Thin-billed spectacle bird
| Thin-billed spectacle bird | ||||||||||||
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Thin-billed Spectacled Bird - drawing by John Gould |
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| Zosterops tenuirostris | ||||||||||||
| Gould , 1837 |
The thin-billed spectacled bird ( Zosterops tenuirostris ) is a species of bird in the spectacled family . It is endemic to Norfolk Island .
description
The thin-billed spectacle bird reaches a size of 13 to 14 centimeters and a wing length of 6.3 to 6.9 centimeters. The thin long beak is curved slightly downwards. The top is gray-brown. The top of the head, ear coverts, upper tail coverts, rump and the outer hems of the wings and control feathers are olive green, the color of the reins and the sides of the neck is yellowish. A white eye ring runs around the red-brown iris. The throat, goiter, cheeks and chin are yellow. The chest and the rest of the underside are dark yellow. The flanks are dull olive brown. The under tail-coverts are pale yellow. The under wing-coverts are white with a faint yellowish tinge. The bill and feet are gray.
Habitat and way of life
The thin-billed spectacle bird occurs in the same habitat as the extremely rare white-breasted spectacle bird ( Zosterops albogularis ) and the gray -coated spectacle bird ( Zosterops lateralis ). It lives in rainforests and tall secondary forests, where it searches for food in small groups. It uses its long, curved beak to search the crevices of the bark for insects. Both local and exotic fruits such as papaya enrich the food offer.
status
BirdLife International estimates the stock to 2,000 copies and classifies the species as critically endangered ( endangered ) a. The population decline began in the 1960s when the forests were cleared and rats and cats took over the area. Most of the individuals live in Norfolk Island National Park , which was established in 1986. As part of a current conservation project, the thin-billed spectacled bird is to be introduced on Phillip Island .
literature
- PR Grant: Bill Dimensions of the Three Species of Zosterops on Norfolk Island. In: Systematic Zoology. Vol. 21, No. 3, Sep. 1972, ISSN 0039-7989 , pp. 289-291.
- Otto Finsch : The animal kingdom. Delivery 15: Zosteropidae. Friedländer, Berlin 1901.
Web links
- BirdLife Species factsheet
- Videos, photos and sound recordings about Zosterops tenuirostris in the Internet Bird Collection
- Zosterops tenuirostris inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Endangered Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2013. Retrieved December 5, 2013.