American bearded birds

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American bearded birds
Polka dot beard bird (Capito niger)

Polka dot beard bird ( Capito niger )

Systematics
Sub-stem : Vertebrates (vertebrata)
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Woodpecker birds (Piciformes)
Subordination : Specht-like (Picoidea)
Family : American bearded birds
Scientific name
Capitonidae
Bonaparte , 1838

The American bearded birds (Capitonidae) are a family of woodpecker birds that occur in South America in the Amazon basin , in the Guiana Mountains , in the West Andean Columbia and Ecuador, as well as in Panama and Costa Rica.

features

American bearded birds are usually very brightly colored and show mainly green, red, yellow, white or black tints. The males are usually more colorful than the females. American bearded birds grow to be six to eight inches long. The trunk is short, the neck short and thick, and the head can be relatively large in relation to the body. The beak is short and thick and often has a saw on the edges. Compared to other bearded birds, American bearded birds have few and short bristles at the base of their beak. The wings are medium-long and rounded, the tail is medium-long and angular at the end. Legs and feet are short and stocky. As with the woodpeckers , the first and fourth toes point backwards, the second and third forwards (zygodactyl toe arrangement). The calls of the American bearded birds are similar to those of small owls.

Way of life and reproduction

American bearded birds live in moist forests, both in the lowlands and in cool mountain forests, and spend most of their time high in the treetops. They prefer to eat fruits, as well as insects and other invertebrates. Even relatively large prey compared to the bearded bird can be overwhelmed and eaten.

Most American bearded birds are monogamous and both parents participate in the breeding business, in the rearing of the young birds and in keeping the nest clean, often supported by young birds from previous broods. All Asian bearded birds are cave breeders . The caves are carved into the soft wood of dead trees. The clutch size varies between two and five eggs. The eggs are incubated for about two weeks. The young bearded birds fledge after about six weeks.

Systematics

The Capitonidae family was introduced in 1838 by the Italian ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte . For a long time the bearded bird species of America, Africa and Asia were assigned to it. According to DNA hybridization studies by the American ornithologists and molecular biologists Charles Sibley and Jon Edward Ahlquist , the bearded birds do not form a monophyletic group without the toucans (Ramphastidae) . Independent families were therefore introduced for the Asian and African bearded birds ( Megalaimidae and Lybiidae ). The research of Sibley and Ahlquist was later confirmed by DNA comparisons . For the genre of zinc beaks ( Semnornis ) In addition, the family was Toucan barbets (Semnornithidae) is introduced, because it was assumed due to morphological and DNA hybridization studies, is this more closely related to the toucans as with the other American barbets. However, this has not yet been conclusively confirmed. The Capitonidae family today only includes the genera Capito and Eubucco . The American bearded birds form together with the toucans and the toucan bearded birds (Semnornithidae) a monophyletic clade within the order of the woodpecker birds (Piciformes).

Orange-potted beard bird ( Capito auratus )
Andean bearded bird ( Eubucco bourcierii )

Genera and species

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d e David W. Winkler, Shawn M. Billerman, Irby J. Lovette: Bird Families of the World: A Guide to the Spectacular Diversity of Birds. Lynx Edicions (2015), ISBN 978-8494189203 . Page 239.
  2. ^ Sibley, CG, & Ahlquist, JE (1985). The relationships of some groups of African birds, based on comparisons of the genetic material, DNA. Incl. Schuchmann (Ed.), Proceedings of the International Symposium on African Vertebrates : 115-161. Bonn: Zoological Research Institute and Museum Koenig.
  3. ↑ Hackett et al .: A Phylogenomic Study of Birds Reveals Their Evolutionary History . Science 27 June 2008: Vol. 320. no. 5884, pp. 1763–1768 doi : 10.1126 / science.1157704
  4. ↑ Prum, RO (1988). Phylogenetic interrelationships of the barbets (Aves: Capitonidae) and toucans (Aves: Ramphastidae) based on morphology with comparisons to DNA-DNA hybridization. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 92: 313-343.
  5. ↑ Glenn F. Seeholzer, Benjamin M. Winger, Michael G. Harvey, Daniel Cáceres & Jason D. Weckstein. A new species of barbet (Capitonidae: Capito) from the Cerros del Sira, Ucayali, Peru. The Auk , 2012 doi : 10.1525 / auk.2012.11250