Fox tail
| Fox tail | ||||||||||||
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Fox tail |
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| Rhipidura rufifrons | ||||||||||||
| ( Latham , 1801) |
The fox fan tail ( Rhipidura rufifrons ) is a songbird from the family of the fan tails (Rhipiduridae), which occurs from the Mariana Islands to Australia. Its common German name refers to the color of the tail plumage.
The stocks are considered not endangered in its entire range. Several subspecies are distinguished.
features
The fox fan tail has very conspicuous plumage, which almost rules out any confusion with another bird species. Between the sexes of the subjects fox tail is neither in the plumage coloration still in Build a dimorphism .
It reaches a body length of 14.5 to 18.5 cm. The beak is 12.4.8-15.2 mm long. It has a wing length of 67-78.5 mm, its tail measures 78-93 mm. The weight is between 8 and 14 g.
In the adult birds, the head and neck are gray-brown, on the forehead there is a broad orange-brown-red band. A noticeable, crescent-shaped white line runs under the eye. A thinner and less noticeable eyelid is also white. The coat and the back are gray-brown, the rump, the upper tail-coverts and the basal half of the tail plumage, on the other hand, are bright orange-brown. The rest of the tail plumage is dark gray with white feather tips. The folded wings are gray-brown.
The chin and throat are white and bordered by a black chest band. The breast sides are gray-brown, otherwise the basic color of the breast plumage is white with black spots. The belly is white, the flanks, the rump and the under tail-coverts are light brown. The beak is black, the lower bill is pink at the base. The iris is dark brown. Legs and feet are brownish pink to grayish brown.
Fledglings are basically similar to adults. The coat and the back are a little more intense reddish brown. The head plumage is a little more dull and the individual parts of the plumage are not so sharply separated.
distribution and habitat
The distribution area of the fox tail extends from the Marianas over the Yap Islands , Sulawesi and Moluccas over the south of New Guinea to Australia. In Australia, it occurs in a wide strip along the coast of Kimberley across northern Australia and the Cape York Peninsula to the south of the Australian state of Victoria. Some of the offshore islands are also settled along the Australian coast. Also in the Torres Strait , the approximately 185 km wide strait between the northeast Australian Cape York Peninsula and the south coast of New Guinea, several of the islands located there are colonized by the fox tail. In Tasmania, however, he is a rare stray visitor.
The habitat of the fox tail are damp forests. These include eucalyptus, mangrove and rainforests as well as forest areas along rivers and in wetlands. In contrast, it is rarely found in dry hardwood forests.
The fox fan tail is mainly found in the undergrowth and in the lower treetop area. The altitude distribution ranges from lowlands to altitudes of 1400 meters.
Migratory behavior
Some of the populations are resident birds , while the populations along the east coast of Australia, for example, are distinct migratory birds. In the Australian winter they move across the Cape York Peninsula and the islands of the Torres Strait to southern New Guinea. The move follows a very clear seasonal pattern. In the winter half of the year there are no fox tails in southeast Australia. The move begins at the end of February, the withdrawal begins in September. It is known from data from ringed birds that fox tails sometimes stay in one place for several weeks during migration.
There are also seasonal high-altitude hikes in the Atherton Tableland region .
food
The fox fan tail mainly eats small insects. He finds them mainly in the dense undergrowth of forests, but he occasionally looks for food in tree tops. It is a very active, agile bird that catches some of the insects it previously scared off in flight. Occasionally the insects are pecked by leaves. Only very rarely does it come to the ground to look for food to look for insects in the layer of leaves on the ground.
While searching for food, it is occasionally associated with the spectacle monarch , forest thickhead ( Colluricincla megarhyncha ) and pale-forehead sericornis ( Sericornis magnirostris ).
Reproduction
The breeding season falls from September to February. The nest is usually built in small to large bushes, creeping thickets, and low trees. The nests of individual fox fan tail pairs are occasionally only a few meters apart. Fox fan tails also breed closer to gray fan tails and masked monarchs ( Monarcha melanopsis ).
The nest is cup-shaped and very densely woven from grass, small roots, fine strips of bark, plant material and cobwebs. Many nests have a tail-shaped appendage. Including this attachment, it has a height of 11.4 centimeters and a diameter of 6.4 centimeters. The actual nesting trough has a diameter of 4.4 centimeters and is on average 3.8 centimeters deep. Fox fan tails build their nests between 8 and 15 days, both parent birds are involved.
The clutch usually consists of two to three eggs. The eggs are laid about 24 hours apart. If the clutch is lost (for example due to predators), the females are able to lay a new clutch within 18 days. Both parent birds breed and replace each other in quick succession. They are very firmly seated, brooding fox-fan tails tolerate close proximity, for example by humans. The breeding season is between 15 and 17 days.
The nestlings are naked and blind when they hatch. The eyes only open on the third to fifth day of life. Both parent birds take care of the nestlings equally. These fledge after about 11 days.
Life expectancy
Between 1953 and 2001, a total of 4555 fox tails were ringed in Australia, New Guinea and on islands in the southwestern Pacific, of which 625 were found. Several recoveries show that fox tails can live for several years. A bird ringed in the Brindabella Range , New South Wales was recaptured at the ringing site nine years and 1 month later.
Danger
The migrating populations depend on finding appropriate habitat on their migration. The fragmentation of rainforests and wet forest areas is one of the factors that negatively affects the population. In addition, urbanization and the cutting down of wet forests are reducing the size of the areas in which the fox tail breeds.
literature
- PJ Higgins, JM Peter and SJ Cowling: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: Volume 7 Boatbill to Starlings, Part A: Boatbill to Larks . Oxford University Press, Melbourne 2006, ISBN 978-0-195-55884-5 .
Web links
Single receipts
- ↑ a b c Higgins, Peter & Cowling: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: Volume 7 Boatbill to Starlings, Part A: Boatbill to Larks . P. 163.
- ↑ Handbook of the Birds of the World on the fox tail , accessed on May 17, 2017
- ^ Higgins, Peter & Cowling: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: Volume 7 Boatbill to Starlings, Part A: Boatbill to Larks . P. 171.
- ^ Higgins, Peter & Cowling: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: Volume 7 Boatbill to Starlings, Part A: Boatbill to Larks . P. 162.
- ^ Higgins, Peter & Cowling: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: Volume 7 Boatbill to Starlings, Part A: Boatbill to Larks . P. 161.
- ↑ a b c d Higgins, Peter & Cowling: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: Volume 7 Boatbill to Starlings, Part A: Boatbill to Larks . P. 165.
- ^ Higgins, Peter & Cowling: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: Volume 7 Boatbill to Starlings, Part A: Boatbill to Larks . P. 168.
- ↑ a b c Higgins, Peter & Cowling: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: Volume 7 Boatbill to Starlings, Part A: Boatbill to Larks . P. 169.