title: "Acorn woodpecker" content: tree. A group of adults may participate in nesting activities: field studies have shown that breeding groups range from monogamous pairs to breeding collectives of seven males and three females, plus up to 10 nonbreeding helpers. Young from a single brood have been found with multiple paternity. Acorn woodpeckers, as their name implies, depend heavily on acorns for food. In some parts of their range (e.g., California), the woodpeckers create granaries or "acorn trees" by drilling holes in dead trees, dead branches, telephone poles, and wooden buildings. They also drill holes in the thick bark of mature living trees, notably


title: "Acorn woodpecker" content: the Ponderosa Pine in California. These holes, always above the snow line so that the acorns can be retrieved in winter, can be observed in the hundreds on large trees. They do not harm the tree. The woodpeckers then collect acorns and find a hole that is just the right size for the acorn. As acorns dry out, they are moved to smaller holes and granary maintenance requires a significant amount of the bird's time. They also feed on insects, sap, and fruit. The acorns are visible, and the group defends the tree against potential cache robbers like Steller's jays


title: "Acorn woodpecker" content: and western scrub jays. Acorns are such an important resource to the California populations that acorn woodpeckers may nest in the fall to take advantage of the fall acorn crop, a rare behavior in birds. Acorn woodpeckers can also be seen sallying from tree limbs to catch insects, eating fruit and seeds, and drilling holes to drink sap. The acorn woodpecker will use any human-made structures to store acorns, drilling holes into fence posts, utility poles, buildings, and even automobile radiators. Occasionally the woodpecker will put acorns into places where it cannot get them out. Woodpeckers put of acorns into


title: "Acorn woodpecker" content: a wooden water tank in Arizona. In parts of its range the acorn woodpecker does not construct a "granary tree", but instead stores acorns in natural holes and cracks in bark. If the stores are eaten, the woodpecker will move to another area, even going from Arizona to Mexico to spend the winter. Acorn woodpeckers practice cooperative breeding, which is a relatively rare evolutionary trait that is thought to occur in only nine percent of bird species. Cooperative breeding is defined as more than two birds taking care of nestlings in the nest. With the acorn woodpecker, cooperative breeding occurs


title: "Acorn woodpecker" content: in two ways: coalitions and family groups. Coalitions of adult acorn woodpeckers nest together, localizing to storage granaries. Additionally, adult offspring often stay in their parents' nest and help raise the next generation of woodpeckers. It is generally believed that limited territories drive cooperative breeding behavior in birds, and in the case of the acorn woodpecker, this limited territory is the acorn storage granary. As mentioned, adult acorn woodpeckers live together in "coalitions", which consist of up to seven co-breeding males and up to three joint-nesting females; however, most nests are made up of only three males and two females.


title: "Acorn woodpecker" content: Nesting groups can also contain up to ten offspring helpers. These breeding coalitions are typically closely related. The males are often brothers, and the females are usually sisters. Inbreeding is rare, however, meaning that co-breeders of the opposite sex are almost never related. In groups with more than one breeding female, the females put their eggs into a single nest cavity. A female usually destroys any eggs in the nest before she starts to lay. Once all the females start to lay, they stop removing eggs. Acorn woodpeckers, like many other species, are threatened by habitat loss and degradation. Competition


title: "Acorn woodpecker" content: for nest cavities by non-native species is an ongoing threat in urbanized areas. Conservation of this species is dependent on the maintenance of functional ecosystems that provide the full range of resources upon which the species depends. These include mature forests with oaks capable of producing large mast crops and places for the woodpeckers to nest, roost, and store mast. Residents are encouraged to preserve mature oak and pine-oak stands of trees and to provide dead limbs and snags for nesting, roosting, and granary sites to help preserve the acorn woodpecker's population. Walter Lantz is believed to have patterned the


title: "Acorn woodpecker" content: call of his cartoon character Woody Woodpecker on that of the acorn woodpecker, while patterning his appearance on that of the pileated woodpecker which has a prominent crest. Acorn woodpecker The acorn woodpecker ("Melanerpes formicivorus") is a medium-sized woodpecker, long, with an average weight of . The adult acorn woodpecker has a brownish-black head, back, wings and tail, white forehead, throat, belly and rump. The eyes are white. There is a small part on the small of their backs where there are some green feathers. The adult male has a red cap starting at the forehead, whereas females have a


title: "Red-bellied woodpecker" content: Red-bellied woodpecker The red-bellied woodpecker ("Melanerpes carolinus") is a medium-sized woodpecker of the family Picidae. It breeds mainly in the eastern United States, ranging as far south as Texas and as far north as Canada. Its common name is somewhat misleading, as the most prominent red part of its plumage is on the head; the red-headed woodpecker, however, is another species that is a rather close relative but looks quite different. It was first described in Linnaeus' "Systema Naturae", as "Picus carolinus". The type locality is given simply as "America septentrionalis" (North America). Adults are mainly light gray on the


title: "Red-bellied woodpecker" content: face and underparts; they have black and white barred patterns on their back, wings and tail. Adult males have a red cap going from the bill to the nape; females have a red patch on the nape and another above the bill. The reddish tinge on the belly that gives the bird its name is difficult to see in field identification. They are long, and have a wingspan of . Red-bellied woodpeckers are noisy birds, and have many varied calls. Calls have been described as sounding like "churr-churr-churr" or "thrraa-thrraa-thrraa" with an alternating "br-r-r-r-t" sound. Males tend to call and


title: "Red-bellied woodpecker" content: drum more frequently than females, but both sexes call. The drum sounds like 6 taps. Often, these woodpeckers "drum" to attract mates. They tap on hollow trees, and even on aluminum roofs, metal guttering and transformer boxes in urban environments, to communicate with potential partners. Babies have a high-pitched begging call of "pree-pree-pree". They will continue to give a begging call whenever they see their parents for a while after fledging. These birds mainly search out arthropods on tree trunks. They may also catch insects in flight. They are omnivores, eating insects, fruits, nuts and seeds. Their breeding habitat is


title: "Red-bellied woodpecker" content: usually deciduous forests. They nest in the decayed cavities of dead trees, old stumps, or in live trees that have softer wood such as elms, maples, or willows; both sexes assist in digging nesting cavities. Areas around nest sites are marked with drilling holes to warn others away. Though the species is not globally threatened, it depends on large trees for nesting. In areas that are extensively deforested, the birds will sometimes utilize gardens, but for the most part they simply will not be present in any numbers. As with all animals, foraging becomes an important role in an animal’s


title: "Red-bellied woodpecker" content: ability to survive and reproduce. The red-bellied woodpecker expresses foraging behavior by catching or storing food. The woodpecker uses its bill for foraging as a chisel drilling into bark or probing cracks on trunk of trees. In this manner, the red-bellied woodpecker is able to pull out beetles and other insects from the tree with the help of its long tongue. This behavior is also seen for storing food from other animals by hiding food behind bark or deep in cracks of a tree. According to studies from Williams 1975, Breitwisch 1977, and Batzil 1979, the red-bellied woodpecker spent 20%


title: "Red-bellied woodpecker" content: to 69% foraging on dead or decaying trees. In addition, Williams 1975, Breitwisch 1977, and Batzil 1979 observed red-bellied woodpecker 80% gleaning and probing and 10% excavating on trees in South Florida pine habitat. The red-bellied woodpecker relies on snags or dying trees for foraging and nesting. The red-bellied woodpecker is a major predator of the invasive emerald ash borer in the U.S. Midwest, removing up to 85 percent of borer larvae in a single infested ash tree. Predators of adult red-bellied woodpeckers include birds of prey such as sharp-shinned hawks and Cooper's hawks, black rat snakes and house cats.


title: "Red-bellied woodpecker" content: Known predators of nestlings and eggs include red-headed woodpeckers, owls, pileated woodpeckers, gray rat snakes and black rat snakes. When approached by a predator, red-bellied woodpeckers either hide from the predator, or harass it with alarm calls. They defend their nests and young aggressively, and may directly attack predators that come near the nest. In early May, the red-bellied woodpeckers begin breeding activities by drumming patterns; such as, slow taps followed by short rapid drumming. Woodpeckers depend on dead and drying wood for nesting purposes. The male red-bellied woodpecker takes the initiative in locating a nest hole. He will then


title: "Red-bellied woodpecker" content: seek approval from his female mate by mutual tapping. The red-bellied woodpecker excavates holes in trees for nesting and roosting. By excavating cavities, they play an important role in the forest communities for other species as well. For example, species such as squirrels and bats use these cavities as shelter. The female red-bellied woodpecker accepts the nesting hole by completing the excavation and entering the nest hole. Researchers have documented that red-bellied woodpeckers have the tendency to nest in clear areas with only few trees. Studies have indicated that close canopy areas does not impact the bird's nesting behavior; however,


title: "Red-bellied woodpecker" content: further studies are needed and are in progress. Red-bellied woodpeckers are territorial during the nesting season and they breed once per year. A pair-breeding woodpecker begins nesting in April or May holding a year-round territories and showing high site fidelity. Red-bellied woodpeckers depend on dead trees for nesting. Recent studies have shown that these woodpeckers experienced low breeding due to cutting sites of dead trees; however, predators are still of main concern. The juvenile red-bellied woodpecker are ready to fledge its nest at 24 to 26 days of age. Natal dispersal has been observed on juvenile red-bellied woodpeckers. The juvenile


title: "Red-bellied woodpecker" content: red-bellied woodpecker remains approximately 27 weeks in its natal area after fledging. In some cases, the woodpecker may return to its natal area for breeding depending on predation levels and food resources. It has been noted that vocal signals in red-bellied woodpeckers is used to attract and communicate with potential mates. A low ""grr, grr"" sound is observed in a pair of woodpeckers from the start of courtship until the end of the breeding season. In an intraspecific conflict, the red-bellied woodpeckers usually make a loud ""chee-wuck, chee-wuck, chee-wuck"" sound. As indicated by Kilham 1983, the red-bellied woodpecker drums with


title: "Red-bellied woodpecker" content: its bill during conflict situation and taps to maintain pair bonding. An example of a conflict event between red-bellied woodpeckers would be competing for the same mate. Nevertheless, the red-bellied woodpeckers are known to be in monogamous relationships. They have been known to rapidly peck on aluminum gutters of houses to produce a loud noise in order to attract females. Red-bellied woodpecker The red-bellied woodpecker ("Melanerpes carolinus") is a medium-sized woodpecker of the family Picidae. It breeds mainly in the eastern United States, ranging as far south as Texas and as far north as Canada. Its common name is somewhat


title: "Red-breasted sapsucker" content: Red-breasted sapsucker The red-breasted sapsucker ("Sphyrapicus ruber") is a medium-sized woodpecker of the forests of the west coast of North America. Adults have a red head and upper chest; they have a white lower belly and rump. They are black on the back and wings with bars; they have a large white wing patch. Red-breasted sapsuckers nest in tree cavities. Northern birds migrate to the southern parts of the range; birds on the coast are often permanent residents. Like other sapsuckers, these birds drill holes in trees and eat the sap as well as insects attracted to it. They sometimes


title: "Red-breasted sapsucker" content: catch insects in flight; they also eat seeds and berries. These birds interbreed with the red-naped sapsucker or yellow-bellied sapsucker where their ranges overlap. Until recently, the red-breasted sapsucker and red-naped sapsucker were considered a single species. Sapsuckers are in the Picidae, or woodpecker, family, in the order Piciformes. The wing barring is white in both variants. Red-breasted sapsuckers breed from southeast Alaska and British Columbia south through the Pacific Coast Ranges of western Washington and Oregon and northern California. The breeding habitat is usually forest that includes pine, hemlock, Douglas-fir, fir, and spruce, though they are known to use


title: "Red-breasted sapsucker" content: other woodland habitats. The northern birds that breed in migrate south in the winter, and individuals that breed in inland and upland locales often move to the coastal lowlands in winter, where the weather is milder. Winter habitat can be deciduous or coniferous woodland. This species’ winter range extends south to Baja California in Mexico. Red-breasted sapsuckers prefer old-growth forest. They require living trees to provide the sap on which they feed. A sapsucker’s tongue is adapted with stiff hairs for collecting the sap. Red-breasted sapsuckers visit the same tree multiple times, drilling holes in neat horizontal rows. A bird


title: "Red-breasted sapsucker" content: will leave and come back later, when the sap has started flowing from the holes. Repeated visits over an extended period of time can actually kill the tree. The insects attracted to the sap are also consumed, and not only by sapsuckers. Rufous hummingbirds, for example, have been observed to follow the movements of sapsuckers and take advantage of this food source. The red-breasted sapsucker begins work on its nest hole in a dead tree, usually a deciduous tree, in April or May, and produces one brood per breeding season. The female lays 4-7 pure white eggs. Both parents feed


title: "Red-breasted sapsucker" content: the young, and the fledglings leave the nest at 23–28 days old. The nest cavity is not reused. These birds make various noises; their vocalizations include a variety of chatter, squeals, and scream-like calls, and they also drum with their bills on various surfaces. Many of these noises serve to establish territory and attract a mate. This is in addition to the noise made by drilling holes for feeding and by excavating nest cavities. Red-breasted sapsucker The red-breasted sapsucker ("Sphyrapicus ruber") is a medium-sized woodpecker of the forests of the west coast of North America. Adults have a red head


title: "Malcolm Rifkind" content: post of Shadow Foreign Secretary, but this post had gone to William Hague. Rifkind declared his loyalty to the new party leader and remains one of the Conservative Party's most experienced senior figures. In December 2008 he became a leading spokesman of the Global Zero movement, which includes over 300 eminent leaders and over 400,000 citizens from around the world working toward the elimination of all nuclear weapons by multilateral negotiation. In July 2010, he was appointed by the Secretary General of the Commonwealth as a member of the Eminent Persons Group, chaired by a former Prime Minister of Malaysia,


title: Zebrahead content: spent the majority of 2004 promoting the album at various festivals in Japan, including the Summer Sonic Festival. The band's extensive touring earned them a sizeable fanbase in the country, leading "MFZB" to chart at No.9 on the Japanese Charts and earn a gold certification. A follow-up to "MFZB" titled "Waste of MFZB" – containing songs that didn't make the final cut of the former – was released exclusively in Japan in July 2004 where it topped the "Billboard Japan" chart. Shortly after Zebrahead's Japanese tour, co-vocalist/rhythm guitarist Justin Mauriello left the band due to creative differences. As the singing/rapping


title: "John Forsythe" content: Universe Pageant, broadcast on CBS in 1989. The eldest of three children, Forsythe was born as John, or Jacob, Lincoln Freund (sources differ) on January 29, 1918, in Penns Grove, New Jersey, to Blanche Forsythe (née Blohm) and Samuel Jeremiah Freund. Blanche was born in Georgia, to David Hyat Blohm, a Russian Jewish immigrant, and Mary S. Materson, who herself was born in Maryland, to Jewish emigrants from Prussia. Forysthe's father was a stockbroker, who was born in New York, to Polish Jewish immigrants. He was raised in Brooklyn, New York, where his father worked as a Wall Street businessman


title: "River Exe" content: River Exe The River Exe ( ) in England rises at Exe Head, near the village of Simonsbath, on Exmoor in Somerset, from the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It flows for 60 miles (96 km) and reaches the sea at a substantial ria, the Exe Estuary, on the south (English Channel) coast of Devon. Historically, its lowest bridging point was at Exeter, though there is now a viaduct for the M5 motorway about south of the city centre. The river's name derives from *Iska,


title: "River Exe" content: a Common Brittonic root meaning "water" or "abounding in fish", and a cognate of "pysg" the plural word for "fish" in Welsh. The same root separately developed into the English Axe and Esk, the Welsh Usk, and the Scottish whisky. The river gave the name of Exeter ("fortress on the Exe") and many other settlements along its course, including Exford, Up Exe, Nether Exe, Exwick, Exton, Exminster, and Exebridge, where it is joined by the River Barle. The seaside town of Exmouth is at the east side of the estuary mouth, and Dawlish Warren is at the west, with its


title: "River Exe" content: long sand spit extending across the mouth. The river fuelled Exeter's growth and relative importance in medieval times, and the city's first industrial area was developed at Exe Island, created by a series of leats to the west of the city. The island was home to numerous watermills producing paper and textiles; it also created valuable land through drainage of the marshlands. Tides on the river are limited at Countess Wear, the site of a weir commissioned by the Countess of Devon in the 13th century. The Exeter Canal bypasses this weir to enable ships to reach Exeter Quay. At


title: "River Exe" content: high tide, the estuary forms a large body of water that is heavily used for water sports especially sailing, windsurfing and water skiing. Railways run along both sides of the estuary. The Avocet Line from Exeter to Exmouth on the eastern side, and the South Devon main line on the western. The latter is on a causeway, the South Devon Railway sea wall from Powderham to Dawlish Warren. The Exmouth to Starcross Ferry carries passengers across the mouth of the estuary during the summer months, linking the harbour at Exmouth with a pier adjacent to Starcross railway station on the


title: "River Exe" content: South Devon main line. At low tide, extensive mud flats are exposed, and these are an important feeding source for wading birds. Along with other rias in South West England, the Exe estuary is an important site for wintering waders. Dawlish Warren is a favoured site for birdwatching. The river has a low pH but does not suffer from a serious acid rain problem. It is populated with wild brown trout , and in the lower reaches coarse fish including dace, chub, perch, roach, pike and bream and some grayling, the average size being . There is a run of


title: "River Exe" content: Atlantic salmon and a sparse run of sea trout. Just below the union of the River Barle is Black Pool, which is one of the best, and highest salmon pools on the river. The smaller fish species present include stone loach and there are good reasons to assume others are present. In 2008 the Environment Agency embarked on a project to clean the river from vegetation forming. In order to do so the water level decreased to its lowest level – less water remained than the droughts the city has suffered. River Exe The River Exe ( ) in England


title: "Shock therapy (economics)" content: economy weakened by inflation, which hit a rate of 35 percent in 1970. Between 1967 and 1970, real GDP per capita had grown only 1.2 percent per annum, a rate significantly below the Latin American average. The UP had a number of short-run economic objectives: initiating structural economic transformations, including a program of nationalization; increasing real wages; reducing inflation; spurring economic growth; increasing consumption, especially by poorer people; and reducing the economy's dependence on the rest of the world. The UP wanted to achieve their nationalization program through a combination of new legislation, requisitions, and stock purchases from small shareholders.


title: "Institutional racism" content: deportation coerced them; or through officially voluntary – though often coercive – repatriation programs directed by state and local governments and charitable aid agencies. Merit-based hiring to civil service titles are race-blind in terms of hiring preferences; in practice, however, there are titles that have resisted integration to the present day. Institutions that resist even past the civil right fights of the 50s and 60s resulted in court interventions in the 70s and even up to the last decade. Many of the Consent Decrees that resulted from court intervention came about as a result of the federal government intervening due


title: "Washington Allston" content: strongly influenced by his paintings and poems, but so were both Margaret Fuller and Sophia Peabody, wife of Nathaniel Hawthorne. The influential critic and editor Rufus Wilmot Griswold dedicated his famous anthology "The Poets and Poetry of America" to Allston in 1842. Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 17 years after Allston's death, wrote that: "One man may sweeten a whole time. I never pass through Cambridge Port without thinking of Allston. His memory is the quince in the drawer and perfumes the atmosphere." Boston painter William Morris Hunt was an admirer of Allston's work, and in 1866 founded the Allston Club


title: Pipa content: collection was edited by Hua Qiuping (華秋萍, 1784–1859) and published in 1819 in three volumes. The first volume contains 13 pieces from the Northern school, the second and third volumes contain 54 pieces from the Southern school. Famous pieces such as "Ambushed from Ten Sides", "The Warlord Takes Off His Armour", and "Flute and Drum at Sunset" were first described in this collection. The earliest-known piece in the collection may be "Eagle Seizing a Crane" (海青挐鶴) which was mentioned in a Yuan Dynasty text. Other collections from the Qing Dynasty were compiled by Li Fangyuan (李芳園) and Ju Shilin (鞠士林),


title: Mitla content: Mitla Mitla is the second most important archeological site in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico, and the most important of the Zapotec culture. The site is located 44 km from the city of Oaxaca. in the upper end of the Tlacolula Valley, one of the three that form the Central Valleys Region of the state. The archeological site is within the modern municipality of San Pablo Villa de Mitla. While Monte Albán was most important as the political center, Mitla was the main religious center. The name Mitla is derived from the Nahuatl name Mictlán, which was the place


title: Mitla content: of the dead or underworld. Its Zapotec name is "Lyobaa", which means “place of rest.” The name Mictlán was Hispanicized to Mitla by the Spanish. However, what makes Mitla unique among Mesoamerican sites is the elaborate and intricate mosaic fretwork and geometric designs that cover tombs, panels, friezes and even entire walls. These mosaics are made with small, finely cut and polished stone pieces which have been fitted together without the use of mortar. No other site in Mexico has this. Mitla is one of many well-preserved archeological sites of the Oaxaca Valley, where the dry climate has conserved sites


title: Mitla content: as old as 10,000 years. This valley was settled by the Zapotecs who over the centuries developed a hierarchical society governed by kings and nobles. While the valley was relatively isolated, the Zapotecs did have contacts with other Mesoamerican peoples. By the time the Spanish arrived, the Zapotec state had a population of over 500,000, sophisticated construction techniques, a writing system, two calendar systems and agriculture that included the growing of maize, beans, squash, and chili peppers, using irrigation and terraces in the mountains to grow food for a mostly urban population. Mitla itself was inhabited at least since the


title: Mitla content: Classic Period (100-650 CE) and perhaps from as early as 900 BCE. It began as a fortified village on the outer edge of the valley and later became the main religious center for the area. The Mixtecs took control of the area around 1000 CE, although the area remained populated by the Zapotec. The city reached its height and largest size between 750 and 1521, with both Zapotec and Mixtec influences in its architecture during that time. Mitla is one of the pre-Columbian sites that represent the Mesoamerican belief that death was the most consequential part of life after birth.


title: Mitla content: It was built as a gateway between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Mitla was still occupied and functioning as the main religious center when the Spanish arrived in the 1520s. The high priest, called the Uija-tào, resided at Mitla, and the Spanish likened him to the pope. Nobles buried at Mitla were destined to become “cloud people” who would intercede on behalf of the population below. At that time the urban center covered an area of with suburban areas surrounding it. In the rural areas, intensive agriculture was practiced over an area of more


title: Mitla content: than to feed the city. During the early colonial period, some of the best descriptions of the site come from the soldiers and missionaries who arrived first in the valley. One of the first to write formally about Mitla was Friar Toribio de Benavente Motolina in the mid 16th century. He states that the name meant “hell.” As the site held great political and religious significance for the area, most of the buildings suffered destruction, dismantling and sacking, with a few buildings spared. Some of the rooms of the site were inhabited by the Spanish clergy. This destruction was ordered


title: Mitla content: by Oaxacan Archbishop Albuquerque in 1553. The remains were used as building materials for churches, including the Church of San Pablo, which sits on top of part of the ruins. The north side of the Cathedral of Oaxaca also has design features from Mitla to symbolize the new religious order. In the state of Oaxaca, Mitla is second in importance as an archeological site only to Monte Alban. At the beginning of the 20th century, the government of Porfirio Díaz chose Mitla to be one of the emblematic symbols of pre-Hispanic Mexico for Centennial celebrations of Mexico’s Independence. Alfonso Caso,


title: Mitla content: the archaeologist who excavated Monte Albán, also did work at Mitla in the 1920s and 1930s. Mitla has been the site of further excavations since the 1980s with important work done on the North Group as well as the colonial church around the start of the 20th century. For the bicentennial celebrations in 2010, INAH has been intensifying efforts to conserve the ancient ruins. Instead of being a group of pyramids on a hill, as at Monte Albán, Mitla is a group of constructions built on the valley floor, and it lacks the wide and far vistas of Monte Alban.


title: Mitla content: The architecture is geared more for the comfort of the residents than for magnificence. The construction of Mitla as a ceremonial center began in 850, and the city was still being expanded when the Spaniards arrived and destroyed it. The oldest group of buildings has been dated to between 450 and 700 CE and shows architectural features similar to those found at the earlier Monte Alban. Mitla is one of the few sites that originated in the Classic period. The site represents the most developed architecture of the Zapotecs and is the product of the syncretism of Mixtec and Zapotec


title: Mitla content: design features which reached its height in 1200. Such syncretism can also be seen in the Catholic churches built over the foundations of destroyed temples in this area, such as the San Pedro Church located in the North Group and the Calvario Chapel, located in the Adobe Group. The construction of the stone walls appears to have been the same for all groups: a core of mud and stone covered with plaster or well-cut trachyte rock. Some of the large stones, such as those used as columns and lintels, weigh as much as 18 tons. Today the archeological consists of


title: Mitla content: five groups of buildings with a fence of cactus plants surrounding much of it. The five groups of constructions are called the South Group, the Adobe Group, the Arroyo Group, the Columns or Palace Group and the Church or North Group. All of the groups’ buildings are aligned with the cardinal directions. The South Group and the Adobe Group have been classified as ceremonial centers with central plazas surrounded by mound structures. The South, Columns and Church Groups have been classified as palaces with rooms surrounding square courtyards. The two best preserved groups are the Columns Group and the Church


title: Mitla content: Group, both at the north end of the site. The Columns Group and the Church Group were both fully excavated and restored by the early 1980s and are open to the public. Both consists of rectangular courtyards surrounded by one story rectangular buildings with long narrow rooms. The Church or North Group lies at the entrance to the site. In the 16th century, the Spanish built the Church of San Pablo here, which remains on top of a large pre-Hispanic platform which serves as the church atrium. It was believed that in this group lived the lord and lady of


title: Mitla content: the underworld, so the church was built here to keep the “devil” from escaping. The group also contains the main temple, called the "yohopàe", which translates to “house of the vital force.” This temple faces a large courtyard. The portal to the temple is flanked by two large columns, which leads into an antechamber. This antechamber once had a roof, supported by six columns, but only the columns and walls remain. Beyond the antechamber is the main one, where priests burned incense, made sacrifices and performed other rites. Behind the main chamber is the living quarters of the priests. Walls


title: Mitla content: everywhere in this building are covered by intricate mosaic fretwork and murals depicting mythological scenes and characters. There are tombs under some of the buildings. These tombs have stairs that descend from the patio area and have a cross layout. Inside they are decorated with mosaics. One of the tombs has an entrance that is divided by a thick column. This column is popularly known as the "Columna de la Vida" (Column of Life). According to legend, one is supposed to wrap one's arms around the column, and the space remaining between the hands indicate the amount of life the


title: Mitla content: individual has left. To the south of the Church Group is the Columns Group, whose main building is called the Palace. This group has two entrances to the outside that face south. The entrance room contains immense columns which support the roof. The north wall has a small opening facing the patio, supposedly for crossing into the afterlife. The main building is called the Palace or the Grand Hall of Columns. It measures and has six columns of volcanic stone that once supported the roof. After passing through a small corridor, access is gained to the courtyard, which is intricately


title: Mitla content: decorated in mosaic fretwork and geometric designs. The north and east buildings of the group have elaborate tombs where high priests and Zapotec rulers were buried. In front of the stairs of the north building is a cross-shaped tomb with an antechamber. The ceiling has large beams made of stone and the walls are decorated with tablets and stone fretwork. The east building is characterized by a monolithic stone column which supports the roof. The main distinguishing feature of Mitla is the intricate mosaic fretwork and geometric designs that profusely adorn the walls of both the Church and Columns groups.


title: Mitla content: The geometric patterns called "grecas" in Spanish seen on some of the stone walls and door frames are made from thousands of cut, polished stones that are fitted together without mortar. The pieces were set against a stucco background painted red. The stones are held in place by the weight of the stones that surround them. Walls, friezes and tombs are decorated with mosaic fretwork. In some cases, such as in lintels, these stone “tiles” are embedded directly into the stone beam. The elaborate mosaics are considered to be a type of “Baroque” design as the designs are elaborate and


title: Mitla content: intricate and in some cases cover entire walls. None of the fretwork designs are repeated exactly anywhere in the complex. The fretwork here is unique in all of Mesoamerica. The two main concerns for the Mitla site are the eroding effects of wind, rain etc. and graffiti. The latter, which is mostly painted or etched, has been a serious problem at least since the early 20th century. To protect the ruins, especially the grecas, shelters have been constructed over a number of the rooms of the Palace or Columns Group. These shelters are palm thatched roofs supported by wooden beams


title: Mitla content: and columns, and are intended to mimic roofs that were common in the Mesoamerican period. Reconstruction projects planned or underway include, rebuilding the 17th century wall of a room used as a priests’ residence in the Church Group, laying stucco floors in the Columns Group, the sealing of platforms and fortifications walls, landscaping and the restoration of a colonial era rainwater collection tank. The last was the only one of its kind built in the valley during the colonial period. Mitla is one of the sites to be included in a planned program called the Archeology Corridor of Oaxaca Valley


title: Mitla content: (Corredor Arqueológico del Valle de Oaxaca) with goals of maintaining and restoring ruins as well as making the site more accessible for visitors. In addition, there are efforts to get the site of Mitla designated as a World Heritage site by archeologists such as Nelly Robles. It is listed on Mexico’s list of national heritage sites called the Lista Indicativa del Patromonio Nacional. The entry on the list includes the Mitla ruins along with the Tree of Tule and nearby caves which have paintings and show human habitation for 80,000 years. Mitla is the second most visited archeological site in


title: Mitla content: the state of Oaxaca. The Mitla site is very important to the modern town of San Pablo Villa de Mitla, as tourist related activities support most of the economy, but many residents here feel that neither the site or the town is promoted sufficiently by the government. Authorities who administer the site state that tourism is rising. Most visitors are Mexicans who visit on weekends from Veracruz and Puebla states, and most foreigners who visit are European. On average 500 people per day visit the site. Mitla Mitla is the second most important archeological site in the state of Oaxaca


title: "Dave Bancroft" content: League in 1936. He appeared in one game for Sioux City as a player. Bancroft then managed the St. Cloud Rox of the Class-C Northern League in 1947. In the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, Bancroft managed the Chicago Colleens in 1948 and South Bend Blue Sox in 1949 and 1950. Grover Cleveland Alexander, Bancroft's teammate in Philadelphia, and Hughie Jennings, his coach in New York, considered Bancroft one of the best shortstops in MLB. Sportswriter Frank Graham called Bancroft "the greatest shortstop the Giants ever had and one of the greatest that ever lived." Bancroft is still considered to


title: "Southern flying squirrel" content: Southern flying squirrel The southern flying squirrel or the assapan ("Glaucomys volans") is one of three species of the genus "Glaucomys", the only flying squirrels found in North America. It is found in deciduous and mixed woods in the eastern half of North America, from southeastern Canada, to Florida. Disjunct distribution for populations of this species have been recorded in the highlands of Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. Southern flying squirrels have grey brown fur on top with darker flanks and are a cream color underneath. They have large dark eyes and a flattened tail. They have a furry membrane called


title: "Southern flying squirrel" content: a patagium that extends between the front and rear legs and is used to glide through the air. Total length (including tail) is . The tail can be . Southern flying squirrels are nocturnal, feed on fruit and nuts from trees such as red and white oak, hickory and beech. They store food, especially acorns, for winter consumption. They also dine on insects, buds, mushrooms, mycorrhizal fungi, carrion, bird eggs and nestlings and flowers. Predators include snakes, owls, hawks and raccoons. Domestic cats can be dangerous to these animals. Both in the wild and in captivity they can produce two


title: "Southern flying squirrel" content: litters each year (with 2–7 young per litter). The gestation period is approximately 40 days. Young are born without fur or any capabilities of their own. Their ears open at 2 to 6 days old, and fur grows in by 7 days. Their eyes do not open until they are 24–30 days old. Parents wean their young 65 days after they are born. The young then become fully independent at around 120 days of age. Southern flying squirrels show substantial homing abilities, and can return to their nests if artificially removed to distances of up to a kilometre. Their home


title: "Southern flying squirrel" content: ranges may be up to 40,000 square metres for females and double that for males, tending to be larger at the northern extreme of their range. Exposure to southern flying squirrels has been linked to cases of epidemic typhus in humans. Typhus spread by flying squirrels is known as "sylvatic typhus" and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has documented a total of 39 such cases in the U.S. from 1976 to 2001. The squirrel acts as host to the "Rickettsia prowazekii" bacteria and transmission to humans is hypothesised to occur via aerosolized feces of the fleas and lice


title: "Southern flying squirrel" content: associated with "G. volans". Flying squirrels do not actually fly, but rather glide using a membrane called a patagium. From atop of trees, flying squirrels can initiate glides from a running start or from a stationary position by bringing their limbs under the body, retracting their heads, and then propelling themselves off the tree. It is believed that they use triangulation to estimate the distance of the landing area as they often lean out and pivot from side to side before jumping. Once in the air, they form an "X" with their limbs by spreading their long arms forward and


title: "Southern flying squirrel" content: out and their long legs backward and out, causing their membrane to stretch into a square-like shape and glide down at angles of 30 to 40 degrees. They maneuver with great efficiency in the air, making 90 degree turns around obstacles if needed. Just before reaching a tree, they raise their flattened tails that abruptly changes their trajectory upwards, and point all of their limbs forward to create a parachute effect with the membrane in order to reduce the shock of landing. The limbs absorb the remainder of the impact, and the squirrels immediately run to the other side of


title: "Southern flying squirrel" content: the trunk or to the top of the tree in order to avoid any potential predators. Although graceful in flight, they are very clumsy walkers and if they happen to be on the ground in the presence of danger, they will prefer to hide rather than attempt to escape. The southern flying squirrel is found in eastern deciduous forests or mixed forests of North America. Large hickory and beech trees are more abundant in intensively used areas of their home ranges. Also, maple and poplar, as well as oak trees make favorable habitat. Although southern flying squirrels may be present


title: "Southern flying squirrel" content: in heavily wooded suburban regions, they never occur in large numbers in these areas. The size of the home range of southern flying squirrels varies greatly. Average home range estimates are 2.45 hectares, 9.0 hectares, and 16.0 hectares for adult males, 1.95 hectares, 3.9 hectares, and 7.2 hectares for adult females, and 0.61 hectares for juveniles. Significant overlap exists among the home ranges. Near the northern limit of the southern flying squirrels distribution, home range increases in size as mast-producing trees become more dispersed. This trend is also observed in fragmented forests where nesting and foraging areas become widely spaced.


title: "Southern flying squirrel" content: Home range is larger in males than females possibly to increase the chance of encountering potential mates. Although males have a larger home range, female home ranges have been shown to increase by as much as 70 percent following the departure of the offspring. Number of nesting sites does not influence the total number of flying squirrels but may influence which sex will be present. Male home ranges contain more food as they have been associated with a higher than expected number of large red oaks and white oaks, whereas female home ranges contained lower food resources and more abundant


title: "Southern flying squirrel" content: nesting sites possibly to avoid contact with other squirrels while raising the young. Southern flying squirrels nest in natural cavities and woodpecker holes, or build nest out of leaves and twigs. Leaf nests are used as a refuge or a resting site and are used primarily in summer, whereas cavities are used for breeding and more intensively during winter. Cavities used by southern flying squirrels are found in small snags, average diameter at breast height, or large living trees, average dbh, with entrances that average in width by in height which are an average of above the ground. Dens tend


title: "Southern flying squirrel" content: to be on the perimeter of the home range and situated away from clearings. To cross disturbances such as plantations and logged areas, southern flying squirrels prefer to use mature forest corridors over younger ones, suggesting that they are more sensitive to forest disturbances than previously believed. Southern flying squirrels are highly social mammals and have been observed flying and foraging together in large groups. Additionally, they often aggregate together in dens, especially as seasonal temperatures decline in order to conserve energy. Compared to individuals who nest alone in winter, squirrels in aggregates can save 30 percent more energy. Although


title: "Southern flying squirrel" content: southern flying squirrels do show a preference for relatedness, they are tolerant of nonrelated but familiar individuals, possibly because in addition to providing heat energy for the aggregation, outsiders will promote outbreeding. Mull stated that communal nesting may actually be detrimental during warm weather and is unnecessary in the southern parts of the species range. However, Layne and Raymond observed nest boxes in Florida and discovered that the southern populations also nest in large groups (up to 25 individuals) and that, compared to northern populations, the period of elevated communal nesting extended later in the spring. In this study, nest


title: "Southern flying squirrel" content: temperatures occasionally exceeded 38°C while the normal body temperature of southern flying squirrels varies between 36.3 and 38.9°C. Since southern populations breed later in the spring than northern populations, these findings suggests that communal nesting serves more than a thermoregulatory function and may actually play a role in the social organization of populations. Proposed advantages of aggregation include increased likelihood of mating, increased defense against predators, or increased foraging success. Populations which nest together were found to be more highly related than expected by chance and it is believed this could be a form of kin selection since an individual's


title: "Southern flying squirrel" content: stored food may be beneficial for the survival of its relatives in the event of death. Winterrowd and Weigl performed experiments in controlled conditions to determine whether memory, smell, random searching, or problem solving played the major role in retrieving hidden food. When burying dry nuts in dry substrate, no odors are present and spatial memory is the most effective retrieval mechanism, suggesting that there is no inclusive fitness involved in the hoarding behavior. However, once placed in a wet environment, smell becomes an effective means to retrieve the food and decreases the individuals advantage over the other members of


title: "Southern flying squirrel" content: the group. Experiments to determine whether a squirrel would steal from others in the group revealed that no particular pattern exists and that the hidden food is recovered according to its availability. Southern flying squirrel The southern flying squirrel or the assapan ("Glaucomys volans") is one of three species of the genus "Glaucomys", the only flying squirrels found in North America. It is found in deciduous and mixed woods in the eastern half of North America, from southeastern Canada, to Florida. Disjunct distribution for populations of this species have been recorded in the highlands of Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. Southern


title: "Nagoya Castle" content: a mountain pathway, and a shoreline path. The pond represents a ravine with many round rocks. The garden has many high-quality trees from various regions throughout Japan and some of them, including the pines, have medicinal uses. Located in the garden is a modern teahouse constructed of hinoki cypress from the Kiso region. A tatami mat room and a washing room are located inside. According to the "Oshiro Oniwa Ezu", a historic drawing of the old castle garden, the Ninomaru Palace Garden was grand in scale, featuring Mt. Gongen in the north, Mt. Sazae in the west, a large pond


title: "Lester Dent" content: Skull Shoal", was accidentally credited to Lester Dent. This was the only time during the run of the magazine that Dent's real name was used. Following his tenure on "Doc Savage", Dent found continuing success as a mystery and western writer. His last published short story was a Western entitled "Savage Challenge", published in the February 22, 1958 issue of the "Saturday Evening Post". A last novel, "Lady in Peril", was released as half of an Ace Double the month that Lester died. Dent suffered a heart attack in February 1959. He was hospitalized, but subsequently died on March 11,


title: "Texas annexation" content: nations. The formal controversy over the legality of the annexation of Texas stems from the fact that Congress approved the annexation of Texas as a state, rather than a territory, with simple majorities in each house, instead of annexing the land by Senate treaty, as was done with Native American lands. Tyler's extralegal joint resolution maneuver in 1844 exceeded strict constructionist precepts, but was passed by Congress in 1845 as part of a compromise bill. The success of the joint house Texas annexation set a precedent that would be applied to Hawaii's annexation in 1897. Republican President Benjamin Harrison (1889–1893)


title: "Masurian dialect" content: and Germany, but there are mostly elders who can communicate in Masurian with some fluency. The sole group who speak Masurian on a daily basis are so called Russian Masurians, who are the descendants of colonists who arrived to Siberia at the end of the 19th century. They have lived in isolation from the other groups, thus they were neither Germanised, nor Polonised. Their speech acquired many Russian loanwords, though. The situation is starting to get better. Since 2015, the Sorkwity Masurian Culture Festival started to promote Masurian dialect, locals are starting to create folk music, some schools are organizing


title: "Rockefeller Republican" content: party. In 2010, several moderate Republicans lost their primaries or were challenged by the Tea Party movement. In Alaska, Senator Lisa Murkowski, the ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, lost her GOP primary to conservative Tea Party challenger, Joe Miller. The Tea Party's campaign organization "helped Miller portray the senator as too liberal for the state". Despite her primary defeat, Murkowski was reelected after waging a successful write-in campaign. Mike Castle, a moderate former Governor and Representative of Delaware, lost his primary to conservative 'insurgent' Christine O'Donnell who depicted Castle as being too liberal. Senator John McCain


title: "Georgios Papandreou" content: Struggle" against the right-wing ERE. Finally, his party won the elections of November 1963 and those of 1964, the second with a landslide majority. His progressive policies as premier aroused much opposition in conservative circles, as did the prominent role played by his son Andreas Papandreou, whose policies were seen as being considerably left of center. Andreas disagreed with his father on many important issues, and developed a network of political organizations, the Democratic Leagues ("Dimokratikoi Syndesmoi") to lobby for more progressive policies. He also managed to take control of the Center Union's youth organization, EDIN. Papandreou had opposed the


title: "Granny Smith" content: Granny Smith The Granny Smith is a tip-bearing apple cultivar, which originated in Australia in 1868. It is named after Maria Ann Smith, who propagated the cultivar from a chance seedling. The tree is thought to be a hybrid of "Malus sylvestris", the European wild apple, with the North American apple "Malus pumila" as the polleniser. The fruit is hard, with a light green skin and crisp, juicy flesh. The flavour is tart and acidic, limiting its consumption raw. However, it remains firm when baked, making it a very popular cooking apple used in pies, where it can be sweetened.


title: "Granny Smith" content: The apple goes from being completely green to turning yellow when overripe. It is claimed to be the third most popular apple in America by the US Apple Association.. The Granny Smith was one of four apples honored by the United States Postal Service in a 2013 set of four 33¢ stamps commemorating historic strains, joined by Northern Spy, Baldwin, and Golden Delicious. The Granny Smith Cultivar originated in Eastwood, New South Wales, Australia (now a suburb of Sydney) in 1868. Its discoverer, Maria Ann Smith, had emigrated to the district from Beckley, East Sussex in 1839 with her husband


title: "Granny Smith" content: Thomas. They purchased a small orchard in the area in 1855-1856 and began cultivating fruit, for which the area was a well known centre in colonial Australia. Smith had eight children and was a prominent figure in the district, earning the nickname "Granny" Smith in her advanced years. The first description of the origin of the Granny Smith apple was not published until 1924. In that year, "Farmer and Settler" published the account of a local historian who had interviewed two men who had known Smith. One of those interviewed recalled that, in 1868, he (then twelve years old) and


title: "Granny Smith" content: his father had been invited to Smith's farm to inspect a chance seedling that had sprung near a creek. Smith had dumped there, among the ferns, the remains of French crab-apples that had been grown in Tasmania. Another story recounted that Smith had been testing French crab-apples for cooking, and, throwing the apple cores out her window as she worked, had found that the new cultivar had sprung up underneath her kitchen windowsill. Whatever the case, Smith took it upon herself to propagate the new cultivar on her property, finding the apples good for cooking and for general consumption. Having


title: "Granny Smith" content: "all the appearances of a cooking apple," they were not tart but instead were "sweet and crisp to eat." She took a stall at Sydney's George Street market, where the apples stored "exceptionally well and became popular" and "once a week sold her produce there." Smith died only a couple of years after her discovery (in 1870), but her work had been noticed by other local planters. Edward Gallard was one such planter, who extensively planted Granny Smith trees on his property and bought the Smith farm when Thomas died in 1876. Gallard was successful in marketing the apple locally,


title: "Granny Smith" content: but it did not receive widespread attention until 1890. In that year, it was exhibited as "Smith's Seedling" at the Castle Hill Agricultural and Horticultural Show, and the following year it won the prize for cooking apples under the name ""Granny" Smith's Seedling." The apple was so highly successful that the following year, many were exhibiting Granny Smith apples at horticultural shows. In 1895, the New South Wales Department of Agriculture recognised the cultivar and had begun growing the trees at the Government Experimental Station in Bathurst, New South Wales, recommending the gazette its properties as a late-picking cooking apple


title: "Granny Smith" content: for potential export. Over the following years the government actively promoted the apple, leading to its widespread adoption. Its worldwide fame grew from the fact that it could be picked from March and stored till November. Enterprising fruit merchants in the 1890s and the 1900s experimented with methods to transport the apples overseas in cold storage. Because of its excellent shelf life, the Granny Smith could be exported long distances and most times of the year, at a time when Australian food exports were growing dramatically on the back of international demand. Granny Smiths were exported in enormous quantities after


title: "Granny Smith" content: the First World War, and by 1975, 40 percent of Australia's apple crop was Granny Smith. By this time, it was being grown intensely elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, as well as in France and the United States. The advent of the Granny Smith apple is now celebrated annually in Eastwood with the Granny Smith Festival. Apples are genetic hybrids that produce new genetic combinations in their seedlings. To preserve the exact genetic variation, grafting is the usual method of propagation (and cutting is sometimes used). All the Granny Smith apple trees grown today are clones from the original Smith


title: "Granny Smith" content: tree in Sydney. Granny Smith apples are light green in colour. They are popularly used in many apple dishes, such as apple pie, apple cobbler, apple crumble, and apple cake. They are also commonly eaten raw as table apples, and at least one company (Woodchuck Hard Cider) makes Granny Smith varietal cider. It is moderately susceptible to fire blight and is highly prone to scab, powdery mildew, and cedar apple rust. Granny Smith is much more easily preserved in storage than other apples, a factor which has greatly contributed to its success in export markets. Its long storage life has


title: "Granny Smith" content: been attributed to its fairly low levels of ethylene production, and in the right conditions Granny Smiths can be stored without loss of quality for as long as a year. This cultivar needs fewer winter chill hours and a longer season to mature the fruit, so it is favoured for the milder areas of the apple growing regions. However, they are susceptible to superficial scald and bitter pit. Superficial scald may be controlled by treatment with diphenylamine before storage. It can also be controlled with low-oxygen storage. Pit can be controlled with calcium sprays during the growing season and with


title: "Granny Smith" content: postharvest calcium dips. Granny Smith is one of several apple cultivars that are high in antioxidant activity, and they have the highest concentration of phenols amongst the apple breeds. Some sources recommend Granny Smiths (among other apples) as a particularly efficient source of antioxidants, particularly the flavonoids cyanidin and epicatechin, especially if eaten with the skin intact. Granny Smiths are also naturally low in calories and high in dietary fiber and potassium, making them commonly recommended as a component of healthy and weight-loss diets. According to the US Apple Association website, it is one of the fifteen most popular apple


title: "Granny Smith" content: cultivars in the United States. In 1968 the pop/rock band The Beatles used an image of a Granny Smith apple as the logo for their corporation, Apple Corps Limited. For their record label, Apple Records, one side of vinyl albums featured the exterior of the fruit whilst the other side of the recording featured a cross-section of the apple. Yoko Ono's 1966 artwork "Apple" used a Granny Smith apple in its 2015 recreation at New York City's Museum of Modern Art. John Lennon had taken a bite from the apple on display in its 1966 incarnation at the Indica Gallery


title: "Granny Smith" content: in London. Granny Smith The Granny Smith is a tip-bearing apple cultivar, which originated in Australia in 1868. It is named after Maria Ann Smith, who propagated the cultivar from a chance seedling. The tree is thought to be a hybrid of "Malus sylvestris", the European wild apple, with the North American apple "Malus pumila" as the polleniser. The fruit is hard, with a light green skin and crisp, juicy flesh. The flavour is tart and acidic, limiting its consumption raw. However, it remains firm when baked, making it a very popular cooking apple used in pies, where it can


title: "Mário Soares" content: was very wary of integrating itself into the EEC, and Soares almost single-handedly turned public opinion around. In the 1986 presidential election, Soares was elected President of Portugal, beating Diogo Freitas do Amaral by little more than 2%. He was reelected in 1991, this time with almost 70% of the vote. For most of Soares' two terms of office, Portugal was governed by the centre-right Social Democratic Party, led by Aníbal Cavaco Silva. He devised the so-called "Presidência Aberta" (Open Presidency), a series of tours around the country, each addressing a particular issue, such as the environment or a particular


title: "Basque Nationalist Party" content: (helped by the fact that both Arzalluz and Garaikoetxea have gone into political retirement), both parties agreed to form an electoral coalition in a number of local elections as a means to maximize the nationalist votes, which eventually led to reunite both candidatures in a joint list again for the regional governments of Navarra and the Basque Autonomous Community in 1998. Thus, EA has participated in several PNV-led Basque governments, including the 2006 government of President Juan José Ibarretxe Markuartu. Still, EA decided to run by itself in the municipal elections held in May 2007. Former president Juan José Ibarretxe


title: "Annie (musical)" content: universally disastrous reviews. Extensive reworking of the script and score proved futile, and the project ended before reaching Broadway. In 1993, a second attempt (with a similar plot and score) titled "Annie Warbucks" was developed in a workshop at the Goodspeed Opera House under the direction of Michael P. Price where the original Annie enjoyed its world premiere in 1976. It subsequently opened at the Off Broadway Variety Arts Theatre, where it ran for 200 performances. † This number was added as a showcase for Nell Carter in the 1997 Broadway revival. It has not appeared in any subsequent productions.


title: "Oregon Territory" content: to settle down in the area and began farming, and missionaries started to arrive in the 1830s. Some settlers also began arriving in the late 1830s, and covered wagons crossed the Oregon Trail beginning in 1841. At that time, no government existed in the Oregon Country, as no one nation held dominion over the territory. A group of settlers in the Willamette Valley began meeting in 1841 to discuss organizing a government for the area. These earliest documented discussions, mostly concerning forming a government, were held in an early pioneer and Native American encampment and later town known as Champoeg,


title: Brambling content: Brambling The brambling ("Fringilla montifringilla") is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It has also been called the cock o' the north and the mountain finch. In 1758 Linnaeus included the species in the 10th edition of his "Systema Naturae" under its current binomial name, "Fringilla montifringilla". "Montifringilla" is from Latin "mons, montis" mountain and "fringilla" finch. The English name is probably derived from Common West Germanic *"brâma", meaning bramble or a thorny bush. (Compare Standard German "Brämling" with the same meaning.) The brambling is similar in size and shape to a common chaffinch. Breeding-plumaged male bramblings


title: Brambling content: are very distinctive, with a black head, dark upperparts, orange breast and white belly. Females and younger birds are less distinct, and more similar in appearance to some chaffinches. In all plumages, however, bramblings differs from chaffinches in a number of features: An additional difference for all plumages except breeding-plumaged males is the bill colour - yellow in brambling, dull pinkish in chaffinch (breeding-plumaged male bramblings have black bills, chaffinches in the corresponding plumage have grey bills). This bird is widespread, in the breeding season, throughout the forests of northern Europe and Asia. It is migratory, wintering in southern Europe,


title: Brambling content: north Africa, north India, northern Pakistan, China, and Japan. It regularly strays into Alaska during migration and may continue as far south as the western United States. The global population of bramblings consists in about 100 - 200 million birds, with a decreasing trend. Open coniferous or birch woodland is favoured for breeding. This species is almost entirely migratory. In Europe, it forms large flocks in the winter, sometimes with thousands or even millions of birds in a single flock. Such large gatherings occur especially if beech mast is abundant. Bramblings do not require beech mast in the winter, but


title: Brambling content: winter flocks of bramblings will move until they find it. This may be an adaptation to avoid competition with the Chaffinch. Bramblings mostly eat seeds, but unlike most finches, their young are fed largely on insects. It builds its nest in a tree fork, and decorates the exterior with moss or lichen to make it less conspicuous. It lays 4–9 eggs. Brambling The brambling ("Fringilla montifringilla") is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It has also been called the cock o' the north and the mountain finch. In 1758 Linnaeus included the species in the 10th edition


title: "Burrowing owl" content: Burrowing owl The burrowing owl ("Athene cunicularia") is a small, long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America. Burrowing owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, deserts, or any other open dry area with low vegetation. They nest and roost in burrows, such as those excavated by prairie dogs ("Cynomys" spp.). Unlike most owls, burrowing owls are often active during the day, although they tend to avoid the midday heat. Like many other kinds of owls, though, burrowing owls do most of their hunting from dusk until dawn, when they can use their night vision


title: "Burrowing owl" content: and hearing to their advantage. Living in open grasslands as opposed to forests, the burrowing owl has developed longer legs that enable it to sprint, as well as fly, when hunting. Burrowing owls have bright eyes; their beaks can be dark yellow or gray depending on the subspecies. They lack ear tufts and have a flattened facial disc. The owls have prominent white eyebrows and a white "chin" patch which they expand and display during certain behaviors, such as a bobbing of the head when agitated. Adults have brown heads and wings with white spotting. The chest and abdomen are


title: "Burrowing owl" content: white with variable brown spotting or barring, also depending on the subspecies. Juvenile owls are similar in appearance, but they lack most of the white spotting above and brown barring below. The juveniles have a buff bar across the upper wing and their breast may be buff-colored rather than white. Burrowing owls of all ages have grayish legs longer than those of other owls. Males and females are similar in size and appearance, and display little sexual dimorphism. Females tend to be heavier, but males tend to have longer linear measurements (wing length, tail length, etc.). Adult males appear lighter


title: "Burrowing owl" content: in color than females because they spend more time outside the burrow during daylight, and their feathers become "sun-bleached". The burrowing owl measures long and spans across the wings, and weighs . As a size comparison, an average adult is slightly larger than an American robin ("Turdus migratorius"). The burrowing owl is sometimes classified in the monotypic genus "Speotyto" based on an overall different morphology and karyotype. However, osteology and DNA sequence data suggest that the burrowing owl is a terrestrial member of the "Athene" little owls, and it is today placed in that genus by most authorities. A considerable


title: "Burrowing owl" content: number of subspecies have been described, but they differ little in appearance and the taxonomy of several need to be validated. Most subspecies are found in/near the Andes and in the Antilles. Although distinct from each other, the relationship of the Floridian subspecies to (and its distinctness from) the Caribbean birds is not quite clear. A paleosubspecies, "A. c. providentiae", has been described from fossil remains from the Pleistocene of the Bahamas. How these birds relate to the extant "A. c. floridana" – that is, whether they were among the ancestors of that subspecies, or whether they represented a more


title: "Burrowing owl" content: distant lineage that completely disappeared later – is unknown. In addition, prehistoric fossils of similar owls have been recovered from many islands in the Caribbean (Barbuda, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Mona Island, and Puerto Rico). These birds became extinct towards the end of the Pleistocene, probably because of ecological and sea level changes at the end of the last ice age rather than human activity. These fossil owls differed in size from present-day burrowing owls, and their relationship to the modern taxon has not been resolved. Before European colonization, burrowing owls probably inhabited every suitable area of the New World, but


title: "Burrowing owl" content: in North America, they have experienced some restrictions in distribution since. In parts of South America, they are expanding their range with deforestation. The western burrowing owls ("A. c. hypugaea") are most common in the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge and in several counties in Colorado, and their population reportedly is threatened. Burrowing owls range from the southern portions of the western Canadian provinces through southern Mexico and western Central America. They are also found in Florida and many Caribbean islands. In South America, they are patchy in the northwest and through the Andes, but widely distributed from southern


title: "Burrowing owl" content: Brazil to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. Burrowing owls are year-round residents in most of their range. Birds that breed in Canada and the northern USA usually migrate south to Mexico and southern USA during winter months. This species can live for at least 9 years in the wild and over 10 years in captivity. They are often killed by vehicles when crossing roads, and have many natural enemies, including badgers, coyotes, and snakes. They are also killed by both feral and domestic cats and dogs. Two birds studied in the Parque Nacional de La Macarena of Colombia were free


title: "Burrowing owl" content: of blood parasites. Burrowing owls often nest and roost in the burrows made by ground squirrels, a strategy also used by rattlesnakes. When threatened the owl retreats to the burrow and produces rattling and hissing sounds similar to that of a rattlesnake. The behavior is suggested to be an example of acoustic Batesian mimicry and has been observed to be an effective strategy against animals that are familiar with dangers posed by rattlesnakes. When hunting, they wait on a perch until they spot prey. Then, they swoop down on prey or fly up to catch insects in flight. Sometimes, they


title: "Burrowing owl" content: chase prey on foot across the ground. The highly variable diet includes invertebrates and small vertebrates, which make up roughly one-third and two-thirds of the diet, respectively. Burrowing owls mainly eat large insects and small rodents. Although burrowing owls often live close to ground squirrels (Marmotini), they rarely prey upon them. Rodent prey is usually dominated by locally superabundant species, like the delicate vesper mouse ("Calomys tener") in southern Brazil. Among squamates and amphibians, small lizards like the tropical house gecko ("Hemidactylus mabouia"), and frogs and toads predominate. Generally, most vertebrate prey is in the weight class of several grams


title: "Burrowing owl" content: per individual. The largest prey are usually birds, such as eared doves ("Zenaida auriculata") which may weigh almost as much as a burrowing owl. Regarding invertebrates, the burrowing owl seems less of a generalist. It is extremely fond of termites such as Termitidae, and Orthoptera such as Conocephalinae and Copiphorinae katydids, Jerusalem crickets (Stenopelmatidae) and true crickets (Gryllidae). "Bothynus" and "Dichotomius anaglypticus" scarab beetles (Scarabaeidae) were eaten far more often than even closely related species by many burrowing owls across central São Paulo (Brazil). Similarly, it was noted that among scorpions Bothriuridae were much preferred, among spiders Lycosidae (wolf spiders),


title: "Burrowing owl" content: and among millipedes (Diplopoda) certain Diplocheta. Small ground beetles (Carabidae) are eaten in quantity, while larger ones are much less popular as burrowing owl food, perhaps due to the vigorous defense the large species can put up. Burrowing owls are also known to place the fecal matter of large herbivorous mammals around the outside of their burrows to attract dung beetles which are used to provide a steady source of food for the owls. Unlike other owls, they also eat fruits and seeds, especially the fruit of tasajillo ("Cylindropuntia leptocaulis") and other prickly pear and cholla cacti. On Clarion Island,


title: "Burrowing owl" content: where mammalian prey is lacking, they feed essentially on crickets and prickly pear fruit, adding Clarión wrens ("Troglodytes tanneri") and young mourning doves ("Zenaida macroura clarionensis") on occasion. The nesting season begins in late March or April in North America. Burrowing owls usually only have one mate but occasionally a male will have two mates. Pairs of owls will sometimes nest in loose colonies. Their typical breeding habitat is open grassland or prairie, but they can occasionally adapt to other open areas like airports, golf courses, and agricultural fields. Burrowing owls are slightly tolerant of human presence, often nesting near


title: "Burrowing owl" content: roads, farms, homes, and regularly maintained irrigation canals. The owls nest in an underground burrow, hence the name burrowing owl. If burrows are unavailable and the soil is not hard or rocky, the owls may excavate their own. Burrowing owls will also nest in shallow, underground, man-made structures that have easy access to the surface. During the nesting season, burrowing owls will collect a wide variety of materials to line their nest, some of which are left around the entrance to the burrow. The most common material is mammal dung, usually from cattle. At one time it was thought that


title: "Burrowing owl" content: the dung helped to mask the scent of the juvenile owls, but researchers now believe the dung helps to control the microclimate inside the burrow and to attract insects, which the owls may eat. The female will lay an egg every one or two days until she has completed a clutch, which can consist of 4 to 12 eggs (usually 9). She will then incubate the eggs for three to four weeks while the male brings her food. After the eggs hatch, both parents will feed the chicks. Four weeks after hatching, the chicks can make short flights and begin


title: "Burrowing owl" content: leaving the nest burrow. The parents will still help feed the chicks for one to three months. Site fidelity rates appear to vary among populations. In some locations, owls will frequently reuse a nest several years in a row. Owls in migratory northern populations are less likely to return to the same burrow every year. Also, as with many other birds, the female owls are more likely to disperse to a different site than are male owls. The burrowing owl is endangered in Canada and threatened in Mexico. It is a state threatened species in Colorado and Florida. It is


title: "Burrowing owl" content: common and widespread in open regions of many Neotropical countries, where they sometimes even inhabit fields and parks in cities. In regions bordering the Amazon Rainforest they are spreading with deforestation. It is therefore listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Burrowing owls are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. They are also included in CITES Appendix II. The major reasons for declining populations in North America are control programs for prairie dogs and loss of habitat. Burrowing owls readily inhabit some anthropogenic landscapes, such as airport grasslands or golf


title: "Burrowing owl" content: courses, and are known to take advantage of artificial nest sites (plastic burrows with tubing for the entrance) and perches. Genetic analysis of the two North American subspecies indicates that inbreeding is not a problem within those populations. Where the presence of burrowing owls conflicts with development interests, a passive relocation technique has been applied successfully: rather than capturing the birds and transporting them to a new site (which may be stressful and prone to failure), the owls are half-coerced, half-enticed to move on their own accord. The preparations need to start several months prior to the anticipated disturbance with


title: "Burrowing owl" content: observing the owl colony and noting especially their local movements and site preferences. After choosing a location nearby that has suitable ground and provides good burrowing owl breeding habitat, this new site is enhanced by adding burrows, perches, etc. Once the owls have accustomed to the changes and are found to be interested in the location – if possible, this should be at the onset of spring, before the breeding season starts – they are prevented from entering the old burrows. A simple one-way trapdoor design has been described that is placed over the burrow for this purpose. If everything


title: "Burrowing owl" content: has been correctly prepared, the owl colony will move over to the new site in the course of a few nights at most. It will need to be monitored occasionally for the following months or until the major human construction nearby has ended. Burrowing owl The burrowing owl ("Athene cunicularia") is a small, long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America. Burrowing owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, deserts, or any other open dry area with low vegetation. They nest and roost in burrows, such as those excavated by prairie dogs ("Cynomys" spp.). Unlike


title: Denbighshire content: valley. It is primarily a rural county with little industry. Crops are grown in the Vale of Clwyd and cattle and sheep reared in the uplands. The coast attracts summer tourists, and hikers frequent the Clwydian Range, which forms an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with the upper Dee Valley. Llangollen hosts the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in each July. The present main area was formed on 1 April 1996 under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, from various parts of the county of Clwyd. It includes the district of Rhuddlan (which was formed in 1974 entirely from Flintshire), the


title: "Fritz Thyssen" content: Hitler, protesting the persecution of Christians in Germany. The breaking point for Thyssen was the violent pogrom against the Jews in November 1938, known as "Kristallnacht", which caused him to resign from the Council of State. By 1939 he was also bitterly criticising the regime's economic policies, which were subordinating everything to rearmament in preparation for war. On 1 September 1939, the invasion of Poland marked the commencement of World War II. Thyssen sent Hermann Göring a telegram saying he was opposed to the war, shortly before leaving for Switzerland with his family. He was expelled from the Nazi Party


title: "Eddie Brock" content: Eddie subsequently leaves Philadelphia to resume his vigilante activities. While fighting a drug cartel, Brock is approached by FBI agent Claire Dixon and invited to join the team she has assembled in order to hunt down and capture Cletus Kasady, which also includes John Jameson, and Manuela Calderon, a survivor of one of Kasady's massacres, although Brock secretly plans to kill Kasady. After Kasady's defeat, Brock gives up the Toxin symbiote. Eddie Brock decides to help the FBI against the new villainous Venom. With the FBI and Spider-Man, Brock is able to separate the symbiote from its new host, Lee


title: "Mulberry harbour" content: was abandoned in late June (see below), the beach continued to be used for landing vehicles and stores using Landing Ship Tanks (LSTs). Using this method, the Americans were able to unload a higher tonnage of supplies than at Arromanches. Salvageable parts of the artificial port were sent to Arromanches to repair the Mulberry there. Both harbours were almost fully functional when on 19 June a large north-east storm at Force 6 to 8 blew into Normandy and devastated the Mulberry harbour at Omaha Beach. The harbours had been designed with summer weather conditions in mind but this was the


title: "Jim Thompson (designer)" content: 1956. In late 1946, Thompson headed for home to seek his discharge from the army. After his divorce from Patricia Thraves (1920-1969), he returned to Thailand to join a group of investors to buy The Oriental Hotel in Bangkok. While working on its restoration, he had some differences with his associates and this resulted in him giving up his shares. He subsequently switched his focus to silk. In 1948, he partnered with George Barrie to found the Thai Silk Company Limited. It was capitalised at US$25,000. They each bought eighteen percent of the shares. The remaining sixty-four percent were sold


title: "Great horned owl" content: Great horned owl The great horned owl ("Bubo virginianus"), also known as the tiger owl (originally derived from early naturalists' description as the "winged tiger" or "tiger of the air") or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extremely adaptable bird with a vast range and is the most widely distributed true owl in the Americas. Its primary diet is rabbits and hares, rats and mice, and voles, although it freely hunts any animal it can overtake, including rodents and other small mammals, larger mid-sized mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates. In ornithological


title: "Great horned owl" content: study, the great horned owl is often compared to the Eurasian eagle-owl ("Bubo bubo"), a closely related species, which despite the latter's notably larger size, occupies the same ecological niche in Eurasia, and the red-tailed hawk ("Buteo jamaicensis"), with which it often shares similar habitat, prey, and nesting habits by day, thus is something of a diurnal ecological equivalent. The great horned owl is one of the earliest nesting birds in North America, often laying eggs weeks or even months before other raptorial birds. The great horned owl is generally colored for camouflage. The underparts of the species are usually


title: "Great horned owl" content: light with some brown horizontal barring; the upper parts and upper wings are generally a mottled brown usually bearing heavy, complex, darker markings. All subspecies are darkly barred to some extent along the sides, as well. A variable-sized white patch is seen on the throat. The white throat may continue as a streak running down the middle of the breast even when the birds are not displaying, which in particularly pale individuals can widen at the belly into a large white area. South American horned owls typically have a smaller white throat patch, often unseen unless actively displaying, and rarely


title: "Great horned owl" content: display the white area on the chest. Individual and regional variations in overall color occur, with birds from the subarctic showing a washed-out, light-buff color, while those from the Pacific Coast of North America, Central America, and much of South America can be a dark brownish color overlaid with blackish blotching. The skin of the feet and legs, though almost entirely obscured by feathers, is black. Even tropical great horned owls have feathered legs and feet. The feathers on the feet of the great horned owl are the second-longest known in any owl (after the snowy owl). The bill is


title: "Great horned owl" content: dark gunmetal-gray, as are the talons. All great horned owls have a facial disc. This can be reddish, brown, or gray in color (depending on geographical and racial variation) and is demarked by a dark rim culminating in bold, blackish side brackets. This species' "horns" are tufts of feathers, called plumicorns. The purpose of plumicorns is not fully understood, but the theory that they serve as a visual cue in territorial and sociosexual interactions with other owls is generally accepted. The great horned owl is the heaviest extant owl in Central and South America and is the second-heaviest owl in


title: "Great horned owl" content: North America, after the closely related, but very different-looking snowy owl. It is heavily built, with a barrel-shaped body, a large head, and broad wings. Its size can vary considerably across its range, with interior Alaska and Ontario populations being largest and populations in California and Texas being smallest, though those from the Yucatán Peninsula and Baja California appear to be even smaller. Adult great horned owls range in length from , with an average of , and possess a wingspan of , with an average of . Females are somewhat larger than males. Mean body weight is for females


title: "Great horned owl" content: and for males. Depending on subspecies, maximum weight can reach . The wing chord length is . The wing loading, the measured wing area compared to weight, is high, meaning the wings are relatively small in surface area for the bird's weight; the species' wing loading has been described as proportionately the highest among raptors. The tail, being relatively short as is typical of most owls, is long. The legs, feet, and talons are large and powerful. Tarsal length is . The average foot span of a fully spread foot, from talon to talon, is around , as compared to


title: "Great horned owl" content: in long-eared owls, in barn owls, and in the great grey owl. Great horned owls can apply at least 300 lb/in of crushing power in their talons, a pressure considerably greater than the human hand is capable of exerting. In some big females, the gripping power of the great horned owl may be comparable to much larger raptor species such as the golden eagle. The hard, inflexible bill of the great horned owl is long, although the culmen, the exposed bill portion as measured along the top of the beak, is only . The outer ear openings, which are concealed


title: "Great horned owl" content: by feathers on the sides of the head, are relatively smaller than those of the Eurasian eagle owl, being in vertical axis, with the left ear slightly larger than the right. The great horned owl's eyes, just slightly smaller than the eyes of a human being, are large even for an owl and rank proportionately among the largest eyes of all terrestrial vertebrates. They are visually highly adapted for nocturnal hunting and provide a wide, almost completely binocular field of view, a large corneal surface and a predominantly rod retina. Instead of turning its eyes, an owl must turn its


title: "Great horned owl" content: whole head, and the great horned owl is capable rotating its neck 270°. The iris is yellow, except in the amber-eyed South American great horned owl ("B. v. nacurutu"). The great horned owl's song is normally a low-pitched but loud "ho-ho-hoo hoo hoo" (or also transcribed as "bu-bubu booh", "who-hoo-ho-oo" or "who-ho-o-o, whoo-hoo-o-o, whoo") and can last for four or five syllables. One transliteration is "You still up? Me too". The call is resonant and has warranted descriptions as varied as "solemn" and "terrifying". The female's call is higher and rises in pitch at the end of the call. Female


title: "Great horned owl" content: vocalizations are higher in pitch because of a smaller syrinx in the larger sex. Calling seems to peak after rather than before midnight. Usually, territorial hooting decreases in February or March at the onset of egg laying. On occasion, this species exhibits "an indescribable assemblage of hoots, chuckles, screeches, and squawks, given so rapidly and disconnectedly that the effect is both startling and amusing". Descriptions of some of these odd sounds including a growling "krrooo-ooo" note pair, a laughing "Whar, whah, wha-a-a-a-ah", a high-pitched "ank, ank, ank"; a weak, soft "erk, erk", a cat-like "meee-owwwwww", a hawk-like note of "ke-yah,


title: "Great horned owl" content: ke-yah", and a nighthawk-like "peent". These vocalizations may be variously uttered when the birds are disturbed and angered at the nest (frequently preceding an attack on an interloping human or other animal), represent the vocal development of young owls, or are given during courtship and during territorial disputes with other owls. Young owls still in the care of their parents make loud, persistent hissing or loud, piercing screeching sounds that are often confused with the calls of the barn owl. The combination of the species' bulk, prominent ear tufts and barred plumage distinguishes it through much of the range, but


title: "Great horned owl" content: it may be easily confused with the lesser or Magellanic horned owl ("B. magellanicus"), which may overlap in range. The Magellanic horned owl was once considered a subspecies of the great horned, but is now almost universally considered a distinct species, as is supported by genetic materials, with the great horned being the paraspecies. Overall coloration is similar, but the Magellanic is markedly smaller with smaller feet and a smaller head, with finer, but more numerous brownish bars on the underside, rather than the blotchy, irregular barring typical of great horned owls. Other eagle-owls may superficially be somewhat similar, but


title: "Great horned owl" content: the species is generically allopatric with the exception of wintering snowy owls. More tropical species with ear tufts, the stygian owl ("A. stygius") and striped owl ("Pseudoscops clamator"), are much smaller. Other large owls lack ear tufts. The great horned owl is part of the genus "Bubo", which may include as many as 25 other extant taxa, predominantly distributed throughout Africa. The great horned owl represents one of the one or two radiations of this genus across the Bering land bridge to the Americas. Whereas the Magellanic horned owl clearly divided once the owl had spread through the Americas, the


title: "Great horned owl" content: consensus seems to be that the snowy owl and the great horned owl divided back in Eurasia and the snowy then spread back over the Arctic through northernmost North America separately from the radiation of the horned owl. The great horned and Eurasian eagle owls may in fact be conspecifics, based on similarities in life history, geographic distribution, and appearance. In one case, a zoo-kept male great horned owl and female Eurasian eagle owl produced an apparently healthy hybrid (although a case of a hybrid between the only distantly related great grey owl hybridized with a great horned owl is


title: "Great horned owl" content: also on record). Genetic testing indicates that the snowy, not the Eurasian eagle owl, is the most closely related living species. Pleistocene era fossils have been found of "Bubo" owls in North America, which may either be distinct species or paleosubspecies, from as far east as Georgia, but predominantly in the Rocky Mountains and to the west of them. Almost all fossils indicate these owls were larger than modern great horned owls. A large number of subspecies, more than 20 altogether, have been named. However, many of these are not true races and only examples of individual or clinal variation.


title: "Great horned owl" content: Subspecies differences are mainly in color and size and generally follow Gloger's and Bergmann's rules: The most conservative treatments of great horned owl races may describe as few as 10 subspecies, although an intermediate number is typical in most writings. The breeding habitat of the great horned owl extends high into the subarctic of North America, where they are found up to the northwestern and southern Mackenzie Mountains, Keewatin, Ontario, northern Manitoba, Fort Chimo in Ungava, Okak, Newfoundland and Labrador, Anticosti Island and Prince Edward Island. They are distributed throughout most of North and very spottily in Central America and


title: "Great horned owl" content: then down into South America south to upland regions of Argentina, Bolivia and Peru, before they give way to the Magellanic horned owl, which thence ranges all the way to Tierra del Fuego, the southern tip of the continent. It is absent or rare from southern Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica to Panama (where only two records) in Central America and the mangrove forests of northwestern South America. The species is also absent from the West Indies, the Queen Charlotte Islands and almost all off-shore islands in the Americas, its ability to colonize islands apparently being considerably less


title: "Great horned owl" content: than those of barn owls and short-eared owls. Since the division into two species, the great horned owl is the second most widely distributed owl in the Americas, just after the barn owl. The great horned owl is among the world's most adaptable owls or even bird species in terms of habitat. The great horned owl can take up residence in trees that border all manner of deciduous, coniferous, and mixed forests, tropical rainforests, pampas, prairie, mountainous areas, deserts, subarctic tundra, rocky coasts, mangrove swamp forests, and some urban areas. It is less common in the more extreme areas of


title: "Great horned owl" content: the Americas. In the Mojave and Sonora Deserts, they are absent from the heart of the deserts and are only found on the vegetated or rocky fringes. Even in North America, they are rare in landscapes including more than 70% old-growth forest, such as the aspen forest of the Rockies. They have only been recorded a handful of times in true rainforests such as the Amazon rainforest. In the Appalachian Mountains, they appear to use old-growth forest but in Arkansas are actually often found near temporary agricultural openings in the midst of large areas of woodland. Similarly in south-central Pennsylvania,


title: "Great horned owl" content: the owls uses cropland and pasture more than deciduous and total forest cover, indicating preference for fragmented landscapes. In prairies, grasslands and deserts, they can successfully live year around as long as there are rocky canyon, steep gullies and/or wooded coulees with shade-giving trees to provide them shelter and nesting sites. In mountainous areas of North America, they are usually absent above the tree line, but great horned owls can be found up to in California and in the Rockies. In the Andean Mountains, on the other hand, they have adapted to being true montane species, often found at least


title: "Great horned owl" content: above sea level and are regularly recorded in treeless Puna grassland zones at in Ecuador and Peru. They are generally rare in non-tidal wetland habitat, and are replaced in the high Arctic tundra by snowy owls. It prefers areas where open habitats, which it often hunts in, and woods, where it tends to roost and nest, are juxtaposed. Thus lightly populated rural regions can be ideal. This species can occasionally be found in urban or suburban areas. However, it seems to prefer areas with less human activity and is most likely to be found in park-like settings in such developed


title: "Great horned owl" content: areas, unlike eastern and western screech owls ("Megascops asio" & "M. kennicottii") which may regularly occur in busy suburban settings. On the contrary, though, one nest (a large squirrel nest) was reported in a tree in the middle of a college campus, under which no fewer than 3,000-4,000 people passed directly each day. All mated great horned owls are permanent residents of their territories, but unmated and younger birds move freely in search of company and a territory, and leave regions with little food in winter. In most aspects of their behavior, great horned owls are typical of owls and


title: "Great horned owl" content: most birds of prey. From experimentally raising young owls in captivity, Paul L. Errington felt that they were a bird of "essentially low intelligence" who could only hunt when partially wild and instinctually driven by hunger to hunt whatever they first encounter. He showed captive birds that were provided strips of meat from hatching, rather than having to hunt or to simulate hunting to obtain food, had no capacity to hunt. On the contrary, William J. Baerg compared his captive raised behaviorally great horned owls to parrots, which are famously intelligent birds, although not as often playful "it knows its


title: "Great horned owl" content: keeper and usually accepts whatever he wishes to do with a good deal of tolerance". Arthur C. Bent also noted the variability in temperaments of great horned owls to their handlers, some generally pleasant, though most are eventually aggressive. Most captive specimens, once mature, seem to resent attempts at contact and are often given to attacking their keepers. They will only follow cues when conditioned from an early age but rarely with the same level of success seen in some diurnal birds of prey trained for falconry or entertainment, although this does not necessarily correlate with intelligence as posited by


title: "Great horned owl" content: Errington. Carl D. Marti also disagrees with Errington's assessments, noting that their prey selection is not as "completely random as Errington suggested"; while "Great Horned Owls appeared to select their mammalian prey in general relation to the prey populations...Cottontails, appeared to be selected as prey out of relation to their population status." Like most owls, the great horned owl makes great use of secrecy and stealth. Due to its natural-colored plumage, it is well camouflaged both while active at night and while roosting during the day. During the daytime it roosts usually in large trees (including snags & large hollows


title: "Great horned owl" content: but usually thick branches) but may occasionally be in crevices or small caves in rocks or in dense shrubbery. Pine and other coniferous trees may be preferred where available since they are particularly dense and provide cover throughout the year. Typically, males have a favorite roosting site not far from the nest, sometimes used over successive years. While roosting, great horned owls may rest in the "tall-thin" position, where they sit as erect and hold themselves as slim as is possible. The kind of posture is well known as a further method of camouflage for other owls, like long-eared owls


title: "Great horned owl" content: or great grey owls, especially if humans or other potential mammalian carnivores approach them. The Eurasian eagle owl rarely, if ever, assumes the tall-thin position. Outside of the nesting season, great horned owls may roost wherever their foraging path ends at dawn. Generally great horned owls are active at night, although in some areas may be active in the late afternoon or early morning. At dusk, the owl utters a few calls before flying to a more open sing-post, i.e. large bare branch or large rocks to deliver song. Normally several perches are used to mark occupied territory or to