Brown-headed tree creeper
| Brown-headed tree creeper | ||||||||||||
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Brown-headed tree creeper |
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| Rhabdornis inornatus | ||||||||||||
| Ogilvie-Grant , 1896 |
The brown-headed tree creeper ( Rhabdornis inornatus ) is a 15-17 centimeter songbird from the starling family .
Appearance
The birds have dark brown back plumage, the curved beak and legs are black, the throat is colored white. The area around the eye is also dark brown. The belly plumage is white with thin elongated, brown stripes. The lower part of the wings and the tail end are darker. The legs have strong claws.
distribution and habitat
This species occurs in the inner part of the Philippine island of Samar , from the lowlands to the mountains at an altitude of about 1,000 meters. There the birds inhabit the tops of tall trees.
Way of life
Their main food, insects, they catch in flight. Sometimes they prey on insects and their larvae by pecking at the bark of tall trees with their powerful beak. As other food, however, they also consume flower nectar and smaller fruits. To search for food, the birds join together in small groups of 20 animals, in exceptional cases of up to 100 specimens. To sleep, they sit down in larger groups on the branches of tall trees. Their reputation mostly consists of "tsii", "zip", "wick" or "ziiit" sounds.
Special anatomy
The tip of the tongue is fanned out like a brush.
Reproduction
The birds use tree hollows as nests, which are padded with grass and moss. The breeding season is believed to be between March and May. The exact number of eggs is not known, probably up to 10. The young are cared for by both parents.
Danger
Due to its wide distribution and because no endangerments are known for this species, the IUCN classifies this species as Least Concern (not endangered).
Subspecies
There are four known subspecies:
- Rhabdornis inornatus inornatus Ogilvie-Grant , 1896 - The nominate form occurs on the island of Samar .
- Rhabdornis inornatus leytensis Parkes , 1973 - This subspecies occurs on Biliran and Leyte .
- Rhabdornis inornatus rabori Rand , 1950 - This subspecies is found on Panay and Negros .
- Rhabdornis inornatus alaris Rand , 1948 - This subspecies is common in Mindanao .
Source
- Christopher Perrins : The Great Encyclopedia of Birds. ORBIS Verlag, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-572-00810-7 , pp. 302, 305.
- Goetz Rheinwald (ed.), Cyril Walker: Atlas of the bird world. Unipart, Remseck near Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 978-3-8122-3399-6 , p. 171.
- Christopher M. Perrins (Ed.): The FSVO encyclopedia birds of the world. Translated from the English by Einhard Bezzel. BLV, Munich / Vienna / Zurich 2004, ISBN 978-3-405-16682-3 , p. 541 (title of the English original edition: The New Encyclopedia Of Birds. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2003).
- Fascinating bird world Page: 158 Publisher: Karl Müller 1992 ISBN 3-86070-320-X
- William Robert Ogilvie-Grant: Mr. WR Ogilvie-Grant exhibited specimens of several interesting birds from islands of Samar, among which the following appeared to be new to science . In: Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club . tape 66 , no. 5 , 1896, pp. 16-18 ( online [accessed March 15, 2016]).
- Kenneth Carroll Parkes: Annotated List of the Birds of Leyte Islands, Philippines . In: Nemouria: Occasional Papers of the Delaware Museum of Natural History . No. 11 , 1873, p. 1-73 ( online [accessed March 15, 2016]).
- Austin Loomer Rand: Five new birds from the Philippines . In: Fieldiana - Zoology . tape 31 , no. 25 , 1948, pp. 201–205 ( online [accessed March 15, 2016]).
- Austin Loomer Rand: A New Race of the Philippine Creeper Rhabdornis inornatus (Class Ayes) . In: Natural History Miscellanea . No. 59 , 1950, pp. 1-3 ( online [accessed March 15, 2016]).
Web links
- Rhabdornis inornatus inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015.4. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved March 11, 2016.