Run chicken

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Run chicken
Blue Grouse (Turnix varia)

Blue Grouse ( Turnix varia )

Systematics
Sub-stem : Vertebrates (vertebrata)
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Plover-like (Charadriiformes)
Family : Run chicken
Scientific name
Turnicidae
GR Gray , 1840

The Laufhühnchen or fight quail (Turnicidae) are a family of chickens similar birds . These are birds of the grasslands of Asia, Africa and Australia, in which the females are dominant.

features

Outwardly, run chickens look very similar to quail, which belong to the chicken family . They are small, ground-dwelling birds with a length of 10 to 23 cm and a weight of 20 to 130 g. They are plump, have strong feet, a short tail and a short beak. The beak is irregularly shaped: slender and pointed in the mainly insectivorous species, thick and blunt in the grain-eater. The foot is tridactyl , so it has three toes pointing forward and no back toe. This is a clear difference to anisodactyly (four toes, one of which is a rear toe) in chickens.

The plumage is kept in inconspicuous colors. Brown and gray tones predominate, often with black dashes or marbling. The coloring ensures effective camouflage , making it difficult to spot the birds on the ground. The underside is always lighter in color. In females, the contrast between black and gray or brown parts of the plumage is much more pronounced than in males.

Otherwise, run chickens show an inverse sexual dimorphism . The female is significantly larger, but above all there are significant differences in the internal anatomy: In the female, the trachea and esophagus are significantly enlarged. The widened windpipe is used to generate long-range sounds, while the esophagus is used as a resonance body. These sounds are uttered with the beak closed and, depending on the species, sound like a pigeon-like cooing, dull roar or cattle-like mooing. They can be heard over long distances, but difficult to locate. Males do not have organs shaped in this way and are unable to utter these sounds. However, like females, they make cackling or softly whistling noises.

Runners are able to fly and use this ability to a much greater extent than chicken birds. Their fluttering flight is not very agile, but the birds are persistent and can travel long distances. But they only do this at night. During the day run chickens only fly when there is danger. It is assumed that the reason for this behavior is that the slow flight makes the chickens more vulnerable to predators and that this danger is lower at night.

Characteristic for many, but not all, species of runner is a peculiar mode of locomotion. The birds stop in between and move their bodies back and forth again and again before they take another step forward. This hesitant movement most closely resembles chameleons .

distribution and habitat

Distribution area

Runner chickens live mainly in the warm parts of the Old World. Three species inhabit sub-Saharan Africa, one on the island of Madagascar, five in southern and eastern Asia, and eight in the Australian-oceanic region. The common run chicken is the only species to be found in Europe, namely relicts in southern Spain and Portugal. This species also has its main range in Africa and Asia.

The habitat is formed by open habitats such as savannahs and semi-deserts. The availability of water is not a prerequisite for many species, as they draw enough liquid from their food. In the wake of humans, rabbits have also adopted agricultural land as a habitat. One exception is the black-breasted chicken, which avoids open spaces and lives in the dense Australian rainforest.

There are resident and migratory birds among the runner. However, the sedentary species also roam widely. Real migratory birds include the red-necked hare, whose northern populations migrate from Korea and northern China to Southeast Asia, and the blue-necked chicken, which migrates from Victoria to more northerly parts of Australia. During the migration, you will find many runners in habitats that are actually atypical for the respective species.

Way of life

activity

Chickens are mainly diurnal. The foraging for food always takes place during the day, preferably in the early morning and late evening hours. At night, hikes are undertaken, for example with the migratory birds among the runners. In times when there is no migration, wild chickens sleep on the ground at night. Hollows on the floor serve as sleeping places.

Because run chickens rely on their camouflage colors, they remain motionless on the ground when enemies approach. Only in extreme danger do they fly up with an explosive take-off. Because of their clandestine way of life, wild chickens are rarely seen and little known. The female expressions are most likely to be perceived.

The black-breasted chicken ( Turnix melanogaster ) is the only species in the family that lives in the rainforest

food

Runner chickens are not specialized in their diet and will eat both plants and animals. In the case of plants, mainly seeds, as well as buds, berries and shoots, serve as food, in the case of animals almost exclusively insects. Termites form a large part of the diet, especially in arid regions . While neither species specializes in a particular food, there are different preferences; some species mainly eat insects, others mainly grain.

Many species of rabbits have a remarkable way of pawing the ground when foraging. Here only one foot is used, while the bird turns around its own axis by hopping on one leg.

Sand and small stones are swallowed to help digest food ( gastroliths ). If water is available, it is used by the chicken, but in arid regions they can do without water and then draw the fluid requirements from their food.

Reproduction

The reverse sexual dimorphism of the runners is also evident in reproduction, where the females are the more active partners in all respects, taking on the role that the male has in most other birds, and vice versa. Females are active in finding partners and courtship, the males are mainly responsible for incubating the eggs and rearing the young. While seasonal monogamy occurs in some species (for example, also in the common runner), the predominant reproductive strategy in the family is polyandry , whereby a female mates with several males in one breeding season.

In the monogamous species, the female participates in the brood at least in the early phase, sometimes until the end, and very rarely in the rearing of the young. In species with polyandry, the female looks for a new male after laying eggs, while leaving the entire breeding business to the male. These species can lay eggs from different males up to seven times in a season. The breeding season for species of the temperate zones falls in spring and summer, for tropical species in the rainy season.

During courtship , the females utter their booming calls. They maintain a territory that they defend aggressively against other females. If a male is attracted, there is a short mating ceremony, during which the hesitant gait, mutual cleaning and handing over of food from the female to the male takes place as described above. Likewise, there are multiple sham mating in which the female mounts the male. This precedes the actual mating, in which the male climbs onto the female.

A small hollow under a bush, which is covered with grass, is created as a nest . The eggs are between 18 × 15 mm and 29 × 24 mm in size. They are white or beige in color and have numerous dark spots. The clutch of lark chicken consists of two eggs, of all other species from four to five, in rare cases up to seven eggs. They are incubated for twelve to fifteen days. This is the shortest breeding period of all birds who flee the nest .

The chicks are born in a down dress and immediately follow the male. They are fed for a week before they can look for food on their own. In the event of danger, the chicks fall into a rigidity, while the male attracts the attacker's attention by pretending to be injured. The very fast growing boys are able to fly at two weeks, and at four weeks they are completely independent.

Runner chickens only have a short life expectancy. Because of the large number of enemies (especially birds of prey, small predators), they rarely get older than two to three years. They make up for this disadvantage with a high rate of reproduction. The potential lifespan in the absence of enemies is much longer. Rare chickens could live up to nine years in captivity.

Tribal history

The earliest known representative of the runner chickens is Turnipax oechslerorum from the Oligocene of Germany. This species was only assigned to the red chicken in 2007 after the discovery of a postcranial (= completely without skull) skeleton. The skeleton mediates in the characteristics between plover-like and modern run chicken.

Apart from this species, there are no known fossil runners older than the Pleistocene .

Systematics

External system

Outwardly, run chickens resemble chicken birds and were initially assigned to them. It was recognized early on that there is no relationship, as the internal anatomy is completely different. In the past, wild chickens were also assigned to the flying fowl , pigeon and passerine birds , but above all to the crane birds , because it was believed to be recognizable in them claw- like features. Later they were put into their own order, the turniciformes. Recently there have been indications of a relationship with the plover-like (Charadriiformes), which was confirmed by the skeleton find of Turnipax (see tribal history ). The International Ornithological Committee therefore assigns the runner to the plover-like species today.

The steppe runner ( Pedionomus torquatus ), which in the past was often regarded as a member or close relative of the runner , is not related to them according to today's doctrine.

Internal system

Drawing of the common rabbit, the only species found on European soil

Two genera are included in the runner group: Ortyxelos with only one species, the small lark turkey, and Turnix with the other fifteen species.

Humans and rabbits

Rare chickens were seldom of greater importance to humans. In South Asia in particular, they were hunted and eaten alongside other birds. In Southeast Asia, the females are sometimes trained for exhibition fights (hence the name "fighting quail").

Most species are common and not threatened. The IUCN lists three species in one endangerment category: the breast of ocher chicken as critically endangered, and sumba and black breasted chicken as vulnerable.

Sources and further information

Sources cited

Most of the information in this article is taken from the source given under literature; the following sources are also cited:

  1. ↑ Gerald Mayr & Charles W. Knopf: A stem lineage representative of buttonquails from the Lower Oligocene of Germany - fossil evidence for a charadriiform origin of the Turnicidae . In: Ibis 2007, Vol. 149, No. 4, pp. 774-782
  2. ^ Tara A. Paton, Allan J. Baker, Jeff G. Groth & George F. Barrowclough: RAG-1 sequences resolve phylogenetic relationships within Charadriiform birds . In: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 2003, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 268-278
  3. ↑ Hackett et al .: A Phylogenomic Study of Birds Reveals Their Evolutionary History. Science June 27, 2008: Vol. 320. no. 5884, pp. 1763–1768 doi: 10.1126 / science.1157704
  4. ↑ Buttonquail, plovers, seedsnipe & sandpipers IOC World Bird List, accessed June 29, 2015
  5. ↑ Turnicidae in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . Retrieved December 10, 2008.

literature

Web links

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This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on June 30, 2009 .