The Banded Wattle-Eye by Ken _Gilliland

Vue • Animals • posted on Jul 30, 2007

Open full image in new tab Zoom on image

Hover over top left image to zoom.
Click anywhere to exit.

Members remain the original copyright holder in all their materials here at Renderosity. Use of any of their material inconsistent with the terms and conditions set forth is prohibited and is considered an infringement of the copyrights of the respective holders unless specially stated otherwise.

Description

Wattle-Eyes are called such because of the large flap of tissue above their eyes. Wattle-eyes are flycatchers, hawking insects in mid-air. Why are flycatchers such as the Banded Wattle-Eye important? A world without flycatchers is a world with a lot more biting insects, which in turn, spread disease. The Banded Wattle is native to Africa and found in the Bamenda Highlands of western Cameroon. It is an endangered species because its montane forest habitat is under great pressure from human use (forest clearance for agriculture, grazing, firewood and timber). It is only likely to survive if the Kilum-Ijim forest, the largest remaining forest area in the region, is preserved. More sustainable farming techniques are being used to take pressure off the remaining forest. There are 2,500 to 10,000 Banded Wattle-eyes left in existence. Rendered in Vue 6i with no Postwork. The Podocarpus (Yellow-wood) trees featured are from Greenworks X-FrogPlants Africa Dvd and are actually the key tree linked to the Banded Wattle-eyes survival. The Banded Wattle-Eye is one of 17 birds on or beyond brink of extinction featured in my upcoming package "Songbird ReMix More Threatened, Endangered, Extinct". The manual/field guide is filled with things ordinary people can do to slow the tides of extinction is now available at Songbird ReMix Central.