Ceiling Toko
| Ceiling Toko | ||||||||||
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Ceiling Toko, male, Kenya |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Tockus ceilingi | ||||||||||
| ( Cabanis , 1869) |
The ceiling Toko ( Tockus deckeni ), also from-the-ceiling Toko called, is a bird art that the hornbills belongs (Bucerotidae) and in the western sub-Saharan Africa occur. Like all species of the genus Tokos , it is a cave breeder. The female walls herself in during the breeding season and is only supplied with food by the male through a narrow gap that she leaves open.
The stock situation of the ceiling toko was classified in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2016 as “ Least Concern ” (LC) = “not endangered”.
features
The ceiling toko reaches a body length of up to 35 centimeters and is one of the small toko species. The sexual dimorphism is limited to a different beak color, the females are also slightly smaller. They weigh an average of 120 to 155 grams, while the weight of the males is between 165 and 212 grams. The beak in the males is between 7.6 and 9.4 inches long. In females, it measures between 6 and 7.2 centimeters. The tail feathers account for an average of 22 centimeters in males and up to 21 centimeters in females.
male
The males have a black crown. The sides of the head and the neck are white, the ear covers are dashed gray. The middle of the back and the underside of the body are also white. The back, the rump and the four central control springs are black. The outer control springs are white and only black at their base.
The wings are black except for the middle white arm wings. The beak has a narrow ridge over the entire length of the beak. The front half of the beak is yellow to cream-colored, the beak sheaths are black. Another yellow to cream-colored spot is directly below the nostrils, otherwise the beak is carmine red. The featherless orbital ring is black, the bare throat skin is flesh-colored. The eyes are brown, the feet and legs are black.
Females and young birds
The females correspond to the males in the body plumage. However, the beak is black overall. In most females, the beak ridge ends in half of the upper beak. Young birds are similar to the adult female, but the beak is significantly smaller. With them, the wing covers have white spots similar to those of the Jackson Toko.
voice
The calls of the ceiling toco are cackling sounds that it utters individually or in series. They are less harsh than the Jackson Toko.
Possible confusion
The distribution area of the very similar Jackson Toko borders on that of the Ceiling Toko and overlaps in the east of Lake Turkana . The Jackson toko is slightly smaller than the ceiling toko, and the most striking feature of the males is an orange beak. They also have a white markings on the wings, which is only found in subadult individuals in the ceiling toko.
Other toko species, such as the red-billed toko of the same size, also occur in the distribution area of the ceiling toko , also have white markings on their wings. It also differs from the Eastern Yellow-Beaked Toko in its beak color.
The Kronentoko , which is also common in the distribution area of the ceiling toko, is significantly larger with a body length of 50 to 54 centimeters and has a soot-brown head.
distribution and habitat
The distribution area of the blanket toko is the south of Ethiopia including the highlands, the south of Somalia and Tanzania. The main area of distribution is east of the great African rift valley .
Its habitat is semi-arid savannahs with sparse trees and bushes. It is particularly common along the Omo River , which runs in the southwest of Ethiopia.
food
The food consists of insects , fruits and seeds, which they usually ingest on the ground.
The blanket toko cooperates in foraging with a subspecies of the southern dwarf mongoose ( Helogale parvula undulata ). It catches the insects (especially grasshoppers) that scare away this group of predators as they forage. The dwarf mongooses benefit from this protocooperation because the blanket toko warns of predators from the air. The dwarf mongooses wait for the toko to begin their prey. The Eastern Yellow-Beaked Toko also shows specific behaviors to indicate to the dwarf mongoose that it is willing to cooperate. A similar behavior has also been described for the Eastern Yellow-billed Toko.
behavior
The female lays two to three eggs in a tree hole, which she closes with clay, manure and pulp. Only a small opening, just big enough for the male to pass food for the female and chicks, remains. To keep the cave clean, the droppings are thrown outside through the opening. If the chicks, together with the mother, become too big for the cave, the latter breaks the seal and leaves the cave. The closure is made again and both parents feed the young.
Outside the breeding season, the ceiling tokos appear in swarms.
Systematics
The Jackson toko , which was previously classified as a subspecies of the ceiling toko , is now granted species status.
Dedication names
The blanket toko ( Tockus blanket ) was named after the German researcher Baron Karl Klaus von der blanket (1833–1865). Von derdeck was an African explorer who got into a fight with angry Somali during his last expedition to Somalia , whereby von derdecke and many participants of his expedition lost their lives.
literature
- W. Grummt , H. Strehlow (Ed.): Zoo animal keeping birds. Verlag Harri Deutsch, Frankfurt am Main 2009, ISBN 978-3-8171-1636-2 .
- Alan Kemp: The Hornbills - Bucerotiformes. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1995, ISBN 0-19-857729-X .
- Theo Pagel , Bernd Marcordes: Exotic soft-eaters. Eugen Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3-8001-5192-9 .
Web links
- Tockus deckeni in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2012. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved on 5 October 2016th
- Videos, photos and sound recordings for Tockus ceilingi in the Internet Bird Collection
- Voice of the ceiling toco on Xeno-Canto
- Pictures on www.birdingafrica.net
- Very nice picture at www.kenyabirds.org.uk
Single receipts
- ↑ Tockus deckeni in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2016 Posted by: BirdLife International, 2016. Retrieved on 3 October 2017th
- ↑ a b Kemp: The Hornbills - Bucerotiformes. P. 143.
- ↑ a b c Kemp: The Hornbills - Bucerotiformes. P. 142.
- ^ Voice of the Ceiling Toko on Xeno-Canto , accessed October 6, 2016.
- ↑ Kemp: The Hornbills - Bucerotiformes. P. 112.
- ↑ Pagel, Marcordes: Exotic soft-eaters. P. 82.
- ↑ Kemp: The Hornbills - Bucerotiformes. P. 141.
- ↑ Tockus jacksoni in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2012. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved on 5 October 2016th
- ↑ Allgemeine Zeitung München, supplement from Oct. 8. 1865 p. 4561 - Vienna Oct. 2. - Mrs. v. the Decken's expedition to East Africa
- ↑ Bo Beolens, Michael Watkins: Whose Bird? Men and Women Commemorated in the Common Names of Birds . Christopher Helm, London 2003, p. 205.