Cape Verde Sparrow
| Cape Verde Sparrow | ||||||||||||
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Male of the Cape Verdean Sparrow |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Passer iagoensis | ||||||||||||
| ( Gould , 1838) |
The Cape Verde sparrow ( Passer iagoensis ) is a species of bird in the sparrow family (Passeridae) that is endemic to the Cape Verde Islands . It is usually one of the common species there and is not threatened. On some smaller islands such as Branco, Sal or Santa Luzia it occurs only sporadically. He's missing on Fogo .
description
With a body length of 12.5 to 13 cm, the Cape Verde sparrow is on average slightly smaller than a tree sparrow . The iris is dark brown. Legs and feet are brown or brownish flesh-colored. The sexes differ significantly.
In adult males, the beak, forehead, crown, reins, a narrow eye stripe, chin and throat are black or blackish gray. The black parting runs back into the gray of the neck and upper back. There is a fine whitish stripe above the reins. Starting above the eye, a wide, cinnamon-brown band runs down the sides of the neck to the neck. The other sides of the head are silvery white, as is the underside, which, however, is tinted gray on the chest and towards the flanks. Shoulder feathers and back are maroon with black stripes, the lower back is more vivid reddish brown. The upper tail-coverts are gray and sometimes a little brownish tint, the control feathers dark brown with narrow, light hems. The middle arm covers are black with a broad, white tip, the large arm covers are dark brown with lighter hems and beige-brown tips. The blackish wings and umbrella feathers are lined with beige-brown with sand-colored bases of the hand wings . Birds that breed in lava caves can already look blown away during the breeding season because of the sharp edges of the rock. Males outside the breeding season are duller in color and show a horn-colored beak.
The female resembles that of the house sparrow , but differs strikingly from that of the rust sparrow . Overall, it appears gray-brown. Forehead and parting are darker, the sides of the head are lighter grayish. A beige stripe over the eyes protrudes from this, which widens strongly behind the eye and extends in an arched manner to the sides of the neck. It is limited at the bottom by a dark eye stripe. The chin and throat are whitish and merge into the grayish underside. The flanks are tinted beige. The upper side is brownish in color, but has dark stripes like the male. The sides of the coat are a little lighter. The wing plumage and the control feathers are similar in color to the male, but more matt with sand-colored edges. The white tips of the middle arm covers are less wide. The beak is yellowish horn-colored at the base and becomes darker towards the tip.
Birds in juvenile plumage resemble the female. Young males can be distinguished from females relatively early, however, because the stripe above the eyes is darker and slightly reddish-brown, the plumage on the upper side is more strongly colored and can already show gray tones and there can be signs of a dark bib on the chin and throat.
voice
The calls are similar to those of the rust sparrow, but are slightly higher. They can be described as sharp chisp , chi-wiep or chiu-liep . An indistinct chirrp or a hissing chisk can also be heard from the female . Many calls are also similar to those of the house sparrow. The singing is a string of sounds that are otherwise brought as calls, a chip chiri chipp cheep chiri chipp cheep .
habitat
The Cape Verde sparrow colonizes dry lava fields and rocky coasts, but also a variety of other habitats up to 1200 m altitude. It also occurs in the cultural landscape and lives in urban areas in parks, squares and gardens. In Mindelo it also appears next to the house sparrow , but seems to be absent where the willow sparrow occurs.
nutrition
The diet consists mainly of seeds from smaller plants such as grass or grain. Human food waste is also eaten in settlements. The nestling food consists of caterpillars and smaller grasshoppers. The food is usually looked for in flocks, which outside of the breeding season can also form larger swarms.
hikes
The Cape Verde sparrow is a resident bird , but sometimes it dismigrates to other Cape Verde islands. This presumably also regularly refreshes the populations of the smaller islands, which would otherwise become extinct from time to time.
The species was found to be a random visitor in Bougouni in Mali . In May 2013, a small group traveled on a ship to Hansweert in the Netherlands . The birds first landed on rubber dinghies near Raso Island . Four individuals stayed on board the entire time, others of the previously almost a dozen troops left the ship on the Ilhas Desertas and Madeira .
Reproduction
The breeding season of the Cape Verdean sparrow is between September and March, when the food supply is favorable after rainfall. The species breeds in small, loose colonies. The approximately 15 × 25 cm large nest is built in holes in lava rocks, in stone walls, on buildings, in street lamps or under boulders. It is more rarely free. It is spherical and made up of thin plant stems. The entrance is on the side and the nesting trough is lined with hair and feathers. The clutch consists of 3–5 eggs. Both partners take part in raising the young.
Systematics
The Cape Verde sparrow was first described by John Gould in 1838 as Pyrgita Iagoensis , the type specimen came from Santiago . Some authors have proposed to include the Cape Verdean sparrow as a subspecies of the rust sparrow ( Passer motitensis ), but on the one hand the isolated distribution justifies the species status, on the other hand other subspecies of the rust sparrow are now also regarded as separate species. Therefore it now tends to the view that the Iago Sparrow with the Kordofansperling ( Passer cordofanicus ), the Nilsperling ( P. shelleyi ), the Sokotrasperling ( P. insularis ), the Kenya Sperling ( P. rufocinctus ) and the rust Sparrow ( P. motitensis ) forms a superspecies .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Summers-Smith (2014), section Descriptive notes , see literature
- ↑ Clement et al. (1993), pp. 455f, see literature
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Clement et al. (1993), p. 456, see literature
- ↑ Summers-Smith (2014), section Voice , see literature
- ↑ Summers-Smith (2014), Habitat section , see literature
- ↑ a b c Summers-Smith (2014), see literature
- ↑ Cape Verde Sparrows hitch a ride to Europe , accessed on September 13, 2014 (Only members can read the full news text.)
literature
- Dennis Summers-Smith, Eduardo de Juana: Cape Verde Sparrow (Passer iagoensis) , in: J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, AD Christie, E. de Juana (eds.): Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive , Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2014
- P. Clement, A. Harris, J. Davis: Finches and Sparrows , Helm Identification Guides, London 1993/1999, ISBN 0-7136-5203-9 , pp. 455f and plate 69
Web links
- Passer iagoensis in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2012. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2012. Accessed September 13, 2014.