Garnet cone
| Garnet cone | ||||||||||||
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Pomegranate deer, Pilanesberg National Park , South Africa |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Uraeginthus granatina | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1766) |
The pomegranate ( Uraeginthus granatina ) is a species of bird in the finch family . Its distribution area includes southern Africa .
The systematic classification of this species has not yet been finally clarified. The IUCN assigns this species to the Blauastrilden ( Uraeginthus ); Jürgen Nicolai and Joachim Steinbacher, on the other hand, place this species together with the violet tiger in the genus Granatina . Here the classification of the IUCN followed.
description
Garnet strilde have a body length of 13 to 14 centimeters and thus belong to the large species of finch. The beak is bright red. This red is also repeated around the eyes, which are brown in color. The cheeks are lavender and are sometimes set off by a fine stripe against the rest of the plumage, which is dark maroon. The females resemble the males in their plumage , but they are a little lighter colored on the underside of the body. The singing is performed by both sexes. It's chirping, dragging and fluting.
Distribution and way of life
The distribution area of the garnet trild is the largest part of southern Africa. It stretches from the south of Angola over the west of Zambia and over Namibia , Botswana to the north of South Africa . There is also a limited range in southern Mozambique . However, these can also be refugees from prison . The habitat of the garnet trildes are the drier thorn bush savannahs and light acacia forest. Garnet strilde live in pairs or in small groups, but never in larger schools. They are occasionally associated with Blauastrilden and Buntastrilden . The pomegranate strild mainly looks for food on the ground. They mainly eat small seeds, especially grass seeds, as well as fruit pulp, nectar and insects. They are able to pick seeds directly from the ears of grass by pulling the individual stalks close with one foot and holding it.
In South Africa and Zimbabwe, the breeding season of the pomegranate falls from January to May and thus in the southern late summer and autumn. The courtship is a halmbalz in which the male carries a blade of grass in its beak and uses it to point to the female. They are territorial birds that defend the environment around their nest. Granatastrilde are free breeders who build their nests free-standing in the bushes. They use soft grass, ribs of grass and roots as nesting material. The female lays between 3 and five eggs . The incubation period is about 13 days.
The breeding parasite of the pomegranate is the king's widow .
Keeping them as pet birds
Madame de Pompadour is considered the first European holder of a pomegranate deer , who received a male as a gift in 1754 and looked after it for three years. In the second half of the 19th century, garnet strilde was imported into Europe in large numbers. The first birds of this species probably came to Germany in 1874. Garnet strilde have been imported relatively regularly since 1950, but they are still a rare bird. This species is only bred by a few specialists.
Garnet trildes are very demanding to keep because they love sun and warmth. You need a large indoor aviary or a garden aviary that includes a shelter where the room temperature does not drop below 25 degrees Celsius. For their well-being, they also need between 12 and 14 hours of light a day, which must be ensured with daylight lamps, especially in the winter months.
literature
- Horst Bielfeld : Knowing and caring for 300 ornamental birds. Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-8001-5737-2 .
- Jürgen Nicolai (Ed.), Joachim Steinbacher (Ed.), Renate van den Elzen, Gerhard Hofmann, Claudia Mettke-Hofmann: Prachtfinken - Afrika , Series Handbuch der Vogelpflege, Eugen Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-8001- 4964-3
Web links
- Avibase entry pomegranate ( Uraeginthus granatinus ) (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Granatina granatina inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved November 24, 2013.