Academic degrees (qualifications from a university) can also be shown as postnominal letters, as can military awards (medals and decorations)
Corvidae
The Corvidae are the crow family. They are all passerines. There are over 120 species in the family. The word 'crow' is also used to describe birds in the genus "Corvus". This genus includes the crows, jackdaws and ravens.
Crows are found on every continent except for the southern area of South America and Antarctica. Most crows are found in South America, Central America, Europe and Asia. There are only 10 species each in Africa, Australia and North America.
A group of crows is called a "murder".
Most members of the crow family are black, such as crows, rooks, choughs, ravens and jackdaws. However, not all crows are black. Magpies and treepies can be black and white, or blue and green, or brown. Jays are often blue and white.
Crows are some of the most intelligent birds in the world. Crows and rooks are good at using tools, for example sticks or twigs. Magpies can see themselves in a mirror and they understand that it is a reflection. Many crows live near to humans in towns and cities. Some crows (such as Treepies) live in forests. They are more shy than the crows that live in cities.
Some crows in North America, Europe and northern Asia migrate. This means they travel to different places in summer or winter. Most crows are resident birds. This means they live in the same place all year round.
Many crows live in large groups. For example, many rooks nest together in large groups at the top of trees. This is called a rookery. Crows in big groups are often noisy. However, when it is the breeding season (this means when birds nest and have babies), crows can become angry and will scare off other crows.
Crows eat a variety of food. They will eat fledglings (baby birds) and eggs from nests, small animals (mice and rats), carrion (dead animals), vegetables and garbage. for much of the year, crows and rooks dig into grassland with their strong beaks, and eat various kinds of insect grubs and worms. Because they may attack the nest of other birds, crows may get mobbed by other species. This is when the defending birds group together to chase off the crow. Also, on farms, crows will eat vegetables and seeds. Farmers do not want this to happen so they make a scarecrow. This is an object made of straw and old clothes. It looks like a man and it may scare the crows away.
Crows make their nests in tall trees. They make the nest from large sticks. They usually lay 3–8 eggs. Both parents will look after the fledglings.
The family includes:
Visp
Visp is the capital city of the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
It has a population of around 7,000 people. The two valleys are Mattertal and Saastal. It borders Brig-Glis
The majority of the population are German-speaking.
It has a chemical business named LONZA AG. There are also several smaller businesses.
In 2007, Visp will become a junction of the Neue Eisenbahn-Alpentransversale or NEAT, connecting with many other rail-lines.
The bus and the train station of Visp and Brig is the starting point for many outdoor activities, trips, and tours in the surrounding mountain resorts of Zermatt and Saas-Fee.
Saint-Maurice, Switzerland
Saint-Maurice is the capital of the district of Saint-Maurice in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
On 1 January 2013 the former municipality of Mex (VS) merged into the municipality of Saint-Maurice.
It is the site of the Roman outpost of Agaunum and the old Abby of Saint-Maurice, which has become a famous high school in Switzerland ("Collège de Saint-Maurice").
It is not St. Moritz, a ski resort in the east part of Switzerland.
Conthey
Conthey is the capital of the district of Conthey in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
Entremont (district)
Entremont is a district in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
It has the following cities:
Santeri Palin
Santeri Palin (also known as Incánus) (born September 15, 1983, Nokia, Finland.) is a Finnish poet who writes poems in Finnish and English. His first book "Elämän kolmio kuoleman syklissä – ajatuksia reunalta" ("The Triangle of Life in the Cycle of Death – Thoughts from the Edge") came out in 2006.
Palin is a fan of J. R. R. Tolkien and currently he is the president of "Kontu Internet Community" (or "Verkkoyhteisö Kontu ry" in Finnish) and the vice president of the "Finnish Tolkien Society", which are Finnish Tolkien related communities.
Sembrancher
Sembrancher is the capital of the district of Entremont in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
A small scenic village of around 500 residents in the Bagnes Valley, it is close to the Verbier ski resort. There is a way to get from Sembrancher to the Verbier ski resort and back for people interested in skiing.
Münster-Geschinen
Münster-Geschinen is the capital city of the district of Goms in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. On 1 January 2004 the former municipalities of Münster and Geschinen merged into the new municipality of Münster-Geschinen and On 1 January 2017 the former municipalities of Münster-Geschinen, Blitzingen, Grafschaft, Niederwald and Reckingen-Gluringen merged into the new municipality of Goms.
Microbiotheria
Microbiotheria are a small order of marsupial mammals with only one living species, the Monito del Monte (Spanish for 'little mountain monkey').
It is the only New World representative of the superorder Australidelphia; all other New World marsupials are part of the Ameridelphia.
The species is nocturnal and arboreal, and lives in thickets of Chilean bamboo in the temperate rain forests of the southern Andes. It eats mainly insects and other small invertebrates, supplemented with fruit.
At one time, they were placed in the order Didelphimorphia, the opossums, but due to many morphological differences, they were placed in another order. The skull's shape is strange, with many technical differences from the opossums.
It has long been suspected that South American marsupials were ancestral to those of Australia. The two continents were connected via Antarctica in the early Cainozoic era.
Australia’s earliest known marsupial is "Djarthia", a primitive mouse-like animal that lived about 55 million years ago. "Djarthia" had been identified as the earliest known australidelphian, and this research suggested that the Monito del Monte was the last of a clade which included "Djarthia".
In 2010, analysis of retrotransposon insertion sites in the nuclear DNA of marsupials confirmed the placement of the Monito del Monte in Australidelphia. It also showed its position as the most basal of that superorder.
The study also confirmed that the most basal of all marsupial orders are the other two South American lineages (Didelphimorphia and Paucituberculata, with the former probably branching first). This indicates that Australidelphia arose in South America (with the ancestors of all other living marsupials), and probably reached Australia in a single dispersal event after Microbiotheria split off (originated).
Dasyuromorphia
Dasyuromorphia are fair-sized order of some of the more unusual carnivorous or insectivorous marsupials. They vary in appearance, from rodent-like to shrew-like to cat-like to dog-like. This order includes the ever-famous Tasmanian devil. In this order, most of the marsupials have a pouch on the belly. However, some of the broad-footed marsupial mice have only folds of skin instead of true pouches, and the numbat lacks a pouch entirely. There are 63 species in 3 families, although one of the families is probably extinct:
Goat Rock Beach
Goat Rock Beach is a beach in Sonoma County, California, United States.