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Wild Life of Pakistan

Peregrine Falcon

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As Allamah Iqbal saying;
nahin tera nashenmand kasre sultani key ghumbadh par,,
tu shaheen hai, basera kar pahadu ki chatanu par......

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Falco peregrinus peregrinator, described by Sundevall in 1837, is known as the Indian Peregrine Falcon, Black Shaheen, or Indian Shaheen.[23] It was formerly sometimes known as Falco atriceps or Falco shaheen. Its range includes South Asia from Pakistan across India to Sri Lanka and Southeastern China; in Pakistan it is a military symbol of the Pakistan Air Force.
It is non-migratory. It is small and dark, with rufous underparts barred with lighter color. In Sri Lanka this species is found to favour the higher hills while the migrant calidus is more often seen along the coast.

The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), also known simply as the Peregrine, and historically as the "Duck Hawk" in North America, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey in the family Falconidae. It is a large, crow-sized falcon, with a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache". It has the ability to reach speeds over 322 km/h (200 mph), making it the fastest animal in the world. As with other bird-eating raptors, the female is bigger than the male. Authorities recognize 17–19 subspecies, which vary in appearance and range; there is disagreement over whether the distinctive Barbary Falcon is a subspecies or a distinct species.


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The Peregrine Falcon is sexually mature at the end of the first year of age but in healthy populations they breed after two to three years of age. The pair mates for life and returns to the same nesting spot annually. The courtship flight includes a mix of aerial acrobatics, precise spirals, and steep dives. The male passes prey it has caught to the female in mid-air. To make this possible, the female actually flies upside-down to receive the food from the male's talons. The Peregrine Falcon is territorial during the breeding season; nesting pairs are usually more than 1 km (0.6 miles) apart, and often much farther, even in areas with large numbers of pairs. The distance between nests ensures sufficient food supply for pairs and their chicks. Within a breeding territory, a pair may have several nesting ledges; the number used by a pair can vary from one or two to seven in a 16 year period. The pair defends the chosen nest site against other Peregrines, and often against eagles or ravens.

The Peregrine Falcon nests in a scrape, normally on cliff edges or, today regularly in many parts of its range, on tall buildings or bridges. Cliff nests are generally located under an overhang, on ledges with vegetation, and south-facing sites are favored. In some regions, as in parts of Australia and on the west coast of Northern North-America, large tree hollows are used for nesting. Before the demise of most European peregrines, there was a large population of peregrines in central and western Europe using the disused nests of other large birds. The female chooses a nest site, where she scrapes a shallow hollow in the loose soil, sand, gravel, or dead vegetation in which to lay eggs. No nest materials are added. In remote, undisturbed areas such as the Arctic, steep slopes and even low rocks and mounds may be used as nest sites. The man-made structures used for breeding closely resemble the natural cliff ledges that the Peregrine prefers for its nesting locations.


Mostly three to four eggs (range 1-5) are laid in the scrape. The eggs are white to buff with red or brown markings. They are incubated for 29 to 33 days, mainly by the female. The male also helps with the incubation of the eggs over day, but at night only the female incubates.

The Peregrine's breeding range includes land regions from the Arctic tundra to the Tropics. It can be found nearly everywhere on Earth, excepting extreme polar regions, very high mountains, and most tropical rainforests; the only major ice-free landmass from which it is entirely absent is New Zealand. This makes it the world's most widespread bird of prey. Both the English and scientific names of this species mean "wandering falcon", referring to the migratory habits of many northern populations.

While its diet consists almost exclusively of medium-sized birds, the Peregrine will occasionally hunt small mammals, small reptiles or even insects.
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It reaches sexual maturity at one year, and mates for life. It nests in a scrape, normally on cliff edges or, in recent times on tall man-made structures.[8] The Peregrine Falcon became an endangered species due to the use of pesticides, especially DDT. Since the ban on DDT from the beginning of the 1970s onwards, the populations recovered, supported by large scale protection of nesting places and releases to the wild
 
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very good pics i never know that this kind of animals are lying in pakistan
 
very good pics i never know that this kind of animals are lying in pakistan

Oh yes 'Super Falcon' bro.........we Pakistani must thanks to almighty Allah awarded us a richest area of the region, where you may find good, sincere, and loving humans besides a lot species of beautifull creatures. Just noticable interest to be needed, to make it worthwhile.
Long Live Pakistan-Good Luck :tup:

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Chukar

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The Chukar, Alectoris chukar is a Eurasian upland gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. Other common names of this bird include 'Chukker' (sometimes misspelled as 'Chuker'), 'Chukar Partridge', 'Red-legged Partridge', 'Rock Partridge', 'Indian Hill Partridge', 'Chukka', 'Chukkar', 'Chukor', 'Chukore', 'Chikone', 'Kabk', 'Kau-Kau', and 'Keklik'.

Distribution
This partridge has its native range in Asia from Pakistan and Kashmir, into the Republic of India (Himachal Pradesh and Punjab states). And Afghanistan in the east to southeastern Europe in the west, and is closely related and similar to its western equivalent, the Red-legged Partridge, Alectoris rufa. It has been introduced widely for game hunters, and became established in the of the United States Rocky Mountains, Canada, New Zealand and Hawaii. In Great Britain, hybrids between this species and the also introduced Red-legged Partridge are common.


Chukar prefer rocky, steep, and open hillsides. In the United States, Oregon, Nevada and Idaho lead all other states in terms of wild chukar populations and harvest. However, they can be found in almost all the wetern states in isolated populations.

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Biology and behavior
The Chukar is a resident breeder in dry, open, and often hilly country. In the wild, Chukar travel in groups of 5-40 birds called coveys. It nests in a scantily lined ground scrape laying 8 to 20 eggs. Chukars will take a wide variety of seeds and some insects as food; however, Downy Brome (Cheatgrass) is this species' strong food preference. When in captivity, they will lay 1 egg per day throughout the breeding season if the eggs are collected daily.

Many knowlegable hunters consider chukar the most challenging of all the gamebirds. Its quick flight, steep habitat, and tendancy to run make it a challenge suitable for only the most dedicated and physically fit bird hunters. These birds are best hunted with a pointing dog such as a brittany or German shorthair.

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Appearance
The Chukar is a rotund 32-35 cm long bird, with a light brown back, grey breast, and buff belly. The face is white with a black gorget. It has rufous-streaked flanks and red legs. When disturbed, it prefers to run rather than fly, but if necessary it flies a short distance on rounded wings.

It is very similar to Rock Partridge, Alectoris graeca, but is browner on the back and has a yellowish tinge to the foreneck. The sharply defined gorget distinguishes this species from Red-legged Partridge. The song is a noisy chuck-chuck-chukar-chukar.

The Chukar is the National bird of Pakistan and the name is derived from Chakhoor in Urdu. In Indian mythology, the bird is said to be in love with the moon and to look at it constantly.
 
A/Salaam Imran Bro,....Hope are at home today, Miss you a lot since yesterday....:angel:

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Eid Mubarak !!! Wish you many happy returns of the day and onward for your long happy, healthy successfull life.:tup:
 
Leopard

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The leopard (IPA /lɛpə(r)d/; Panthera pardus) is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera; the other three are the tiger, lion and jaguar. Once distributed across southern Asia and Africa, from Korea to South Africa, the leopard's range of distribution has decreased radically over time due to hunting and loss of habitat, and the leopard now chiefly occurs in sub-Saharan Africa. There are fragmented populations in India, Indochina, Malaysia, and China. Due to the loss of range and continual declines in population, the cat has been downgraded to "Near Threatened" species; its numbers are greater than that of the other Panthera species, all of which face more acute conservation concerns.

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The leopard has relatively short legs and a long body, with a large skull. Physically, it most closely resembles the jaguar, although it is usually smaller and of slighter build. Its fur is marked with rosettes which lack internal spots, unlike those of the jaguar. Leopards that are melanistic, either completely black or very dark in coloration, are one of the big cats known colloquially as black panthers.

The species' success in the wild owes in part to its opportunistic hunting behaviour, its adaptability to a variety of habitats and its ability to move at up to approximately 60 kilometres (37 miles) an hour. The leopard consumes virtually any animal it can hunt down and catch. Its preferred habitat ranges from rainforest to desert terrains. Its ecological role and status resembles that of the similarly-sized cougar in the Americas.

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The (Persian) leopard is said to be the largest of all the subspecies of leopards in the world. It can grow to up to 1.5 to 2.7 feet tall at the shoulder, and weigh as much as 155 lbs. Before 1990, when Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, and Turkmenistan were the Soviet republics, the scientific names of the leopard used in these countries were P.p. tulliana and P.p. ciscaucasica, whereas the name P.p. saxicolor had been traditionally used by the western specialists for the cats in Iran and, partially in Baluchistan -Pakistan, and Afghanistan. There are currently a few hundred left in the world.

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The leopard is an agile and stealthy predator. Although smaller than the other members of the Panthera genus, the leopard is still able to take large prey given a massive skull that well utilizes powerful jaw muscles. Its body is comparatively long for a cat and its legs are short.[16] Head and body length is between 90 and 190 cm (35 and 75 in), the tail reaches 60 to 110 cm (24 to 43 in). Shoulder height is 45 to 80 cm (18-31 in). Males are considerably larger than females and weigh 37 to 91 kg (82 to 200 lbs) compared to 28 to 60 kg (62 to 132 lbs) for females. The larger-bodied populations of leopard (such as the Javan leopard and the leopards from the forested mountains and tropical rainforests of Africa) are generally found in areas isolated from competing large predators, especially from dominant big cats like lions and tigers.

One of many spotted cats, a leopard may be mistaken for a cheetah or a jaguar. The leopard has rosettes rather than cheetah's simple spots, but they lack internal spots, unlike the jaguar. The leopard is larger and less lanky than the cheetah but smaller than the jaguar. The leopard's black, irregular rosettes serve as camouflage. They are circular in East Africa but tend to be square-shaped in southern Africa.

Leopards have been reported to reach 21 years of age in captivity.
 
Fishing Cat

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The Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) is a medium-sized cat whose habitat range extends through Indochina, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Sumatra and Java. Its fur has an olive-grey color and dark spots roughly arranged in longitudinal stripes. The face has a distinctly flat-nosed appearance. The size is variable; while in India it is 80 cm, or 32 in, (and 30 cm, 12 in, tail), in Indonesia, it is only 65 cm, or 26 in, (25 cm, 10 in, tail). Indian individuals usually range up to 11.7 kg (26 lbs), while in Indonesia common weights are approximately 6 kg (13 lbs). They are stocky of build with medium short legs, and a short muscular tail of one half to one third of their head and body length.
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Like its closest relative, the Leopard Cat, the Fishing Cat lives along rivers, brooks and mangrove swamps. It is perhaps better adapted to this habitat, since it swims often and skillfully.

As the name implies, fish is the main prey of this cat, of which it hunts about 10 different species. It also hunts other aquatic animals such as frogs or crayfish, and terrestrial animals such as rodents and birds. The inter-digital webs on its paws help the cat gain better traction in muddy environments and water, like other mammals in semi-aquatic environments.





Captive Fishing Cats can be seen at 22 different North American institutions. By December 2005, there were 72 Fishing Cats in these institutions.
 
can somebody post pics of shaheen..the bird not the missile
 
can somebody post pics of shaheen..the bird not the missile

its Wonder......didn't you check complete current page of this thread..........as top of the page you may get what you have asked for ....its pictures oh Falcon..."Shaheen":enjoy:

Meanwhile here is another picture of Shaheen:



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Measurements:

Delacour (1977) reported that adult (third-year or older) males have wing lengths of 440-500 mm and tail-covert lengths of 1400-1600 mm (rectrices of 400-450 mm), while females have wing lengths of 400-420 mm and tail lengths of 325-375 mm. Males range in weight from c. 4000-6000 g, and females from c. 2750-4000 g (Ali and Ripley, 1978). The eggs average 69.7 x 52.1 mm and have an estimated fresh weight of 103.5 g.

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Siberian Crane - Safed Koonj (Urdu)

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Description and Biology
The Siberian Crane, also known as Asiatic Crane is snow white overall, with red skin covering front of head, face and around the eyes. Bill is long, thick and dark pink in color; legs are pinkish red. Wing tips are black which is only visible in flight.The Siberian Crane is a fairly large crane having a body length of about 1/5 meters. Both sexes are alike abut immature have brownish yellow plumage.

The Siberian Crane’s distinctive morphology, vocalizations, and feeding and courtship behavior distinguish it from the other Grus species (Johnsgard 1983, Sauey 1985). Its clear, high-pitched voice is unique among cranes. It is also the most specialized in terms of its habitat requirements, exclusively using wetlands for nesting, feeding, and roosting. Siberian Cranes are most frequently observed wading and probing for food in shallow (up to 30 cm) water. Fledged juveniles emit piercing calls to solicit feeding by their parents, suggesting that Siberian Crane chicks are more dependent on parental care than are post-fledged chicks of other species.

Siberian Cranes nest in scattered breeding territories, preferring wide expanses of fresh water with good visibility. The Central population breeds in the northern taiga in sphagnum bogs and marshes. These marshes tend to be large, open wetlands surrounded by forests and divided by long, low inconspicuous ridges, the cranes nesting in the shallow waters between them (Sorokin and Kotyukov 1987). The nests consist of flat mounds of grass and sedge elevated 12-15 cm above the surrounding water. Eggs are generally laid from late May to mid-June, with peak production occurring in the first week of June. In most cases two eggs are laid, with only one chick surviving to fledging. The incubation period is about 29 days, and chicks fledge at 70-75 days.

In general, Siberian Cranes consume a wider variety of food items, both aquatic and terrestrial, on their breeding grounds than on their wintering grounds. The diet on the breeding grounds consists of plants, including roots, rhizomes, sprouts of sedges, seeds, horsetails, and berries and cranberries, as well as insects, fish, frogs, small mammals (e.g., voles and lemmings), and other small aquatic animals (including, on occasion, waterfowl). Animal foods are especially important at the beginning of the breeding season, when plant foods are unavailable, and during the chick-rearing period (Sauey 1985, A. Sorokin pers. comm., M. Nagendran pers. comm.).

During migration, the cranes roost and feed in large, isolated wetlands. The feeding and roosting areas at Zhalong, China, for example, are 3-5 km away from the nearest villages (J. Harris pers. comm.). Water depths of 30-60 cm are preferred. Occasionally Siberian Cranes will use dry mounds within or on the borders of wetlands, and even upland wet meadows. However, they virtually never use drier upland areas, even those close to roosting or feeding sites. This holds true even in drought years (all above information from Meine, Curt D. and George W. Archibald (Eds). 1996. The cranes: - Status survey and conservation action plan. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, U.K. 294pp, and Iran Nature and Wildlife Magazine)

Habitat and Distribution:
The Siberian Crane is the third rarest species of crane in the world after the Whooping and Red-crowned Cranes. The total population was believed to number only a few hundred until 1981, when Chinese biologists discovered a wintering flock of 830-850 cranes at Poyang Lake along the middle Yangtze River in China. Subsequent field surveys have allowed scientists to revise the total population estimate upward to 2900-3000. These numbers, although encouraging, do not ease the conservation challenges the Siberian Crane faces. Archibald (1992b) notes that “from the tundra to the subtropics, few endangered species involve so many complex problems in so many countries as does the Siberian Crane.” The species is classified as Endangered under the revised IUCN Red List Categories. The Central and Western populations, because of their extremely limited numbers, are Critically Endangered.
The species is divided into three populations. All but a few belong to the Eastern population. These birds breed in northeastern Siberia and winter along the middle Yangtze River in China. The Central population winters in the Indian state of Rajasthan, most regularly at Keoladeo National Park. Banding studies indicate that the population’s breeding grounds lie in the lower basin of the Kunovat River in western Siberia. After a two-year absence, four birds, representing the entire known population, were observed on their wintering grounds in February. The Western population, which according to recent counts has only nine birds, winters at a single site along the south coast of the Caspian Sea in Iran

The Central population (Afghanistan, Pakistan and India), as observed on its traditional wintering grounds at India’s Keoladeo National Park in February 1996, included only four individuals; it is possible that other members of the population have continued to winter elsewhere in India. The breeding grounds in western Siberia have been tentatively identified through satellite telemetry studies.
 
Sarus Crane ( Grus antigone ) - Sarus Koonj (Urdu)

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Description and Biology:

There are three subspecies of Sarus Crane.
Indian Sarus Crane G. a. antigone
Eastern Sarus Crane G. a. sharpii
Australian Sarus Crane G. a. gilli

The sarus crane is the world's tallest flying bird; a large male may stand six feet tall. The notable feature of the Sarus is the grey and white body plumage, with a bright red head. These cranes reach sexual maturity after 5-6 years. 2-3 eggs are laid after an incubation period of 4-5 weeks. The life span is 15-20 years in captivity.

Indian Sarus Cranes have adapted to the dense human population in India and interact closely with people in areas where traditions of tolerance prevail. They breed throughout the year (except in May and June, with a peak from July-September), moving locally and utilizing a wide variety of habitat types depending on food availability, cropping patterns, and other seasonal factors. Their optimal habitat includes a combination of marshes, ponds, fallow lands, and cultivated lands (Gole 1989b, 1991b). The diet includes aquatic plants, invertebrates, and grains.

Adult pairs use cultivated fields, fallow land, and other drier habitats, as well as flooded fields, rice paddies, and degraded (saline and water-logged) lands. Families with pre-fledged chicks, however, use wetlands almost exclusively (Gole 1993a). Breeding pairs use larger wetlands where they are available, but are typically scattered across the landscape, nesting in fields, along canals and irrigation ditches, beside village ponds, and in shallow marshes, rice paddies, jheels, and reed beds (Gole 1989b, Suwal 1995). The size of nesting territories ranges from 1 ha in populated areas to 27 ha within protected areas (Gole 1989b). Nests of all the subspecies consist of wetland vegetation and other available materials. Usually two eggs are laid. Incubation takes 31-34 days and chicks fledge at 85-100 days. Increasing human demands on India’s wetlands may be contributing to the decline of the Sarus Crane by reducing the recruitment rate within the population (all above information from Meine, Curt D. and George W. Archibald (Eds). 1996. The cranes: - Status survey and conservation action plan. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, U.K. 294pp).

Habitat and Distribution:
The Sarus Crane occurs in the northern Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, and northeast Australia, and is the only crane species that breeds in Asia south of the Himalayas. Although Sarus Cranes are non-migratory, populations do move on a seasonal basis in response to monsoons and droughts. In general, Indian Sarus Cranes are more sedentary than Eastern and Australian Sarus Cranes, undertaking extended movement only during times of severe drought.

In Pakistan only the Indian Sarus Crane is found in a very limited area in Tharparkar District of Sind Province, near the border with India. The current range of the Indian Sarus Crane includes the plains of northern, northwestern, and western India and the western half of Nepal’s Tarai lowlands. The population has declined sharply over the last several decades. This decline is probably continuing, given the species’ relatively low recruitment rate within India (Gole 1989b, P. Gole pers. comm.). Sarus Cranes are most common and densely distributed in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Haryana; they are less common in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh (Gole 1989b). The population in Nepal is small (200-500) and apparently declining (R. Suwal pers. comm.). In Pakistan, India’s Punjab, and western Bangladesh, the Sarus Crane now occurs rarely (Gole 1989a, 1989b, 1991b; Iqubal 1992; M. Ahmad pers. comm.). Since 1993, a few have been observed along the Indus River in Pakistan not far from the border with India in Sindh/Rajasthan (A. Ahmad pers. comm., M. Ahmad pers. comm.).

Sarus were never found in big numbers in Pakistan. Even in 1888 they were considered a rare bird in these areas as Pakistan is situated at its western historical limits. There are breeding records from some areas, for example a breeding pair was recorded from North Western Frontier Province in 1901. Another pair was seen breeding in Drigh lake in Sindh in 1929. In 1939 again a breeding pair was found from a nearby lake. In Pakistan Sarus crane was last seen in August 1968, when a pair was observed on Chenab River above Marala barrage and this was the last confirmed sighting of this bird in Pakistan.

After 25 years Sarus crane were sighted in the desert area of Thar. During a field survey held in February 1993 seven Sarus cranes at two different localities were sighted. Three birds were observed at Sangha Talla, a water pond and four birds were again spotted at Nalyasar lake. The distance between these two ponds is about 3 km and they are located in south-east of Sind, near Pak-Indian border.
 

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