Biodiversity Comparison

Biodiversity Comparison

The term biodiversity refers to the various living organism’s living on the different regions of the earth. There are multiple types of bio diversities displayed by living organisms, although they may belong to the same species. Significance differences arise due to different ecological adaptations and also climate variance of the different habitats. The selected group of organisms in this case study is the red-winged bird, which is common in the North American continent and parts of Central America (Donald et al, 2019).. The bird belongs to the Icteridae family and species phoeniceus. The above gives its taxonomic name as Agelaius phoeniceus, thus defining its taxonomy. The bird can be easily seen in the New York state, whereas in other parts of the globe, it is rare to see the bird.

The comparison region for this case study is Scotland, whose location is on the Northern coast of Europe. The country also has a wide variety of birds that have substantial variations from those found in the North American continent. The main reason as to why I chose the taxonomy of the bird is that they depict visible differences to the other birds in Europe despite sharing a common origin of family. The biological name of the bird in Scotland is Turdus Iliacus, which describes the genus and species name. The bird’s habitat varies, but often they will thrive in open grasslands. On other occasions, the birds will live in wet regions inhabiting fresh and saline aquatic habitats. The birds can additionally be found in highland prairies and other areas.

In the taxonomic unit selected, there are several other species in New York. The red-shouldered blackbird, which is found in Cuba, namely Agelaius assimilis belongs to the same genus as our selected bird (Gill, 2014). Another species bearing the same taxonomy is the Tricolored bird, which is found in California and Mexico. The biological name of the bird is called Agelaius tricolor. Besides, the Tawny-shouldered blackbird that hails from Haiti and Cuba, namely Agelaius humeralis is another bird of the same genus. In Puerto Rico, the Yellow-shouldered blackbird is found in plenty, and the biological name is Agelaius xanthomus. Even though the above-listed birds belong to the same genus, they depict variance in their feeding behaviors and also in their habitats.

Several species share the same taxonomy class with the European redwing bird. The first species is Yellow-legged thrush, Turdus flavipes, which thrives in northern Brazil and Colombia. In Ecuador and Guyana, the pale-eyed thrush is found with the botanical name Turdus leucop. Additional species of the same family are found in Kenya and East Africa with the name Bare-eyed thrush and biologically Turdus tephronotu. The Chinese blackbird, which is found mainly in China, bears the same family and taxonomical group and is called Turdus mandarinus. India and Sri Lanka also have the bird species named locally as the Indian blackbird while the biological name is Turdus simillimus.

History of Red-Winged Blackbird Species

Red-winged blackbirds are found in large numbers in agricultural fields and grasslands. They significantly change their diet depending on the current season. For instance, they will feed on insects in summer and feed on agrarian seeds, corn, and wheat when winter arrives. In aquatic habitats, they feed on the weeds and, to some extent, probes the bases of the plants to open so that they can access insects and predate them. They additionally predate on sunflower seeds and grains. The bird’s nests are lowly placed in vertical shoots of trees and shrubs. In marshy areas, they also install their nests upon the vegetation (Yasukawa & Searcy, 2020). There are several differences in the male and female nest style.

The females build the majority of the nests using vegetation collected from the marshy areas. Moreover, the weaving involves some coarse materials obtained from the bushes surrounding their habitats. The average length of the nest is 5 inches, which has got a mad insulator and grass-thatched inside. The males who are lesser in the population play a significant role in controlling and protecting the territories they reign from predators. Additionally, the males also mate a flock of females within the colonies for sustainable breeding of the species. The birds are agile fliers with vigor and strength.

The redwing’s birds of Europe are regular visitors of the UK in winter seasons, which starts from early October. In autumn, the birds usually feed on fruit berries and increase rapidly if plenty of food is available. The bird flies in flocks across the European continent, depending on the season of the year. The birds are native to the UK, and there are small populations left behind after every migration. However, there is a challenge in conserving the birds as they are at the risk of getting extinct.

The differences between the species on the different geographical regions can be associated mostly with climate. Climate plays a vital role in designing the habitat of an organism. Seasonal temperatures variations primarily affect some of the species which migrate occasionally. The vegetation, which is the primary source of food, defines the species and adaptions of the native breeds. The biotic and abiotic factors both largely influence distribution of species on earth (“Clay pit ponds state park, New York City, NY, US,” n.d.).

In general, human affects the distribution of living organisms as they invade their habitats. Some species prefer to stay isolated from humans and their control measures as they consider them as pests. In other conservatives, the species have been introduced by man, and they flourish well. In New York, conservation of the species has led to their increase in population, whereas in Scotland, urbanization has led to a gradual decrease.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the knowledge attained from this taxonomic classification exercise is essential in understanding the distribution of living organisms. The different species of a family share common characteristics, but finer details rely on an individual species for its adaption. Additionally, I have gained insight into the ecological needs of different species and why their distribution occurs in specific global regions. The history associated with the species helped in understanding the evolutional changes that occur to living organisms.

References

Donald, P. F., Fishpool, L. D., Ajagbe, A., Bennun, L. A., Bunting, G., Burfield, I. J., … & Diaz, D. (2019). Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs): the development and characteristics of a global inventory of key sites for biodiversity. Bird Conservation International, 29(2), 177-198.

Gill, F. B. (2014). Species taxonomy of birds: which null hypothesis?. The Auk: Ornithological Advances, 131(2), 150-161.

Clay pit ponds state park, New York City, NY, US. (n.d.). iNaturalist. https://www.inaturalist.org/places/clay-pit-ponds-state-park

Yasukawa, K., & Searcy, W. A. (2020). Red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus). Birds of the World. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.rewbla.01