Elvena deer
| Elvena deer | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_(6453060437).jpg)
Elfenastrild ( Estrilda erythronotos ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Estrilda erythronotos | ||||||||||||
| ( Vieillot , 1817) |
The Elfenastrild ( Estrilda erythronotos , Syn .: Brunhilda erythronotos ) also called Red-backed A-tiger or Red-backed Black Cheek, is an African species from the finch family . There are several subspecies for this species. The species is occasionally kept as an ornamental bird in Europe, even if keeping it is not considered easy.
description
The Elfenastrild reaches a body length of twelve to thirteen centimeters. The head is feathered black with a dark gray head plate. In the male, the belly and tail-coverts are also black. The rump and the tail-coverts are bright crimson. The small wing-coverts, the large and middle wing-coverts, the inner arm wings and the back are whitish-gray with a blackish transverse banding. The sides of the body are crimson. The rest of the body is light ash gray and tinged with red. The underside is also finely corrugated across the dark. The beak is blackish and lightens to a blue-gray towards the base.
The female is a little more dull in color and has less red on the sides of the body. The young birds lack the dark transverse banding except on the wing covers and the wings. The red of the rump is still dull on them.
Distribution and way of life
The distribution area of the Elfenastrild covers two spatially widely separated regions in East Africa and South Africa. They occur in the southwest of Angola and the north and inland of Namibia and reach the southwest of Zambia . They occur from the western edge of Zimbabwe to the northwest of the Cape Province . The second distribution area is East Africa from the interior of Tanzania and the southwest of Uganda to the east bank of Lake Albert . In the south of Kenya, their distribution area extends from the east bank of Lake Victoria to the area east of Kilimanjaro .
The habitat of the Elfenastrild is the dry thorn bush savannah with tall trees and bank vegetation. They are very shy birds and usually stay in thick bushes. They also come to the ground to forage. The diet consists of seeds mainly from sunflower and wild herbs. He also eats acacia flowers and sweet fruits. He also consumes the insects on it.
The contact call of both sexes is a long drawn out tjuit ; the male's song consists of a series of chirped sounds. The breeding season varies depending on the distribution area. Elfenastrilde, for example, breed in KwaZulu-Natal from November to April. In Tanzania, on the other hand, in the second half of the rainy season from February to April. The nests are built high above the ground in leafy acacias. Nests are particularly common in umbrella acacias . The nest is pear-shaped and contains a long entry tube facing the ground with a so-called cock's nest on top. This should distract enemies from the actual nest. The clutch comprises four to six eggs. The young birds hatch after a breeding period of 14 days and are fledged at 20 days.
attitude
Elfenastrilde first appeared on the bird market in 1908. However, they were only rarely introduced in the years between the two world wars. Meanwhile, Elfenastrilde are relatively regularly in the trade. Imported birds in particular are extremely in need of light and warmth. They are very peaceful birds that keep in common with other species in aviaries. They can get very old in good posture. An individual kept in the Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich was eleven years old.
literature
- Horst Bielfeld : Knowing and caring for 300 ornamental birds. Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-8001-5737-2 .
- Jürgen Nicolai (Ed.), Joachim Steinbacher (Ed.), Renate van den Elzen, Gerhard Hofmann, Claudia Mettke-Hofmann: Prachtfinken - Afrika. Series Handbuch der Vogelpflege, Eugen Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-8001-4964-3 .
Single receipts
- ↑ Nicolai et al., P. 273
Web links
- Estrilda erythronotos inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.2. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved November 24, 2013.