Fig bearded bird
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Fig bearded bird ( Lybius chaplini ) |
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| Lybius chaplini | ||||||||||
| Clarke , 1920 |
The fig-bearded bird ( Lybius chaplini ) is a species of the African bearded bird family . The species occurs only in a relatively small area in southern Africa. No subspecies are distinguished. The IUCN classifies the fig bearded bird as endangered ( vulnerable ).
Appearance
The males of the fig bearded bird reach a wing length of 9 to 10.1 centimeters. The tail length is 5.1 to 5.9 centimeters. The beak is between 2.3 and 2.4 inches long. Females have similar body measurements. There is no noticeable sexual dimorphism .
Males and females are partly colored red above the base of the beak and on the sides of the head, small red spots can also be found on the sides of the neck, below the eyes and partly on the ear covers. Otherwise, fig bearded birds are white from head to front back. The chin, throat and chest are also white, but freshly molted fig bearded birds often have a yellowish tinge on the belly.
The middle of the back is black-brown, the upper tail-coverts are black. The control feathers are black on the top and brownish on the underside, freshly molted the control feathers have a narrow yellow border. The wings are black-brown with yellow-lined outer flags. The beak, which is large and strong in relation to its size, is black to grayish horn-colored. The featherless skin around the eyes is black-gray, the eyes are brown to chestnut-colored. Legs and feet are gray, brown, or black. Fledglings are similar to adult birds, but their plumage is somewhat dull overall. They are also missing the red facial drawing.
The fig-bearded bird is only similar to the white-headed bearded bird , whose distribution area is, however, significantly more northerly and which has no red markings on its face.
Distribution area and existence
The fig bearded bird is an endemic species of Zambia that only occurs in an area of 76,500 square kilometers. However, only nine percent of this region offers the fig-bearded bird suitable habitats. The fig bearded bird is common in suitable habitats, but the IUCN estimates the population of sexually mature fig bearded birds to be only 5,200 individuals. Fig bearded birds are sensitive to changes in farming techniques. They are dependent on a dense population of fruit-bearing trees and are also in competition with the more adaptable and more common collared bearded bird .
Way of life
The habitat of the fig-bearded bird are the edges of the miombo , tree-lined open land and forests along rivers. They are also often seen in gardens and pastures when they have a population of fruit-bearing trees. They sometimes live in pairs, but more often in loose groups of up to six individuals. As a rule, these are the parent birds with fully grown but not yet mated offspring from previous broods. The center of activity for such troops is their nesting and resting tree, to which they usually return several times a day.
The food spectrum of fig-bearded birds consists mainly of figs and other fruits and berries. But they also eat insects. They look for food at a distance of up to one kilometer from their nesting cavity. The size of an individual territory varies depending on the population of fruiting trees and the proximity to flowing water. Near the Zambian city of Choma , the territories surveyed covered 40 hectares.
Fig bearded birds are cave breeders. The nest cavity is chopped into a dead tree or branch by all individuals in a flock. Figs are mainly used as nesting trees . The Kleine Honiganzeiger is a breeding parasite of the fig bearded bird. This means that one or two individuals in a flock always stay near the nesting cavity until the nestlings have largely grown up. Ornithologists have observed that after repeated efforts of a small honey indicator to get into the nesting cavity, two fig-bearded birds chased the honey indicator. A third removed all of the eggs from the nest cavity and then destroyed them. The subsequent investigation showed that all four eggs were fig-bearded eggs. Presumably there was another attempt at breeding afterwards.
The clutch consists of two to four eggs. During breeding, fig-bearded birds peel off every thirty to fifty minutes. The duration of the breeding and nestling season is unknown. However, it is very likely that all individuals in a flock are involved in feeding the young birds.
supporting documents
literature
- Lester L. Short and Jennifer FM Horne: Toucans, Barbets and Honeyguides - Ramphastidae, Capitonidae and Indicatoridae. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001, ISBN 0-19-854666-1 .
Web links
- BirdLife factsheet on the fig-bearded bird
- Lybius chaplini inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
Individual evidence
- ↑ BirdLife factsheet on the fig-bearded bird , accessed February 25, 2011
- ↑ Short et al., P. 198
- ↑ BirdLife factsheet on the fig-bearded bird , accessed February 25, 2011
- ↑ Short et al., P. 199
- ↑ Short et al., P. 200
- ↑ Short et al., P. 200
- ↑ Short et al., P. 200 and p. 201
- ↑ Short et al., P. 201