The Bohemian Waxing (Bombycilla garrulus) is a medium sized passerine bird, similar in size to a Starling, that is a member of the Bombycillidae family and the Passeriformes order. The Bohemian Waxwing is often mistaken as a Cedar Waxwing; both species have overlapping ranges. To distinguish between the two species, start by analyzing their size and plumage characteristics. The Bohemian Waxwing has an overall brownish gray color with a prominent crest on top of the head. They have a black mask & throat with a white streak under the eye. They possess a chestnut colored belly and have a rusty under tail. The primary feathers have a yellow and white pattern and the tips have a red waxy appearance on the secondary feathers (Hoyo 2013). The red waxy tips are composed of the astaxanthin pigment, which alludes to the bird’s common name (Mountjoy 1988). The eyes are dark brown, the bill is black and the legs are a dark grey. The Cedar waxing, on the other hand, is generally smaller in appearance and has an overall yellowish appearance. Males and females do not have a large degree of sexual dimorphism. Females tend to have a smaller band on the tail and wing markings will be less distinct. Juvenile Bohemian Waxwings are generally dull compared to adults and will have fewer red tips, a smaller amount of black on the chest and mask and will have whiter underparts (Hoyo 2013).
Bohemian Waxwings weigh, on average, fifty-five grams and are roughly nineteen to twenty centimeters in length with thirty-two to thirty-six centimeter wingspan (Hoyo 2013). The Bohemian Waxwing has a characteristic call a, trilling sirrrr and is lower in pitch compared to the Cedar Waxwing call. The other calls the Bohemian Waxing produces are modificati...
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.... In addition to feeding on berries and small fruits, Waxwings will hunt by pursuing flying insects.
The Bohemian Waxwing currently has a healthy population. Prairie Falcons and other birds of prey predate Bohemian Waxwings and parasite such as tapeworms may infect Waxwings (Hoyo 2013) (Rausch 1983). Other known important causes of death are drinking contaminated water and collisions with manmade objects such as vehicles and windows (Hoyo). The population is estimated to be roughly three million birds over a breeding range of roughly 4.9 million mi^2. Populations have been steady over the past years. There is a record that in 1908, a three hundred foot wide flock of Bohemian Waxwings took over three minutes to pass over. The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies the success of the Bohemian Waxwing as a species of Least Concern (Hoyo 2013).
Humans are trying everything they can to trap the Gypsy moth and try to remove it from there eco-system, but the Gypsy moth keeps on reproducing. An annual trapping program is one method in which they place traps that attracts male Gypsy moths and gets them stuck in a sticky surface. If a substantial amount of moths are caught by the trap then more traps are set in that ecosystem. Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (BTK) is a toxic soil bacterium that is sprayed over an area to prevent defoliation. When Gypsy moths are exposed to BTK the toxic causes stomach poisoning and they would eventually die. (Government of Canada,
Throughout the Northeastern United States, since the winter of 2006, millions of cases of White-Nose Syndrome have been documented. Since its original discovery White-Nose Syndrome, WNS, has spread rapidly throughout the northeast, killing off record numbers of hibernating bat populations. Since its first detection in 2006 WNS has killed over 5.7 million bats in this area. Currently WNS has been documented in sixteen states...
The Asian Tiger Mosquito looks very similar to our common, everyday mosquitos except for a few differences. This six-legged insect averages a length of about ten millimeters. The abdomen of this species is black with white horizontal bands. These white bands are also found on the legs and have white tips on the palp. The thorax is also black and the dorsal side of the thorax has a white stripe down the center, starting at the back of the head and continues along the thorax.
Richard Conniff uses strong scientific facts in his essay to get his major point across to the audience. One of the major facts he uses stood out as it disproved many a wives tale about the common household fly. Most people think of flies as dirty animals who fed on dead animals and spread disease. Conniff uses a study that found flies tested from dirty areas contained more a lot mor...
The boll weevil’s primary food source are cotton plants, a crop that covered the southern plantations at the time. In the spring, when they emerge from hibernation, they puncture the cotton buds and lay their eggs inside ("What is a Boll Weevil?"). After about four days, the larvae are born. This is where most of the damage occurs. The larvae eat and destroy the cotton fibers("What is a Boll Weevil?"). The plant is plagued by these insects; they eat them until the cotton plant’s eventual death. The boll weevil season allows for man...
The Web. 18 Jan. 2014. Levy, Sharon. A Plague of Deer. BioScience 56.9 (2006): 714–21.
On the contrary, President Obama “unveiled a plan aimed at stopping the rapid decline in bee and butterfly populations” (“On May 19”). His plans are to reduce the death rate of bees which in turn will help out the agricultural production. He also plans to clear land in order to give the bees a bigger environment in which to repopulation and will ensure that no bees are harmed in the process (“On May 19”). The president sees the devastation that the decline could cause and is trying to combat the issue. The European Union has banned three pesticides in order to combat the decline but “have fallen short of providing adequate safeguards for the re-propagation of bee colonies”(“Bee research”). Governments are taking notice of the problem ahead yet still we are until to achieve the full support of all
8. Taylor, Dan. 1998. Audubon Society Inspired to Action by Bird Die -offs . 17 Jan. 1998 . E-mail . Available bkus@sunstroke.sdsu.edu
The monarch butterfly, as known as Danaus plexippus, is often called the milkweed butterfly because its larvae eat the milkweed plant. They are also sometimes called "royalty butterflies" because their family name comes from the daughter of Danaus, ruler of Argos. There are many other interesting facts about this butterfly including its anatomy and life cycle, where the butterfly lies on the food chain, the migration from Canada to Mexico, why the butterfly is being threatened, and lastly, what is being done to help the butterfly.
In 1996, the Asian Longhorn Beetle made its way into the New York and New Jersey creating the decimation of the forests. The Asian Longhorn Beetle has so far caused the cutting of over 10,000 trees in New Jersey, and quarantine of 109 miles in New York today . The spread of this foreign beetle has created great impacts on the environment. The Asian Longhorn Beetle is an invasive specie, a harmful specie from another locations, mainly other countries, that has ended up in a foreign habitat. As time has progressed, invasive species have continued to come into our environment more frequently creating many unforeseen consequences. The relationship of invasive species within the United States’ environment and ecosystem has been changing ever since the arrival of the Europeans in the 1700s to present day. Due to these encounters with other species whether harmful or neutral, the majority, if not all, of the United States has been affected with the threatening encroachment of native species due to the industrialization of waterways and transportation.
In the article, “Rusty Patched Bumblebee Added to Endangered Species List,”written on 1-19-17, the associated press and Newsela staff tells us about how the rusty patched bumblebees’ numbers have been dropping at alarming rate over the past 20 years because they have been experiencing diseases spreading and habitat loss. It has not gone unnoticed though. United States Fish and Wildlife Service have just recently put them on the endangered list. The government plans on rebuilding the bees population by having the citizens provide the bees with more habitat and they want to lower the amount of pesticides and insecticides used that harm bees. Although these bees are endangered, there
larger and heavier than the males. An average female (called a falcon) weighs a little over
Insects are the most diverse group of organisms on the planet. They occupy most of the habitat in the world. Insects have served as a model group of organisms for tackling many biological queries. Butterflies (Class: Insecta; Order: Lepidoptera) have been used as a model for studies on ecology, development and population dynamics. Most of the species are highly seasonal and some have very restricted habitats. Butterflies are good indicators of climate and help us understand fluctuations in seasonal changes. They require specific ecological conditions for their growth and development. Monitoring butterflies helps us understand the overall diversity of a habitat as they are directly dependent on other factors such as availability of host plants and nectar plants. They also play a very significant role in