Rock Toko
| Rock Toko | ||||||||||
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Rock Toko |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Tockus bradfieldi | ||||||||||
| ( Roberts , 1930) |
The Bradfield's Hornbill ( Tockus bradfieldi ) is an African bird art that the hornbills belongs (Bucerotidae). No subspecies are distinguished.
The stock situation of the rock toco was classified in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2016 as “ Least Concern (LC) ” = “not endangered”.
Appearance
The rock toco is a medium-sized bird with a body length between 50 and 57 centimeters. They weigh between 180 and 395 grams. The gender dimorphism is only slightly pronounced.
The males are gray on the head and neck. An indistinct, lighter stripe begins above the eyes and runs down the sides of the neck to the nape of the neck. The top of the body is otherwise gray-brown. The feathers of the wings are slightly darker than the rest of the upper plumage and have pale brown edges. The third and fourth pair of tail feathers have a white tip, the other tail feathers are narrow lined white. The underside of the body is otherwise whitish. The beak is red-orange with a narrow yellow band at the base of the beak. The orbital ring and the featherless throat skin are dark gray. The iris is pale orange, the legs and feet are black.
The females have a body plumage similar to the male. However, the beak horn is somewhat shorter and smaller in her than in the male. Her bare throat skin is matt turquoise. Fledglings are similar to adult birds, but have smaller and paler beaks.
The calls of the rock toco consist of a series of loud, high-pitched "pi-pi-pi-pi-pi-pi-pi-pihuh" whistles.
Possible confusion
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In the comparatively small area of distribution of the rock tookos, there are only two species that can be confused with it. The distribution area of the Crown Toko ( Tockus albiterminatus ) overlaps in the extreme northeast of the Felsentoko distribution area. The gray Toko occurs in the entire distribution area of the rock gate.
The crowned toco is the hornbill species that is most similar to the rock toco. However, it has dark soot-brown plumage and the beak has a more reddish color. The gray Toko is also drawn whitish on the belly, but its body plumage is brown-gray, the beak has no red or orange tones.
The remotely similar Monteiro tokos ( Tockus monteiri ) has a distribution area that lies west of that of the rock tokos . It has a strongly curved beak and the outer tail feathers are completely white.
distribution
The rock toco is widespread in Mopane forests and thorn bush savannahs in northeastern Namibia , here especially on Waterberg , northern Botswana , southeastern Angola and eastern Zimbabwe .
On the Wartenberg, the rock toko occurs particularly in wooded gorges that are rich in water. From there he drinks into the dry acacia savannah to look for food. In some areas it is common. During the dry season from May to September, the rock toco is particularly noticeable in its area of distribution, because it is then also in larger groups looking for food. Troops consisting of up to 62 individuals were counted.
Way of life
The diet consists of insects , small reptiles , fruits and seeds, which they usually ingest on the ground. Termites play a special role in its diet.
The rock toco is a monogamous bird and probably defends a territory in most of its range during the summer breeding season . Overall, very little is known about the breeding biology of the Rock Tokos. As with all tokos, the rock toko is a cave breeder that uses tree hollows and crevices in the rock. The female walls herself up to 10 days before she begins to lay eggs in this brood cavity. While she is sitting in the breeding cave she goes through the moulting. The male brings food to the brood cavity every hour and a half to two hours.
The male feeds the female until she comes out of the breeding cave after having passed the moult. By that time the nestlings are half grown. Both parent birds feed the nestlings from this point on.
Trivia
The specific epithet bradfieldi honors the South African couple RD Bradfield and M. Bradfield. RD Bradfield (1882–1949) worked in Namibia not only as a farmer, but also as a collector and scientist. The South African ornithologist Austin Roberts , who first described the species, named this Toko after the couple because they found the specimen copy near their farm on Waterberg and sent it to him in the Transvaal Museum .
literature
- W. Grummt , H. Strehlow (Ed.): Zoo animal keeping birds. Verlag Harri Deutsch, Frankfurt am Main 2009, ISBN 978-3-8171-1636-2 .
- Alan Kemp: The Hornbills - Bucerotiformes . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1995, ISBN 0-19-857729-X .
Web links
- Lophoceros bradfieldi in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2012. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved on October 1, 2016th
- Image on a stamp at www.bird-stamps.org
- The rock gate calls to Xeno-Canto
Single receipts
- ↑ Lophoceros bradfieldi in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2016 Posted by: BirdLife International, 2016. Retrieved on 3 October 2017th
- ↑ a b Kemp: The Hornbills - Bucerotiformes . P. 114.
- ↑ Calls of the Rock Gate on Xeno-Canto , accessed October 1, 2016
- ↑ Kemp: The Hornbills - Bucerotiformes . P. 115.
- ↑ a b c Kemp: The Hornbills - Bucerotiformes . P. 116.
- ↑ Bo Beolens, Michael Watkins: Whose Bird? Men and Women commemorated in the common names of Birds ( English ). Christopher Helm, London 2003, p. 205.