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Lee Ouzman - Wildlife photography terms Category: Animals and Nature > Wildlife Photography Date & country: 27/09/2013, USA Words: 570

Mopane
A broadleaved, deciduous tree, Colophospermum mopane. Forms a dense woodland in some regions (e.g. northern Kruger National Park); stunted on poorly drained soils but reaches a canopy height of 15-20 m in suitable areas.

Montane
Referring to mountainous country.

Monotypic species
A species without any subspecies.

Monotypic genus
A genus with only one species.

Monogamous
mating exclusively with one individual for a given amount of time.

Monogamy
The condition of having only one mate during a breeding season or during the breeding life of a pair.

Monophyletic
Group of species that includes the most recent common ancestor of all its members and all descendants of that ancestor. A monophyletic group is called a clade.

Molt
The process by which a bird renews part or all of its plumage by shedding old, worn feathers and growing new ones.

Migratory
With seasonal geographical movement between two areas. (See also Nomad and Irruption).

Miombo
A broadleaved deciduous woodland type of Leguminous trees (belonging to the pea family); also known as Brachystegia woodland. In the subcontinent mainly found in Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Mirror
White spot near tip of flight feather of large, dark-backed gull.

Mob
In birds, to gather around a perched predator (or pursue a flying predator) while calling vigorously (

Migration
Repeated movement, usually annual, predictable in space and time.

Mesoptile
The second of two down plumages of nestling.

Maxilla
The upper half of the bill; sometimes called

Median line
The stripe along the very top part of the head through the crown.

Median secondary coverts
The feathers on the wing covering the bases of the greater secondary coverts.

Melanism
Excess of melanin, making bird appear black or blackish.

Melanistic
Tending to be black or blackish, resulting from an excess of the dark pigment melanin in the feathers.

Mesic
Opposite of 'arid'. Areas of reasonably high rainfall, creating mesic grassland or mesic savanna.

Mast
The nuts of forest trees accumulated on the ground.

Mantle
Feathers forming a covering of the upper back.

Manus
The wing from the radius and ulna outwards.

Marginal coverts
The feathers overlying the base of the median secondary coverts and are also called lesser secondary coverts or shoulder. They are positioned at the top edge of the wing closest to the body of the bird.

Mask
Black or dark area that encloses the eyes or ear coverts and part of the face.

Malar stripe
Line from base of bill down sides of throat, often forming distinctive stripe in birds.

Mandible
The lower half of the bill (upper bill = maxilla).

Mandibular ramus
A prong-like projection from the bill on the posterior side.

Mangrove
Trees or shrubs of the genera Rhizophora and Avicennia that form swamps in the intertidal area mainly along tropical coasts and have tangled roots that grow above ground forming dense thickets.

Lores
Area between the base of the bill and the eye; may be bare or feathered.

Lower mandible
The lower part of the bill.

Lower mandibular tomia
The cutting edge of the lower mandible.

Lowveld
The low-lying (<900 m asl) eastern part of southern Africa, mostly comprising savanna.

Malar
Of the cheeks. Small group of feathers, sometimes distinctively coloured, that extends from the base of the bill downward and slightly backward along the throat (see Submalar stripe).

Lift
Upward force exerted on a wing due to air flow across its surface.

Littoral
Regions situated adjacent to the coast.

Local
Occurring or common within a small or restricted area.

Leucism
Failure to express the normal feather colouring pigments resulting in areas of white plumage to a greater or lesser extent but not affecting other body parts, e.g. skin and eye colour; distinct from albinism which invariably effects the entire plumage as well as skin, eye colour, etc.

Lectotype
A type specimen that is designated from a syntype series.

Leg
Proportionally the bird

Leguminous
Belonging to the Fabaceae or pea family.

Lek
Assembly of females of some polygynous species in a display arena visited by males to select potential mates.

Lesser secondary coverts
The short feathers overlying the median secondary coverts on the top of the wing. They are located near the shoulder and can be seen as the first row of feathers on the bird

Leaf-gleaner
Small birds that forage in trees searching for invertebrate prey, e.g. apalises and eremomelas. Other 'gleaners' are adapted to different niches; these include bark gleaners (e.g. Spotted Creeper).

Leading edge of wing
The leading edge of the wing is the first from a frontal position when the bird is in flight.

Lateral
On the side.

LBJs
'Little Brown Jobs', a collective term for drab and difficult to identify species such as warblers, cisticolas and pipits.

Lanceolate
Pointed feather, like the head of a spear.

Koppie
A small hill, often with a rocky summit.

Krill
Marine plankton of the Order Euphausiacea.

Lacustrine
Of a lake.

Lagoon
Sheltered, shallow body of water separated from deeper, more open water.

Lamella (pl. lamellae)
Comb-like projections along edge of bill, designed for filtering minute food organisms from water or soft mud.

Kettle
A group of birds circling on the same thermal. So named because the birds look like a boiling kettle.

Kite
In bird flight, to hang in one position while facing into the wind with minimal or no flapping.

Kleptoparasitise
To steal food from another individual.

Kloof
A gully or ravine (often densely wooded), usually on a mountainside.

Knee
The joint in the middle part of the leg, in the same location as the human knee.

Jugulum
Front part of the neck; foreneck, throat, throat patch.

Juvenal plumage
A bird

Juvenile
A young bird still in first plumage, ie. the plumage with which it fledged.

Karoo
A semi-arid habitat of central and western South Africa consisting of low woody dwarf shrubs and little grass, on a largely stony ground.

Keet
Young guineafowl.

Irruption
A temporary influx into an area, usually brought about by more favourable conditions in that region, or unfavourable conditions in the species' usual range, e.g. following a drought. White-crested Helmetshrike, Lark-like Bunting and Harlequin Quail are good examples of irruptive species.

Isabelline
Greyish yellow.

Isohyet
Line (on map) connecting sites of equal rainfall.

Jizz (or Gizz)
The concept that bird watchers can accurately identify birds by their general aspect and behavior rather than by any specific field marks (Jizzing or Gizzing).

Intergrade
Offspring resulting from the breeding of different subspecies (compare

Intertidal zone
Area of a shoreline between the low- and high-tide points.

Intra-African migrant
Bird that migrates entirely within Africa, e.g. Lesser Striped Swallow.

Iridescence
Glossy colouration created by the reflectance or refraction of light on feathers and related to feather structure; not a pigment colour.

Iris (plural irides)
The iris is the coloured part of the eye, equal to the human iris, located around the pupil.

Inner primaries
The inner primaries are a group of feathers closest to the body on the wing of the bird. They are generally covered partially by the secondaries.

Inner secondaries
The group of secondary feathers located closest to the body with respect to the outer secondary coverts.

Inner wing
Includes the shoulder, the secondaries and the secondary coverts.

Insectivorous
Birds that eat mainly insects. Swallows are a good example.

Inselberg
Isolated, usually steep-sided hill or mountain rising from a plain.

Indigenous
Native to a geographical area (ie. not alien or introduced).

Hyperphagia
'Over eating' by migratory birds during pre-departure fattening; onset driven by hormones.

Immature
All plumages that occur between the first ('juvenile') plumage and the final adult plumage (= 'sub-adult'). These birds are usually independent of adults.

In pin
Feather emerged from skin, but still contained within shaft.

Hyoid apparatus
Bony or cartilaginous structure that supports and extends tongue.

Hovering
A technique a bird uses for various reasons, including to search for food. To hover, a bird remains stationary in mid-air, usually by rapidly flapping its wings.

Humeral
Tertial.

Humerals
Feathers of the inner portion of the wing that lie along the humerus (wing bone nearest the body).

Hybrid
Offspring resulting from the breeding of different species (compare

Hover-hawk
(of foraging) To hover before striking prey aerially or gleaning from foliage.

Host
The species which incubates the eggs and raises the young of avian brood parasites.

Holarctic
The combined northern hemisphere Nearctic and Palearctic biogeographical regions.

Holotype
The specimen designated by the taxonomist to which the name of a newly created taxon applies. If there is ever a dispute about the validity of a taxon, then the holotype is critical in deciding its status relative to other described taxa.

Home Range or Territory
The total area a bird inhabits while living in a given place.

Horns
Paired contour feathers on top of the head of the bird.

Heterodactyl
Foot arrangement with toes 1 and 2 pointing backwards, and toes 3 and 4 forwards (e.g. trogons).

Hindcrown
Rear part of the crown, just forward of (above) the nape.

Hindhead
Also called the occiput, it is the back portion of the bird's crown.

Hindneck
Also called the nape and collar, it is the back of the neck.

Herbivorous
Birds that primarily eat plants.

Heronry
Colonial breeding site of herons or egrets; sometimes applied to other colonially breeding waterbirds (e.g. ibises).

Helper
Non-breeding immature or adult bird that assists breeding pair with care of their eggs and/or young; often from a previous brood.

Head stripes
The head stripes are the contrasting coloured lines on the top of the bird's head. This is a useful feature to discriminate between species. However, juvenile birds often have less pronounced stripes than adults.