Jerichonectar bird

Jerichonectar bird
	Jerichonectar bird ( Cinnyris osea )
Systematics
Order :	Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination :	Songbirds (passeri)
Superfamily :	Passeroidea
Family :	Nectar birds (Nectariniidae)
Genre :	Cinnyris
Type :	Jerichonectar bird
Scientific name
	Cinnyris osea
	Bonaparte , 1856

The Jerichonectar bird ( Cinnyris osea ) is a small songbird in the nectar bird family . The species is mainly found in the Middle East in Israel and Palestine and on the Arabian Peninsula . The subspecies C. o. Decorsei is found in Chad , eastern Cameroon and the Central African Republic .

Appearance

Adult specimens reach a length of about eleven centimeters. The males appear from a distance simply colored black, but viewed up close they are shimmering metallic green on the top and shiny violet blue from the forehead to the crown. The upper tail covers shine steel blue. The throat and goiter are also blue in color, the rear sides have a reddish shimmer. Lower body, wings and tail are colored black. The males also have yellow to orange-red breast tufts. The females have a black colored tail and, compared to the dull color of the body, dark wings. Young birds and non-breeding adult birds have an olive-gray color on the upper side and a matt white color on the underside. The birds have a downward-curved bill that allows them to easily ingest nectar from flowers. The bouviernectar bird ( Cinnyris bouvieri ) found in tropical Africa is similar to the Jerichonectar bird, but has a longer beak and a chestnut chest band. The similar gloss nectar bird ( Cinnyris habessinicus ), which is also widespread on the Arabian Peninsula, is 20 percent larger than the Jerichon nectar bird. The males also have a greener sheen and a broad red chest band.

Habitat and nutrition

A male Jerichonectar bird feeding in the Dana Biosphere Reserve

The Jerichonectar bird inhabits savannas and dry open grasslands. The species is also found in open rocky areas. In the Middle East, Israel, and Palestine, the birds also inhabit gardens and orchards. Overgrown river banks, rocky valleys and wadis are also part of their habitat. At higher altitudes up to 1500 meters above sea level in Jordan , the species is also found in cypress forests .

The preferred food of the Jerichon nectar bird includes the nectar of various flowering plants as well as small fruits and ripe dates . The birds also do not spurn insects and their larvae as food. They also act as pollinators, e.g. B. for Plicosepalus acaciae . In Arabic , the species is therefore known as sultan el-zahar (king of flowers).

behavior

Female Jerichonectar bird while feeding the young

Outside the breeding season, the Jerichonectar bird occurs individually. Small flocks of up to 15 birds also form to search for food. When foraging for food, the birds scurry from flower to flower in front of which they hover to eat. From time to time the birds snap at flying insects. Small branches of trees or bushes serve as sleeping places. Smaller groups have been observed bathing in the morning hours.

The Jerichonectar bird, which also breeds in settlements, is described as tame. In some parts of the distribution area, however, the species is considered shy.

Taxonomy

The taxon Cinnyris is also sometimes seen as part of the genus Nectarinia . There are suggestions that the Jericho Nektarvogel a collective species with the Bouviernektarvogel, the southern Africa spread Angola Nektarvogel ( C. oustaleti ) and white-bellied Nektarvogel ( C. talatala ) and the occurring in South Asia purple Nektarvogel ( C. asiaticus forms).

Two subspecies are recognized: C. osea osea is common in Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman as well as on the Egyptian Sinai. C. osea decorsei inhabits isolated, non-contiguous areas on Lake Chad , in eastern Cameroon, in the Central African Republic, in western Sudan and South Sudan, and in northwestern Uganda .

Etymology and history of research

Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte described the Jerichonectar bird in 1856 under the current name Cinnyris osea . The type specimen came from the area around Jericho . As early as 1817, Georges Cuvier introduced the genus Cinnyris for several species. He used the genus name from Hesychios of Alexandria , who used "kinnyris κιννυρις " for a small, unidentified bird. The species name comes from "hosia, hosios ὁσια, ὁσιος " for "holiness, holy". “Decorsei” is dedicated to Gaston Jules Decorse (1873–1907), who made Émile Oustalet aware of the subspecies.

literature

Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte: Espèces nouvelles d'Oiseaux d'Asie et d'Amérique, et tableaux paralléliques de Pélagiens ou Graviae . In: Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des sciences . tape 42 , 1856, pp. 764-776 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
Émile Oustalet: Catalog des Oiseaux rapportés par la Mission Chari-Lac Chad . In: Bulletin du Muséum national d'histoire naturelle . tape 10 , 1904, pp. 536-542 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
Georges Cuvier: Le règne animal distribué d'après son organization: pour servir de base a l'histoire naturelle des animaux et d'introduction a l'anatomie comparée . tape 1 . Chez Déterville, Paris 1817 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
James A. Jobling: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 ( archive.org ).

Web links

Commons : Jerichonectar bird - collection of images, videos and audio files

Cinnyris osea inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015.1. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
BirdLife International: Species Factsheet - Palestine Sunbird ( Nectarinia osea ) . Retrieved November 13, 2015.
Videos, photos and sound recordings of Palestine Sunbird (Cinnyris osea) in the Internet Bird Collection
Jerichonectar bird ( Cinnyris osea ) at Avibase; accessed on November 13, 2015.

Cinnyris osea in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). Retrieved November 13, 2015.

xeno-canto: Sound recordings - Palestine Sunbird ( Cinnyris osea )

Feathers of the Jerichonectar bird

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c Cheke, R. & Mann, C. (2008). Palestine Sunbird (Cinnyris osea). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, DA & de Juana, E. (eds.) (2014). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/60048 on June 7, 2015).
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Clive F. Mann et al .: Sunbirds: A Guide to the Sunbirds, Flowerpeckers, Spiderhunters and Sugarbirds of the World , Bloomsbury: London, 2010.
^ Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, p. 765.
↑ Georges Cuvier, p. 411.
↑ James A. Jobling, p. 286.
↑ Émile Oustalet, p. 536.

Remarks

↑ In footnotes (1) and (2) on p. 412 there is the entire list of species that Cuvier assigned.

[HBW-1] Cheke, R. & Mann, C. (2008). Palestine Sunbird (Cinnyris osea). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, DA & de Juana, E. (eds.) (2014). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/60048 on June 7, 2015).

[Sunbirds-2] Clive F. Mann et al .: Sunbirds: A Guide to the Sunbirds, Flowerpeckers, Spiderhunters and Sugarbirds of the World , Bloomsbury: London, 2010.

[bonaparte765-3] Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, p. 765.

[cuvier411-5] Georges Cuvier, p. 411.

[jobling286-6] James A. Jobling, p. 286.

[oustalet536-7] Émile Oustalet, p. 536.

[4] In footnotes (1) and (2) on p. 412 there is the entire list of species that Cuvier assigned.