60-431: Firehawk may refer to: Birds of prey, such as the black kite , that spread wildfires Arts and entertainment [ edit ] Firehawk (comics) , a DC Comics character Firehawk (roller coaster) , at Kings Island, Mason, Ohio, United States Video games [ edit ] FireHawk (video game) , a 1991 Codemasters game Thexder 2 (or Fire Hawk ),
120-566: A count . He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1782. Buffon died in Paris in 1788. He was buried in a chapel adjacent to the church of Sainte-Urse Montbard; during the French Revolution , his tomb was broken into and the lead that covered the coffin was ransacked to produce bullets. His son, George-Louie-Marie Buffon (often called Buffonet)
180-490: A 1989 DOS run-and-gun game Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X (formerly Tom Clancy's Firehawk ), a 2009 arcade flight game Vehicles [ edit ] Sikorsky S-70A Firehawk , a firefighting helicopter variant The Firehawk, a Pontiac Firebird sportscar performance option Firestone Firehawk, a Firestone Tire and Rubber Company brand See also [ edit ] Fire (disambiguation) Firebird (disambiguation) Hawk (disambiguation) Topics referred to by
240-462: A European of his era, Buffon did not believe that Europe was the cradle of human civilization. Instead he stated that Japanese and Chinese culture were “of a very ancient date,” and that Europe “only much later received the light from the East…it is thus in the northern countries of Asia that the stem of human knowledge grew." Buffon thought that skin color could change in a single lifetime, depending on
300-416: A concept later known as Buffon's Law. This is considered to be the first principle of biogeography . He made the suggestion that species may have both "improved" and "degenerated" after dispersing from a center of creation. In volume 14 he argued that all the world's quadrupeds had developed from an original set of just thirty-eight quadrupeds. On this basis, he is sometimes considered a " transformist " and
360-624: A considerable fortune to his seven-year-old godson. Benjamin Leclerc then purchased an estate containing the nearby village of Buffon and moved the family to Dijon acquiring various offices there as well as a seat in the Dijon Parlement . Georges attended the Jesuit College of Godrans in Dijon from the age of ten onwards. From 1723 to 1726 he then studied law in Dijon, the prerequisite for continuing
420-412: A fixed division. This brought to his conceptualization on distinguishing race in a broad and narrow sense; in a broad sense, race means larger groups of people who inhabit a huge region known as a continent; while in a narrow sense, it denotes equivalently with "nation". With this, he implies his ambivalence in defining race by looking at specific traits to differenciate them but at the same time he rejects
480-597: A foraging trip will frequently copulate on return, as this increases the chances of his sperm fertilizing the eggs rather than a different male. Both the male and female take part in nest building, incubation and care of chicks. The typical clutch size is 2 or sometimes 3 eggs. The incubation period varies from 30 to 34 days. Chicks of the Indian population stay at the nest for nearly two months. Chicks hatched later in European populations appear to fledge faster. The care of young by
540-548: A precursor of Darwin . He also asserted that climate change may have facilitated the worldwide spread of species from their centers of origin. Still, interpreting his ideas on the subject is not simple, for he returned to topics many times in the course of his work. Buffon originally held that “the animals common both to the old and new world are smaller in the latter,” ascribing this to environmental conditions. Upon meeting Buffon, Thomas Jefferson attempted “to convince him of his error,” noting that “the reindeer could walk under
600-559: A result of feeding on poisoned voles in agricultural fields have been noted. They are also a major nuisance at some airports , where their size makes them a significant birdstrike hazard. As a large raptorial bird, the black kite has few natural predators. However, they do have a single serious predator: the Eurasian eagle-owl ( Bubo bubo ). The eagle-owl freely picks off kites of any age and eagle-owls were noted to precipitously decrease kite breeding success when nesting within kilometres of
660-582: A source of inspiration for the painters of the Sèvres factory, giving rise to porcelain services called Buffon. The name of the different species, faithfully reproduced, is inscribed on the back of each piece. Several "Buffon services" were produced during the reign of Louis XVI; the first was intended for the Count of Artois , in 1782. Buffon's Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière (1749–1788: in 36 volumes; an additional volume based on his notes appeared in 1789)
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#1732851738706720-520: A theory of reproduction that ran counter to the prevailing theory of pre-existence . The early volumes were condemned by the Faculty of Theology at the Sorbonne. Buffon published a retraction, but he continued publishing the offending volumes without any change. In the course of his examination of the animal world, Buffon noted that different regions have distinct plants and animals despite similar environments,
780-951: Is buoyant and the bird glides effortlessly, changing directions easily. They will swoop down with their legs lowered to snatch small live prey, fish , household refuse and carrion , for which behaviour they are known in British military slang as the shite-hawk . They are opportunist hunters and have been known to take birds , bats , and rodents . They are attracted to smoke and fires, where they seek escaping prey. Kites are also known to spread wildfires in northern Australia by picking up and dropping burning twigs so as to flush prey, leading to them being known in some circles as "firehawks". The Indian populations are well adapted to living in cities and are found in densely populated areas. Large numbers may be seen soaring in thermals over cities. In some places, they will readily swoop and snatch food held by humans. In Delhi, where black kites breed within
840-411: Is brown but the head and neck tend to be paler. The patch behind the eye appears darker. The outer flight feathers are black and the feathers have dark cross bars and are mottled at the base. The lower parts of the body are pale brown, becoming lighter towards the chin. The body feathers have dark shafts giving it a streaked appearance. The cere and gape are yellow, but the bill is black (unlike that of
900-529: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Black kite 5, see text The black kite ( Milvus migrans ) is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae , which also includes many other diurnal raptors. It is thought to be the world's most abundant species of Accipitridae, although some populations have experienced dramatic declines or fluctuations. Current global population estimates run up to 6.7 million individuals. Unlike others of
960-399: Is not well supported. Five subspecies are recognised. Black kites can be distinguished from red kites by the slightly smaller size, less forked tail (visible in flight), and generally dark plumage without any rufous. The sexes are alike though the male is a little smaller and less aggressive (this is the case in most birds of prey). They weigh on average 735 grams. The upper plumage
1020-532: Is replaced by brownish-gray second down (preplumulae). After 9–12 days, the second down appears on the whole body except the top of the head. Body feathers begin to appear after 18 to 22 days. The feathers on the head become noticeable from the 24th to 29th day. The nestlings initially feed on food fallen at the bottom of the nest and begin to tear flesh after 33–39 days. They are able to stand on their legs after 17–19 days and begin flapping their wings after 27–31 days. After 50 days, they begin to move to branches next to
1080-408: Is the man himself" (" Le style c'est l'homme même "). Unfortunately for him, Buffon's reputation as a literary stylist also gave ammunition to his detractors: the mathematician Jean le Rond d'Alembert , for example, called him "the great phrase-monger". In 1752 Buffon married Marie-Françoise de Saint-Belin-Malain, the daughter of an impoverished noble family from Burgundy, who had been enrolled in
1140-780: The Pacific , out to the Hawaiian Islands . In India, the population of M. m. govinda is particularly large especially in areas of high human population. Here the birds avoid heavily forested regions. A survey in 1967 in the 150 square kilometres of the city of New Delhi produced an estimate of about 2200 pairs or roughly 15 per square kilometre. Another survey in 2013 estimated 150 pairs for every 10 square kilometres. Vagrants from Australia occasionally reach New Zealand, however, only one individual has persisted there (currently ~21 years old). Black kites are most often seen gliding and soaring on thermals as they search for food. Their flight
1200-532: The Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Falco migrans in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées . The type locality is France. The current genus Milvus
1260-497: The Sorbonne , and once again he issued a retraction to avoid further problems. Buffon knew of the existence of extinct species as mammoths or European rhinos . And some of his assumptions have inspired current models, such as continental drift . Histoire naturelle, générale et particuliére , 1749–1767. Paris: Imprimerie Royale . Volumes 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 10 , 11 , 13 , 14 , 15 . Buffon believed in monogenism ,
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#17328517387061320-471: The yellow-billed kite ). The legs are yellow and the claws are black. They have a distinctive shrill whistle followed by a rapid whinnying call. Males and females have the same plumage but females are longer than males and have a little larger wingspan. Their wingspan is around 150 cm. The species is found in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. The temperate populations of this kite tend to be migratory while
1380-602: The Italian Alps tend to build their nest close to water in steep cliffs or tall trees. Nest orientation may be related to wind and rainfall. The nests may sometimes be decorated with bright materials such as white plastic and a study in Spain suggests that they may have a role in signalling to keep away other kites. After pairing, the male frequently copulates with the female. Unguarded females may be approached by other males, and extra pair copulations are frequent. Males returning from
1440-499: The belly of our moose.” Buffon, who was “absolutely unacquainted” with the moose, asked for a specimen. Jefferson dispatched twenty soldiers to the New Hampshire woods to find a bull moose for Buffon as proof of the "stature and majesty of American quadrupeds". According to Jefferson, the specimen “convinced Mr. Buffon. He promised in his next volume to set these things right." In Les époques de la nature (1778) Buffon discussed
1500-566: The biblical narrative of Creation. Georges Louis Leclerc (later Comte de Buffon) was born at Montbard , in the province of Burgundy to Benjamin François Leclerc, a minor local official in charge of the salt tax and Anne-Christine Marlin, also from a family of civil servants. Georges was named after his mother's uncle (his godfather ) Georges Blaisot, the tax-farmer of the Duke of Savoy for all of Sicily . In 1714 Blaisot died childless, leaving
1560-701: The black kite occurs only as a wanderer on migration. These birds are usually of the nominate race, but in November 2006 a juvenile of the eastern lineatus , not previously recorded in western Europe, was found in Lincolnshire . The species is not found in the Indonesian archipelago between the South East Asian mainland and the Wallace Line . Vagrants, most likely of the black-eared kite, on occasion range far into
1620-435: The body, his view and mine would have been very closely similar." “Buffon asked most all of the questions that science has since been striving to answer,” the historian Otis Fellows wrote in 1970. His glory lies in what he prepared for his successors: bold and seminal views on the common characters of life’s origin, laws of geographical distribution, a geological record of the earth’s evolution, extinction of old species,
1680-573: The cities, religious offerings of meat to the kites are common among those who practice Islam. The meat is thrown into the air and the kites dive-bomb for the meat. Humans who are in the vicinity may suffer serious injury due to the sharp talons of the kites. The reinforcement between human proximity and being fed have decreased the kite's fear of humans. Black kites in Spain prey on nestling waterfowl especially during summer to feed their young. Predation of nests of other pairs of black kites has also been noted. Kites have also been seen to tear and carry away
1740-526: The concept that all humanity has a single origin, and that physical differences arose from adaptation to environmental factors, including climate and diet. He speculated on the possibility that the first humans were dark-skinned Africans, but did not pinpoint the area of human origin beyond delineating it as “the most temperate climate [that] lies between the 40th and 50th degree of latitude.” This geophysical band encompasses portions of Europe, North America, North Africa, Mongolia, and China. Controversially for
1800-474: The conditions of climate and diet. Clarence Glacken suggests that "The environmental changes through human agency described by Buffon were those which were familiar and traditional in the history of Western civilization". However, Buffon also challenged Carl Linnaeus' conceptualization of the fixed division of race. In this sense, Buffon expands his perspective on monogenism that associating these dissimilar traits and features into one larger category rather than in
1860-402: The construction of ships in 1733. Soon afterward, Buffon began a long-term study, performing some of the most comprehensive tests to date on the mechanical properties of wood . Included were a series of tests to compare the properties of small specimens with those of large members. After carefully testing more than a thousand small specimens without knots or other defects, Buffon concluded that it
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1920-570: The convent school run by his sister. Madame de Buffon's second child, a son born in 1764, survived childhood; she herself died in 1769. When in 1772 Buffon became seriously ill and the promise that his son (then only 8) should succeed him as director of the Jardin became clearly impracticable and was withdrawn, the King raised Buffon's estates in Burgundy to the status of a county – and thus Buffon (and his son) became
1980-482: The death of his mother and before the impending remarriage of his father, Georges left Kingston and returned to Dijon to secure his inheritance. Having added 'de Buffon' to his name while traveling with the Duke, he repurchased the village of Buffon, which his father had meanwhile sold off. With a fortune of about 80,000 livres (at the time, worth nearly 27 kilograms of gold), Buffon set himself up in Paris to pursue science, at first primarily mathematics and mechanics, and
2040-628: The family tradition in civil service. In 1728 Georges left Dijon to study mathematics and medicine at the University of Angers in France. At Angers in 1730 he made the acquaintance of the young English Duke of Kingston , who was on his grand tour of Europe, and traveled with him on a large and expensive entourage for a year and a half through southern France and parts of Italy. There are persistent but completely undocumented rumors from this period about duels, abductions and secret trips to England. In 1732 after
2100-422: The fourth edition onwards, he amended this to say that "the first author who in modern times has treated it [evolution] in a scientific spirit was Buffon. But as his opinions fluctuated greatly at different periods, and as he does not enter on the causes or means of the transformation of species, I need not here enter on details". Buffon's work on degeneration, however, was immensely influential on later scholars but
2160-563: The game of fair-square ), introduced differential and integral calculus into probability theory ; the problem of Buffon's needle in probability theory is named after him. In 1734 he was admitted to the French Academy of Sciences . During this period he corresponded with the Swiss mathematician Gabriel Cramer . His protector Maurepas had asked the Academy of Sciences to do research on wood for
2220-430: The group, black kites are opportunistic hunters and are more likely to scavenge. They spend much time soaring and gliding in thermals in search of food. Their angled wing and distinctive forked tail make them easy to identify. They are also vociferous with a shrill whinnying call. The black kite is widely distributed through the temperate and tropical parts of Eurasia and parts of Australasia and Oceania , with
2280-502: The highest numbers seen from July to October, after the monsoons, and it has been suggested that they make local movements in response to high rainfall. The breeding season of the black kite in India begins in winter (mainly January and February ), the young birds fledging before the monsoons . The nest is a rough platform of twigs and sticks placed in a tree. Nest sites may be reused in subsequent years. European birds breed in summer. Birds in
2340-460: The idea of categorizing race in a specific fixed division. Therefore, because Buffon seems to favor in working on gerealization and marking the similarities rather than the difference in the race categorization. Charles Darwin wrote in his preliminary historical sketch added to the third edition of On the Origin of Species : "Passing over ... Buffon, with whose writings I am not familiar". Then, from
2400-455: The idea of evolution into the realm of science. He developed a concept of the "unity of type", a precursor of comparative anatomy . More than anyone else, he was responsible for the acceptance of a long-time scale for the history of the earth. He was one of the first to imply that you get inheritance from your parents, in a description based on similarities between elephants and mammoths. And yet, he hindered evolution by his frequent endorsement of
2460-434: The immutability of species. He provided a criterion of species, fertility among members of a species, that was thought impregnable. Buffon wrote about the concept of struggle for existence . He developed a system of heredity which was similar to Darwin's hypothesis of pangenesis . Commenting on Buffon's views, Darwin stated, "If Buffon had assumed that his organic molecules had been formed by each separate unit throughout
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2520-596: The increase of his fortune. In 1732 he moved to Paris , where he made the acquaintance of Voltaire and other intellectuals. He lived in the Faubourg Saint-Germain , with Gilles-François Boulduc , first apothecary of the King, professor of chemistry at the Royal Garden of Plants , member of the Academy of Sciences . He first made his mark in the field of mathematics and, in his Sur le jeu de franc-carreau ( On
2580-559: The kites in the Italian Alps . Like most bird species, they have parasites; several species of endoparasitic trematodes are known and some Digenea species that are transmitted via fishes. Birds with abnormal development of a secondary upper mandible have been recorded in govinda and lineatus subspecies. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon ( French: [ʒɔʁʒ lwi ləklɛʁ kɔ̃t də byfɔ̃] ; 7 September 1707 – 16 April 1788)
2640-665: The nest. Birds are able to breed after their second year. Parent birds guard their nest and will dive aggressively at intruders. Humans who intrude the nest appear to be recognized by birds and singled out for dive attacks. Black-eared kites in Japan were found to accumulate nearly 70% of mercury accumulated from polluted food in the feathers, thus excreting it in the moult process. Black kites often perch on electric wires and are frequent victims of electrocution. Their habit of swooping to pick up dead rodents or other roadkill leads to collisions with vehicles. Instances of mass poisoning as
2700-401: The nests of baya weavers in an attempt to obtain eggs or chicks. In winter, kites form large communal roosts. Flocks may fly about before settling at the roost. When migrating, the black kite has a greater propensity to form large flocks than other migratory raptors, particularly prior to making a crossing over water. In India, the subspecies govinda shows large seasonal fluctuations with
2760-704: The origins of the Solar System , speculating that the planets had been created by a comet 's collision with the Sun. He also suggested that the Earth originated much earlier than 4004 BC, the date determined by Archbishop James Ussher . Basing his figures on the cooling rate of iron tested at his Laboratory the Petit Fontenet at Montbard , he calculated that the Earth was at least 75,000 years old. Once again, his ideas were condemned by
2820-403: The parents also rapidly decreased with the need for adults to migrate. Siblings show aggression to each other and often the weaker chick may be killed, but parent birds were found to preferentially feed the smaller chicks in experimentally altered nests. Newly hatched young have down (prepennae) which are sepia on the back and black around the eye and buff on the head, neck and underparts. This
2880-724: The purchase of adjoining plots of land and acquiring new botanical and zoological specimens from all over the world. Thanks to his talent as a writer, he was invited to join Paris's second great academy, the Académie Française in 1753 and then in 1768 he was elected to the American Philosophical Society . In his Discours sur le style ("Discourse on Style"), pronounced before the Académie française, he said, "Writing well consists of thinking, feeling and expressing well, of clarity of mind, soul and taste ... The style
2940-413: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Firehawk . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Firehawk&oldid=1228788820 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
3000-561: The temperate region populations tending to be migratory. Several subspecies are recognized and formerly had their own English names. The European populations are small, but the South Asian population is very large. The black kite was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux in 1770. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in
3060-576: The tropical ones are resident. European and central Asian birds ( subspecies M. m. migrans and black-eared kite M. m. lineatus , respectively) are migratory , moving to the tropics in winter, but races in warmer regions such as the Indian M. m. govinda ( small Indian/pariah kite ), or the Australasian M. m. affinis ( fork-tailed kite ), are resident. In some areas such as in the United Kingdom ,
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#17328517387063120-428: The two decades following his death. Ernst Mayr wrote that "Truly, Buffon was the father of all thought in natural history in the second half of the 18th century". Credited with being one of the first naturalists to recognize ecological succession , he was later forced by the theology committee at the University of Paris to recant his theories about geological history and animal evolution because they contradicted
3180-610: The yellow-billed African races parasitus and aegyptius differ significantly from black kites in the Eurasian clade , and should be considered a separate allopatric species: yellow-billed kite , M. aegyptius . They occur throughout Africa except for the Congo Basin and the Sahara Desert . There have been some suggestions that the black-eared kite ( M. m. lineatus ) should be elevated to full species status as M. lineatus , but this
3240-554: Was a French naturalist , mathematician , and cosmologist . He held the position of intendant (director) at the Jardin du Roi , now called the Jardin des plantes . Buffon's works influenced the next two generations of naturalists, including two prominent French scientists Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Georges Cuvier . Buffon published thirty-six quarto volumes of his Histoire Naturelle during his lifetime, with additional volumes based on his notes and further research being published in
3300-512: Was erected by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1799. Milvus is the Latin word for a red kite ; the specific migrans means "migrating" from the Latin migrare "to migrate". The red kite has been known to hybridize with the black kite (in captivity where both species were kept together, and in the wild on the Cape Verde Islands ). Recent DNA studies suggest that
3360-497: Was guillotined on July 10, 1794. Buffon's heart was initially saved, as it was guarded by Suzanne Necker (wife of Jacques Necker ), but was later lost. Today, only Buffon's cerebellum remains, as it is kept in the base of the statue by Pajou that Louis XVI had commissioned in his honor in 1776, located at the Museum of Natural History in Paris . His Histoire naturelle was also
3420-460: Was not possible to extrapolate to the properties of full-size timbers, and he began a series of tests on full-size structural members. In 1739 he was appointed head of the Parisian Jardin du Roi with the help of Maurepas; he held this position to the end of his life. Buffon was instrumental in transforming the Jardin du Roi into a major research center and museum. He also enlarged it, arranging
3480-574: Was originally intended to cover all three "kingdoms" of nature but the Histoire naturelle ended up being limited to the animal and mineral kingdoms, and the animals covered were only the birds and quadrupeds. "Written in a brilliant style, this work was read ... by every educated person in Europe". Those who assisted him in the production of this great work included Louis Jean-Marie Daubenton , Philibert Guéneau de Montbeillard, and Gabriel-Léopold Bexon, along with numerous artists. Buffon's Histoire naturelle
3540-524: Was overshadowed by strong moral overtones. The paradox of Buffon is that, according to Ernst Mayr : He was not an evolutionary biologist, yet he was the father of evolutionism. He was the first person to discuss a large number of evolutionary problems, problems that before Buffon had not been raised by anybody ... he brought them to the attention of the scientific world. Except for Aristotle and Darwin, no other student of organisms [whole animals and plants] has had as far-reaching an influence. He brought
3600-473: Was translated into many different languages, making him one of the most widely read authors of the day, a rival to Montesquieu , Rousseau , and Voltaire . In the opening volumes of the Histoire naturelle Buffon questioned the usefulness of mathematics, criticized Carl Linnaeus 's taxonomical approach to natural history, outlined a history of the Earth with little relation to the Biblical account, and proposed
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