abies.


The blue spruce (Picea pungens), also commonly known as green spruce, white spruce, Colorado spruce, or Colorado blue spruce, is a species of spruce tree. It is native to North America, and is found in USDA growing zones 1 through 7. It is found naturally in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. It has been widely introduced elsewhere and is used as an ornamental tree in many places far beyond its native range. The blue spruce has blue-green colored needles and is a coniferous tree.


Sitka spruce is native to the west coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit near Fort Bragg in northern California. It is closely associated with the temperate rainforests and is found within a few kilometers of the coast in the southern portion of its range. North of Oregon, its range extends inland along river floodplains, but seldom does its range extend more than around 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean and its inlets. It is situated at about 2,500 m (8,200 ft) above sea level in Alaska and generally below 450 m (1,480 ft) further south.
Forests with the species average between 200 to 500 cm (79 to 197 in) of rain annually. It is tolerant to salty spray common in coastal dune habitat, such as at Cape Disappointment State Park in Washington, and prefers soils high in magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus.
Sitka spruce has been introduced to Europe as a lumber tree, and was first planted there in the 19th century. Sitka spruce plantations have become a dominant forest type in Great Britain and Ireland, making up 25% of forest cover in the former and 52% in the latter. Sitka spruce woodland is also present in France and Denmark, and the plant was introduced to Iceland and Norway in the early 20th century.


The root bark of Sitka spruce trees is used in Native Alaskan basket-weaving designs and for rain hats. The pitch was used for caulking, chewing, and its medicinal properties. Native Americans heated and plied the roots to make cord. The resin was used as glue and for waterproofing. Natives and pioneers split off shakes for construction use. The wood is light and relatively strong.
Sitka spruce is of major importance in forestry for timber and paper production. Outside its native range, it is particularly valued for its fast growth on poor soils and exposed sites where few other trees can prosper; in ideal conditions, young trees may grow 1.5 m (5 ft) per year. It is naturalized in some parts of Ireland and Great Britain, where it was introduced in 1831 by David Douglas, and New Zealand, though not so extensively as to be considered invasive. Sitka spruce is also planted extensively in Denmark, Norway, and Iceland. In Norway, Sitka spruce was introduced in the early 1900s. An estimated 50,000 hectares (120,000 acres) have been planted in Norway, mainly along the coast from Vest-Agder in the south to Troms in the north. It is more tolerant to wind and saline ocean air, and grows faster than the native Norway spruce. But in Norway, the Sitka spruce is now considered an invasive species, and effort to get rid of it is being made.
The resonant wood is used widely in piano, harp, violin, and guitar manufacture, as its high strength-to-weight ratio and regular, knot-free rings make it an excellent conductor of sound. For these reasons, the wood is also an important material for sailboat spars, and aircraft wing spars (including flying models). The Wright brothers' Flyer was built using Sitka spruce, as were many aircraft before World War II; during that war, aircraft such as the British Mosquito used it as a substitute for strategically important aluminium.
Newly grown tips of Sitka spruce branches are used to flavor spruce beer and are boiled to make syrup.


Their breeding range is boreal forest across Canada, Alaska, the Northwestern United States, as well as northern Wisconsin, the Adirondacks in New York, New England, Minnesota, and Upper Michigan. In particular the species is a burnt-forest specialist, feeding on the outbreaks of wood-boring beetles that feed on recently burnt trees. The most important wood boring beetles taken are in the families Cerambycidae and Buprestidae, along with engraver beetles and the mountain pine beetle. Most food is obtained by pecking, a smaller proportion is obtained by gleaning off branches. Black-backed woodpeckers are generally non-migratory but historically have undertaken intermittent irruptions.
Nest excavation occurs in April and May; a fresh nest is drilled each year into the sapwood of dead trees. Abandoned nests are used by other species of bird to nest in. The female lays three or four eggs, and incubation duties are shared between both parents, although the male alone incubates during the night. Upon hatching the altricial chicks are brooded until the nestling phase. Both parents feed the chicks, which take about 24 days to fledge.


The grey-headed woodpecker is found in wide parts of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe, as well as a wide belt south of the boreal coniferous forests across Asia all the way to the Pacific coast, Sakhalin and Hokkaidō. Its northern limit is at the border between closed coniferous and mixed forest; the southern limit is where tree steppe transitions to treeless shrubby steppe. In East Asia, the species is most differentiated, and south of Manchuria covers the Korean Peninsula, as well as large parts of eastern China and Farther India, the mountain forests of the Malay Peninsula.
In Europe, the type subspecies breeds within a wide belt from western France to the Urals. It has settled medium latitudes of Scandinavia as well as Central, Eastern and Southern Europe. There is contradictory information regarding its occurrence in Turkey. Most likely, several hundred pairs breed in Mittelgebirge habitats of the Pontic Mountains. The species is absent from the North German Plain, British Isles, Iberian Peninsula, and Mediterranean islands. In Italy, it is confined to the northernmost parts.


The grey-headed woodpecker is difficult to record, as isolated breeding pairs don't often call. These are therefore easily overlooked, and population records have corresponding gaps. It is probable that European populations, especially at the north-western margin of the range, have receded in numbers and distribution. Since the 1990s, populations seem to be recovering as a result of mild winters. Globally, there is a slight reduction in population numbers, but insufficiently so for an elevated threat status. The species is therefore considered safe.
The observation of stable or slightly increasing populations in Europe may, however, be based solely on greater effort in recording the species. The overall European population is estimated at 180,000 to 320,000 breeding pairs. Key populations are found in European parts of Russia as well as Romania. Germany has around 15,000 pairs, Austria approximately 2,500 and Switzerland some 1,500. There are no summary figures for populations outside Europe.
As the grey-headed woodpecker prefers undisturbed and ancient forests with natural cohort structure as well as riparian forests for breeding, the destruction of such habitat is the greatest threat to the species.


The European green woodpecker (Picus viridis) is a large green woodpecker with a bright red crown and a black moustache. Males have a red centre to the moustache stripe which is absent in females. It is resident across much of Europe and the western Palearctic but in Spain and Portugal it is replaced by the similar Iberian green woodpecker (Picus sharpei).
The European green woodpecker spends much of its time feeding on ants on the ground and does not often 'drum' on trees like other woodpecker species. Though its vivid green and red plumage is particularly striking, it is a shy bird, and is more often heard than seen, drawing attention with its loud calls. A nest hole is excavated in a tree; four to six eggs are laid which hatch after 19–20 days.


The European green woodpecker was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under its current binomial name Picus viridis.  The type locality is Sweden.  The scientific name is derived from the Latin picus, meaning "woodpecker", and viridis meaning "green". It is member of the order Piciformes and the woodpecker family Picidae.
There are three subspecies, with subtle and mostly clinal differences between them.
P. v. viridis Linnaeus, 1758, which breeds in Europe south to France (except south Roussillon where it is replaced by the Iberian green woodpecker), the Alps, Croatia, Slovenia and Romania
P. v. karelini von Brandt, JF, 1841, which breeds in Italy, south-east Europe south from Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria, Asia Minor, northern Iran and south-west Turkmenistan. It has duller green upperparts, cheeks and underparts than viridis
P. v. innominatus (Zarudny & Loudon, 1905), which breeds in south-west and southern Iran, is like karelini but with nearly white cheeks, throat and chest and more defined barring on the tail.
The Iberian green woodpecker (Picus sharpei) and Levaillant's woodpecker (Picus vaillantii) were formerly considered as subspecies of the European green woodpecker. They are now treated as separate species based on the results of two molecular phylogenetic studies published in 2011.


The European green woodpecker measures 30–36 cm (12–14 in) in length with a 45–51 cm (18–20 in) wingspan. Both sexes are green above and pale yellowish green below, with yellow rump and red crown and nape; the moustachial stripe has a red centre in the male but is solid black in the female. The lores and around the white eye are black in both male and female, except in the Iberian race P. v. subsp. sharpei, in which it is dark grey and males have only a lower black border to the moustache. Juveniles are spotty and streaked all over; the moustache is dark initially, though juvenile males can show some red feathers by early June or usually by July or August.
Moult takes place between June and November with the first flight feathers being lost around the time the young fledge. Juveniles moult quickly after fledging and gain their adult plumage between August and November.
Although the European green woodpecker is shy and wary, it is usually its loud calls, known as yaffling, which first draw attention. It 'drums' rarely (a soft, fast roll), but often gives a noisy kyü-kyü-kyück while flying. The song is a loud series of 10–18 'klü' sounds which gets slightly faster towards the end and falls slightly in pitch. The female makes a thinner pü-pü-pü-pü-pü-pü-pü. The flight is undulating, with 3–4 wingbeats followed by a short glide when the wings are held by the body.
It can be distinguished from the similar, but smaller, grey-headed woodpecker by its yellowish, not grey, underparts, and the black lores and facial 'mask'. In Europe, its green upperparts and yellow rump can lead to confusion with the grey-headed woodpecker or possibly the female golden oriole, though the latter is smaller and more slender with narrower wings and longer tail. The closely related, very similar Levaillant's woodpecker occurs only in north-west Africa.


More than 75% of the range of the European green woodpecker is in Europe, where it is absent from some northern and eastern parts and from Ireland, Greenland and the Macaronesian Islands, but otherwise distributed widely. Over half of the European population is thought to be in France and Germany, with substantial numbers also in United Kingdom, Sweden, Russia, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria. It also occurs in western Asia.
The European green woodpecker has a large range and an Estimated Global Extent of Occurrence of between 1 million to 10 million square kilometres, and a population in the region of 920,000 to 2.9 million birds. Populations appear to be stable, so the species is considered of Least Concern. The species is highly sedentary and individuals rarely move more than around 500 m between breeding seasons.
A combination of old deciduous trees for nesting, and nearby feeding grounds with plenty of ants, is essential. This is usually found in semi-open landscapes with small woodlands, hedges, scattered old trees, edges of forests and floodplain forests. Suitable habitats for foraging include grassland, heaths, plantations, orchards and lawns.


The main food of the European green woodpecker is ants of the genera Lasius and Formica for which it spends much of its time foraging on the ground, though other insects and small reptiles are also taken occasionally. The bird's distinctive, elongated, cylindrical droppings often consist entirely of ant remains. At ant nests, it probes into the ground and licks up adult ants and their larvae. They have tongues that wrap to the back of their head. Green woodpeckers will often forage in short grazed or mown permanent grasslands where the availability of ant nests is high.
A study of a nest in Romania found that 10 species of ant were fed to the chicks. During the first 10 days, the young received an average of 15 g (0.53 oz) each, from days 10–20, 39.5 g (1.39 oz), and from day 20, 49.3 g (1.74 oz). The seven chicks consumed an estimated 1.5 million ants and pupae before leaving the nest.
The beak is relatively weak and used for pecking in soft wood only. In common with other woodpecker species, the green woodpecker's tongue is long (10 cm) and has to be curled around its skull. It lacks the barbs of the Dendrocopos woodpeckers and black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius), but is made sticky by secretions from the enlarged salivary glands. Heavy, prolonged snow cover makes feeding difficult for the green woodpecker and can result in high mortality, from which it may take 10 years for the population to recover. Ant nests can be located under the snow; one bird was observed to dig 85 cm to reach a nest.


The large white is common throughout Europe, north Africa, and Asia to the Himalayas often in agricultural areas, meadows and parkland. It has managed to establish a population in South Africa and in 1995 it was predicted to spread to Australia and New Zealand.
The large white is a strong flier and the British population is reinforced in most years by migrations from the continent.  Scattered reports of the large white from the north-eastern United States (New York, Rhode Island and Maine) over the past century are of a dubious nature and indicate either accidental transport or intentional release.  Such introductions threaten to establish this agricultural pest in North America.
In 2010 the butterfly was found in Nelson, New Zealand where it is known as the great white butterfly. It is classed as an unwanted pest due to the potential effect on crops. For a limited period in October 2013 the Department of Conservation offered a monetary reward for the capture of the butterfly. After two weeks, the public had captured 134 butterflies, netting $10 for each one handed in. As a result of this and other containment measures, such as over 263,000 searches in the upper South Island and the release of predatory wasps, the large white was officially declared to be eradicated from New Zealand as of December 2014.


In Great Britain, April, May and June specimens have the veins tinged with grey and rather distinct, but are not so strongly marked with black as those belonging to the second flight, which occurs in late July and throughout August. This seasonal variation, as it is called, is also most clearly exhibited on the underside. In the May and June butterfly (plate 13, left side) the veins below are greenish grey, and those of the hindwings are broadly bordered also with this colour. In the bulk of the July and August specimens (plate 13, right side) only the nervures are shaded with greenish grey, and the nervures are only faintly, or not at all, marked with this colour. Now and then a specimen of the first brood may assume the characters properly belonging to the specimens of the second brood; and, on the other hand, a butterfly of the second brood may closely resemble one of the first brood. As a rule, however, the seasonal differences referred to are fairly constant. By rearing this species from the egg it has been ascertained that part (sometimes the smaller) of a brood from eggs laid in June attains the butterfly stage the same year, and the other part remains in the chrysalis until the following spring, the butterflies in each set being of the form proper to the time of emergence.


It has a generally circumboreal distribution, being native to almost every country in Europe as well as Russia, Canada, and the United States. It is generally found growing in places such as bogs, fens, alvars, and other areas with limestone bedrock and alkaline waters.


Pinus albicaulis, known by the common names whitebark pine, white bark pine, white pine, pitch pine, scrub pine, and creeping pine, is a conifer tree native to the mountains of the western United States and Canada, specifically subalpine areas of the Sierra Nevada, Cascade Range, Pacific Coast Ranges, and Rocky Mountains. It shares the common name "creeping pine" with several other plants.
The whitebark pine is typically the highest-elevation pine tree found in these mountain ranges and often marks the tree line. Thus, it is often found as krummholz, trees growing close to the ground that have been dwarfed by exposure. In more favorable conditions, the trees may grow to 29 meters (95 ft) in height.


Many stands of Pinus albicaulis across the species' entire natural range are infected with white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola), a fungal disease introduced from Europe. In the northern Rocky Mountains of the United States, whitebark pine mortality in some areas exceeds 90 percent, where the disease infests nearly 143,000 acres (580 km²). Cronartium ribicola occurs in whitebark pine to the northern limits of the species in the coastal ranges of British Columbia and the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The blister rust has also devastated the commercially valuable western white pine in these areas and made serious inroads in limber pine (Pinus flexilis) populations as well. Nearly 80 percent of whitebark pines in Mount Rainier National Park are infected with blister rust.
There is currently no effective method for controlling the spread and effects of blister rust. However, a small number of trees (fewer than 5%) in most populations harbor genetic resistance to blister rust. Restoration efforts undertaken by the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and National Park Service in the northern Rocky Mountains involve harvesting cones from potentially and known resistant whitebark pines, growing seedlings, and outplanting seedlings in suitable sites. In California, where the blister rust is far less severe, whitebark pine is still fairly common in the High Sierras.


Pinus cembroides, also known as pinyon pine, Mexican pinyon, Mexican nut pine, and Mexican stone pine, is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native to western North America. It grows in areas with low levels of rainfall and its range extends southwards from Arizona, Texas and New Mexico in the United States into Mexico. It typically grows at altitudes between 1,600 and 2,400 metres (5,200 and 7,900 ft). It is a small pine growing to about 20 m (66 ft) with a trunk diameter of up to 50 cm (20 in). The seeds are large and form part of the diet of the Mexican jay and Abert's squirrel. They are also collected for human consumption, being the most widely used pine nut in Mexico.  This is a common pine with a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".


The range extends from westernmost Texas, United States (where it is restricted to the Chisos and Davis Mountains), south through much of Mexico, occurring widely along the Sierra Madre Oriental and Sierra Madre Occidental ranges, and more rarely in the eastern Eje Volcánico Transversal range. It lives in areas with little rainfall, which fluctuates between 380 millimetres (15 in) to 640 millimetres (25 in), the subspecies orizabensis (Pinus orizabensis) is found farther south in the state of Veracruz.  There is also a disjunct population in the Sierra de la Laguna of southern Baja California Sur. It occurs at moderate altitudes, mostly from 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) to 2,400 metres (7,900 ft).


The sugar pine occurs in the mountains of Oregon and California in the Western United States, and Baja California in northwestern Mexico; specifically the Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Coast Ranges, and Sierra San Pedro Martir. It is generally more abundant towards the south and can be found growing in elevations between 500 and 1,500 m (1,600 and 4,900 ft) above sea level.


Pinus nigra, the Austrian pine or black pine, is a moderately variable species of pine, occurring across Southern Europe from the Iberian Peninsula to the eastern Mediterranean, on the Anatolian peninsula of Turkey, Corsica and Cyprus, as well as Crimea and in the high mountains of Northwest Africa.


Pinus pinaster is widely planted for timber in its native area, being one of the most important trees in forestry in France, Spain and Portugal. Landes forest in southwest France is the largest man-made maritime pine forest in Europe. It has also been cultivated in Australia as plantation tree, to provide softwood timber. P. pinaster resin is a useful source of turpentine and rosin.
In addition to industrial uses, maritime pine is also a popular ornamental tree, often planted in parks and gardens in areas with warm temperate climates. It has become naturalised in parts of southern England, Uruguay, Argentina, South Africa and Australia.
It is also used as a source of flavonoids, catechins, proanthocyanidins, and phenolic acids.  A dietary supplement derived from extracts from P. pinaster bark called Pycnogenol is marketed with claims it can treat many conditions; however, according to a 2012 Cochrane review, the evidence is insufficient to support its use for the treatment of any chronic disorder.


The stone pine, botanical name Pinus pinea, also known as the Italian stone pine, umbrella pine and parasol pine, is a tree from the pine family (Pinaceae). The tree is native to the Mediterranean region, occurring in Southern Europe and the Levant. The species was introduced into North Africa millennia ago, and is also naturalized in the Canary Islands, South Africa and New South Wales.
Stone pines have been used and cultivated for their edible pine nuts since prehistoric times. They are widespread in horticultural cultivation as ornamental trees, planted in gardens and parks around the world.  In coastal California, for example, where known popularly as the Italian stone pine in tree guidebooks since 1956, this evergreen is widely grown from Hollywood to Palisades Park (Santa Monica), to Sylmar in the northern San Fernando Valley, and in Marina del Rey, after World War II.  This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Pinus pinea is a diagnostic species of the vegetation class Pinetea halepensis.


The prehistoric range of Pinus pinea included North Africa in the Sahara Desert and Maghreb regions during a more humid climate period, in present-day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. Its contemporary natural range is in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome ecoregions and countries, including the following:
Southern Europe
The Iberian conifer forests ecoregion of the Iberian Peninsula in Spain and Portugal; the Italian sclerophyllous and semideciduous forests ecoregion in France and Italy; the Tyrrhenian-Adriatic sclerophyllous and mixed forests ecoregion of southern Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia; the Illyrian deciduous forests of the eastern coast of the Ionian and Adriatic Seas in Croatia and Albania; and the Aegean and Western Turkey sclerophyllous and mixed forests ecoregion of the southern Balkan Peninsula in Greece. In many parts of northern Italy, large parks with pine trees were laid out by the sea. Examples are the Pineta of Jesolo and Barcola, the Urban Beach of Trieste.
In Greece, although the species is not widely distributed, an extensive stone pine forest exists in western Peloponnese at Strofylia on the peninsula separating the Kalogria Lagoon from the Mediterranean Sea. This coastal forest is at least 13 kilometres (8 miles) long, with dense and tall stands of Pinus pinea mixed with Pinus halepensis. Currently, Pinus halepensis is outcompeting stone pines in many locations of the forest. Another location in Greece is at Koukounaries on the northern Aegean island of Skiathos at the southwest corner of the island. This is a half-mile-long dense stand of stone and Aleppo pines that lies between a lagoon and the Aegean Sea.
Western Asia
In Western Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forests ecoregion in Turkey; and the Southern Anatolian montane conifer and deciduous forests ecoregion in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and in the Palestinian Territories.
Northern Africa
The Mediterranean woodlands and forests ecoregion of North Africa, in Morocco and Algeria.
South Africa
In the Western Cape Province, the pines were according to legend planted by the French Huguenot refugees who settled at the Cape of Good Hope during the late 17th century and who brought the seeds with them from France. The tree is known in the Afrikaans language as kroonden.


The tree is among the current symbols of Rome. It was first planted in Rome during the Roman Republic, where many historic Roman roads, such as the Via Appia, were (and still are) embellished with lines of stone pines. Stone pines were planted on the hills of the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul for ornamental purposes during the Ottoman period. In Italy, the stone pine has been an aesthetic landscape element since the Italian Renaissance garden period. In the 1700s, P. pinea began being introduced as an ornamental tree to other Mediterranean climate regions of the world, and is now often found in gardens and parks in South Africa, California, and Australia. It has naturalized beyond cities in South Africa to the extent that it is listed as an invasive species there. It is also planted in western Europe up to southern Scotland, and on the East Coast of the United States up to New Jersey.
In the United Kingdom it has won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Small specimens are used for bonsai, and also grown in large pots and planters. The year-old seedlings are seasonally available as table-top Christmas trees 20–30 cm (8–12 in) tall.


Pinus radiata (syn. Pinus insignis), the Monterey pine, insignis pine or radiata pine, is a species of pine native to the Central Coast of California and Mexico (Guadalupe Island and Cedros island). It is an evergreen conifer in the family Pinaceae.
P. radiata is a versatile, fast-growing, medium-density softwood, suitable for a wide range of uses. Its silviculture reflects a century of research, observation and practice. It is often considered a model for growers of other plantation species. It is the most widely planted pine in the world, valued for rapid growth and desirable lumber and pulp qualities.
Although P. radiata is extensively cultivated as a plantation timber in many temperate parts of the world, it faces serious threats in its natural range, due to the introduction of pine pitch canker (Fusarium circinatum).


In the Iberian Peninsula since the nineteenth century they have been introduced mainly in the north area in order to take advantage of their wood for the manufacture of paper pulp and for shoring work in coal mines. It is found in low altitude areas of the Autonomous Communities of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque Country, and in the north of the Canary Islands.
P. radiata forests have a negative effect on local ecology. In its plantations there are usually no other tree species, while its shady undergrowth does not allow the existence of a rich stratum of scrub. 13% of the wood cut annually in Spain comes from this pine.


As timber P. radiata is suitable for a wide variety of uses, and has a resinous fragrance while being worked. It holds screws and nails well and takes paint and stain without difficulty, and modern kiln dried timber is very easy to work. It is about 1/3 heavier than dried western red cedar. It is brittle when bent, so does not have the same load-bearing features as Oregon pine (Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga).
P. radiata is used in house construction as weatherboards, posts, beams or plywood, in fencing, retaining walls, for concrete formers. It is also used to a limited extent in boat building where untreated ply is sometimes used, but must be encased in epoxy resin to exclude moisture.
The wood is normally kiln dried to 12% moisture in 6 m (19 ft 8 in) long, clear lengths. It is available treated with a range of chemical salts, or untreated. Chemical salt treatment is well proven and such timber is frequently used in the ground as posts and poles as part of structures such as retaining walls and pole houses. The name applied to this treatment is tanalized wood. H1 and H2 treatment is suited to indoor use. H3 is the standard house timber and this grade is used for fence palings. H4 and H5 are the standard for inground use. In New Zealand a 1995 change to no longer require boron treatment in house framing timber, was a key factor in the leaky homes crisis, but since 2003 a series of changes have now improved the regulations.
Lower grade timber is converted to pulp to make newsprint. Higher grade timber is used in house construction. P. radiata is used chipped to make particle board sheets, commonly used in flooring. Other sheet products are hardboard, softboard and ply. Most ply is structural and available in 7–22 mm (0.28–0.87 in) sizes. A small amount of higher grade ply is used to produce thinner (4 and 7 mm or 0.16 and 0.28 in) ply suitable for furniture, cabinet work and boat building. This is knot and crack free and glued with resorcinol waterproof glue. Since the 1990s finger jointed joinery-grade wood has become available in up to 6 m (19 ft 8 in) lengths in a wide range of profiles.
In 1958, New Zealand boat designer Des Townson started building 186 eleven-foot (3.35 m), cold-moulded Zephyr-class dinghies, using P. radiata. In 2011 these hand-built boats fetched very high prices and were generally in excellent condition.
The bark is used as a substrate for potting and re-potting orchids.
P. radiata is the most common species of Christmas tree in Australia and New Zealand.
In California, P. radiata is commonly planted to block wind or noise, or for ornamental reasons.


It occurs from Newfoundland west to Manitoba, and south to Pennsylvania, with several smaller, disjunct populations occurring in the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia and West Virginia, as well as a few small pockets in extreme northern New Jersey and northern Illinois.
It can be found in a variety of habitats.


Pinus strobus, commonly called the eastern white pine, northern white pine, white pine, Weymouth pine (British), and soft pine is a large pine native to eastern North America. It occurs from Newfoundland, Canada west through the Great Lakes region to southeastern Manitoba and Minnesota, United States, and south along the Appalachian Mountains and upper Piedmont to northernmost Georgia and perhaps very rarely in some of the higher elevations in northeastern Alabama. It is considered rare in Indiana.
The Native American Haudenosaunee named it the "Tree of Peace". It is known as the "Weymouth pine" in the United Kingdom, after Captain George Weymouth of the British Royal Navy, who brought its seeds to England from Maine in 1605.


Pinus virginiana, the Virginia pine, scrub pine, Jersey pine, Possum pine, is a medium-sized tree, often found on poorer soils from Long Island in southern New York south through the Appalachian Mountains to western Tennessee and Alabama. The usual size range for this pine is 9–18 m, (18–59 feet) but can grow larger under optimum conditions. The trunk can be as large as 20 inches diameter. This tree prefers well-drained loam or clay, but will also grow on very poor, sandy soil, where it remains small and stunted. The typical life span is 65 to 90 years.
The short (4–8 cm), yellow-green needles are paired in fascicles and are often twisted. Pinecones are 4–7 cm long and may persist on the tree for many years, often (though not always) releasing their seeds in the second year. In growth habit, some trees may be inclined with twisted trunks.
This pine is useful for reforesting and provides nourishment for wildlife. Its other main use is on Christmas tree farms, despite having sharp-tipped needles and yellowish winter color. It also can provide wood pulp and lumber. Like some other southern yellow pines, Virginia pine lumber case hardens. That is, it becomes very hard over time during wood drying. Wood from Virginia pine is not normally considered to resist rot unless treated with preservatives.


Pinus virginiana inhabit dry forested areas. The tree occurs in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Indiana, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware. In locations where the P. virginiana lives, rainfall is typically between 890 and 1400 millimeters. The average temperatures in the summer are between 21–24 degrees Celsius and in the winter it is around −4 to 4 degrees Celsius. Pinus virginiana is poorly adapted to fire, but if the tree is larger they are able to survive. Open growth Virginia pines may begin cone production at only 5 years old. There have been documented cases of trees as young as 18 months beginning to flower. Virginia pine is monecious and some self-pollination is possible, but a significant seed crop requires two trees. Cones take two complete growing seasons to develop. Pollination takes place 13 months after cone formation begins, and dispersal occurs the following autumn. Unlike some other pines, Virginia pine produces cones in all parts of the canopy.Pinus virginiana is reportedly naturalized in southern Ontario


The blue-headed parrot, also known as the blue-headed pionus (Pionus menstruus) is a medium-sized parrot of about 27 cm in length.  The body is mostly green, with a blue head and neck, and red undertail coverts. It is a resident in tropical and subtropical South America and southern Central America, from Costa Rica, Venezuela and Trinidad south to Bolivia and Brazil.
Its habitat is forest and semi-open country, including cultivated areas. It is largely restricted to humid or semi-humid regions, but locally extends into drier habitats, at least along rivers. The blue-headed parrot lays three to five white eggs in a tree cavity.
Blue-headed parrots are noisy birds and make light, high-pitched squeaking sweenk calls. They eat fruit and seeds, and sometimes grain. They roost communally in palm and other trees, and large numbers can be seen at the roost sites at dawn and dusk.
Blue-headed pionus parrots are popular as pets. Compared to other parrot species (Amazons for example) they are very quiet. They are affectionate, but not known for their talking ability.


Arrival and departure of eastern towhees into summer breeding grounds varies with location. According to a literature review, eastern towhees typically arrive in New York in early April and leave by the middle of November. A review of eastern towhees in New Hampshire describes arrival in late April to May with the majority departing in September. Further south, on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina, migration to high-elevation areas within the Great Smoky Mountains begins as early as March. Eastern towhees typically leave these sites in October. The Pipilo e. erythrophthalmus subspecies is the most migratory of the subspecies.
Breeding begins in spring and continues to late summer. Reports of eastern towhees nesting as early as late March in Florida and Georgia, in mid- to late April in some midwestern states, and as late as mid-May in northern New England were summarized in a literature review. Literature reviews also report nest construction by the female, which takes about three to five days. Egg laying typically occurs until August. For example, a review of eastern towhees in Indiana notes nesting from 15 April to 20 August. However, a literature review of eastern towhees in Florida included a report of a nest observed on 2 September 1983 that contained two eggs. According to several literature reviews, eastern towhees may renest after failed nesting attempts and can raise two, and in the south sometimes three, broods per season.
In a literature review, Greenlaw  reports mean breeding territory size of 4 acres (1.6 hectares) (range 1.6–6 acres (0.65–2.43 ha), n=24) in a mesic oak (Quercus species) forest where eastern towhees occurred at a density of 21 males/40 ha. In a xeric pine (Pinus species)-oak woodland where the eastern towhee density was 32 males/40 ha, mean eastern towhee territory size was 3 acres (1.2 hectares) (range 1.8–4 acres (0.73–1.62 ha), n=20). In Massachusetts, mean male eastern towhee territory size was about 1.3 acres (0.53 hectares), and female eastern towhee territory size was 1.1 acres (0.45 hectares). Territory size changed over the course of the breeding season and was not significantly (p>0.05) affected by reductions in food availability of 30% or less. During the winter eastern towhees are not as territorial and may be seen in mixed species flocks. Daily movement of eastern towhees in loblolly (P. taeda) and longleaf pine (P. palustris) forests and clearcuts in South Carolina averaged 325 feet (99 m) per day. Only 2 females, out of 11 females and 9 males, stayed within the stand where they were captured for the duration of a 10-week study.
Eastern towhees have fairly strong fidelity to breeding territories. In an oak forest in New Jersey, adult eastern towhee return rates were 20% the 1st year after banding and 43% in subsequent years. Between 1960 and 1967, the maximum number of eastern towhee returns to the site was 5. In a Pennsylvania woodlot observed between 1962 and 1967, an eastern towhee returned to the site for 4 consecutive years.
Several reviews report eastern towhee clutch sizes from 2 to 6 eggs, with means ranging from 2.45 to 3.6 eggs per nest. All 5 eastern towhee nests on Sanibel Island, Florida, contained 3 eggs. Eastern towhees in 2 pitch pine (P. rigida) barrens sites in New Jersey and New York had a later median egg laying date (mid-June) and significantly (p<0.05) smaller average early nest clutch sizes (NJ=2.67, NY=3.25) than those in an oak-hickory (Carya spp.) site, which had a median egg-laying date in early June and an average early nest clutch size of 3.88. Food availability likely explains at least some of the differences between the 2 habitat types. Eggs are incubated by the female for 12 or 13 days. After hatching both parents feed the young, which fledge 10 to 12 days later and are dependent on parental care for about another month.
A wide range of eastern towhee nest success values have been reported. On Sanibel Island, 1 of the 5 eastern towhee nests observed was successful. In Louisiana, average daily nest success rate was 95.3% on a bottomland hardwood forest site. The same study found a 92.6% average daily nest success rate in a 6-year-old managed cottonwood (Populus spp.) plantation in Alabama. Average eastern towhee nest success across mixed bigtooth (P. grandidentata) and quaking aspen (P. tremuloides) stands of varying ages in Pennsylvania was 48.1%. In South Carolina, only 1 of 10 nests was successful, and the mean daily nest survival rate was 62.9%. This low value was explained by high levels of predation. Due to lower nest success rates of Bachman's sparrow (Aimophila aestivalis) than the previous year, it is suggested that eastern towhee nest success may have been measured during a comparatively poor year.
Compared to nests, adult towhee survival rates are high. Average weekly adult survival rate of eastern towhees in a South Carolina study area was 99.3%. This rate was obtained from radio-marked eastern towhees and represented the pooled survival of both sexes and from 2 South Carolina sites, young and mature stands of loblolly and longleaf pine. Between 1962 and 1967 in Pennsylvania, annual survival of breeding eastern towhees calculated from mistnetting recaptures was 58%. According to a literature review, both males and females become reproductively mature in their second year. Eastern towhees of over 12 years old have been reported in the wild.


Eastern towhees range from near sea level to as high as 6,500 ft (2,000 m) along the border of Tennessee and North Carolina during the summer. A literature review reports eastern towhees up to 3,000 ft (910 m) in New Hampshire.
Eastern towhees spend the majority of their time near the ground. For instance, in Pennsylvania in spring, observations of eastern towhees below 3 ft (0.91 m) from the ground occurred significantly (p<0.05) more than expected based on random spatial distribution, and observations above 3 ft (0.91 m) occurred significantly (p<0.05) less than would be expected. In a Louisiana bottomland forest 62% of eastern towhee observations were within 2 ft (0.61 m) of the ground, and only 4% were observed above 25 ft (7.6 m). In the spring this changed, with detections of eastern towhees below 25 ft (7.6 m) declining from 70% to 65% and detections in the canopy (>25 ft (7.6 m)) increasing from 4% to 7%.
Eastern towhees occur in many habitats, from tallgrass prairies and marshes to mature forests. However, eastern towhees are most common in early successional stands, habitat edges, and areas with similar vegetation structure throughout eastern forests.
In most communities eastern towhees are more abundant in young successional stands. Several studies found increased eastern towhee abundance on early successional sites compared to later-successional sites. Mean number of breeding eastern towhees (0.70 bird/50-m radius) and nest success rate (58%) were higher in a 15-year-old clearcut in West Virginia, than in other treatments, including a stand of yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), black cherry, red maple, sugar maple (Acer saccharum), and white ash (Fraxinus americana) that was not harvested. In a southern Missouri oak-hickory forest, eastern towhees were not present before clearcutting or in the nearby uncut forest after cutting, but occurred at a mean density of 9.3 birds/10 ha in a 3-year-old clearcut. A study of stands of varying ages in central New York found that eastern towhee density peaked in early successional stands.
Although eastern towhees generally prefer young successional sites, variation between habitat types and years has been observed. Krementz and Powell  found higher relative abundance of eastern towhee in young (2–6 years old) stands of loblolly and longleaf pine than mature (32–98 years old) stands when investigated in 1995. However, in stands compared in 1996, the 95% confidence intervals of eastern towhee relative abundance on the 2 sites had a substantial degree of overlap. The degree to which eastern towhee responds to succession is influenced by habitat. For example, in Pennsylvania there was a significant (p<0.05) difference between eastern towhee densities (number/10 ha) between mature mixed-oak forest and stands that had been clearcut about 5 years previously. However, eastern towhee densities did not differ significantly between a 1-year old mixed aspen (Populus tremuloides, P. grandidentata) clearcut, a 5-year old aspen clearcut, and a mature aspen stand. Eastern towhee abundance has been shown to peak at different times in different habitats. For instance, although in central hardwood forests eastern towhees were most abundant in regenerating stands, in loblolly and shortleaf pine forest they were most common in pole timber and mature stands. In addition, Bell and Whitmore concluded that early successional is likely too broad of a term for describing optimal towhee habitat, since high density of small trees was negatively associated with eastern towhee density in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia.
Eastern towhees seem to prefer sites with characteristics generally associated with early successional vegetation, such as low canopy cover and dense understory. Negative correlations between eastern towhee abundance and various measurements of overstory density have been found in several studies. Average density of eastern towhees across 6 habitat types in Pennsylvania was significantly (p<0.05) negatively correlated with density of overstory trees and basal area of overstory trees. Number of eastern towhees in a western Virginia hardwood forest was also significantly (p<0.05) inversely correlated with total percent canopy cover. In a loblolly pine forest in South Carolina, the average number of eastern towhee breeding territories per experimental unit was significantly (p≤0.008) negatively correlated with mid-story (10–46 ft (3.0–14.0 m)) pine (Pinus spp.) and deciduous volume.
Many studies have demonstrated a positive correlation between eastern towhee abundance and understory density. In a loblolly pine forest in South Carolina, understory (0–10 ft; 0.0–3.0 m) pine volume was significantly (p<0.001) positively correlated with the average number of eastern towhee territories per experimental unit. Yahner  found the average density of eastern towhees over 6 habitat types was significantly (p<0.05) positively correlated with density of short (2–5-foot (0.5–1.5 m)) shrubs. In east-central Florida slash pine (P. elliottii) flatwoods with understories dominated by myrtle oak (Q. myrtifolia) and sand live oak (Q. geminata) and in scrub sites with scattered slash pine and cabbage palmetto (Sabal palmetto), eastern towhee densities were significantly (p=0.01) negatively correlated with mean shrub height.
Eastern towhees may associate with and avoid certain plants. In Nevada, Towhees seem to prefer a habitat in which they are camouflaged such as flowering quince which matches their rufous coloration. In riparian vegetation in Iowa, eastern towhee density was significantly (p≤0.01) positively associated with total plant and vine species richness and negatively correlated with forb and deciduous tree species richness. In West Virginia, eastern towhees were associated with plant species that occurred on drier ridgetops, such as blackberry (p<0.02), black cherry (p<0.002), and black locust (p<0.04). These sites tended to have open canopies and low tree density. Eastern towhee density was negatively associated with plants of the moister parts of this study area, such as black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica, p<0.006), red maple (p<0.001), and witch hazel (p<0.03). In central New Jersey eastern towhees were significantly (p=0.03) more abundant in gray dogwood (Cornus racemosa) shrubland than either eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) or multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora) shrublands.
Nesting habitat: Eastern towhees typically nest on or near the ground. Several literature reviews note the predominance of eastern towhee nests below 5 feet (1.5 m). In a study of cowbird parasitism on Sanibel Island, all 5 eastern towhee nests located were within 6 feet (1.8 m) of the ground. Nests as high as 18 feet (5.5 m) have been reported in literature reviews. Nests higher off the ground in mixed aspen stands of varying ages in Pennsylvania had significantly (p<0.001) lower nest success. Of 13 unsuccessful eastern towhee nests, 11 were greater than 1-foot (0.30 m) above the ground.
In West Virginia, there were no significant (p>0.05) differences in habitat surrounding successful and unsuccessful nests. Large snags (≥9 inches diameter at breast height (≥22.9 cm)) did not have an effect on nesting success. Nesting success was not significantly (p>0.05) affected by stand age or distance to edge in even-aged mixed-aspen stands in Pennsylvania.
Eastern towhees nest in a variety of species including grape and blueberry (Vaccinium spp.). The majority of nests observed in South Carolina loblolly and longleaf pine forests and clearcuts were located in grape, tree sparkleberry (V. arboreum), and oak (Quercus spp.). On an oak-hickory site in West Virginia, 27% of 41 eastern towhee nests were found in grape, 17% in blackberry (Rubus spp.), 12% in greenbrier (Smilax spp.), and 12% in mountain-laurel (Kalmia latifolia). Nests also occurred in Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), spice bush (Lindera benzoin), and azalea (Rhododendron spp.). In a power line right-of-way in Pennsylvania, the 6 eastern towhee nests observed occurred in Allegheny blackberry, witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), blueberry (Vaccinium spp.), white oak (Q. alba), eastern hayscented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula) and sweetfern (Comptonia peregrina) combined, and on ground level. According to literature reviews, eastern towhee nests located on the ground are embedded in litter in dry areas and typically occur at the base of grasses, forbs, low shrubs, or small trees.
Foraging habitat: Selection of foraging habitat by eastern towhees has been investigated in Massachusetts and New Jersey. When gleaning in a southeastern Massachusetts pitch pine barren, eastern towhees preferred species such as pitch pine, bear oak (Q. ilicifolia), and other deciduous trees, mainly oaks. Ericaceous species were avoided. Use differed significantly (p<0.001) from availability. On 2 New Jersey sites, eastern towhee foraging preference switched over the course of the breeding season. On a site dominated by oaks, primarily black oak (Q. velutina), eastern towhees used oaks in May, as would be expected due to their density. However, in June and July, as relative arthropod biomass declined in oaks, use of oaks was less than would be expected. On a pitch pine-dominated site, use of oaks (primarily bear oak and blackjack oak (Q. marilandica)) was greater than would be expected in May, but was proportionate to availability in June and July. These negative correlations between date and oak use were significant (p<0.025) for both sites. Use of the oak-dominated site also decreased significantly (p<0.05) through the summer.
Effects of spatial area: Eastern towhees appear to prefer edge habitats in many areas. For instance, the mean abundance of eastern towhees in a baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) in northern Florida was 18, while eastern towhees did not occur in either the baldcypress forest or the clearcut. At the interface of the baldcypress stand and a 13-year-old planted slash pine stand, mean abundance of eastern towhees was 22 breeding birds, while in the planted slash pine stand the average abundance was 15 breeding birds. Density of eastern towhees was found to decline with distance from the edge of a power line right-of-way and an oak-hickory forest in eastern Tennessee. At the edge, eastern towhees occurred at a density of just over 10 pairs/40 ha, while 197 feet (60 m) from the edge eastern towhee density had dropped to 1 pair/40 ha. In addition, in experimentally clearcut Pennsylvanian forests composed of white oak, northern red oak (Q. rubra), chestnut oak (Q. prinus), scarlet oak (Q. coccinea), red maple, quaking aspen, bigtooth aspen, and pitch pine, male towhees were detected significantly (p<0.05) more often than expected in the areas where the spatial arrangement of clearcuts was most patchy.
Several studies have addressed the effect of the size of habitat patches on eastern towhees. In mixed-oak forest in New Jersey, eastern towhee frequency generally increased with patch size, although eastern towhees were detected in all plot sizes (0.5–59 acres (0.20–23.88 ha)) except 0.02–acre (0.01 ha) plots. On a site in South Carolina, eastern towhee frequency of occurrence increased as clearcut size increased from <2.5 acres (1.0 hectare) to clearcut sizes from 21 to about 32 acres (8.5–12.8 ha). On another site eastern towhee frequency declined as clearcut size increased from 19 to 48 to 62 acres (7.7 to 19.4 to 25.1 ha). Eastern towhees only bred in riparian vegetation patches in Iowa that were at least 650 feet (200 m) wide. In southern and eastern Pennsylvania eastern towhee nest success was not significantly (p≥0.10) different on sites with gradual edges and those with more distinct edges between "wildlife habitat openings" and oak-hickory forest.


The spotted towhee lives in dry upland forests, open forests, brushy fields, and chaparrals. It breeds across north-western North America and is present year-round in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and southern British Columbia. It is not found in arid climates and as a result does not reside in the Sonoran Desert, but resides in northern Arizona and the entirety of California except the southeast corner that borders Arizona. It has also been known to expand as far eastward as western Iowa and southwestern Minnesota. It also occurs in fringe wetland forests and riparian forests near the border of upland forests. Because the spotted towhee's habitat overlaps with areas of the United States that experience regular forest fires (Arizona, New Mexico, California), it tends to be found in unburned chaparral and avoids chaparral and forests which have been burned due to lack of ground cover and minimal foraging ability. Spotted towhees will be present in an area that is recovering after a burn (less than 15 years old), due to excellent ground cover and ease of ground foraging from the recovering understory vegetation, although populations will decrease after a forest fire until the vegetation has grown back.
Its breeding habitat in the southwest is largely dependent on Coastal sage scrub, as it provides cover from predators. It migrates to northern and northwestern United States and southwestern Canada to breed in scrubland, parks and suburban gardens. Northwestern birds migrate eastwards to the central plains of the United States, mostly the northwestern-central Great Plains. In other areas, some birds may move to lower elevations in the winter. Their breeding habitat is chaparral, thickets or shrubby areas across western North America. This bird interbreeds with the collared towhee where their ranges overlap in southwestern Mexico.


The subspecies of flame-colored tanager are found thus:
P. b. bidentata, principally from western Mexico's Sonora and Chihuahua states south to Guerrero and east to near Mexico City. It occasionally reaches southern Arizona and less frequently western Texas.
P. b. flammea, Mexico's Nayarit state and Islas Marías
P. b. sanguinolenta, from eastern Mexico's Nuevo León and Tamaulipas states south through Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador into north central Nicaragua
P. b. citrea, Costa Rica and western Panama
The flame-colored tanager inhabits the canopy of humid montane forest and large trees in non-forested areas such as pastures, coffee plantations, and gardens. In much of its range it is also found in open oak and pine-oak woodlands. It is generally a bird of the mountains but can be found near sea level in Guatemala. In Mexico it ranges from 800 m (2,600 ft) to treeline and in Panama lives at 1,200 m (3,900 ft) and higher. On the Caribbean slope in Costa Rica it ranges from 1,850 to 2,850 m (6,070 to 9,350 ft) and on the Pacific slope can be found as low as 900 m (3,000 ft). It is largely resident but may seek lower elevations in winter. Those found in the United States are pre- and post-breeding wanderers and rarely nesters, with several sightings and one specimen collected in Texas.


The breeding range of the western tanager includes forests along the western coast of North America from southeastern Alaska south to northern Baja California, Mexico. Western tanagers extend east to western Texas and north through central New Mexico, central Colorado, extreme northwest Nebraska, and areas of western South Dakota to southern Northwest Territories, Canada. The western tanager's wintering range stretches from central Costa Rica north through Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala to southern Baja California Sur and extreme southeastern Sonora in western Mexico and to southern Tamaulipas in northeastern Mexico. Western tanagers do not typically occur in the Caribbean lowlands. They have been reported wintering further north and have been observed as far south as Panama. Vagrants are rare to casual in the eastern United States.
In addition to the plant communities listed above, western tanagers are reported from disturbed habitats. For instance, western tanagers were seen in an area of northwestern California that had been logged less than five years previously. Cutleaf burnweed (Erechtites glomerata) was characteristic of the youngest age class, while slightly older sites were composed predominantly of tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus) with smaller amounts of snowbrush ceanothus (Ceanothus velutinus), whitebark raspberry (Rubus leucodermis), and Sierra gooseberry (Ribes roezlii). In addition, western tanagers were captured along the Rio Grande in New Mexico during spring and fall migration in an agricultural area composed primarily of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and corn (Zea mays).
Western tanagers have also been observed in saltcedar (Tamarix species) communities  and in Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) vegetation. In New Mexico, western tanagers were observed in nearly pure stands of saltcedar 10 to 23 ft (3–7 m) tall. Western tanagers were also observed in saltcedar communities during fall migration in along the Rio Grande. Ten western tanagers were observed among three sites composed of Russian olive in Colorado, Utah, and Idaho. All sites were dominated by Russian olive with cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) comprising a substantial portion of the understory. Along the Rio Grande, western tanagers were most often captured during fall migration in vegetation with a Rio Grande cottonwood (Populus deltoides species wislizenii) overstory and a moderate to dense Russian olive understory.


Male scarlet tanagers reach their breeding ground from mid-May to early June. Females generally arrive several days to a week later. Nest building and egg laying both occur usually in less than two weeks after the adults arrive. The clutch is usually four eggs, occasionally from three to five and exceptionally from one to six eggs may be laid. The eggs are a light blue color, often with a slight greenish or whitish tinge. Incubation lasts for 11 to 14 days. Hatching and fledging are both reached at different points in summer depending on how far north the tanagers are breeding, from June-early July in the southern parts of its breeding range to as late as August or even early September in the northernmost part of its range. The average weight at hatching is 3.97 g (0.140 oz), with the nestlings increasing their weight to 20–22 g (0.71–0.78 oz) by 10 days, or 70% of the parent's weight. The young leave the nest by 9–12 days of age and fly capably by the time they are a few weeks old. If the nesting attempt is disturbed,  scarlet tanagers apparently are unable to attempt a second brood, as several other passerines can. In a study of 16 nests in Michigan, 50%  were successful in producing one or more fledglings. In western New York, fledgling success increased from 22% in scattered patches of woods to as high as 64% in extensive, undisturbed hardwood forest.


Nursery web spiders are distributed across Eastern North America, ranging from Ontario and Quebec, extending southward to central Florida and the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. They also extend westward to Minnesota, Kansas, and Oklahoma.


The center of origin of Pistia stratiotes remains uncertain. However, the plant is thought to be native to South America or Africa. Described in Egyptian hieroglyphics and reported by Greek botanists, Dioscorides and Theophrastus, in the Nile River, the plant suggests an African origin. In addition, the co-evolution of Pistia stratiotes with various insects native to Brazil and Argentina, such as the water lettuce weevil, proposes a South American origin. It is a common aquatic plant in the southeastern United States, particularly in Florida. A more recent rationale for nativity in Florida explains botanist, William Bartram, found a fossil specimen in the St. Johns River basin in 1765, and dates back to the late Pleistocene (~12,000 BP) and early Holocene (~3,500 BP) period. Yet, the rationale of southeastern, North American nativity remains controversial as disagreeing botanists claim the Spanish may have indirectly introduced into the plant into Florida's basins from their ship ballast.


The great kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus), called bem-te-vi in Brazil and benteveo in Argentina, is a passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae. It is the only member of the genus Pitangus.
It breeds in open woodland with some tall trees, including cultivation and around human habitation. It is mainly found in Belize, and from the Lower Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas and northern Mexico. Occurs throughout Brazil and Venezuela (especially the central and south-southeastern regions) south to Argentina and Uruguay, Paraguay and central Argentina, the Guyana coastline, and on Trinidad. It was introduced to Bermuda in 1957, and to Tobago in about 1970.


The viability of the lemonwood's seeds is affected by moisture levels of the soil. If the moisture levels are too high the seed is likely to become unviable.  The lemonwood like other pittosporums is somewhat drought resistant  therefore rainfall is not a major factor in the lemonwoods survival. P. eugenioides is relatively simple to look after from season at home. It grows well, thriving off regular watering intervals during Summer. It enjoys a feed with general tree and shrub fertiliser twice a year during Spring and Summer while it is growing. Responds well to pruning also, which will assure survival in the forest too if disturbed.


P. deppei occurs in the Mexican states of Aguascalientes, Coahuila, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, and Tamaulipas.


Pityopsis graminifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name narrowleaf silkgrass. It is native to the southeastern United States, occurring as far north as Ohio and Maryland.


The African spoonbill begins breeding in the winter, which lasts until spring. The spoonbill's nest, generally located in trees above water, is built from sticks and reeds and lined with leaves. Three to five eggs are laid by the female birds, usually during the months of April or May. The eggs are incubated by both parents for up to 29 days, and upon hatching the young birds are cared for by both parents for around 20 to 30 days. The birds are ready to leave the nest soon afterward, and begin flying after another four weeks.
The African spoonbill is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.


This species is found widely in Europe, Asia and Africa. In Europe, it breeds from the United Kingdom and Portugal in west, locally through the continent, ranging north to Denmark and east to Balkan and the Black Sea. In Asia, it breeds in a broad band across the central part of the continent from the Black Sea to the Korean Peninsula, as well as Kuwait, southern Iraq, Iran, southern Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka. In Africa, it breeds locally in coastal Mauritania and more widely along the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden coasts. Whereas those breeding in warmer parts of Asia, in Africa and the Iberian Peninsula largely are resident or only move locally, more northern breeders generally migrate south to winter in the northern half of Africa or warm parts of Asia. However, some northern birds do remain in the general region during the winter, including the United Kingdom and other Western European areas.
Eurasian spoonbills show a preference for extensive shallow, wetlands with muddy, clay or fine sandy beds. They may inhabit any type of marsh, river, lake, flooded area and mangrove swamp, whether fresh, brackish or saline, but especially those with islands for nesting or dense emergent vegetation (e.g. reedbeds) and scattered trees or shrubs (especially willow Salix spp., oak Quercus spp. or poplar Populus spp.). Eurasian spoonbills may also frequent sheltered marine habitats during the winter such as deltas, estuaries, tidal creeks and coastal lagoons.


Overall, the Eurasian spoonbill is not threatened and the total population was estimated at 63–65,000 mature birds in 2015. In Europe, the population experienced a significant decreased between 1960 and 1990, but since then it has been increasing and was estimated to number c. 29,000 mature birds in 2020. For example, in the Netherlands, the population had reached a low point of less than 150 breeding pairs in 1968, but due to better habitat protection and bans of toxins like DDT it rapidly increased from the 1980s, reaching almost 3000 pairs by 2015. Up to the early 2000s, in Europe only the Netherlands, Spain, Austria, Hungary and Greece had sizeable breeding populations. The northernmost part of the Eurasian spoonbill's range is in Denmark where the first known breeding was in 1900. Through the 1900s, this breeding population was small and highly irregular, including long periods with none. The species became more thoroughly established in Denmark in 1996 (where a few birds, likely from the Netherlands, arrived and began breeding) and its population has since rapidly increased with multiple colonies; first passing 100 pairs in 2011, and with almost 600 pairs as of 2021. It is likely that this northward spread has been aided by increasing temperatures. In the United Kingdom, it was extirpated around 1668, although in the previous century it had been a widespread breeding species in southern England and Wales, even near London. There were breeding attempts again in the mid-1990s, with the first successful breeding in 1998. This culminated with the formation of a small colony of 6 breeding pairs at Holkham in Norfolk in 2010. In 2011, 8 breeding pairs nested, successfully fledging 14 young, and in 2018 the colony had increased to 28 breeding pairs.
Threats to the Eurasian spoonbill include habitat loss and degradation by drainage and pollution, it is especially adversely affected by the disappearance of reed swamps. In Greece disturbance from fishing once caused the population to decline, and human exploitation of eggs and nestlings for food has threatened the species in the past. Breeding colonies are highly vulnerable to general disturbances and predators like red fox. Consequently, colonies are often restricted to islands free of ground predators; however, in some places, pairs in mainland colonies may breed successfully by nesting off the ground in trees and bushes.
The research network Eurasian Spoonbill International Expert Group was formed in 1991. It made an action plan for the bird in 2008. In 2013 the group joined the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds.


The royal spoonbill is carnivorous, catching small animals by sweeping its bill through shallow water and swallowing prey once detected. When slow sweeping, the spoonbill walks slowly with the bill perpendicular to the water surface (i.e. vertical) with the bill tip open about 2 to 4 cm (1 to 1.5 in), sweeping an arc of around 100 degrees in front of the bird. The bird walks slowly, kicking up debris and small animals from the bottom of the body of water, which it senses and catches with its bill. When an item is sensed, the spoonbill switches to intensive sweeping of a small area. Royal spoonbills also probe submerged plants directly for prey, and seize prey such as spiders above ground. They have also been observed dragging their bills through shallow water alongside them while walking.
Prey items recorded at Lake Cowal include freshwater crustaceans such as the common yabby (Cherax destructor), shrimp of the genus Macrobrachium and family Atyidae, insects, particularly aquatic bugs of the families Notonectidae and Corixidae, fish such as mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) and goldfish (Carassius auratus), and occasionally freshwater snails and plant material such as medic burr (Medicago polymorpha).


The eastern rosella (Platycercus eximius) is a rosella native to southeastern Australia and Tasmania.
It has been introduced to New Zealand where feral populations are found in the North Island (notably in the northern half of the island, Taranaki, Waikato and in the Hutt Valley) and in the hills around Dunedin in the South Island.


P. argus resides in heathland, mossland, and limestone grassland.
Heathlands are able to meet the needs of P. argus due to burning, cutting, and other disruptions of mature heaths. With these disruptions, the habitat becomes conducive to habitation by P. argus because of the high cover of E. cinerea and short C. vulgaris that is able to form a landscape with the patches of bare ground. This is characteristic of heathland in an early stage of development.  This environment is suitable until the point at which the shrubs native to the environment mature and obscure the bare ground and vegetation margins that the butterflies use for oviposition.
Mossland, similar in nature to a wet heathland, has soil primarily composed of peat which supports one of the families of host plants of P. argus, Ericaceae. This host plant grows alongside other grasses, sedges, and rushes. While the main disturbance to heathland is quarrying, mossland faces peat digging which contributes to the transient and shifting nature of this particular habitat.
The hostplants of the first two environments, Ericaceae and Leguminosae, are less present in the third environment, limestone grassland. In this environment, the host plants of P. argus are primarily herbaceous Cistaceae as well as Leguminosae. In limestone grassland, the bare ground and vegetation margins instrumental to the life cycle of P. argus are created through grazing by other animals as well as by disruption of the habitat by natural disturbance of the stoney topography of this environment.
P. argus use shrubs for roosting, resting, basking, mate location, and shelter and for this reason, they tend to be found in higher numbers close to locations that are dense in shrubs. Most of the population gathers around these shrubs during weather that is colder, cloudy, and windy. When the weather is warm, sunny, and the breeze is still, P. argus spends less time in shrub dense habitats and more time in flight and finding host plants in areas rich in calcareous heath. These areas tend to be in exposed hillsides. For this reason, it often appears that the habitat of P. argus shifts with weather conditions.
In addition to choice of habitat due to host plants and topography, P. argus density correlates with the densities of nest of the butterflies' mutualist ants, Lasius niger and Lasius alienus.


P. argus lays its eggs differently based on its environment. In heathland, they lay their eggs at the base of Erica tetralix, Calluna vulgaris, Erica cinerea, and Ulex europaeus. In mosslands, the butterflies tend to lay their eggs on the underside of the fronds of the Bracken Fern. This fern appears to be preferential for oviposition because they attract ants. In limestone grasslands, P. argus lays eggs at the stem of Lotus corniculatus and at the base of Helianthemum chamaecistus.


The Melissa blue (Plebejus melissa) is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in western North America, from Canada to Mexico. The Karner blue (Plebejus melissa samuelis) is a subspecies of the Melissa blue, and was described by the novelist/lepidopterist Vladimir Nabokov.
The wingspan is 22–35 mm. Below, the hindwing orange submarginal band, often with distal iridescent blue points, help to distinguish this species from the more muted colors and markings of the similar Plebejus idas. The marginal line is wider where the veins intersect. The fringes are not checked.
The butterfly flies from April to August depending on the location. The larvae feed on Lupinus, Medicago and Lotus species.


The spur-winged goose is a common bird of African wetlands. Perhaps the main threat to the species is development and destruction of wetland habitats and unregulated hunting. A counting survey of the population in western Africa wetlands from Senegal to Chad in early 1977 produced a count of 10,000 geese, mostly being found in the Niger basin. This bird is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.


This species breeds colonially in marshes, usually nesting in bushes or low trees. Its breeding range extends from the western United States south through Mexico, as well as from southeastern Brazil and southeastern Bolivia south to central Argentina, and along the coast of central Chile. Its winter range extends from southern California and Louisiana south to include the rest of its breeding range.
The white-faced ibis chooses to nest in the parts of a marsh with dense vegetation  such as bulrush, cattails, shrubs and short trees. It will then build a nest from reeds. The white-faced ibis usually lays three or four blue-green eggs at a time.


Pleopeltis michauxiana, known as the resurrection fern, scaly polypody, and Gray's polypody,  is a species of epiphytic fern native to North America and Central America.
Pleopeltis michauxiana is found in the lower Midwest and Southeastern United States, Mexico, and Guatemala. It is the most widespread epiphytic fern in North America. In addition to growing on trees, P. michauxiana less typically grows on substrates such as rock (usually limestone or sandstone) and mossy banks, as well as man-made objects such as fences and buildings.


The western skink (Plestiodon skiltonianus) is a species of small, smooth-scaled lizard with relatively small limbs. It measures about 100 to 210 mm (about 4 to 8.25 inches) in total length (body + tail). It is one of seven species of lizards in Canada. They spend much of their day basking in the sun. Their diet ranges widely, including spiders and beetles. Western skinks will bite if grasped and will flee if they feel threatened.
It is a common but secretive species whose range extends from southern British Columbia and throughout Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming and into western Montana and northern Arizona and Missouri. They can also live in some areas of Texas It is widespread in northern California but primarily restricted to the coast in central and southern California. Found in a variety of habitats, this lizard is most common in early successional stages or open areas of late successional stages. Heavy brush and densely forested areas are generally avoided. Western skinks are found from sea level to at least 2,130 m (7,000 ft).  This diurnal reptile is active during the warm seasons.


The western slimy salamander, also known as the whitethroat slimy salamander or white-throated slimy salamander (Plethodon albagula) is a species of salamander. It is endemic to the United States of America and found in two disjunct populations, one from Missouri to Oklahoma, and Arkansas, and another in south-central Texas.


Males and females of P. cinereus typically establish separate feeding and/or mating territories underneath rocks and logs. However, some red-backed salamanders are thought to engage in social monogamy, and may maintain co-defended territories throughout their active periods. Breeding occurs in June and July. Females produce from four to 17 eggs in a year. The eggs hatch in 6 to 8 weeks. Not much is known about the dispersal of neonates, although neonates and juveniles are thought to be philopatric. The species largely consumes invertebrates and other detritus dwellers. In some areas with good habitat, these salamanders are so numerous, their population densities may surpass 1,000 individuals per acre (2,471 individuals per hectare). Pokagon State Park in Indiana is one such place.
As in many Plethodon species, female red-backed salamanders have the ability to store sperm as spermatophore, and have been evidenced in doing so up to eight months prior to the oviposition period in June and July. Sperm or spermatophores are not retained following the oviposition period.


P. glutinosus is found from New York, west to Illinois, south to Mississippi, and east to Alabama, with isolated populations in southern New Hampshire and northwestern Connecticut.


The southern red-backed salamander (Plethodon serratus) is a species of salamander endemic to the United States. It is found in four widely disjunct populations: one in central Louisiana; one in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas and Oklahoma; one in central Missouri; and one from southeastern Tennessee, to southwestern North Carolina, western Georgia, and eastern Alabama. It is sometimes referred to as the Georgia red-backed salamander or the Ouachita red-backed salamander. It was once considered a subspecies of the red-backed salamander, Plethodon cinereus.


The white-browed sparrow-weaver is found in greatest numbers in north-central southern Africa. While this species most densely populates dry regions with woodland or wooded grassland at northern South Africa, its range includes Botswana, northern and central Namibia, and western Zimbabwe. It is seen very often in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia and southern Malawi. Populations may be found as far north as Ethiopia. Populations are sedentary.
This species nests in colonies along thornveld and scrubby, dry riverbanks.