Hildebrandt star
| Hildebrandt star | ||||||||||||
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Hildebrandt star |
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| Lamprotornis hildebrandti | ||||||||||||
| ( Cabanis , 1878) |
The Hildebrandt gloss star ( Lamprotornis hildebrandti ) is a bird from the starling family . His name honors the German naturalist Johann Maria Hildebrandt .
features
The breast plumage, throat, head, back, top of wings and tail of the adult Hildebrandt gloss star are colored in a dark, metallic blue. The belly is rust-colored, as is the underside of the wings. The red eyes are striking. The beak and legs are gray. The bird reaches a size of about 19 cm and a body mass of 57 g. The closely related Shelly star is very similar .
The plumage of the juveniles is paler in color and dull, and the breast and throat are not blue. The eyes are dark brown.
distribution and habitat
The Hildebrandt star is endemic to East Africa, it inhabits areas in northeastern Tanzania as far as central Kenya . Open forest landscapes and bushland at heights of 500 to 2200 meters are used as habitats .
Way of life and voice
The bird is usually found in pairs or small flocks, which can be mixed with three-colored starlings. The food, consisting of insects such as beetles and grasshoppers, as well as fruits and seeds, is mainly sought on the ground. Hildebrandt starlings breed in tree hollows, which they pad with hair and plant fibers. They lay three to four eggs, on average 25 mm long and 18 mm wide. The singing consists of series of short, low-pitched, very melodic sounding sequences that often end with ascending tones. The call during the flight is a hoarse " kurrrakurrrakurrra ".
Notes and individual references
- ↑ Feare & Craig, 1998; Specification for the female gender, n = 1
- ↑ König & Ertel, 1979
- ^ Feare & Craig, 1998
- ↑ Stevenson & Fanshawe, 2002
literature
- Chris Feare & Adrian Craig: Starlings and Mynahs. London 1998, Pages: 95, 219-220, ISBN 0-7136-3961-X
- Klaus König & Rainer Ertel: Birds of Africa. Vol. 2, Stuttgart 1979, ISBN 3-7630-1856-5
- Terry Stevenson & John Fanshawe: Birds of East Africa. Princeton Field Guides, Princeton 2002, page 500, ISBN 978-0-691-12665-4
Web links
- Lamprotornis hildebrandti inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.2. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved December 9, 2013.