Also known as the Monk Vulture, Eurasian Black Vulture, or simply the Black Vulture, the Cinereous Vulture is a member of the Accipitridae family. It is not related to the American Black Vulture except for its similar name and colour. Cinereous Vulture is found in Europe and Asia The Cinereous Vulture breeds across Asia to
Also known as the Cinnamon Tree Sparrow, the Russet Sparrow is a bird tha was first described by the Dutch Zoologist, Coenraad Jacob Teeminck in 1835. The species he described was collected in Japan. Russet Sparrow on a wire There are 13 subspecies of this sparrow, but only 3 of these are actually widely recognised.
The American Goldfinch, also known as the Wild Canary and the Eastern Goldfinch, is a North American bird that is part of the finch family. It is a migratory bird that ranges from Canada to North Carolina during the breeding season, and just south of the Canadian border down to Mexico during the wintertime. American
The Babakotia was a medium-sized genus of lemur that is currently extinct. It was originally from Madagascar, and its genus only contained one species – the Babakotia radofilai. Together with some other animals that are now extinct, they formed the Palaeopropithecidae family which are more commonly known as sloth lemurs. A painting of what the
The Australian Magpie is a medium-sized bird that is native to Australia and southern New Guinea. They are closely related to butcherbirds, and are member of the Artamidae. The watchful eye of the magpie They are famous for their black and white plumage. Adult Australian Magpies are fairly robust, and are between 37 to 43
The Macaroni Penguin is a penguin species that is found from the Subantarctic to the Antarctic Peninsula. It is only one of the 6 species of crested penguins (Eudyptes) around the world. It was first described by the German Naturalist, Johann Friedrich von Brandt, on the Falkland Islands in 1837. This penguin was known by
The Madeira Firecrest is a small bird that is endemic to the island of Madeira. It is part of the Kinglet family, and is sometimes known as the Madeira Kinglet. It was only recognised as a separate species in 2003, and before it was classified as a subspecies of the Common Firecrest. However it has
The sei whale is the 3rd largest baleen whale after the fin whale and the blue whale. It inhabits most of the world’s oceans and its adjoining seas, but prefers to stay in deep, offshore waters. It will avoid tropical, polar, and semi-enclosed bodies of water. They migrate annually from the cool and subpolar waters
The Parasaurolophus or “near crested lizard” in English, is an orinthopod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period which was about 76 to 73 million years ago. It lived in what is now called North America. It was first discovered by William Parks in 1922 from a partial skeleton and a skull that was found in
The Eurasian Crag Martin is a small bird that is part of the swallow family. It has a very large range. It breeds in the mountains of Iberia and north-west Africa, through to Southern Europe, the Persian Gulf, the Himalayas, and northeastern China. The populations in the north are migratory and will spend their winter
The Gray Mouse Lemur is a small lemur that is only found in Madagascar. It was first described by John Frederick Miller in 1777. Although it only weighs a mere 58 to 67 grams, it is the largest mouse lemur in the world. However, it also belongs to the genus Microcebus which includes the world’s
The Island Fox is native to 6 of the 8 Channel Islands of California. There are 6 subspecies of the Island Fox which are unique to the particular island that it lives on and therefore reflects its evolutionary history. The Island Fox is also known as the Coast Fox, Island Gray Fox, Short-Tailed Fox, Channel
The Banker Horse is a feral breed of domesticated horses that live on the Outer Banks in North Carolina. They are descended from Spanish horses that were domesticated and they may have been brought to the Americas during the 16th century and may have either been abandoned on the islands on the exploratory expeditions by
The genus, Delichon, is part of the swallow family, and contains 3 species that are known as house martins. They are a passerine bird, and they are closely related to other swallows that build mud nests such as the Hirundo barn swallows. It was first described by Thomas Horsfield and Frederic Moore in 1854. The
The California Condor is a member of the vulture family that is native to North America. Its claim to fame is that it is the largest North American land bird. At present, it only inhabits Zion National Park, the Grand Canyon area, as well as Baja, California and California’s western coastal mountains. It is the
