Gray scale

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gray scale
Gray scale in Myanmar

Gray scale in Myanmar

Systematics
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
Superfamily : Sylvioidea
Family : Jays (Leiothrichidae)
Genre : Heterophasia
Type : Gray scale
Scientific name
Heterophasia gracilis
( Horsfield , 1840)
Gray scale in India

The Gray sibia ( Heterophasia gracilis ) is a species of the family of Häherlinge (Leiothrichidae) whose breeding distribution of northeast India as far as Myanmar and into southern China ranges. Their distribution is restricted to the "Eastern Himalayas" endemic bird area . However, it is quite common there and is viewed by the IUCN as not threatened (“least concern”).

description

The gray timalia is a 22.5–24.5 cm long, relatively slender and long-tailed timalia. The weight is 34–42 g. The sexes do not differ.

The beak of adult birds is black; the iris is red to brown. The brownish black color of the skull, which extends to the reins and the ear covers, runs out into the gray of the sides of the neck. The chin, throat and front sides of the neck are white and slightly lighter than the rest of the underside. The flanks are light gray, the chest and the rear underside are tinted lightly brownish beige. The back is a little darker brown than the neck; the upper tail-coverts are colored light gray. The upper wing is predominantly black with a light gray field, which is formed by the large arm covers and the umbrella feathers . The large arm covers are whitish at the base, the umbrella feathers are lined with black. The outer hand wings are light gray on the outer flag; the basal seams of the inner wings of the hand are shiny blue-black. The central control springs are gray with a wide, black subterminal band ; the outer ones show an increasing proportion of black, but have extensive gray tips. Legs and feet are dark brown to black.

In birds in juvenile plumage the skull is colored brownish than in adult animals. The upper side, including the shoulder feathers, is lighter and browner and the overall impression is a bit more dull in color.

voice

The singing of the Grautimalie (audio sample) is a very loud, sometimes sharp-sounding and long-term series of calls made of high, shrill whistling and clearly separated syllables, which mostly descend in pitch. It can be described as tu-tu-ti-ti-ti-tu , ti-ti-ti-ti-tiu-tu, or tiu-tiu-tiu-tiu-tiu . The calls include a rough metallic and strung trrit-trrit (audio sample). In addition, a quiet, fast, nasal and somewhat squeaking witwit-witarit and a soft trilling ti-tiew are described as a contact call .

Spreading and migrations

The brood distribution of the Grautimalia breaks down into three disjoint sub-areas. The first is in the northeastern Indian states south of Brahmaputra , the second in north and west Myanmar and the third in the west of the Chinese province of Yunnan . The species is stationary bird in the entire distribution area . According to unconfirmed reports, birds from higher elevations migrate to the valleys in winter.

habitat

The Grautimalie predominantly inhabits evergreen and deciduous deciduous forests such as oak and rhododendron forests , but sometimes also pine and mixed forests , managed forests and secondary forests . The altitude distribution is between 900 and 2800 m.

nutrition

The Grautimalia feeds on insects, berries, small fruits and seeds. She often looks for flowering shrubs or trees such as the Asian kapok tree to look for insects and nectar. Often, however, it can be found looking for food in the crown area, on branches and epiphytes overgrown with moss , and only occasionally visits the deeper bush layer. Outside the breeding season, it can often be found in small groups.

Reproduction

The breeding season for the greylag is between April and August. The nest stands up to 6 m high in the treetops, on outer rhododendron or pine branches or in the forks of young trees. It is a deep and sturdy bowl made of finely woven blades of grass, moss, roots, fibers and fresh pine needles. It is lined with fine grass components, roots and rhizomorphs . Both partners are involved in the construction. The clutch consists of two to three, more rarely four eggs, which are speckled or speckled on a bluish or greenish-gray, less often pink background, reddish-brown to dark or gray-brown. Both partners brood. Nothing is known about the incubation period and nestling time.

Systematics

The type specimen of the Grautimalie was collected on an expedition by John McClelland (1800-1883) to search for potential tea growing areas on behalf of the British East India Company in Assam . McClelland brought a large number of birds with him from this expedition and sought the help of Thomas Walker Horsfield for their scientific evaluation . In 1939 (official publication date 1940) he published the extensive evaluation in which 26 new species were described. The descriptions of these species come partly from drawings and notes provided by McClelland, but partly also from Horsfield, which is why the assignment of the first description (as well as the exact year) for many of these species is controversial or is given differently. The gray-scale is described here as Hypsipetes gracilis and according to Edward C. Dickinson, who carefully examined both the publication and the type specimens in 2003, the relevant passage (according to today's International Rules for Zoological Nomenclature ) comes from Horsfield. Some authors put the species in the genus Malacias , but mostly incorporated into the genus Heterophasia .

The gray-scale was traditionally classified in the family of the Timalia (Timalidae) - a taxonomic collective construct that was ridiculed by some experts as a "wastebasket" for all hopeless cases. Indeed, towards the end of the twentieth century, biometric and genetic research revealed that the family in the previous composition was both paraphyletic and polyphyletic . The restructuring based on genetic outcomes is complicated by some priority and naming issues and is not fully completed, let alone widely recognized. Currently (as of 2013), the gray timalia is part of the Leiothrichidae family, i.e. no longer counted among the actual timalia (Timalidae).

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mathias Ritschard: XC21903 (MP3) xeno-canto.org. November 1, 2006. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  2. ↑ Mathias Ritschard: XC21902 (MP3) xeno-canto.org. December 27, 2005. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  3. ^ Edward C. Dickinson: Systematic notes on Asian birds. 38. The McClelland drawings and a reappraisal of the 1835-36 survey of the birds of Assam , Zool. Verh. Leiden 344, 12.ix.2003, pp. 63-106, ISSN  0024-1652 / ISBN 90-73239-88-5
  4. ↑ Collar / Robson, HBW Alive , see also literature
  5. ↑ Nigel Collar, Craig Robson: Timalidae (Babblers) in Del Hoyo et al .: Handbook of the Birds of the World , Vol. 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees (2007), pp. 70f
  6. ↑ Alice Cibois: Mitochondrial DNA Phylogeny of Babblers (Timalidae) , The Auk 120 (1), 2003, pp. 35-54
  7. ↑ IOC World Bird List ( Memento of the original from April 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Version 3.4  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / worldbirdnames.org

Web links

Commons : Grautimalie ( Heterophasia gracilis )  - collection of images, videos and audio files