Rhizothera
Rhizothera is a genus of bird in the Phasianidae family, native to Malaysia. Established by George Robert Gray in 1841, it contains the following species: Long-billed partridge Hose's partridge The name Rhizothera is constructed of two Greek words: rhiza, meaning "root" and thēras, meaning "hunter"
Europe
Europe is a continent located in the Northern Hemisphere and in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Mediterranean Sea to the south, it comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Since around 1850, Europe is most considered to be separated from Asia by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas and the waterways of the Turkish Straits. Although the term "continent" implies physical geography, the land border is somewhat arbitrary and has been redefined several times since its first conception in classical antiquity; the division of Eurasia into two continents reflects East-West cultural and ethnic differences which vary on a spectrum rather than with a sharp dividing line. The geographic border does not follow political boundaries, with Turkey and Kazakhstan being transcontinental countries. A strict application of the Caucasus Mountains boundary places two comparatively small countries and Georgia, in both continents.
Europe covers 2 % of the Earth's surface. Politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a total population of about 741 million as of 2016; the European climate is affected by warm Atlantic currents that temper winters and summers on much of the continent at latitudes along which the climate in Asia and North America is severe. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast. Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization; the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD and the subsequent Migration Period marked the end of ancient history and the beginning of the Middle Ages. Renaissance humanism, exploration and science led to the modern era. Since the Age of Discovery started by Portugal and Spain, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at various times the Americas all of Africa and Oceania and the majority of Asia.
The Age of Enlightenment, the subsequent French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars shaped the continent culturally and economically from the end of the 17th century until the first half of the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to radical economic and social change in Western Europe and the wider world. Both world wars took place for the most part in Europe, contributing to a decline in Western European dominance in world affairs by the mid-20th century as the Soviet Union and the United States took prominence. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the West and the Warsaw Pact in the East, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1949 the Council of Europe was founded, following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill, with the idea of unifying Europe to achieve common goals, it includes all European states except for Belarus and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, a separate political entity that lies between a confederation and a federation.
The EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The currency of most countries of the European Union, the euro, is the most used among Europeans. In classical Greek mythology, Europa was a Phoenician princess; the word Europe is derived from her name. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, "wide, broad" and ὤψ "eye, countenance", hence their composite Eurṓpē would mean "wide-gazing" or "broad of aspect". Broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. There have been attempts to connect Eurṓpē to a Semitic term for "west", this being either Akkadian erebu meaning "to go down, set" or Phoenician'ereb "evening, west", at the origin of Arabic Maghreb and Hebrew ma'arav. Michael A. Barry, professor in Princeton University's Near Eastern Studies Department, finds the mention of the word Ereb on an Assyrian stele with the meaning of "night, sunset", in opposition to Asu " sunrise", i.e. Asia.
The same naming motive according to "cartographic convention" appears in Greek Ἀνατολή. Martin Litchfield West stated that "phonologically, the match between Europa's name and any form of the Semitic word is poor." Next to these hypotheses there is a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning "darkness", which produced Greek Erebus. Most major world languages use words derived from Europa to refer to the continent. Chinese, for example, uses the word Ōuzhōu. In some Turkic languages the Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa; the prevalent definition of Europe as a geographical term has been in use since the mid-19th century. Europe is taken to be bounded by large bodies of water
Ammoperdix
Ammoperdix is a small genus in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes. It contains two similar species: See-see partridge, Ammoperdix griseogularis Sand partridge, Ammoperdix heyiThe see-see partridge occurs in southwest Asia, the sand partridge in Egypt and the Middle East. Both are resident breeders in dry, open country in hill areas. Both partridges in this genus are 22 -- 25 cm rotund birds, they are sandy brown, with wavy white and brown stripes on their flanks. The males have distinctively-patterned grey heads, but the females are washed-out in comparison, this lack of a distinctive head pattern makes it more difficult to distinguish their species; when disturbed, Ammoperdix partridges prefer to run rather than take to the air, but if necessary they will fly a short distance on rounded wings. Pheasants and Grouse by Madge and McGowan, ISBN 0-7136-3966-0
Snow partridge
The snow partridge is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae found distributed across the high-altitude Himalayan regions of India, Pakistan and China. It is the only species within its genus; the species is found in alpine pastures and open hillside above the treeline but not in as bare rocky terrain as the Himalayan snowcock and is not as wary as that species. Males and females look similar in plumage but males have a spur on their tarsus; this partridge appears grey above and chestnut below with bright red bill and legs and the upperparts finely barred in black and white. In flight the pattern of dark brown primaries and secondaries with a narrow trailing white margin make them somewhat like the much larger Tibetan snowcock; the 14-feathered tail is dark and barred in white. There is variation in the shade and some birds have a nearly black crown; the primaries and secondaries are brown and the breast is deep chestnut. The abdomen has more white and the lower flanks and feathers around the vent are barred brown and white.
The under-tail coverts are chestnut with white tips. Young birds have the barring less distinct; the tarsus is feathered on the front of the leg half-way to the toes. It measures 38–40 cm in length. Females weigh 450–580 g. Sexes are similar in plumage, female lacks spurs on the tarsus while the male has a blunt spur and sometimes a second incipient spur. Downy chicks have a resemblance to the chicks of the blood pheasant. Chicks are born with the tarsi feathered and the nostril opening is covered by feathers; this species was first described by Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1833 and given the genus name Lerwa based on the Bhutia name for it in Nepal. Hodgson placed it in the genus Perdix calling it Perdix lerwa. A subspecies, L. l. major was described by Richard Meinertzhagen from Szechuan while L. l. callipygia from south Kansu was noted by Stegmann in 1938, but these are not recognized. The species has been retained in this monotypic genus due to various peculiarities including the tarsus feathering and the lack of clear sexual dimorphism in plumage.
A species of bird louse, Chelopistes lervicola has been described as an ectoparasite of this species, other species in this louse genus are known to parasitize the Cracidae and Odontophorinae of the New World. Snow partridge is found in the Himalayas from Pakistan to Arunachal Pradesh along the higher ranges 3000 to 5000 m altitude, it is found above the tree line but not on as stony terrain as the snowcocks. Although said to be found in Afghanistan, there is no evidence; the species is found over a large area is considered to be of low conservation concern. It is hunted to some extent, due to its habit of being more approachable than snowcock and has declined in population in some areas; the usual habitat is alpine pastures, open grassy hillsides with grass, moss and rhododendrons. Is found among small snow-patches but not in as bare ground as the snowcock; the birds however are local in their distribution. The snow partridge is found is small groups about 6 to 8 but up to 30 during the non-breeding season.
When flushed, they fly up before scattering away with noisy wing beats. The flight is stirring, it has a habit of sunning itself on rocks during the midday. The call in the breeding season is said to resemble that of the grey francolin of the plains, it has been compared in habit to that of the ptarmigan. It is said to feed on mosses, lichens and the shoots of plants, it swallows grit to aid digestion. The breeding season is May to July; the males are believed to be monogynous. The nest is a scrape on a hill-side under some sheltering rock, either scratched out by themselves or available, hidden with vegetation; the nest is sometimes well concealed although given away by the male. About 3 to 5 eggs, pale yellow in color and glossy with reddish-brown markings on the rounded end, are laid, the female incubates while the male stands sentinel. Parent birds may use distraction displays to draw the attention of predators, they call in a comparatively softer lower note to the young, which respond with chicken-like cheep calls.
Apart from Chelopistes lervicola described as an ectoparasite of this species, an Argasid tick Argas himalayensis has been noted. Photos, videos Calls
Galliformes
Galliformes is an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkey, chicken, New World quail and Old World quail, partridge, francolin and the Cracidae. The name derives from "gallus", Latin for "cock" or "rooster". Common names are gamefowl or gamebirds, gallinaceous birds, or galliforms. "Wildfowl" or just "fowl" are often used for the Galliformes, but these terms refer to waterfowl, to other hunted birds. This group has about 290 species, one or more of which are found in every part of the world's continents, they are rarer on islands, in contrast to the related waterfowl, are absent from oceanic islands—unless introduced there by humans. Several species have been domesticated during their extensive relationships with humans; this order contains five families: Phasianidae, Numididae and Megapodiidae. They are important as seed dispersers and predators in the ecosystems they inhabit, are reared as game birds by humans for their meat and eggs and for recreational hunting. Many gallinaceous species are skilled runners and escape predators by running rather than flying.
Males of most species are more colorful than the females. Males have elaborate courtship behaviors that include strutting, fluffing of tail or head feathers, vocal sounds, they are nonmigratory. The living Galliformes were once divided into seven or more families. Despite their distinctive appearance and turkeys do not warrant separation as families due to their recent origin from partridge- or pheasant-like birds; the turkeys became larger after their ancestors colonized temperate and subtropical North America, where pheasant-sized competitors were absent. The ancestors of grouse, adapted to harsh climates and could thereby colonize subarctic regions; the Phasianidae are expanded in current taxonomy to include the former Tetraonidae and Meleagrididae as subfamilies. The Anseriformes and the Galliformes together make up the Galloanserae, they are basal among the living neognathous birds, follow the Paleognathae in modern bird classification systems. This was first proposed in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy and has been the one major change of that proposed scheme, universally adopted.
However, the Galliformes as they were traditionally delimited are called Gallomorphae in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, which splits the Cracidae and Megapodiidae as an order "Craciformes". This is not a natural group, but rather an erroneous result of the now-obsolete phenetic methodology employed in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy. Phenetic studies do not distinguish between plesiomorphic and apomorphic characters, which leads to basal lineages appearing as monophyletic groups; the buttonquails and the hoatzin were placed in the Galliformes, too. The former are now known to be shorebirds adapted to an inland lifestyle, whereas the mesites are closely related to pigeons and doves; the relationships of the hoatzin are obscure, it is treated as a monotypic order Opisthocomiformes to signify this. Galliform-like birds were one of the main survivors of the K-T Event that killed off the rest of the dinosaurs, they were a niche group that were toothless and ground-dwelling, unlike the dominant birds of the era called the enantiornithes, which had teeth and dominated the trees and skies.
Fossils of these galliform-like birds originate in the Late Cretaceous, most notably those of Austinornis lentus. Its partial left tarsometatarsus was found in the Austin Chalk near Fort McKinney, dating to about 85 million years ago; this bird was quite closely related to Galliformes, but whether it was a part of these or belongs elsewhere in the little-known galliform branch of Galloanserae is not clear. However, in 2004, Clarke classified it as a member of the larger group Pangalliformes, more related to chickens than to ducks, but not a member of the crown group that includes all modern galliformes. Another specimen, PVPH 237, from the Late Cretaceous Portezuelo Formation in the Sierra de Portezuelo has been suggested to be an early galliform relative; this is a partial coracoid of a neornithine bird, which in its general shape and the wide and deep attachment for the muscle joining the coracoid and the humerus bone resembles the more basal lineages of galliforms. It is believed that an asteroid impact killed off all dinosaurs, including the dominant birds, during the K-T event, destroying all creatures that lived in trees and on open ground.
While the more successful enantiornithes were wiped out, the ancestors of galliformes were small and lived in the ground or water. This protected them from the destruction. Additional galliform-like pangalliformes are represented by extinct families from the Paleogene, namely the Gallinuloididae and Quercymegapodiidae. In the early Cenozoic, some additional birds may or may not be early Galliformes, though if they are, they are unlikely to belong to extant families: †Argillipes †Coturnipes †Paleophasianus †Percolinus †Amitabha (Bridger middle Eocene
Game (hunting)
Game or quarry is any animal hunted for sport or for food, the meat of those animals. The type and range of animals hunted for food varies in different parts of the world. Game or quarry is any animal hunted for sport; the term game arises in medieval hunting terminology by the late 13th century and is particular to English, the word derived from the generic Old English gamen "joy, sport, merriment". Quarry in the generic meaning is early modern, in the more specific sense "bird targeted in falconry" late 14th and 15th centuries as quirre "entrails of deer placed on the hide and given to the hunting-dogs as a reward", from Old French cuiriee "spoil, quarry", but influenced by corée "viscera, entrails". Wild game meat is considered to be superior in nutrient density, has lower fat content, than meat procured through contemporary farming methods, while the cost in time and money to procure wild game is much higher. Small game includes small animals, such as rabbits, geese or ducks. Large game includes animals like deer and bear.
Big game is a term sometimes used interchangeably with large game although in other contexts it refers to large African, mammals which are hunted for trophies. The type and range of animals hunted for food varies in different parts of the world; this is influenced by climate, animal diversity, local taste and locally accepted views about what can or cannot be legitimately hunted. Sometimes a distinction is made between varieties and species of a particular animal, such as wild turkey and domestic turkey. Fish caught for sport are referred to as game fish; the flesh of the animal, when butchered for consumption is described as having a "gamey" flavour. This difference in taste can be attributed to the wild diet of the animal, which results in a lower fat content compared to domestic farm raised animals. In some countries, game is classified, including legal classification with respect to licences required, as either "small game" or "large game". A single small game licence may be subject to yearly bag limits.
Large game are subject to individual licensing where a separate licence is required for each individual animal taken. In some parts of Africa, wild animals hunted for their meat are called bushmeat. Animals hunted for bushmeat include, but are not limited to: Various species of antelope, including duikers Various species of primates like mandrills or gorillas Rodents like porcupines or cane ratsSome of these animals are endangered or otherwise protected, thus it is illegal to hunt them. In Africa, animals hunted for their pelts or ivory are sometimes referred to as the big game. See the legal definition of game in Swaziland. South Africa is a famous destination for game hunting, with its large biodiversity and therefore rather impressive variety of game species. Many creatures have returned to former areas from which they were once taken from as a result of being killed for big-game hunting. Species of creatures hunted include: South Africa has 62 species of gamebirds, including guineafowl, partridge, sandgrouse, geese, snipe and korhaan.
Some of these species are no longer hunted, of the 44 indigenous gamebirds that can be utilised in South Africa, only three, namely the yellow-throated sandgrouse, Delegorgue's pigeon and the African pygmy goose warrant special protection. Of the remaining 41 species, 24 have shown an increase in numbers and distribution range in the last 25 years or so; the status of 14 species appears unchanged, with insufficient information being available for the remaining three species. The gamebirds of South Africa where the population status in 2005 was secure or growing are listed below: In Australia, game includes: Game in New Zealand includes: Chamois Deer, multiple species Pig Tahr Duck, multiple species In the U. S. and Canada, white-tailed deer are the most hunted big game. Other game species include: In the PRC there is a special cuisine category called ye wei, which includes animals in the wild. In the UK game is defined in law by the Game Act 1831, it is illegal to shoot game at night. Other that are hunted for food in the UK are specified under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
UK law defines game as including: Black grouse Red grouse Brown hare Ptarmigan Grey partridge and red-legged partridge Common pheasantDeer are not included in the definition, but similar controls provided to those in the Game Act apply to deer. Deer hunted in the UK are: Red deer Roe deer Fallow deer Sika deer Muntjac deer Chinese water deer and hybrids of these deerOther animals which are hunted in the UK include: Duck, including mallard, tufted duck, teal and pochard Goose, including greylag goose, Canada goose, pink-footed goose and in England and Wales white-fronted goose Woodpigeon Woodcock Snipe Rabbit Golden ploverCapercaillie are not hunted in the UK because of a recent decline in numbers and conservation projects towards their recovery; the ban is considered voluntary on private lands, few birds live away from RSPB or Forestry Commission land allegedly. In Iceland game includes: Reindeer Ptarmigan, a popular Christmas dish in Iceland Puffin Auk Goos
Crested partridge
The crested partridge known as the crested wood partridge, roul-roul, red-crowned wood partridge, green wood quail or green wood partridge is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. It is the only member of the genus Rollulus; this small partridge is a resident breeder in lowland rainforests in south Burma, south Thailand, Malaysia and Borneo. Its nest is a ground scrape lined with leaves, concealed under a heap of leaf litter. Five or six white eggs are incubated for 18 days. Unusually for a galliform species, the young are fed bill-to-bill by both parents instead of pecking from the ground, although precocial, they roost in the nest while small. Crested partridge is a rotund short-tailed bird, 25 cm in length, with the male marginally larger than the female. Both sexes have a scarlet patch of bare skin around the eye and red legs without hind toe; the male is metallic green above with a brownish wing panel. The head is adorned with a white forehead spot and black frontal bristles.
The female has pea-green body plumage apart from the brown wing coverts. She has a slate-grey head with the bristles but no crest; the bill is all-dark. Young birds are duller versions of the adult of the same sex; the song is a mournful whistled si-ul. The crested partridge is seen singly or in pairs as it uses its feet to probe the forest floor for fruit and invertebrates; when disturbed, it prefers to run but if necessary it flies a short distance on its rounded wings. There is some concern about the effect of habitat destruction on this bird with regard to logging. However, it seems to be somewhat more adaptable than other southeast Asian pheasants; the crested wood partridge is evaluated as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix III of CITES. Pheasants and Grouse by Madge and McGowan, ISBN 0-7136-3966-0 ARKive - images and movies of the Crested Wood Partridge BirdLife Species Factsheet Red Data Book
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