Hair beards

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hair beards
Above a black-headed bearded bird, below a red-fronted bearded bird

Above a black-headed bearded bird , below a red-fronted bearded bird

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Woodpecker birds (Piciformes)
Family : African bearded birds (Lybiidae)
Genre : Hair beards
Scientific name
Tricholaema
J. Verreaux & E. Verreaux , 1855

The haired beardlings ( Tricholaema ) are a genus within the family of the African bearded birds . They only occur on the African continent. Only the spotted bearded bird and the diademed bearded bird have a distribution area that is partially north of the equator . A total of six species are distinguished, all of which are classified by the IUCN as not endangered ( least concern ). The German term for hair beards refers to the fact that individual feathers in the chest area have long, hair-like tips.

Appearance

Hair beards are relatively small bearded birds with a wing length of around eight centimeters. The upper side of the body is black with yellow spots and, in some species, white feather borders. Typical for them is a yellow or white wide eyelid that only ends in the neck region. This eyelid is only missing in two subspecies of the spotted bearded bird . In this species, the hair-like feather tips in the front chest area are particularly pronounced. All species have yellow plumage. This is also particularly pronounced in the spotted bearded bird, which has a yellow underside of its body that is spotted black. In the Diadem-Bartvogel , however, the yellow component is limited to yellow feather edges and yellow spots. Several species have a red forehead or a red forehead patch. This applies to the miombo bearded bird , the diadem hair bearded and the red-fronted bearded bird .

The yellow-blotted bearded bird shows great resemblance to the hair beard , but it is placed in its own genus Buccanodon .

Way of life

Hair beards are territorial birds that defend a small territory. Their food spectrum includes insects, fruits and seeds. The miombo bearded bird probably also eats nestlings and eggs from other bird species. The representatives of the genus are cave breeders, who probably all make their nesting holes themselves. The red-fronted bearded bird is even showing a tendency to spread in the south-west of the South African Cape Province, as increasingly non-native tree species are being planted here, in whose wood it can chop caves.

Reproductive biology is not well understood in all species. In the hair beardlings examined, both parent birds are involved in the breeding and rearing of the young birds.

species

The following six species belong to the hair beardling genus:

supporting documents

literature

  • Lester L. Short, Jennifer FM Horne: Toucans, Barbets and Honeyguides - Ramphastidae, Capitonidae and Indicatoridae . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001, ISBN 0-19-854666-1

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Short et al., Color plate 4
  2. ↑ Short et al., P. 180
  3. ↑ Short et al., P. 182
  4. ↑ Harshman, John. 2008. African barbets. Version 27 June 2008 (under construction). in The Tree of Life Web Project

Web links

Commons : Bearded Mustache ( Tricholaema )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files