Short-footed stilt rail

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Short-footed stilt rail
Drawing by Marc Athanase Parfait Œillet Des Murs

Drawing by Marc Athanase Parfait Œillet Des Murs

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Mesitornithiformes
Family : Stilt claws (Mesitornithidae)
Genre : Mesitornis
Type : Short-footed stilt rail
Scientific name
Mesitornis variegata
( I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire , 1838)

The short-footed stilt claw ( Mesitornis variegata ) is a ground-dwelling bird species from the family of stilt claws (Mesitornithidae). The species endemic to Madagascar is the best studied of the family.

distribution and habitat

Distribution of the Mesitornithidae: short-footed stilt claw : green;
Single-color stilt claw : orange;
Monias stilt claw : blue

The short-footed stilt claw lives in three separate populations in Madagascar. Their habitat are the dry forests of western Madagascar, although specimens have already been sighted in the eastern wet forest. Regions near water reservoirs with a thick layer of leaves that exist all year round and only sparse soil vegetation are the preferred habitats. As the forests of Madagascar are being cleared to a large extent and the habitat of all stilt claws is disappearing, the short-footed stilt claw is classified as endangered by the IUCN, like all species of the Mesitornithidae family .

Appearance

The streamlined body is about 30 cm long, the weight is 103 to 111 g, with the females being slightly smaller and lighter than the males. The vertex is colored brown, from the base of the beak over the eye to the neck there is a cream-colored stripe. Behind the eye, which is surrounded by a narrow, bare skin ring, begins a maroon-brown stripe that also extends to the nape of the neck, under which there is a cream-colored stripe. This runs down from the neck area and forms a narrow band that runs across the chest. The throat and the lower part of the chest are feathered white, the chest shows a few crescent-shaped, brown spots. Shoulders and upper back are gray-brown, the rest of the back as well as the wings and tail feathers are dark brown. The abdomen and rump are the same color as the shoulder area, but have a diffuse, lighter longitudinal stripe.

The strong legs, which are set relatively in the middle of the body, have a dirty yellow color, the short, minimally curved beak is black. The iris is maroon. Although the short, rounded wings are functional, the species rarely flies. The species is very variable; the differences between individual individuals can be relatively large. A sexual dimorphism does not exist with regard to the plumage.

Breeding behavior

The breeding season extends from October to April, but most broods take place from November to January, later clutches are probably second clutches. As a monogamous species, males and females stay together for a long time, probably for a lifetime. The partners always greet each other with a duet played by the male. The nest consists of 20 to 30 loosely joined twigs and is laid out in the vegetation at a height of one to three meters so that the parent animals can reach it from the ground over branches and tendrils. Clutches usually consist of one to three eggs, which are probably only incubated by the female. The chicks that hatch after a time that is not exactly known are initially feathered with red-brown down. Parents and offspring stay together until the next brood of the parents and defend a territory by singing.

food

Small invertebrates make up the main part of the diet, but occasionally the menu is supplemented with small amounts of fruits and seeds. During the dry season the species eats less food than during the rainy season. Food is sought by the birds slowly walking across the ground, lifting branches and leaves and, after looking under them, put them down again. Sometimes branches with loose bark or rolled up leaves are beaten against the ground to scare away food animals. Food animals that are discovered are eaten immediately or followed over short distances. Especially in the dry season, the short-footed stilt rail probes the leaf layer with its beak in order to reach small animals living in it.

swell

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