The white-fronted plover forages during both day and night, using the typical plover run-stop-search technique. This consists of running around, stopping suddenly to peck at an item and then running again. Prey can be pecked from the surface of water, or caught with shallow jabs, inserting less than half of the bill into the substratum. Another method used to forage is foot-trembling, which involves vibrating the toes on substratum to disturb small insects or force invertebrates to the surface. This has not been reported in the Madagascan populations. Other feeding techniques include flying up to catch insects, and feeding on insects that wash up on shore after getting caught in water. The main prey of the white-fronted plover are sand flies, grasshoppers, termites, mosquito pupae, fairy shrimp, gastropods, bivalves, isopods, crabs, and other small crustaceans and worms.
Plovers mainly forage in the upper half of the intertidal zone on sandy beaches, along high water lines and flooded depressions of dunes in summer. In winter, they forage lower on the shore. They often follow the waves in and out, foraging on the freshly wetted ground. They prefer foraging during low tide, but also in kelp wrack at high tide. In the middle of the day, they often stop foraging to preen.
Some individuals defend their feeding territories year round, while others forage in non-territorial flocks, sometimes in mixed-species flocks with sanderlings (Calidris alba) and curlew sandpipers (Calidris ferruginea).


The white-fronted plover is a monogamous solitary breeder with a life expectancy of approximately 11 years. It is usually found in pairs or in small flocks,  but can also appear in larger flocks during the breeding season. For example, a flock of 375 individuals was observed in Namibia. Mates generally stay faithful to each other for a long period of time, however 'divorce' has been recorded in some cases. Plovers that have lost mates have been observed to acquire new mates, without losing their territory. This monogamy may be due to a reduced availability of alternative breeding options or possibly high costs of  divorce.
Courtship displays include male plovers performing an upright posture accompanied by high stepping movements, while females lower their head. A few shallow nest scapes may be created in the breeding territory before choosing the final nest site.
The white-fronted plover is very defensive of its territory. If an intruder invades the territory, the bird puffs out its plumage and chases away the intruder while uttering buzzing calls.


The typical white-fronted plover nest consists of a small shallow scrape in sand, gravel, or shingle, depending on the environment, and is sometimes lined with shell fragments, pebbles, seaweed or twigs. However scrapes are most commonly unlined. Nests are generally more than 70 m above the high water mark. They are often built among beach debris or near dune vegetation. Scrapes are created by the bird pushing its breast into the ground, slowly rotating whilst kicking backwards. Pairs may create more than one crape before choosing one to nest in, as scrape building often overlaps with courtship. 1-3 eggs are laid, with mean clutch size varying for different populations. In South Africa, mean clutch size is 2.05; in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi, it is 2.53 eggs. Egg laying dates vary between populations, which nest all year round on the coast but only from December to January in inland Namibia. Eggs are laid at 2-7 day intervals and are pale cream coloured, pointed ovals marked with fine blackish brown points and lines. The average dimensions of a white-fronted plover egg are 32.1 x 22.8 mm. Before the clutch is complete, the pair often visit the nest together, and occasionally straddle the egg, however no incubation is undertaken before the final egg is laid. During this joint behaviour, ‘croo’ calls are made.


The main threat to the white-fronted plover is habitat loss due to wetland degradation or destruction. In Zimbabwe and southern Mozambique, an extensive recession of the species’ inland range has taken place due to changes to river morphologies resulting from dam constructions. Key wetland sites in southern Africa, such as Walvis Bay in Namibia, have been subject to degradation because of the reclamation of wetlands for the development of suburbs, ports and roads. In Ghana, coastal erosion as well as proposed development involving drainage and land reclamation constitute a big threat for wetlands used as breeding habitat.
Major causes of nest loss in some regions are flooding due to spring tides and disturbance from tourists or off-road vehicles that drive through the breeding sites.


The piping plover (Charadrius melodus) is a small sand-colored, sparrow-sized shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange-red legs, a black band across the forehead from eye to eye, and a black stripe running along the breast line. This chest band is usually thicker in males during the breeding season, and it is the only reliable way to tell the sexes apart. The bird is difficult to see when it is standing still, as it blends well with open, sandy beach habitats. It typically runs in short, quick spurts and then stops.
There are two subspecies of piping plovers: the eastern population is known as Charadrius melodus melodus and the mid-west population is known as C. m. circumcinctus. The bird's name is derived from its plaintive bell-like whistles which are often heard before the bird is visible.
Total population is currently estimated to be between 7600 - 8400 individuals. Intensive conservation efforts have yielded slow population growth, but it is expected that this trend would reverse if conservation efforts were stopped. As of 1986, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service lists the Great Lakes population as endangered and the Northern Great Plains and Atlantic populations as threatened.
Their breeding habitat includes beaches and sand flats on the Atlantic coast, the shores of the Great Lakes, and in the mid-west of Canada and the United States. They nest on sandy or gravel beaches or shoals. These shorebirds forage for food on beaches, usually by sight, moving across the beaches in short bursts. Generally, piping plovers will forage for food around the high tide wrack zone and along the water's edge. They eat mainly insects, marine worms, and crustaceans.


The piping plover lives the majority of its life on open sandy beaches or rocky shores, often in high, dry sections away from water. They can be found on the Atlantic Coast of the U.S. and Canada on the ocean or bay beaches and on the Great Lakes shores. It builds its nests higher on the shore near beach grass and other objects. It is very rare to see a piping plover anywhere outside of sand or rocky beaches/shores while not migrating. Piping plovers are often found to migrate south to The Bahamas during winter months. They have also been recorded across Cuba, with rarer occurrences elsewhere throughout the West Indies, and even Ecuador and Venezuela.
Piping plovers migrate from their northern range in the summer to the south in the winter months, migrating to the Gulf of Mexico, the southern Atlantic coast of the United States and the Caribbean. They begin migrating north in mid-March. Their breeding grounds extend from southern Newfoundland south to the northern parts of South Carolina. Migration south begins in August for some adults and fledglings, and by mid-September most piping plovers have headed south for winter.


The piping plover usually arrives at sandy beaches to breed in mid to late April.
Males will begin claiming territories and pairing up in late March. When pairs are formed, the male begins digging out several scrapes (nests) along the high shore near the beach-grass line. The males also perform elaborate courtship ceremonies, including stone tossing and courtship flights featuring repeated dives. Scrapes, small depressions in the sand dug by kicking the sand, are often in the same area that least terns choose to colonize. Females will sit and evaluate the scrapes, then choose a good scrape and decorate the nest with shells and debris to camouflage it. Once a scrape is seen as sufficient, the female will allow the male to copulate with her. The male begins a mating ritual of standing upright and "marching" towards the female, puffing himself up and quickly stomping his legs. If the female had seen the scrape as adequate, she will allow the male to stand on her back and copulation occurs within a few minutes.
Most first-time nest attempts in each breeding season are four-egg nests which appear as early as mid-to-late April. Females lay one egg every other day. Second, third and sometimes fourth nesting attempts may have only three or two eggs. Incubation of the nest is shared by both the male and the female. Incubation is generally 27 days and eggs usually all hatch on the same day.
After chicks hatch, they are able to feed within hours. The adults' role is then to protect them from the elements by brooding them. They also alert them to any danger. Like many other species of plovers, adult piping plovers will often feign a "broken wing display", drawing attention to themselves and away from the chicks when a predator may be threatening the chicks' safety. The broken wing display is also used during the nesting period to distract predators from the nest. A major defense mechanism of the chicks is their ability to blend in with the sand. It takes about 30 days before chicks achieve flight capability. They must be able to fly at least 50 yd (46 m) before they can be considered fledglings.
To protect the nests from predators during incubation, many conservationists use exclosures, such as round turkey-wire cages with screened tops. These allow the adults to move in and out but stop predators from getting to the eggs. After the chicks hatch, many areas will put up snow fencing to restrict driving and pets for the safety of the chicks. Threats to nests include crows, cats, raccoons, and foxes, among others. Exclosures are not always used, as they occasionally draw more attention to the nest than would occur without the exclosure. Natural hazards to eggs or chicks include storms, high winds, and abnormal high tides; human disturbances can cause the abandonment of nests and chicks as well. It is best to stay away from any bird that appears distressed to prevent any unintended consequences.


The piping plover is globally threatened and endangered; it is uncommon and local within its range, and has been listed by the United States as "endangered" in the Great Lakes region and "threatened" in the remainder of its breeding range. While it is federally threatened, the piping plover has been listed as state endangered in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.  The Parker River Refuge on Plum Island, Massachusetts is a national network of lands and rivers dedicated to the safety of its native wildlife and specifically the Piping Plover.  Protecting the Piper with full beach closures, the Refuge now "has the second largest plover population on the [Massachusetts] North Shore".
In eastern Canada, the piping plover is found only on coastal beaches. In 1985, it was declared an endangered species by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. A large population in Ontario has disappeared entirely. In 2008, however, piping plover nests were found at Wasaga Beach and near Sauble Beach, Ontario, along the Ontario Great Lakes shores. There is also some evidence of nesting at other sites in Ontario, including Port Elgin, Ontario in 2014.
In the 19th century and early 20th century, the piping plover was utilized for its feathers, as were many other birds at the time, as decorations for women's hats. These decorations, called plumes, became a symbol of high society, especially those from larger rare birds. This practice led to its initial population decline. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 helped the population recover through the 1930s. The second decline in the piping plover's population and range has been attributed to increased development, shoreline stabilization efforts, habitat loss and human activity near nesting sites in the decades following World War II. The Great Lakes populations eventually shrank to only around two dozen. On the Missouri River sandbars, the number of breeding individuals varied, with the population increasing from 2012 to 2017 following a major habitat creation event.
Critical nesting habitats are now being protected to help the population during its breeding season. Populations have seen significant increases since the protection programs began, but the species remains in serious danger. Current conservation strategies include identification and preservation of known nesting sites; public education; limiting or preventing pedestrian and/or off-road vehicle (ORV) traffic near nests and hatched chicks; limiting predation of free-ranging cats, dogs and other pets on breeding pairs, eggs and chicks; and removal of foxes, raccoons, skunks, and other predators.
In coastal areas such as Plymouth, Cape Cod, Long Island, Sandy Hook, Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware, North Manitou Island in Lake Michigan, and most recently, Cape Hatteras National Seashore on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, beach access to pedestrians and off-road vehicles has been limited to protect piping plovers and their chicks at critical times of the breeding season.
Various environmental organizations are involved in aiding restoration efforts. The Goldenrod Foundation unsuccessfully filed suit against the Town of Plymouth in 2010 and 2015 to restrict offroad vehicle access to breeding habitat.
In 2019, the first documented pair of piping plovers in Chicago nested at Montrose Beach. The pair, named Monty and Rose by locals, hatched three chicks in July, becoming the first within Cook County in 60 years. Threats to the nest and chicks included a planned music festival that was canceled to ensure the birds were protected. Monty and Rose returned to the area in 2020 and 2021, again laying eggs and hatching chicks, although some eggs and chicks were lost to natural predators. In May 2022, the male shorebird, Monty, died after returning to Montrose Beach.


A main part of the piping plover’s range is in the Prairie Pothole Region of South Dakota, North Dakota, and Canada. The shallow wetlands of this region fluctuate water surface area in response to wet-dry periods. Piping plovers who breed in this region depend on the decreased water levels to reveal shorelines that they use for nesting. Climate change, along with consolidation drainage, drainage of smaller wetlands into another wetland to create fewer, larger wetlands, has begun to create fuller wetlands, reducing shoreline nesting habitat. Research of 32 piping plover wetland habitats in this region found that wetlands with risen water levels had lower chances of piping plover presence. This suggests that the warming climate and increased water levels and precipitation will degrade piping plover breeding habitats in the Prairie Pothole Region.


Climate change is also causing sea level rise, which may affect the piping plover's other main habitat, the Atlantic Coast of the U.S. and Canada. Research has assessed sea level rise’s threat to the piping plover habitat on barrier islands in Long Island, New York, finding that sea level rise will reduce piping plover breeding areas. Breeding habitats have the potential to migrate inland, but would still be reduced as a result of human development, which would reduce the migrated habitat 5-12%. This may lead to conflict between piping plover habitat conservation and human recreation because sea level rise will make the habitats take up a larger proportion of the islands. Research also shows that a large hurricane with the risen sea levels could flood up to 95% of piping plover habitat, so increased coastal storms induced by climate change, combined with rising sea level, could be very damaging.
Similar research has been conducted on the Florida coastline, part of the piping plovers’s Atlantic coast habitat, to evaluate the habitat’s sensitivity to sea level rise caused by climate change. Florida coastline species are at particular risk to climate change because of not just sea level rise, but also increased tropical storms. The piping plover depends on this habitat because it migrates south from its breeding habitats to winter in Florida for about three months. It is predicted that there will be a 16% loss of coastal landforms from inundation by the year 2100. Further, the sea level rise may make the coastline more complex, which may produce more habitat fragmentation. Thus, the changing landforms of the Florida coastline will likely affect piping plover ecology. Research also shows that of the shorebird species affected by the Florida coastline transformation, piping plovers are at high risk of decline.


The snowy plover (Charadrius nivosus) is a small wader in the plover bird family, typically about 5-7" in length. It breeds in the southern and western United States, the Caribbean, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. Long considered to be a subspecies of the Kentish plover, it is now known to be a distinct species.
Parts of or entire beaches along the Central California coast are protected as nesting sites for the snowy plover and completely restricted to humans. UC Santa Barbara and the Vandenberg Space Force Base are two organizations leading the effort for beaches near them.


The snowy plover breeds on sandy coasts and brackish inland lakes, and is uncommon on fresh water. It nests in a ground scrape and lays three to five eggs.
Breeding birds in warmer countries are largely sedentary, but northern and inland populations are migratory, wintering south to the tropics.
In North America, the snowy plover breeds from Texas and Oklahoma west to California and up the coastline to Oregon and Washington. The coastal form's primary breeding concentration is in central and southern California.


Coastal snowy plovers will hunt both close to the water's edge, as well as in drier, sandier areas. Inland birds favor damp, wetter environments. Food is typically obtained by a run-and-pause technique, though birds have been known to probe sand and chase insects near carcasses. The species primarily feeds on invertebrates, such as crustaceans, worms, beetles, and especially flies.


On March 5, 1993 the western snowy plover was listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. As of June 19, 2012, the habitat along the California, Oregon, and Washington Coasts have been listed as critical. In 2016, risk assessments by the IUCN listed the snowy plover as near threatened and found that the species had an overall decreasing population trend.  In many parts of the world, it has become difficult for this species to breed on beaches because of disturbance from the activities of humans or their animals.


The red-capped plover (Charadrius ruficapillus), also known as the red-capped dotterel, is a small species of plover.
It breeds in Australia. This species is closely related to (and sometimes considered conspecific with) the Kentish plover, Javan plover, and white-fronted plover.


The red-capped plover is widespread in Australia; it is a vagrant to New Zealand, although it bred there for some time in small numbers from 1950–1980. The species occupies a range of coastal and inland habitats, including estuaries, bays, beaches, sandflats, and mudflats; inland saline wetlands. It is also found in inland wetland areas with bare ground.


The red-capped plover feeds mostly on small invertebrates, especially molluscs, crustaceans, and worms.


Semipalmated plovers forage for food on beaches, tidal flats and fields, usually by sight. They eat insects (such as the larvae of long-legged and beach flies, larvae of soldier flies and shore flies, mosquitoes, grasshoppers and Ochtebius beetles), spiders, crustaceans (such as isopods, decapods and copepods) and worms (such as polychaetes). They also consume small molluscs including bivalves and gastropods, including snails such as coffee bean snails and Odostomia laevigata. These opportunistic feeders also feed on berries or seeds from grasslands or cultivated fields. This bird resembles the killdeer but is much smaller and has only one band. Since the semipalmated plover nests on the ground, it uses a "broken-wing" display to lure intruders away from the nest, in a display similar to the related killdeer.


The three-banded plover, or three-banded sandplover (Charadrius tricollaris), is a small wader. This  plover is resident and generally sedentary in much of East Africa, southern Africa and Madagascar. It occurs mainly on inland rivers, pools, lakes and pans, frequening their exposed shores. This species is often seen as single individuals, but it will form small flocks. It hunts by sight for insects, worms and other invertebrates. Three-banded plovers have a sharp whistled weeet-weet call. Its larger and darker-plumaged sister species, Forbes's plover, replaces it in West Africa and in the moist tropics. The two species have largely allopatric breeding ranges. Both species present a distinctively elongated profile, due to their proportionally long tail and wings.


The adult three-banded plover is 18 cm in length. It has long wings and a very long tail, and therefore looks different from most other small plovers in flight, the exception being the closely related Forbes's plover.
The adult three-banded plover has medium brown upperparts, and the underparts are white except for the two black breast bands, separated by a white band, which give this species its common and scientific names. The head is strikingly patterned, with a black crown, white supercilia extending from the white forehead to meet on the back of the neck, and a grey face becoming brown on the neck. The orbital ring is orange-red, and the base of the otherwise black bill is rosy red in colour.
The Madagascan subspecies C. t. bifrontatus has a grey band between the bill and the white forehead, and the sides of the head are grey. A genetic study reported genetic differentiation between Madagascar and the mainland population. The sexes are similar with respect to plumage and size. Juveniles of the nominate and Madagascan subspecies also resemble the adults, although the forehead is brownish for a short time, and the wing coverts show buff fringes. This species is distinguished from the larger and darker Forbes's plover in that the latter has a brown forehead and lacks a white wingbar.


The killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) is a large plover found in the Americas. It was described and given its current scientific name in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae. Three subspecies are described. The killdeer's common name comes from its often-heard call. Its upperparts are mostly brown with rufous fringes, the head has patches of white and black, and two black bands cross the breast. The belly and the rest of the breast are white. The nominate (or originally described) subspecies breeds from southeastern Alaska and southern Canada to Mexico. It is seen year-round in the southern half of its breeding range; the subspecies C. v. ternominatus is probably resident in the West Indies, and C. v. peruvianus inhabits Peru and areas of the surrounding countries throughout the year. North American breeders winter from their resident range south to Central America, the West Indies, and the northernmost portions of South America.
The nonbreeding habitat of the killdeer includes coastal wetlands, beach habitats, and coastal fields. Its breeding grounds are generally open fields with short vegetation (but locations such as rooftops are sometimes used); although it is a shorebird, it does not necessarily nest close to water. The nest itself is a scrape lined with vegetation and white material, such as pebbles or seashell fragments. This bird lays a clutch of four to six buff to beige eggs with dark markings. The breeding season (starting with egg-laying) occurs from mid-March to August, with later timing of egg-laying in the northern portion of the range. Both parents incubate the eggs for 22 to 28 days typically. The young stay in the nest until the day after being hatched, when they are led by their parents to a feeding territory (generally with dense vegetation where hiding spots are abundant), where the chicks feed themselves. The young then fledge about 31 days after hatching, and breeding first occurs after one year of age.
The killdeer primarily feeds on insects, although other invertebrates and seeds are eaten. It forages almost exclusively in fields, especially those with short vegetation and with cattle and standing water. It primarily forages during the day, but in the nonbreeding season, when the moon is full or close to full, it forages at night, likely because of increased insect abundance and reduced predation during the night. Predators of the killdeer include various birds and mammals. Its multiple responses to predation, range from calling to the "ungulate display", which can be fatal for the performing individual. This bird is classified as least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, because of its large range and population. Its population is declining, but this trend is not severe enough for the killdeer to be considered a vulnerable species. It is protected by the American Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 and the Canadian Migratory Birds Convention Act.


The nominate subspecies of the killdeer breeds in the US (including southeastern Alaska), southern Canada, and Mexico, with less widespread grounds further south, to Panama. Some northern populations are migratory. This bird is resident in the southern half of its breeding range, found throughout the year in most of the contiguous United States. It also winters south to Central America, the West Indies, Colombia, Ecuador, and islands off Venezuela, leaving its breeding grounds after mid-July, with migration peaking from August to September. Migration to the breeding grounds starts in February and ends in mid-May.
The subspecies C. v. ternominatus is thought to be resident in the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and Virgin Islands. C. v. peruvianus is seen year-round in western Ecuador, Peru, and extreme northwestern Chile.
The killdeer uses beach habitats and coastal wetlands and fields during the nonbreeding season. It forages almost exclusively in these fields, especially those with short vegetation and with cattle (which likely shorten the vegetation) and standing water. When breeding, the killdeer has a home range of about 6 ha (15 acres), although this is generally larger when nesting more than 50 m (160 ft) away from water. Although generally a low-land species, it is found up to the snowline in meadows and open lakeshores during its autumn migration.


The killdeer forms pairs on its breeding grounds right after arriving. Both sexes (although the male more often than the female) advertise in flight with loud "killdeer" calls. The male also advertises by calling from a high spot, scraping out a dummy nest, and with killdeer flights, where it flies with slow wingbeats across its territory. Ground chases occur when a killdeer has been approached multiple times by another killdeer; similarly, flight chases occur when an individual has been approached from the air. Both are forms of territorial defense.
The killdeer nests in open fields or other flat areas with short vegetation (usually below 1 cm (0.39 in) tall), such as agricultural fields and meadows. Nests are also sometimes located on rooftops. This plover frequently breeds close to where it bred the previous year. The male seems to usually renest in the same area regardless of whether or not he retains the same mate. This does not appear to be true of the female, which has been observed to not use the same territory if she does not have the same mate. The nest itself is merely a shallow depression or scrape in the ground, fringed by some stones and blades of grass. It is generally built with white nesting material instead of darker colors; the function of this is suspected to either help keep the nest cool or conceal it. In a study of piping plovers, the former function was supported, as nests were 2 °C (3.6 °F) to 6 °C (11 °F) cooler than the surrounding ground. The latter function also had some support, as the plovers generally chose pebbles closer in color to the eggs; nests that contrasted more with the ground suffered more predation. When nesting on rooftops, the killdeer may choose a flat roof, or build a nest of raised gravel, sometimes lined with white pebbles or pieces of seashells.
The eggs of the killdeer are typically laid from mid-March to early June in the southern portion of the range, and from mid-April to mid-July in the northern part. In both cases, the breeding season itself extends to about August. In Puerto Rico, and possibly in other Caribbean islands, breeding occurs year-round.
The killdeer lays a clutch of four to six eggs that are buff to beige in color, with brown markings and black speckles. The eggs are about 38 by 27 mm (1.5 by 1.1 in) in size, and laid at intervals of 24 to 48 hours. The energy expenditure of both sexes is at its highest during egg-laying; the female needs to produce eggs, and the male needs to defend his territory. Both of the sexes are closer to the nest site than usual during egg-laying and incubation, although the male is generally closer than the female during all stages of breeding. This latter fact is likely due to the male's increased investment in nest-site defense. Up to five replacement clutches can be laid, and  occasionally two broods occur. Second broods are usually laid in nesting territory of the first brood. The eggs are incubated for 22 to 28 days by both the male and the female, with the former typically incubating at night. The time dedicated to incubation is related to temperature, with one study recording that killdeer incubated eggs 99% of the time when the temperature was about 13 °C (55 °F), 76% of the time around 26 °C (79 °F), and 87% of the time at about 35 °C (95 °F). When it is hot (above at least 25 °C (77 °F)), incubation cools the eggs, generally through shading by one of the parents.
About 53% of eggs are lost, mainly to predators. The young are precocial, starting to walk within the first days of their life. After they hatch, both parents lead them out of the nest, generally to a feeding territory with dense vegetation under which the chicks can hide when a predator is near. The chicks are raised, at least in single-brood pairs, by both parents, likely because of the high failure rate of nests and the need for both parents to be present to successfully raise the young. In these broods, the young are usually attended by one parent at a time (generally the female) until about two weeks of age, after which both parents are occasionally seen together with the chicks. Otherwise, the inattentive adult is at least about 23 m (75 ft) away from the chicks. Periods of attentiveness for each parent generally last from about one to one and a half hours. When the chicks are young, this is mainly spent standing; as the chicks get older, less time is dedicated to standing. When the young are below two weeks of age, the attending adult spends little time feeding; foraging time increases as the chicks grow. The inattentive adult defends the young most of the time when they are less than a week old, but this task steadily shifts onto the attentive adult, until about three weeks of age, when the attending parent does almost all of the defense. One parent at a time broods the chicks, and does so frequently until they are two days old. The young are brooded during day until about 15 days after hatching and during night for about 18 days after hatching. The only time when they are not in the presence of a parent is when the parents are mating or responding to a predator or aggressive conspecific.
When a pair has two broods, the second is usually attended by just the male (which is able to hatch the eggs on his own, unlike the female). In this case, the male does not spend most of the time standing; the amount of time he does stand, though, stays constant as the chicks age. Like attentive adults in two-parent broods, the sole parent increases the time spent foraging as the young age.
The young fledge about 31 days after hatching, and generally move to moister areas in valleys and on the banks of rivers. They may be cared for by their parents for up to 10 days after they fledge, and exceptionally for 81 days after hatching. About 52 to 63% of nests fail to produce any fledged young. Breeding starts after one year of age. The killdeer has a maximum lifespan of at least 10 years and 11 months.


The killdeer feeds primarily on insects (especially beetles and flies), in addition to millipedes, worms, snails, spiders, and some seeds. It opportunistically takes tree frogs and dead minnows. It forages almost exclusively in fields (no matter the tide), especially those with short vegetation and with cattle (which likely shorten the vegetation) and standing water. Standing water alone does not have a significant effect on field choice unless combined with cattle. Viable disseminules can be recovered from killdeer feces, indicating that this bird is important in transporting aquatic organisms.
The killdeer uses visual cues to forage. An example of this is "foot-trembling", where it stands on one foot, shaking the other in shallow water for about five seconds, pecking at any prey stirred up. When feeding in fields, it sometimes follows plows to take earthworms disturbed to the surface. The female forages significantly more than the male during most stages of breeding. The former feeds the most before and during egg-laying, the least when incubation starts (as little time to feed remains), with a return to high levels after. During the nonbreeding season, the killdeer forages during the night, depending on the lunar cycle. When the moon is full, it feeds more at night and roosts more during the day. Foraging at night has benefits for this bird, including increased insect abundance and reduced predation.


The killdeer is parasitized by acanthocephalans, cestodes, nematodes, and trematodes. It is preyed upon by herring gulls, common crows, raccoons, and striped skunks. The mentioned birds and other avian predators are the majority of predators in some areas during the breeding season. Predation is not limited to eggs and chicks: mustelids, for example, can kill incubating adults.


Adult C. sexpunctata measure 5–7 mm in length. They are variable in color from reddish-brown with black spots to brilliant, mirror-like gold, earning it the nickname "goldbug". Elytral margins are expanded and nearly transparent.
The color changes through its development, during mating, and during times of disturbance, such as when it is touched by a human researcher. Scientists have not examined the color-change mechanism in this species.  However, color change in the related Panamanian Charidotella egregia (also called 'golden tortoise beetle') occurs when this beetle's elytra hydrate and dehydrate.  Adults of both species can turn from shiny gold through reddish-brown when disturbed.


This beetle consumes foliage of plants in the family Convolvulaceae, including bindweeds, morning glory and sweet potato. Both adults and larvae feed on foliage.
These beetles play dead when disturbed.


Parasitoids of this species include the eulophid wasp Tetrastichus cassidus and the tachinid fly Eucelatoriopsis dimmocki. Other predators, especially of the larvae, include ladybird beetles, damsel bugs, shield bugs and assassin bugs.


The southern screamer (Chauna torquata), also known as the crested screamer, belongs to the order Anseriformes. It is found in southeastern Peru, northern Bolivia, Paraguay, southern Brazil, Uruguay and northern Argentina. Its diet consists of plants stems, seeds, leaves, and, rarely, small animals.


The southern screamer averages 81–95 cm (32–37 in) long and weighs 3–5 kg (6.6–11.0 lb). They are the heaviest, although not necessarily the longest, of the three screamers. The wingspan is around 170 cm (67 in). Among standard measurements, the wing chord measures 54 cm (21 in), the tail 23.2 cm (9.1 in), the culmen 4.5 cm (1.8 in) and the long tarsus 11 cm (4.3 in). It lives in tropical and sub-tropical swamps, estuaries and watersides.


The magpie perch (Cheilodactylus (Pseudogoniistius) nigripes), magpie morwong or black-striped morwong, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, traditionally regarded as belonging to the family Cheilodactylidae, the members of which are commonly known as morwongs. It is found off southern Australia and northern New Zealand from shallow depths to 250 m (820 ft).


The magpie perch is found in Australia and New Zealand. In Australia is can be found from Albany, Western Australia along the southern coast and northwards on the eastern coast as far as Sydney, it can also be found off the islands in the Bass Strait and northern Tasmania. The epipelagic larvae and small juveniles drift with the currents from Australia across the Tasman Sea accounting for the infrequent records from northern and eastern New Zealand. It can be found on sheltered and exposed coastal reefs, often encountered in caves and below overhangs, at depths between 0 to 25 m (0 to 82 ft).


Chelidonium majus, the greater celandine, is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae. One of two species in the genus Chelidonium, it is native to Europe and western Asia and introduced widely in North America.
The plant known as lesser celandine (Ficaria verna) is not closely related, as it belongs to the buttercup family Ranunculaceae.


Chelidonium majus is native in most regions of Europe. It is also found in North Africa in Macaronesia, Algeria and Morocco. In Western Asia it is found in the Caucasus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia, Iran and Turkey.


It is considered an aggressive invasive plant in parts of North America, and an invasive plant in other areas. In Wisconsin, for example, it is a restricted plant. Control is obtained mainly via pulling or spraying the plant before seed dispersal.


The whole plant is toxic in moderate doses as it contains a range of isoquinoline alkaloids; use in herbal medicine requires the correct dose. The main alkaloid present in the herb and root is coptisine. Other alkaloids present include methyl 2'-(7,8-dihydrosanguinarine-8-yl)acetate, allocryptopine, stylopine, protopine, norchelidonine, berberine, chelidonine, sanguinarine, chelerythrine, and 8-hydroxydihydrosanguinarine.   Sanguinarine is particularly toxic with an LD₅₀ of 18 mg per kg body weight (IP in rats). Caffeic acid derivatives, such as caffeoylmalic acid, are also present.
The characteristic latex also contains proteolytic enzymes and the phytocystatin chelidostatin, a cysteine protease inhibitor. It is a traditional folk remedy against warts in France and the UK. It is used in the preparation of a range of off-the-shelf treatments for warts and skin conditions.
Chelidonium is used to make Ukrain, a drug that has been promoted for, but is not known to be effective for, the treatment of cancer and viral infections.
The fresh herb is no longer used officially. No dose-finding studies exist and the reported clinical studies are characterised by a considerable heterogeneity.
Except for homeopathic medicines, the drug is no longer used in most English-speaking countries. In Germany and Switzerland, extracts of Chelidoni herba are a controversial component of the gastric remedy "Iberogast". The OTC-preparation is a top-selling product for the company Bayer, which is now under investigation for not warning consumers from possible hepatotoxic side-effects when taking the drug. Elevated liver-enzymes and toxic hepatitis with a documented fatality have been reported.
The plant is poisonous to chickens.


The aerial parts and roots of greater celandine are used in herbalism. The above-ground parts are gathered during the flowering season and dried at high temperatures. The root is harvested in autumn between August and October and dried. The fresh rhizome is also used. Celandine has a hot and bitter taste. Preparations are made from alcoholic and hot aqueous extractions (tea). The related plant bloodroot has similar chemical composition and uses as greater celandine.
As far back as Pliny the Elder and Dioscorides (1st century CE) this herb has been recognized as a useful detoxifying agent. The root has been chewed to relieve toothache. John Gerard's Herball (1597) states that "the juice of the herbe is good to sharpen the sight, for it cleanseth and consumeth away slimie things that cleave about the ball of the eye and hinder the sight and especially being boiled with honey in a brasen vessell."
It was formerly used by some Romani people as a foot refresher; modern herbalists use its purgative properties.
The modern herbalist Juliette de Baïracli Levy recommended greater celandine diluted with milk for the eyes and the latex for getting rid of warts. Chelidonium was a favourite herb of the French herbalist Maurice Mességué.
Chelidonium majus has traditionally been used for treatment of various inflammatory diseases including atopic dermatitis. It is also traditionally used in the treatment of gallstones and dyspepsia.
The Iroquois give an infusion of whole plant, another plant and milk to pigs that drool and have sudden movements.
It was also once used to treat liver disorders, owing to the juice's resemblance to bile.


The common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) is a species of large freshwater turtle in the family Chelydridae. Its natural range extends from southeastern Canada, southwest to the edge of the Rocky Mountains, as far east as Nova Scotia and Florida. The three species of Chelydra and the larger alligator snapping turtles (genus Macrochelys) are the only extant chelydrids, a family now restricted to the Americas. The common snapping turtle, as its name implies, is the most widespread.
The common snapping turtle is noted for its combative disposition when out of the water with its powerful beak-like jaws, and highly mobile head and neck (hence the specific epithet serpentina, meaning "snake-like"). In water, it is likely to flee and hide underwater in sediment. The common snapping turtle has a life-history strategy characterized by high and variable mortality of embryos and hatchlings, delayed sexual maturity, extended adult longevity, and iteroparity (repeated reproductive events) with low reproductive success per reproductive event.
Females, and presumably also males, in more northern populations mature later (at 15–20 years) and at a larger size than in more southern populations (about 12 years). Lifespan in the wild is poorly known, but long-term mark-recapture data from Algonquin Park in Ontario, Canada, suggest a maximum age over 100 years.


Common habitats are shallow ponds or streams. Some may inhabit brackish environments, such as estuaries. These sources of water tend to have an abundance of aquatic vegetation due to the shallow pools. Common snapping turtles sometimes bask—though rarely observed—by floating on the surface with only their carapaces exposed, though in the northern parts of their range, they also readily bask on fallen logs in early spring. In shallow waters, common snapping turtles may lie beneath a muddy bottom with only their heads exposed, stretching their long necks to the surface for an occasional breath. Their nostrils are positioned on the very tip of the snout, effectively functioning as snorkels.
Snapping turtles are omnivorous.  Important aquatic scavengers, they are also active hunters that use ambush tactics to prey on anything they can swallow, including many invertebrates, fish, frogs, reptiles (including snakes and smaller turtles), unwary birds, and small mammals. In some areas adult snapping turtles can occasionally be incidentally detrimental to breeding waterfowl, but their effect on such prey as ducklings and goslings is frequently exaggerated. As omnivorous scavengers though, they will also feed on carrion and a surprisingly large amount of aquatic vegetation.
Common snapping turtles have few predators when older, but eggs are subject to predation by crows, American mink, skunks, foxes, and raccoons. As hatchlings and juveniles, most of the same predators will attack them as well as herons (mostly great blue herons), bitterns, hawks, owls, fishers, American bullfrogs, large fish, and snakes. There are records during winter in Canada of hibernating adult common snapping turtles being ambushed and preyed on by northern river otters. Other natural predators which have reportedly preyed on adults include coyotes, American black bears, American alligators and their larger cousins, alligator snapping turtles. Large, old male snapping turtles have very few natural threats due to their formidable size and defenses, and tend to have a very low annual mortality rate.
These turtles travel extensively over land to reach new habitats or to lay eggs. Pollution, habitat destruction, food scarcity, overcrowding, and other factors drive snappers to move; it is quite common to find them traveling far from the nearest water source. Experimental data supports the idea that snapping turtles can sense the Earth's magnetic field, which could also be used for such movements (together with a variety of other possible orientation cues).
This species mates from April through November, with their peak laying season in June and July. The female can hold sperm for several seasons, using it as necessary. Females travel over land to find sandy soil in which to lay their eggs, often some distance from the water. After digging a hole, the female typically deposits 25 to 80 eggs each year, guiding them into the nest with her hind feet and covering them with sand for incubation and protection.
Incubation time is temperature-dependent, ranging from 9 to 18 weeks. One study on the incubation period of the common snapping turtle incubated the eggs at two temperatures: 20 °C (68 °F) and 30 °C (86 °F). The research found that the incubation period at the higher temperature was significantly shorter at approximately 63 days, while at the lower temperature the time was approximately 140 days. In cooler climates, hatchlings overwinter in the nest. The common snapping turtle is remarkably cold-tolerant; radiotelemetry studies have shown some individuals do not hibernate, but remain active under the ice during the winter.
Common snapping turtle hatchlings have recently been found to make sounds before nest exit onto the surface, a phenomenon also known from species in the South American genus Podocnemis and the Ouachita map turtle. These sounds are mostly "clicking" noises, but other sounds, including those that sound somewhat like a “creak” or rubbing a finger along a fine-toothed comb, are also sometimes produced.
In the northern part of their range snapping turtles do not breathe for more than six months because ice covers their hibernating site. These turtles can get oxygen by pushing their head out of the mud and allowing gas exchange to take place through the membranes of their mouth and throat. This is known as extrapulmonary respiration.
If they cannot get enough oxygen through this method they start to utilize anaerobic pathways, burning sugars and fats without the use of oxygen. The metabolic by-products from this process are acidic and create very undesirable side effects by spring, which are known as oxygen debt. Although designated as "least concern" on the IUCN redlist, the species has been designated in the Canadian part of its range as "Special Concern" due to its life history being sensitive to disruption by anthropogenic activity.


Currently, no subspecies of the common snapping turtle are recognized. The former Florida subspecies osceola is currently considered a synonym of serpentina, while the other former subspecies Chelydra rossignonii and Chelydra acutirostris are both recognized as full species.


In their environment, they are at the top of the food chain, causing them to feel less fear or aggression in some cases. When they encounter a species unfamiliar to them such as humans, in rare instances, they will become curious and survey the situation and even more rarely may bump their nose on a leg of the person standing in the water. Although snapping turtles have fierce dispositions, when they are encountered in the water or a swimmer approaches, they will slip quietly away from any disturbance or may seek shelter under mud or grass nearby.


The common snapping turtle is not an ideal pet. Its neck is very flexible, and a wild turtle can bite its handler even if picked up by the sides of its shell. The claws are  as sharp as those of bears, cannot be trimmed as can dog claws.This would be animal cruelty. The turtle uses its paws like a bear for hunting and slicing food, while biting it. Despite this, a snapping turtle cannot use its claws for either attacking (its legs have no speed or strength in "swiping" motions) or eating (no opposable thumbs), but only as aids for digging and gripping. Veterinary care is best left to a reptile specialist. A wild common snapping turtle will make a hissing sound when it is threatened or encountered, but they prefer not to invoke confrontations.
It is a common misconception that common snapping turtles may be safely picked up by the tail with no harm to the animal; in fact, this has a high chance of injuring the turtle, especially the tail itself and the vertebral column. Lifting the turtle with the hands is difficult and dangerous. Snappers can stretch their necks back across their own carapace and to their hind feet on either side to bite. When they feel stressed, they release a musky odor from behind their legs.
It may be tempting to rescue a snapping turtle found on a road by getting it to bite a stick and then dragging it out of immediate danger. This action can, however, severely scrape the legs and underside of the turtle and lead to deadly infections in the wounds. The safest way to pick up a common snapping turtle is by grasping the carapace above the back legs. There is a large gap above the back legs that allows for easy grasping of the carapace and keeps hands safe from both the beak and claws of the turtle. It can also be picked up with a shovel, from the back, making sure the shovel is square across the bottom of the shell. The easiest way, though, is with a blanket or tarp, picking up the corners with the turtle in the middle.
Snapping turtles are raised on some turtle farms in Mainland China.


This 45–51 cm duck looks like a small goose, and mostly feeds by grazing in flocks.
The male is grey with a dark brown head and mottled breast. The female has white stripes above and below the eye and mottled underparts. Both sexes have grey wings with black primaries and a white speculum. Juveniles are similar to adult females, but lighter and with a more streaky breast.


The Australian wood duck is widespread in Australia, including Tasmania. The Australian wood duck is found in grasslands, open woodlands, wetlands, flooded pastures and along the coast in inlets and bays. It is also common on farmland with dams, as well as around rice fields, sewage ponds and in urban parks. It will often be found around deeper lakes that may be unsuitable for other waterbirds' foraging, as it prefers to forage on land. It has been recorded as a vagrant in New Zealand, although in 2015 and 2016 a pair successfully bred there.


The Australian wood duck eats grasses, grains, clover and other herbs, and occasionally, insects. It is rarely seen on open water, preferring to forage by dabbling in shallow water, or in grasslands and crops.


The seeds are edible, and the shoots, stalks, and leaves can be eaten as greens. The 1889 book 'The Useful Native Plants of Australia records that common names include "Australian Spinach" and "Fat-hen". It also states that it is a "pot-herb", which may be utilised in the same manner as spinach. It is called oñk i:waki in Oʼodham, 'salt greens'. Although an introduced plant, it has become a summer green commonly collected from the wild -one of the hottest and more arid areas of North America.
Care should be taken not to confuse this species with deadly black nightshade, which looks similar when young. The leaves of Chenopodium murale have a white mealy texture, and the axils have a red streak.


Chenopodium album  is a fast-growing weedy annual plant in the genus Chenopodium. Though cultivated in some regions, the plant is elsewhere considered a weed. Common names include lamb's quarters, melde, goosefoot, wild spinach and fat-hen, though the latter two are also applied to other species of the genus Chenopodium, for which reason it is often distinguished as white goosefoot. Chenopodium album is extensively cultivated and consumed in Northern India as a food crop known as bathua.


Chenopodium album has a very complex taxonomy and has been divided in numerous microspecies, subspecies and varieties, but it is difficult to differentiate between them. The following infraspecific taxa are accepted by the Flora Europaea:
Chenopodium album subsp. album
Chenopodium album subsp. striatum (Krašan) Murr
Chenopodium album var. reticulatum (Aellen) Uotila
Published names and synonyms include C. album var. microphyllum, C. album var. stevensii, C. acerifolium, C. centrorubrum, C. giganteum, C. jenissejense, C. lanceolatum, C. pedunculare and C. probstii.
It also hybridises readily with several other Chenopodium species, including C. berlandieri, C. ficifolium, C. opulifolium, C. strictum and C. suecicum.


The species are cultivated as a grain or vegetable crop (such as in lieu of spinach), as well as animal feed in Asia and Africa, whereas in Europe and North America, it is commonly regarded as a weed in places such as potato fields, while in Australia it is naturalised in all states and regarded as an environmental weed in New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.


It is one of the more robust and competitive weeds, capable of producing crop losses of up to 13% in corn, 25% in soybeans, and 48% in sugar beets at an average plant distribution. It may be controlled by dark tillage, rotary hoeing, or flaming when the plants are small.  Crop rotation of small grains will suppress an infestation.  It is easily controlled with a number of pre-emergence herbicides. Its pollen may contribute to hay fever-like allergies.


The leaves and young shoots may be eaten raw or cooked as a leaf vegetable, but should be eaten in moderation due to high levels of oxalic acid. The flower buds and flowers can also be eaten cooked. Each plant produces tens of thousands of black seeds. Quinoa, a closely related species, is grown specifically for its seeds.  The Zuni people cook the young plants' greens.
Archaeologists analysing carbonized plant remains found in storage pits and ovens at Iron Age, Viking Age, and Roman sites in Europe have found its seeds mixed with conventional grains and even inside the stomachs of Danish bog bodies.
In India, the plant is called bathua and found abundantly in the winter season. The leaves and young shoots of this plant are used in dishes such as soups, curries, and paratha-stuffed breads, common in North India. The seeds or grains are used in phambra or laafi, gruel-type dishes in Himachal Pradesh, and in mildly alcoholic fermented beverages such as soora and ghanti. In Haryana state, the "bathue ka raita" i.e. the raita (yogurt dip) made with bathua, is very popular in winters. Bathua seeds also double up for rice and dal. Napoleon Bonaparte is said to have once relied on bathua seeds to feed his troops during lean times.
In Nepal, it is known as bethe or bethu. It is used to make dish known as saag. The leaves are stir fried with spices, chilly and diced garlic. A fermented dish known as masaura is also made by dipping the leaves in a lentil batter with spices and then dried in sun for some days. The fermented masaura can be made into a curry and served with rice. It is also used to make an instant salad-style-achaar and chutneys.


The angulate tortoise (Chersina angulata) is a species of tortoise found in dry areas and coastal scrub vegetation in South Africa. This tortoise is the only known member of the genus Chersina.


Their natural habitat is the fynbos, karoo, albany thickets and coastal scrub (strandveld) vegetation of the south-western part of South Africa. This is an area of semi-arid and Mediterranean climate, with winter rainfall. Within this climatic range however, the angulate tortoise is a tough and very adaptable species.
Geographically, this natural range extends across the Cape Floristic Region, as far north as the southern part of Namibia. In addition, small colonies have been introduced by tourists to domestic gardens in Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, even further north, in central Namibia. To the east, its range extends along the Cape's southern coast as far as East London.
There is also an especially dense colony on Dassen Island, off the South African coast.
Throughout its range, this tortoise usually occurs in the greatest numbers near the coast. Inland it occurs at lesser densities, though smaller populations are even found in parts of the Karoo.
Within its natural range, the natural predators of the species include mongoose, jackals, badgers, baboons and predatory birds which attack the infants. Perhaps the largest killers of this species in its natural habitat are the periodic wildfires, which can kill hundreds of thousands at a time.
Due to human activity, it is also increasingly threatened by habitat destruction from agriculture and other development, as well as illegal collecting for the pet trade and deaths from tortoises crossing busy roads.
Human introduced species such as the pied crow kill thousands of infants every year, especially along the West Coast where this invasive species is rapidly spreading.


The wingspan is about 32 mm in the male and 40 mm in the female. Outer margin of forewing prominently angled at vein 4. Hind tibia of male dilated. Body grey irrorated (sprinkled) with pale and dark brown. Abdomen with dark spots on dorsum. Forewings with subbasal dark speck. Indistinct oblique antemedial, medial, and postmedial lines angled below costa and arising from rufous patches or short bands on costa. There is a dark speck found at the end of the cell. The postmedial line with a costal rufous patch beyond it and disintegrated dark patch at vein 4. Outer area slightly darker and margin rufous below apex. Hindwing with indistinct antemedial line. Dark spot found at the end of the cell. There is a dark waved postmedial line, with rufous and grey suffusion beyond it. A marginal dark line is present. Both wings with the veins of pale outer area. Ventral side with broad rufous postmedial band with crenulate outer edge.


Chilopsis is a monotypic genus of flowering plants containing the single species Chilopsis linearis. It is known commonly as desert willow or desert-willow because of its willow-like leaves, but it is not a true willow – being instead a member of the catalpa family.
It is a shrub or tree native to the southwestern United States and Mexico. It is commonly seen in washes and along riverbanks.


Ranging from 1.5 to as much as 8 meters in height, it can take the form of a shrub or small tree. The linear, curved, deciduous leaves are 10 to 26 cm long and just a few millimeters wide.
The generic name is derived from the Greek words χεῖλος, (cheilos), meaning "lip," and ὄψις (opsis), meaning "resembling," referring to the flowers. They occur in a terminal panicle or raceme, blooming in May through September. About two to four flowers at a time are open in each inflorescence. The calyx is about 8–14 mm, slightly inflated, and varying shades of purple, while the corolla is 2–5 cm, and with colors ranging from lavender to light pink. The throat and lower lip has a pattern of yellow ridges and purple lines, and the margins are crinkled. It is pollinated primarily by large bees in the family Apidae, such as carpenter bees, bumblebees, Anthophora, and Centris. The fruit is a linear pod up to 35 cm long, containing numerous winged seeds.
There are two subspecies:
Chilopsis linearis subsp. linearis. Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, western Texas, Mexico.
Chilopsis linearis subsp. arcuata. Nevada, California, Baja California.


Chilopsis linearis is cultivated for its large, showy flowers, and tolerance of hot, dry climates. Although the natural growth is a very irregular shape, it can be readily pruned into a conventional tree shape. A number of cultivars have been selected. Some, such as 'Rio Salado', have dark purple or magenta flowers.
Chilopsis may survive temperatures as low as 10 degrees F (-12 °C).
Chilopsis is closely related to the genus Catalpa and hybrids can be made between the two genera. The nothogeneric hybrid between Chilopsis linearis and Catalpa bignonioides has been named × Chitalpa tashkentensis. It originated in a botanic garden at Tashkent in Uzbekistan.
Parts of the plant have been used in traditional medicine. It has been used to treat fungal infections such as candidiasis and athlete's foot, as well as wounds and cough.
The wood was used to make bows and baskets.


Chiomara asychis, the white-patched skipper or white patch, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found from Argentina, north through tropical America to the West Indies and southern Texas. Strays can be found as far north as southern Arizona, Nevada and Kansas.
The wingspan is 29–38 mm. Three to four generations occur, with adults on wing throughout the year in southern Texas.
The larvae feed on Malpighia glabra in Texas and on Gaudichaudia pentandra in Mexico. Adults feed on flower nectar.


The whiskered tern (Chlidonias hybrida) is a  tern in the family Laridae. The genus name is from Ancient Greek khelidonios, "swallow-like", from khelidon, "swallow". The specific hybridus is Latin for hybrid; Peter Simon Pallas thought it might be a hybrid of white-winged black tern and common tern, writing "Sterna fissipes [Chlidonias leucopterus] et Hirundine [Sterna hirundo] natam”.
This bird has a number of geographical races, differing mainly in size and minor plumage details.
C. h. hybrida breeds in warmer parts of Europe and the Palearctic (northwestern Africa and central and southern Europe to southeastern Siberia, eastern China and south to Pakistan and northern India). The smaller-billed and darker C. h. delalandii is found in east and south Africa, and the paler C. h. javanicus from Java to Australia.
The tropical forms are resident, but European and Asian birds winter south to Africa and the Indian Subcontinent. A tagged whiskered tern was spotted at Manakudi Bird Sanctuary, Kanniyakumari District of Tamil Nadu, India in the month of April 2021.
This species breeds in colonies on inland marshes, sometimes amongst black-headed gulls, which provide some protection. The scientific name arises from the fact that this, the largest marsh tern, show similarities in appearance to both the white Sterna terns and to black tern.


The size, black cap, strong bill (29–34 mm in males, 25–27 mm and stubbier in females, with a pronounced gonys) and more positive flight recall common or Arctic tern, but the short, forked-looking tail and dark grey breeding plumage above and below are typically marsh tern characteristics. The summer adult has white cheeks and red legs and bill.  The crown is flecked with white in the juvenile, and the hindcrown is more uniformly blackish, though in the winter adult this too is flecked with white.  The black ear-coverts are joined to the black of the hindcrown, and the space above is mottled with white, causing the black to appear as a C-shaped band.  The sides of the neck are white; this sometimes continues across the nape.  The collar is less sharply defined.  All through the year the rump is pale grey.  In the juvenile, the mantle (279 mm) has a variegated pattern.  The feathers of the back and scapulars are dark brown, with prominent broad buff edgings and often subterminal buff bars or centers.  There is usually an admixture of new gray feathers, especially on the mantle, quite early in the fall.  The mantle is silvery-gray in the adult.
The call is a characteristic krekk.
In winter, the forehead becomes white and the body plumage a much paler grey. Juvenile whiskered terns have a ginger scaly back, and otherwise look much like winter adults. The first winter plumage is intermediate between juvenile and adult winter, with patchy ginger on the back.
The whiskered tern eats small fish, amphibians, insects and crustaceans.


The white-winged tern, or white-winged black tern (Chlidonias leucopterus or Chlidonias leucoptera), is a species of tern in the family Laridae. It is a small species generally found in or near bodies of fresh water across much of the world, including Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The genus name is from Ancient Greek khelidonios, "swallow-like", from khelidon, "swallow".
The name 'white-winged tern' is the standard in most English-speaking countries; in the United Kingdom, this name is also the one used by the formal ornithological recording authorities, but the older alternative 'white-winged black tern' is still frequent in popular use.


Like the other "marsh" terns (Chlidonias), and unlike the "white" (Sterna) terns, these birds do not dive for fish, but fly slowly over the water to surface-pick items and catch insects in flight. They mainly eat insects and small fish.  In flight, the wing-beats are shallow and leisurely.
The white-winged tern is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.


Their breeding habitat is freshwater marshes across most of Canada, the northern United States and much of Europe and western Asia. They usually nest either on floating material in a marsh or on the ground very close to water, laying 2–4 eggs.
In England  the black tern was abundant in the eastern Fens, especially in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire,  until the early nineteenth century.  The English naturalist  Thomas Pennant   in 1769 referred to   "vast flocks"  of black terns  "whose calls are almost deafening."  Extensive drainage of its breeding grounds wiped out the English population by about 1840. Intermittent attempts by the black tern  to recolonise England have proved unsuccessful, with only a handful of English breeding records, and one in Ireland,  in the second half of the twentieth century.
North American black terns migrate to the coasts of northern South America, some to the open ocean. Old World birds winter in Africa.
Unlike the "white" Sterna terns, these birds do not dive for fish, but forage on the wing picking up items at or near the water's surface or catching insects in flight. They mainly eat insects and fish as well as amphibians.


The upland goose was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the other ducks, geese and swans in the genus Anas and coined the binomial name Anas picta. Gmelin based his description on the "Painted goose" that had been included by English ornithologist John Latham in his A General Synopsis of Birds. The species had been observed on the Isla de los Estados (Staten Island) during one of Captain James Cook's voyages to the Pacific Ocean and Latham had seen drawings in the collection of the naturalist Joseph Banks. The upland goose is now placed with four other species in the genus Chloephaga that was introduced in 1838 by the English naturalist Thomas Campbell Eyton. The genus name comes from the Ancient Greek khloē meaning "grass" and -phagos meaning "-eating". The specific epithet picta is from Latin pictus meaning "painted.
There are strong morphological and genetic similarities between the bird fauna of the Falkland Islands and southern South America, and most native bird species are usually present in both insular  and continental populations. The biogeography of the region suggests that these similarities exist because in the geological past, birds from the continent might have reached the Falkland Islands either across a former land connection, during periods of lowered sea levels, or through long-distance dispersal. Genetic analyses place the Magellan goose as a sister taxa to the kelp goose.


Upland geese occupy the southern South American Continent (southern and central Chile and Argentina) and the Falkland Islands, with a continental distribution ranging from central Chile/southern Argentina to Tierra del Fuego, near Antarctica. Lesser Magellan geese usually reside in Patagonia or southern Chile and migrate north during the winter towards central Argentina, to their wintering grounds. Southernmost populations are more likely to migrate, with migrants reaching flight speeds of over 40 km/h. In 2013, researchers identified a lesser Magellan goose in southern Brazil, redefining the northern edge of their wintering grounds. Greater Magellan geese, however, do not migrate and rarely leave the Falkland Islands. In general, population densities are highest around ponds and in green grasslands. Computer modelling of population ranges suggests that their distribution is favoured by the ample presence of green grasses to feed and breed in, and hindered by human presence, notably urbanization and oil extraction.
There is also a sizeable introduced population on the sub-Antarctic South Georgia Island.


The upland goose is primarily a herbivore, feeding mostly of seeds, leaves, stems, and other plant matter. They are very gregarious, and flocks of thousands of birds can be found grazing in one pasture alone. They are considered pests by farmers due to the fact that they eat on the pastures that are used for cattle and sheep, and because they claim that upland geese significantly decrease crop yield. However, a recent study claims that while sheldgeese do reduce wheat cover, they do not reduce overall wheat yield and they might even provide an ecosystem service through weed grazing.


In the early 20th century, the Argentinian government declared the three Patagonian sheldgeese species (Ruddy-headed goose, Ashy-headed goose, and Upland goose) as pests due to claims of excessive grazing and negative effects on crop yields. Since then, wildlife agencies have encouraged hunting of upland geese across the entirety of their range and without restrictions on the number of birds killed. Consequently, population surveys started suggesting continental populations were declining. In 2008, all three species were classified as endangered by the Argentine government and hunting was banned, although some poaching still occurs, mostly on the mainland. Recently, fox predation has drastically reduced population numbers on the mainland, so national governments have established several protected areas throughout Patagonia in an attempt to conserve the species.


The European greenfinch is 15 cm (5.9 in) long with a wingspan of 24.5 to 27.5 cm (9.6 to 10.8 in).  It is similar in size and shape to a house sparrow, but is mainly green, with yellow in the wings and tail. The female and young birds are duller and have brown tones on the back. The bill is thick and conical. The song contains a lot of trilling twitters interspersed with wheezes, and the male has a "butterfly" display flight.
Male greenfinch birds exhibit higher degrees of fluctuating asymmetry. The development of bones of males may be more easily disrupted than that of females.


The vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus), or simply vervet, is an Old World monkey of the family Cercopithecidae native to Africa. The term "vervet" is also used to refer to all the members of the genus Chlorocebus. The five distinct subspecies can be found mostly throughout Southern Africa, as well as some of the eastern countries. Vervets were introduced to Florida, St. Kitts and Nevis, Barbados, and Cape Verde. These mostly herbivorous monkeys have black faces and grey body hair color, ranging in body length from about 40 cm (16 in) for females, to about 50 cm (20 in) for males.
In addition to behavioral research on natural populations, vervet monkeys serve as a nonhuman primate model for understanding genetic and social behaviors of humans. They have been noted for having human-like characteristics, such as hypertension, anxiety, and social and dependent alcohol use. Vervets live in social groups ranging from 10 to 70 individuals, with males moving to other groups at the time of sexual maturity. Studies done on vervet monkeys involve their communication and alarm calls, specifically in regard to kin and group recognition, and particular predator sightings.


The vervet monkey was previously classified as Cercopithecus aethiops, now renamed 'grivet', and reclassified as Chlorocebus. The vervet and malbrouck have also been considered conspecific, or as subspecies of a widespread Ch. aethiops. The different taxa are distinguished by coat colour and other morphological characteristics. The characteristics of Ch. aethiops graduate into Ch. pygerythrus where their ranges meet, and thus deciding if the vervets commonly known to occur in Kenya are actually Ch. aethiops is difficult; animals in the same pack may be classified as one species or the other, and Ch. pygerythrus may also interbreed with Ch. tantalus where their ranges meet.
Colin Groves recognised the below five subspecies of vervet monkey in the third edition of Mammals of the World:
Chlorocebus pygerythrus excubitor
Ch. p. hilgerti from southern Kenya
Ch. p. nesiotes
Ch. p. pygerythrus from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, and Eswatini.
Ch. p. rufoviridis from Mozambique and Uganda has a distinctly reddish-coloured back, which is darker towards the base of the tail.
Groves used Ch. p. hilgerti for all East African vervets except the insular subspecies Ch. p. excubitor and Ch. p. nesiotes. The name Ch. p. centralis has been suggested to have precedence, and that Ch. p. hilgerti should be restricted to the population of southern Ethiopia.


Vervet monkeys have four confirmed predators: leopards, eagles, pythons, and baboons. The sighting of each predator elicits an acoustically distinct alarm call. As infants, vervets learn to make the variety of calls from observation alone, without explicit tutelage. In experimentation with unreliable signalers, individuals became habituated to incorrect calls from a specific individual. Though the response was lessened for a specific predator, if an unreliable individual gives an alarm call for a different predator, group members respond as if the alarm caller is, in fact, reliable. This suggests vervet monkeys are able to recognize and to respond to not only the individual calling, but also to the semantics of what the individual is communicating. Vervet monkeys are thought to have up to 30 different alarm calls. In the wild, they have been seen giving a different call when seeing a human being approaching, leading researchers to believe that vervet monkeys may have a way of distinguishing between different land and flight predators.
Mothers can recognise their offspring by a scream alone. A juvenile scream elicits a reaction from all mothers, yet the juvenile's own mother has a shorter latency in looking in the direction of the scream, as well as an increased duration in her look. Further, mothers have been observed to help their offspring in conflict, yet rarely aid other juveniles. Other mothers evidently can determine to which mother the offspring belongs. Individuals have been observed to look towards the mother whose offspring is creating the scream.


The vervet monkey eats a primarily herbivorous diet, living mostly on wild fruits, flowers, leaves, seeds, and seed pods. In agricultural areas, vervets become problem animals, as they raid bean, pea, young tobacco, vegetable, fruit, and grain crops. Animal foods of their diet include grasshoppers and termites. Raids of cattle egrets and weaver bird nests have been observed where the vervets eat the eggs and chicks.
A list of some natural food plants and part of the plant eaten, in South Africa:
Acacia erioloba – seeds and pods
Aloe spp – nectar (flowers)
Celtis africana – fruit
Colophospermum mopane – seeds
Deinbollia oblongifolia – fruit
Euphorbia ingens – fruit
Euphorbia tirucalli – fruit
Ficus abutilifolia – figs
Ficus sur – figs
Ficus sycomorus – figs
Grewia caffra – fruit
Harpephyllum caffrum – fruit
Hyphaene coriacea – fruit
Phoenix reclinata – fruit
Protorhus longifolia – fruit
Rhus chirindensis – fruit
Sclerocarya birrea – fruit
Strelitzia nicolai – soft parts of the flowers
Ximenia caffra – fruit
Ziziphus mucronata – fruit


The vervet monkey ranges throughout much of Southern and East Africa, being found from Ethiopia, Somalia and extreme southern South Sudan, to South Africa. It is not found west of the East African Rift or the Luangwa River, where it is replaced by the closely related malbrouck (C. cynosuros). The vervet monkey inhabits savanna, riverine woodland, coastal forest, and mountains up to 4000 m (13,100 ft). They are adaptable and able to persist in secondary and/or highly fragmented vegetation, including cultivated areas, and sometimes are found living in both rural and urban environments. Annual home range size has been observed to be as high as 176 ha, with an average population density of 54.68 animals/km².
Introduced vervet monkeys are naturalised in Cape Verde, St Kitts and Nevis, and Barbados. Dania Beach, Florida, is home to about 40 introduced vervets.


This large kingfisher breeds by streams. The unlined nest is in a horizontal tunnel made in a river bank, and up to 1.6 m (5.2 ft) long and 10 cm (3.9 in) wide. The female lays three, sometimes four, white eggs.
Amazon kingfishers are often seen perched on a branch or rock close to water before plunging in head first after their fish prey. They also feed on insects and amphibians. They are the most likely American green kingfisher to be seen on large rivers.


The green kingfisher (Chloroceryle americana) is a resident breeding bird which occurs from southern Texas in the United States south through Central and South America to central Argentina.
This small kingfisher breeds by streams in forests or mangroves. The nest is in a horizontal tunnel which is dug by both sexes. It is up to a metre long made in a river bank. The female lays between three and six white eggs.
Green kingfishers are often seen perched on a low shaded branch close to water before plunging in head first after fish. They also eat aquatic insects. These birds often give a pebbly rattling call.


This is a forest canopy species. The female green honeycreeper builds a small cup nest in a tree, and incubates the clutch of two brown-blotched white eggs for 13 days. It is less heavily dependent on nectar than the other honeycreepers, fruit and seeds being its main food (60%), with nectar (20%) and insects  (15%) as less important components of its diet.


Chlorophyllum molybdites, which has the common names of false parasol, green-spored Lepiota and vomiter, is a widespread mushroom. Poisonous and producing severe gastrointestinal symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea, it is commonly conflated with the shaggy parasol or shaggy mane, and is the most commonly misidentified poisonous mushroom in North America. Its large size and similarity to the edible parasol mushroom, as well as its habit of growing in areas near human habitation, are reasons cited for this. The nature of the poisoning is predominantly gastrointestinal.


The cardinal woodpecker is native to tropical parts of western and central Africa. Its range includes Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is found in a wide range of habitats from dense forest to thorn bush.


The cardinal woodpecker often occurs in small family groups or may join small mixed flocks. Forages mainly in the lower storeys of trees and among shrubs and vines, on maize stalks and reeds. Pecks rapidly and probes dense vegetation, clambering along and hanging from small twigs. Like other woodpeckers, this species is an insectivore. It is frequently seen, and regularly drums softly. The call is a high-pitched krrrek-krrrek-krrrek. It nests in a tree hole, unlined apart from wood chippings.


The glittering-bellied emerald (Chlorostilbon lucidus) is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in  Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.


The glittering-bellied emerald was widely called by the scientific name Chlorostilbon aureoventris, but in 2006 J.F. Pacheco and B.M. Whitney showed that lucidus is the correct specific epithet due to the Principal of priority.
The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) assigns three subspecies to the glittering-bellied emerald: the nominate C. l. lucidus, C. l. pucherani, and C. l. beflepschi. The Clements taxonomy and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World add C. l. igneous, whose population the IOC includes in the nominate. Some ornithologists believe that pucherani is "approching the species threshold".


The glittering-bellied emerald's song is "a high-pitched, cricket-like trill...repeated at intervals." Its principal call, given when feeding or hovering, is "a short dry, scratchy rattle, 'trrrr' or 'krrr'." It also makes "a fast descending series of 'tsee-tsee-tsee-tsu-tsew-tsew-tsew' notes" during agonistic encounters.


The IUCN has assessed the glittering-bellied emerald as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range but its population size and trend are not known. No specific threats have been identified. It is considered common throughout its range and is the most often seen hummingbird in its part of Argentina. It occurs in several protected areas and is accustomed to gardens, parks, and plantations.


The bent-line dart (Choephora fungorum) is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in eastern North America, from southern Ontario, Pennsylvania, and southern Michigan, south to the Gulf coast of northern Florida and west to central Kansas and eastern Texas.
The wingspan is 33–47 mm. The moth flies from September to November depending on the location.
The larvae feed on Trifolium, Nicotiana and various herbaceous weeds. Larvae have been reared on Taraxacum species.


The lark sparrow is distinctive. Adults have a typically sparrow-like dark-streaked brown back, and white underparts except for a dark central spot. The cheeks and crown sides are chestnut, with white eyebrow and crown stripes. The dark tail's corners are also white. Young lark sparrows are duller, and the underparts are streaked.
Measurements:
Length: 5.9-6.7 in (15-17 cm)
Weight: 0.8-1.2 oz (24-33 g)
Wingspan: 11.0 in (28 cm)


Chondrostereum purpureum is commercially available as a method of combatting forest 'weed trees' such as aspens, beech, birches, maples, pin cherry, poplars, and other species. The fungus is applied directly to the weed trees in a nutrient paste which can be stored and handled conveniently.
The first regulatory approval was granted in 2001 to Myco-Forestis Corporation and targeted species "including birch, pin-cherry, poplar/aspen, red maple, sugar maple, and speckled alder in the Boreal and Mixed forest regions of Canada, east of the Rocky Mountains". It had not been reported as of 2001 to cause any diseases in coniferous tree species.
According to a 2007 regulatory decision of the Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency, the use of this control method in paste form on Sitka spruce and red alder will only have a limited impact on non-target trees since the fungal spores are ubiquitous anyway and healthy trees are resistant to attack.


The lesser nighthawk (Chordeiles acutipennis) is a nightjar found throughout a large part of the Americas.
The adults are dark with brown, grey and white patterning on the upperparts and breast; the long upperwings are black and show a white bar in flight. The tail is dark with white barring; the underparts are buffy with fine black horizontal streaking. The adult male has a white throat; the female has a light brown throat.  This bird looks similar to the common nighthawk, but is slightly smaller, has a slightly less deeply forked tail, and is more buffy in coloration.  The calls are also completely different.  The lesser nighthawk has a rapid, low whistled melodious trill, lasting several seconds.  It is usually heard only near breeding areas.
Their breeding habitat is open country from the Southwestern United States through Central America to tropical South America. They usually nest on bare ground, sometimes in raised locations including stumps and boulders or flat house roofs. The two eggs are laid directly on bare ground—there is no nest. Incubation is performed largely by the female and lasts for about 20 days. Young fledge at about 20 days of age.
Adults flushed from the nest may try to distract the intruder or defend the nest site by aerial attack.  Young birds sometimes perform a defense display by opening up their mouths and spreading their wings, looking to appear threatening and larger than they actually are before they run off.
These birds are partial migrants. The lesser nighthawk retreats from the United States and northern Mexico during the winter months.  Occasionally single birds may be found overwintering. The nighthawk is also occasionally found as a vagrant to the US Gulf Coast states to Florida.
They catch flying insects on the wing, mainly foraging near dawn and dusk (crepuscular), sometimes at night with a full moon or near street lighting.


The common nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) is a medium-sized  crepuscular or nocturnal bird of the Americas within the nightjar family, whose presence and identity are best revealed by its vocalization. Typically dark (grey, black and brown), displaying cryptic colouration and intricate patterns, this bird is difficult to spot with the naked eye during the day. This bird is most conspicuous when in its buoyant and erratic flight. The most remarkable feature of this aerial insectivore is its small beak that belies the massiveness of its mouth. Some claim appearance similarities to owls. With its horizontal stance and short legs, the common nighthawk does not travel frequently on the ground, instead preferring to perch horizontally, parallel to branches, on posts, on the ground or on a roof. The males of this species may roost together but the bird is primarily solitary. The common nighthawk shows variability in territory size.
This caprimulgid has a large, flattened head with large eyes; facially it lacks rictal bristles. The common nighthawk has long slender wings that at rest extend beyond a notched tail. There is noticeable barring on the sides and abdomen, also white wing-patches.
The common nighthawk measures 22 to 25 cm (8.7 to 9.8 in) long, displays a wing span of 51 to 61 cm (20 to 24 in) weighs 55 to 98 g (1.9 to 3.5 oz), and has a life span of 4 to 5 years.


The common nighthawk may be found in forests, desert, savannahs, beach and desert scrub, cities, and prairies, at elevations of sea level or below to 3,000 m (9,800 ft). They are one of a handful of birds that are known to inhabit recently burned forests, and then dwindle in numbers as successional growth occurs over the succeeding years or decades. The common nighthawk is drawn into urban built-up areas by insects.
The common nighthawk is the only nighthawk occurring over the majority of northern North America.
Food availability is likely a key factor in determining which and when areas are suitable for habitation. The common nighthawk is not well adapted to survive in poor conditions, specifically low food availability. Therefore, a constant food supply consistent with warmer temperatures is a driving force for migration and ultimately survival.
It is thought that the bird is not able to enter torpor, although recent evidence suggests it does.


During migration, common nighthawks may travel 2,500 to 6,800 kilometres (1,600 to 4,200 mi). They migrate by day or night in loose flocks; frequently numbering in the thousands, no visible leader has been observed. The enormous distance travelled between breeding grounds and wintering range is one of the North America's longer migrations. The northbound journey commences at the end of February and the birds reach destinations as late as mid-June. The southbound migration commences mid-July and reaches a close in early October.
While migrating, these birds have been reported travelling through middle America, Florida, the West Indies, Cuba, the Caribbean and Bermuda, finally completing their journey in the wintering grounds of South America, primarily Argentina.
As aerial insectivores, the migrants will feed en route, congregating to hunt in marshes, rivers and on lakeshores. In Manitoba and Ontario, Canada, it is reported that during migration the nighthawks are seen most commonly in the late afternoon, into the evening, with a burst of sunset feeding activities.
Additionally, it has been noted that during migration the birds may fly closer to the ground than normal; possibly foraging for insects. There is speculation that feeding also occurs at higher altitudes.
The common nighthawk winters in southern South America, but distribution in this range is poorly known due to difficulties in distinguishing the bird from the lesser nighthawk and in differentiating between migrants and overwintering birds. In some South and Central American countries, a lack of study has led to restricted and incomplete records of the bird. Records do support wintering in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina.


In the common nighthawk, all bodily plumage and rectrices are replaced in the post-juvenile moult. This moult commences in September at the breeding grounds; the majority of the body plumage is replaced but wing-coverts and rectrices are not completed until January–February, once the bird arrives at the wintering grounds. There is no other moult prior to the annual moult of the adult. Common nighthawk adults have a complete moult that occurs mostly or completely on wintering grounds and is not completed until January or February.


The common nighthawk breeds during the period of mid-March to early October. It most commonly has only one brood per season, however sometimes a second brood is produced. The bird is assumed to breed every year. Reuse of nests by females in subsequent years has been reported. A monogamous habit has also recently been confirmed.
Courting and mate selection occur partially in flight. The male dives and booms (see Vocalization) in an effort to garner female attention; the female may be in flight herself or stationary on the ground.
Copulation occurs when the pair settles on the ground together; the male with his rocking body, widespread tail wagging and bulging throat expresses guttural croaking sounds. This display by the male is performed repeatedly until copulation.
The preferred breeding/nesting habitat is in forested regions with expansive rocky outcrops, in clearings, in burned areas or in small patches of sandy gravel. The eggs are not laid in a nest, but on bare rock, gravel, or sometimes a living substrate such as lichen. Least popular are breeding sites in agricultural settings. As displayed in the latter portion of the 20th century, urban breeding is in decline. If urban breeding sites do occur, they are observed on flat gravel rooftops.
It is a solitary nester, putting great distances between itself and other pairs of the same species, but a nest would more commonly occur in closer proximity to other species of birds.
Females choose the nest site and are the primary incubators of the eggs; males will incubate occasionally. Incubation time varies but is approximately 18 days. The female will leave the nest unattended during the evening in order to feed. The male will roost in a neighbouring tree (the spot he chooses changes daily); he guards the nest by diving, hissing, wing-beating or booming at the sites. In the face of predation, common nighthawks do not abandon the nest easily; instead they likely rely on their cryptic colouration to camouflage themselves. If a departure does occur, the females have been noted to fly away, hissing at the intruder or performing a disturbance display.


The Chorizanthe fimbriata species is endemic to the San Jacinto Mountains (California) and the Peninsular Ranges in Southern California and Baja California, below 1,600 metres (5,200 ft).  It is found in coastal sage and montane chaparral and woodlands habitats.


The black-billed gull is endemic to New Zealand. Up to 78% of the total population is estimated to be living in the Southland region, on the southern end of the South Island. In breeding season the gull is found on major rivers, especially braided rivers, lakes, and farmland. It generally prefers estuaries and coastal areas outside of the breeding season, though some can be found at breeding sites all year round. The gull is also attracted to urban areas, and "anywhere refuse of scraps available", such as rubbish dumps and freezing works. In 2019 some gulls established a colony of around 300 birds in Christchurch Central City. The species has been sighted occasionally on Stewart Island and The Snares, as well as at altitudes of up to 1700 MASL on the mainland. Various colonies also live on the North Island, though it was formerly only a "visitor," the first recorded breeding taking place at Lake Rotorua in 1932. Some South Island birds cross the Cook Strait after breeding season to winter in the North Island.


The slender-billed gull breeds in lagoons and lakes around the Mediterranean Sea and in similar locations in countries bordering the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean. In 2010 a successful colony was found breeding on an island in a mountain lake in Algeria. The lack of predators and disturbance allowed over 98% of the eggs to hatch. It overwinters on the coast in estuaries and bays. It feeds in deltas, marshes and grassland. It is one of a number of species of gull to feed on landfill sites.


The mature bird has a dark brown head and throat with a white semicircle around the posterior part of the eye, while the neck, chest and abdomen are white. The beak and legs are red. The primary flight feathers are dark gray, while the secondaries and covert feathers are a lighter gray. This bird may be confused with the Franklin's gull. There is no significant sexual dimorphism.


This gull is 37–44 cm (14+1⁄2–17+1⁄2 in) long with a 94–110 cm (37–43+1⁄2 in) wingspan and weighs 190–400 g (6+3⁄4–14+1⁄8 oz).
In flight, the white leading edge to the wing is a good field mark. The summer adult has a chocolate-brown head (not black, although does look black from a distance), pale grey body, black tips to the primary wing feathers, and red bill and legs. The hood is lost in winter, leaving just two dark spots. Immature birds have a mottled pattern of brown spots over most of the body, and a black band on the tail. There is no difference in plumage between the sexes.
It breeds in colonies in large reed beds or marshes, or on islands in lakes, nesting on the ground. Like most gulls, it is highly gregarious in winter, both when feeding or in evening roosts. It is not a pelagic species and is rarely seen at sea far from coasts.
The black-headed gull is a bold and opportunistic feeder. It eats insects, fish, seeds, worms, scraps, and carrion in towns, or invertebrates in ploughed fields with equal relish. It is a noisy species, especially in colonies, with a familiar "kree-ar" call. Its scientific name means laughing gull.
This species takes two years to reach maturity. First-year birds have a black terminal tail band, more dark areas in the wings, and, in summer, a less fully developed dark hood. Like most gulls, black-headed gulls are long-lived birds, with a maximum age of at least 32.9 years recorded in the wild, in addition to an anecdote now believed of dubious authenticity regarding a 63-year-old bird.


Eggshell removal is a behaviour seen in birds once the chicks have hatched, observed mostly to reduce risk of predation. Removing the eggshell acts as a way of camouflage to avoid predators seeing the nest. The further away egg shells are from the nest, the lower the predation risk. Black-headed gull eggs experience predation from different species of birds, foxes, stoats, and even other black-headed gulls. Although mothers show some form of aggressiveness when a predator is near, in the first 30 minutes, wet chicks can be easily taken by other black-headed gulls after hatching when the parents of the wet chick are distracted.
Black headed gulls also carry away other objects that do not belong in the nest. The removal of eggshells and other objects is important not only in the incubation period but also during the first few days after the eggs hatch. However, the removal process seems to increase as time goes on. The removal is done by both the male and female parents, normally lasts a few seconds and is done three times a year.
A black-headed gull is able to differentiate an egg shell from an egg by acknowledging its thin, serrated, white, edge. Therefore, the weight of the egg or eggshell does not play a role when determining its value.


The Andean gull (Chroicocephalus serranus) is a species of gull in the family Laridae. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus.
It is found in the Andes in mountainous regions of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. It is unusual for a gull in that it breeds inland in mountain areas. It may be variously found around rivers, freshwater lakes, saline marshes, and pastureland.