The Sooty Falcon is a prey bird inhabiting North Africa and the Middle East. They exhibit a streamlined body with an overall grey-blue color. Even more striking is its sleek, curved yellow beak. The adults are approximately 13-16 inches long and weigh around 0.5 pounds, lending them a moderate build.
This type of falcon undertakes remarkable long-distance migrations. An adult Sooty Falcon traveled over 3400 miles from UAE to Madagascar in 13 days1.
The Sooty Falcon is a skilled hunter, using its swift and agile flight to catch prey in mid-air. Its diet consists mainly of small birds and flying insects, although it prefers dragonflies. Interestingly, it likes to hunt at dawn or dusk.
The Aplomado Falcon is a slender bird, typically measuring 13 to 17 inches long and weighing 9 to 14 ounces. Its plumage is distinct: a gray-blue upper body and wings contrast against a creamy underside streaked with thin, dark bands. The falcon's beak, a pointed tool, is a stark yellow-orange.
The bird lives in the Americas, ranging from the southwestern parts of the United States through Central and South America, including Southern Mexico and Northern Argentina.
Aplomado Falcons prefer wide-open spaces, sparse vegetation of grasslands and savannas, far-reaching marshes, semi-arid regions, and forest clearings.
While hunting, a small group or pair of falcons work together to flush out prey from its hiding place, with others waiting to swoop in for the kill.
Aplomado Falcons are not picky eaters, preying on small birds, insects, mammals, or reptiles.
The bird's call is a quick, high-pitched note followed by a longer, lower-pitched note.
Observing a Brown Falcon can be an exciting experience. As its name portrays, it has a predominantly brown plumage, with hues ranging from shoulder to dusk. Its beak is sturdy, hooked, and light grey, an attribute that marks its predatory lifestyle.
These types of falcons span between 18-24 inches in length, typically weighing from 1.1 to 2.7 pounds. They can thrive in habitats such as open woodlands, grasslands, arid regions, and urban areas. It feeds on mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, and occasionally scavenges carrion.
When hunting, the Brown Falcon perches high above the ground, scanning for potential prey. It swoops quickly once it spots a target, sometimes going on a mid-air chase.
The Amur Falcon, a small bird of prey, weighs about 4.2 to 7.8 ounces with a wingspan measuring 32 to 40 inches. Distinctive in appearance, they sport slate-grey plumage on their upperparts while their underparts exhibit a stunning orange color.
Amur Falcons are known widely for having the longest migration route on an open sea of all birds of prey2; for around 9,000 miles,, they travel between their breeding grounds in southeast Russia and northern China and the coasts of eastern or southern Africa.
The Saker Falcon is a large bird of prey found in Eastern Europe and Asia. Its light-to-dark distinguishes it contrasted plumage, varying from a sandy brown to ruddy hues. It's home to dark stripes under its eyes, and its beak's grey-blue color adds a striking note.
Typically, adult Saker Falcons range from 18 to 23 inches in length, with a weight between 1.5 to 3 pounds, making it one of the larger raptor species.
It eats rodents, birds, and larger animals like hares, foxes and nests in various locations during the breeding season.
Unfortunately, IUCN classifies them as endangered falcon species due to offtake for falconry, reduction of prey, and power line electrocution.
The Gyrfalcon is the largest member of the falcon family and is found in the Arctic. It has adapted to the harsh and cold environment with its thick plumage and fast metabolic rate.
Its feathers range from a striking white to jet black, often with flecks of lighter colors. The sturdy beak complements the plumage with its yellow or blue-gray hue. On average, this bird measures 20 to 25 inches in length. At the same time, its weight oscillates between 2 and 4.5 pounds, affirming its formidable presence in the skies.
The bird is a high-speed aerial hunter who mainly feeds on birds and small mammals.
Our last type of falcon is a territorial and solitary creature, occupying the same nesting sites year after year. Its territory spans 9,000 square kilometers.
The ecosystem and living organisms' cells have six primary elements: oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur. The nutrient cycle, or the biogeochemical cycle, is the movement of these nutrients from the environment into plants, animals, and humans and recycling it again.
The primary elements mentioned earlier move through the earth’s ecosystem—atmosphere, water bodies, soil, and living organisms. It recycles and reuses these elements to maintain order. These nutrients fuel life, recycling themselves in a closed loop.
Nutrient cycles occur through living and nonliving organisms using chemical, biological, and geological processes. However, soil microbes are an essential element that helps foster nutrient cycles. Soil and its microbes help break down organic matter and release nutrients into a processing cycle, changing forms until they return to their original state.
Carbon is one of the most critical elements in the physical environment. It is essential to all life forms because they cannot survive without converting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to carbon-based organic molecules of living organisms.
The carbon cycle recycles carbon at varying rates in different areas of the environment. It involves long-term carbon cycling through geologic processes and rapid carbon exchange among organisms in the earth’s atmosphere, surface, and crust.
This nutrient cycling occurs everywhere because carbon is stored in inorganic mineral nutrients in crustal rocks, the oceans, and the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide cycles faster between the atmosphere and organisms. Using photosynthesis, plants and marine organisms convert carbon dioxide into organic carbon.
This conversion helps them produce other organic molecules like starch, lipids, and proteins, which are necessary for the survival of animals and other living organisms that feed on them. Then, they break down the organic molecules in aerobic cellular respiration, which consumes oxygen and releases energy, water, and carbon dioxide.
The carbon dioxide released from the process returns to the atmosphere, where the cycle repeats itself. Carbon also recycles itself by decomposing living organisms and other organic matter.
The decomposition process involves bacteria and fungi breaking down complex organic compounds. The bacteria and fungi then release carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere. Photosynthesis and cellular respiration go hand in hand in cycling carbon. Besides burning fossil fuels, these are the only ways to process CO2 and return it to the atmosphere. So, a significant change in any of these processes influences the amount of carbon in the air.
The nitrogen cycle is crucial to the survival of living beings and organisms. Nitrogen is necessary for healthy plant growth and seed development. About 78% of the gas in the air is nitrogen. Still, atmospheric nitrogen is not helpful to organisms in its gaseous form. It becomes useful when nitrogen-fixing bacteria transform it.
There are various steps in the nitrogen cycle. These steps are:
Nitrogen fixation
Nitrogen assimilation
Ammonification
Nitrification
Denitrification
Nitrogen fixation is the process of converting atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia. Ammonia then becomes ammonium, which enters the soil and water reservoirs. The two types of nitrogen-fixing bacteria are non-symbiotic bacteria and symbiotic bacteria. The non-symbiotic bacteria are cyanobacteria, nostoc, and azotobacter. In contrast, the mutualistic bacteria include rhizobium, a bacteria common to leguminous plants.
The bacteria enter the root hairs of host plants, multiply, and influence the formation of root nodules. They enlarge plant cells and bacteria in close association. They convert atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia, which the plant uses for development.
Nitrates and ammonia from nitrogen fixation assimilate into tissue compounds of algae and higher plants, which animals eat. After assimilation, the animals convert them to the mineral nutrients they need. Ammonification begins by decomposing living organisms and their waste products.
Depending on the soil conditions, the ammonia produced can leave the soil or be changed into other nitrogen compounds. Nitrification is converting ammonia in soil into nitrates by nitrifying bacteria. At the same time, denitrification is the process of denitrifying bacteria and metabolizing bacteria.
The denitrifying bacteria is more active in water-logged areas. It breaks down nitrates in the soils, converting them to atmospheric nitrogen. The nitrogen cycle is a never-ending process of nitrogen conversion that sustains life and the food chain.
Gorillas are the largest primates on Earth. Adult female gorillas tip the scales at 70-90 kg, whereas their male counterparts, standing tall at a whopping six feet, can weigh anywhere from 300 to 450 pounds. That's roughly equivalent to 135 to 200 kilograms!
The largest being the eastern gorillas, specifically the silverback males from the eastern lowland gorillas. These creatures can clock in at 400 pounds, equivalent to 180 kilograms, and stand tall at approximately 5.6 feet or 1.7 meters. These impressive creatures live in the forests of Central Africa.
Another interesting fact about gorillas is that they have opposable thumbs, just like humans do! Gorillas can touch their thumbs to the tips of their fingers.
Interestingly, few mammals have thumbs that can move and oppose their other fingers. Some examples are opossums, koalas, and panda bears. Only marmosets and tarsiers among primates have thumbs that can't oppose their fingers.
Gorillas can grip and manipulate objects with dexterity. Like us, they utilize their opposable thumbs efficiently, adeptly grasping food, picking items, and cleverly using tools. This ability is crucial in their daily activities and helps them navigate their environment effectively.
Another interesting gorilla fact is that they construct nests on the ground or in trees to sleep at night. Each gorilla builds a nest using leaves and branches before sleeping3.
Most gorillas spend their nights in the ground like adult mountain gorillas, rarely sleeping on trees. Meanwhile, adult western lowland gorillas prefer not to reuse their sleeping spot. Gorillas search for food where it is abundant; they frequently change locations and leave their nests behind.
Gorilla nests help experts count gorilla populations because they are easier to see. These abandoned nests provide valuable information to researchers studying ape groups.
Nest counts can help experts estimate population size. Adult apes have individual nests, while baby gorillas sleep with their mothers until age 3. Outside the nest, a young gorilla also learns important skills and behaviors necessary for survival during this time. Hair samples from nests assess personal health. Nest feces indicate food availability and identify ape species based on smell.
Gorillas are in grave danger. The Western gorillas, which include the Western lowland gorilla and Western cross river gorillas, are critically endangered. The Eastern Gorilla, with two subspecies, the Mountain and Eastern Lowland gorilla, recently went from Endangered to Critically Endangered because its population has declined by over 70% in just 20 years.
These gentle giants are battling significant threats. They're victims of widespread poaching and losing their homes due to chopping down forests for farming, mining, building development, and more. Meanwhile, poachers continue to hunt gorillas, while unstructured gorilla tourism can also affect mountain gorillas' behavior and health.
Moreover, these great apes are at risk of diseases due to their genetic similarity to humans2. Human diseases like Ebola can be transmitted to gorillas from humans or other animals, posing a significant threat and further endangering their populations.
Conservation organizations, park rangers, and committed local communities work tirelessly to conserve Mountain Gorillas and their habitats. Their work includes initiatives focusing on anti-poaching efforts, habitat preservation, educating local communities, and regulating ecotourism.
Several organizations, such as the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), actively work towards conservation through research, education, and gorilla habitat protection.
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Basil is one of the plants that repel pests and flying insects. Its leaves contain four effective mosquito repellents - estragole, citronellal, nerolidol, and limonene. The fragrant herb is also very effective at repelling flea beetles, cabbage worms, tomato hornworms, ants, flies, and aphids.
Some plants from the mint family are insect-repelling plants. Spearmint and peppermint plants deter mosquitoes, spider mites, and flies, while pennyroyal mint repels fleas and ticks. These mint plants are a great addition to vegetable gardens and flower beds.
Chrysanthemums are plants that repel bugs like Japanese beetles, cockroaches, ants, spider mites, bedbugs, fleas, silverfish, lice, and harlequin bugs. Chrysanthemum is an effective mosquito repellent because it contains pyrethrum.
The allium family includes onions, chives, garlic, shallots, and leeks. An example of allium plants is the Allium giganteum, the giant onion, which grows up to six feet tall. It is a popular ingredient in Southeast Asian cooking. Allium plants repel pests like slugs, cabbage worms, carrot flies, Japanese beetles, aphids, ticks, and cabbage loopers.
Next on our list of plants that repel pests is catnip. Catnip is a member of the mint family that repels bugs but attracts cats. It contains a compound called Nepeta cataria, which deters mosquitoes and insects by triggering a chemical receptor that causes the sensation of pain or itching8.
Citronella grass is a perennial grass native to the tropical areas of Asia. Farmers grow it commercially in Sri Lanka, Java, India, Indonesia, and Burma to produce candles, soaps, and insect repellents.
Another plant that repels bugs is the marigold. Gardeners testify that the marigold effectively repels whiteflies in a tomato garden. However, until 2019, there was no scientific evidence to support this claim.
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