Water pennywort is an aquatic plant, native to the Americas. Due to its popularity as a pond plant, and subsequent escape into rivers, it has established as an invasive alien species in parts of Europe, Australia, Africa and Japan. It was one of five aquatic plants which were banned from sale in the UK from April 2014, and was the first prohibition of its kind there. On the other hand, it is in decline in parts of its range in the United States.
In Europe, floating pennywort is included since 2016 in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list). This implies that this species cannot be imported, cultivated, transported, commercialized, planted, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union.


Water pennywort has stems that spread horizontally and can float on water. Leaves grow on petioles up to 35 cm long, and are round to kidney-shaped, with 3–7 lobes and crenate to entire margins. Flowers are small, pale greenish white to pale yellow, and come in umbels of 5–13. Fruits are small achenes that can float, helping the seeds to disperse.
The South American weevil Listronotus elongatus lays eggs on and eats the floating pennywort, and larvae also eat into the stems, reducing the pennywort's ability to grow. The weevil has been introduced for biocontrol of the floating pennywort into waterways in Britain, following extensive research to establish that the weevil is not a threat in itself.


Hydrolea ovata is a species of flowering plant known by the common names ovate false fiddleleaf and blue waterleaf. It is native to the southeastern United States.
This rhizomatous perennial herb has spiny stems growing up to 2 feet tall. The spiny, alternately arranged leaves are oval in shape. The flowers are blue.
This is a wetland species. It grows near ponds, ditches, and other wet sites. It is used in wetland restoration projects.


The pheasant-tailed jacana (Hydrophasianus chirurgus) is a jacana in the monotypic genus Hydrophasianus. Like all other jacanas, they have elongated toes and nails that enable them to walk on floating vegetation in shallow lakes, their preferred habitat. They may also swim or wade in water reaching their body while foraging mainly for invertebrate prey. They are found in tropical Asia from Yemen in the west to the Philippines in the east and move seasonally in parts of their range. They are the only jacanas that migrate long distances and have different non-breeding and breeding plumages. The pheasant-tailed jacana forages by swimming or by walking on aquatic vegetation. Females are larger than males and are polyandrous, laying several clutches that are raised by different males in their harem.


The pheasant-tailed jacana is conspicuous and unmistakable. It is the longest species in the jacana family when the tail streamers are included. The breeding plumage is marked by the elongated central tail feathers that given the bird its name. The body is chocolate brown, the face is white, and the back of the crown is black with white stripes running down the sides of the neck, separating the white of the front of neck and the silky golden yellow of the nape. The wings are predominantly white. In flight the white wing shows a black border formed by black on the outermost primaries and the tips of the outer secondaries and the primaries. The wing coverts are pale brown and the scapulars may be glossed green or purple. In the non-breeding season the top of the head and back are dark brown and only a trace of the golden nape feathers may be seen. A dark eyestripe runs down the sides of the neck and forms a dark necklace on a slightly sullied white front. The outer two primaries have a slender (lanceolate or spatulate) extension that broadens at the tip. The fourth primary has an acute tip formed by the shaft after the loss of webbing. Young birds have brown upper parts and the dark necklace is broken. Some traces of the black stripe on the side of the neck and white wings separate them from somewhat similar looking immatures of the bronze-winged jacana. They have strongly developed sharp white carpal spurs which are longer in females. The spurs may also undergo moult, but this has not been specifically described in this species. The tail is short and strongly graduated. The bill is more slender than in the bronze-winged and is bluish-black with a yellow tip when breeding and dull brown with yellowish base when not breeding. The legs are dark bluish grey and the iris is brown.
Shufeldt described the skeletal features of a specimen from Luzon as being typical of jacanas except that the skull resembles in some ways those of sandpipers. The skull and mandibles are slightly pneumatized, unlike the other bones, and the sternum has a notch on the side which serve as attachment points to long and slender xiphoidal processes.


The pheasant-tailed jacana was described by the French explorer Pierre Sonnerat in his 1776 Voyage à la Nouvelle Guinée, in which he included an illustration of the bird that he called "Le Chirurgien de l'Isle de Luzon" or the surgeon of the island of Luzon. He described a bird with the long toes and the elongated feather extensions resembling the lancets used for blood-letting by surgeons of the period. Based on this description, the bird was given a binomial by Giovanni Scopoli in 1787 in his Deliciae Florae et Faunae Insubricae (Pars II), where he placed it in the genus Tringa. He retained the name chirurgus for the specific name. It was later placed in the genus Parra (under the junior synonym Parra luzonensis) along with other jacanas, and later still, the genera within the jacana family (then called Parridae) were separated.
The genus Hydrophasianus, meaning "water pheasant", was erected by Johann Georg Wagler in 1832 as the species was distinctive in having a slender bill, lacking any frontal lappet, having a shorter hind claw than Metopidius, bearing on the outer two primaries lanceolate elongations, and having a pointed fourth primary. The distinct breeding and non-breeding plumage is unique within the jacanas.


The following are standard measurements from a study based on living specimens during the breeding season in Thailand. They are averaged from 17 males and 4 females. A few measurements are from Rasmussen and Anderton (2005), where the head measurement (range given rather than mean) is from the tip of the bill to the back of the skull.
Body mass measurements can vary widely based on physiological conditions and are generally not used for taxonomic purposes. A dataset from the Philippines gives the body mass ranges as 120–140 g (4.2–4.9 oz) in males and 190–200 g (6.7–7.1 oz) in females.


The pheasant-tailed jacana is a resident breeder in tropical India, Southeast Asia, and Indonesia; it overlaps greatly in range with the bronze-winged jacana, but, unlike the bronze-winged jacana, is found in Sri Lanka. It is found on small to large lakes having sufficient floating vegetation. It is sedentary in much of its range, but northern breeders from south China and the Himalayas migrate south from their breeding ranges to Southeast Asia and peninsular India, respectively. In Nanking, the birds leave in November and return for summer in the third week of April. Some birds arrive in the non-breeding plumage. The species is resident in Taiwan, where it is considered endangered. Birds disperse in summer and have been recorded as vagrants in Socotra, Qatar, Australia and southern Japan (mainly Okinawa, Yonaguni, Ishigaki and Iriomote). The species tends to be commoner in lower elevations but climbs into the Himalayas in summer, and records exist of the species from altitudes of 3650 m in Kashmir (Vishansar Lake) and 3800 m in Lahul.


The pheasant-tailed jacana's main sources of food are insects, molluscs, and other invertebrates picked from floating vegetation or the water's surface. It forages by walking on vegetation and also by swimming in water, somewhat like phalaropes (although Hoffmann claims that they wade in deeper water but never swim). It also ingests filamentous algae, seeds and plant material, but this may be purely accidental. Flocks of as many as 50 to 100 can be found on a body of water, and they can become tame and habituated to human presence. They usually fly low over the water surface but may also mob raptors higher in the air. On landing, they keep their wings open until they find firm footing.
The typical call is a mewing me-onp or a nasal teeun among winter flocks. Males and females have different calls during the breeding season, and several contextual variants exist. Young birds produce a low cheep with the bill closed.


This jacana breeds on floating vegetation during the rainy season. In southern India, it breeds in the monsoon season, June–September. It is polyandrous; one female may lay up to ten clutches in a single season that are raised by different males. Female court males with flight displays around the males and with calling. The female builds a nest on floating vegetation made of leaves and stalks of plants with a depression in the centre. A single clutch consists of four glossy black-marked dark-olive-brown eggs (occasionally an egg in a clutch may be an odd pale sea-green in colour) which are laid in the mornings at 24 hour intervals. When an egg is removed at the one- or two-egg stage, the nest is torn down and a new one built, whereas a removal at the three-egg stage does not result in replacement. Once the clutch of four is laid, the male begins incubation and the female leaves to court a different male. In a study in Thailand it was found that it took a female 17 to 21 days to lay the next clutch. A study in China found females taking 9–12 days and laying nearly 7 to 10 clutches in a season. Males may move or drag eggs around by holding them between the bill and breast or between the wings and body. They may also push and float the eggs over water and onto nearby vegetation platforms when disturbed. Nests may be moved to distances of about 15 metres.
 Males near the nest may perform broken-wing and rodent-run displays to distract predators. The eggs are incubated for 26 to 28 days. During the first few days of incubation, the female defends the nest, chasing other waterbirds that may approach too close by flying at them. In close territorial combat they lock bills and strike simultaneously with both wings. Males actively forage in the morning and afternoon and tend to sit at the nest during the hottest part of the day. The downy nidifugous chicks freeze when threatened or when the male indicates alarm and may lie partly submerged with just the bill out of water.
Eggs may be preyed on by pond herons, while chicks may bet taken by birds of prey such as black-winged kites. The trematode parasite Renicola philippinensis was described from the kidney of a pheasant-tailed jacana in the New York Zoological Garden while Cycloceolum brasilianum was recorded in India. The bird louse species Rallicola sulcatus has been described from this species; it looks very similar to Rallicola indicus from the bronze-winged jacana. Another bird louse known from the species is Pseudomenopon pilosum.


The pheasant-tailed jacana is commonly distributed in lily ponds in Sri Lanka and on account of its mewing call is known as the "cat teal" or juana in Sinhalese. In Cachar district of Assam, it is known by the name rani didao gophita, which translates to "little white water princess".


Hydrophyllum appendiculatum, commonly known as the great waterleaf, is a species of plant in the borage family. It is native to the eastern United States where it is found primarily in the Midwest and Upper South.
Its natural habitat is mesic calcareous forests. It is a biennial that produces lavender-colored flowers in late spring and early summer.
This species can be distinguished from Hydrophyllum canadense, which has a similar appearance and broad geographical overlap, by the presence of small appendages in the sinuses of the calyx. In addition, it has shorter stamens, which are only 1-3mm exerted from the corolla (as opposed to 3-6mm).


Hydrophyllum canadense, known as bluntleaf waterleaf, broadleaf waterleaf, or Canada waterleaf, is a flowering plant in the borage family, Boraginaceae. It is native to the eastern United States and Canada.
Hydrophyllum canadense is one of ten species of Hydrophyllum, a genus endemic to North America. It can be distinguished from other Hydrophyllum species across its range by a combination of the following features: perennial, stem leaves palmately lobed, sepals lacking appendages (or less than 0.5 mm in length), and stamens exserted 3–6 mm.


Hydrophyllum capitatum, is a species of waterleaf known by the common name ballhead waterleaf. It is native to Western North America from British Columbia to Utah.


Individuals of this species are 10–40 centimeters (4–15+1⁄2 in) tall, hairy, erect herbs with solitary or few stems that are attached to fibrous roots running 25 cm (10 in) deep. The leaves are green and alternately arranged into 7 to 11 pinnately divided entire leaflets. The blades of the leaves are about 10 cm wide and 15 cm long. The flowers feature partial dichotomous branching and lay closer to the ground below the leaves (Hydrophyllum capitatum var. capitatum). However, a dwarf form of this plant occurs in northern Oregon and southern Washington where the flower heads are on long stalks above the leaves (Hydrophyllum capitatum var. thompsonii).
Flowers of Hydrophyllum capitatum, has whitish to purplish blue-coiled 5 to 9 cm bell-shaped corollas. Each flower also has 5 hairy calyx lobes. There are 5 long stamens per flower with anthers 0.6 to 1.3 millimeters long. The flowers bloom from March to July and obtain their purple color during this season. The fruit of the ballhead waterleaf are capsules with 1 to 3 seeds each.


Hydrophyllum capitatum naturally occurs in Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, as well as the western region of the United States (California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming).
Hydrophyllum capitatum grows in areas that are rather barren and dry (though seasonally moist) to shady environments in fine or medium textured soil. This plant tends to grow in open woodlands and slopes, ranging from high plains to subalpine meadows. It is salinity intolerant and lives in an environment that ranges in pH from 6.4 to 7.8. The ballhead waterleaf is a perennial plant adapted to a precipitation zone that ranges from 16 to 30 inches/yr and a minimum temperature of -28 Fahrenheit.


Indigenous peoples and settlers cooked the leaves and the roots of plants belonging to the genus Hydrophyllum, which includes the ballhead waterleaf, for greens.


Hydrophyllum tenuipes, the Pacific waterleaf, is an herbaceous perennial plant native to North America. It is found in western North America from British Columbia to northern California.


The Hydrophyllum tenuipes plant spreads by rhizomes to form large colonies in wooded areas. Flowers are greenish-white to lavender, appearing in mid to late spring.


Five conspicuous stamen extend beyond the five petals to a length more than twice as long as the petals. Sepals bristly on margins. There are numerous clusters of flowers on stalks extending from upper leaf axils.


Hydrophyllum tenuipes grows at low to mid elevation in shady conditions often in close association with Tolmiea menziesii (Youth on Age), which blooms during the same period.


Hydrophyllum virginianum, commonly called Virginia waterleaf or eastern waterleaf, is a species of plant in the borage family (Boraginaceae). It is an herbaceous perennial plant native to Eastern North America where it is primarily found in the Midwest, Northeast, and Appalachian regions. Its natural habitat is in bottomland forests, mesic upland forests, and rocky forested bluffs.


Hydrophyllum virginianum is an herbaceous perennial that spreads by rhizomes to form large colonies in wooded areas. It can also spread by seeds. The seedling usually appear early to mid-spring. Flowers are blue, white, or purple, appearing in mid to late spring.  Flowers exposed to sunlight bleach rapidly. Often the newer leaves are solid green with white spots appearing as they age and later disappearing in early summer.


Populations in the southern Appalachian Mountains have purple to maroon flowers and differ in a number of other characters. The taxonomic status of these entities has been debated, with the most traditional treatments recognizing them at the varietal rank as Hydrophyllum virginianum var. atranthum. However, specific status to these population (as Hydrophyllum atranthum) is given in the 2020 edition of Alan Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern United States.


The Caspian tern (Hydroprogne caspia) is a species of tern, with a subcosmopolitan but scattered distribution. Despite its extensive range, it is monotypic of its genus, and has no accepted subspecies. The genus name is from Ancient Greek hudros, "water", and Latin progne, "swallow". The specific caspia is from Latin and, like the English name, refers to the Caspian Sea.


Their breeding habitat is large lakes and ocean coasts in North America (including the Great Lakes), and locally in Europe (mainly around the Baltic Sea and Black Sea), Asia, Africa, and Australasia (Australia and New Zealand). North American birds migrate to southern coasts, the West Indies and northernmost South America. European and Asian birds spend the non-breeding season in the Old World tropics. African and Australasian birds are resident or disperse over short distances.
In 2016, a nest of the Caspian tern was found in the Cape Krusenstern National Monument in northwestern Alaska, 1,000 miles further north than any previous sighting.  This development was part of a general trend in Alaska of species moving to the north, a tendency ascribed to global warming.
The global population is about 50,000 pairs; numbers in most regions are stable, but the Baltic Sea population (1400–1475 pairs in the early 1990s) is declining and of conservation concern.
The Caspian tern is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.


Breeding is in spring and summer, with one to three pale blue-green eggs, with heavy brown spotting, being laid. They nest either together in colonies, or singly in mixed colonies of other tern and gull species. The nest is on the ground among gravel and sand, or sometimes on vegetation; incubation lasts for 26–28 days. The chicks are variable in plumage pattern, from pale creamy to darker grey-brown; this variation assists adults in recognizing their own chicks when returning to the colony from feeding trips. Fledging occurs after 35–45 days.


Hygraula nitens, the pond moth or Australian water moth, is a moth of the family Crambidae. It was described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1880. It is found in New Zealand and most of Australia, including Tasmania.
The wingspan is about 25 mm.
The caterpillars of this species live underwater. The filaments protruding from the body are not hairs but gills for breathing underwater. The larvae feed on Potamogeton crispus and Zostera species. They also feed on other alien macrophytes such as Hydrilla verticillata, Lagarosiphon major, and Ceratophyllum demersum. The larvae are delicate and build leaf housing.


Hylaeus modestus, also known as the modest masked bee, is a species of hymenopteran in the family Colletidae. It is found in North America.


These two subspecies belong to the species Hylaeus modestus:
Hylaeus modestus citrinifrons (Cockerell, 1896)
Hylaeus modestus modestus Say, 1837


The Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus) was originally described by Dru Drury in the year 1773 and is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. Reaching approximately 1 inch (2.5 cm) in length, male Fiery Skippers are orange or yellow while the females are dark brown. Small brown spots may be observed on both the hindwing and forewing of both sexes although to a varying degree. Females may be darker brown overall with pale checkered markings on the hindwing.  Fiery Skipper larvae, or caterpillars, are greenish pink-grey with a black head and constricted neck. These larvae are often considered pests and can feed on Bermudagrass, creeping bentgrass, and St. Augustine grass.
Phylogenetic and genetic analysis of the Fiery Skipper revealed three haplotypes (HphH1, HphH26, and HphH31) to be shared in roughly 64.1% of all sampled individuals. Due to this high percentage, these haplotypes likely serve as central haplotypes from which different variations via mutations occurred. Haplotypes HphH22 and HphH23 were found in addition to HphH1, HphH26, and HphH31 to occur in species across all continents with certain haplotypes being prominent in different regions. More variation in haplotype may be observed in South America, suggesting populations may be larger and contain more diversity when compared to those of North America.


The range of the Fiery Skipper is considered wide. The Fiery Skipper lives in North and South America, from Canada to Argentina. In the northern hemisphere, the butterfly may migrate north in summer months to the northern United States and southern Ontario, Canada. Possible reasons for this include high-density populations resulting in reproductive competition and strategy, resource availability, and courtship customs. In 2012, a female Fiery Skipper was photographed and correctly identified in New Brunswick, Canada, suggesting the species may travel as far north as the Maritime Provinces


Fiery Skippers, along with all other species of skippers and skipperlings, can hold their wings in a "triangle" shape. The forewings are held upright, and the hindwings are folded flat. This position is thought to better absorb the sun's rays. Fiery Skippers have been described as “rapid flyers with darting movements” which often make them difficult to both observe and catch. These skippers are often found in urban settings and are known to hold a unique relationship with turfgrass such as Bermuda Grass (Cynodon dactylon). In Hawaii, studies looking at the diet of Fiery Skipper larvae found individuals to grow most rapidly when fed a diet of “FB-137” Bermuda Grass. Given the wide range of these skippers, it is suggested the species is well adapted and will readily disperse given ample resources.


When looking for a mate, male skippers will perch on nearby grass or plants and wait for a female to approach the vicinity. Males will often seek out areas with the highest likelihood of finding virgin females which often leads them to patches near or at sites of hatching. Courtship is described as brief and often disrupted by the presence and competition of rival males. Once a successful mating has occurred, female Fiery Skippers will deposit eggs one at a time in different locations. These eggs are typically small and a translucent white in color but turn pale blue in the first few days. Studies looking at the reproductive cycle of the Fiery Skipper reveal a mean developmental time of 23.4 to 23.5 days during which the Fiery Skipper transformed from an egg into an adult at 27.5–29 °C (81.5–84.2 °F). Once hatched, larvae are initially green but later become more dull and grey. Larvae at this stage are most notably characterized by a black head and constricted neck with mature individuals reaching up to 25 mm (1 in) in length. The pupal stage for males and females is roughly the same amount of time during which a pupa will change from green to light brown in coloration. Mating will occur shortly following emergence from the pupa with an average life span ranging from 6 to 11 days. The reproductive habits of Fiery Skippers have been extensively studied by Irene Shapiro with experiments conducted at the University of California Davis during the months of July to October 1974. The development of the Fiery Skipper was studied in laboratory cultures and has proven helpful in understanding the life cycle of this species.


The larval stage of the Fiery Skipper is known to damage Turfgrass, something that has become a problem in the states of California and Hawaii. Turfgrass is a term used to refer to grass blades that are tightly associated with one another by roots, leaves, and stems, and grown for a variety of reasons including aesthetics, density, and consistency. Other butterflies of the genus Hesperiidae may be considered as pests to other plant systems such as bananas and palms.
In 1970, Fiery Skippers were first discovered in Hawaii and have since populated all islands but that of Lana. Following its discovery on the island of Oahu, the Fiery Skipper has become known as an invasive species with primary concerns centered around larval consumption of turfgrass.
Treatment of turfgrass with the use of insecticides is recommended if the number of Fiery skipper larvae is found to be 15 after surveying a plot. A 1959 article in Southern California Turfgrass Culture identified Fiery Skipper larvae commonly occurring on and causing damage to bentgrass and suggested the use of aldrin, dieldrin, or heptachlor sprays as insecticides. A mixture of either 0.0015% pyrethrins or 0.25% detergent with 4L of water may also be used to survey the number of Fiery Skipper larvae present within a given patch. The technique works best in 1,860 cm² (288 sq in) circular patches. Surveying should occur within 5 to 10 minutes of application with roughly 90-100% of larval populations present.


This species prefers sandy or calcareous places, sunny heath, plantations, warm forest edges and wherever else it could find the host plants. These moths can be found in the Alps up to 2700 meters above sea level.


The white-eared hummingbird (Basilinna leucotis) is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found from the southwestern U.S. to Nicaragua.


The white-eared hummingbird was originally placed in genus Trochilus and then moved to Hylocharis. A study published in 2014 determined that both were in error and it was moved to Basilinna. The species has three subspecies, the nominate B. l. leucotis, B. l. borealis, and B. l. pygmaea.


The white-eared hummingbird is 9 to 10 cm (3.5 to 3.9 in) long. Males weigh an average of 3.6 g (0.13 oz) and females 3.2 g (0.11 oz). Adults of the three subspecies are very similar. Their bills are straight; males' are red with a black tip and females' are mostly blackish with some red to orange at the base.
Males of the nominate subspecies in breeding plumage have a metallic violet or bluish violet forehead, a mostly black face with a wide white stripe behind the eye, and a dull black crown. Their upperparts are bright metallic green to bronze green and the uppertail coverts more bronzy; the rump and covert feathers have rusty edges. The central pair of tail feathers are bright bronze green, the next pair a darker green, and the remaining three pairs bronzy black with bright bronze green tips. Their chin and upper throat are violet blue, the lower throat metallic emerald green, and the breast and flanks are bronze to bronze green with dull grayish white down the center. The undertail coverts are grayish brown with a faint bronze gloss.
Nominate females in breeding plumage resemble the males. However, their crown is dusky brown and they lack the brilliant chin and throat of the male. Their underparts are pale brownish gray to grayish white with metallic bronze green spots and the undertail coverts are grayish with whitish margins. Their central tail feathers have brownish gray tips.
Subspecies B. l. borealis is somewhat larger than the nominate. The male's underparts have much more white and less green. B. l. pygmaea is somewhat smaller than the nominate with less green on the lower throat and more white on the underparts.


The white-eared hummingbird's B. l. borealis subspecies occurs from southern Arizona into the Mexican states of Sonora, Chihuahua, and Tamaulipas. It is an occasional visitor to New Mexico and Texas and has occurred as a vagrant further north and east in the U.S. The nominate subspecies B. l. leucotis is found from central and southern Mexico into Guatemala. B. l. pygmaea is found in El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The white-eared hummingbird is a species of montane regions where it inhabits the interior, clearings, and edges of pine, pine-oak, and pine-evergreen forest. In elevation it ranges between 1,200 and 3,500 m (3,900 and 11,500 ft).


In most of its range the white-eared hummingbird is a year-round resident. It withdraws south from the U.S. and far northern Mexico after the breeding season, and the southernmost populations might make seasonal elevational movements.


The white-eared hummingbird forages for nectar at a very wide variety of flowering plants and shrubs, mainly feeding in the low to mid-levels of the vegetation. It defends feeding territories from others of its species, smaller species, and even somewhat larger species such as the broad-tailed hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus). It also makes "secretive low approaches" to feed in the territories of significantly larger species like Rivoli's hummingbird (Eugenes fulgens). In addition to nectar, it also feeds on small insects.


The white-eared hummingbird's breeding seasons vary with latitude, from March to August in the north to October through December in El Salvador. Males court in leks where they sing and display for females. The nest is a cup made of plant down with lichens on the outside. It is typically placed up to 6 m (20 ft) above the ground in a tree or shrub, and several nests may be short distances apart. The female incubates the clutch of two eggs for 14 to 16 days and fledging occurs 23 to 28 days after hatch. The species occasionally raises two broods in a season.


The white-eared hummingbird's song is "a tedious, metallic chipping chi'tink chi'tink chi'tink ..., or chi'dit chi'dit chi'dit ..., or simply tink tink." Its calls have been described as "fairly hard, dry chips, at times repeated steadily, [that] may break into short, quiet gurgles" and "a sharp metallic tchik or tink".


The IUCN has assessed the white-eared hummingbird as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range but its population size and trend are not known. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered fairly common to common in most of its range. Because it uses forest edges, "it is less vulnerable [to habitat fragmentation] than are many other species of montane forests."


Hylodesmum glutinosum is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. Common names include large tick-trefoil, clustered-leaved tick-trefoil, large-flowered tick-clover, pointed tick-trefoil, beggar's lice and pointed-leaved tick-trefoil. It occurs in eastern Canada, the central and eastern United States, and northeastern Mexico.


First described in 1802 as Hedysarum glutinosum and sometimes considered part of the genus Desmodium, it was transferred to the new genus Hylodesmum (tribe Desmodieae) in 2000.


Hylotelephium telephium (synonym Sedum telephium), known as orpine, livelong, frog's-stomach, harping Johnny, life-everlasting, live-forever, midsummer-men, Orphan John and witch's moneybags, is a succulent perennial groundcover of the family Crassulaceae native to Eurasia. The flowers are held in dense heads and can be reddish or yellowish-white. A number of cultivars, often with purplish leaves, are grown in gardens as well as hybrids between this species and the related Hylotelephium spectabile (iceplant), especially the popular 'Herbstfreude' ('Autumn Joy'). Occasionally garden plants may escape and naturalise as has happened in parts of North America.


The plant was known to botanists, including Dioscorides (Διοσκουρίδης, 40 AD – 90 AD) in his De Materia Medica (Greek: Περὶ ὕλης ἰατρικῆς) as Telephion (Greek: Τηλεφιον). Pliny, Gerard and Parkinson were among many later authors to describe Telephium. It was first formally described by Linnaeus in 1753, as one of 15 species of Sedum, Gray included it and related species as a section of the genus Sedum. These species differ markedly from the rest of that genus by a  distinct ovary and ovules, flowering stems, leaves, inflorescence, flower parts, colour and blooming time and chromosome number. Consequently, Ohba (1977) segregated these species into a separate genus, Hylotelephium with 28 species, specifying Hylotelephium telephium as the type species. Subsequent molecular phylogenetic studies have confirmed that these species constitute a distinct clade, separate from the very large Sedum genus, which is paraphyletic. Sedum is widely considered to be an unnatural catch-all  taxonomic grouping. That clade, originally given the informal name Telephium and later Hylotelephium, was given the taxonomic rank of tribe Telephieae. The name Hylotelephium telephium has been widely, but not universally adopted.


Hylotelephium telephium has earned many common names in English, including orpine, livelong, life-everlasting, live-forever, frog's-stomach, harping Johnny, midsummer-men, orphan John and witch's moneybags.


There are several subspecies. Ohba accepted the following:
Hylotelphium telephium subsp. fabaria Koch - West & Central Europe
Hylotelphium telephium subsp. maximum L. - Europe & W Asia
Hylotelphium telephium subsp. ruprechtii Jalas - North-east Europe
Hylotelphium telephium subsp. telephium - Central & East Europe, E Asia


The species is endemic from Europe to Asia, but has been widely introduced elsewhere, particularly N America. It can be found growing in fields, around hedges, hills, and on gravelly or calcareous soils. In the UK, it is found in woodland and near hedges.


In N America, where it has been introduced, Hylotelephium telephium is considered invasive.


The very young leaves can be eaten raw, and both the young leaves and firm tubers can be cooked.
The plant has been used medicinally, being used by the Romans to treat wounds, and in later times to treat internal ulcers. It has also been used for love-divination. As the stems and leaves can store water, when picked. Hence common name livelong. They were hung in a room, where a girl was to be married to a boy. If the stems grew together, this 'sign' would mean that the marriage would be blessed and she would be happy. Alternatively, if they grew apart, the marriage prospects looked bad and if a stem died, this would portent death.


"liveforever": Named for its hardiness, being able to live after being uprooted or cut
Witch's moneybags: It is said that children would use the outer leaves to make witch's moneybags


TPL (2013). "The Plant List Version 1.1: Sedum telephium". Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
BSBI (March 2019). "Hylotelphium telephium" (PDF). The complete list of taxon names. Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
FNA (2008). "Hylotelphium telephium". Flora of North America vol. 8. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 162–163. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
Lehmuskallio, Eija (2019). "Orpine, Hylotelephium telephium". NatureGate: Flowers. University of Helsinki. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
"Live-forever, Hylotelephium telephium (L.) [Sedum telephium]". Friends of the Wild Flower Garden. Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden. 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
MISIN. "Witch's moneybags (Hylotelephium telephium)". Midwest Invasive Species Information Network. Michigan State University. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
"Live-long: Sedum telephium". Elma Skin Care.


Hymenocallis liriosme is a North American bulb-forming herb native to Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama.
Hymenocallis liriosme grows in ditches and along the edges of marshes, swamps and ponds. Common names include Texas spider-lily, western marsh spider-lily, Louisiana marsh spider-lily and spring spiderlily. It is distinguished by a prominent yellow-green eye in the center of the corona.


Hymenocallis littoralis or the beach spider lily is a plant species of the genus Hymenocallis, native to warmer coastal regions of Latin America and widely cultivated and naturalized in many tropical countries.


Hymenocallis littoralis is a bulbous perennial herb. It ranges in height from 60–70 cm (24-28 inches). The bulb is 7–10 cm (3-4 inches) in diameter. With age, the bulb develops a neck that reaches 4–5 cm in diameter (up to 2 inches). The flowers are large, white, vanilla scented, and sessile. The tepals are adnate (attached to) the staminal cup. Each flower's tube is 14 to 17 cm (5 to 7 inches) long or longer.


Hymenocallis littoralis is regarded as native to Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and Venezuela. It is considered naturalized in Angola, the Bismarck Archipelago, Cape Verde, the Caroline Islands, the Central African Republic, the Chagos Archipelago, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, French Guiana, The Gambia, the Gilbert Islands, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, the Gulf of Guinea Islands, Hawaii, India, Java, the Line Islands, Marianas, Marquesas, the Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Nauru, Niue, Ogasawara-shoto, the Philippines, Samoa, the Seychelles, the Society Islands, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tonga, Wake Island,Malaysia, Zaire and Zambia.


Hymenocallis littoralis is often grown as an ornamental. It requires sunlight to partial shade for proper growth and blooms from mid-summer to late autumn with white flowers. It may be grown aquatically.
Hymenocallis littoralis is included in the Tasmanian Fire Service's list of low flammability plants, indicating that it is suitable for growing within a building protection zone.


Hymenocallis is derived from Greek and means 'membraned beauty', a reference to its filament cup.
Littoralis means 'growing by the seashore'.


Hymenopappus artemisiifolius, the oldplainsman, is a North American species of flowering plant in the daisy family. It has been found only in the south-central United States, in Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Its natural habitat is in sandy soils of prairies and open woodlands.
Hymenopappus artemisiifolius is a biennial herb up to 100 cm (39 in) tall. It produces 20-60 flower heads per stem, each head with 40–60 white, yellow, purple, or red disc flowers but no ray flowers. Its flowers attract butterflies.
Varieties
Hymenopappus artemisiifolius var. artemisiifolius - Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana
Hymenopappus artemisiifolius var. riograndensis B.L.Turner - Río Grande Valley in southern Texas


Hymenopappus scabiosaeus, the Carolina woollywhite, is a North American species of flowering plant in the daisy family. It grows in the central and southeastern United States, primarily on the Great Plains an on the Coastal Plain of the Southeast. There are also isolated populations in Illinois and Indiana as well as in the state of Coahuila in northern Mexico.
Hymenopappus scabiosaeus is a biennial herb up to 150 cm (5 feet) tall. It produces 20-100 flower heads per stem, each head with 20-80 white disc flowers but no ray flowers.
Varieties
Hymenopappus scabiosaeus var. corymbosus (Torr. & A.Gray) B.L.Turner - Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Coahuila
Hymenopappus scabiosaeus var. scabiosaeus - Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina


Hymenophyllum flabellatum (Hymen-O-FIL-lum Flab-bel-Lah-tum), the shiny filmy-fern, is a species of fern in the family Hymenophyllaceae. This delicate fern is commonly epiphytic and is between 5 and 25 cm in length. It is distinct, with its thin, one-celled thick, membranous leaves. It is from the family Hymenophyllaceae and is dispersed world wide. The species is dispersed highly throughout Tasmanian rainforests and in the south east of mainland Australia, (Victoria and New South Wales) with small pockets of the population seen in northern Queensland.
The name Hymenophyllum comes from the Greek words hymen (membrane) and phyllon (leaf). Flabellatum comes from Latin flabellatus, meaning "fan-shaped".


The filmy-fern is distinct by its thin, one cell thick, membranous fronds, that grow in moist areas.  Fronds are pale yellow green, covered in yellow-brown hairs, and 5–25 cm in length. Linear with entire margins, terminal on short lateral segments, with one singular vein in lateral segment; Sori numerous and present at tips of lateral segments (see image below); indusium two lipped, slightly wider than segment; fronds usually distant and often pendant.
Stomata are absent. Lamina is 2-3 pinnate, ovate to linear, and yellow green; pinnae sometimes with long terminal segments commonly referred to as "tailed", narrowly rhomboidal, to fan-shaped; stipe slender and not winged, with tuft of hairs at base; rachis bearing scattered hairs, winged towards upper parts; receptical short and enclosed.


The shiny filmy-fern is found in rainforests, forming mats on rocks and tree trunks, and even forming curtains in well-lit caves.  It is highly dispersed throughout Tasmanian rainforests, and also occurs on Flinders Island, as well as in New South Wales, Victoria and some areas in northern Queensland. The species also highly dispersed throughout New Zealand. Rainforests tend to reside fairly close to coastal areas (due to the need for precipitation) and as a result the shiny filmy-fern tends to not occur inland Tasmania or mainland Australia.


Hymenophyllum nephrophyllum, the kidney fern, is a filmy fern species native to New Zealand. It commonly grows on the forest floor of open native bush. Individual kidney-shaped fronds stand about 5–10 cm tall. In hot weather they shrivel up to conserve moisture, but open up again when the wet returns. This species has very thin fronds which are only four to six cells in thickness. In the Māori language they are also called raurenga.
A specific example of occurrence of H. nephrophyllum is within forested areas of Westland, New Zealand, where it occurs with other fern species including crown fern, Blechnum discolor.


Hymenophyllum nephrophyllum is a fern distinctive for its undivided, kidney-shaped fronds, which give the plant its English common name, the kidney fern. The fronds, or laminae, are 3–10 cm by 4–13 cm and are a shiny, translucent green. The translucent nature of the kidney fern's fronds is due to them being very thin, only one cell thick as a sporeling, which increases to 3–4 cells when the plant reaches maturity. The fronds are supported on brittle stipes 5–25 cm in length. Mature plants have a row of sori  (a collection of sporangia) crowning the upper margin of their frond, where they resemble a row of small brown pegs. A feature Hymenophyllum nephrophyllum shares with some other filmy ferns is the ability to curl up tightly during dry conditions in order to reduce moisture loss; this gives kidney fern one of its Māori common names, kopakopa (to wrap or clasp). After rain or when conditions improve, it unfurls and recovers.


The scientific names Trichomanes reniforme and Cardiomanes reniforme have previously been used for kidney fern.  However, phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences have shown kidney fern to be part of Hymenophyllum, and a name in that genus is used in the Flora of New Zealand and the Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World.
The species epithet for Hymenophyllum nephrophyllum is a reference to its fronds: from the Greek nephro- (kidney-shaped) and -phyllus (leaved).  The reniforme epithet of the two synonyms Trichomanes reniforme and Cardiomanes reniforme is also in reference to the frond shape.  The genus name Cardiomanes also arises from reference to the distinctive frond shape: Greek kardia (heart) and manos (thin).


Hymenophyllum nephrophyllum is endemic to New Zealand, meaning it is native to and found only in New Zealand. Other members of the Hymenophyllum genus can be found throughout the world as well as New Zealand.


Hymenophyllum nephrophyllum is found throughout the North Island and in northern, western, and southern regions of the South Island, as well as Stewart Island and the Chatham Islands. It is not recorded from the eastern side of the South Island.


Hymenophyllum nephrophyllum is found in a wide range of habitats from wet forests to lava fields; however, it is most frequently found in moister forests up to an altitude of 780 meters. This preference for moist forest is likely the cause of its absence from most of the eastern side of the South Island; however, its ability to curl up is what gives it a tolerance to a wide range of habitats. Hymenophyllum nephrophyllum inhabits the forest floor where it will often form extensive mats, as well as on banks, rocks, fallen trees and as an epiphyte on lower trunks and branches.


Like all ferns, Hymenophyllum neprhophyllum reproduces and disperses offspring through spores. It has tubular indusia (spore protecting structures) that stick out from the edge of the fronds. Stalks carrying sori, with sporangia that develop sequentially from base to apex, grow out of the indusia until at plant maturity they emerge and release their spores. Hymenophyllum nephrophyllum also spreads by vegetative reproduction, putting out far-creeping rhizomes (an underground stem that puts out adventitious shoots and roots) that form the distinctive mats of fronds on the forest floor. Little else grows in mats of Hymenophyllum nephrophyllum as the rhizomes produce a compound inhibiting the root growth of seedlings of other species.


The lifecycle of the fern could not occur without damp soil as its spores prefer a moist environment. As Hymenophyllum neprhophyllum mainly inhabits moist forests, it requires a relatively damp soil; however, the kidney fern is poikilohydric and has adapted to a variety of habitats. This has given it the ability to store water in drier weather, which it does by shrivelling up and expanding again once rain returns.


The caterpillars from the moth family Tortricidae are known to feed on Hymenophyllum nephrophyllum. The caterpillars of these filmy-fern leaf-tyer moths can be found in silk tubes attached to the plants fronds, which may have been woven together or bent inwards to protect the caterpillar from predation. Due to the specific climatic and soil conditions that ferns require human based threats to their survival include habitat loss through forest clearance and introduced invasive plants.


Hymenophyllum nephrophyllum has several traditional uses to Māori including being a treatment for bowel disorders (however this is disputed), a perfume plant and also worn during mourning. Other Māori common names for Hymenophyllum nephrophyllum are konehu and raurenga.


The spectacled tyrant (Hymenops perspicillatus) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the only one in the genus Hymenops.
It is found in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay; it is a vagrant to Bolivia, Paraguay and southeastern Brazil, once even in far northeastern Brazil.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and swamps.


Hypagyrtis unipunctata, the one-spotted variant moth or white spot, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Adrian Hardy Haworth in 1809. It can be found from Nova Scotia to Florida, west to Texas, northwest to British Columbia on the North American continent, and is also found in Eurasia.
The wingspan is 20–47 mm. Adults are on wing from April to September in most of North America and from June to July in northern North America. There are one to two generations per year.
The larvae feed on the leaves of a wide range of deciduous trees and shrubs, including Amelanchier, Rosa, Prunus, Salix, Populus, Alnus, Betula, Corylus, Fraxinus, Tilia, Ulmus, Quercus and Acer.


Hypena proboscidalis, the snout, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.


This species is found in Europe in the north to the Arctic Circle. To the east it ranges across the Palearctic including North Africa, Siberia, Iran, the Altai Mountains, Kamchatka, Kashmir, India, China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan. In the Alps and India, it rises to elevations of over 1600 metres.


The wingspan is 25–38 mm. Its forewings are grey brown with numerous dark transverse striae, and with a brownish-yellow suffusion in the females; the lines dark brown; the inner curved or bent in middle; the outer oblique, nearly straight, slightly incurved at costa, internally shaded with dark brown; the subterminal cloudy and partially interrupted, above middle marked with black white-tipped dashes, followed by a brown cloud, the subapical edge of which is oblique; hindwing pale greyish.
As a rule most females are brownish, — ab. brunnea Tutt, —- most males grey without the brown; - the form deleta Stgr., from the Altai Mts., Amurland, and Kamschatka, is paler, the forewing yellowish, sprinkled with brown, with less distinct markings; - tatorhina Btlr. [full species Hypena tatorhina Butler, 1879] from Japan, is small, grey in both sexes, with dingy fuscous suffusion, and a black spot in cell; the hindwing fuscous; - from W. China (Omei-shan and Tatsienlu) comes a form. — subsp. flexilinea subsp. nov. [Warren] dark grey brown in the female, with the transverse striae and the shades preceding the lines dark smoky fuscous, the outer line visibly bent above middle; in the males the dark shading is slight: --a similar but smaller form - indicalis Guen., occurs in the Goorais Valley. Kashmir, where the outer line has a tendency to be elbowed on both folds, and the male, which is quite without dark shading, has a small black dot in cell and a large black spot at its end.


The moth flies in two generations from May to September.
Larva are velvety green with the dorsal line darker green; the subdorsal lines paler; head, legs, and tubercles green. The larvae feed on hop (Humulus species), nettle (Urtica species), ground-elder (Aegopodium sp.) and Stachys species.
Habitats include deciduous, mixed and coniferous forests, rivers, hedges and gardens and parkland.


Hypena scabra, the green cloverworm or black snout, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1798. It is found in North America from Canada south to Florida and Texas. It has also been reported from Great Britain.
The wingspan is 25–35 mm. Adults are on wing from March to November or all year round in warmer regions. There are multiple generations per year.
The larvae feed on low-growing legumes, including alfalfa, bean, clover, pea and soybean. They also feed on woody legumes such as false indigo and locust. Other reported hosts include birch, cherry, corn, elm, hackberry, New Jersey tea, poplar, ragweed, sida, strawberry and willow.


The giant leopard moth (Hypercompe scribonia) is a moth of the family Erebidae. They are distributed through North America from southern Ontario, and southern and eastern United States through New England, Mexico and south to Panama. The obsolete name Ecpantheria scribonia is still occasionally encountered.
This species has a wingspan of 76 mm (3 in). The wings of this moth are bright white with a pattern of neat black blotches, some solid and some hollow. The overside of the abdomen is dark blue with orange markings, while the underside is white with solid black spots, and males have a narrow yellow line on the sides. Their legs have black and white bands. Adult moths are strictly nocturnal and do not generally fly before nightfall.
This species has a notable sexual dimorphism in size, the adult male reaching about 51 mm (2 in) in length, while the adult female grows up to 30 mm (1.2 in). During mating sessions, the wings of the male cover most of the female's abdomen, and this can sometimes lead up to loss of wing scales in the female, which can have negative effects on its flight efficiency. Their mating sessions are notably long-lasting, taking more than 24 hours. They stay mostly immobile during the whole process but will move from spot to spot to thermoregulate, walking into shadowy areas if it is too hot or into sunlight if it is too cold. The male is the one that effectuates the locomotion, while the female folds her legs to be easier to carry.
The caterpillar is of the "woolly bear" kind, with a thick coat of black bristles (setae) and red or orange bands between its segments, which become conspicuous when the caterpillar rolls into a ball for defense. Like the banded woolly bear, its hairs are not urticant nor venomous and do not typically cause irritation.


Tutsan comes from the French toute-sain meaning all heal due to its medicinal uses. This berry producing shrub is common in the Mediterranean basin where it has been traditionally used as diuretic and hepatoprotective herb. In the Portuguese ethno-medicine, the plant is locally known as ‘Hipericão do Gerês’ and it used as diuretic, hepato protective and antidepressant. In Spain, the infusion of the flowering aerial parts is used as an antidepressive and anxiolytic. In England, tutsan ointment is used to dress cuts and wounds. The berries turn from white/green, to red, to black. According to Shepherd (2004) all parts of the plant, particularly the fruit, are toxic due to the presence of hypericin, causing nausea and diarrhoea in humans, however, several studies carried out to specifically detect hypericin in tutsan have produced negative results (Rees 1969; Kitanov 2001; Maggi et al. 2004). On the other hand, Tutsan berries contain numerous organic biologically active compounds.


Hypericum androsaemum was described by Carl Linnaeus. It is in the genus Hypericum, and is the type species of the section Androsaemum.


Hypericum androsaemum is a small shrub growing to 70 cm high. The stamens are about as long as the petals, of which it has 5.


Xanthonoids are present in this plant.  Biosynthesis in cell cultures of Hypericum androsaemum involves the presence of a benzophenone synthase condensing a molecule of benzoyl-CoA with three malonyl-CoA yielding to 2,4,6-trihydroxybenzophenone. This intermediate is subsequently converted by a benzophenone 3′-hydroxylase, a cytochrome P450 monooxygenase, leading to the formation of 2,3′,4,6-tetrahydroxybenzophenone.


Hypericum ascyron, the great St. Johnswort or giant St. John's wort is a flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae.


This large species of Hypericum grows to be 3–5 feet tall. It is perennial and its leaves are a deep green, elliptic, and grow up to five inches long. Its flowers have five petals and it can have thirteen or more stamens.


Hypericum calycinum is a low, creeping, evergreen woody shrub (classified as a subshrub or shrublet) to about 1 m tall and 1–2 m wide but often smaller. The green, ovate leaves grow in opposite pairs. Usually 4 inches long, the undersides of the leaves are net-veined. In the sun, the leaves are a vibrant green color, and in shade, the leaves are a lighter yellow-green. The underside of the leaves is a blue-green color and in the fall, the leaves take on a purple color.
The flowers are 3–5 cm in diameter, a rich yellow, with five petals and numerous yellow stamens. Its flowers can be described as “rose-like” and tend to be single or in units of two or three, flowering in June to September.
Hypericum calycinum is indigenous to southeast Europe and southwest Asia. It is a popular, semi-evergreen garden shrub with many named cultivars and hybrids derived from it.
Although the genus is generally not affected by rust fungi, it can appear on H. calycinum (and another cultivated plant, Hypericum × inodorum 'Elstead').


Various species of the genus Hypericum have been used since ancient times as herbal remedies. This species has been used traditionally to reduce muscle spasms and for the treatment of asthma.
Hypericum calycinum is an economically valuable plant in North America, commonly used for ornamental reasons and landscaping.
Under ideal growing conditions, from full sun to partial shade and well-drained acidic soil, this species can grow rapidly. Although resilient in many soil types, this species grows best in sandy or loamy soils. This shrub grows through underground stems and is typically grown as ground cover or to stabilize soil on hills and requires low maintenance. It does have the potential to become invasive, as reported in some areas of California, due to its ability to grow rapidly by stolons. While generally easy to take care of, this species is suggested to be cut down each spring.
According to the USDA, this species is used as nursery stock product.


In North America the name Rose of Sharon is applied to a species in a different order, Hibiscus syriacus.
The common name of St. John's wort, which is used to describe plants of the entire genus, arose from the old tradition of Hypericum plants being burned on the eve of St. John's Day, to stave off evil spirits. The species name, calycinum, comes from the flower's prominent calyx, the whorl of the sepals.


This species is capable of producing the same medicinally active components as H. perforatum (hyperforin etc.), though in different ratios, with adhyperforin predominating, and a low level of hyperforin present.
Research has shown that the UV pigments of the Hypericum calycinum flower stave off predators such as mites and aphids. One type of DIP (dearomatized isoprenylated phloroglucinols), a category of pigments alongside flavonoids, was found to be toxic to a caterpillar as well. A large quantity of DIPs were found in the male and female reproductive organs, which furthers emphasizes the use of DIPs as a defense mechanism. These pigments also serve a dual function to attract pollinators, as they are visible to insects and not humans.
Recent research on mice has shown that the alcoholic extracts from Hypericum calycinum have antidepressant effects and are comparably as effective as antidepressant drugs, such as desipramine and trimipramine. Unlike the rest of the genus, H. calycinum does not have hypericin, which causes photosensitization, which causes the side effects of flush, fatigue, and pruritus when used in drugs. These extracts have the potential to be a remedy for depression without these side effects common in current antidepressants. However, more research is required.


Hypericum hypericoides, commonly called St. Andrew's cross, is a species of flowering plant in the St. John's wort family, Hypericaceae. It is native to the Southeastern United States, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Its preferred habitat is dry woods on acidic soil. It is a small shrub or shrublet that produces yellow flowers with four petals.


Hypericum kalmianum, commonly called Kalm's St. Johns wort or Kalm's St. Johnswort, is a flowering plant in the St. John's wort family Hypericaceae.  It is native to the Great Lakes region in the northern United States and southern Canada.  Hypericum kalmianum was named after its discoverer, Swedish botanist Pehr Kalm (1715-1779).


Hypericum kalmianum is a slender shrub that grows to a height of 20–60 cm (7.9–23.6 in). Its bark is whitish and papery. It has ascending four-edged branches that bear two-edged branchlets. The crowded bluish-green leaves are linear to oblanceolate and 3–4.5 cm (1.2–1.8 in) long. One to ten yellow flowers are borne on terminal and open corymbs, with each flower measuring 2–3.5 cm (0.8–1.4 in) wide. The leaf-like sepals are oblong and 5–15 mm (0.2–0.6 in) long. The ovoid capsules typically have five carpels and styles, though they can occasionally bear three, four, or six. The capsules are 7–10 mm (0.3–0.4 in) long and 4–7 mm (0.2–0.3 in) thick.
The plant flowers between June and August.


Formerly included within Hypericum kalmianum is another species first formally described in 2016, Hypericum swinkianum. Both species are part of the subsection Hypericum subsect. Centrosperma (H. sect. Myriandra). H. kalmianum can be differentiated from H. swinkianum by its narrower leaves, flowerheads averaging fewer than 7 flowers, and an affinity toward calcareous rather than acidic habitats. Additional species of Midwestern Hypericum closely related to these two may be yet to be described.


Kalm's St. Johnswort is primarily found around the Great Lakes in Ontario, Quebec, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin. In the Chicago Region, it is a highly conservative species that occurs near Lake Michigan in calcareous sand prairies and marly pannés, and though rarely seen inland, can be found in prairie fens and mesic prairies. It is classified as an endangered species in Illinois and threatened in Ohio.


Hypericum tetrapetalum, the fourpetal St. Johnswort, is a species of flowering plant in the St. John's wort family, Hypericaceae. It is found in the Southeastern United States and Cuba. It was first described by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in 1797.


Fourpetal St. Johnswort is a perennial herb or small shrub with a woody base, growing 20–100 cm (7.9–39.4 in) tall. Young stems are two- or four-lined, becoming two-lined or terete as they age. The leaves are oblong to triangular-ovate, 5–35 mm (0.20–1.38 in) long, 4–15 mm (0.16–0.59 in) across, with heart-shaped, clasping bases. The terminal flowerheads produce one to three flowers, each flower 20–30 mm (0.79–1.18 in) in diameter with 4 bright yellow petals and about 100 stamens. It produces flowers throughout most of the year. The capsules are three-parted.
It is distinguished from the closely related Hypericum crux-andreae by its broader leaves with clasping bases. Their distribution overlaps in southern Georgia and northern Florida, but apparent hybrids have not been observed.


In the United States, H. tetrapetalum is found in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. It is also found in western Cuba.
H. tetrapetalum occurs in wet pinelands and ditches in sandy soil.


Hypholoma capnoides is an edible mushroom in the family Strophariaceae. Like its poisonous or suspect relatives H. fasciculare ("sulphur tuft") and H. lateritium ("brick caps"), H. capnoides grows in clusters on decaying wood, for example in tufts on old tree stumps, in North America, Europe, and Asia.


Though edible, the poisonous sulphur tuft is more common in many areas. H. capnoides has greyish gills due to the dark color of its spores, whereas sulphur tuft has greenish gills. It could also perhaps be confused with the deadly Galerina marginata or the good edible Kuehneromyces mutabilis.


Cap: Up to 6 cm in diameter with yellow-to-orange-brownish or matt yellow colour, sometimes viscid.
Gills: Initially pale orangish-yellow, pale grey when mature, later darker purple/brown.
Spore powder: Dark burgundy/brown.
Stipe: Yellowish, somewhat rust-brown below.
Taste: Mild (other Hypholomas mostly have a bitter taste).


Hypnum cupressiforme, the cypress-leaved plaitmoss or hypnum moss, is a common and widespread species of moss belonging to the genus Hypnum. It is found in all continents except Antarctica and occurs in a wide variety of habitats and climatic zones. It typically grows on tree trunks, logs, walls, rocks and other surfaces. It prefers acidic environments and is fairly tolerant of pollution. It was formerly used as a filling for pillows and mattresses; the association with sleep is the origin of the genus name Hypnum (from Greek Hypnos).
It is a small to medium-sized moss about 2–10 cm long. It is pleurocarpous, having prostrate, creeping stems which form smooth, dense mats. The stems are branched and covered in overlapping leaves giving the impression of a cypress tree. The stem leaves are long and thin measuring 1.0-2.1 mm by 0.3-0.6 mm. They are concave and sickle-shaped, tapering towards the tip. The branch leaves are smaller and narrower than those on the stems.  The moss produces short, cylindrical and slightly curved capsules which contain the spores. The capsules are 1.7-2.4 mm long and have a lid-like operculum measuring 0.6-0.9 mm. They are borne on reddish-brown stalks which are 1-2.5 cm long. The moss is dioicous, having separate male and female plants. Hypnum cupressiforme is a highly variable species and numerous varieties have been described.


Hypochaeris radicata (sometimes spelled Hypochoeris radicata) – also known as catsear, flatweed, cat's-ear, hairy cat's ear, or false dandelion – is a perennial, low-lying edible herb often found in lawns.  The plant is native to Europe, but has also been introduced to the Americas, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, where it can be an invasive weed. It is listed as a noxious weed in the northwestern U.S. state of Washington.


The leaves, which may grow up to eight inches (20 cm) long, are lobed and covered in coarse hairs, forming a low-lying rosette around a central taproot.  Forked stems carry bright yellow flower heads, and when mature these form seeds attached to windborne "parachutes".  All parts of the plant exude a milky sap when cut.
Hypochaeris species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the shark moth.


Its name is derived from Greek ὑπό 'under' and χοῖρος 'young pig'. Thus the name "should" be spelled Hypochoeris.
The adjective radicata means 'with conspicuous roots' in Latin (derived from radix 'root').
In English, catsear is derived from the words cat's ear, and refers to the shape and fine hair on the leaves resembling that of the ear of a cat.
The plant is also known as false dandelion because it is commonly mistaken for true dandelions. Both plants carry similar flowers which form  windborne seeds. However, catsear flowering stems are forked and solid, whereas dandelions possess unforked stems that are hollow. Both plants have a rosette of leaves and a central taproot. The leaves of dandelions are jagged in appearance, whereas those of catsear are more lobe-shaped and hairy. Both plants have similar uses.


All parts of the catsear plant are edible; however, the leaves and roots are those most often harvested.  The leaves are bland in taste but can be eaten raw in salads, steamed, or used in stir-fries. Some recommend mixing them with other vegetables. Older leaves can become tough and fibrous, but younger leaves are suitable for consumption.  In contrast to the edible leaves of dandelion, catsear leaves only rarely have some bitterness. In Crete, Greece, the leaves of a variety called παχιές (pachiés) or αγριοράδικα (agriorádika) are eaten boiled or steamed.
The root can be roasted and ground to form a coffee substitute.


This species is suspected of causing stringhalt in horses if consumed in excess.


Hypoestes phyllostachya, the polka dot plant, is a species of flowering plant in the family Acanthaceae, native to South Africa, Madagascar, and south east Asia. The spots often merge into larger areas of colour.
The genus name Hypoestes comes from the Greek hypo, meaning "under", and estia meaning "a house"; this refers to the calyxes being covered by bracts. The Latin specific epithet phyllostachya means “with a leaf spike”.


Growing to 30 cm (12 in) tall and broad, it is an evergreen shrub with leaves heavily-spotted pink or white, as if sprayed with paint. This small shrub with green foliage stained with pink-purple dots forms bushy and compact tufts. The leaves are opposite, oval and pointed. They are borne by petioles of 2 to 4 cm 1. The most common type has green leaves with pink spots, although it can range from white to any shade of pink to red. The spots on the undersides of the leaves are far lighter in color, often white.
It may produce small, solitary pink/purple flowers at the nodes that resemble honeysuckle. The small flowers form on the cob at the end of the stems and are pink/purple. The fruit is a many-seeded dehiscent capsule.


Hypoestes phyllostachya is cultivated as an ornamental plant and is familiar as a houseplant, but can also be grown outside as an annual plant in cooler climates or a perennial in the subtropics and tropics. In the UK it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit. Many different cultivars have been created with different foliage colors.
This plant does best in partial sun. In the United States, it is winter hardy in zones 10 and 11. It has low drought tolerance, but is rarely damaged by deer. It spreads by cuttings and seedlings.


Hypoestes phyllostachya has a multitude of cultivars whose leaves are green, white or red (from pink to carmine), punctuated, stained or streaked with green, white or red among which can be mentioned :
H. phyllostachya 'Camina' with dark green leaves and carmine red
H. phyllostachya 'Confetti Blush', white veined olive green
H. phyllostachya 'Pink Splash', green and pale pink
H. phyllostachya 'Red Splash', green and red
H. phyllostachya 'White Splash', green and white


The male has the upperwings dark velvety brownish black. The forewing has a broad white oval spot between veins 3 and 7. A smaller spot near the apex is also present. These spots are crossed by the black veins and bordered in iridescent blue that is visible only at certain angles. The hindwing has a larger white spot but the veins crossing it are yellowish and not as prominent as on the forewing. There are some white specks along the tornus and the margin is edged with white and black.
Underside forewing: bases of interspaces 1 and 2 and cell rich light chestnut, discal area fuscous brown; apical half golden brown; basal half of costal margin flecked with white: cell anteriorly black with three white spots; a narrow, transverse, very short, white mark beyond apex of cell; a very broad, somewhat oval, white discal patch from costa to middle of interspace 2 edged with diffuse dusky black; the preapical white spot as on the upperside but not surrounded with blue, continued posteriorly as a transverse series of small postdiscal white spots; an inner and an outer transverse series of white lunules divided by a sinuous black line followed by a terminal black line.
Hindwing: basal and postdiscal areas chestnut-red; a black spot at base of vein 8 defined by white lines; a very broad medio-discal white band from costa to dorsum, crossed at apex of interspace 1 a by a transverse black mark, beyond the middle of interspace 7 by a broad black bar, and in interspace 7 bordered inwardly by black; a postdiscal series of small white spots in continuation of those on the forewing; an inner subterminal series of paired subtriangular small white spots, an outer subterminal line of slender white lunules, an intervening black sinuous line between the two series and a black terminal line. Cilia of both forewings and hindwings white alternated with black. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen dark brown; beneath, the palpi and thorax white, the abdomen chestnut.
Female – polymorphic:
First form: Upperside rich tawny. Forewing: the costa, the apical half of the wing and the termen black, the inner margin of this black area follows a line crossing the cell obliquely and curving round to near apex of interspace 1 a; a white spot beyond apex of cell; an oblique band of elongate white spots, a more transverse short subapical series of three or four much smaller white spots, and an inner and an outer sub-terminal transverse series of very small slender white lunules.
Hindwing: a transverse round spot in interspace 7, the terminal margin broadly black, the latter traversed by two transverse series of paired small white lunules. Cilia of forewings and hindwings white alternated with black. Underside paler tawny yellow, the disc of the forewing deeper tawny; the markings are much as on the upperside but differ as follows: Forewing: three white spots along the anterior margin of cell, the black on the apical area beyond the oblique band of white spots replaced by golden. Hindwing: a black spot at base of vein 8, another at base of interspace 5, and a postdiscal transverse series of small white spots in addition to the markings as on the upperside.
Second form: Similar to the above but the disc of the hindwing on both upper and under sides white, =alcippoides, Butler.
Third form: Similar to the first form, but on the forewing the oblique series of: elongate spots yellowish and the middle portion of the black apical area tawny.


Larva: de la Chaumette (teste Moore) describes this as cylindrical, black, with a darker black dorsal line, banded transversely with pale brown transverse tuberculated small spots; beneath dark olive-brown; legs and head brick-red; head furnished with two long black thick branched spines; the rest of the segments except the anal with ten branched spines, dirty, transparent white in colour and disposed in longitudinal rows, anal segment with two similar spines.
Food plant: Portulaca oleracea, Asystasia lawiana.
Pupa: Pendulous. Short and thick; light brown, without metallic spots, variegated and streaked with bistre, particularly towards the head and tail. (de la Chaumette.)


Hypolycaena erylus, the common tit, is a small but striking butterfly found in India and South-East Asia that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. The species was first described by Jean-Baptiste Godart in 1823.


Bangladesh, Nepal, Sikkim, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, southern Yunnan, Java, Lombok, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, Andamans, Nias, Sulawesi, Philippines, Sula, Bachan, Halmahera, Obi, Bismarck Archipelago and Waigeu.


The underside of both sexes is pale greyish brown. The underside hindwing does not have a spot in the basal area of 7. The butterfly has two tails – a 6 mm long one at V1 and a 5 mm long tail at V2. The markings include:
a double bar at end-cell
a regular discal line on the forewing
a broken, less regular line on the hindwing
The male butterfly is pale blue to dark brown above, dark shining purple depending on the light. It has a black border with the upper forewing having a large black discal area of modified scales.
The female butterfly is dark brown and its hindwing has a white disconnected discal band above the tornus. The butterfly also has a white-edged tornal black spot in 2.


The butterfly is abundant at low elevations. Males are known to cluster at damp patches while the females are rarely seen.


Hypomecis punctinalis, the pale oak beauty, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in his 1763 Entomologia Carniolica. The species can be found in central and southern Europe, Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, Russia, the Russian Far East, Japan, Korea, Ussuri and western China.
The wingspan is 46–55 mm. The length of the forewings is 22–26 mm. The forewings have a grey-white ground colour with a brownish tinge and are fine blackish dusted. The outer margin of the forewing has a convexity. The forewings have conspicuous transverse lines and a clear discal mark. The discal mark is pale centred and dark ringed. The forewings of the male have a fovea. The hindwings are similarly marked. The hindwing median and second lines are conspicuously dark and wavy.
Similar species
Hypomecis roboraria (H.roboraria has a pale spot on a dark background at the apex forewing underside. This is not present in H. punctinalis)
Hypomecis species.
The moths fly in one generation from the end of April to July.
The larva feed on various trees including oak and birch.


Hypoprepia miniata, the scarlet-winged lichen moth or scarlet lichen moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by William Kirby in 1837. It is found from British Columbia south through the western side of the Rocky Mountains to Arizona and Texas. It is also found throughout eastern North America.
The length of the forewings is 14–17 mm. The ground color of the forewings is red with two broad dark gray stripes and another shorter stripe between them at the outer margin. The hindwings are red, usually with a broad dark terminal band. Adults are on wing from July to August in the west and from April to September in the east.
The larvae feed on lichen growing on trees, preferably pines. The species overwinters in the larval stage.


Hypoprepia miniata miniata
Hypoprepia miniata mississippiensis Barnes & Benjamin, 1926


Hyposidra talaca, the black looper or black inch worm, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Francis Walker in 1860. It is found from India to Indochina, Sundaland, Sulawesi, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, the Solomon Islands, Thailand, Taiwan, New Guinea and Australia, where it has been recorded from Queensland. It is a major defoliating pest in tea plantations.


The wingspan is about 30 mm. Female with outer margin of hindwings hardly crenulate. Male with outer margin of neither wing excised. Antennae pectinated. Hindwings with outer margin angled at vein 4. Body dark olive fuscous, more or less irrorated and suffused with grey. Both wings faint traces of medial and crenulate postmedial lines. The cilia dark. Forewings with traces of antemedial line and more or less distinct sub-apical patch in male. Underside with crenulate postmedial line to both wings.
Larva is a looper, with body pinkish olive green, irrorated with black, and with dark patches on 4th and 6th somites. Later instars are uniform brown.
The larvae feed on the foliage of a wide range of plants, including Anacardium, Bombax, Terminalia, Chromolaena, Gynura, Mikania, Cupressus, Aleurites, Aporosa, Bischofia, Breynia, Glochidion, Hevea, Manihot, Ficus, Morus, Psidium, Polygonum, Rubus, Cinchona, Coffea, Mussaenda, Citrus, Euodia, Schleichera, Theobroma, Perilla frutescens, Camellia and Tectona species.
Eggs and caterpillars are largely susceptible for many parasitized hymenopterans, and birds.


The brown-eared bulbul (Hypsipetes amaurotis) is a medium-sized bulbul native to eastern Asia. It is extremely common within the northern parts of its range and can be found from southern Sakhalin to the northern Philippines.


The brown-eared bulbul was originally described in the genus Turdus. Later, some authorities placed it in the genus Ixos  and then the genus Microscelis, before being re-classified to Hypsipetes in 2010. Alternate names for the brown-eared bulbul include the Asian brown-eared bulbul, chestnut-eared bulbul, and Eurasian brown-eared bulbul.


Twelve subspecies are currently recognized:
Japanese brown-eared bulbul (H. a. amaurotis) – (Temminck, 1830): Also named the Japanese chestnut-eared bulbul. Found on southern Sakhalin, Japan and South Korea
H. a. matchiae – (Momiyama, 1923): Found on southern Kyushu (Japan)
H. a. ogawae – Hartert, 1907: Found on northern Ryukyu Islands
H. a. pryeri – Stejneger, 1887: Found on central Ryukyu Islands
H. a. stejnegeri – Hartert, 1907: Found on southern Ryukyu Islands
H. a. squamiceps – (Kittlitz, 1830): Originally described as a separate species in the genus Oriolus. Found on the Bonin Islands
H. a. magnirostris – Hartert, 1905: Found on the Volcano Islands
H. a. borodinonis – (Kuroda, 1923): Found on the Borodino Islands
Taiwan brown-eared bulbul (H. a. nagamichii) – Rand & Deignan, 1960: Also named the Taiwan chestnut-eared bulbul. Found on Taiwan and Lanyu Island
H. a. batanensis – Mearns, 1907: Found on Batan, Ivuhos, Sabtang, Babuyan and Claro (extreme northern Philippines)
H. a. fugensis – Ogilvie-Grant, 1895: Found on Dalupiri, Calayan and Fuga Island (north of Luzon in northern Philippines)
H. a. camiguinensis – McGregor, 1907: Found on Camiguin Island  (north of Luzon in northern Philippines)


Reaching a length of about 28 cm (11 in), brown-eared bulbuls are grayish-brown, with brown cheeks (the "brown ears" of the common name) and a long tail. While they prefer forested areas, they readily adapt to urban and rural environments, and their noisy squeaking calls are a familiar sound in most areas of Japan.


The brown-eared bulbul is common in a very large range that includes the Russian Far East (including Sakhalin), northeastern China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan, south to Taiwan and the Babuyan and Batanes island chains in the north of the Philippines.
Historically, brown-eared bulbuls were migratory birds moving to the southern parts of their range in winter, but they have taken advantage of changes in crops and farming practices in recent decades to overwinter in areas farther north than previously possible. Most brown-eared bulbuls still move south in winter, often forming huge flocks during migration. They are considered agricultural pests in some areas of Japan where they may invade orchards and damage crops such as cabbages, cauliflowers and spinach.


Around five eggs are laid by the female, which then incubates them. Brown-eared bulbuls are frequently parasitized by cuckoos, whose chicks will push bulbul eggs and chicks out of the nest.


In summer, brown-eared bulbuls primarily feed on insects, while they mostly take fruits and seeds in the fall and winter. At this time, they also feed on the nectar from Camellia flowers, becoming dusted with yellow pollen in the process. In this way they help to pollinate the flowers at a time of year when there are few insect pollinators around.


Hypsoropha hormos, the small necklace moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1818 and it is found in the southeastern United States.


Adult wings are brown with a postmedial band of white spots meeting at the inner margins, like a white necklace. The species is similar in appearance to the larger large necklace moth (Hypsoropha monilis), and the ranges of the two species broadly overlap.


Adults have been reported from February to October, with most sightings from April to August.


Hyptis alata, the musky mint or clustered bushmint, is a shrub species of flowering plant in the Lamiaceae, the mint family. The genus Hyptis is commonly known as the bushmints. It is  a native species throughout the southeastern United States from Texas to North Carolina, as well as in Cuba, Argentina, southern Brazil, and Paraguay. It is found in wetlands, prairies, pond margins and wet flatwoods. Hyptis alata is the southeastern United States analog to the Southwestern deserts H. emoryi, the Desert Lavender.USDA: NRCS: Plants Profile Hyptis alata
Varieties
Hyptis alata subsp. alata - United States and  Cuba
Hyptis alata subsp. rugosula (Briq.) Harley - South America


Iambrix salsala, the chestnut bob, is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae, that is found in parts of South Asia and Southeast Asia.


The butterfly occurs in Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, north Vietnam, Hainan, Hong Kong, south Yunnan, Langkawi, Malaysia, Singapore, Tioman, Sumatra and Java.
In India, the butterfly flies in South India, Calcutta, along the Himalayas from Kumaon to Sikkim, Assam and eastwards to Myanmar.
Edward Yerbury Watson (1891) states the butterfly's range as follows:
Has been recorded from Bengal (Moore), Cachar (Wood-Mason and de Niceville); Tavoy (Elwes and de Niceville); Calcutta (de Niceville); Orissa (Taylor); Sikkim (de Niceville; Elwes).
Recorded as A. stellifer from Ceylon (Hutchison, Wade, Mackwood); Poona, Bombay (Swinhoe); and the Nilgiris (Hampson).


Watson (1891) gives a detailed description, shown below:
Male and female dark brown with olive-brown gloss. Male; upperside, forewing with two or three ill-defined yellowish spots ascending obliquely from beyond middle of posterior margin. Female; forewing with an oblique series of small semi-transparent white spots curving across the disc (more or less distinct), and terminated below by an ill-defined yellowish spot. Underside chestnut-brown suffused with black on the disc; forewing with minute white spots, one at extremity of the cell, and two or three obliquely beyond; hindwing with a series of three spots disposed in a curve across disc; cilia greyish-brown. Palpi, body, and legs yellowish beneath.
Mr. de Niceville states that he considers A. salsala to be identical with A. stellifer, though Mr. Moore informs him that the female of A. salsala has a curved discal row of seven white spots and two lower ochraceous discal spots, and is a larger species than A. stellifer, Butler. According to
Mr. Elwes the two species are identical, Sikkim specimens varying considerably in the spots of the forewing above, which are sometimes white, sometimes rufous and sometimes absent as in stellifer.

I have numerous specimens of this species from Rangoon, Beeling, Upper Tenasserim, Madras, Kadur District, and Mysore; they vary considerably in the distinctness of the spots both on upperside and underside, but I can find no sure characteristic by which to separate them into two species.
— Edward Yerbury Watson


The larva has been recorded on Setaria barbata, Bambusa species, Mimosa species.


The Mediterranean gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus) is a small gull. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus Ichthyaetus is from ikhthus, "fish", and aetos, "eagle", and the specific melanocephalus is from melas, "black", and -kephalos "-headed".
This gull breeds almost entirely in the Western Palearctic, mainly in the south east, especially around the Black Sea, and in central Turkey. There are colonies elsewhere in southern Europe, and this species has undergone a dramatic range expansion in recent decades. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus.


The Mediterranean gull is slightly larger and bulkier than the black-headed gull with a heavier bill and longer, darker legs. The breeding plumage adult is a distinctive white gull, with a very pale grey mantle and wings with white primary feathers without black tips. The black hood extends down the nape and shows distinct white eye crescents. The blunt tipped, parallel sided, dark red bill has a black subterminal band. The non breeding adult is similar but the hood is reduced to an extensive dusky "bandit" mask through the eye. This bird takes two years to reach maturity. First year birds have a black terminal tail band and more black areas in the upperwings, but have pale underwings.


Formerly restricted to the Black Sea and the eastern Mediterranean this species has now expanded over most of Europe as far as Great Britain and Ireland, with 37 sites: 543–592 pairs in the United Kingdom in 2008. In Ireland breeding has been recorded in at least four counties. Breeding has also occurred in Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and the Balkans.
In winter, this bird migrates to Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts.


This gull breeds in colonies in large reed beds or marshes, or on islands in lakes; where its population is small, it nests in black-headed gull colonies. Like most gulls, it is highly gregarious in winter, both when feeding or in evening roosts. It is not a pelagic species, and is rarely seen at sea far from coasts.
The Mediterranean gull's feeding habits are much an opportunistic omnivore, eating fish, worms, scraps, insects, offal and carrion.
This is a noisy species, especially at colonies, with a nasal "yeah" call.


The Mediterranean gull is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.


The yellow-breasted chat (Icteria virens) is a large songbird found in North America, and is the only member of the family Icteriidae. It was once a member of the New World warbler family, but in 2017, the American Ornithological Society moved it to its own family. Its placement is not definitively resolved.


The yellow-breasted chat was formerly considered the largest member of the family Parulidae, but following taxonomic studies, it was moved to the monotypic family Icteriidae. Although Icteriidae is a distinct family from the New World blackbirds (Icteridae), which have a very similar name, taxonomic studies support them as being the closest living relatives of one another, and in a 2019 study Carl Oliveros and colleagues actually classified the yellow-breasted chat as a member of Icteridae. In addition, the former grouping of the yellow-breasted chat as a warbler was not too far off, as Parulidae is now considered the sister group to the clade containing Icteridae and Icteriidae.


The yellow-breasted chat is found throughout North America. It  breeds from the southern plains of Canada to central Mexico, and mainly migrates to Mexico and Central America for the winter, although some may overwinter in coastal areas farther north. This species occurs in areas where dense shrubbery is common. Today, its habitat often consists of abandoned farmland and other rural areas where overgrown vegetation proliferates.


If they are considered part of the family Parulidae (New World warblers), yellow-breasted chats are the largest species of parulid. In fact, they can often weigh more than twice as much as other parulid species, but their membership in this taxonomic family is disputed.
This species reaches a total length of 17 to 19.1 cm (6.7 to 7.5 in) and a wingspan of 23 to 27 cm (9.1 to 10.6 in). Body mass can range from 20.2 to 33.8 g (0.71 to 1.19 oz). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 7.1 to 8.4 cm (2.8 to 3.3 in), the elongated tail is 6.9 to 8.6 cm (2.7 to 3.4 in), the relatively long, heavy bill is 1.3 to 1.6 cm (0.51 to 0.63 in), and the tarsus is 2.5 to 3.1 cm (0.98 to 1.22 in). These birds have olive upper parts with white bellies and bright-yellow throats and breasts. Other signature features of yellow-breasted chats are their large, white eye rings, and blackish legs. When seen, this species is unlikely to be mistaken for any other bird.


The yellow-breasted chat is a shy, skulking species of bird, often being heard but not seen. The breeding habitats of this species are dense, brushy areas and hedgerows. The nests of these birds are bulky cups made of grasses, leaves, strips of bark, and stems of weeds, and lined with finer grasses, wiry plant stems, pine needles, and sometimes roots and hair. Nests are invariably placed in thick shrubs and often only about 2.5 m (8.2 ft) above the ground. They lay from three to five, creamy-white eggs with reddish-brown blotches or speckles, incubated by the female, which hatch in 11 to 12 days. Both parents tend the young, which fledge in roughly 8 to 11 days. Chats are apparently vigilant guards of their nests, as parasitism by brown-headed cowbirds is not as frequent as with other cup-nest builders. They are not as monogamous, though, as other warblers. In one study in central Kentucky, DNA fingerprinting revealed that 17% of 29 yellow-breasted chat nestlings were not sired by the male of the social pair and three of nine broods contained at least one extra-pair nestling.
Yellow-breasted chats are omnivorous birds, and forage in dense vegetation. Mostly, this species feeds on insects and berries, including blackberries and wild grapes. Insects up to moderate sizes, including grasshoppers, bugs, beetles, weevils, bees, wasps, tent caterpillars, ants, moths, and mayflies, are typically preyed upon and are gleaned from dense vegetation. Other invertebrates, including spiders, are occasionally eaten, as well. Uniquely for a passerine of its size, the chat occasionally grips food with its feet before it eats.
The songs of these birds are an odd, variable mixture of cackles, clucks, whistles, and hoots. Their calls are harsh chak's. Unlike most warblers, this species has been known to mimic the calls of other birds. Thus, less experienced field birdwatchers sometimes overlook chats after mistaking their song for species such as grey catbirds and brown thrashers, which share similar habitat preferences and skulking habits, though are generally much more abundant. During the breeding season, chats are at their most conspicuous, as they  usually sing from exposed locations and even fly in the open while gurgling their songs.


Yellow-breasted chats are declining in eastern North America due to habitat loss and degradation due to deforestation and urban development. This species, though less vulnerable than other cup nesters, is still sometimes victim to brood parasitism from brown-headed cowbirds that have taken advantage of the fragmentation of eastern forests to expand their range during the last century. The species still occurs over a wide range, though,  and is considered to be of least concern globally.


The northern oriole (Icterus galbula), considered a species of North American bird from 1973 to 1995, brought together the eastern Baltimore oriole, Icterus galbula, and the western Bullock's oriole, Icterus bullockii.  Observations of interbreeding between the Baltimore and the Bullock's oriole led to this classification as a single species. Research by James Rising, a professor of zoology at the University of Toronto, and others subsequently showed that the two birds did not interbreed significantly.


The yellow oriole (Icterus nigrogularis) is a passerine bird in the family Icteridae. It should not be confused with the green oriole, sometimes alternatively called the Australasian yellow oriole (Oriolus flavocinctus), which is an Old World oriole.


The yellow oriole is also called the plantain and small corn bird, and in Venezuela it is known as gonzalito. It breeds in northern South America in Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad, the Guianas, and parts of northern Brazil, (northern Roraima state, and eastern Amapá). The yellow oriole is a bird of open woodland, scrub, and gardens.


Its nest is a 40 cm-long hanging basket, suspended from the end of a branch. The normal clutch is three pale green or grey eggs.


Of the four subspecies of yellow oriole, three are restricted to islands. They differ from the widespread nominate race of the mainland in body and bill size, and minor plumage details.


The song of the yellow oriole is a pleasant, melodious fluting, with some buzzing. The calls include a cat-like whine and chattering noises.


The black-vented oriole (Icterus wagleri) is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and the United States.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.


The Mississippi kite (Ictinia mississippiensis) is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae.  Mississippi kites have narrow, pointed wings and are graceful in flight, often appearing to float in the air.  It is common to see several circling in the same area.


The Mississippi kite was first named and described by the Scottish ornithologist Alexander Wilson in 1811, in the third volume of his American Ornithology. Wilson gave the kite the Latin binomial name of Falco mississippiensis: Falco means "falcon", while mississippiensis means from the Mississippi River in the United States. The current genus of Ictinia originated with Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot's 1816 Analyse d'une nouvelle Ornithologie Elémentaire. The genus name derives from the Greek iktinos, for "kite". Wilson also gave the Mississippi kite its English-language common name. He had first observed the species in the Mississippi Territory, while the bird's long pointed wings and forked tail suggested that it was a type of kite. It is currently classified in the subfamily Buteoninae, tribe Buteonini.


Adults are gray with darker gray on their tail feathers and outer wings and lighter gray on their heads and inner wings. Kites of all ages have red eyes and red to yellow legs.  Males and females look alike, but the males are slightly paler on the head and neck.  Young kites have banded tails and streaked bodies. The bird is 12 to 15 inches (30–37 cm) beak to tail and has a wingspan averaging 3 feet (91 cm).  Weight is from 214 to 388 grams (7.6–13.7 oz).  The call is a high-pitched squeak, sounding similar to the noise made by a squeaky toy.


The summer breeding territory of the Mississippi kite is in the central and southern United States; the southern Great Plains is considered a stronghold for the species. Breeding territory has expanded in recent years and Mississippi kites have been regularly recorded in the southern New England states; a pair has successfully raised young as far north as Newmarket, New Hampshire. Another pair was observed breeding in Ohio in 2007. As well, the territory has expanded westwards due to shelterbelts being planted in grassland habitats.
This species migrate to southern subtropical South America in the winter, mostly to Argentina and Brazil. Migration normally occurs in groups of 20 to 30 birds. However, there are exceptions; mixed flocks may occur in migration, being recorded with up to 10,000 birds in one instance at Fuerte Esperanza, Argentina.


Mississippi kites are social birds, gathering in roosts in late summer. They do not maintain territories.


The diet of the Mississippi kite consists mostly of insects which they capture in flight. They eat cicada, grasshoppers, and other crop-damaging insects, making them economically important.  They have also been known to eat small vertebrates, including birds, amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals. They will usually hunt from a low perch before chasing after prey, eating it in flight. They will fly around cattle and horses to catch insects stirred up from the grass.


Mississippi kites are monogamous, forming breeding pairs before or soon after arriving at breeding sites. Courtship displays are rare, however individuals have been seen guarding their mate from competitors.
Mississippi kites usually lay two white eggs (rarely one or three) in twig nests that rest in a variety of deciduous trees, most commonly in elm, eastern cottonwood, hackberry, oak, and mesquite. Except in elm and cottonwood, most nests are fewer than 20 feet (6 m) above the ground, and are usually near water. Eggs are white to pale-bluish in color, and are usually about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) long. In the past 75 years, the species has undergone changes in nesting habitat from use of forest and savanna to include shelterbelts and is now a common nester in urban area in the western south-central states.
Mississippi kites nest in colonies. Both parents incubate the eggs and care for the young.  They have one clutch a year, which takes 30 to 32 days to hatch. The young birds leave the nest another 30 to 34 days after hatching. Only about half of broods succeed. Clutches fall victim to storms and predators such as raccoons and great horned owls. Because there are fewer predators in urban areas, Mississippi kites produce more offspring in urban areas than rural. They have an average lifespan of 8 years.


The species was in decline in the mid-1900s, but now has an increasing population and expanding range. While the Mississippi kite is not an endangered species, it is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, which protects the birds, their eggs, and their nests (occupied or empty) from being moved or tampered with without the proper permits.  This can make the bird a nuisance when it chooses to roost in populated urban spots such as golf courses or schools.  The birds protect their nests by diving at perceived threats, including humans; however, this occurs in less than 20% of nests.  Staying at least 50 yards from nests is the best way to avoid conflict with the birds.  If this is not possible, wearing a hat or waving hands in the air should prevent the bird from making contact but will not prevent the diving behavior.