Gray-backed crow shrike
| Gray-backed crow shrike | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gray-backed crow shrike ( Cracticus torquatus ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Cracticus torquatus | ||||||||||||
| ( Latham , 1802) |
The gray-backed crow's shrike ( Cracticus torquatus ) is a songbird from the shrike crows family that is found in Australia and neighboring islands.
The IUCN classifies the population of the gray-backed crow's shrike as harmless ( least concern ). There are two subspecies.
features
Gray-backed crow shrike reach a body length of 27 to 30 centimeters. Their wing span is 41 centimeters and their weight averages 90 grams.
The gray-backed crow shrike is black on the head and tail, gray on the back and wings, and white on the neck spot, on the underside and the tip of the tail. There is a hook-shaped tip on the strong beak. There is no pronounced gender dimorphism . Some females are only slightly paler and duller in color.
In young birds, the parts of the body that are black in adult birds are still dark brown. The white plumage is interspersed with gray and brown dashes. Subadult birds already largely show the plumage of the adult birds, but they also have brown areas and the plumage is generally more dull.
Possible confusion
Due to its gray coat and white throat, the gray-backed crow's shrike can hardly be confused with any other species. The black-throated crow's shrike is significantly larger and has a black throat and pronounced black and white plumage. The range of the gray-backed crow's shrike also does not overlap with that of the black-backed crow's shrike , which is more similar in plumage. This occurs in Australia only on the Cape York Peninsula , the distribution area of the two species is adjacent to each other.
distribution and habitat
The gray-backed crow shrike is a widespread bird in Australia, Tasmania and neighboring islands. In West Australia and South Australia, population numbers have declined after these regions became more used for agriculture. In other regions it has benefited from the fact that dense eucalyptus forests have been partially cut down or cleared. He is a resident.
The gray-backed crow shrike lives in forests and in wooded landscapes in large parts of Australia and Tasmania with the exception of desert regions. It is very adaptable and colonizes a number of very different arid, semi-arid, temperate and tropical habitats. These include sparse eucalyptus forests, the mallee , acacia bushland, rainforest and gallery forests. The gray-backed crow's shrike is also more common in urban areas.
behavior
The gray-backed crow shrike lives solitary, in pairs or in small family groups. It is an attentive and shy bird, but it gets used to people in an urban environment and can become trusting when fed there. Its presence is often noticed because honey-eaters and other songbirds hate it . The flight is quick and direct, long gliding phases are replaced by fast, flat wing beats.
The gray-backed crow shrike hunts in the wood from a hide of insects, reptiles, rodents and smaller birds. The prey is impaled on thorns or in a fork of a branch in order to be able to chop it up better or to store it. Fruits and seeds are also part of the diet.
Reproduction
.jpg)
The female incubates three to five eggs for about 25 days in a bowl-shaped nest made of twigs and leaves in a fork of a branch. Both parents feed the young birds for about four weeks. These often stay with the parents for a year or longer and help raise further offspring.
Gray-backed crow shrike and human
The gray-backed crow's shrike has mainly benefited from the European colonization of the Australian continent and was able to expand its distribution area into regions that previously existed with dense eucalyptus forests. In some regions, such as around Sydney and Melbourne, it is also found in suburbs and urban parks.
Conflicts arise because he also occasionally kills chickens and caged birds. It is also very aggressive in the vicinity of the nest and then attacks people. It used to be kept as an ornamental bird. Its presence is encouraged in some regions because its presence drives away the gray-mantled goggles ( Zosterops lateralis ), which can cause greater damage on orchards.
literature
- Colin Harrison & Alan Greensmith: Birds . Dorling Kindersly Limited, London 1993, 2000, ISBN 3-831-00785-3 .
- 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 .
- Bryan Richard: Birds . Parragon, Bath, ISBN 1-405-45506-3 .
Web links
- Cracticus torquatus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed January 2 of 2009.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Cracticus torquatus in the Internet Bird Collection
Single receipts
- ↑ Handbook of the Birds of the World on Gray-Backed Crow Shrike , accessed on May 9, 2017
- ^ Higgins, Peter & Cowling: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: Volume 7 Boatbill to Starlings, Part A: Boatbill to Larks . P. 504.
- ^ Higgins, Peter & Cowling: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: Volume 7 Boatbill to Starlings, Part A: Boatbill to Larks . P. 490.
- ↑ 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. 491.
- ^ Higgins, Peter & Cowling: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: Volume 7 Boatbill to Starlings, Part A: Boatbill to Larks . P. 512.
- ^ Higgins, Peter & Cowling: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: Volume 7 Boatbill to Starlings, Part A: Boatbill to Larks . P. 493.
- ^ A b Higgins, Peter & Cowling: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: Volume 7 Boatbill to Starlings, Part A: Boatbill to Larks . P. 494.