Goughammertangare

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Goughammertangare
Image of a male Goughammer Tangerine

Image of a male Goughammer Tangerine

Systematics
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
Family : Tangaren (Thraupidae)
Subfamily : Diglossinae
Genre : Rowettia
Type : Goughammertangare
Scientific name of the  genus
Rowettia
Lowe , 1923
Scientific name of the  species
Rowettia goughensis
( WE Clarke , 1904)

The Goughammertangare , also Goughammerfink or Rowettia ( Rowettia goughensis ) is endemic to the Gough Island in the southern Atlantic . Goughammertangaren are hunted by introduced house mice ( Mus musculus ). The birds are pushed back into the suboptimal highlands by the mice, their habitat decreases and the population declines. The IUCN sees the species as critically endangered (CR), conservation measures are urgently needed.

features

According to the literature, Goughammertangars reach a body length of 18 or 23 to 26 cm and a weight of 50 to 56 g. They are large, stocky songbirds , also known as " finches ", with a long, pointed, black beak that is thick at the base and otherwise relatively narrow. The males are predominantly olive-green with black reins and bib. Females and juveniles are colored yellowish-brown-olive with dark brown dotted lines above and below. In juvenile animals there appear to be two “striped” youth clothes with a transition phase to the adult olive-colored plumage.

In his first description, Clarke mentioned the following characteristics:

“Color above and below generally olive green with a silvery gray tint. Middle of the abdomen, the coverts of the tail and a stripe from the forehead to behind the eyes and the cheek stripe olive yellow. Chin, throat and reins black. Wings and arms dark with dark gray tips, outer flags lined with light olive green. Middle tail feathers olive green, the rest gray lined with green tint. Bill and feet carnation-brown. "

immature Goughammertangare

Habitat and way of life

Goughammer tangerines are most common in tussock grasslands, wet heath and plateaus ( fells ) up to a height of 800 m. They are less common in ferns and peat bogs . The hatchery takes place from September to December. The open cup-shaped nest is built by the female, protected by overhanging vegetation or a rock, on or near the ground , mostly on steep slopes or cliffs. The clutch usually consists of two eggs, and both sexes are involved in rearing the chicks. The young can fledge in November and December. Different plumage suggests that it takes at least three years for the birds to fully develop adult plumage. Goughammertangars spend a large part of the day foraging for food. The food is taken mostly on or near the ground, birds in the lowlands but they take many of epiphytes of the island trees and blechnum . In the highlands, invertebrates are found lifting off moss cushions or other loose vegetation, or insects are read from plants. Occasionally, flies and moths are caught in flight. Goughammertangaren mainly feed on invertebrates (80% of the feed), but also eat fruits and grass seeds. When looting nests, they also take broken eggs and eat bird carcasses.

Etymology and history of research

The Goughammertangare was first described in 1904 and 1905 by William Eagle Clarke as two species with the scientific names Nesospiza goughensis for birds with the olive-colored plumage of adults and as Nesospiza jessiae for birds with the different, dashed juvenile plumage . He considered the transitional fletching of young birds to be the winter plumage of Nesospiza goughensis . In 1923 Percy Roycroft Lowe corrected this wrong view and created, among other things, due to the unusually long beak, the new, separate genus Rowettia for this species and Nesospiza jessiae as a synonym for the Goughammertangare. The generic name honors John Quiller Rowett (1876-1924), a sponsor of the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition. The additional species goughensis refers to the Gough Island, the place where this species was found or where it is found. »Jessiae« is Jessie Bruce nee. Dedicated to Mackenzie (1870–1942).

literature

  • James A. Jobling: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 .
  • William Eagle Clarke: On behalf of Mr. W. Eagle Clarke (who was unfortunately unable to be present), Dr. Sclater exhibited specimen of two new species of birds discovered during the voyage of the Antarctic ship 'Scotia', and read the following description . In: Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club . tape 15 , 1904, pp. 18-19 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Percy Roycroft Lowe: Notes on some Land Birds of the Tristan da Cunha Group collected by the 'Quest' Expedition . In: The Ibis (=  12 ). tape 1 , no. 31 , 1923, pp. 511-528 , doi : 10.1111 / j.1474-919X.1923.tb08110.x .

Web links

Commons : Goughammertangare  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b P. Ryan, CJ Sharpe (2018): Gough Finch (Rowettia goughensis). In: J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, DA Christie, E. de Juana (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (accessed December 1, 2018 online )
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g IUCN
  3. ^ Clarke's first description in Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club.
  4. ^ A b c d Peter G. Ryan, Richard J. Cuthbert: The Biology and Conservation Status of Gough Bunting Rowettia Goughensis. In: Bulletin of The British Ornithologists' Club , 2008, 128 (4), pp. 242-253. ( Online )
  5. ^ Percy Roycroft Lowe, p. 512.
  6. ^ William Eagle Clarke, p. 18.
  7. ^ William Eagle Clarke, p. 19.