Aerodramus

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Aerodramus
White rump salangans (Aerodramus spodiopygius)

White rump salangans ( Aerodramus spodiopygius )

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Sailor birds (Apodiformes)
Family : Sailors (Apodidae)
Tribe : Salangans (Collocaliini)
Genre : Aerodramus
Scientific name
Aerodramus
Oberholser , 1906

Aerodramus is a genus of birdsin the family of sailors (Apodidae), whose species are found in tropical and subtropical areas of southern Asia , Oceania and northeast Australia .

Originally all salangans were assigned to a single genus. A division into two or more genera has been discussed several times, the division into three genera made by RK Brooke in 1970 met with broad approval for the first time and has been confirmed by several molecular genetic studies since 2003 . By far the largest genus is Aerodramus , which includes the species that have the ability to echo .

features

The representatives of the genus Aerodramus are quite small sailors with a body length between 10 and 14 centimeters. The plumage is predominantly gray, but unlike the related Collocalia species, it is not shiny.

Echo location

The Aerodramus species have the ability to echo , but for some species it is only suspected and has not yet been definitively proven. This ability is very unusual in birds and, besides salangans, is only found in the South American fat swallow ( Steeatornis caripensis ). In contrast to bats , the salangans apparently do not need this ability to localize prey in the air, but echolocation gives them the opportunity to nest in dark caves. In addition, this enables them to hunt insects for longer in the evening without having a problem looking for the nesting site in great darkness.

The majority of the species use a double click sound for echolocation, while the Atius alangane ( Aerodramus sawtelli ) and at least one subspecies of the black nest salangan ( Aerodramus maximus ) only make a click. It has been suggested that this difference has anatomical origins and that this might indicate that the genus is not monophyletic . The monophyly of the genus was confirmed by molecular genetic studies.

Edible bird nests

Most types of yachtsmen use saliva to build their nests, this behavior is most pronounced in the white nest salangan ( Aerodramus fuciphagus ), which builds its nest exclusively from saliva. The almost white nests that look like water glass are the most popular " edible swallow nests ". But also the so-called black nests built by the black-nested salangan ( Aerodramus maximus ), which in addition to saliva mainly consist of moss, grass and feathers, are considered a delicacy. The popularity of these bird nests calls for measures to protect these species.

Systematics

Originally all salangans were assigned to a single genus. Subsequently, divisions to several genera were discussed, and the species were rearranged several times based on external characteristics and differences in breeding biology, until a division of the salangans into three genera made by RK Brooke in 1970, with the ability to echolocation, was relatively broadly recognized was the decisive criterion.

A contradiction arose when it was demonstrated that the sister genus to Collocalia scoring Zwergsalangane ( C. troglodytes ) has the ability to echolocation. This property has therefore lost its outstanding importance for differentiating between the genera. In 2005, a group of researchers led by Henri Thomassen suspected that echolocation in the dwarf alangana was caused by convergent evolution . Although the monophyly of Aerodramus and Collocalia was also confirmed in these investigations, the authors considered reuniting all salangans in one genus, as there is no longer any clear external characteristic to differentiate them.

The following species are assigned to the genus:

The extinct Mangaia salangan ( Collocalia manuoi ) described in 2002 probably also belongs to this genus.

literature

  • Phil Chantler, Gerald Driessens: A Guide to the Swifts and Tree Swifts of the World . Pica Press, Mountfield 2000, ISBN 1-873403-83-6 .
  • del Hoyo, Elliot, Sargatal (Eds.): Handbook of the Birds of the World . Volume 5: Barn-Owls to Hummingbirds . Lynx Edicions, 1999, ISBN 84-87334-25-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Thomassen et al. (2003): A new phylogeny of swiftles (Aves: Apodidae) based on cytochrome-b DNA . In: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . Volume 29, pages 86-93, doi : 10.1016 / S1055-7903 (03) 00066-6 .
  2. ↑ a b Thomassen et al. (2005): Phylogenetic relationships amongst swifts and swiftlets: A multi locus approach . In: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . Volume 37, 2005, pages 264–277, doi : 10.1016 / j.ympev.2005.05.010 .
  3. ↑ del Hoyo et al. (1999): Handbook of the birds of the world . Page 391, see literature .
  4. ↑ del Hoyo et al. (1999): Handbook of the birds of the world . Page 405f, see literature .
  5. ^ Joseph J. Hobbs (2004): Problems in the harvest of edible birds' nests in Sarawak and Sabah, Malaysian Borneo . Biodiversity and Conservation 13 (12): 2209-2226 ( doi: 10.1023 / B: BIOC.0000047905.79709.7f ).

Web links

Commons : Aerodramus  - collection of images, videos and audio files