Earth and Space News: Earth Month April 2019

Showing posts with label Earth Month April 2019. Show all posts

Saturday, April 27, 2019

Laysan Albatrosses: Earth Day 2019, Five-0 Season 9 Episode 22 Icons

Summary: Laysan albatrosses are Earth Day 2019 and Five-0's O Ke Kumu, O Ka Mana, Ho'opuka 'Ia: The Teacher, the Pupil Let It Come Forth icons April 26, 2019.

Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) Wisdom, 69 years old in 2019, inspires as Earth Day 2019 icon; Wisdom with her chick, Feb. 7, 2017, at nesting site used each year by Wisdom and her mate, Akeakamai; Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge (United States Minor Outlying Islands insular area) in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, North Pacific Ocean; photo credit Naomi Blinick/USFWS: National Marine Sanctuaries, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Laysan albatrosses are Earth Day 2019 icons that actualize Hawaii Five-0 series episode O Ke Kumu, O Ka Mana, Ho'opuka 'Ia: The Teacher, the Pupil Let It Come Forth April 26, 2019.

Director Brad Turner and writers Ashley Dizon and Rob Hanning bolster Season 9's 22nd episode with the 'ōlelo a'o ("advice") about bonding between students and teachers. The series' 215th episode overall considers the compassionate conveyor of common sense and correct knowledge who creates all straight-A students and cultivates neither bullying nor favoritism. Wisdom, among Laysan albatrosses of Bonin Islands, French Frigate Shoals, Guadalupe Island, Kaua'i, Laysan Island, Midway Atoll and O'ahu, does duty with Earth Month 2019 icons.

The photogenic 69-year-old Wisdom emerged April 22, 2019, from all other Earth Month 2019 icons as Earth Day 2019 icon of exemplary endurance despite endangering events.

November through July, with a focus from Nov. 20 through Dec. 24, furnish the 40-year life cycles of Laysan albatrosses with breeding months on Pacific islands.

Physically and sexually mature nine-plus-year-old female Laysan albatrosses minimally nine years old gestate 8 days one seasonal brood for a ground-scraped depression amid beach grass and sand. They each have one brown-spotted, buff- to cream-white, 4.25- by 2.72-inch (10.8- by 6.9-centimeter) egg within grass-, leaf-, needle-, twig-honed nests with debris- and sand-heaped rims. Life-mated parents initiate shared 62- to 66-day incubations and then 51-day instructions, alternated with foraging itineraries, of their dark, downy, fluffy, gray-white, open-eyed, 7-ounce (198.45-gram) hatchling.

Laysan albatrosses juggle semi-independent life cycles as Earth Day 2019 icons since female Laysan albatrosses journey between nearby roosts and nestling nests during Earth Month 2019.

Laysan albatrosses keep away from Pacific Rim continents and know Pacific islands as nestlings, until fledging as 165-day-olds, and during yearly homecomings from three years onward.

Laysan albatrosses never look to ship-tossed leftover food even through they lead insular and marine lives off eastern Asia, Pacific Ocean islands and western North America. Broad-based, dark-tipped, hooked yellow-orange bills and pink-footed legs mine coastal-shelf and open-sea waves for coral, crabs, fish, fish eggs, hydra, jellyfish, lobsters, sea anemone and squid. Dark-backed, dark-tailed, dark-underwinged, white-headed, white-rumped, white-undersided Phoebastria immutabilis (from Greek Φοῖβος, "bright" and Ἀστραῖα, "star-maiden" and Latin immūtābilis, "unchangeable") net dark-margined white underwings and gray-patched eyes.

Laysan albatrosses, observed by Walter Rothschild (Feb. 8, 1868-Aug. 27, 1937), obtain 5.25- to 9.04-pound (2.4 to 4.1-kilogram), 31.10- to 31.89-inch (79- to 81-centimeter) head-body-tail lengths.

The Procellariiformes (from Latin procella, "storm"; -ārius, "belonging to"; and -fōrmis, "formed") tubenose order gliding, rolling, soaring member possesses 6.25- to 6.7-foot (1.9- to 2.03-meter) wingspans.

The Diomedeidae (from Greek Διός, μήδεα and -ειδής, "prudent like Zeus") albatross family member queues into braying, dancing, groaning, moaning, squeaking, swaying, whining, whinnying, whistling colonies. Laysan albatrosses realize 34.79-mile (56-kilometer) hourly speeds in 497.09-mile (800-kilometer) spurts within 18,919,005.77-square-mile (49,000,000-square-kilometer) coastal-shelf and open-sea flying, foraging, sleeping ranges and insular breeding, parenting ranges. Air-, land-, water-polluting marine debris and plastic waste from shipping lane cruisers and freighters and drift-gill netting and long-line and trawler fishing shorten near-threatened Laysan albatross lifespans.

Their individual 93,205.68-mile (150,000-kilometer) Pacific territorial ranges turn Laysan albatrosses up in time as Earth Day 2019 icons for Season 9 of the Hawaii Five-0 series.

Hawaii Five-0 Task Force Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett (Alex O'Loughlin) with Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Noelani Cunha (Kimee Balmilero) in CBS TV's Hawaii Five-0 season 9, episode 22, O Ke Kumu, O Ka Mana, Ho'opuka 'Ia (The Teacher, the Pupil Let It Come Forth): CBS Hawaii Five-0 episode 9.22 promotional photo, via SpoilerTV April 20, 2019

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

BirdLife International 2018. "Laysan Albatross - Phoebastria immutabilis." The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22698365A132643073. http://.dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22698365A132643073.en.
Available @ https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22698365/132643073

BirdLife International 2019. Species Factsheet: Phoebastria immutabilis."
Available @ http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/laysan-albatross-phoebastria-immutabilis

Hamilton, Calvin; and Rosanna Hamilton. "Laysan Albatrosses." ScienceViews > Animals.
Available @ http://scienceviews.com/animals/laysanalbatross.html

"Laysan Albatross." Cornell University > Cornell Lab of Ornithology > All About Birds > Bird Guide > Search.
Available @ https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Laysan_Albatross/overview

"Laysan Albatross." Monterey Bay Aquarium > Animals & Exhibits > Animal Guide > Birds.
Available @ https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/birds/laysan-albatross

"Laysan Albatross - Phoebastria immutabilis." NatureWorks > Nature Files > Animals > 106.
Available @ https://nhpbs.org/natureworks/laysan.htm

"Laysan Albatrosses' Plastic Problem." Smithsonian > Ocean Life > Seabirds.
Available @ https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/seabirds/laysan-albatrosses-plastic-problem

Lin, Tiffany. 2007. "Phoebastria immutabilis Laysan Albatross." The Animal Diversity Web (On-Line) > Browse Animalia > Animals > Search ADW > Taxon Information.
Available @ https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Phoebastria_immutabilis/

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 April 2019. "Pueo Hawaiian Short-Eared Owls and Hawaii Five-0's He Kama Na Ka Pueo." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/04/pueo-hawaiian-short-eared-owls-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 6 April 2019. "Hau Hawaiian Sea Hibiscus, Ma'a Hawaiian Sling, Five-0's Way of the Gun." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/04/hau-hawaiian-sea-hibiscus-maa-hawaiian.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 March 2019. “Five-0’s Hawaiian He’e Big Blue Day Octopus of the Deep Spews Its Ink.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/03/five-0s-hawaiian-hee-big-blue-day.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 9 March 2019. “Hawaii Five-0's Ai No I Ka 'Ape He Mane'o No Ko Ka Nuku: Itchy Mouths.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/03/hawaii-five-0s-ai-no-i-ka-ape-he-maneo.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 24 February 2019. “Offer Young Taro Leaves To Hawaii Five-0 Episode E'ao Lu'au A Kualima.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/02/offer-young-taro-leaves-to-hawaii-five.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 23 February 2019. “Kanawao Shrub Fruits for Hawaii Five-0's Hapai Ke Kuko, Hanau Ka Hewa.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/02/kanawao-shrub-fruits-for-hawaii-five-0s.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 February 2019. “Five-0 Hawaiian Rain Gardens Not Made Prisoner by the Reign of the Rain.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/02/five-0-hawaiian-rain-gardens-not-made.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 2 February 2019. “Humpback Whales Depressed With the Heat in Keawalua on Hawaii Five-0.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/02/humpback-whales-depressed-with-heat-in.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 January 2019. “No 'Awa Or Kava Shrubs If Those Above Are Descending on Hawaii Five-0.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/01/no-awa-or-kava-shrubs-if-those-above.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 January 2019. “Kikui Tree Leaves for Hawaii Five-0 2010's Ka Hauli O Ka Mea Hewa 'Ole.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/01/kikui-tree-leaves-for-hawaii-five-0.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 5 January 2019. “Hawaii Five-0 Gone on the Road, Without Koa Wood Outrigger Canoes.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/01/hawaii-five-0-gone-on-road-without-koa.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 9 December 2018. “Ponderosa Pine Trees for When a Hawaii Five-0 2010 House Is Dark.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/12/ponderosa-pine-trees-for-when-hawaii.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 8 December 2018. “Hawaiian Pili Grass Houses: Hawaii Five-0 2010 When the Light Goes Out.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/12/hawaiian-pili-grass-houses-hawaii-five.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 1 December 2018. “Ko'a Black Coral for Hawaii Five-0 2010's Truth Comes from the Night.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/12/koa-black-coral-for-hawaii-five-0-2010s.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 November 2018. “Hawaiian Goose Nēnē: Birds of a Feather Episode on Hawaii Five-0 2010.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/11/hawaiian-goose-nene-birds-of-feather.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 November 2018. “Hawaiian Horses, Chang and McGarrett: Hawaii Five-0 2010 200th Episode.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/11/hawaiian-horses-chang-and-mcgarrett.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 3 November 2018. “Olonā Hawaiian Nettle Shrubs for Hawaii Five-0 Emergency Landings?” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/11/olona-hawaiian-nettle-shrubs-for-hawaii.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 27 October 2018. “Gernika Genocide Survivor Art Before Hawaii Five-0 Prophetic Child Art.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/10/gernika-genocide-survivor-art-before.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 20 October 2018. “Hawaiian Beach Sand: Hawaii Five-0 2010's On the Slope of the Cliff.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/10/hawaiian-beach-sand-hawaii-five-0-2010s.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 October 2018. “Proverbial Cowrie Sea Snails for the Hawaii Five-0 2010 Ninth Season.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/10/proverbial-cowrie-sea-snails-for-hawaii.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 7 October 2018. “Lamian or Ramen Noodles: Hawaii Five-0's The Man Who Fell From the Sky.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/10/lamian-or-ramen-noodles-hawaii-five-os.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 29 September 2018. “Gutta-Percha Trees and Hawaii Five-0 2010 Ninth Season Premiere Cocoon.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/09/gutta-percha-trees-and-hawaii-five-o.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 23 September 2018. “Ki'i Pōhaku Petroglyphs: Ancients Exposed on Five-0's Waiho Wale Kahiko.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/09/kii-pohaku-petroglyphs-ancients-exposed.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 May 2018. “Hawaiian Rain Gardens for Five-0's Tough Branch That Does Not Break.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/05/hawaiian-rain-gardens-for-five-0s-tough.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 6 May 2018. “Noni for Hawaii Five-0's Ka Hana A Ka Makua, O Ka Hana No Ia A Keiki.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/05/noni-for-hawaii-five-0s-ka-hana-ka.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 29 April 2018. “'Āliamanu Salt Lake and Five-0's Kopi Wale No I Ka I'a A 'Eu No Ka Ilo.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/04/aliamanu-salt-lake-and-five-0s-kopi.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 21 April 2018. “Hawaii Five-0 Episode Ahuwale Ka Nane Hina: Uku Hawaiian Gray Snappers.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/04/hawaii-five-0-episde-ahuwale-ka-nane.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 April 2018. “'Iwa Great Frigatebirds: Five-0's He Lokomaika'i Ka Manu O Kaiona.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/04/iwa-great-frigatebirds-five-0s-he.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 8 April 2018. “Chinese Juniper Shrubs on Hawaii Five-0 2010's Aohe Mea Make I Ka Hewa.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/04/chinese-juniper-shrubs-on-hawaii-five-0.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 7 April 2018. “Bonsai Gardening on Hawaii Five-0 2010 Episode Aohe Mea Make I Ka Hewa.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/04/bonsai-gardening-on-hawaii-five-0-2010.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 31 March 2018. “'Ulu Hawaiian Breadfruit To Do One's Duty on Five-0's E Ho'oko Kuleana.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/03/ulu-hawaiian-breadfruit-to-do-ones-duty.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 March 2018. “Chlorine Gas on Hawaii Five-0 2010's Holapu Ke Ahi Koe Iho Ka Lehu.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/03/chlorine-gas-on-hawaii-five-0-2010s.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 March 2018. “Golden Plovers and Stars of Heaven Know Where Pae Is on Hawaii Five-0.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/03/golden-plovers-and-stars-of-heaven-know.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 3 February 2018. “A Coral Reef Strengthens Out to Land on Hawaii Five-0 with Lobe Corals.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/02/a-coral-reef-strengthens-out-to-land-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 20 January 2018. “No Southern House Mosquitoes on Hawaii Five-0's Na Keikia Kalaihaohia.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/01/no-southern-house-mosquitoes-on-hawaii.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 January 2018. “What Is Gone Is Not Hawaiian Bobtail Squid on Hawaii Five-0 2010.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/01/what-is-gone-is-not-hawaiian-bobtail.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 7 January 2018. “Criminals Rare as Guernsey Dairy Cattle on Hawaii Five-0 The Roundup.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/01/criminals-rare-as-guernsey-dairy-cattle.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 6 January 2018. “Hawaiian Cattle Roundups and Hawaii Five-0 2010 The Roundup Criminals.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/01/hawaiian-cattle-roundups-and-hawaii.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 November 2010. “Hawaii Shave Ice Images and Take-Outs on Hawaii Five-0 2010 Ho'apono.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2010/11/hawaii-shave-ice-images-and-take-outs.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 November 2010. “Hawaiian Wild Boars Around Hawaii Five-0 2010's North Shore of O'ahu.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2010/11/hawaiian-wild-boars-around-hawaii-five.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 November 2010. “Limu Lipoa Hawaiian Seaweed on Hawaii Five-0 2010 Episode Nalowale.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2010/11/limu-lipoa-hawaiian-seaweed-on-hawaii.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 November 2010. “Hawaiian Blueberry Botanical Illustrations for Hawaii Five-0 Pancakes.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2010/11/hawaiian-blueberry-botanical.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 7 November 2010. “Hawaii Five-0 2010: Respect the Land and the Pizza Without Pineapples?” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2010/11/hawaii-five-0-2010-respect-land-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 6 November 2010. “Pygmy Hippopotamuses for Grace of the Hawaii Five-0 2010 Family?” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2010/11/pygmy-hippopotamuses-for-grace-of.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 5 November 2010. “Pineappley Hala Tree Botanical Illustrations for Hawaii Five-0 Pilot.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2010/11/pineappley-hala-tree-botanical.html

"O Ke Kumu, O Ka Mana, Ho'opuka 'Ia." Hawaii Five-0: The Ninth Season. Los Angeles CA: Paramount Pictures Corporation, April 26, 2019.

Robertson, Christopher John Rutherford. "Laysan Albatross Diomedea immutabilis." In: Michael Hutchins, Jerome A. Jackson, Walter J. Bock and Donna Olendorf, editors. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Second edition. Volume 8, Birds I: 122-123. Farmington Hills MI: Gale Group, 2002.

Rothschild, Walter. 17 May 1893. "Diomedea Immutabilis, sp.n." Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club, volume I (Session 1892-3), no. IX: xlviii. London, England: R. H. Porter, July 1893.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/32475190

Seattle Audubon Society. "Laysan Albatross." BirdWeb > Birds.
Available @ http://www.birdweb.org/birdweb/bird/laysan_albatross

Sunday, April 21, 2019

Puerto Rican Todies, Earth Month 2019 and Puerto Rico Five-One Icons

Summary: Puerto Rican todies arguably are Earth Month 2019 and Puerto Rico Five-One icons, available only in Puerto Rico and most active from February to May.

Puerto Rican tody (Todus mexicanus), illustrated by American ornithologist and illustrator Louis Agassiz Fuertes (Feb. 7, 1874-Aug. 22, 1927): Public Domain, via U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) National Digital Library

April 2019 allows an acquaintance with Puerto Rican todies, available all the way from February through May only in the Commonwealth and therefore potential Earth Month 2019 and Puerto Rico Five-One icons.

All April 2019 belongs to Earth Month 2019 even though just one day, April 22, this year broaches behaving better in both built and natural environments. Earth Day 2019 and Earth Month 2019 convoke diverse, healthy cultivated and wild trees since chemicals, clear-cutting, collecting and cruelty compromise flowering, fruiting, leafing, seeding habitats. Puerto Rican todies dwell in habitats diminished by agro-industrialists, loggers, monocultural plantation operators and owners and village farmers dividing karst, rainforest, scrub, streamside habitats among themselves.

Puerto Rican todies endemic to their namesake Commonwealth emerge most audibly and visibly during Earth Month 2019 and the Puerto Rico Five-One statehood bill's Congressional examination.

The months from February through May furnish the 10- to 13-year life cycles of Puerto Rican todies with annual breeding seasons on their Caribbean insular mainlands.

Physically and sexually mature female Puerto Rican todies each gestate one one- to four-egg seasonal clutch for a ground nest gotten together with their seasonal mates. They hone between September and June 10.59- to 12.01-inch- (26.9- to 30.5-centimeter-) long tunnels with 4.45-inch- (11.3-centimeter-) long, 3.86-inch- (9.8-centimeter-) wide, 0.35-inch- (6.9-centimeter-) high nest chambers. Pink-tinged, shiny, vermilion-yolked, white, 0.05-ounce (1.43-gram), 0.63- by 0.53-inch (16.0- by 13.5-centimeter) eggs, laid one-by-one nightly, incubate 21 to 22 days before hatching for 19-plus-day nesting.

Some Puerto Rican todies journey as altricial (helpless, from Latin altrix, "nourisher"), blind, deaf newborns while Congress judges Puerto Rico Five-One statehood during Earth Month 2019.

Puerto Rican todies know flocked life cycles foraging canopies and hopping through grassy or wooded grounds; paired breeding and parenting; and solitary flying, perching and roosting.

Male Puerto Rican todies locate nestlings' aphids, beetles, cicadas, Clusia clusioides fruits, leafhoppers and moths and mates' beetles, crickets, dragonflies, earwigs, flies, grasshoppers, katydids and spiders. Todies manifest silence as brown-eyed, naked newborns; clucks as brown-eyed, downy, three-day-olds; and nasal, serialized bee-beeps as adult-colored, brown-eyed fledgelings with gray-striped chests without red markings. Puerto Rican todies, named Todus mexicanus (from Latin todus, "small bird" and, despite non-occurrence, mexicānus, "Mexican"), nestle into burrows 32.81 feet (10 meters) from last season's.

Puerto Rican todies, observed by René Lesson (March 20, 1794-April 28, 1849), organize breeding, parenting and roosting within 1.73- to 4.94-acre (0.7- to 2-hectare) home ranges.

Puerto Rican todies possess blue-backed heads; red-marked lower bills, chins and throats; emerald upper-sides; white undersides; yellow flanks and tail-covert undersides; and brown legs and feet.

Gray-eyed males and white-eyed females queue up respectively higher- and lower-ranging, mature, 0.17- to 0.28-ounce (4.8- to 7.8-gram), 3.93- to 4.53-inch (10- to 11.5-centimeter) head-body-tail lengths. Agro-industrialists and hunters reduce 3,822.41-square-mile (9,900-square-kilometer) homelands with autograph (Clusia), coffee (Psychotria), fig (Ficus), goosefoot (Chenopodium), prickly-ash (Zanthoxylum) and rose (Rubus) Puerto Rican tody host trees. The International Union for Conservation of Nature serves no endangered, threatened or vulnerable statuses despite full-sun plantations subduing shaded spaces that once sheltered Puerto Rican todies.

Earth month 2019 and Puerto Rico Five-One statehood touch Puerto Rican todies, san pedritos des mes de la teirra 2019 y de Puerto Rico estado 51.

Puerto Rican tody (Todus mexicanus), known locally as San Pedrito; Aibonito, central south Puerto Rico; photo by Dylan Ávila: Aves de Puerto Rico @avesdepuertoricoFelPe, via Facebook Aug. 14, 2017

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Puerto Rican tody (Todus mexicanus), known locally as San Pedrito; Aibonito, central south Puerto Rico; photo by Dylan Ávila: Aves de Puerto Rico @avesdepuertoricoFelPe, via Facebook Aug. 14, 2017, @ https://www.facebook.com/avesdepuertoricoFelPe/photos/a.10154144170085190/10156298393065190/

For further information:

Aves de Puerto Rico @avesdepuertoricoFelPe. 14 August 2017. "Aves de Puerto Rico added a new photo to the album: Aves: Dylan Ávila (Tierra Viva). San Pedrito Puerto Rican Tody Todus mexicanus Aibonito, P.R. El San Pedrito lleva por error el nombre científico Todus mexicanus. La intención de su inscriptor René P. Lesson fue llamarlo Todus portoricensis. Si deseas que ese error sea corregido te invitamos a firmar y compartir esta petición. http://www.peticiones.org/corregir-el-nombre-cientifico-del… — en Puerto Rico." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/avesdepuertoricoFelPe/photos/a.10154144170085190/10156298393065190/

Baicich, Paul J.; and Colin J.O. Harrison. 2005. Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds. Princeton NJ; and Oxford, England, UK: Princeton University Press, Princeton Field Guides. Second edition.

Cuevas, Víctor M. "Puerto Rican Tody." United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service > El Yunque National Forest > Learning Center > Nature & Science.
Available @ https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/elyunque/learning/nature-science/?cid=fsbdev3_042875

Fremgen, A. 2018. "Puerto Rican Tody (Todus mexicanus), version 2.0." Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Ithaca NY: Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Available @ https://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/Species-Account/nb/species/purtod1/overview

Kepler, Angela Kay. "Puerto Rican Tody Todus mexicanus." In: Michael Hutchins, Jerome A. Jackson, Walter J. Bock and Donna Olendorf, editors. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Second edition. Volume 10, Birds III: 29. Farmington Hills MI: Gale Group, 2002.

Marriner, Derdriu. 20 April 2019. "Puerto Rican Nightjars: Earth Month 2019, Puerto Rico Five-One Icons." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/04/puerto-rican-nightjars-earth-month-2019.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 April 2019. "Puerto Rican Screech-Owls Earth Month 2019, Puerto Rico Five-One Icons." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/04/puerto-rican-screech-owls-earth-month.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 7 April 2019. "Earth Month, Puerto Rican Green Mango Hummingbirds and Sea Hibiscus." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/04/earth-month-puerto-rican-green-mango.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 31 March 2019. "Puerto Rican Emerald Hummingbirds and Puerto Rican Statehood." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/03/puerto-rican-emerald-hummingbirds-and.html

Vuilleumier, François, editor-in-chief; and Paul Sweet, consultant. 2016. American Museum of Natural History Birds of North America. Revised edition. New York NY: DK Publishing.

Wetmore, Alexander. 31 December 1919. "Description of a Whippoorwill from Porto Rico." Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, vol. 32: 235-238.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3335191

Saturday, April 20, 2019

Puerto Rican Nightjars: Earth Month 2019, Puerto Rico Five-One Icons

Summary: Puerto Rican nightjars, active from April through July, are available in the Commonwealth as Earth Month 2019 and Puerto Rico Five-One Icons.

Puerto Rican nightjar (Antrostomus noctitherus) parent with chick; Caribbean Islands National Wildlife Refuge complex; Friday, Aug. 6, 2010: Mike Morel/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Public Domain, via USFWS National Digital Library

Puerto Rican nightjars are among the American wildlife that Earth Month 2019 advances and that attract attention as among avian icons for Earth Day April 22, 2019, and Puerto Rico Five-One statehood.

Earth Day April 22 betokens well for the Caprimulgidae (from Latin caprimulgus, "goat-milker" and Latin-transliterated Greek -ειδής, "-like") family member of soil and tree food webs. Puerto Rican nightjars and Chuck-will's-widow (Antrostomus carolinensis), nighthawks (Chordeiles acutipennis, Chordeiles minor), pauraques (Nyctidromus albicollis), poorwills (Phalaenoptilus nuttallii) and whip-poor-wills (Antrostomus vociferus) correlate with healthy ecosystems. Nesting season drives them downward to dwell amid cast-off pine needles, atop dead leaves and on field, forest and woodland floors, rocky grounds and sandy beaches.

Puerto Rican nightjars and their mainland United States relatives engage in accidental pollination of woody plant flowers, spread of woody plant seeds and turnover of topsoil.

The timespan from Feb. 24 through July 1, especially from April through June, furnish the three- to 15-year life cycles of nightjar family members with breeding months.

Physically and sexually mature female Puerto Rican nightjars gestate one two-egg seasonal brood, or two, for ground-laying at one-day intervals, generally near low-lying bushes and thickets. Blotched, camouflageable, cryptic-colored, elliptical to subelliptical, flecked, freckled, mottled, semi-glossy, smooth, speckled, spotted 1.02- by 0.79-inch (26- by 20-millimeter) eggs hatch within 18 to 21 days. The buff, cream-white, pink, pink-buff, pink-white, white clutch with brown, gray, olive-brown, purple, red-brown markings, is invisible amid brown, gray, gray-brown, green, off-white, purple-gray ground colors.

Downy, open-eyed, semi-precocial (from Latin praecox, "ripe before its time") newborn Puerto Rican nightjars juggle gray bills; brown feet and legs; and undersides paler than upper-sides.

Puerto Rican nightjar nestlings know how to accept regurgitated food from parental bills, hop within two to three days and fly within 17 to 23 days.

Puerto Rican nightjar nestlings live independently as 30-day-olds after losing long, soft down to black-brown, buff-gray feathers as 10- to 20-day-olds and locating prey as 25-day-olds. Physically and sexually mature Puerto Rican nightjars manage banking, bobbing, circling, erratic, 50- to 150-foot- (15.24- to 45.72-meter-) high, flapping, gliding, low, moth-like, slow, dusk-to-dawn flights. Puerto Rican nightjars, named Antrostomus noctitherus (from Greek άντρον, "cave"; στόμα, "mouth"; νύξ, "night"; and θηράω, "hunter"), net ant, beetle, fly, mayfly, mosquito and moth prey.

Puerto Rican nightjars, observed by Frank Wetmore (June 18, 1886-Dec. 7, 1978), operate as Earth Month 2019 and Puerto Rico Five-One icons of organic pest control.

Puerto Rican nightjars present 1.19- to 1.45-ounce (33.8- to 41-gram), 8.27- to 9.06-inch (21- to 23-centimeter) head-body-tail lengths and 5.08- to 5.35-inch (128.9- to 135.8-millimeter) wingspans.

Big, black eyes; big, bristled, gaping mouths; black-gray, diminutive bills, feet and legs; pale-banded throats; and pale-banded outer-wing feathers qualify as mature Puerto Rican nightjar hallmarks. Puerto Rican nightjars realize clucks and hisses against ants (Solenopsis), mongooses (Herpestes), monkeys (Erythrocebus, Macaca), owls (Asio) and thrashers (Margarops) and 15-note gaw-quert-whip-whip-whip whistles among themselves. They shelter in big-leaf mahogany (Swietenia), birdcatcher (Pisonia), Caribbean princewood (Exostema), gumbo-limbo (Bursera) and oxhorn (Bucida) host trees at 246.06- to 754.59-foot (75- to 230-meter) altitudes.

Puerto Rican nightjars, guabairos del suroeste borincano (Land of Brave People's southwesterly night owls), tender Earth Month 2019 and Puerto Rico Five-One statehood mosquito-free, night-time choruses.

Two Puerto Rican nightjars (Antrostomus noctitherus) sit longitudinally (not transversely across) on tree branch; Caribbean Islands National Wildlife Refuge complex; Saturday, March 21, 2009: Mike Morel/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Public Domain, via USFWS National Digital Library

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Puerto Rican nightjar (Antrostomus noctitherus) parent with two snuggling chicks; Caribbean Islands National Wildlife Refuge complex; Aug. 6, 2010: Mike Morel/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Puerto-Rican-nightjar-with-chicks-8-Mike-Morel_FWS.jpg

For further information:

Baicich, Paul J.; and Colin J.O. Harrison. 2005. Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds. Second edition. Princeton NJ; and Oxford, England, UK: Princeton University Press, Princeton Field Guides.

BirdLife International 2016. "Antrostomus noctitherus." The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22689809A9328623. http://dx.doi.org/10..2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22689809A93248623.en.
Available @ https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22689809/93248623

Bouglouan, Nicole. "Puerto Rican Nightjar Antrostomus noctitherus." Oiseaux-Birds > Cards (Bird's Information).
Available @ http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-puerto-rican-nightjar.html

Caribbean Ecological Services Field Office. "Puerto Rican Nightjar Caprimulus noctitherus." U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service > Southeast Region > Fact-sheet.
Available @ https://www.fws.gov/southeast/pdf/fact-sheet/puerto-rican-nightjar-english.pdf

Holyoak, David T. "Caprimulgiformes (Nightjars)." In: Michael Hutchins, Jerome A. Jackson, Walter J. Bock and Donna Olendorf, editors. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Second edition. Volume 9, Birds II: 367-371. Farmington Hills MI: Gale Group, 2002.

Vilella, Francisco J. 2010. "Puerto Rican Nightjar Antrostromus noctitherus." Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Ithaca NY: Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Available @ https://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/Species-Account/nb/species/purnig1/overview

Vilella, Francisco J. 2008. "Nest Habitat Use of the Puerto Rican Nightjar Caprimulgus noctitherus in Guánica Biosphere Reserve." Bird Conservation International, vol. 18:307-317.
Available @ https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0959270908007594

Vilella, Francisco J. 1995. "Reproductive Ecology and Behaviour of the Puerto Rican Nightjar Caprimulgus noctitherus." Bird Conservation International, vol. 5: 349-366.
Available @ https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S095927090000109X

Vuilleumier, François, editor-in-chief; and Paul Sweet, consultant. 2016. American Museum of Natural History Birds of North America. Revised edition. New York NY: DK Publishing.

Wetmore, Alexander. 31 December 1919. "Description of a Whippoorwill From Porto Rico." Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, vol. 32: 235-238.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3335191

Sunday, April 14, 2019

Puerto Rican Screech-Owls Earth Month 2019, Puerto Rico Five-One Icons

Summary: Puerto Rican screech-owls are possible Earth Month 2019 and Puerto Rico Five-One statehood icons since the April breeders appear only in Puerto Rico.

The Puerto Rican screech-owl (Megascops nudipes) is known in Puerto Rico as múcaro (Spanish via Taíno: múcaro or múkaro), múcaro común or múcarito; photo by Alfredo Irizarry: Aves y Estampas de Puerto Rico: Por Alfredo Irizarry, via Facebook Dec. 31, 2018

April 2019 acts as Earth Month 2019 and announces the annual breeding season of Puerto Rican screech-owls, perhaps imminent Puerto Rico Five-One icons of the lowland and upland Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Earth Month 2019 broaches the third planet bound to the Sun as the Blue Marble of better, bluer skies and waters and greater, greener, ground cover. It considers the clean cityscapes and countrysides that correlate with cultivated and wild plants and domesticated and wild animals completing their chemical- and cruelty-free life cycles. It disavows the air, light, noise, soil and water pollution that disrupts the annual, biennial or perennial life cycles of day- and night-active animals and plants.

Environmental effects efficacious for endemic Puerto Rican screech-owls potentially ensue from Earth Month 2019 and the Puerto Rico Five-One statehood bill entered into the 116th Congress.

April through June fit into the four- to seven-year life cycles of physically and sexually mature female and male Puerto Rican screech-owls as annual breeding months.

Physically and sexually mature female Puerto Rican screech-owls gestate one one- to three-egg seasonal clutch in abandoned woodpecker holes, nest boxes, rotted snags and tree cavities. They have their elliptical to spherical, semi-glossy, white, 1.29- by 1.10-inch (33- by 28-millimeter) eggs 5 to 30 feet (1.52 to 9.14 meters) above tree bases. They incubate 21 to 30 days seasonal clutches whose altricial (helpless, from Latin altrix, "nourisher"), blind, deaf, immobile hatchlings inhabit their birthplaces 28 to 32 days.

Puerto Rican screech-owl fathers-to-be journey back and forth with crayfish, insect and worm prey for their seasonal mates and for newborn to 14-day-old Puerto Rican screech-owls.

Puerto Rican screech-owls keep thick, white down for body and head warmth as newborn to 1-day-olds, until they know how to cast pellets and kill prey.

Puerto Rican screech-owls look olive- and umber-feathered above and white-feathered below as 10- to 21-day-olds with a second, successor body and head covering of downy plumage. They manage flight as 28-day-olds and nearby homes as 30- to 32-day-olds even though they meet daily with their parents for another eight to 10 weeks. Puerto Rican screech-owls, named Megascops nudipes (from Greek μέγας σκοπός, "great watcher" and Latin nudus pēs, "naked foot"), need downless, featherless clawed toes, feet and legs.

Puerto Rican screech-owls, observed by François Daudin (Aug. 29, 1776-Nov. 30, 1803), operate bare-legged, unlike eastern (Megascops asio), western (Megascops kennicottii) and whiskered (Megascops trichopsis) screech-owls.

Physically and sexually mature Puerto Rican screech-owls perform steady, straight, swift flights under tree canopies through 2,952.76-foot (900-meter) altitudes above sea level during Earth Month 2019.

Mature 3.63- to 5.96-ounce (102.9- to 169-gram) weights queue up 7.87- to 9.84-inch (20- to 25-centimeter) head-body lengths and 60.63- to 67.32-inch (154- to 171-centimeter) wingspans. They reveal rounded heads with brown eyes and without ear tufts; red-brown upper-parts; rounded wings; gray-barred under-wings; white-spotted inner-wings; streaked underparts; black legs; and short tails. Crayfish-, fish-, insect-, lizard-, snake-, tadpole, worm-preying adults seem grayer in drier forests, gardens, groves, orchards, parks, swamps and woodlands and sound three- to five-second trills.

Cackling, cooing, trilling Puerto Rican screech-owls, mucaritos del Bosque Nacional El Yunque (Anvil National Forest's owlets), perhaps toast Earth Month 2019 and Puerto Rico Five-One statehood.

photo of Puerto Rican screech-owl (Megascops nudipes) by Javier Hernandez Ramos: Aves de Puerto Rico @avesdepuertoricoFelPe, via Facebook April 23, 2012

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

photo of Puerto Rican screech-owl (Megascops nudipes) by Javier Hernandez Ramos: Aves de Puerto Rico @avesdepuertoricoFelPe, via Facebook April 23, 2012, @ https://www.facebook.com/avesdepuertoricoFelPe/photos/a.10153827571810190/10153814785170190/

For further information:

Aves de Puerto Rico @avesdepuertoricoFelPe. 23 April 2012. "Mucarito, Puerto Rican Sreech Owl. Nombre científico, scientific name, Megascops nudipes. Endémica de Puerto Rico, endemic to Puerto Rico." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/avesdepuertoricoFelPe/photos/a.10153827571810190/10153814785170190/

Aves y Estampas de Puerto Rico: Por Alfredo Irizarry. 31 December 2018. "Múcaro Común, Puerto Rican Screech-Owl. Megascops nudipes." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/964307343721798/photos/a.964321333720399/1159641490855048/

BirdLife International 2016. "Megascops nudipes." The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22688891A93210689. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22688891A93210689.en.
Available @ https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22688891/93210689

Daudin, François Marie. 1800. "XVII. Chouette nudipède. Strix nudipes." Traité élémentaire et complet d'Ornithologie, ou Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux, tome second: 199. Paris, France: Bertrandet, 1800, An VIII.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/39476195

Goodson, Chloe. 2014. "Puerto Rican Screech-Owl (Megascops nudipes), version 1.0." Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.prsowl.01.
Available @ https://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/Species-Account/nb/species/prsowl/overview

Lawrence, George N. 1862. "5. Gymnoglaux nudipes, (Daudin.)." Pages 257-259. "Notes on Some Cuban Birds with Descriptions of New Species. Read May 21, 1860." Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York, vol. VII: 247-275. New York NY: Published for The Lyceum by John Wiley; Paris, France: Hector Bossange.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16227714

Lewis, Deane. 15 October 2015. "Puerto Rican Screech Owl - Megascops nudipes." The Owl Pages > Owl Species > Genus: Megascops.
Available @ https://www.owlpages.com/owls/species.php?s=1090

Parry-Jones, Jemima; and Christine Jeryan. "Owls (Strigidae)." In: Michael Hutchins, Jerome A. Jackson, Walter J. Bock and Donna Olendorf, editors. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Second edition. Volume 9, Birds II: 345-351. Farmington Hills MI: Gale Group, 2002.

United Confederation of Taino People (UCTP). 10 December 2014. "Múkaro is Taino." Taino Facts.

Vuilleumier, François, editor-in-chief; and Paul Sweet, consultant. American Museum of Natural History Birds of North America. Revised edition. New York NY: DK Publishing, 2016.

Sunday, April 7, 2019

Earth Month, Puerto Rican Green Mango Hummingbirds and Sea Hibiscus

Summary: Earth Month April 2019 acclaims ambient aspects of such trees as the sea hibiscus, whose nectar appeals to Puerto Rican green mango hummingbirds.

Earth Month April 2019 before, on and after the actual Earth Day April 22, 2019, applauds trees such as the sea hibiscus (Hibiscus tiliaceus), whose afforestation affects Puerto Rican green mango hummingbirds.

Earth Month, begun by high school student Bradley Follett June 1968 as Global Cleanup Month, became Earth Month in 1970 and the non-profit Earth Month Network. It considers clean energy and transportation, community resiliency, employment, globally warmed climate change, healthy oceans and marine life, nutritious food and potable water, and urban well-being. It demands ten R's of sustainability: respect, refuse ecosystem harm, reduce resource use, reuse, renew, recycle, responsibilitize for transparent business and government, rethink, replant and restore.

Trees such as sea hibiscus (Hibiscus tiliaceus, literally linden-like marsh mallow), whose endurance Puerto Rican green mango hummingbirds ensure by enabling pollination, embody the 10 R's.

October through May fit into the four-plus-year life cycles of Puerto Rican green mango hummingbirds, endemics exclusive to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as breeding months.

Mating-motivated male Puerto Rican green mango hummingbirds give aerial displays in central and western Puerto Rico's Cordillera Central (Central Mountains) and eastern Puerto Rico's Luquillo Mountains. The physically and sexually mature Trochilidae (from Greek τροχίλος, trokhílos, "one who runs" and -ειδής, -eidés, "resemblance") female member has one two-egg seasonal clutch every year. She incubates the white, 0.47-plus-inch- (12-plus-millimeter-) long and 0.32-plus-inch- (8-plus-millimeter-) wide eggs in a cup-shaped nest of plant fibers with lichen as exterior and interior lining.

Fathers-to-be and mothers-to-be respectively juggle guard duties in nearby trees and egg-warming duties in seasonal nests on vertical branches 26.35 feet (8 meters) above tree bases.

Puerto Rican green mango hummingbirds keep eggs, hatchlings and nestlings in 2-plus-inch- (50.8-plus-millimeter-) high, 2-plus-inch (50.8-plus-millimeter) outer-diameter nests with 1.5-plus-inch (38.1-millimeter), 1.5-plus-inch- (38.1-millimeter-) deep inner diameters.

Puerto Rican green mango hummingbirds look like black, blind, deaf hatchlings with two rows of upper-side down even though they leave as brown-headed, brown-backed 20-plus-day-old fledglings. Anthracothorax viridis (from Greek ἀνθραξ, "charcoal" and θώρᾱξ, "corslet" and Latin viridis, "green") manages 50-plus backward, forward, downward, hovering, rapid-start, rapid-stop, upside-down, upward wingbeats per second. Mature green mango hummingbirds, noted by Jean Audebert (March 2, 1759-Dec. 5, 1800) and Louis Vieillot (May 10, 1748-Aug. 24, 1830), net 30-plus-mile (48.28-plus-kilometer) hourly speeds.

Puerto Rican green mango hummngbirds obtain airborn beetle and fly and branch-born spider prey and offer rattled warnings and trill-like, twittered szzzzz-szi-szi-chup-tsz-tsz songs with initial buzzes.

Black-billed, brown-eyed females and males possess respectively lower- and upper-ranging 0.91- to 1.06-inch (23- to 27-millimeter) beak and 4.09- to 4.61-inch (104- to 117-millimeter) body lengths.

Green-feathered females and males respectively queue up lower- and upper-ranging 1.32- to 1.52-inch (33.5- to 38.5-millimeter) tail and 2.29- to 2.64-inch (58.3- to 67-millimeter) wingspan lengths. Curve-billed, black-footed, black-legged, blue-black-tailed, blue-green-bellied females and males realize bronze-green iridescence in sunlight and respectively reveal lower- and upper-ranging 0.23- to 0.25-ounce (6.6- to 7.2-gram) weights. Females with white eyespots and white-tipped tails and males survive in forests, gardens and plantations at 2,624.67- to 3,937.01-foot (800- to 1,200-meter) altitudes above sea level.

Earth Month tenders Puerto Rican green mango hummingbirds, zumbadores verdes de Borinquén (Land of Brave People's green hummers) bird-of-paradise (Heliconia), hibiscus and lion's tail (Leonotis leonurus).

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Puerto Rican green mango hummingbird (Anthracothorax viridis), known in French as le Colibri vert, illustrated by French naturalist and illustrator Jean Baptiste Audebert (March 2, 1759-Dec. 5, 1800); J.B. Audebert and L.J.P. Vieillot's Oiseaux Dorés (Histoire Naturelle) (1802), tome premier, Planche XV, opposite page 39: Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35131858; Biodiversity Heritage Library (BioDivLibrary), Public Domain, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/biodivlibrary/51025557786/

A female (top) and two male (center) Puerto Rican green mango hummingbirds (Anthracothorax viridis) under synonym Lampornis viridis, visit broad wave-leaved pitcairnia (Pitcairnia undulatifolia); illustration by English ornithologist and bird artist John Gould (Sept. 14, 1804-Feb. 3, 1881) and English zoological illustratory Henry Constantine Richter (June 7, 1821-March 16, 1902); printed by firm of (Charles Joseph) Hullmandel and (Joseph Fowell) Walton; J. Gould's A Monograph of the Trochilidae (1861), vol. II: Plate 78: Not in copyright, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34842915; Biodiversity Heritage Library (BioDivLibrary), Public Domain, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/61021753@N02/7175948026/

For further information:

Audebert, J.B.; and L.J.P. Vieillot. 1802. "Le Colibri vert. Planche XV." Histoire Naturelle et Générales des Colibris, Oiseaux-Mouchees, Jacamars et Promerops: Oiseaux Dorés, ou á Reflets Métalliques, tome premier: 39. Paris, France: Desray, An XI.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35131859

Audebert, J.B.; and L.J.P. Vieillot. 1802. "Le Colibri vert. Pl. 15." Histoire Naturelle et Générale des Colibris, Oiseaux-Mouches, Jacamars et Promerops: Oiseaux Dorés, ou á Reflets Métalliques, tome premier: opposite page 39. Paris, France: Desray, An XI.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35131858

Gould, John. 1861. "Lampornis viridis. Blue-tailed mango." A Monograph of the Trochilidae, or Family of Humming-birds, vol. II: 78. In five volumes. London, England: Printed by Taylor and Francis for the Author.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34842915
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/monographTrochi2Goul#page/n157/mode/1up

Marriner, Derdriu. 31 March 2019. "Puerto Rican Emerald Hummingbirds and Puerto Rican statehood." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/03/puerto-rican-emerald-hummingbirds-and.html

Schuchman, Karl-L. "Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)." In: Michael Hutchins, Jerome A. Jackson, Walter J. Bock and Donna Olendorf, editors. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Second edition. Volume 9, Birds II: 437-452. Farmington Hills MI: Gale Group, 2002.

Vuilleumier, François, editor-in-chief; and Paul Sweet, consultant. American Museum of Natural History Birds of North America. Revised edition. New York NY: DK Publishing, 2016.