Blue-breasted easel tail

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Blue-breasted easel tail
Malurus pulcherrimus.jpg

Blue-breasted easel-tail ( Malurus pulcherrimus )

Systematics
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
Family : Tails (Maluridae)
Subfamily : Malurinae
Genre : Malurus
Type : Blue-breasted easel tail
Scientific name
Malurus pulcherrimus
Gould , 1844

The blue-breasted easeltail ( Malurus pulcherrimus ) is an Australian songbird.

Taxonomy

The blue-breasted easel tail is one of 11 species in the genus Malurus , commonly known as the easel tail, found in Australia and the lowlands of New Guinea . Within the genus, it belongs to a group of four very similar species, collectively known as the chestnut shoulder staggered tail. The other three types of jewelry wren ( Malurus amabilis ) from the Cape York Peninsula , the white-bellied wren ( Malurus lamberti ), which can be found in most of Australia, and the silver head-wren ( Malurus elegans southwestern), which in Occurs part of Western Australia . According to a molecular study, there is a close relationship between the blue breasted easel tail and the silver headed easel tail.

As with other easel tails, there is no relationship between the blue-breasted easel tail and the real wren . At first it was believed that the tails belonged to the family of the flycatchers (Muscicapidae) or the warbler-like (Sylviidae), before they were assigned to the newly recognized Australian singers (Maluridae) in 1975 . Recently, DNA analysis has shown that the honey-eaters (Meliphagidae) and panther-birds (Pardalotidae) families belong to the large superfamily Meliphagoidea .

Evolutionary history

In his monograph from 1982, the ornithologist Richard Schodde assumes a northern origin of the chestnut shoulder tails due to the large number of species in the north and their lack in the southeast of Australia. In his view, the ancestors of the birds spread south and colonized the southwest during a warm and humid period around 2 million years ago at the end of the Pliocene or the beginning of the Pleistocene . Subsequent cooler and drier conditions resulted in habitat loss and population fragmentation. In the southwest, the birds evolved into the silver-headed easel tail, while those in the northwest of the continent became the white-bellied easel-tail. Further warmer, humid conditions allowed the birds to spread south; this group, which inhabited central South Australia east of the Eyre Peninsula , became blue breasted easel tails. Cooler climates afterwards led to the isolation of this population and the development of this new species. Finally, after the end of the last Ice Age 12,000 to 13,000 years ago, the northern species of easel-tailed species have spread south again. As a result, there was an overlap in the habitat of all three species. Further molecular studies can lead to a change in this hypothesis.

features

The blue-breasted easel tail reaches a length of 15 cm and usually weighs between 9 and 10 g. The male bears a resemblance to the more common male of the white-bellied easel tail, with a blue head and adjoining splayed ear patches, and chestnut patches on the wings. The throat and chest are blue-black and shimmer in good light conditions. There is a clear demarcation between the breast and the white underside. Compared to the larger silver-headed easel tail, it has less of the aqua hue of the blue on the head and back, and the shimmer of the chest. The female resembles the white-bellied easel-tail female with chestnut-colored reins and a bluish tail, although in comparison the blue-breasted easel-tail is more bluish in color on the underside.

distribution and habitat

Known distribution areas (red) of the blue-breasted easel tail

The distribution area of ​​the blue breast easel tail is in the southwestern part of Western Australia and the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia . Originally believed to be found only in Western Australia, it was later found in the eastern area, where it was mistakenly believed to be one of the many forms of easel tail, namely the white-bellied easel tail. The distribution of the species is unusual as there is a three hundred kilometers gap in its range, from the tip of the Great Australian Bight to its reappearance on the Eyre Peninsula.

In 2012 it was classified as not endangered on the Red List of Threatened Species (Version 3.1).

behavior

The blue-breasted easel tail is not easy to spot in nature. The females can be attracted by mimicking a wren's distress call. The adult males are more shy than the females and can usually only be glimpsed in the bushes because they hide.

The contact sound is a low, short warble. The alarm call consists of short, chirping tones, repeatedly spat out and picked up by all members of the flock. The males have the least distinctive song of the easel tail family. It's a low, humming, humming warble, usually from a sheltered vantage point deep in the foliage of the shrub vegetation.

nutrition

The blue-breasted easel tail feeds primarily on bottom organisms, including beetles, maggots, ants, weevils, flies, wasps, and other small invertebrates.

rearing

The comparatively short breeding season lasts from August to November. As a result, the species usually only has time to raise a single, sometimes two clutch of birds per year. Only females were observed building nests, and incubating the eggs and the young. Building a nest takes about a week. The average clutch of birds consists of three egg-shaped, creamy eggs, speckled with coarse dirt and reddish-brown spots, especially on the larger end.

Little is known about the breeding season and the rearing of the young. Probably the same as other species of the easel tail family. Both parents and other members of their own family group were observed feeding the nestlings.

When the nest or the young are threatened, both parents use a predatory distraction, which is typical of easel tails.

Etymology and history of research

The ornithologist John Gould described the blue-breasted easel tail under the current name Malurus pulcherrimus . The type specimen came from western Australia and was discovered by John Gilbert . In 1816 Louis Pierre Vieillot (1748–1830) introduced the new genus Malurus . This name is derived from malos , αμαλος for 'tender' and oura , ουρα for 'tail'. The species name pulcherrimus is of Latin origin and means 'very beautiful'.

literature

  • Rowley, Ian; Russell, Eleanor: Bird Families of the World: Fairy-wrens and Grasswrens, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-19-854690-4
  • John Gould: Mr. Gould laid upon the table a number of Skins of Animals and Birds, being part of a large collection which Mr. Gilbert has lately forwarded to him from Australia . In: Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . tape 15 , no. 136 , 1844, pp. 103-107 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Louis Pierre Vieillot: Analyze d'une nouvelle ornithologie élémentaire . Deterville, Paris 1816 ( books.google.de ).
  • James A. Jobling: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 .

Web links

Commons : Blue-breasted easeltail ( Malurus pulcherrimus )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rowley and Russell, p. 143
  2. ^ Rowley and Russell, p. 159.
  3. ↑ Leslie Christidis, Richard Schodde: Relationships within the Australo-Papuan Fairy-wrens (Aves: Malurinae): an Evaluation of the Utility of Allozyme Data. In: Australian Journal of Zoology. 45, 1997, pp. 113-129, doi : 10.1071 / ZO96068 .
  4. ↑ Schodde R .: Interim List of Australian Songbirds, 1975, Melbourne: RAOU
  5. ↑ FK Barker, GF Barrowclough, JG Groth: A phylogenetic hypothesis for passerine birds: taxonomic and biogeographic implications of an analysis of nuclear DNA sequence data. In: Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society. Volume 269, number 1488, February 2002, pp. 295-308, doi : 10.1098 / rspb.2001.1883 , PMID 11839199 , PMC 1690884 (free full text).
  6. ↑ FK Barker, A. Cibois, P. Schikler, J. Feinstein, J. Cracraft: Phylogeny and diversification of the largest avian radiation. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . Volume 101, number 30, July 2004, pp. 11040-11045, doi : 10.1073 / pnas.0401892101 , PMID 15263073 , PMC 503738 (free full text).
  7. ↑ Schodde R .: The fairy-wrens: a monograph of the Maluridae, Lansdowne Editions, Melbourne, 1982
  8. ↑ Blue-breasted Fairy-wren (Malurus pulcherrimus) , Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive
  9. ^ Iain Campbell, Nicklesenberg and Sam Woods: Birds of Australia: A Photographic Guide , Princeton University Press, November 9, 2014, ISBN 978-1-4008-6510-9 , p. 232
  10. ↑ BirdLife International : Malurus pulcherrimus , Red List of Endangered Species, 2012
  11. ^ John Gould, pp. 106f.
  12. ↑ Louis Pierre Vieillot, p. 44.
  13. ↑ James A. Jobling, p. 240.
  14. ↑ James A. Jobling, p. 324.