Brown-breasted nun
| Brown-breasted nun | ||||||||||||
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Brown-breasted nun ( Lonchura castaneothorax ) |
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| Lonchura castaneothorax | ||||||||||||
| ( Gould , 1837) |
The brown-breasted nun ( Lonchura castaneothorax , syn .: Munia castaneothorax ), also called brown-breasted reed finch , is a species of finch finch . Several subspecies are distinguished.
description
The brown-breasted nun reaches a body length between 9 and 11 centimeters when fully grown. The beak is light gray. The face mask is black, the black iris is surrounded by a light eye ring. The top of the head to the nape of the neck is light gray. The chest, like the wing upper coverts, is light brown to fawn brown in color. The light underside of the body is set off from the chest by a dark band. The sides of the body are white and dark gray . The females are similar to the males, they are only slightly more dull in color.
Young birds are dark brown on the top of their bodies. The wings and tail feathers are gray-brown with lighter brownish lines. The sides of the head are brown with whitish streaks. The underside of the body is isabel-white, with the front chest and the sides of the body merging slightly into rust-brown.
The singing of the brown-breasted nun is creaky and chirping.
distribution and habitat
The distribution area of the brown-breasted nun extends from New Guinea to the northwest and east of Australia . There the distribution area extends into the region to Sydney . In New Caledonia and the New Hebrides , this type is naturalized. The habitat of the brown breasted nuns in the northwest and in northern Australia are the humid lowlands near rivers and lagoons. It also inhabits extensive swamps that are overgrown with Oryza sativa , a wild type of rice . Seasonal hikes are characteristic of the Braunbrustnonne. With the onset of the rainy season from October to November, it moves inland and moves back to the coast with the onset of the dry season. The brown breasted nun benefits from the increasing artificial irrigation and has developed into an outspoken cultural follower.
In Queensland , the nutmeg bronze male, introduced there from Asia, has developed into a strong competitor of this species and has in some cases already displaced the brown-breasted nun.
food
The food of the brown-breasted nun consists in large parts of its distribution area from the seeds of wild rice. However, barley, rice and the seeds of other crops grown as fodder such as sudan grass ( sorghum vulgare ) and elephant grass play an increasingly important role. In Queensland it has developed into a character bird of the sugar cane fields and in the north of New South Wales it is often seen in barley fields. If it occurs in large numbers, it can be an outright agricultural pest. It eats half-ripe grains of rice and barley and can cause great damage, especially by kinking stalks.
The brown-breasted nun also eats insects during the rainy season. Flying termites in particular play a major role. The brown-breasted nun rarely goes to the ground to eat, but lands on grass and stalks of grain just below the ear where possible and then picks the seeds from the fruit ear with a stretched neck.
Reproduction
Outside the breeding season, the brown-breasted nun occurs in particularly large flocks that stick together closely. In the north-west and north of Australia it is very often associated with the Gilbnonne . Brown-breasted nuns are, however, a gregarious species throughout the year and often breed together with other pairs in a grass or reed stand, with the distance between the individual nests occasionally only half a meter. After the breeding season, the young birds form their own flocks.
The breeding season falls in large parts of the distribution area in the second half of the rainy season. In regions with extensive, artificially irrigated agricultural areas, the breeding season can extend well into the dry season due to the longer supply of semi-ripe seeds. Nests can be found in the Sydney region all year round with the exception of June and July.
Brown breasted nuns are free breeders who build their nests in tall grass or reeds between vertical stalks. They use grass, plant wool and plant fibers as nesting material. Occasionally they use grass leaves up to 79 centimeters long that are built into the nest wall. Some of these stalks run around the nest. Between two hundred and three hundred such blades of grass are used. The female lays four to six eggs. The incubation period is about 13 days.
Systematics
The genus allocation within the finch family is still disputed. Some authors assign this species to the species of fine finches nuns , others see it correctly classified due to the throat pattern in the young birds in the bronze males (as Lonchura castaneothorax ).
attitude
Brown breasted nuns are among the ornamental birds that have been kept in Europe for a very long time. The first specimens were shown at London Zoo in 1860 . By the end of the 1870s they were among the most common birds imported into Germany and were imported regularly and in large numbers until the Australian export ban at the beginning of 1960. The populations kept in Europe are now relatively small, although the species is considered easy to breed.
supporting documents
literature
- Horst Bielfeld : Knowing and caring for 300 ornamental birds. Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-8001-5737-2 .
- Jürgen Nicolai (Ed.), Joachim Steinbacher (Ed.), Renate van den Elzen, Gerhard Hofmann: Prachtfinken - Australia, Oceania, Southeast Asia. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3249-4 .
- Peter Clement , Alan Harris, John Davis: Finches and Sparrows. An Identification Guide. Christopher Helm, London 1993, ISBN 0-7136-8017-2 .
Web links
- Avibase entry Brown-breasted nun ( Lonchura castaneothorax ) Gould, 1837
- Videos, photos and sound recordings on Lonchura castaneothorax in the Internet Bird Collection
- Lonchura castaneothorax inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2013.