Brown sideboard
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Brown side plate, male |
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| Eremopterix leucopareia | ||||||||||||
| ( Fischer & Reichenow , 1884) |
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The brown saddle plate ( Eremopterix leucopareia ) is a species from the lark family. It is a very small, finch-like lark with a thick, short beak. Their distribution area is in the east of Africa. No subspecies are distinguished.
The IUCN classifies the brown side dish as harmless ( least concern ).
Position in the genus Eremopterix
The position of the brown saddle plate within the genus Eremopterix has not yet been clarified. Some authors think it is conceivable that the brown saddle plate forms a super species with the white- fronted lark and the nun lark . Other authors are of the opinion that the brown and gray teller is a super species.
features
The brown side plate reaches a body length of about 10.3 to 12 centimeters, of which 3.9 to 4.7 centimeters are accounted for by the tail. The beak measures 1.1 to 1.3 centimeters measured from the skull. It is slightly less thick than other species of the genus Eremopterix . There is a pronounced gender dimorphism .
In the male, the crown, the neck and the throat are brown to chestnut brown. They are blackish dashed on the back of the head. The cheeks and the ear covers are whitish with a yellow-brown to orange overlay. The face is otherwise black, and there is a black half ring on the back of the neck.
The coat and the back are gray-brown, with the individual feathers having dark feathers in the middle. The upper tail ceilings are light brown, but have light hems. The chin and throat are black-brown, the sides of the neck are dark brown. The chest is yellowish brown, the belly whitish. A dark brown to black band runs in the middle of the body from the upper chest to the lower abdomen. The under tail-coverts are also dark brown. The hand and arm wings are dark brown with reddish hems on the outer flags. The tail is dark brown, with the sixth (outermost) control spring having predominantly the outer vane and the fifth control spring about half of the external vane being red-brown. The beak is horn colored with a darker tip. The iris is brown.
The female has a gray-brown head, which appears dashed through the dark pen shafts and feathers. The stripe above the eyes is almost invisible, the cheeks are yellowish brown to brown. The rest of the top of the body is gray-brown with dark feathers and light hems. Overall, the upper side of the body is lighter than that of the male,
The chin is white, the throat and chest are yellowish brown, towards the belly the plumage brightens and is then whitish. The sides of the neck are brown with an orange tinge. Similar to the male, there is a dark brown band on the underside of the body that runs from the middle of the lower chest and across the abdomen. The tail feathers are dark brown, the outer vane of the sixth (outermost) control feather is yellowish-white to white.
Young birds initially resemble the adult female, but have whitish feather tips on the upper side of the body.
Distribution area and habitat
The brown saddle plate occurs from the extreme northeast of Uganda, western Kenya to Tanzania, the extreme north of Zambia, Rwanda and northern Malawi. Outside of the breeding season, they migrate nomadically in their area of distribution. You also occasionally reach the south of Malawi.
The habitat of the brown cider are savannahs with short-growing grass vegetation and bare sandy areas. To the north-east of Lake Victoria, the brown pan is very common and occurs there at altitudes up to a maximum of 1,800 meters. In Malawi, on the other hand, it is usually only found at altitudes below 900 meters. It is also found there in gardens, on agricultural areas, on embankments along roads and on airfields.
Way of life
Brown side plates mainly eat grass seeds, while insects do not play such a big role in their diet. They are also observed in small groups during the breeding season. The courtship takes place mainly on the ground, but occasionally also on thick branches.
The breeding season falls in the north of the distribution area in the period February and July and is therefore in the rainy season. In the central and southern part of the distribution area, however, they breed in the dry season and thus in the period from April to August. Like all larks, the brown stone plate is also a ground breeder. The nest, which is typical for larks, is built in a self-paved hollow and is not overarched by grass. The clutch consists of two to three eggs. An egg has a fresh full weight of 1.42 grams.
literature
- Rudolf Pätzold : The larks of the world . Westarp Sciences, Magdeburg 1994, ISBN 3-89432-422-8 .
- Rudolf Pätzold: Compendium of Larks. All the larks on earth. Jan-Schimkat-Medienpublikation, Dresden 2003, ISBN 3-00-011219-7 .
