Pheasant spur cuckoo
| Pheasant spur cuckoo | ||||||||||||
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Pheasant spur cuckoo ( Centropus phasianinus ) in Queensland, Australia |
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| Centropus phasianinus | ||||||||||||
| ( Latham , 1801) |
The pheasant spur cuckoo ( Centropus phasianinus ) belongs to the order of the cuckoo birds (Cuculiformes) and to the family of the cuckoos (Cuculidae).
The pheasant spur cuckoo occurs in several subspecies in the north and east of Australia, New Guinea and neighboring small islands and is a resident bird. Like many species of cuckoo, it is not an obligatory brood parasite and raises its offspring itself.
The pheasant spur cuckoo is a species that is common in certain areas. Its population situation is given as 
(= least concern - not endangered ).
features
Pheasant spur cuckoos have very different body sizes and reach a body length of between 54 and 68 centimeters. The largest females therefore represent the also to the kind of in their body size coucal belonging Goliath cuckoo . The tail length is correspondingly variable from 31 to 36 centimeters. Australian males weighed between 200 and 364 grams, the females weighed between 252 and 520 grams. Basically the females are larger, the sexual dimorphism is otherwise only weak.
Pheasant spur cuckoos of the nominate form are black to black-brown with shiny, light feather shafts on the head, neck and upper back. This is particularly noticeable on the neck and on the front back. The lower part of the fore back and the wings are reddish brown stripes and speckled black, the rest of the back and rump are black-brown with light speckles. The long upper tail-coverts are dark brown and pale brown to reddish brown spotted and whitish transversely banded. The wings are reddish brown, the small wing covers have light brown and dark brown speckles and light feather shafts. The large elytra are dark gray-brown stripes. The pheasant spur cuckoo is black-brown on the underside of the body. Outside the breeding season, pheasant cuckoos are dark red-brown on the head and neck with conspicuous cream-colored feather shafts. The front back is reddish brown with light feather shafts, the individual feathers have a fine black-brown speckle at their tip. Otherwise the plumage corresponds to the brood plumage.
The iris is bright red in the males during the breeding period, outside the breeding period they have a red, pale brown or chestnut brown iris. Females have a whitish to gray-brown iris outside of the breeding season, during the breeding season this is orange-red to bright red.
The pheasant spur cuckoo towers , but is an unwilling and not very skillful flyer. He prefers to walk on the ground or in the thick undergrowth. He can slide down from the treetops and then lands heavily.
Possible confusion
There are several other cuckoos in the distribution area with which the pheasant spur cuckoo can be confused. Fledglings of the pheasant spurred cuckoo can be confused with fledglings of the amber cuckoo found in western and central New Guinea. However, these are significantly smaller and have a darker iris. The black cuckoo , native to New Guinea, has a horn-colored bill, is more blackish overall and is rarely found outside of the forests.
Distribution area and habitat
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The pheasant spur cuckoo occurs in a maximum 320 kilometers wide strip along the entire north and east coast of Australia. It stretches from the Exmouth Gulf in north-west Australia to the region around Sydney in south-east Australia.
Its range is disjoint in New Guinea. It occurs in the east, but is absent in the highlands and parts of the Gulf Province . The distribution area also includes the D'Entrecasteaux Islands in the Solomon Sea , the Kei Islands in the south-eastern area of the Moluccas and East Timor and the Torres Strait Islands .
Distribution area and characteristics of the individual subspecies
The following subspecies of the pheasant spurred cuckoo are distinguished:
- C. p. phasianinus is the nominate form described by John Latham . Their distribution area is the east of Australia. The distribution extends to the Burdekin River in Queensland. To the west of it comes the subspecies C. p. melanurus , but its status as a subspecies is controversial.
- C. p. propinquus (Mayr, 1937) comes from northern New Guinea. It is similar to the subspecies C. p. nigricans is smaller and paler in color.
- C. p. nigricans (Salvadori, 1876) is represented in the southeast of New Guinea and on the D'Entrecasteaux Islands. It lacks the conspicuous sparrowing of the wings as in C. p. thierfelderi occurs. Both sexes show no breeding dress.
- C. p. spiloperterus (GR Gray, 1858), is endemic to the Kei Islands . The body plumage is predominantly black, the control feathers have no transverse bands. There is no specific brood plumage in this species either.
- C. p. thierfelderi (Stresemann, 1927) south of New Guinea and northwestern Torres Strait Islands . The shafts of the wings are red-brown, the wings are cross-banded red-brown on the underside. This species also has no specific breeding plumage.
- C. p. melanurus (Gould, 1847). The species occurs in the north and northwest of Australia. It is larger than the nominate shape and has a wider transverse strap on the control springs. The status of this subspecies is debatable. Payne includes this subspecies in the nominate form.
- C. p. mui (Mason & McKean, 1984), East Timor. The beak is proportionally larger than that of the other subspecies.
habitat
The pheasant-tailed cuckoo generally avoids forests. On the other hand, it can be found in open landscapes such as grasslands in Queensland and swamps lined with screw trees in Western Australia. In the u Darin region, in the Australian Northern Territory , it also uses light forests with an undergrowth of long grass and in savannas. In Queensland, it is also commonly found along railroad lines, in thickets along rivers, on sugar cane plantations, and along roads that lead through grasslands.
In New Guinea he prefers savannahs and grasslands, which have thickets and forest edges, he is also more rarely found in monsoon forests. It is most common in the lowlands and hilly landscapes, but still occurs in the province of Morobe at 1,800 meters above sea level.
Way of life
Food and diet
The pheasant spur cuckoo eats insects such as short-antennae terrors and butterflies, scorpions, snails, frogs, small snakes and lizards, eggs, chicks and nestlings, mice and other small mammals and seeds. He finds his food mainly on the ground. On the ground, it moves quickly forward - the wing and head are carried horizontally to the ground. When foraging for food, it can be observed mainly in the morning, in the late afternoon and after rainfall. He scares off prey.
Territory and nest
It occurs singly or in pairs and is likely to enter into long-term pair bonds. It is territorial; a single pair occupies a territory of about six hectares. Territorial behavior has been observed in individuals only 10 months old.
The breeding season in Australia generally falls between September and May. The nest is built in dense vegetation 0.5 to 1.6 meters above the ground. The nests are often dome-shaped with an inside diameter of 20 centimeters and an outside diameter of about 46 centimeters. It is usually built from fresh twigs and occasionally even has a tunnel-shaped process about eight inches long that leads to the actual nesting chamber. Inside, the nesting chamber is lined with leaves and plant fibers.
Clutches and young birds
The clutch comprises two eggs in New Guinea. In Australia, the clutch usually contains three to four eggs. They are matt white and round oval. Pheasant spur cuckoos can raise up to four clutches in a reproductive period. The incubation period is at least 15 days. It has not yet been observed whether the male is also involved in the breeding business. However, it does carry food to the nestlings.
The nestlings hatch asynchronously and are fledged between 10 and 15 days of life. They are then about 40% the weight of adult birds and are not yet able to fly. Erhitzøe believes that this early age, at which the young birds leave the nest, is an adaptation to nest predators. There is evidence of a very strong predation by foxes and cats.
literature
- Johannes Erhitzøe, Clive F. Mann, Frederik P. Brammer, Richard A. Fuller: Cuckoos of the World . Christopher Helm, London 2012, ISBN 978-0-7136-6034-0 .
- Robert B. Payne: The Cuckoos . Oxford University Press 2005. (Bird Families of the World No. 15) ISBN 0-19-850213-3 : Plate 1; Pp. 3-136 and 238-242.
Web links
- Centropus phasianinus inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015.4. Listed by: BirdLife International , 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
Single receipts
- ↑ Centropus phasianinus in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015.4. Listed by: BirdLife International , 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
- ↑ a b Erhitzøe, Mann, Brammer, Fuller: Cuckoos of the World . P. 202.
- ↑ a b c d Erhitzøe, Mann, Brammer, Fuller: Cuckoos of the World . P. 203.
- ↑ a b c d e f Erhitzøe, Mann, Brammer, Fuller: Cuckoos of the World . P. 204.
- ^ Payne: The Cuckoos .