Brown rump amaranth
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Brown rump amaranth ( Lagonosticta nitidula ) |
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| Lagonosticta nitidula | ||||||||||||
| Hartlaub , 1886 |
The brown rump amaranth ( Lagonosticta nitidula ), also known as the great potted amaranth or the great potted tiger , is an African species of the finch family . No subspecies are distinguished for the species. Some authors put the brown-rump amaranth together with the spotted amaranth in a super-species .
description
The brown rump amaranth reaches a body length of up to 10.5 centimeters and weighs between nine and eleven grams. The male is dull wine-red on the reins and around the eyes. The top of the head is earth-brown to brown-gray, while the tail is blackish. The rest of the top of the body, including the upper tail-coverts, is earth-brown. The front breast is red and has numerous white spots that are lined with black. They are formed by white spots on each feather flag. The back of the chest and the rest of the lower body are gray-brown to gray. The female is similar to the male, but has a little less red on the sides of the head. The young birds are dark brown.
Distribution and way of life
The brown-rump amaranth occurs from Angola across the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and northern Zambia to the southwestern shore of Lake Tanganyika , in southeastern Angola and the Okawango Basin in Botswana . Its habitat are reed and papyrus stands along large rivers and floodplains and thickets on river banks and drainage canals. In the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo it occurs at altitudes of 2,000 meters, but otherwise lives in lower altitudes.
Its diet consists mainly of small grass seeds that it picks up from the ground. The breeding season varies depending on the location. The nest is a covered grass ball with a side entrance that is usually low above the ground. The clutch consists of three to five eggs. Both parent birds breed. The incubation period is thirteen to fourteen days, the nestling period is 18 to 19 days.
attitude
The time of the first importation of the brown-rump maroon is not entirely certain. However, there is much to suggest that it was first imported to Europe in 1960. The first breeding succeeded in 1965. For the well-being of the bird, it is necessary to keep it in a well-planted aviary where the birds can withdraw into the vegetation.
literature
- 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
- BirdLife Factsheet , accessed June 16, 2010.
- Lagonosticta nitidula inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.2. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2014.