Cat birds
| Cat birds | ||||||||||||
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White-eared bowerbird ( Ailuroedus buccoides ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Ailuroedus | ||||||||||||
| Cabanis , 1851 |
The cat birds ( Ailuroedus ) are a genus of bower birds . There are three species of this genus. All species occur in New Guinea and / or Australia. Apart from the brown-bellied bowerbird, which belongs to the frill- bellied bowerbirds , the black-eared bowerbird is the only species of cat bird that occurs on both the Australian continent and New Guinea.
None of the species in this genus shows courtship behavior, which includes the construction of an arbor by the male. Rather, they are monogamous, according to the current state of knowledge, they have long-term relationships and defend a territory together with the partner bird. In contrast to many other bower birds, there is no or no conspicuous sexual dimorphism in the species of this genus .
All species are classified as Least Concern by the IUCN . Of the species of the genus, the black-eared bower bird, which also occurs in Australia, has been studied more extensively.
The generic epithet Ailuroedus derives from the ancient Greek word αἴλουρος (aílouros) for cat and refers to the song, which is reminiscent of the mewing of a cat.
Position within the bowerbird family
According to the current state of knowledge, the cat birds are a very original genus within the family of the bower birds. On the basis of DNA sequencing , it has been concluded that the genus developed independently before the other species and genera in the family developed polygyny and behavior in which the male woos females by building arbors.
In the past, the gnarled bird was also included in this genus. However, it differs greatly in its voice as well as its reproductive biology. He is polygynous and the male builds threshing floors in order to woo females.
Characteristics of the genus
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The species of cat-birds are compactly built bower birds with a powerful beak. The largest species is the green arboreal bird, which can reach a body length of up to 32 centimeters. The white-eared bower bird, on the other hand, is the smallest species of the genus and can reach a body length of up to 25 centimeters.
The beak is slightly longer than half the length of the head and comparatively pale in both sexes. The tail plumage is rounded at the end with a slight gradation in relation to the body size and comparatively long. The wings are short and rounded. The length corresponds to between 28 and 29 percent of the wing length and is therefore comparatively slightly longer than the average for all species of bower birds.
There is no pronounced gender dimorphism and the two sexes also correspond in their height. However, the males are on average 8 to 10 percent heavier than the females. The nestlings have a slightly more reddish down dress than in the polygynous genera of the family.
voice
The characteristic call of the cat-birds is a cat-like meow. This has led to the English name Catbirds (German cat birds). Males tend to call louder than females.
In addition to the typical meowing calls, there are sharp, high-pitched contact sounds between the birds in a couple or a family group.
Species and their respective distribution
The following species are included in the family;
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- Green arboreal bird or green cat bird ( Ailuroedus crassirostris ): only inhabits the east coast of Australia. The distribution area extends from the Dawes Range in the north to the east of Canberra . The altitude distribution ranges from the lowlands to at altitudes over 1000 meters. No subspecies are distinguished for the green arboreal bird.
- Black-eared bowerbird ( Ailuroedus melanotis ); Found in both Australia and New Guinea. In New Guinea it populates forests of foothills and low mountain ranges at altitudes between 600 and 1700 meters above sea level. In Australia, its distribution area extends over the tropical northeastern Queensland. It occurs there from the Cape York Peninsula to Mount Halifax in the Paluma Range . The distribution area in Australia, however, is disjunct as in New Guinea . The altitude distribution in Australia ranges from the lowlands to altitudes of 1540 meters. However, it is most common between 600 and 900 meters above sea level. A total of ten subspecies are distinguished, even in the comparatively small distribution area in Australia there are two subspecies.
- White-eared bowerbird or white-throated cat bird ( Ailuroedus buccoides ); colonized exclusively the lowlands of New Guinea and the islands of Salawati , Yapen , Batanta and Waigeo, which are located off the coast of New Guinea . It is missing in the lowlands of the Trans-Fly, where the black-eared bowerbird occurs. Its habitat are tropical rainforests, but it also occurs in monsoon forests . The Handbook of the Birds of the World distinguishes between four subspecies. Bruce Beehler points out, however, that the type specimen, based on which Coenraad Jacob Temminck scientifically described the species for the first time in 1836, was unusually pale feathered. For this reason, Beehler includes the darker feathered subspecies A. b. cinnamomeus in the nominate form.
Cat birds and humans
The cat birds are shown more often than other bower birds in zoological gardens. This is due, among other things, to the fact that the other species are more aggressive between the sexes and that the birds must therefore be kept individually in aviaries. Cat-bird species can instead be kept in pairs.
The breeding of the cat-bird species is successful regularly. The white-eared bowerbird in particular was successfully bred from this genus in several zoological gardens. Successful breeders in Germany are the Weltvogelpark Walsrode , Wilhelmina , Heidelberg Zoo and Krefeld . It was also successfully bred from 1998 to 2001 in the Berlin Zoo and in 2007 in the Berlin Zoo. Offspring are also bred at Chester Zoo in Great Britain, the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens , the San Diego Zoo and the Los Angeles Zoo . Important findings on reproductive biology were gained in particular at the Krefeld Zoo.
literature
- Bruce M. Beehler, Thane K. Pratt: Birds of New Guinea; Distribution, Taxonomy, and Systematics . Princeton University Press, Princeton 2016, ISBN 978-0-691-16424-3 .
- Clifford B. Frith, Dawn. W. Frith: The Bowerbirds - Ptilonorhynchidae . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-854844-3 .
- Peter Rowland: Bowerbirds . Csiro Publishing, Collingwood 2008, ISBN 978-0-643-09420-8 .
Single receipts
- ↑ Rowland: Bowerbirds . P. 101.
- ↑ Rowland: Bowerbirds . P. 91.
- ↑ a b c Frith: The Bowerbirds - Ptilonorhynchidae . P. 227.
- ↑ Frith: The Bowerbirds - Ptilonorhynchidae . P. 265.
- ↑ Frith: The Bowerbirds - Ptilonorhynchidae . P. 230.
- ↑ Handbook of the Birds of the World on the White-eared Bowerbird , accessed on April 27, 2017
- ^ Beehler & Pratt: Birds of New Guinea . P. 275.
- ↑ Frith: The Bowerbirds - Ptilonorhynchidae . P. 256.
- ↑ W. Grummt, H. Strehlow (Ed.): Zoo animal keeping birds . Verlag Harri Deutsch, Frankfurt am Main 2009, ISBN 978-3-8171-1636-2 . P. 750.
- ↑ Frith: The Bowerbirds - Ptilonorhynchidae . P. 233.
