Hammer chicken
| Hammer chicken | ||||||||
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Hammer Grouse ( Macrocephalon maleo ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||
| Macrocephalon | ||||||||
| S. Müller , 1846 | ||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||
| Macrocephalon maleo | ||||||||
| S. Müller, 1846 |
The hammer grouse ( Macrocephalon maleo ), also known as maleo , is a medium-sized, black large-footed chicken . As the only representative of the monotypic genus Macrocephalon , it is endemic to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi .
description
The hammer chicken reaches a length of 55 centimeters. It is predominantly black with bare yellow facial skin, reddish-brown iris, reddish-orange beak, and a salmon-pink underside. A black, helmet-like hood adorns the top of the head. The gray-blue toes, which are separated by a membrane-like skin, have four long, sharp claws. The sexes look almost the same, only that the females are slightly smaller and their plumage is paler.
Habitat and way of life
The hammer grouse lives in tropical lowland and mountain forests, but the nests are built on open sandy areas, volcanic floors or on the beach, where the eggs are heated and hatched by the sun or geothermal energy. The hammer hen eggs are about five times the size of hen eggs. The female lays each egg in a deep sand hole and allows the sun or volcanic heat to hatch. After hatching, the chick makes its way through the sand and hides in the forest. The young birds are able to fly and are completely independent of their parents. They have to find food independently and defend themselves against predators such as lizards, pythons , wild boars or cats .
The hammer chicken is monogamous and the couple stay close together for life. Its diet consists mainly of fruits, seeds, ants , termites , beetles and other small invertebrates.
Danger
The species has been protected by the Indonesian government since 1972. Because of the progressive loss of habitat, the high rate of boy mortality, over-collecting of eggs and over-hunting in some regions, the hammer hen is classified by the IUCN as " critically endangered". It is listed in Appendix I of the CITES agreement.
The American-Indonesian nature conservation organization Alliance for Tompotika Conservation (Aliansi Konservasi Tompotika, AlTo) endeavors to preserve the species and mainly relies on the involvement of the local population. The eggs are considered a local delicacy.
Individual evidence
literature
- Erritzoe, J. (1993) The Birds of CITES and How to Identify Them
- Vester, F., Diamond, AW, Stern, H., Thielcke, G. (1987) Save the world of birds , Ravensburger Verlag
Web links
- Macro Cephalon maleo in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed January 7 of 2009.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Macrocephalon maleo in the Internet Bird Collection
- ARKive - Pictures and information about the hammer chicken
- BirdLife Species Factsheet