Japanese eyeglass bird
| Japanese eyeglass bird | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Japanese eyeglass bird ( Zosterops japonicus ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Zosterops japonicus | ||||||||||||
| Temminck & Schlegel , 1845 |
The Japanese spectacled bird ( Zosterops japonicus ) is a small songbird from the spectacled bird family that is native to East Asia. Its distribution area extends from Japan over the south of the Korean Peninsula , Taiwan and southern China to Southeast Asia .
Appearance
The Japanese glasses bird is a small songbird from the order of the passerine birds , which reaches a length of 10.0 to 11.5 centimeters and a weight of 9.5 to 13.0 grams. The back plumage is olive green, the chest plumage yellowish or pale green. The upper tail feathers and the flight feathers are brown-black and are surrounded by a greenish color. The underside is pinnate gray-white, the under-tail feathers are yellowish in color. The distinctive white eye ring gave the species its name ( Japanese White-Eye , Japanese 目 白 , Mejiro ). However, young birds do not yet have the characteristic eye ring. In adult birds, the white eye ring is interrupted by black feathers directly in front of the eye, which continues in the lower half of the eye as a black border around the white ring. The beak , legs and feet are black in fully grown specimens. The feet have four toes with one pointing backwards.
distribution
The original distribution area of the Japanese glasses bird stretches across Japan, the south of the Korean Peninsula, the Ryūkyū Islands , Taiwan and southern and eastern China. The Japanese glasses bird is also common in the north of the Indochinese peninsula . In large parts of its range, the Japanese spectacle bird is a resident bird , in the north of the Japanese main island of Honshū , but a migratory bird on Hokkaidō , Sakhalin and eastern China , whose wintering areas are in Southeast Asia, Burma , Vietnam and Hainan . The distribution area of the Japanese eyeglass bird overlaps only slightly with that of the very similar rust-flanked eyeglass bird .
The Japanese eyeglass bird was introduced to Oahu as a pest controller between 1929 and 1937 and has since spread to all major Hawaiian islands . Today the Japanese goggle bird is one of the most common bird species in Hawaii.
Subspecies
Nine subspecies are described:
- Zosterops japonicus yesoensis , Kuroda Nagahisa , 1951, South Sakhalin and Hokkaidō.
- Zosterops japonicus japonicus , Temminck & Schlegel , 1845, South Korea and Japan except Hokkaidō, nominate form .
- Zosterops japonicus stejnegeri , Seebohm , 1891, Izu Islands .
- Zosterops japonicus alani , Hartert , 1905, Ogasawara Islands and Iwo Jima .
- Zosterops japonicus insularis , Ogawa , 1905, Northern Ryūkyū Islands.
- Zosterops japonicus loochooensis , Tristram , 1889, Ryūkyū Islands except north.
- Zosterops japonicus daitoensis , Kuroda , 1923, Daitō Islands .
- Zosterops japonicus simplex , Swinhoe , 1861, Eastern China, Taiwan, and Northern Vietnam.
- Zosterops japonicus hainanus , Hartert , 1923, Hainan Island.
habitat
The Japanese spectacle bird lives in open, deciduous and evergreen forests with trees and bushes bearing blossoms and berries. However, the birds are also found near human settlements, in gardens, parks and agricultural areas. Also mangrove thickets , the preferred habitats of Japan glasses birds. The populated area extends from sea level to the tree line . The Japanese spectacle bird can be found both in relatively dry areas with 25 centimeters of annual rainfall and in rainforests with up to 760 centimeters of annual rainfall.
behavior
Japanese goggle birds feed on insects , fruits e.g. B. Persimmons and nectar . They search vegetation for food by examining the tops and bottoms of leaves and flowers and the bark of trees for larvae and insects. The birds do not spurn beetles, fly larvae or spiders. In addition, many types of flowering plants are used to absorb nectar and tree sap . The flowers of camellias are particularly popular as a source of nectar.
Japanese eyeglass birds are often found in groups of five to twenty individuals. When foraging for food, they display acrobatic behavior. They often hang upside down from branches to get food.
During the breeding season from February to December, Japanese goggles are very territorial. Monogamous couples choose a suitable place for the nest, which is usually one to 30 meters above the ground in a fork of a branch. Both sexes take part in nest building. The nest is made of various materials such as moss , lichen , mammalian hair , leaves, and spider webs. The latter are often used to fix the nest in a fork of a branch. The nest is hanging in the shape of a cup and is reminiscent of a woven basket. The female lays two to five white and smooth eggs. After the eggs are laid, both parents take care of the clutch . The young hatch after ten to twelve days and are fledged after another ten to twelve days. The hatchlings are blind and do not have an egg tooth . The young birds usually stay with their parents for 15 to 20 days before they start building their nests again and actively drive the previous brood out of their territory. The young birds form flocks until they form pairs in the following breeding season and raise their own offspring.
Existence and endangerment
The Japanese spectacle bird is classified as not endangered ( least concern ) due to its large distribution area. Exact populations are not known, but estimates put 100,000 to one million breeding pairs in Taiwan and 10,000 to 100,000 breeding pairs in Japan.
The species was introduced to Hawaii in the late 1920s and has spread very successfully there. There, the species promotes the further spread of the Gagel tree , which is also introduced and which in turn threatens the native ironwood forests. In addition, the introduced Japanese eyeglass bird competes with the hawk birds native to Hawaii . A direct negative effect on the populations of the native bird world could not be clearly established, although a connection between the spread of the Japanese glasses bird and the decline in the populations of the Hawaiian Iiwi is suspected.
Japanese glasses bird and human
Japanese eyeglass birds eat large numbers of harmful insects and also contribute to the pollination and spread of trees and other plants. The animals are easy to tame and their social nature makes them popular pet birds. In the past, males were kept in cages for their voice. As a bird that is widespread in Japan, the Japanese glasses bird was a popular motif in classical Japanese art and painting.
Web links
- Zosterops japonicus inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
- BirdLife International: Species Factsheet - Japanese White-eye ( Zosterops japonicus ) . Retrieved July 22, 2013.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Japanese White-eye (Zosterops japonicus) in the Internet Bird Collection
- Japanese eyeglass bird ( Zosterops japonicus ) at Avibase; Retrieved July 22, 2013.
- Zosterops japonicus in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). Retrieved July 22, 2013.
- xeno-canto: Sound recordings - Japanese White-eye ( Zosterops japonicus )
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Brazil, Mark: Birds of East Asia , London 2009, p. 386
- ↑ a b c d e f Global Invasive Species Database online
- ↑ IOC World Bird List Version 3.4 online ( 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. (Accessed July 21, 2013)
- ↑ a b Toronto Zoo: Zosterops japonicus online ( Memento of the original from March 14, 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.
- ↑ a b Jerome A. Jackson: Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia , Second Edition, Vol. 11, Birds IV, Detroit and New York 2003, p. 233.
- ^ BirdLife International 2012. Zosterops japonicus . In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on July 21, 2013.
- ^ BirdLife International 2012. Vestiaria coccinea . In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on July 21, 2013.
