Common Rat Species Found in Homes. The most common types of rats found throughout the United States are Norway rats and roof rats. Both rodents belong to the genus Rattus and can be found anywhere human populations thrive. These rats are similar in size and appearance and enter buildings looking for food or to escape cold weather. Inside, they contribute to structural damage and the spread of disease. One of the main differences between Norway and roof rats is where they're found in homes. Roof rats get their name from their tendency to enter structures in elevated spaces, including attics and ceilings. The Orkney vole is an endemic subspecies of the common vole (Microtus arvalis), which is found only in the Orkney Islands, Scotlan. Walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) are distributed broadly in the North Pacific Ocean and eastern and western Bering Sea. In the Gulf of Alaska, pollock are. Coastal prairies are home to many grassland-dependent mammals, birds, insects, and reptiles including elk, badgers, pocket gophers, grasshopper sparrows. The northern goshawk / . Sign up for email communications and manage your preferences. Get news, events and information. With its bright yellow plumage, the Eurasian golden oriole (Oriolus oriolus) is an incredibly striking bird. On the male Eurasian golden oriole, this beautiful. In contrast, Norway rats are found along building foundations, woodpiles, and in basements. Other Rats and Their Diseases. Other rodents commonly associated with rats despite their difference in scientific classification include rice rats, cotton rats, and pack rats. Cotton rats and rice rats are considered dangerous to humans because they carry strains of Hantavirus. A severe, sometimes fatal disease, Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome is a respiratory ailment found in the feces, urine, and saliva of infected rodents. ![]() ![]() People can contract the disease simply by breathing in air contaminated with rodent droppings, being bitten by an infected rat, or eating and drinking substances tainted with the virus. Finally, pack rats, also called wood rats, are common in various areas of the United States. They grow up to 1. Along with transmitting diseases, pack rats damage garden crops. Northern goshawk - Wikipedia. The northern goshawk (Old English: g. As a species in the Accipiter genus, the goshawk is often considered a . The northern goshawk is the only species in the Accipiter genus found in both Eurasia and North America. It is mainly resident, but birds from colder regions migrate south for the winter. In Eurasia, it is found in most areas of Europe excluding Ireland and Iceland. It also has a fairly spotty distribution in western Europe (i. Great Britain, Spain, France) but is more or less found continuously through the rest of the continent. Their Eurasian distribution sweeps continuously across most of Russia, excluding the fully treeless tundra in the northern stretches, to the western limits of Siberia as far as Anadyr and Kamchatka. Their breeding range in the western contiguous United States largely consists of the wooded foothills of the Rocky Mountains and many other large mountain ranges from Washington to southern California extending east to central Colorado and westernmost Texas. They breed also in mountainous areas of New England, New York, central Pennsylvania and northwestern New Jersey, sporadically down to extreme northwestern Maryland and northeastern West Virginia. While the species might show strong regional preferences for certain trees, they seem to have no strong overall preferences nor even a preference between deciduous or coniferous trees despite claims to the contrary. Altitudinally, goshawks may live anywhere up to a given mountain range’s tree line, which is usually 3,0. A majority of goshawks around the world remain sedentary throughout the year. Individuals that live a long life may gradually become paler as they age, manifesting in mottling and a lightening of the back from a darker shade to a bluer pale color. Both juveniles and adults have a barred tail, with 3 to 5 dark brown or black bars. Moulting results in the female being especially likely to have a gap in its wing feathers while incubating and this may cause some risk, especially if the male is lost, as it inhibits her hunting abilities and may hamper her defensive capabilities, putting both herself and the nestlings in potential danger of predation. The moult takes a total of 4- 6 months, with tail feathers following the wings then lastly the contour and body feathers, which may not be completely moulted even as late as October. Linearly, males average about 8% smaller in North America and 1. Eurasia, but in the latter landmass can range up to a very noticeable 2. The female is much larger, 5. The female can be up to more than twice as heavy, averaging from the same races 1,1. Additional, the tail is 2. Adult goshawks may chatter a repeated note, varying in speed and volume based on the context. When calling from a perch, birds often turn their heads slowly from side to side, producing a ventriloquial effect. The latter sound has been considered by some authors similar to that of a person snapping the tongue away from the roof the mouth; the males produce it by holding the beak wide open, thrusting the head up and forward, than bringing it down as the sound is emitted, repeated at intervals of five seconds. This call is uttered when the male encounters a female. This is often done when mobbing a predator such as a great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) and as it progresses the female's voice may lower slightly in pitch and becomes harsh and rasping. As the intensity of her attacks increases, her kakking becomes more rapid and can attain a constant screaming quality. Females often withdraw into the treetops when fatigued, and their calls are then spaced at longer intervals. Males respond to interlopers or predators with a quieter, slower gek gek gek or ep ep ep. A call consisting of kek. Both sexes also may engage in kakking during copulation. This group of agile, smallish, forest- dwelling hawks has been in existence for possibly tens of millions of years, probably as an adaptation to the explosive numbers of small birds that began to occupy the world’s forest in the last few eras. The harriers are the only group of extant diurnal raptors that seem to bear remotely close relation to this genus, whereas buteonines, Old World kites, sea eagles and chanting- goshawks are much more distantly related and all other modern accipitrids are not directly related. While the Henst's goshawk quite resembles the northern goshawks, the black sparrowhawk is superficially described as a “sparrowhawk” due to its relatively much longer and finer legs than those of typical goshawks but overall its size and plumage (especially that of juveniles) is much more goshawk than sparrowhawk- like. However, the much smaller sharp- shinned hawk, which has similar plumage to the Cooper's hawk and seems to be most closely related to the Eurasian sparrowhawk, appears to have occupied North America the latest of the three North American species, despite having the broadest current distribution of any Accipiter in the Americas (extending down through much of South America). Fossil remains show that goshawks were present in California by the Pleistocene era. In Europe (including European Russia) alone, 1. Outside of Europe, this subspecies' range extends south to northwestern Africa (almost entirely Morocco) and east in Eurasia to Urals, the Caucasus and Asia Minor. It is a typically large subspecies with high levels of sexual dimorphism. The wing chord of males ranges from 3. Body mass is variable, range from 5. In some cases, the largest adult females (including some exceptionally big females which are the heaviest goshawks known from anywhere) from within a population are up to four times heavier than the smallest adult males, although this is exceptional. The supercilium is thin and the underside is generally creamy with heavy dark barring. On average, in addition to their smaller size, nominate goshawks to the south of the race’s distribution have thinner supericilia and broader and denser barring on the underside. It averages smaller and weaker- footed than goshawks from the nominate race. The wing chord measures 2. This race is typically a more blackish brown above with almost fully black head, while the underside is almost pure white and more heavily overlaid with black barring and conspicuous black shaft- streaks. This subspecies is not listed by all authorities but is often considered valid. In the eastern portion of its distribution, many birds may travel south to central Eurasia to winter. This is a large race, averaging larger than most populations of the nominate race but being about the same size as the big nominate goshawks with which they may overlap and interbreed with in Fennoscandia. The wing chord in males ranges from 3. The body mass of males has been reported from 8. The underside is white with rather fine blackish- brown barring. Pale flecking on the feather shafts sometimes result in barred appearance on the contour feathers of the nape, back and upper wing. Many birds from this subspecies also a tan to pale brown eye color. These two characteristics are sometimes considered typical of this race but individuals are rather variable. In western Siberia, about 1. Many birds of this race travel south for the winter to Transbaikalia, northern Mongolia and Ussuriland. This race continues the trend for goshawks to grow mildly larger eastbound in Eurasia and may be the largest known race based on the midpoint of known measurements of this race, although limited sample sizes of measured goshawks shows they broadly overlap in size with A. The wing chord can range from 3. Known males have scaled from 8. Many birds are pale grey above with much white about the head and very sparse barring below. However, about half of the goshawks of this race are more or less pure white, with only a few remnants of pale caramel flecking about the back or faint brownish markings elsewhere. The wing chord has been found to measure 2. A fairly small subspecies, it may average slightly smaller than A. The wing chord is the smallest known from any race, 2. This subspecies occupies a majority of the goshawk’s range in North America excluding some islands of the Pacific northwest and the southern part of the American southwest. American goshawks are generally slightly smaller on average than most Eurasian ones although there are regional differences in size that confirm mildly to Bergmann's rule within this race. Furthermore, sexual dimorphism in size is notably less pronounced in American goshawks than in most Eurasian races. Overall, the wing chord is 3. Nevada, Utah and northern and central Arizona). Conspicuously, wing size did not correspond to variations in body mass and more southerly goshawks were frequently longer winged than the more massive northerly ones. American goshawks are often grayish below with fine gray waving barring and, compared to most Eurasian goshawks, rather apparent black shaft streaks which in combination create a vermiculated effect that is all- together messier looking than in most Eurasian birds. From a distance, atricapillus can easily appear solidly all- gray from the front. This subspecies is slightly smaller than the goshawks found on the mainland and is linearly the smallest race on average in North America. The wing chord of males can range from 3. The underside is a sootier gray overall. This subspecies has the longest median wing size of any race, running contrary to Bergmann's rule that northern birds should outsize southern ones in widely distributed temperate species. In males the wing chord ranges from 3. The weight of 4. 9 males ranged from 6. Birds of this race tend to be darker than other American goshawks aside from the laingi type birds. Due to its shortage of distinct features beyond proportions, this is considered one of the more weakly separated among current separate subspecies, with some authors considering it merely a clinal variation of atricapillus.
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