Greenheads
| Greenheads | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Green-headed ( Agapornis swindestianus ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Agapornis swindestianus | ||||||||||||
| ( Kuhl , 1820) |
The green head ( Agapornis swindestianus ), also Swinderen's inseparable , or collar band inseparable , is a species from the genus of the inseparable . Together with the other species of this genus, as well as the gray parrot , the long wing parrots , the Rose-ringed Parakeet and Madagascar endemic Vasa Parrots this type is a typical parrot species of Afrotropical .
description
_by_Edward_Lear.jpg)
Green heads are 13 to 15 cm long and 39 to 41 g in weight. They have a striking green head that is paler on the sides. In the neck there is a black band that merges into a faded yellowish band. This continues around the neck and is getting paler and fades into the throat, washed out yellow. The back and the wing covers are green, but in the area of the lower back, the rump and the upper tail coverts they change color to an ultramarine blue. The underside is light green. The wings are green on the inside and merge into black at the tips and end in a green hem on the outer edge. The underside of the wing is entirely green. The tail is colored red at its base and turns into green again via a black band. The tail feathers in the middle, however, are entirely green. The eyes are yellow to orange. The upper bill is black and the lower bill gray, the feet are also gray. In young birds the black neck band is completely absent and the beak is lighter. There is no color differentiation between the sexes.
distribution and habitat
The distribution area of the green head extends to Liberia and Ghana , Cameroon , Gabon , the Central African Republic , the Congo and western Uganda . It is so large that there are three geographical subspecies. The habitat includes evergreen lowland forests with dense vegetation and forests up to an altitude of 1800 m.
Lifestyle and diet
The preferred food of the greenheads seems to be figs. Because of this food specialization, green-headed people are only rarely cared for in human care. However, gastric examinations have also shown that they eat millet , semi-ripe maize and other fruits, as well as insect larvae and caterpillars that were found. In contrast to the other species of lovebirds, nothing is known about the nesting habits of the green-headed animal.
Utterance
Their calls are very muffled and resemble a chirp, they repeat themselves quickly and are sometimes very shrill in between. When alarmed, their screams turn into loud screeches.
Subspecies
- Agapornis swindestianus zenkeri (Reichenow), central Africa from South Cameroon via Gabon and the east and west of the Congo and south-west of the Central African Republic with a broader orange to reddish brown neck band
- Agapornis swindestianus emini (Neumann), Central Congo to West Uganda , darker color variant with a more curved beak
Trivia
The species was named after the professor at the University of Groningen Theodor van Swinderen (1784-1851).
Sources and References
literature
- Rosemary Low: Das Parrotienbuch , Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-8001-7191-0
- Werner Lantermann : Parrot Studies , Parey Buchverlag, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-8263-3174-5
- Georg A. Radtke : Inseparable (Agaporniden): keeping, breeding and color variations , Franckh, Stuttgart 1981, pp. 47–50, ISBN 3-440-04947-7
Web links
- Agapornis swindestianus inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
- Agapornids World , Retrieved August 16, 2014
- World Parrot Trust , Retrieved August 16, 2014
Individual evidence
- ↑ Low, p. 173
- ↑ Georg Radtke : Unzertrennliche (Agaporniden): Keeping, breeding and color variations , Franckh, Stuttgart 1981, pp. 47–50, ISBN 3-440-04947-7
- ↑ Lantermann, p. 461