Madagascar sparrow
| Madagascar sparrow | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg)
Madagascar sparrow ( Accipiter madagascariensis ) |
||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Accipiter madagascariensis | ||||||||||
| Verreaux , 1833 |
The Madagascar Sparrowhawk ( Accipiter madagascariensis ) is an endemic to Madagascar occurring bird of prey from the family of Accipitridae (Accipitridae).
description
Madagascar sparrows reach a body length of 29 to 42 centimeters. The females weighed 285 to 348 grams. The wings are relatively short. The underside is finely banded in gray and white crosswise (" sparrowed "), the upper side of the males is slate gray. The control springs are cross-banded in light and dark gray. The birds show a clear sexual dimorphism . This is primarily expressed in size, as the females are up to 39% larger than the males. The upper side is also colored gray-brown. The short hooked bill is blackish in both sexes, the iris orange-yellow. The legs and feet are yellow-green in color.
Similar species
Madagascar sparrows are similar to the Madagascar goshawk ( Accipiter henstii ), which, however, is significantly larger with a body length between 52 and 62 centimeters, as well as the roughly equal-sized lizard hawk ( Accipiter francesiae ), which has longer control feathers and whose underside is lighter and less creamed.
distribution and habitat
The distribution area of the Madagascar sparrow covers a wide coastal strip around the entire island of Madagascar. It is only missing in the central highlands. The main habitat are dense forests up to an altitude of 1500 meters.
Way of life
Madagascar sparrows feed primarily on various small birds that reach the size of the cap dove ( Oena capensis ). In addition, Madagascar eel ( Copsychus albospecularis ), Madagascar red-billed bulbul ( Hypsipetes madagascariensis ), pearl quail ( Margaroperdix madagarensis ), Madagascar turtledove ( Nesoenas picturata ) or Madagascar green pigeon ( Treron australis ) are beaten. 97% of the diet is based on bird species. Sometimes insects and small vertebrates are also preyed on, for example day geckos ( Phelsuma ) or frogs . The breeding season falls in October and November. The nests are mostly created 20 to 28 meters above the ground in tall trees and equipped with 1–4 whitish eggs covered with brown speckles, which the female incubates in 35 days. A nest was measured with a diameter of 50 centimeters and a depth of 25 centimeters. The nests are rarely used more than once. The young leave the nest for the first time after 36 to 39 days, but return there repeatedly and only become independent after 60 to 67 days.
Danger
The populations of the Madagascar sparrow in Madagascar are estimated to be between 10,000 and 100,000 individuals. Since the lower limit is seen as more likely, the World Conservation Organization ( IUCN) classifies the species as 
" near threatened ".
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g A. C. Kemp, GM Kirwan & DA Christie (2017). Madagascar Sparrowhawk (Accipiter madagascariensis). In: J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, DA Christie & E. de Juana (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (accessed at http://www.hbw.com/node/53075 on March 20, 2017).
- ↑ occurrence
- ^ IUCN Red List
literature
- Josep del Hoyo , Andrew Elliott, Jordi Sargatal : Handbook of the Birds of the World, New World Vultures to Guineafowl. Volume 2, Lynx Edicions, 1994, ISBN 978-84-87334-15-3 .
Web links
- worldbirdnames - IOC World Bird List
- Madagascar sparrow (Accipiter madagascariensis) in the Encyclopedia of Life . Retrieved August 12, 2017.