Elven blue bird
| Elven blue bird | ||||||||||||
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Elfenblauvogel (male) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Irena puella | ||||||||||||
| ( Latham , 1790) |
The elf blue bird , turquoise fairy bird or turquoise irene ( Irena puella ) is a Southeast Asian songbird from the monogeneric family of fairy birds (Irenidae).
features
The male is glossy black with bright blue plumage. The female is turquoise with gray wings and tail feathers. Both sexes have red eyes.
Occurrence
A distribution area extends from the eastern Himalayas over Southeast Asia to Borneo and Java . There is another distribution area in southwest India .
The bird lives in dense tropical forests.
behavior
The Elfenblauvogel is usually high in the treetops in small groups looking for fruit. Insects, spiders and nectar complete the diet.
Reproduction
The female builds a bowl-shaped nest from twigs, moss and roots in a fork of a branch and also incubates the two to four eggs on her own. The male takes part in feeding the young.
literature
- Colin Harrison & Alan Greensmith: Birds. Dorling Kindersley Limited, London 1993, 2000, ISBN 3-8310-0785-3
- Bryan Richard: Birds. Parragon, Bath, ISBN 1-4054-5506-3
Web links
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Irena puella in the Internet Bird Collection
- Irena puella inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.2. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2014.