Fishing star
| Fishing star | ||||||||||||
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Fishing star |
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| Lamprotornis fischeri | ||||||||||||
| ( Reichenow , 1884) |
The fishing starfish ( Lamprotornis fischeri ) from the genus of the actual glossy starlings ( Lamprotornis ) is a species of bird from the family of starlings (Sturnidae) and belongs to the order of the passerine birds (Passeriformes). In the past it was classified in the genus Spreo , but based on genetic analysis, the classification in Lamprotornis is considered to be certain. It is an endemic species in East Africa that is classified as not endangered in its range. It feeds primarily on insects on the ground and inhabits dry thorn bush land and bushy grass land.
features
Physique and plumage
With its approx. 18 cm length, it is considered to be the smallest among the actual glossy starlings and weighs around 46 grams. It has so-called structure feathers, which produce their colors without pigments by refraction. The special shine is caused by the melanosomes embedded in the structure of the feathers in the melanocytes , which are under a keratin film . The specialty of these melanosomes are their rod-shaped and hollow shape. The top of the head, sometimes down to the neck, is a shiny light gray with a brownish tinge and dark black-brown reins between the eyes and beak. The back of the head, neck, upper chest area and shoulders are in a darker gray-brown, which continues on the top to the tail in different nuances. The outer wings are bronze-green in color and the wings are brownish. The lower chest, girdle, rump and lower tail feathers are white. Due to the structural feathers, the colors appear sometimes more gray and sometimes more brown depending on the incidence of light. The legs and beak are black.
The juveniles have a similar plumage as the adult fisherman's starlings. However, their colors are more brown and the white tones on the belly, abdomen and lower tail feathers are yellowish white. The eyes are brown.
eye
The iris of the eyes is creamy white. Like most bird species, except for the nocturnal birds, the fishing starlings see their environment differently than we humans. In contrast to humans, the star has four and not just three types of photoreceptors (also called photoreceptors ) on the retina for color vision . In addition to the thinner rod-shaped receptors responsible for black and white vision, four cone-shaped receptor types are responsible for perception in starlings (tetrachromatic vision). Three of the four cone-shaped receptor types are responsible for the area of light that is visible to humans (trichromatic vision), which make the three primary colors red, green and blue visible. The fourth receptor is responsible for the perception in the area of ultraviolet light , which is not visible to humans. The incidence of light stimulates the various types of receptors within the strongly folded membranes, which are provided with different colored oil droplets, with different intensities. The responsible receptors react more or less strongly to the different wavelengths of light, so that the different colors and hues are perceived. The additional UV receptor compared to humans allows starlings to perceive our environment in a much more differentiated or different way. With the help of the UV receptors, the star is able to better and more easily recognize differences in other conspecifics, the degree of ripeness of the fruit or traces that we cannot see.
Vocalizations
He has a broad repertoire of calls that are rolling or croaking and that are also presented in combination. Sometimes these are produced quite indistinctly in whispering tones.
Habitat and Distribution
The habitat of the fisherman's star is the dry thorn bush savannah and bushy grassland, often with trees that extend from the lowlands and regularly up to 1400 m. Occasionally he was observed at heights of up to 1900 m.
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Its distribution area is in East Africa and is given as about 643,000 km². The northern area lies in southeast Ethiopia with a rarer occurrence as well as in more southern Somalia , where it is considered widespread south of the 5th parallel . In Kenya it is a common species and its southern range extends to the lowlands of the Maasai country in Tanzania south of Kilimanjaro , the Tarangire National Park and the area of the Mkomazi game reserve .
Way of life and behavior
The fishing star is mostly resident, but regional and local movement patterns have been observed in Kenya. They usually appear in pairs or small groups and occasionally in small flocks of up to 40 birds. The foraging for food does not only take place with conspecifics, but often also regionally different, with other species, such as the royal starling ( Lamprotornis regius ) from the genus of the actual glossy starlings or the buffalo weaver ( Bubalornis niger ) from the genus of the weaver birds (Ploceidae). Its food is largely insects such as termites and beetles as well as worms, all of which are ingested on the ground. The ingestion of fruits was also observed in isolated cases.
Reproduction
The fishing star is a cooperative breeder who, together with helpers, raises the juveniles. These can also be other breeding pairs. He builds a coarse, closed nest at a height of about 2.0 to 2.5 m with a side entrance, which he embeds with grass. It lays 3-6 bluish eggs with purple and dark spots. The main breeding seasons vary from region to region between March and June. A special feature is that 2 breeding seasons have been observed in Kenya. Next to April, the second breeding season is September.
Hazardous situation
The fishing star is considered a common species in its area of distribution and is not considered endangered by the IUCN (least concern).
Systematics
The fisherman's gloss star is directly related to seven other actual gloss star ( Lamprotornis ). Its sister species is the white-headed gloss star ( Lamprotornis albicapillus ). In the past, the two-colored gloss star ( Lamprotornis bicolor ) formed its own genus Spreo together with the two previously mentioned species . On the basis of large-scale studies with genetic engineering analyzes, all three species were assigned to the genus Lamprotornis .
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literature
- Charles Hilary Fry , Stuart Keith , Emil K. Urban (Eds.): The Birds of Africa. Volume VI: Picathartes to Oxpeckers. Christopher Helm, London 2000, ISBN 978-0-12-137306-1 , pp. 610-612.
- Rafael Maia, Dustin R. Rubenstein and Matthew D. Shawkey in: "Key ornamental innovations facilitate diversification in an avian radiation". Biological Sciences - Evolution: PNAS 2013 110 (26) 10687-10692; published ahead of print June 10, 2013, doi: 10.1073 / pnas.1220784110 . Full text . Retrieved March 26, 2015.
- Frederike Woog Seeing and being seen - color vision of birds in: Der Falke - Journal für Vogelbeobachter 5/2009. ( [1] . Retrieved on July 11, 2015.)
- Irby J. Lovette, Dustin R. Rubenstein: A comprehensive molecular phylogeny of the starlings (Aves: Sturnidae) and mockingbirds (Aves: Mimidae). Congruent mtDNA and nuclear trees for a cosmopolitan avian radiation. In: Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 44, 2007, pp. 1031-1056.
- GE Hill & KJ McGraw (Eds, 2006): Bird Coloration. Vol. 1: Mechanisms and Measurements; Vol. 2: Function and Evolution .
- AJFK Craig, CJ Feare: Family Sturnidae (Starlings) . In: J. del Hoyo, A. Elliot, DA Christie (Eds.): Handbook of the birds of the world. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows . Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2009, pp. 654-760.
Web links
Videos, photos and sound recordings of Lamprotornis fisheri in the Internet Bird Collection
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j C. H. Fry, S. Keith, EK Urban: The birds of Africa . Volume VI. Academic Press, London 2000. pp. 632-633.
- ^ A b Rafael Maia, Dustin R. Rubenstein, Matthew D. Shawkey: Key ornamental innovations facilitate diversification in an avian radiation . In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . tape 110 , no. 26 , June 25, 2013, ISSN 0027-8424 , p. 10687-10692 , doi : 10.1073 / pnas.1220784110 ( pnas.org ).
- ↑ a b Frederike Woog: Seeing and being seen - color vision of birds. in: The falcon. - Journal for Bird Watchers 5/2009. ( Online ).
- ↑ a b c BirdLife International (2015) Species factsheet: Lamprotornis fischeri Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org./ Retrieved September 26, 2015.
- ↑ a b Irby J. Lovette, Dustin R. Rubenstein 2007: A comprehensive molecular phylogeny of the Starlings and Mockingbirds - Congruent mtDNA and nuclear trees for a cosmopolitan avian radiation. ( Memento of the original from November 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on columbia.edu, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
