Rockcatcher
| Rockcatcher | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Petroica archboldi | ||||||||||||
| Rand , 1940 |
The Felsenschnäpper ( Petroica archboldi ) is a Singvogelart from the family of flycatchers (Petroicidae). Its distribution area is limited to the regions at the Carstensz pyramid and at the Puncak Trikora in the Oranje Mountains in central New Guinea .
features
The rock catcher reaches a size of 14 cm. In the male, the skull and neck are dark slate gray with a reddish-pink tint. The head sides are slate gray. The feathers at the base of the ridge and on the reins are black. There is a small white spot on the forehead. The top is dark slate gray. The rump is a little lighter. The upper wings are black. The wings of the arm have narrow, gray hems on the distal half of the outer lobes. The inner wings of the hand and the outer wings of the arm have white spots on the inner tassels that form a stripe a third of the base of the lower wing. The tail is black. The basal half of the outer vane and the distal half of the inner vane are white in the control feathers. The outermost control feathers have large white tips. The adjacent pairs of control springs have narrow, white tips. The chin and throat are slate in color with a reddish-pink tinge. The chest is slate-colored. The center of the chest has a bright red spot that turns gray on the flanks. The belly is gray-white, the under tail-coverts are white. The legs are slate-colored. The iris is dark brown. The bill and legs are black. The female is similar to the male. However, it is smaller and paler. The reddish color of the breast is also paler. In immature birds, the plumage is brownish and the red patch on the chest is missing.
Vocalizations
The singing includes a wide range of tones reminiscent of the sounds of water droplets or parrots. Loud "chip" tones and rough, scolding tones can also be heard.
habitat
The rockcatcher inhabits the edges of bare rocky slopes and cliffs, boulders on rubble heaps and valleys between rocky tundra or alpine heather. It occurs above the tree line at altitudes between 3850 and 4150 m.
Way of life
The rockcatcher is predominantly ground dweller. Its food consists of insects that it prey on between the rocks. He sits on a rock while scanning the area. If he spotted an insect, he lunges at the prey and returns to the seat guard . There is hardly any information about its reproductive behavior. There is only one observation of an adult bird that fed a young bird in September.
status
The IUCN lists the rockcatcher in the category of “insufficient data” ( data deficient ). Due to the high altitude, its habitat should be safe. However, mining could pose a hazard in some areas . Another potential threat is global warming, which has caused the ice cover on Puncak Trikora to decline for several decades.
Etymology and history of research
On September 18, 1938, the expedition members Richard Archbold (1907–1976), Austin Loomer Rand (1905–1982) and the mammologist William B. Richardson collected at an altitude of 4,100 meters during Archbold Expeditions No. 25 on Mount Wilhelm the type specimen that served for the first description. Rand described it in 1940 under its current name Petroica archboldi . The word "Petroica" is of Greek origin and is made up of the words "petros" for "stone" and "oikos" for "dwelling, house". The specific epithet "archboldi" honors the sponsor of the expedition Richard Archbold.
literature
- Walter E. Boles: Family Petroicidae (Australasian Robins). In: Josep del Hoyo , Andrew Elliott, Jordi Sargatal: Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2007, ISBN 978-84-96553-42-2 , p. 481.
- Austin Loomer Rand: Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 25: New birds from the 1938-1939 expedition . In: American Museum novitates . No. 1072 , 1940, pp. 1–14 ( online [PDF; accessed September 22, 2013]).
- James A. Jobling: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 .
- Thane K. Pratt, Bruce M. Beehler: Birds of New Guinea . Princeton University Press, 2014, ISBN 978-0-691-09562-2 , pp. 244, 488 .
Web links
- Petroica archboldi in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2012. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2012. Accessed September 14, 2013.