Amaranth
| Amaranth | ||||||||||||
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Jameson's Firefinch ( Lagonosticta rhodopareia ), female |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Lagonosticta | ||||||||||||
| Cabanis , 1851 |
The amaranth ( Lagonosticta ) are a genus within the fine finches . The species occur exclusively on the African continent. One of the species, namely the rock amaranth , was not scientifically described until 1998.
description
The Amaranten reach body lengths between ten and twelve centimeters. In most species, their plumage shows red to wine-red feathers. In some species, such as the dark red amaranth , this color dominates the plumage. With the dot amaranth , only the sides of the head and the front breast are tinged with rose-red. The wings are often gray-brown. Almost all species have white or whitish pink small point-like spots on the sides of the body. The beaks are blue-gray with a blackish tip in many species. Exceptions to this are the Landana amaranth , which has a rose-red lower bill, and the spotted amaranth , which has a red beak. The Senegal amaranth also has a beak that is at least partially reddish.
The females are usually paler in color than the males and they have a higher proportion of gray-brown plumage than these.
Distribution area and way of life
The distribution area is sub-Saharan Africa . Some of the species have an extremely large range and, like the Senegalese amaranth, occur in almost all suitable habitats in this area. One of the species with the smallest distribution area is the rock amaranth, which so far is only known from the Jos plateau in northern Nigeria .
The individual species colonize different habitats. Rock amaranth and Reichenow amaranth populate stony terrain with patches of grass and sparse groups of trees. The dark red amaranth , on the other hand, is a bird that is at home in the bushes, ferns and grass at the edge of the forest, in the dense bank bushes and in the undergrowth of sparse forests and high-grass savannahs interspersed with bushes. Dry savannas are also the typical habitat for a number of other species. The brown rump amaranth, on the other hand, is at home in belts of reeds and papyrus along large rivers and floodplains as well as in thickets on river banks and drainage channels.
Amaranth's diet consists mainly of small grass seeds, which are occasionally supplemented by insects. Termites have a special meaning. The breeding season also varies internally depending on the distribution area, but often falls at the end of the rainy season. Amaranth is characterized by a stalk or feather ball, in which the male carries a blade of grass or a feather in its beak and hops up and down on the ground or a horizontal branch in front of the female. The nests are spherical and usually have a side entrance. The clutch typically consists of three to five eggs. The breeding season is about fourteen days and the young birds stay in the nest for about fifteen days. They are then usually looked after by the parent birds for another two weeks.
attitude
Amaranth play a very different role in the bird trade, depending on the species. The Senegalese amaranth is one of the most popular and most frequently kept African finches today. His breeding is now regularly successful over several generations. The larval amaranth was particularly popular in the 19th century. During this time, the subspecies Lagonosticta larvata vinacea , in which the male's black face mask contrasts particularly strongly with the wine-red breast, was very common on the market. Today this subspecies is introduced only irregularly and in small numbers. Their popularity as an ornamental bird has resulted in a number of German names for these two species. The rock amaranth and the Reichenow amaranth, on the other hand, have probably never been introduced to Europe.
species
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The following species are among the amaranth:
- Brown rump amaranth ( L. nitidula )
- Dark red amaranth ( L. rubricata )
- Rock amaranth ( L. sanguinodorsalis )
- Landana amaranth ( L. landanaae )
- Larvae amaranth ( L. larvata )
- Mali amaranth ( L. virata )
- Spotted amaranth ( L. rufopicta )
- Reichenow's amaranth ( L. umbrinodorsalis )
- Jameson's Firefinch ( L. rhodopareia )
- Black-bellied Amaranth ( L. rara )
- Senegalese amaranth ( L. senegala )
supporting documents
literature
- Jürgen Nicolai (Ed.), Joachim Steinbacher (Ed.), Renate van den Elzen, Gerhard Hofmann, Claudia Mettke-Hofmann: Prachtfinken - Afrika. Series Manual of Bird Care. Eugen Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-8001-4964-3 .
Single receipts
- ↑ Nicolai et al., P. 161.
- ↑ Nicolai et al., P. 156.
- ↑ Nicolai et al., P. 179.
- ↑ Nicolai et al., P. 162 and p. 163.
