Hartlaubfrankolin
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Hartlaubfrankolin ( Francolinus hartlaubi ) |
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| Francolinus hartlaubi | ||||||||||
| Bocage , 1869 |
The hard- leaf frankolin ( Francolinus hartlaubi ) is a species of the genus of the francolin ( Francolinus ) from the pheasant-like family (Phasianidae). It is named after the German zoologist Karel Johan Gustav Hartlaub .
features
The hard- leaf frankolin is a narrow bird and weighs around 210–290 g. Males and females have brown-yellow beaks that are disproportionately large compared to their body size and compared to other francolin species . The male is about 28 cm long and shows a strong contrast between the sandy-brown speckled plumage of the upper body and the white, brown-striped lower body. It has a black forehead with showy white eyebrows. The tail is striped in black and white. The female is about 25 cm long and significantly lighter than the male. It has a cinnamon-colored unstriped lower body, a gray-brown head, and orange-brown eyebrows. Overall, it is less noticeable than the male. The young birds have a smooth forehead, the head is mottled reddish brown on top. Her upper body is gray with black and white serpentine lines, her chest is black and white striped, her stomach is gray.
distribution
The hard-leaf frankolin is widespread in southwest Africa . It lives on the embankments in northern central and western Namibia and in a small area in southwest Angola . The population in Namibia is estimated at around 26,000 birds. It is not classified as an endangered species - its habitat is currently commercially insignificant to humans and no drastic changes to the landscape due to industry are expected in the next few years. Only granite quarries pose a certain threat to its habitat. Although francolins are game birds , the hard- leaved francolin is not hunted as it is of no culinary interest due to its small size. The Hartlaubfrankolin inhabits arid areas at an altitude of 800 to 1600 m. Its preferred habitat are higher places, especially outcrops made of granite and sandstone . The vegetation there consists invariably of dense grass and bushes.
Way of life
The Hartlaubfrankolin lives in pairs or in small families of 3 to 4 animals. He is not easy to scare off and prefers to hide between boulders. Startled birds emit a quick, cackling krak and quickly fly away. There are clear differences between males and females when it comes to foraging and food composition: the females, with their beak larger in relation to their body size, specialize in digging up the tubers of sedge grass . The males, on the other hand, feed mainly on insects and seeds . The year-round defense of the area is mainly carried out by the female. The males build the nest during courtship and take care of the female during the breeding season .
The Hartlaubfrankolin marks its territory all year round with calls from certain places, the so-called swear areas . In these swear areas, the females initiate daily duets with their partner shortly after sunrise and shortly before sunset. On the basis of tape experiments it could be proven that their frequency obviously depends mainly on the presence of single females in neighboring territories. The duets of neighboring couples are less often the trigger. Single females use their cursed areas far more often than couples, often throughout the day, but also with emphasis shortly after sunrise and shortly before sunset. Males call more conservatively, females use a larger repertoire of sounds . The mean population density of a district between 1983 and 1989 was around one bird per 1.43 ha.
literature
- Robert's Multimedia Birds of Southern Africa [CD-ROM]
- Little, R., Crowe, T., Barlow, S., 2000. Gamebirds of Southern Africa. Struik Publishers, Cape Town. ISBN 1-868-72318-6
- Atlas of sout African birds. Parker, V., Birdlife South Africa, Johannesburg ISBN 0-620-20729-9
Web links
- Pternistis hartlaubi in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed January 7 of 2009.