Golden arborebird
| Golden arborebird | ||||||||||||
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Drawing of the golden arborebird |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Sericulus aureus | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The Gold Laubenvogel ( Sericulus aureus ) is a colorful way from the family of Bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchidae). With a body length of about 24 centimeters, it is a relatively small bower bird. It occurs exclusively in eastern New Guinea and is one of the species of this genus, whose courtship behavior includes the construction of an arbor by the male. As is typical for bowerbirds, there is a striking sexual dimorphism . No subspecies are distinguished. The flaming arborebird ( Sericulus ardens ), which was previously classified as a subspecies of the golden arborebird, is now classified as a separate species.
The IUCN specifies that the golden arborebird is not at risk ( least concern ).
features
The males of the golden arborebird reach a body length of up to 24 centimeters, of which between 7.7 and 9.9 centimeters are on the tail. The females become slightly larger with a body length of up to 25 centimeters. With them fall between 8.2 and 9.7 centimeters on the tail plumage. The beak length is between 2.6 and 3.3 centimeters in the males and between 3 and 3.3 centimeters in the females. Males weigh between 175 and 180 grams, females weigh between 165 and 175 grams.
Appearance of the males
The crown and neck of the male of the golden arborebird are orange-red. In contrast, the side of the face, the chin and the throat are black. The upper neck feathers are elongated and in some individuals are so long that they fall down on the sides of the neck. The feathers of the coat are also elongated. They are stronger orange in the upper part of the coat than the neck feathers, but lighten to a yellow-orange in the lower part of the coat. The back, the rump and most of the upper tail covers are solid yellow-orange. The yellow and orange plumage is very shiny, so that when the light falls, white highlights form on the plumage.
The control springs are dark black-brown with umber-colored spring shafts and narrow orange-yellow tips on the outer control springs. The elytra are bright orange-yellow. The outermost hand-wing is black-brown with a pale orange-yellow base; the orange-yellow feather share increases until the innermost hand rocker has only a black-brown feather tip. The arm wings are orange-yellow with black-brown feather tips. The size of this black-brown feather tip decreases the closer the wing is to the body.
The underside of the body is completely a light yellow-orange, which is palest on the under tail-coverts. Some individuals have a small black spot on either side of the chest, but this is usually covered by the folded wings. The legs are blue-gray, the iris is lemon yellow to porcelain white.
Appearance of the female
The female is olive-colored on the entire upper side of the body, the head is somewhat paler than the rest of the upper side of the body. The ear covers , the chin and the throat are even lighter and can be clay-colored. The dark feather tips also make the chin and throat appear slightly scaled. Individual pale yellow feathers make the coat appear striped to a different extent. The wing covers have a more cinnamon brown tone, while the arm and hand wings are olive brown. The wings of the hand have lighter hems on the outer flags. The tail plumage is the same color as the wings on the upper side.
On the underside of the body, the throat becomes increasingly orange-yellow, the breast is completely orange-yellow, the rest of the underside of the body is pale orange-yellow. The feathers are darkly lined on the sides of the chest so that training is created. The under tail-coverts are pale orange-yellow. The control springs are brown-black with pale yellow spring shafts. The beak is gray-brown, the legs are gray, and the iris is brown.
Fledglings
Subadult male golden foliage birds are similar to the adult female, but with increasing age they have more and more individual feathers that resemble the plumage of the male. Fledglings also have a more pointed tail plumage than the adult birds. The feathers on the shoulder and coat have pale yellow feather shafts, which are absent in adult birds.
distribution and habitat
The golden arborebird is endemic to New Guinea . The distribution area is disjoint and limited to a few mountain regions in the northern half. The main area of distribution is in the Indonesian part of the island. Golden deciduous birds occur at altitudes between 950 and 1350 meters.
A large distribution area is in the north of the Vogelkop , which exists in the high areas with mountain rainforests. The Wandammen- also belongs to the distribution area. Weyland, Oranje, Torricelli and Prince Alexander Mountains. All of these mountains are made up of mountain rainforests.
The golden arborebird stays mainly in the treetop area.
Way of life
Diet
The food spectrum of the golden arborebird has not yet been conclusively investigated, but it seems to feed mainly on fruits and also on insects. Figs appear to play a huge role in his diet. A female that could be observed at Vogelkop stayed in the same tree as a hut gardener without any interaction between these two leafy bird species. A full-grown male and a female ate in the same fruit-bearing tree as a red-capped fruit pigeon and a sickle-tailed bird of paradise .
Arbor construction
As is typical for most bowerbirds, the male golden bowerbird also builds an arbor that serves as a courtship area. Scientifically described arbors have so far been found on the Indonesian Vogelkop peninsula in the Arfak and Tamrau mountains .
The arbors of the golden arborebird correspond to those found in other species of the genus Sericulus . They belong to the so-called "avenue type" with two parallel walls made of twigs. The arbor found in the Tamraugebirge had a 17.8 centimeter long portico and a height of around 25 centimeters. The arbor was decorated with objects: five oval blue berries and a black mushroom with a diameter of 2.5 centimeters. Two days later, two of the berries disappeared, and instead a snail shell was in the portico.
One of the examined arbors in the Arfak Mountains had four or five lime green small leaves in the arbor. The other Laube had eight Elaeocarpus -Fruits in the arcade. A purple leaf was in the entrance area and another fruit was in front of the entrance. Another arbor was laid out in the arbor with purple fruits, a blue Elaeocarpus fruit, yellow to bronze-colored leaves of various sizes and the arbor walls were painted. Black-eared bowerbirds could be observed stealing fruit from this arbor and eating them a meter away from the arbor.
In one of the observed arbors, the male built between two and 30 minutes on his arbor, the average was 10 minutes. He could be seen at the arbor between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. and between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. In the afternoons he was only occasionally near the arbor.
Courtship behavior
In the Arfak and Tamraugebirge the males of the observed arbors courted from August to November. The courtship behavior has not yet been conclusively investigated. Film sequences are only available for a male who was courting in front of his arbor without a female or another male in the vicinity. The observed courtship behavior includes turning the head and beak away from the arbor. The wing towards which the head is turned is dropped and opened slightly. In addition, the ruffled tail plumage is pushed as far as possible towards the belly. Jumps, short wing flaps and serpentine head movements are also part of the repertoire.
Reproduction
So far no nests of the golden arborebird have been found. Females ready to reproduce were observed in July.
literature
- Clifford B. Frith, Dawn. W. Frith: The Bowerbirds - Ptilonorhynchidae . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-854844-3 .
Web links
- Sericulus aureus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2011. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2016. Retrieved on April 1, 2017th
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Frith: The Bowerbirds - Ptilonorhynchidae . P. 335.
- ↑ a b Handbook of the Birds of the World zum Goldlaubenvogel , accessed April 1, 2017
- ↑ Sericulus aureus in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016.10. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
- ↑ Frith: The Bowerbirds - Ptilonorhynchidae . P. 333.
- ↑ a b Frith: The Bowerbirds - Ptilonorhynchidae . P. 334.
- ↑ a b c Frith: The Bowerbirds - Ptilonorhynchidae . P. 336.
- ↑ a b c d Frith: The Bowerbirds - Ptilonorhynchidae . P. 338.