Pale-forehead blackening
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Pale-fronted Blackwing ( Nigrita luteifrons ) |
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| Nigrita luteifrons | ||||||||||||
| J. Verreaux & E. Verreaux , 1851 |
The pale-forehead blackening ( Nigrita luteifrons ) is an African species from the finch family . In addition to the nominate form Nigrita luteifrons luteifrons , the subspecies Nigrita luteifrons alexanderi Ogilvie-Grant, 1907, was described.
description
The pale-forehead blackening reaches a body length of eleven centimeters. Depending on the subspecies, either the forehead or the crown of the males is golden to washed-out creamy white. On the upper side of the body, the pale forehead blackening is gray, only the upper tail-coverts are darker. The wings are black, but the wing covers are washed out gray. Feet and legs are flesh-colored. The beak is black and the eyes are red. The females are similar to the males, but the light areas on the head are smaller. The underside of the body is bluish-gray in females.
Distribution area
The subspecies Nigrita lutefons alexanderi occurs exclusively on the island of Bioko off the coast of Cameroon . The nominate form Nigrita luteifrons luteifrons is widespread from Sierra Leone to northern Angola and, in an easterly direction, to Uganda .
The habitat of the pale-fronted blackbird are primary forests, secondary forests, gallery forests and thickets at forest edges and clearings. The pale-forehead blackening is also found on cultivated land and is observed, for example, in cocoa and oil palm plantations and occasionally in gardens. Compared to the closely related gray-necked blackling, it colonizes more open habitats and occurs at lower altitudes. However, the range of the two species occasionally overlaps. The two species occur together where the primary forest suddenly changes into secondary forest. Both species can also occasionally be observed in clearings and in bank vegetation. Pale-forehead blackens are also often associated with insectivore and with nectar birds .
Way of life
The diet consists mainly of insects. In addition, the pale-fronted blackening eats the peel of oil palm fruits and the fruits of Ficus pseudomangifera . The nest is oval with a side entrance hole. It is built from fine blades of grass and has an average diameter of 13 centimeters. The breeding time varies depending on the area of distribution.
The clutch usually comprises four white-shelled eggs. The nestlings are fed by both parent birds.
supporting documents
literature
- C. Hilary Fry and Stuart Keith (Eds.): The Birds of Africa. Volume VII. Christopher Helm, London 2004, ISBN 0-7136-6531-9 .
- Jürgen Nicolai (Ed.), Joachim Steinbacher (Ed.), Renate van den Elzen, Gerhard Hofmann, Claudia Mettke-Hofmann: Prachtfinken - Afrika , Series Handbuch der Vogelpflege, Eugen Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-8001- 4964-3
Web links
- Pale forehead blackening on AVIBASE
- BirdLife factsheet on pale-forehead blackened
- Nigrita luteifrons inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.2. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2014.