Crested guinea fowl
| Crested guinea fowl | ||||||||||
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Head study of the Zambezi crested guinea fowl, a subspecies of the crested guinea fowl |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Guttera | ||||||||||
| Wagler , 1832 |
The hooded guinea fowl ( Guttera ) are a genus of guinea fowl . This genus includes the plain-hooded guinea fowl and the ruffled guinea fowl, two species that both occur in sub-Saharan Africa and live in forests.
The population of both species was classified in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2016 as “ Least Concern (LC) ” = “not endangered”.
features
Crested guinea fowl differ from other species in the guinea fowl family in that they have a dense forehead and crown of upright, brush-like or ruffled feathers that sit on a skin cushion made of fatty connective tissue. This in turn is supported by a bone ridge between the nasal bones. As a further feature, the remaining head parts and the upper neck are (largely) unfledged. Some of the subspecies have a few bristle feathers in the chin region. Crested guinea fowl is also characterized by a fold of skin that surrounds the rear neck at the border with the feathered lower neck.
The plumage of both species is predominantly black and has dense white or light bluish pearl spots. In some subspecies, the neck plumage is not pearled and has a maroon overlay. The outer flags of the outer arm wings are either white or isabel-colored in all species, which can also be seen when the wings are folded. There is no noticeable sexual dimorphism , the males are just slightly larger than the females. Both sexes have no spurs on their legs.
Species, subspecies and their respective distribution area
The following types and subspecies are distinguished for the crested guinea fowl:
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Plain-crested guinea fowl ( Guttera plumifera )
- G. p. plumifera ( Cassin , 1857) - Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Republic of the Congo to the west of the 16th east longitude.
- G. p. schubotzi Reichenow , 1912 - eastern part of the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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Ruffled guinea fowl ( Guttera pucherani )
- G. p. pucherani (Hartlaub, 1861) - Kenya crested guinea fowl or Pucheran crested guinea fowl - Somalia to Tanzania , Zanzibar and Tumbatu .
- G. p. barbata ( Ghigi , 1905) - Malawi crested guinea fowl - Southeast Tanzania to the east of Mozambique and Malawi .
- G. p. edouardi ( Hartlaub , 1867) - Zambezi crested guinea fowl - east from Zambia to Mozambique and east from South Africa.
- G. p. sclateri ( Reichenow , 1898) - Sclater-crested guinea fowl - Northwest Cameroon .
- G. p. verreauxi ( Elliot , 1870) - West African crested guinea fowl - Guinea-Bissau to the west of Kenya , Angola and Zambia .
attitude
Of the crested guinea fowl, the crested guinea fowl is shown more frequently in zoological gardens because of its interesting appearance. Even if they are shy and secretly living birds in their natural range, they quickly become trusting in captivity. The first crested guinea fowl were imported to Europe around the middle of the 19th century.
literature
- Del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A .; Sargatal, J. (2001) Handbook of the Birds of the World Volume 2: New World Vultures to Guineafowl . Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-15-6
- Steve Madge , Philip McGowan and Guy M. Kirwan : Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse. A Guide to the Pheasants, Partridges, Quails, Grouse, Guineafowl, Buttonquails and Sandgrouse of the world. Christopher Helm, London 2002, ISBN 0-7136-3966-0 .
- Heinz-Sigurd Raethel : Chicken birds of the world. Natur Verlag, Weltbild Verlag, Augsburg 1991, ISBN 3-89440-440-X .
Single receipts
- ↑ Guttera pucherani in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2016 Posted by: BirdLife International, 2011. Accessed January 28, 2018th
- ↑ Guttera plumifera in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2016 Posted by: BirdLife International, 2009. Accessed January 28, 2018th
- ↑ a b Raethel: Hühnervögel der Welt , p. 721.
- ↑ Raethel: Hühnervögel der Welt , p. 728.