Remains show that humans were already settled the marshy areas of Mačva in 5000 BCE. They made canals and water alleys in the marsh, using them both for irrigation and drainage. That way, they participated in the volatile process of constant change of the Sava and Drina rivers directions, creation of meanders, change of the landscape, etc. Time erased memories of the first recorded settlers and the remains of their work was attributed by the later settlers as the work of giants, creating one of two popular legends in Zasavica. Other legend connected to the area is that of winged dragons. Ancient Celtic maps show area of Zasavica as one of eight dragon-inhabited places in the Balkans.
From recent history, Zasavica is known as both the hiding place and a battle ground of Zeka Buljubaša, one of the heroes of the First Serbian Uprising. He was finally defeated and killed by the Ottomans in Zasavica in 1813.
In 2017–2020, a dozen of sculptures of the animals which inhabit the reserve were carved and exhibited in the open, including beaver, umbra fish and donkey. They were made by the artistic team of  archaeologist Zoran Đajić. In September 2020, a massive, 15-ton heavy sculpture of "Serbian ox" was placed at the main entry. Celebrating importance of oxen in older Serbian history, the sculpture was carved from one slab of hard, ancient Brazilian stone, formed over 1 billion years ago. Author is sculptor Velimir Karavelić.
Since 2005 it is owned by Codeluppi Internatiolan Groop.


Special reservation of nature of Zasavica was formed in 1997 and placed under the state protection as the category I natural treasure of exquisite value. It includes the bog and surrounding terrains, with a total area of 18.25 square kilometers. Of that, 6.75 square kilometres (2.61 sq mi) or 37% is placed under the level I of protection and the rest is in levels II and III. The majority of the protected area covers the water surfaces of the rivers and canals Zasavica, Jovac, Prekopac and Batar. Zasavica has a priority nomination to become a Ramsar site. It is proclaimed an Important Bird Area and since 2001 it is a member of the Europark Federation, federation of the national parks od Europe.


There are over 600 species of plants are recorded in the reservation. Several of them are endangered natural rarities and listed in the Serbia's Red Book of Endangered Species: European white water-lily, yellow waterlily, water soldier, fringed water-lily, marsh nettle, sweet flag, aquatic bladderwort, triangular club-rush, common mare's tail, water violet, greater spearwort and the endemic Pannonian plain species of Pannonian cornflower. In the Valjevac section of Zasavica a rare and endangered marshland bio-community Acoro-Glyceretum maximae is found. The white orchid is also found in Zasavica.


150 species of fungi are widely distributed in the entire reservation, in every ecosystem (ground, trees, logs, meadows, pastures, etc.). Many are edible, including rare species of morel. Poisonous mushrooms are rare and few, including th panther cap, death cap, and yellow-staining mushroom.


Although dozens of species of trees are found, the forests, which make up 16.74% of the reservation, mainly consist of narrow-leafed ash and to a lesser extent white poplar, willow, or black alder. Species on the alluvial slopes include pedunculate oak, European hornbeam, linden, and European Turkey oak. In 1962 a 1.1-square-kilometre (270-acre) plantation of willow and hybrid poplars was planted.


250 species of insects live in Zasavica and 15 of them are protected. There are several rare species of longhorn beetle (out of 35 living in Zasavica) and endemic Balkan species including three recently discovered in Serbia:  Syrian longhorn beetle (Arhopalus syriacus), Morimus asper and Agapanthia lais. Species of Cerambyx cerdo and Morimus funereus are protected. Endemic and rare cricket Zeuneriana amplipennis, living only in Serbia, is also found.


In Zasavica live 23 species of fish, categorised in 8 families and 20 genera. The most common are members of the carp family. Of those, 20 species ar autochthonous and three are imported (two from North America, one from China), though even the common carp had been introduced by Romans. Seven species are protected: Umbra krameri, Rhodeus sericeus amarus, loach (Misgumus fossilis), Cobitis tenia, etc. Six species are classified as endangered, five as vulnerable and six as rare. As part of the "Return of the autochthonous species of fish" project, the wels catfish has been reintroduced into Zasavica.


Zasavica hosts 27 species of reptiles and amphibians, of which all 12 amphibian and 4 reptilian species are protected and some of them are on the preliminary list to be included into the Red Book. Six amphibian and seven reptilian species are also classified as the endangered species by the Bern Convention. Two endemic Balkan species live in Zasavica: Danube crested newt and eastern sub-species of the sand lizard, Lacerta agilis bosnica, which is European Protected Species.


There are 185  species of birds in the reserve, of which 120 are resident. Because of such large number of birds, including rarities like night heron and spotted crake, Zasavica is included in the list of IBAs, (important bird areas). Since 1998, 20 artificial nesting platforms have been placed throughout the reserve. Other species include common moorhen, little grebe, Eurasian coot, great reed warbler, little bittern, mallard, common quail, white stork, black stork, Eurasian bittern, white-tailed eagle, western marsh harrier, common kestrel, mute swan, northern lapwing, etc.


So far, 45 species of mammals are found in Zasavica. It is ideal for the water-bound species like Eurasian otter or wildcat, which are protected all over Europe. Otters were not spotted for years though. Recent but unconfirmed sightings of otters recently prompted the ecology organisations from Sremska Mitrovica to announce an award for those who capture otter on camera. Fur animals also live in Zasavica, most notably muskrat. Eurasian shrew, striped field mouse, fat dormouse and several species of bats are listed as rarities in Serbia.


Zasavica is the location of the only farm of the Balkan donkey on the territory of former Yugoslavia. The farm was founded in the early 1990s and holds some 120 donkeys. They are kept for meat but mostly for their milk, which is used to make the pule cheese, one of the most expensive in the world with the price of 1,000 euros per kilogram (there are farms of the Balkan donkeys in Italy, Belgium and France with over 700 animals). Meat is used for the sausages and kulen while the milk is also used in the cosmetic industry (creams, soaps) but for the cream liqueur, too. Every April, a festival called World's Donkey Day is held. Teams from several countries (Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc.) compete in the preparation of the donkey stew, while other meat and milk products are being exchanged and tasted.


The main attraction in the reservation are the reintroduced beavers. Zoologist Alfred Brehm wrote in 1887 that a beaver has been spotted on the right bank of the Sava, near Sremska Mitrovica. Extinct in the early 1900s, four families with five members each, plus 11 single animals (31 in total)  were reintroduced in 2004 with the help from the Bavarian Science Society. From Serbian side, project is conducted by the Biology Faculty of the Belgrade University. Each animal has a subdermal tracking microchip implant.
Initial fears that the beavers will not adapt proved to be groundless as very soon first dam was spotted and the animals began to reproduce. A dam is 30 metres (33 yd) long and 1.8 feet (0.55 m) tall (of that, 0.8 metres (2.6 ft) above the water) and located at the Batar's mouth into Zasavica. In the late 2006 a dam in the canal Glušci, which flows into the Zasavica, was discovered and the beavers, though not the dams, are spotted in the river of Jadar some 35 kilometres (22 mi) to the south down the Drina. As the area surrounding the Zasavica is entirely agricultural, farmers don't share the excitement of the biologists as they claim the beavers ruin their crops saying that was the original reason for their extinction a hundred years ago, though they were also hunted for the valuable fur and the meat which could be consummated during the religious fasting.
By 2012, beavers in Zasavica built 17 burrows and 6 dams, their population grew to a 100 and the chipped specimen have been caught near Šabac, Obrenovac and even Brčko, 135 kilometres (84 mi) upstream, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Population found in Obedska Bara is a local one, being reintroduced in the same time and as the part of the same project as the Zasavica beavers. Initially knocking down the poplars and willows, causing damage to the surrounding arable land, after several years in which they adapted the habitat to their needs, beavers for the most part stopped being a nuisance to the local inhabitants.
By 2020 they spread all over the northern and western parts of Serbia. Apart from the Sava, Drina, and Jadar, they have been spotted in the Danube, Tamnava, Tisza, Bega, Timiș, Great Morava and canal systems in the Vojvodina province. To the north, they reached Petrovaradin and Novi Sad, while at the south they are spotted near Velika Plana. They also inhabited the surroundings of Belgrade, like Ritopek and Krnjača, which is part of urban Belgrade, but has much unurbanized area in the former marsh of Pančevački Rit.


Mangulica is the only surviving autochthonous Serbian breed of domesticated pig. Other two, Šiška and Šumadinka died out. A breed, also known as "woolen pig", due to its good qualities, is considered a "noble", but it almost died out in the 1980s. Its fat has up to 80% less cholesterol and triglycerides than a common, white pig. In 1998 Mangulica was introduced in Zasavica, but unlike Podolian cattle, they are left to roam free in the reservation, becoming feral since then. A cases of breeding with wild boar are known. By the early 2010s, their number grew to 1,000.


In 1998 the cattle of the Podolian breed was introduced in Zasavica. First animals arrived in the spring of 1998 from Mionica, in western Serbia. Pasture "Valjevac", near the small Goransko-ribolovačko lake was chosen as their home. The pasture has an area of 3 square kilometers and numbered 80 cattle by 2011. Breeding of Podolian cattle is being part of the program for the preservation of the animal species, developed by the Serbian Ministry of agriculture.
In the reserve there are several other, today rare, breeds of domesticated animals: Buša cattle, Bosnian Mountain Horse and wooly goat.


The European mudminnow (Umbra krameri, Serbian: mrguda) lives in Zasavica. It has been classified as an endangered species in the entire of Europe and placed under the strict protection by the Bern Convention. In Serbia it has been protected in 1993. In March 2008 the fish was discovered in the village of Bački Monoštor, near the town of Sombor, almost 150 kilometers north of Zasavica.


Zbarazh Castle (Ukrainian: Збаразький замок, Polish: Zamek w Zbarażu) is a fortified defense stronghold in Zbarazh, built during the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It dominates the crests of the Zamkova Hills of Ternopil Oblast in Western Ukraine next to the city's central plaza that was not in so distant past surrounded by marshland. The castle existence has been credited to last members of the Polish Zbaraski family; Krzysztof and Jerzy Zbaraski.
Evidence of the City of Zbarazh formation can be seen in the Ruthenia fortress dating back to 1211 that was positioned somewhat away from current castle. Today this is a village of Zbarazky District located in the immediate proximity of Zbarazh itself and called the Village of Stary Zbarazh. At that distant time the old castle and the province was ruled by Gediminids Landlords Zbarazky.
The castle is known for being the seat of the Ukrainian aristocratic Wiśniowiecki family and its prominent members, most notably Jeremi Wiśniowiecki.


The Zbarazky landlords erected a primeval wooden fortress in the town which nowadays is called Stary Zbaraż (Old Zbarazh), a quarter mile away from their own mansion. Soon after it was incinerated during a skirmish with the tatars. All the fortification's protectors, including Vasyl Nesvizky, the grandson of Theodore Kaributas, were killed on the burning battleground. Another castle was constructed in the same location using the same materials, and its end was enacted in the same deadly way. It was set on fire during a nomadic attack in the year of 1589 while Janusz Zbarski commanded the stronghold. Later in the beginning of the 17th century, his son decided to build a masonry structure in the new location receiving guidance from Western European architects.
The first blueprints were drafted by Vincenzo Scamozzi for Krzysztof Zbaraski, but the project did not gain approval: it would remain more a palace then a marshal bastion. Scamozzi had envision his creation at first and described it in the tractate named "The idea of universal architecture", which he later on partially embodied into stone in the city of Zbarazh. It appeared that this architect took "Utopia" of Thomas More too close to his heart. Therefore, the contender won a different project by Henryk van Peene, who was quite familiar with the landlords due to his previous work on Zbaraski's palace in Kraków.


An escarped bulwark emerged from the mounds of dirt up to 12 m (39 ft) high, and a terrace for the castle troopers was laid out of 23 m (75 ft) wide. A rectangular courtyard inside had been plotted. Behind the walls arched chambers were constructed, that nowadays house specimens of arms and wooden sculptures of Pinzel's students. An entrenchment around bulwark was very wide, in some parts it is as much as 40 m (131 ft). In the middle of the fortress, regarding rules of "palazzo in fortezza", was developed a palace in the architectural style of Renaissance with early Baroque elements.
First ruination of the new fortification was endeavored by cossacks in 1648. Polish sources reported their amount as much as 100,000 strong. But it would rather be an exaggeration. There was no business for such a ferocious army to siege a small castle. Nonetheless the landlords became determined increasing security of the military outpost. In the year of 1649 it was improved complying to a design of architect Dubois from Lorraine. During some period of time the stronghold was vacant, but later on its ownership was transferred to the Wiśniowiecki family. In 1675, it was overcome and burned by Turks, and soon afterwards followed a restoration by Dimitry Wiśniowiecki. That was exactly a moment when castle was turned into a palace, losing its strategic military designation. Nevertheless, it did not stop Russian soldiers plundering a building in the years of 1707 to 1734. Dmitry Wiśniowiecki having died in 1682, the architectural complex became a property of the Potocki family. These were Joseph and later on Stanislav, Mayor of Kyiv. Zbarazh remained under the control of the Potoki family until the middle of the 19th century.
The castle was taken by the Cossacks in 1649 and the Turks in 1675. The events of 1649 are dramatized by Henryk Sienkiewicz in his novel With Fire and Sword. Ivan Bohun was heavily wounded under the castle's walls. Ivan Mazepa and Peter I are known to have visited it in 1707.


Ukrainian Independence having been announced, the castle was included into a registry of national historical architectural heritage in the year of 1994. The complex has a rectangular footprint, and surrounded on all sides by some marshland. This fortification demonstrated most advanced achievements of European marshal fortpost defense craft that included an escarped bulwarks, four bastions, and a moat encircling the building perimeter. Earlier, in the place of the palace, rectangular void was taken completely by the castles yard. The palace itself has two stories, being masonry built, with distinctive simplistic features of Renaissance era. The main entry way is emphasized by a balcony with a stone console. The outer corners of the palace are decorated with a field stone. Facades were risen in the Renaissance style as well. Gatehouse was aligned straightforward with the castle main entry. Pentagon bastions have been preserved partially. In everyone of them there are a tunnels connecting the castle yard and chambers.


Exposition  halls of the castle has been housing significant collection of arts and artifacts informing tourist and visitors of Zbarazh District history.
In 1980 the church, being itself an architectural heritage of the year 1755, accommodated District Museum of Natural History. It was founded as public entity by the Chief District Representative Department of Education Voityna Peter Denysovich. In the April 1982, it was transformed into government establishment and was serving to the needs of Ternopil Oblast's Museum of Natural History. First executive officer became Voityna Peter. In the year of 1989 Zbarazh District Museum of Natural History was headed by Matsipoora Annatoly Viktorovych. Due to a transferring the churches from the state control to respectful parishes supervision, the museum was moved into a gym that at that moment was situated in the castle
The art collection foundation at a time accumulated 4,277 items of primary fund and 1,401 items of auxiliary documents and artifacts. Major contributors to the cause were organization employees as Voityna P., Malevych A., Pohaudiy I., Matsipoora A., Mackarchuk N. The fund was enriched by materials of archeological excavations, ancient arms, paintings and sculpture artwork, numismatic collection, retro-clocks and furniture, old prints, pieces of worship, rugs and embroidery, items of everyday needs. In 1994, taking into account significant historical, architectural and creative importance of the castle legal act #78 on February 8, 1994, ruled inception of State Historic Cultural Preservation in the District of Zbarazh. For eight years of existence the fund became a part of architectural complex and filled in expositions in the halls of the museum. By a resolution of the Zbarazh board meeting on December 25, 2002, all the infrastructure and museum holding were given in service to the State Historic Architectural Preservation in the District of Zbarazh.
Using materials of art collection foundation were compiled primary expositions in the Zbarazh castle palace. These are archeological and ethnographic exhibits, as well as hall of sacred arts. State Historic Architectural Preservation expanded and enriched the museum tradition and complemented achievements of District Museum of Natural History. Every year exhibition was being enriched with items from state historic preservation fund, constant improving introductory tours is practiced, and control of excursions quality is being enacted as well. In accordance with the decree issued by the President on January 15, 2005 #35/2005 state preservation received a status of "Zamky Ternopolya" National Preservation. Nowadays the 17th century Zbarazh Castle is a center of "Zamky Ternopolya" preservation and a notable landmark of the district and the whole region. Today's museum collection consists of 50,000 items of exposition. All of them unveil a history of Zbarazh countryside in various epochs and development periods.
Zbarazh Castle exposition consist of eight distinctive exhibitions. There is an overall list of them by the area of interest:
Country archeological discoveries,
Cucuteni-Trypillian culture,
Ethnography,
Arms,
Wood carved sculptures of folk artist Volodymir Lipyichuk;
Deity sculptures;
Retro furniture,
Numismatics and notaphily,
Sacred arts;
Australia, New Zealand and Oceania chamber of Ivan Prashka, native of Zbarazh;
Galicia and Volyn embroidery;
Folk dress code;
Ceramics of renowned master of Ukrainian arts Taras Levkiv, native of Zbarazh country;
Hall of Cossacks’ Fame;
A torture chamber cellars;
Countryside crafts;
Hall of current project exhibits;
Most ancient history of Zbarazh countryside presented in archeology. All the artifacts collected on this particular subject constituted a presentation of Paleolithic Era, Bronze and Iron Age, Chernyakhov Culture, epoch of early Slavs and Kyivan Rus’. Most notable artifacts are shown off originating in Trypillian Culture found near the village of Bodaky, Zbarazh District.


Archeological excavations of Cucuteni-Trypillian culture near the village of Bodaky executed by National Preservation together with Saint Petersburg Institute Material Culture Russian Academy of Science, Ukrainian scientists and archeologists. Results of the research have yielded enough material to assemble a traveling exposition of Zbarazh countryside for presentations abroad. To the date of writing this note, it visited Varna, Orléans and Tours, Granada.
The Battle of Zbarazh entered into annals of Ukrainian history as one of the most patriotic stages of Revolutionary War for Independence. In the 1649 Zbarazh became an arena of combat straggle between Polish military and Cossack squadrons spearheaded by Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Precisely for this reason in the castle palace was created a Hall of Cossack's Fame. You would find there many busts of renowned warriors. Besides those sculptures, there is a portrait picture-show of Cossacks’ chieftains painted by Stanislav Kovalchuk Honored Artist of Ukraine .
Sacred Arts of Zbarazh countryside are represent three expositions. Castle palace three exposition halls house a collection of icons belonging to the period of 17th — first half of 20th century, that originate in Zbarazh District worship establishments. All the specimens of this assemblage were mindfully preserved by the employees. First category artist-instaurator of oil paintings Magynsky Vladimyr recovered most of them to the original state. Quite interesting is a property of parishes, that is situated in the halls of Sacred Arts securities. In particular, these are lithography and old prints, ritual and church service literature, ceremonial regalia of Christian worshiping.
Another feature deserving visitors’ attention is an exposition of Ivan Prasko's personal belongings; archbishop Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church of Australia, Oceania and New Zealand; born in the City of Zbarazh, he was a minister during 1950–1994 period of time; died in 2001, but his individual items were returned to his homeland with father Michael Bedry's help and were saved in the castle repositories.
In the separate exposition hall has been shown off sacred arts sculptures created by both Pensel's students as well as talented artist Antony Osinsky in the middle of 18th century. Their work material was a wood; polychrome technique was taken advantage of, as well as metal leaf layering of gold and silver applied. At one point of time these sculptures decorated Saint Antony's temple, but now they have become a museum collection cynosure of the castle palace. The icons and sacred sculptures collection, that were chosen out of State Historic Preservation fund, notably represented Zbarazh Castle out on a show of "Saved Relics" at Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv transpired during April-May 2000.
Ethnography and a way of live in Zbarazh countryside represented by three palace show halls. A rare collection of Galych and Volyn embroidery have been situated there. Runners and tablecloths fabricated in different techniques on homemade and factory canvases using geometrical, floral, and zoological ornamentations. Alongside in the exhibition halls there are specimens of sacred art embroidery and gender specific folk dress code of Zbarazh District in history.
A story of most popular country craftsmanship and its evolution tells us an exhibition containing articles of everyday living at the last guarder of 19th – beginning of 20th century. These are things produced with homemade canvas, figure loom rugs, earthenware and carpenter goods, wickerwork of straw, osier, and bast. Prominent feature of Zbarazh Castle is Ukrainian Honored Artist Vladimir V. Lipyichuk's sculpture collection. It constitutes more than forty authorial artifacts crafted out of lime-tree. Some items are represented by a plot of particular genre. Others are combined into duplets or triplets by common name or quotation. Lipyichuk's art work is an attempt to embody characters from well known and cherished writing of Taras Shevchenko, Ivan Franko, Lesya Ukrainka. Fans of modern Ukrainian art also demonstrate acute interest to creations of Taras Levkiv, Honored Artist of Arts, native of the Village of Malla Beresovytsya of Zbarazh District.
Separate focus of attention require collection of arms that being housed in two castle exposition halls. It was assembled out of specimens from Stone Age era, Iron Age, epoch of early and late Middle Ages, as well as period of First World War.


There is a historical chamber  of torture opened in Zbarazh Castle recently. In the dark and humid cellars of the fortress next to the dungeon walls now has been installed ancient devices that used to inflict suffering. All the hellish instrument have been manufactured using original blueprints. The charts were looked for in old archives. All the equipment is in working conditions.
The subject of instrument of torture is a very peculiar topic. They were engaged mostly in the period of Inquisition, that had been widely practiced on the territory of modern Spain, Italy, and Germany, and latter on with the spreading of Catholicism in Ukraine as well. There was a decision made to show off this equipment in the cellars of Zbarazh Castle. Between the items of exposition there is a chair of witch. There is only three hundreds years passed by since last time women sat in it for suspicion in practicing an enchantment craft. Chiefly these were most of the good looking females. The interest to this artifact is particular, but there was no one trying to sit in the seat itself though.
As of this moment in the chamber of torture there are up to ten devil's mechanisms, but the exposition has been promised to be enriched.


The Zentrale Hochschulsportanlage (ZHS) is with 125.000 Students and over 17.000 active participants each semester the biggest university sports facility in Germany. The 45 ha area lies at the Olympiapark in Milbertshofen-Am Hart in Munich and could be reached by U-Bahnhof Oberwiesenfeld or U-Bahnhof Olympiazentrum. Members can use the Oberschleißheim Regatta Course for rowing.
The TUM Department of Sport and Health Sciences is located here.


The congregation was founded in 1755 in order to serve the needs of Lutheran immigrants from Germany, as well as Germans from Pennsylvania who moved to Baltimore. It has a bilingual congregation that provides sermons in both German and English. In 1762 the congregation built its first church on Fish Street (later East Fayette Street). By 1773, a new church constitution had replaced the church's earlier core document, and eventually, the 1762 structure was also replaced by a bigger building, the current Zion Church on North Gay Street, erected from 1807 to 1808 in a Gothic style.  An additional expansion of the church to the west along East Lexington Street to North Holliday Street composed of an "Adlersaal" (Parish House), bell tower, parsonage and an enclosed garden designed of Hanseatic North German architecture was constructed under Rev. Julius K. Hoffman in 1912-1913.  In the late 1920s, the entire block south of the church was razed to form a monumental square (known as War Memorial Plaza or, less frequently, as "City Hall Plaza") opposite the Baltimore City Hall of 1875 on the western side and construction at the eastern end of the War Memorial Building with an auditorium, historical exhibit area and veterans organizations offices.  On the south side of the church buildings facing the plaza, a new headquarters for the Baltimore City Fire Department was constructed in a Georgian-Federal style complementing the original Zion Church around the corner.
German-language sermons have been provided for over 250 years at Zion Church, the only church left in Maryland still holding weekly German-language services. The church participates in the annual Maryland German Festival and is a member of the German-American Citizens Association of Maryland.
Zion Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.


The Zubizuri (Basque for "white bridge"), also called the Campo Volantin Bridge or Puente del Campo Volantin, is a tied arch footbridge across the Nervion River in Bilbao, Spain. Designed by architect Santiago Calatrava, the bridge links the Campo Volantin right bank and Uribitarte left bank of the river.


Opened in 1997, the bridge's unusual design consists of a curved walkway which is supported by steel suspension cables from an overhead arch. The structure of the bridge is painted white and the bridge deck consists of translucent glass bricks. Access ramps and stairways are located on both banks.
The Zubizuri offers pedestrians a convenient route from hotels to the nearby Bilbao Guggenheim Museum.


Since its opening, it has been subjected to praise as a symbol of the new Bilbao and as a draw for tourism. Architectural professor Alexander Tzonis wrote:
"The intelligence, vitality, and originality of the bridge's curved configuration challenged the ordinariness and slow decline of the urban setting, bringing a message of hope and an invitation to imagine better conditions."
However, other professionals have been more equivocal, bridge engineer Matthew Wells saying:
"Regrettably, the balance of light steel superstructure on the cantilevered abutment ends is strained, like a sculptural toy, and the bridge touches the ground uncomfortably."


Two subspecies nest in the United States. The subspecies A. f. acaciarum is resident from southern California, Nevada, and Utah southward into Mexico; it is associated mostly with the Sonoran Desert. The subspecies A. f. ornatus is found from New Mexico and Oklahoma southward into Mexico and is associated with the Chihuahuan Desert and its scrublands. The remaining 4-5 subspecies are resident to Mexico, and aren't known to migrate into the United States. Verdins nest in shrubs and thorny thickets with few trees. Their nests are best described as spherical masses of bulky twigs and branches that are then lined with grasses, feathers, and hair. The entrance to the nest is about 1" in diameter, and is usually at the bottom of the sphere. They feed in shrub-land and scrubby outcrops where insects are hosted and berries and seeds are plentiful.


The five subspecies of Austracantha minax are the following:
Synonyms indicated by (=)
Austracantha minax astrigera (L. Koch, 1871) - Found in mainland Australia. Characterised by an abdomen that is mainly black on top and patterned with yellow on the bottom surfaces. The spines are thicker and curved, with the rear spines visibly longer than the side spines. The sternum (chest) has a bright orange spot. First described by German arachnologist Ludwig Carl Christian Koch in 1871. The subspecific name is from Latin astriger ("star-bearing" or "starry").
(=) Gasteracantha astrigera L. Koch, 1871
(=) Gasteracantha minax astrigera (L. Koch, 1871)
Austracantha minax minax (Thorell, 1859) - Found in mainland Australia and surrounding islands, including Tasmania. Characterised by yellow to orange colouration being prevalent on the bottom of the abdomen and on the legs. The spines are more slender and are barely arched. The rear spines are almost the same length as the side spines. This is the nominate subspecies.
(=) Gasteracantha minax Thorell, 1859
(=) Gasteracantha flavomaculata Keyserling, 1865
(=) Isacantha minax (Thorell, 1859)
Austracantha minax hermitis (Hogg, 1914) - Endemic to the Montebello Islands. The abdomen is pearl grey on top. The legs, cephalothorax, and the sternum are bright orange. First described by British arachnologist Henry Roughton Hogg in 1914. The subspecific name means "from Hermite [Island]", one of the islands in the Montebello archipelago.
(=) Gasteracantha minax hermitis Hogg, 1914b
Austracantha minax leonhardii (Strand, 1913) - Found in central Australia. Characterised by reddish cephalothorax and mandibles. The legs are brownish-yellow, with only the second and third segments from the last (the tibiae and metatarsi) showing black rings at the tip. First described by Norwegian arachnologist Embrik Strand in 1913. It is named after the German anthropologist Moritz von Leonhardi, from whose spider collection the type specimen was obtained from.
(=) Gasteracantha minax leonhardii Strand, 1913c
Austracantha minax lugubris (L. Koch, 1871) - Found in mainland Australia. Characterised by legs and abdomen that are mostly black with no bright markings. The spines are slender and taper downwards. First described by German arachnologist Ludwig Carl Christian Koch in 1871. The subspecific name is from Latin lūgubris ("mournful" or "gloomy").
(=) Gasteracantha lugubris L. Koch, 1871
(=) Gasteracantha minax lugubris (L. Koch, 1871)


The common flatwing (Austroargiolestes icteromelas) is a very common species of damselfly of the subfamily Argiolestinae in the family Megapodagrionidae. It is also known as an Australian flatwing.
Both male and female common flatwings look similar, with a long and slender body about 43 mm in length, and a bright metallic-blue colour. They usually rest with their wings flat open, but females sometimes rest with wings folded up. Their antennae are very small, and their compound eyes are comparatively large. Common flatwings do not use their legs for walking, but for capturing other flying insects in the air, like all other dragonflies and damselflies. They can be found along streams and creeks, are seldom found near still water ponds, but are more likely to be found near slow running water. This species likes to rest within a few metres of a creek or stream, in a shaded area, sometimes resting in large groups among plants. They perch on leaves and, when disturbed, fly a short distance. Common flatwings tolerate people close to them.


The common flatwing is found in eastern Australia: in Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria.


In the east this butterfly prefers moist, steep woodlands while in the southwest, it favors canyon riparian habitat.  It appears to be declining in the east where it has lost habitat around Washington, D.C., and around West Virginia.


Avicennia germinans, the black mangrove, is a shrub or small tree growing up to 12 meters (39 feet) in the acanthus family, Acanthaceae. It grows in tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, on both the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, and on the Atlantic Coast of tropical Africa, where it thrives on the sandy and muddy shores where seawater reaches. It is common throughout coastal areas of Texas and Florida, and ranges as far north as southern Louisiana and coastal Georgia in the United States.
Like many other mangrove species, it reproduces by vivipary. Seeds are encased in a fruit, which reveals the germinated seedling when it falls into the water.
Unlike other mangrove species, it does not grow on prop roots, but possesses pneumatophores that allow its roots to breathe even when submerged. It is a hardy species and expels absorbed salt mainly from its leathery leaves.
The name "black mangrove" refers to the color of the trunk and heartwood. The leaves often appear whitish from the salt excreted at night and on cloudy days. It is often found in its native range with the red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) and the white mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa). White mangroves grow inland from black mangroves, which themselves grow inland from red mangroves. The three species work together to stabilize the shoreline, provide buffers from storm surges, trap debris and detritus brought in by tides, and provide feeding, breeding, and nursery grounds for a great variety of fish, shellfish, birds, and other wildlife.


The heartwood is dark-brown to black, while the sapwood is yellow-brown. It has the unusual property of having less dense heartwood than sapwood. The sapwood sinks in water while the heartwood floats. The wood is strong, heavy, and hard, but is difficult to work due to its interlocked grain, and is somewhat difficult to finish due to its oily texture. Uses include posts, pilings, charcoal, and fuel. Despite growing in a marine environment, the dry wood is subject to attack by marine borers and termites. Like many species, it contains tannins in the bark and has been used to tan leather products.


Lesser scaup are often hard to distinguish from the greater scaup when direct comparison is not possible, but in North America a large scaup flock will often have both species present. Females, juveniles and drakes in eclipse plumage are hard to identify; there is considerable overlap in length between the two species, but greater scaup are usually noticeably more bulky. Lesser scaup females and immatures tend to have less white around the bill, but this too varies considerably between individual birds. Lesser Scaup generally have a smaller and straighter bill, with a relatively narrow profile, while Greater Scaup have a wider, more spatulate profile toward the tip of the bill. The dark nail tip averages wider on Greater Scaup. In flight, the most tell-tale sign is the white secondary remiges, whereas in the greater scaup the white extends on the primary remiges also, i.e. far towards the wingtip. Lesser scaup drakes in nuptial plumage are often said to be recognizable by the purple instead of green sheen of the head and a darker back. But this is unreliable because it varies according to light conditions, and these birds are often too far away from the observer to make out any sheen at all.  The shape of the head is a crucial difference, but only when birds are at rest and not actively diving. In the greater scaup drake, the forehead is usually quite massive (especially in North American and East Asian populations), whereas the nape presents a smooth shallow curve and may appear almost straightly sloping. The lesser scaup drake presents the opposite shape, with a less bulging forehead and a nape that looks strongly curved or even angular due to the small crest. When the birds raise their heads, these differences are most easy to spot, and after observing the two species in direct comparison it usually becomes easy to recognize. In fact, in basic plumage the lesser scaup drake may appear identical in shape and size to a drake of the ring-necked duck (A. collaris); the black back and wings of that species are hard to confuse with the light ones of the lesser scaup male though.


Their breeding habitat is inland lakes and marsh ponds in tundra from Alaska through western Canada to western Montana; few breed east of James Bay and the Great Lakes. Notable breeding concentrations, with more than half a million birds at the height of the season, can be found in Alaska, in the woodlands of the McKenzie River valley and on the Old Crow Flats. These birds migrate south (mostly via the Central and Mississippi Flyways) when the young are fledged and return  early spring, usually arriving on the breeding ground in May. Lesser scaup typically travel in flocks of 25–50 birds and winter mainly on lakes, rivers and sheltered coastal lagoons and bays between the US–Canada border and northern Colombia, including Central America, the West Indies and Bermuda. Wintering lesser scaup are typically found in freshwater or slightly brackish habitat and unlike greater scaup rarely are seen offshore when unfrozen freshwater habitat is available. They may even spend the winter on lakes in parks, as long as they are not harassed, and will occur even on smallish Caribbean islands such as Grand Cayman. Thousands winter each year on the Topolobampo lagoons in Mexico, and even in the southernmost major wintering location—Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta in Colombia—hundreds of birds can be seen. In Central America, flocks are present from July on, but only really numerous after September. They move north again in April and May. In the extreme southeast and southwest of the breeding range—the Rocky Mountains region of the northwestern United States and the southern Great Lakes—lesser scaup are present all-year; it is not clear whether the breeding birds are replaced by migrants from the far north in winter, or whether the local populations do not migrate, or whether both local and migrant birds are found there in winter.
They are rarely—but apparently increasingly often—seen as vagrants in western Europe. The first documented British record was a first-winter male at Chasewater, Staffordshire in 1987 but by 2006, over 60 had been recorded, with an average of 2 per year. UK records are typically in the northern parts of the country. Vagrant lesser scaup have also been recorded on the Hawaiian Islands Japan, possibly China, and—for the first time on 18 January 2000—in the Marianas, as well as in Ecuador, Suriname, French Guiana, Trinidad and Venezuela (in winter), and Greenland (in summer).


During breeding season, redheads are found across a wide range of North America, from as far north as Northern Canada to the Caribbean. Their preferred areas include the intermontane regions of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the Dakotas with some small localities in Ontario, Quebec and southern United States. These pochards then migrate south to winter in warmer climates.  These areas include southern United States where breeding does not occur and extends to Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, and the Bahamas.  In either season, redheads use wetlands as their main habitat.


Small, semi-permanent wetlands in non-forested country where the water is deep enough to provide dense emergent vegetation is considered ideal breeding habitat for redheads.  When wintering, redheads switch to large areas of water near the coast that are protected from wave action but can also be found in reservoirs, lakes, playa wetlands, freshwater river deltas, coastal marshes, estuaries and bays.


Redheads do not have many predators and are most likely to die of disease or indirect human impact. These ducks are considered less desirable as table fare than their puddle duck cousins like the mallard; however, their beautiful plumage makes them a targeted species for waterfowl hunters looking to focus on diving ducks.  Adults can be preyed upon by northern river otters, red-tailed hawks, great horned owls, bald eagles, golden eagles and to a greater extent, minks.  Most predation comes in the form of duckling predation and egg foraging.  Northern pike and snapping turtles are known to eat ducklings whereas skunks, minks, crows and magpies will steal and eat redhead eggs.


Redheads leave their winter range in late January and February with all birds migrating by mid-March. In western North America, migrants begin arriving in Oregon, British Columbia and Colorado in February. In central North America, migrants arrive as soon as temperatures open wetlands and lakes, which can range from late February (Nebraska) to early May (Alberta, Manitoba and Iowa). In the Great Lakes region and north-eastern North America, migrants will also arrive as soon as bodies of water open up.


Western birds migrate through Great Basin to the Pacific Coast. In British Columbia, fall migration begins in September and continues through October. The Great Salt Lake region is of particular importance to migrants in western United States. Central North American redheads will begin migrating earlier, around August/September and go through the Great Plains to the Texas coast.  Eastern populations will migrate through the Great Lakes region to the Atlantic Coast or Florida from October to November. Most redheads winter along the Gulf of Mexico (offshore Louisiana, Florida and Mexico) however eastern populations will winter in South Carolina.


Redheads flock together on lakes and other bodies of water but will migrate in pairs, which are formed in December or January through elaborate courtship rituals. Unpaired redheads will migrate together in a ‘courting party’ that can be up to 25 individuals strong and hopefully find a mate within the group. The pair bonds are established yearly through a long courtship process. Males begin this process through neck-kinking and head throwing displays while emitting a cat-like call. The male will continue by initiating a neck-stretching display while producing a cough like call, a display and vocalization in which the females reciprocates. If interested, the female will herself produce inciting calls towards the male while performing alternate lateral and chin lifting movements. The male then swims ahead of her and turns the back of his head towards the female.  Once courtship is finished, the two birds are paired for the year.  Eventually, the male initiates copulation by alternating bill dipping and preening dorsally towards the female, an action in which the female might return to the male.


Once copulation is completed, female redheads begin forming nests.  They are built with thick and strong plant material in emergent vegetation, such as hard stem bulrush, cattails and sedges, over or near standing water.  Redheads do not defend their territory or home range and are actually very social while in their breeding ground. This is thought to occur because some younger, inexperienced redhead females parasitize other pochards. Some redheads lay their eggs in other pochards’ nests, including the canvasback, ring-necked duck and greater and lesser scaups and this social parasitism by redheads reduces the hatching success of other pochards’ eggs, especially those of the canvasback. In contrast, because of the parasitic relationship between the redhead and other pochards, redhead hybrids with the ring-necked duck, canvasback and the greater and lesser scaups have been found.  Canvasback x redhead hybrids can be fertile.  Brood sizes range from 5-7 young, with the mother abandoning the chicks at 8 weeks old, before they are capable of flying.  They remain flightless for another 2–4 weeks.


All pochards have similar diets that include both plant and animal materials.  Redheads undergo a niche switch when breeding and when wintering.  During the breeding season, redheads will eat as much animal matter as possible, including gastropods, mollusks and insect larvae.  They will eat the occasional grass and other emergent vegetation.  However, once they fly south, redheads will change their diet to include mostly plant material, including pondweeds, wild rice, wild celery, wigeon grass, bulrushes, muskgrass and shoal grass.
Gastropods known as food of Aythya americana include: Acteocina canaliculata, Acteon punctostriatus, Anachis avara, Anachis obesa, Caecum nitidum, Calliostoma sp., Cerithidea pliculosa, Cerithium lutosum, Crepidula convexa, Diastoma varium, Melanella sp., Mitrella lunata, Nassarius acutus, Nassarius vibex, Natica sp., Neritina virginea, Odostomia trifida, Olivella minuta, Olivella watermani, Polinices sp., Pyramidellidae, Pyrgocythara plicosa, Rissoina catesbyana, Sayella livida, Turbonilla sp., Turbonilla interrupta and Vitrinella sp.


The adult male has a long dark bill with a grey band, a red head and neck, a black breast, red eyes and a grey back. The adult female has a brown head and body and a narrower grey bill-band. The triangular head shape is distinctive. Pochards are superficially similar to the closely related North American redhead and canvasback.
Females give hoarse growls. Males have whistles cut off by a final nasal note aaoo-oo-haa.


The adult male is all black except for white flanks and a blue-grey bill with gold-yellow eyes, along with a thin crest on the back of its head. It has an obvious head tuft that gives the species its name. The adult female is brown with paler flanks, and is more easily confused with other diving ducks. In particular, some have white around the bill base which resembles the scaup species, although the white is never as extensive as in those ducks. The females' call is a harsh, growling "karr", mostly given in flight. The males are mostly silent but they make whistles during courtship based on a simple "wit-oo".
The only ducks which are similar are the greater scaup and lesser scaup, but these species have no tuft and a different call.
The tufted duck is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
Refer to the following table for measurements of the tufted duck:


The tufted duck breeds throughout temperate and northern Eurasia. It occasionally can be found as a winter visitor along both coasts of the United States and Canada. It is believed to have expanded its traditional range with the increased availability of open water due to gravel extraction, and the spread of freshwater mussels, a favourite food. These ducks are migratory in most of their range, and overwinter in the milder south and west of Europe, southern Asia and all year in the British Isles. One individual has been reported as far south as Melbourne, Australia. They form large flocks on open water in winter.


The greater scaup (Aythya marila), just scaup in Europe or, colloquially, "bluebill" in North America, is a mid-sized diving duck, larger than the closely related lesser scaup. It spends the summer months breeding in Alaska, northern Canada, Siberia, and the northernmost reaches of Europe. During the winter, it migrates south to the coasts of North America, Europe, and Japan.
Drake greater scaup are larger and have more rounded heads than the females; they have a bright blue bill and yellow eyes. Their heads are dark, with a green gloss; the breast is black, the belly white and the wing shows a white stripe. The females are mostly brown, again with white on the wing. They have dull blue bills and white on the face.
Greater scaup nest near water, typically on islands in northern lakes or on floating mats of vegetation. They begin breeding at age two, but start building nests in the first year. The drakes have a complex courtship, which takes place on the return migration to the summer breeding grounds and concludes with the formation of monogamous pairs. Females lay a clutch of six to nine olive-buff-colored eggs. The eggs hatch in 24 to 28 days. The down-covered ducklings are able to follow their mother in her search for food immediately after hatching.
Greater scaup eat aquatic molluscs, plants, and insects, which they obtain by diving underwater. They form large groups, called "rafts", that can number in the thousands. Their main threat is human development, although they are preyed upon by owls, skunks, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, and humans. Greater scaup populations have been declining since the 1980s; however, they are still listed as a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List.


The adult greater scaup is 39–56 cm (15–22 in) long with a 71–84 cm (28–33 in) wingspan and a body mass of 726–1,360 g (1.601–2.998 lb). It has a blue bill and yellow eyes and is 20% heavier and 10% longer than the closely related lesser scaup. The male has a dark head with a green sheen, a black breast, a light back, a black tail, and a white underside. The drake or male greater scaup is larger and has a more rounded head than the female. The drake's belly and flanks are a bright white. Its neck, breast, and tail feathers are a glossy black, while its lower flanks are vermiculated gray. The upper wing has a white stripe starting as the speculum and extending along the flight feathers to the wingtip. Legs and feet of both sexes are gray. The adult female has a brown body and head, with white wing markings similar to those of the male but slightly duller. It has a white band and brown oval shaped patches at the base of the bill, which is a slightly duller shade of blue than the drake's. Juvenile greater scaup look similar to adult females. The greater scaup drake's eclipse plumage looks similar to its breeding plumage, except the pale parts of the plumage are a buffy gray. Distinguishing greater from lesser scaups can be difficult in the field. The head of the greater tends to be more rounded, and the white wing stripe is more extensive. The bill is also tends to be larger and wider, often with a large black nail at the tip. The North American subspecies nearctica typically has a higher forehead and reduced white on the wings, intermediate between the European marila and Lesser Scaup.


The greater scaup has a circumpolar distribution, breeding within the Arctic Circle both in the Old World (the Palearctic) and in North America (the Nearctic). It spends the summer months in Alaska, Siberia, and the northern parts of Europe. It is also found in Asia and is present in the Aleutian Islands year round. The summer habitat is marshy lowland tundra and islands in fresh water lakes. In the fall, greater scaup populations start their migration south for the winter. They winter along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America, the coasts of northwest Europe, the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, the coast of Japan, Yellow Sea and East China Sea. During the winter months, they are found in coastal bays, estuaries, and sometimes inland lakes, such as the lakes of Central Europe and the Great Lakes.
In Europe, the greater scaup breeds in Iceland, the northern coasts of the Scandinavian peninsula, including much of the northern parts of the Baltic Sea, the higher mountains of Scandinavia and the areas close to the Arctic Sea in Russia. These birds spend the winters in the British Isles, western Norway, the southern tip of Sweden, the coast from Brittany to Poland, including all of Denmark, the Alps, the eastern Adriatic Sea, the northern and western Black sea and the southwestern Caspian Sea.
In North America, the greater scaup summers in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ungava Bay, Hudson Bay, Lake Winnipeg, northern Yukon, northern Manitoba, and northern Saskatchewan. It winters along the coasts of North America from northern British Columbia south to the Baja Peninsula and from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick south to Florida, as well as the shores of the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico.


Greater scaup breed in the tundra and the boreal forest; it is estimated that 75% of the North American population breed in Alaska. They typically nest on islands in large northern lakes. Greater scaup begin breeding when they are two years old, although they may start nesting at age one. Drake greater scaup have a soft, quick whistle they use to attract the attention of hens during courtship, which takes place from late winter to early spring, on the way back to their northern breeding grounds. Female greater scaup have a single pitch, a raspy “arrr-arrr-arrr-arrr-arrr” vocalization. The courtship is complex and results in the formation of monogamous pairs. Pairs nest in close proximity to each other in large colonies, usually near water, on an island or shoreline, or on a raft of floating vegetation. The nest consists of a shallow depression made by the female and lined with her down. After the female lays the eggs, the drake abandons the female and goes with other drakes to a large, isolated lake to molt. These lakes can be close to the breeding grounds or miles away. The lakes chosen are used yearly by the same ducks. The optimal molting lake is fairly shallow and has an abundance of food sources and cover. The female lays six to nine olive-buff-colored eggs, which she incubates for 24–28 days. A larger clutch could indicate brood parasitism by other greater scaups or even ducks of other species. Newly hatched chicks are covered with down and are soon able to walk, swim, and feed themselves; however, they are not able to fly until 40–45 days after hatching. The vulnerable small chicks follow their mother, who protects them from predators.


The greater scaup dive to obtain food, which they eat on the surface. They mainly eat molluscs, aquatic plants, and aquatic insects. During the summer months, the greater scaup will eat small aquatic crustaceans. There is a report of four greater scaups in April near Chicago swallowing hibernating leopard frogs (a species with a body length about 5 centimetres, or 2.0 in), which they dredged out of a roadside freshwater pond. In freshwater ecosystems, the greater scaup will eat seeds, leaves, stems and roots, along with sedges, pondweeds, muskgrass, and wild celery. Owing to the greater scaup's webbed feet and weight, it can dive up to 6 metres (20 ft) and stay submerged for up to a minute, allowing it to reach food sources that are unobtainable to other diving ducks.


Common predators of the greater scaup are owls, skunks, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, and humans. Greater scaup often find themselves entangled in fishing nets, thus large numbers of them drown in nets each year. Greater scaup can catch avian influenza, so future outbreaks have the potential to threaten greater scaup populations.
Although the greater scaup faces numerous threats, the most significant challenge to their survival is habitat degradation caused by a mix of human development and runoff. Greater scaup, when moulting and during the winter, are threatened by escalated levels of organochloride contaminants. Oil and sewage pollution also threaten this duck. Since 80% of the greater scaup population winters in the urbanized part of the Atlantic Flyway, these ducks are subject to high levels of organic contaminates, along with increased levels of heavy metals in foods and habitat.
A joint group of American and Canadian scientists researching scaup migration across the Great Lakes found that 100% of female greater scaup, and 77% of female lesser scaup, had escalated levels of selenium in their bodies. Selenium is an occurring semimetallic trace element that occurs naturally in some soils and minute amounts are necessary for animal life. However excessive selenium can cause reproductive harm and is highly toxic. On their migration across the Great Lakes, greater scaups are at risk of ingesting selenium by eating the invasive zebra mussels, which can render a hen infertile. This sterilization of hens is causing the population to decrease.
In a study of 107 scaup, they all had traces of iron, zinc, manganese, copper, lead, cadmium, cobalt and nickel in their tissue samples with varying concentrations of metals in different types of tissues. Further analysis revealed that the kidneys had the highest levels of cadmium, the liver had the highest levels of copper and manganese, the liver and the stomach had the highest levels of zinc, and the lungs and liver had the highest levels of iron. There was no difference in concentration when comparing genders.


The ferruginous duck prefers quite shallow fresh waterbodies with rich submerged and floating vegetation with dense stands of emergent vegetation on the margins. In some areas it will use saline or brackish pools or wetlands.  On passage and wintering will also frequent coastal waters, inland seas and large, open lagoons.


The breeding range of the ferruginous duck is from Iberia and the Maghreb east to western Mongolia, south to Arabia, although in the west is now scarce and localised and locally extirpated in some countries. The duck winters throughout the Mediterranean Basin and the Black Sea, smaller number migrate into sub-Saharan Africa via the Nile Valley. Eastern birds winter in south and south-east Asia.


The species is threatened by the degradation and destruction of its favoured habitats by anthropogenic causes which are very wide and varied including impoundment, drainage, pollution and mismanagement. The introduction of non-native species has also caused habitat degradation, e.g. the stocking of lakes with and accidental introduction of grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella has caused reductions in plant and animal biomass available for the ducks to feed on. In addition, the increased threat of drought due to climate change may pose a threat to the species in the drier parts of its range. Increased disturbance by fishing boats and anglers among marginal vegetation could cause abandonment of the breeding sites or disrupt the timing of breeding particularly in populated areas, e.g. Western Europe. Ferruginous ducks are also threatened by hunting and large numbers are shot on passage in the autumn and in the wintering areas. Although protected in most European countries illegal and accidental hunting persists. It is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies. Among recent local initiatives it should be mentioned inclusion of the breeding habitats of the species in Armenia into network of Emerald Sites protected by the Bern Convention.


Scottish-American naturalist Alexander Wilson described the canvasback in 1814. The genus name is derived from Greek aithuia, an unidentified seabird mentioned by authors, including Hesychius and Aristotle.
The species name valisineria comes from the wild celery Vallisneria americana, whose winter buds and rhizomes are the canvasback's preferred food during the nonbreeding period. The celery genus is itself named for seventeenth century Italian botanist Antonio Vallisneri.
The duck's common name is based on early European inhabitants of North America's assertion that its back was a canvas-like color. In other languages it is just a white-backed duck; for example in French, morillon à dos blanc, or Spanish, pato lomo blanco. In Mexico it is called pato coacoxtle.


It ranges from 48–56 cm (19–22 in) in length and weighs 862–1,600 g (1.900–3.527 lb), with a wingspan of 79–89 cm (31–35 in). It is the largest species in the genus Aythya, being similar in size to a mallard but with a heavier and more compact build than it. 191 males wintering in western New York averaged 1,252 g (2.760 lb) and 54 females there averaged 1,154 g (2.544 lb). The canvasback has a distinctive wedge-shaped head and long graceful neck. The adult male (drake) has a black bill, a chestnut red head and neck, a black breast, a grayish back, black rump, and a blackish brown tail. The drake's sides, back, and belly are white with fine vermiculation resembling the weave of a canvas, which gave rise to the bird's common name. The bill is blackish and the legs and feet are bluish-gray. The iris is bright red in the spring, but duller in the winter. The adult female (hen) also has a black bill, a light brown head and neck, grading into a darker brown chest and foreback. The sides, flanks, and back are grayish brown. The bill is blackish and the legs and feet are bluish-gray. Its sloping profile distinguishes it from other ducks.


The breeding habitat of the canvasback is in North American prairie potholes. The bulky nest is built from vegetation in a marsh and lined with down. Loss of nesting habitat has caused populations to decline. The canvasback usually takes a new mate each year, pairing in late winter on ocean bays. It prefers to nest over water on permanent prairie marshes surrounded by emergent vegetation, such as cattails and bulrushes, which provide protective cover. Other important breeding areas are the subarctic river deltas in Saskatchewan and the interior of Alaska.
It has a clutch size of approximately 5–11 eggs, which are greenish drab. The chicks are covered in down at hatching and able to leave the nest soon after. The canvasback sometimes lays its eggs in other canvasback nests and redheads often parasitize canvasback nests.


The canvasback feeds mainly by diving, sometimes dabbling, mostly eating seeds, buds, leaves, tubers, roots, snails, and insect larvae. Besides its namesake, wild celery, the canvasback shows a preference for the tubers of sago pondweed, which can make up 100% of its diet at times. The canvasback has large webbed feet adapted for diving and its bill helps it dig tubers from the substrate. In the late 1930s, studies showed that four-fifths of the food eaten by canvasbacks was plant material.
In the early 1950s it was estimated that there were 225,000 canvasbacks wintering in the Chesapeake Bay; this represented one-half of the entire North American population. By 1985, there were only 50,000 ducks wintering there, or one-tenth of the population. Canvasbacks were extensively hunted around the start of the 20th century, but federal hunting regulations now restrict their harvest, so hunting is ruled out as a cause for the decline. Scientists have now concluded that the decline in duck populations was due to the decline in SAV acreage. Today the population has stabilized and is even increasing slightly, although it is nowhere near previous levels. Studies have now shown that by the 1970s four-fifths of the ducks' diet was made up of Baltic Clams, which are very common in the Chesapeake Bay: the ducks have been able to adapt to the decline in SAV by changing their diet. Redheads, which also feed on SAV tubers, have not been able to adapt, and their population remains low. Canvasbacks are omnivores, eating everything from seeds to plant tubers and from mussels to insects. During the breeding season they eat both plant and animal foods, but during migration and winter they primarily eat rhizomes and tubers from aquatic plants. Canvasbacks dive straight down to depths of around 7 feet to extract pieces of aquatic plants with their bill. Other food is taken from or just below the surface of the water.


Canvasback ducks were a particularly prestigious game dish in mid-19th-century America. They were rarely found on everyday menus, and often featured at banquets. They were generally sourced from Maryland and Chesapeake Bay, and their flavor was attributed to their diet of wild celery. By the end of the century, though, they had become "scarce, expensive, or unobtainable".
Edith Wharton refers to canvasback  with  blackcurrant sauce as an especially luxurious dinner served in New York City  in the 1870s. Canvasback duck was a canonical element, along with Terrapin à la Maryland, of the elegant "Maryland Feast" menu, an "elite standard... that lasted for decades".


Populations have fluctuated widely. Low levels in the 1980s put the canvasback on lists of special concern, but numbers increased greatly in the 1990s. The canvasback is particularly vulnerable to drought and wetland drainage on the prairies of North America.
Many species of ducks, including the canvasback, are highly migratory, but are effectively conserved by protecting the places where they nest, even though they may be hunted away from their breeding grounds. Protecting key feeding and breeding grounds is key for conserving many types of migratory birds.


Bacopa monnieri is one of the most widespread Bacopa species. It commonly grows in marshy areas throughout India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, China, Pakistan, Taiwan, Vietnam, tropical and southern Africa, on Madagascar, in Australia, in the Caribbean as well as in Middle and South America. It is also found in  Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and Hawaii.


The most commonly reported adverse effects of Bacopa monnieri in humans are nausea, increased intestinal motility, and gastrointestinal upset.


The best characterized phytochemicals  in Bacopa monnieri are dammarane-type triterpenoid saponins known as bacosides, with jujubogenin or pseudo-jujubogenin moieties as aglycone units. Bacosides comprise a family of 12 known analogs. Other saponins called bacopasides I–XII were identified. The alkaloids brahmine, nicotine, and herpestine have been catalogued, along with D-mannitol, apigenin, hersaponin, monnierasides I–III, cucurbitacin and plantainoside B.


Badumna longinqua was originally native to eastern Australia. The spider was unintentionally introduced and colonised into New Zealand and now is widespread throughout both the North and South Islands. This species is found throughout the North Island but is selected within the South Island  as it is not as common southern and western of the South Island due to unfavourable environmental conditions. The colonisation of this species has increased over the last few decades due to human transport and trade, most likely arriving during colonial times, via inert phoresy on ships, planes, trains, and merchandise. The species was only first reported in New Zealand in the twentieth century. The range expansion of the species is due to human activities. This is because Badumna longinqua is able to spread within goods in transportation such as ships, trains and planes, which, offer warmth and the availability of food. Another speculated arrival method is that of ballooning, a means of dispersal in Araneae where a spiderling lets out a thread of silk called gossamer, which is carried away by wind or a thermal updraft, causing the spider to become airborne. Badumna insignis, a closely related, slightly larger species, commonly named the common black spider or black house spider, has also colonised New Zealand, but only as far as the northern part of the North Island.


The black-crested titmouse or Mexican titmouse (Baeolophus atricristatus), is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. Once considered a subspecies of the tufted titmouse (B. bicolor), it was recognized as a separate species in 2002. It is native to southern Texas, Oklahoma, and east-central Mexico. Vagrants have been seen as far north and east as St. Louis, Missouri.
The bird is 5.5 to 6.0 in (14 to 15 cm) long, with rusty flanks, gray upperparts, and a whitish belly. The male has a long, dark black crest that is usually erect, while the female's crest is not as dark. It is common wherever trees grow, whether they are deciduous, heavy timber, or urban shade trees. Its call peter, peter, peter is similar to that of the tufted titmouse, but shorter. Its diet consists of berries, nuts, spiders, insects, and insect eggs.
The black-crested titmouse nests in tree cavities, telephone poles, fence posts, and bird boxes. The eggs, four to seven of which are laid in March or April, are white with reddish-brown spots.


Its habitat is deciduous and mixed woods as well as gardens, parks, and shrublands. Although the tufted titmouse is non-migratory and originally native to the Ohio and Mississippi River basins, factors such as bird feeders have caused these birds to occupy a larger amount of territory across the United States and stretching into Ontario and Quebec in Canada. During the second half of the 20th century and during the 21st, the species' range has been expanding northwards.


From 1966 to 2015 the tufted titmouse population has increased by more than 1.5% per year throughout the northeastern U.S., Michigan, and Wisconsin. The current breeding population is estimated to be approximately 8 million.


The tufted titmouse gathers food from the ground and from tree branches, frequently consuming a variety of berries, nuts, seeds, small fruits, insects, and other invertebrates. Caterpillars constitute a major part of its diet during the summer. This species is also a regular visitor to bird feeders. Its normal pattern is to scout a feeder from cover, fly in to take a seed, then fly back to shelter to consume the morsel, though caching is also very common.
The titmouse can demonstrate curiosity regarding humans, and sometimes will perch on a window ledge and seem to be peering into the house. It may also cling to the windows and walls of buildings seeking prey in wasp and hornet nests.
Titmice are very vocal and will respond to sounds of agitation in other birds. This species readily forms small flocks, known as troupes or banditries, which often associate with chickadees and other passerines when foraging.


Tufted titmice nest in a hole in a tree, either a natural cavity, a human-made nest box, or sometimes an old woodpecker nest. They line the nest with soft materials, sometimes plucking hair from a live animal such as a dog. If they find snake skin sheddings, they may incorporate pieces into their nest. Eggs measure under 1 inch (2.5 centimetres) long and are white or cream-colored with brownish or purplish spots. Eggs have an incubation period of 12–14 days; titmice will then remain nestlings for 15–16 days.
The lifespan of the tufted titmouse is approximately 2.1 years, although it can live for more than ten years. On average, these birds will have a clutch size of five to seven eggs. Unlike many birds, the offspring of tufted titmice will often stay with their parents during the winter, and even after the first year of their life. Sometimes, a bird born the year before will help its parents raise the next year's young.
Tufted titmice will occasionally hybridize with the black-crested titmouse; the hybridization range is very narrow, however, due to genetic differences.


The oak titmouse (Baeolophus inornatus) is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. The American Ornithologists' Union split the plain titmouse into the oak titmouse and the juniper titmouse in 1996, due to distinct differences in song, preferred habitat, and genetic makeup.
The oak titmouse is a small, brown-tinged gray bird with small tuft or crest. The face is plain, and the undersides are a lighter gray. Sexes are similar, as there is very little to no sexual dimorphism.
This species lives year-round on the Pacific slope, resident from southern Oregon south through California west of the Sierra Nevada to Baja California, but its range surrounds the central San Joaquin Valley. It prefers open woodlands of warm, dry oak and oak-pine at low to mid-elevations but can also be found in forests as long as adequate oak trees are present.
The oak titmouse will sleep in cavities, dense foliage or birdhouses. When roosting in foliage, the titmouse chooses a twig surrounded by dense foliage or an accumulation of dead pine needles, simulating a roost in a cavity. It forms pairs or small groups, but does not form large flocks. It may join mixed-species flocks after breeding season for foraging. Pairs stay together after the breeding season.
Oak titmice eat insects and spiders, and are sometimes seen catching insects in mid air. They will also take berries, acorns, and some seeds. This species forages on foliage, twigs, branches, trunks, and occasionally on ground, sometimes hanging upside down to forage, and hammering seeds against branches to open them. Oak titmice are attracted to feeders with suet, peanut butter and sunflower seeds.
The song of the oak titmouse is a series of repeated phrases of two or three notes with the last note of lower pitch; usually three to seven phrases are grouped together. The call is a scratchy tsicka-dee-dee.
The oak titmouse builds its nest in a woodpecker hole, a natural cavity, or a nest box, using grass, moss, mud, hair, feathers, and fur. It breeds from March into July, with peak activity in April and May, laying 3–9 eggs, usually 6–8. The female is the primary incubator, with incubation taking 14–16 days. Young are altricial and are tended by both parents in nest for 16–21 days. Parents continue to tend to young for another three to four weeks after they leave the nest.
The oak titmouse and juniper titmouse appear almost identical, but differ in voice as well as range. The oak titmouse has a browner back than the juniper titmouse. The oak titmouse gives a repeated series of three to seven syllables, each comprising one low and one high note, while the juniper titmouse song consists of a series of rapid syllables on the same note. Ranges overlap only in a small area in California. The tufted titmouse, which does not overlap in range, has a whiter belly, rusty flanks, and black on the forehead.


The juniper titmouse (Baeolophus ridgwayi) is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. The American Ornithologists' Union split the plain titmouse into the oak titmouse and the juniper titmouse in 1996, due to distinct differences in song, preferred habitat, and genetic makeup.
The juniper titmouse is a small, gray bird with small tuft or crest. The face is plain, and the undersides are a lighter gray. Sexes are similar.
This titmouse lives year-round primarily in the Great Basin, but is resident from southeastern Oregon and central Colorado south to the eastern Mojave Desert in California and central Arizona, as far as west Texas and extreme northeastern Sonora, Mexico-(the Madrean sky islands). It prefers open woodlands of warm, dry pinyon-juniper, juniper and desert riparian woods.
Juniper titmice will sleep in cavities, dense foliage, or birdhouses. When roosting in foliage, the titmouse chooses a twig surrounded by dense foliage or an accumulation of dead pine needles, simulating a roost in a cavity. It forms pairs or small groups, but does not form large flocks. It may join mixed-species flocks after breeding season for foraging.
The juniper titmouse eats insects and spiders, sometimes seen catching insects in mid air. It also eats berries, acorns, and some seeds, sometimes hammering seeds against branches to open them. The bird forages on foliage, twigs, branches, trunks, and occasionally on the ground. Strong legs and feet allows it to hang upside down to forage. Juniper titmice visit feeders with suet, peanut butter, and seeds.
The song of the juniper titmouse is a rolling series of notes given on the same pitch.  Its call sounds like a raspy tschick-adee.
This species builds its nest in a woodpecker hole, natural cavity, or nest box, lining it with grass, moss, mud, hair, feathers, and fur. It breeds from March into July, with peak activity in April and May, laying 3–9 eggs, usually 4–7.  The female is the primary incubator, the process of which takes 14–16 days. Young are altricial, and are tended by both parents in nest for 16–21 days. Parents continue to tend to young for another three to four weeks after the young leave the nest.
The oak titmouse and juniper titmouse appear almost identical, but differ in voice as well as range. The oak titmouse has a browner back than the juniper titmouse. The oak titmouse gives a repeated series of three to seven syllables, each composed of one low and one high note, while the juniper titmouse song consists of a series of rapid syllables on the same note. Ranges overlap only in a small area in California.  The tufted titmouse, which does not overlap in range, has whiter belly, rusty flanks, and black on the forehead.


The bridled titmouse (Baeolophus wollweberi) is a small songbird, a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae.
These birds range from 11.5 – 12.7 cm. (4.5 to 5 in.) long. It is small, crested and gray with a black and white patterned face, a black bib. Its crest is boarded with black and white (sometimes gray) underparts. A standard nest ranges from 5 – 9 eggs colored white, speckled, or reddish brown.
Their preferred habitat are oak or oak-juniper mixed woodland riparian areas of mountains in eastern and southeastern Arizona – (the Mogollon Plateau and White Mountains of Arizona), and extreme southwestern New Mexico – (the Madrean sky islands region of the eastern Sonora Desert) in the United States to southern Mexico. They nest in a hole in a tree, either a natural cavity or sometimes an old woodpecker nest found 4 – 28 ft. off the ground. They line the nest with soft materials. Usually built from loose cups of cottonwood down, stems, leaves, and grass.
These birds are permanent residents and may join small mixed flocks in winter. They forage actively on branches, sometimes on the ground, mainly eating insects, especially caterpillars, but also seeds, nuts and berries. They will store food for later use. The song is usually described as a whistled pidi-pidi-pidi-pidi.  They make a variety of different sounds, most having a similar tone quality.


The name of the genus is derived from the Ancient Greek word bapto, meaning "to dip" or "immerse", while the specific name australis is Latin for "southern". Additional common names of this plant exist, such as indigo weed, rattleweed, rattlebush and horsefly weed. The common name "blue false indigo" is derived from it being used as a substitute for the superior dye-producing plant Indigofera tinctoria.


This plant grows to about 30–60 cm (12–24 in) high, with a maximum of 1 m (3 ft 3 in).  The stem is ribbed and hairless, branched at the base. It has basal rosettes of shiny, dark green leaves. The basal leaves are stalked and lyre-pinnatifid, that is with a large terminal lobe and smaller lower lobes. The cauline leaves are smaller, ovate, toothed, or lobed. The flowers are borne  in spring in dense terminal clusters above the foliage. They are  7–9 mm (0.28–0.35 in) long, with four bright yellow petals. The flowering period extends from about April through July. The fruit is a pod around 15–30 mm (0.59–1.18 in).
Chemical substances in this species include saponins, flavonoids, and glucosinolates.


It is found in temperate North Africa within Algeria and Tunisia. Also in Asia, within Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Caucasus, China (in the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Jilin and Xinjiang), Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Japan (in the provinces Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Ryukyu Islands and Shikoku), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Siberia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Turkey. It is also found in tropical parts Asia, such as India (-
in the provinces of Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh), Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
In eastern Europe, it is found within Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova and Ukraine. In middle Europe, it is in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland. In northern Europe, in Denmark, Ireland, Sweden and United Kingdom. In southeastern Europe, within Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia. Lastly, it is found in southwestern Europe, it is found in France, Portugal and Spain.


The plant prefers fresh or moist places, on roadsides, along rivers, in arable land, wastelands and docklands, or on the slopes and in ditches, at an altitude of 0–2,500 m (0–8,202 ft) above sea level.
It also prefers to grow in siliceous, calcareous, sandy, alluvial and clay soils.


Barkleyanthus is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the aster family, Asteraceae, containing the single species Barkleyanthus salicifolius, a plant formerly classified in the genus Senecio. It is native to North and Central America, where its distribution extends from the southwestern United States to El Salvador. Its common names include willow ragwort, willow groundsel, Barkley's-ragwort, and jarilla.
This plant is a shrub producing a branching stem usually about one to two meters tall, but known to exceed 4 meters at times. The leaves are roughly lance-shaped and are alternately arranged, sometimes more densely toward the ends of branches. They are up to 10 or 15 centimeters long. The inflorescence is often a wide array of several flower heads, but they may also be clustered in the leaf axils or branch tips. The head contains a few yellow ray florets, which are pistillate, and up to 25 or more yellow disc florets, which are bisexual. The fruit is a rough-textured, pyramidal or prism-shaped cypsela up to a centimeter long including its pappus of many barbed white bristles.
This plant is abundant in parts of its range, particularly in Mexico, sometimes becoming weedy. It flowers year-round, especially in spring, and it may be in full flower at the end of the dry season. It is admired for its yellow flower heads and is cultivated as an ornamental plant.
The plant is used in Mexican traditional medicine to treat fever and rheumatism. In Chiapas it is used as an insecticide in corn supplies. Secondary metabolites isolated from the species include pyrrolizidine alkaloids, lactones, furoeremophilanes, and sesquiterpenes.


The Australian ringneck (Barnardius zonarius) is a parrot native to Australia. Except for extreme tropical and highland areas, the species has adapted to all conditions. Treatments of genus Barnardius have previously recognised two species, the Port Lincoln parrot (Barnardius zonarius) and the mallee ringneck (Barnardius barnardi), but due to these readily interbreeding at the contact zone they are usually regarded as a single species B. zonarius with subspecific descriptions. Currently, four subspecies are recognised, each with a distinct range.
In Western Australia, the ringneck competes for nesting space with the rainbow lorikeet, an introduced species.  To protect the ringneck, culls of the lorikeet are sanctioned by authorities in this region. Overall, though, the ringneck is not a threatened species.


The subspecies of the Australian ringneck differ considerably in colouration. It is a medium size species around 33 cm (11 in) long. The basic colour is green, and all four subspecies have the characteristic yellow ring around the hindneck; wings and tail are a mixture of green and blue.
The B. z. zonarius and B. z. semitorquatus subspecies have a dull black head; back, rump and wings are brilliant green; throat and breast bluish-green. The difference between these two subspecies is that B. z. zonarius has a yellow abdomen while B. z. semitorquatus has a green abdomen; the latter has also a prominent crimson frontal band that the former lacks (the intermediate shown in the box has characteristics of both subspecies). The two other subspecies differ from these subspecies by the bright green crown and nape and blush cheek-patches. The underparts of B. z. barnardi are turquoise-green with an irregular orange-yellow band across the abdomen; the back and mantle are deep blackish-blue and this subspecies has a prominent red frontal band. The B. z. macgillivrayi is generally pale green, with no red frontal band, and a wide uniform pale yellow band across the abdomen.
The calls of the Mallee ringneck and Cloncurry parrot have been described as "ringing", and the calls of the Port Lincoln ringneck and Twenty-eight parrot have been described as "strident". The name of the Twenty-eight  is an onomatopoeic derived from its distinctive call, which sounds like "twenty-eight"  (or the French equivalent, '"vingt-huit", according to one early description).


The Australian ringneck was first described by English naturalist George Shaw and drawn by Frederick Polydore Nodder in the 1805 in their work The Naturalist's Miscellany: Or, Coloured Figures of Natural Objects; Drawn and Described Immediately From Nature. He called it Psittacus zonarius "zoned parrot". A broad-tailed parrot, it is most closely related to the rosellas of the genus Platycercus, and has been placed in that genus by some authorities, including Ferdinand Bauer.
Pre-existing names for the species, derived from the Nyungar language of Southwest Australia, are dowarn [pronounced dow’awn] and doomolok [dorm’awe’lawk]; these were identified from over one hundred records of regional and orthographic variants to supplement the names already suggested by John Gilbert, Dominic Serventy and others.
Currently, four subspecies of ringneck are recognised, all of which have been described as distinct species in the past: (As of 1993, the Twenty-eight and Cloncurry parrot were treated as subspecies of the Port Lincoln parrot and the mallee ringneck, respectively.)
Several other subspecies have been described, but are considered synonyms with one of the above subspecies. B. z. occidentalis has been synonymised with B. z. zonarius. Intermediates exist between all subspecies except for between B. z. zonarius and B. z. macgillivrayi. Intermediates have been associated with land clearing for agriculture in southern Western Australia.
The classification of this species is still debated, and molecular research by Joseph and Wilke in 2006 found that the complex split genetically into two clades—one roughly correlating with B. z. barnardi and the other with the other three forms; B. z. macgillivrayi was more closely related to B. z. zonarius than to the neighbouring B. z. barnardi. The researchers felt it was premature to reorganise the classification of the complex until more study was undertaken.


The golden-crowned warbler is 12.7 cm (5.0 in) long and weighs 10 g (0.35 oz). It has grey-green upperparts and bright yellow underparts. The head is grey with a black-bordered yellow crown stripe, a yellow or white supercilium and a black eyestripe. Sexes are similar, but the immature golden-crowned warbler is duller, browner and lacks the head pattern other than the eyestripe.


The common basilisk can be distinguished from similar species within its range by its large size and the high fin-like crest along its back. Most common basilisks are brown and cream in color.  Males also have high crests on the head and tail. Both sexes are brown to olive, and have a white, cream, or yellow stripe on the upper lip and a second stripe along either side of the body; these stripes have higher contrast in juveniles and fade as the lizards age.
Hatchlings weigh a mere 2 grams (0.071 oz) and are 38 to 43 mm (1.5 to 1.7 in) long. Adults can grow to a total length (including tail) of 76 cm (2.5 feet). Females are generally 135 to 194 g (4.8 to 6.8 oz), and weigh half as much as males. The tail comprises 70 to 75% of the total length: for example, a 70-cm-long (27.5-inch-long) common basilisk would have a 50-cm-long (19.5-inch-long) tail. The common basilisk has a large mouth with saw-like teeth on the inner sides of the jaw. While the common basilisk is most known for its ability to run on water, it is also an excellent climber and swimmer, and has been known to stay underwater for up to half an hour. The average lifespan is seven years in captivity; in the wild, it tends to be less because of predators.
When startled, the common basilisk escapes by speeding to the nearest edge of water—and continues sprinting. The lizard runs on only its hind legs in an erect position, holding its forelegs to its sides. The common basilisk is adroit on water because its feet are large and equipped with flaps of skin along the toes that allow it to catch on tiny air bubbles. When moving quickly, the lizard can cross a surface of water before sinking. On water, it runs an average speed of 24.1 km/h (or 15 mph), which is just a little slower than its speed on land. Younger basilisks can run 10 to 20 m (33 to 66 ft) on water, while adults cross only a few meters before sinking. Adults do not move slowly, but they weigh more and cannot sprint for as long a time. Once a basilisk submerges, it continues swimming until it is sufficiently far from its pursuer — if the predator has followed past the bank. Although the common basilisk stays close to water to escape terrestrial predators, it swims only when necessary because some other aquatic animals would eat it given the chance.


Batrachoseps attenuatus is found in several plant communities including California oak woodland, redwood forest, Douglas fir forest, montane hardwood conifer, grasslands and riparian zone; occurrence ranges from valley floors to mid-elevation in coastal ranges.  From approximately October to March, the California slender salamander seeks cover near streams and other moist environments.  This batrachian often may be found resting beneath leaf litter or other woodland detritus, or beneath rotting logs or rocks providing a wet environment.  The slender shape of the California slender salamander is well adapted to penetration of earthworm or termite burrows to forage for prey, usually consisting of tiny arthropods such as mites, spiders and snails.  In the dry season commencing in April this species seeks out tunnels or burrows, including rodent homes, to achieve a cooler and moister retreat than available at the surface.
California slender salamanders have demonstrated an ability to survive in some urban and suburban environments.  For example, in November 1996, San Francisco Bay Area homeowners reported finding trapped and desiccated California slender salamanders in their sunken bricked patio.  Homeowners in the same area reported finding California slender salamanders in their yard in 2004. California slender salamander has been found in Saranap CA pool next to Las Trampas Creek June 2019.


From fall to spring the California slender salamander is active on the ground surface, foraging under leaf litter and in tunnels created by a variety of other fauna; however, activity is heightened in intervals of light rain and immediately thereafter.  From May to October, aestivation is the norm for this species.  Unlike other members of its genus, egg-laying occurs quite early, as soon as December in the southern part of its range.  Oviposition is thought to occur primarily in the tunnels of other creatures, but clusters have commonly been found on moist surfaces beneath bark, rocks, or other types of forest detritus.  Clutches contain approximately five to twenty individual eggs, but five to ten different females may use the exact oviposition site; in any case, hatching occurs around March or April, somewhat later in the extreme northern part of the range.
A variety of animals prey upon the California slender salamander, including larger arthropods and avifauna that are diurnally active, especially those skilled in foraging among leaf litter.  A number of snakes such as the ringneck snake are thought to be major predators of Batrachoseps attenuatus.  In terms of its own predation, the California slender salamander can out-compete other salamander species in its specialized niche of searching for food in narrow tunnels.


The garden slender salamander's natural habitats, in the Transverse and Peninsular Ranges, are chaparral and woodlands, temperate coniferous forests, arable land, rural gardens, and urban areas.
This salamander eats worms of many types and crawling arthropods of lesser size, such as pill bugs.


The black-bellied slender salamander is about 3.1 to 4.3 cm long. It has a worm-like body, a small head and small limbs, and a long cylindrical tail, often twice the length of its body.
The black-bellied slender salamander can have a black, tan, reddish, brown or beige dorsum often with a contrasting broad mid-dorsal stripe of similar colors. It has a purplish or black venter with fine light speckling over the entire surface.
This species will coil its body and tail when handled; it is fragile and easily injured.  Batrachoseps nigriventis looks similar to the related species Batrachoseps pacificus and Batrachoseps gabrieli.


Battarrea phalloides may be found growing solitary to scattered on dry, sandy hedgebanks (raised or mounded boundary feature, often topped by a hedgerow), sometimes growing amongst elm suckers. It is a relatively rare species, but may be locally abundant in some locations. In Mexico, where it is only known from the north and central part of the country, it has been usually collected in arid and semiarid areas, on coastal dunes, found from sea level up to 2,550 m (8,370 ft) high. The mushroom has been associated with the quick-growing evergreen tree Schinus molle, as well as Lycium brevipes, Solanum hindsianum, Salicornia subterminalis, Atriplex linearis, Quercus agrifolia and Opuntia species, in coastal dunes. The largest fruit bodies were found on floodplains with halophilic (i.e., thriving in high-salt conditions) vegetation. In Belgium, specimens were found on sandy soil under dead elderflower bushes.
In North America, Battarrea phalloides has been collected from the Yukon Territory, western Canada; the US, where it is confined to the west— Southern California, New Mexico, and Arizona— Mexico, and Hawaii. It has also been reported growing in South America (Brazil), Africa (Morocco), Europe (Belgium and North Macedonia), China, and Australia. Due to a decline in sightings, B. phalloides was granted legal protection in Hungary in 2005, making it a finable offense to pick them. It received similar protected status in the United Kingdom in 1998.
The habitat and range of Battarrea stevenii include arid regions of the western and southwestern United States, Australia, South Africa, and several European countries, including Russia.


The pipevine swallowtail has a wide distribution across the Northern Americas. In the United States, the butterfly is found in New England down to Florida west to Nebraska, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Oregon. There is also an isolated population in central California. They have been observed as far south as Mexico and as far north as Ontario, although these sightings are inconsistent.
The butterfly frequents warmer, more temperate environments, and can be found mostly in open grasslands, woodlands, meadows, and backyard gardens. They favor anywhere pipevine (Aristolochia) can grow in abundance.


The eggs of the pipevine swallowtail vary in color from red to orange. They are small and are laid on host plant stems. A distinctive feature of these eggs which is shared by all Aristolochia butterflies is that the outer layer of the egg is covered by a firm and nourishing excretion laid in vertical stripes along the outside. The egg appears bumpy due to the excretion forming large beads along the bands. The female pipevine swallowtail deposits this excretion from a gland above the ovipositor during the egg laying process.
These butterflies lay their eggs on the leaves of host plants in clusters with access to sunlight. The larvae hatch after a few weeks and immediately eat the remnants of the egg from which they emerged.


Pipevine swallowtail larvae are around 5 cm in length and vary in color from dark brown to black. In areas of higher temperature such as Texas and Arizona, a red coloring dominates. Larvae have bright orange spots on the ends of tubercles in rows along their body, and at either end of the body the tubercles are elongated into filaments. Full grown larvae have a glossy or velvet appearance due to many fine hairs. Larvae sex determination can be done by looking at pits along the ventral surface at the ends of the abdominal sections.
Larvae spend almost all their time eating the leaves of their host plants. Once they completely remove edible matter from one plant they move to the next one. They eat in groups at first but as food sources deplete they become more solitary as they move on in search of fresh host plants. Larvae filaments help them identify vertical plants, which are then determined to be host or non-host by using their mouthparts. The larvae feed and wander for several weeks before finding an isolated spot to pupate.


The pipevine swallowtail pupae are colored green or brown. They are about 6 to 7 cm in length. These pupae differ from other swallowtail butterfly pupae in that the sides of their pupae bodies widen into a sort of a winged appearance, with distinctive purplish edges along the sides of these extensions.
Pipevine swallowtail pupation takes place many feet off the ground on tree trunks or other suitable spots. Pupation is rare on green surfaces. Pupation begins when the larva releases silk to form a support structure so that the chrysalis can hang safely. In colder climates, it will spend the winter as a pupa, but in warmer climates, pupation only lasts a few weeks. Prior to emerging as an adult, the wing markings of the butterfly can be seen through the chrysalis.