Broad-tailed paradise hop
| Broad-tailed paradise hop | ||||||||||||
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Broad-tailed paradise hop |
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| Epimachus fastuosus | ||||||||||||
| ( Hermann , 1783) |
The broad-tailed paradise hop ( Epimachus fastuosus ), also called black-bellied paradise hop , broad-tailed sickle hop or broad-tailed bird of paradise , is a species from the genus Epimachus within the family of birds of paradise (Paradisaeidae). It occurs exclusively in New Guinea.
The species is classified as endangered ( vulnerable ) by the IUCN and is one of the most endangered bird of paradise species. Several subspecies are distinguished.
features
Body type and measurements
The broad-tailed bird of paradise is one of the largest birds of paradise with a body length of up to 63 centimeters. Including the greatly extended middle pair of control springs, the males even reach a length of 110 centimeters. The rest of the tail plumage measures 34 to just 54 centimeters, so that the middle pair of control feathers clearly towers above it. The female, which remains significantly smaller with an average body length of 55 centimeters, also has an elongated middle control spring pair. The extended pair of control feathers has a length between 27 and 32 centimeters, the remaining tail plumage measures between 20 and 25 centimeters. The beak of the males is 7.3 to 8 centimeters long, while in the soft it is 6.6 to 7.7 centimeters. Females weigh between 160 and 235 grams, the males are a little heavier at 250 to 280 grams. Although they are longer than the crowded paradise crow , they are nowhere near the weight of this bird of paradise, which weighs up to 440 grams.
male
The male has a black head, the scale-like feathers of the vertex and the ear covers, however, shimmer metallic green-blue to purple and magenta when exposed to certain light. The feathers on the chin and throat, on the other hand, have hardly any sheen. The rest of the upper side of the body from the coat to the upper tail covers is velvet black with a purple sheen. However, along the middle of the upper side of the body runs a strip of large, scale-like feathers that shimmer blue-green. Except for the middle pair of control feathers, the tail plumage on the upper side is black-brown with a purple color worse. The middle, greatly extended pair of control springs, on the other hand, shines in a metallic blue-violet, violet or magenta, depending on the lighting conditions.
The front breast is black-brown, then merges into a slightly lighter and brown lower breast. The rump and the under tail-coverts are sepia . The elongated feathers on the belly and rump sides are velvet black with purple to blue-green shiny tips. The beak is shiny black, the iris is bright red, the legs and feet are black-gray, the inside of the beak is bright yellow.
Subadult males
Males not yet sexually mature initially resemble the females and then increasingly switch to the plumage of adult birds. Individual individuals can have a very strongly spotted plumage that partly has the brown plumage tones of the female, partly the velvety black and iridescent plumage of the male. On the basis of bellows in museums it has been concluded that the growing males do not immediately develop the long, middle pair of control springs of adult males. There is an intermediate form that they show for at least one breeding season. This tail plumage is similar to that of the female, but has a large, elongated spot on each feather flag that is strongly iridescent.
female
The front of the head, crown and nape of the female are maroon. The reins, sides of the face, chin, and throat are sepia. The top of the body is otherwise olive-colored with a slightly more intense shade of brown on the coat and the upper tail covers.
The front breast is sepia with a fine, lighter colored transverse banding. This transverse ligament becomes increasingly wider in the direction of the rump. The tail plumage is earth-colored on the underside, the middle pair of control feathers has conspicuously bright feather shafts.
Distribution area of the subspecies and habitat
The broad-tailed paradise hop is one of the birds of paradise with a comparatively large distribution area: It extends from the Vogelkop , a peninsula in the extreme northwest of New Guinea to the plateaus in eastern New Guinea. However, the broad-tailed paradise hop is missing on the southeastern peninsula.
The individual subspecies colonize the following regions:
- E. f. fastosus ( Hermann , 1783) - nominate form found on the Vogelkop (Tamrau Mountains and Arfak Mountains) in northwest New Guinea.
- E. f. atratus ( Rothschild & EJO Hartert , 1911) - Mountains of the Wandammen Peninsula and the mountain ranges in the central interior of New Guinea to the Kratke Range in eastern New Guinea
- E. f. ultimus Diamond , 1969 - Bewani Mountains and Torricelli Mountains in northern New Guinea.
The Breitschwanz-Paradieshopf occurs only in mountain forests and predominantly settles at altitudes between 1800 and 2150 meters. Occasionally it is also found at altitudes of 1280 meters and at altitudes of up to 2550 meters. Where the range of the broad-tailed bird of paradise overlaps with that of the closely related narrow- tailed paradise hop, the broad-tailed paradise hop populates the lower altitudes.
Way of life
Broad-tailed paradise hops eat fruits and arthropods. Probably also small invertebrates belong to their food spectrum. They each cover about half their nutritional needs with animal and vegetable food. They find their food mainly in the treetop area. To get to arthropods, they also tear pieces of bark and epiphytes from the trees. While searching for food, they hop from branch to branch or climb up the tree trunks. Broad-tailed paradise hops kept in captivity have also been observed to regurgitate the seeds and stones of fruit. Basically, the adult males live more secretly than the females.
Reproduction
Like the vast majority of birds of paradise, the Breitschwanz-Paradieshof is also polygynous , which means that the male mates with several females whenever possible. The respective female raises the offspring alone. The males each defend a territory in which one or more traditional courtship areas are located. These courtship areas are individual waiting areas high up in the treetop area.
Courtship
The male's courtship has so far been observed comparatively little. According to previous observations, the male initiates courtship with a few loud calls. Then the elongated feathers of the pectoral plumage and sides of the body are raised and an almost horizontal posture is adopted on the branch. During this posture, the male makes soft noises that are compared to the noise made when one quickly knocks on an empty cardboard box. Alternatively, they have been compared to the sound of a machine gun in the distance. The almost horizontal posture is only maintained for a few seconds. The male then straightens up again and calls du dug ... du du , and then resumes the horizontal posture for a few seconds. This is repeated up to five times. During the horizontal posture, the blue-green iridescent tips of the elongated breast plumage, the elongated flank feathers and the blue-green iridescent middle control spring pair form a line.
The males show this courtship element even when no female is present. The courtship phase that immediately precedes mating has not yet been described.
Nest, clutch, rearing nestlings
Only a few nests have been found in the wild so far. A nest that was found on November 1, 1978 at a height of 2030 meters on Mount Giluwe was made entirely of orchid stems, some parts of rocking plants and moss. According to reports from members of the indigenous peoples of this region, the females of the broad-tailed paradise hop build their nests in the period between February and April and prefer screw trees as nesting trees .
Nothing is known about the breeding season and the length of time from the hatching of the nestlings until they fly out.
Hybrids with other birds of paradise
The tendency of birds of paradise to hybridize with other members of their families in nature was already described by Anton Reichenow at the beginning of the 20th century and thus almost earlier than for any other bird family. It is mostly the males who stand out with their very different plumage. Occasionally they are initially described as a distinct species. The type specimen , which was originally described as Pseudastrapia lobata , is now considered a hybrid between the broad- tailed paradise hop and the long-tailed paradigalla ( Paradigalla carunculata ). Another copy is of a pair of broad-tailed Paradieshopf and superb bird-of-paradise ( Lophorina superba emerged). The collar bird of paradise is one of the species that mates with another species more often than any other bird of paradise species.
Broad-tailed paradise yard and man
The feathers of the broad-tailed paradise hop are processed by indigenous peoples of New Guinea into traditional head and body jewelry. The feathers are sometimes given considerable value: in the 1990s in the area around the Ok Tedi opencast mine , in southwest Papua New Guinea, 250 kina were paid for one brat of the broad-tailed paradise hop , while at the same time in this region the Hides of other bird of paradise species were traded for 5 to 20 kina. The hunting pressure on the Breitschwanz-Paradieshopf increased considerably due to the development of the mine, because rifles were also imported into the region. In other regions a hunting ban was issued in the 1990s, where - after some men were punished for killing broad-tailed paradise hops - the population of this species recovered dramatically in some cases. Basically, however, this species is seriously endangered wherever the population living in the highlands increases. This is also evident in a direct comparison with the closely related narrow-tailed paradise hop . This is also hunted by the indigenous people of New Guinea because of its striking decorative feathers and can be rare in regions with suitable living conditions because the hunting pressure is correspondingly high. The narrow-tailed paradise hop is, however, a comparatively common bird compared to the broad-tailed paradise hop, which is classified by the IUCN as not endangered ( least concern ). The reason for this is that the Schmalschwanz-Paradieshopf populates higher altitudes than the Breitschwanz-Paradieshopf and thus occurs in regions that are far above the agricultural areas and gardens of the indigenous population.
The Breitschwanz-Paradieshopf has so far only been kept in human care very rarely.
literature
- Bruce M. Beehler, Thane K. Pratt: Birds of New Guinea; Distribution, Taxonomy, and Systematics . Princeton University Press, Princeton 2016, ISBN 978-0-691-16424-3 .
- Clifford B. Frith, Bruce M. Beehler : The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1998, ISBN 0-19-854853-2 .
- PJ Higgins, JM Peter and SJ Cowling: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: Volume 7 Boatbill to Starlings, Part A: Boatbill to Larks . Oxford University Press, Melbourne 2006, ISBN 978-0-195-55884-5 .
- Eugene M McCarthy: Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2006, ISBN 0-19-518323-1 .
Web links
Single receipts
- ↑ Handbook of the Birds of the World on Breitschwanz-Paradieshopf , accessed on August 2, 2017
- ↑ C. Frith, D. Frith: Curl-crested Manucode (Manucodia comrii). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, DA & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. 2017. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ( Online , accessed July 9, 2017)
- ↑ a b Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 358.
- ↑ Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 359.
- ↑ Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 367.
- ↑ Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 362.
- ↑ a b Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 363.
- ↑ a b Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 364.
- ^ McCarthy: Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World . P. 228.
- ^ McCarthy: Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World . P. 229.
- ↑ Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 347.
- ↑ a b c Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 365.
- ↑ a b Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 375.
- ↑ Handbook of the Birds of the World zum Schmalschwanz-Paradieshopf , accessed on August 6, 2017