Badger
Badger | ||||||||||||
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![]() Badgerhammer ( Zonotrichia leucophrys ) |
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Systematics | ||||||||||||
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Scientific name | ||||||||||||
Zonotrichia leucophrys | ||||||||||||
( Forster , 1772) |
The badger ( Zonotrichia leucophrys ) is an American songbird species.
features
Adult badgers are about 18 cm long and are characterized by black and white stripes on the top of the head. The rest of the head and the chest are gray, the plumage on the top is striped brown. Badgers have long brown tails. The beak is either pink or yellow. These birds are easy to confuse with the white-throated broom, but the badger sucker lacks the yellowish stripe above the eyes and the white spot on the neck.
Reproduction
Badgers breed in the bushes, hedges and thickets of northern Canada and the western United States . In their nest, which is close to or on the ground under bushes, the birds lay 3–5 brown-spotted gray or green-blue eggs.
Subspecies
The five currently known subspecies of the badger bunting ( pugetensis , gambelii , nuttalli , oriantha , and leucophrys ) differ in their migration behavior and breeding occurrence. While the Nuttalli subspecies remains permanently in California, the Gambels subspecies migrates to the Arctic Circle for breeding during the summer months. Generally, the northern birds of the badger hibernate in the southern United States. The bird very rarely strays to Western Europe.
behavior
This bunting looks for insects and seeds on the ground in the thicket, but occasionally hunts for insects in the air in short flights. In winter the birds look for food together in smaller flocks.
The reputation of the badger knows many dialects, that of the Pugetensis subspecies sounds similar to "You can't come and catch me!" (You can't catch me)
literature
- Byers, Olsson and Curson, Buntings and Sparrows ISBN 1-873403-19-4
Web links
- Zonotrichia leucophrys in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed on December 22 of 2008.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Zonotrichia leucophrys in the Internet Bird Collection
- White-crowned Sparrow Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- White-crowned Sparrow - Zonotrichia leucophrys - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter