SPECIES INFO
Bar tailed trogon (Heterotrogon vittatum to Apaloderma vittatum) is found from western Cameroon south to Angola and east into Zaire and further east to Kenya, Malawi, and northern Mozambique. The throat is green and the middle and lower breast is red. The green and red areas on the upper breast are separated by a band of blue-purple. The female has a brown head and neck. Her upper breast is also brown.
There are no subspecies.The African group of trogons contains 3 species. All species in this group are found in Africa. These birds are green above with brilliant red lower breasts.
Trogons (Order Trogoniformes) are an order of 39 birds found in the tropics of the New World, Africa, and Indo-Australia. There is one family in this order. The Quetzal, a central America species, is regarded as one of the world's most beautiful birds. (Some authors divide this family into several partitions. The Apaloderma group(3 species) is native to Africa. The Trogon group(25 species with many subspecies) is native to the New World. The Harpactes(11 species) group is found in the SE Asia and south into Indonesia and the Philippines.
Trogons are usually found near the top of rainforests flying around and catching flying insects, and also catching arboreal crawling insects. The first and second toes point backward, and the third and fourth toes point forward.
Aves contains about 8,650 different species of living birds known to science. Each year about one new species is discovered in some remote rain forest or remote island. In addition, scientists have been raising many subspecies to full species status which may raise the species count to 10,000. Birdlife recognizes 10,027 species as of 2011.
However, each year about one species goes extinct. The rate of extinction is increasing, and the rate of new discovery is decreasing, so that the number of bird species will soon begin to decline rapidly. Although different taxonomists would organize the birds differently, there are approximately twenty-seven orders of birds. These orders are broken down into about one hundred and fifty-five different families.
Recent research of the genetic structure of some of the shore birds and owls would indicate that the present organization of orders and families should have some modification.
The birds are a worldwide group of animals that are characterized by having the front limbs modified into wings that are used for flying. Perhaps the most unique feature of the birds is the feathers. These feathers are made up of a central support called a quill and a series of small filaments that are hooked together as barbs.
For many years it was believed that Archaeopteryx discovered in Bavaria was the oldest bird from about 150 million years ago. However, in l986, Sankar Chattterjee, a Texas paleontologist, reportedly discovered a bird in the genus Protoavis that lived about 225 million years ago.
When this project was begun in 1978, we used Austin & Singer for bird taxonomy. Since then, we have adopted many changes, but have kept some older concepts that are still found widely in the literature. Recently, we have used Clements and Howard & Moore. Very recently, we have used Monroe and Sibley for the higher taxonomy of the perching birds.
Backboned Animals (Phylum Chordata) are the most advanced group of animals on earth. These animals are characterized by having a spinal cord or backbone. Most members have a clearly defined brain that controls the organism through a spinal cord. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are in this phylum.
Currently, some taxonomists believe that the fish should be divided into two groups (sharks and regular fishes) and that there are some other primitive groups in the phylum such as hagfish or lampreys.
Animal Kingdom contains numerous organisms that feed on other animals or plants. Included in the animal kingdom are the lower marine invertebrates such as sponges and corals, the jointed legged animals such as insects and spiders, and the backboned animals such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.
