Maggot cuckoo

Maggot cuckoo
Guirakuckuck ( Guira guira )
Systematics
Class : Birds (aves) Order : Cuckoo birds (Cuculiformes) Family : Cuckoos (Cuculidae) Subfamily : Maggot cuckoo
Scientific name
Crotophaginae
Swainson , 1837

Group of smooth-billed anise. In front a male; the third bird is likely a female

Riefenschabelani ( Crotophaga sulcirostris )

Giant ani

The Madenkucke (Crotophaginae) are a subfamily of the cuckoo family . All species live in America . The main area of ​​distribution is South America. Two species, namely the Glattschnabelani and the Riefenschnabelani, also occur in the extreme south of North America.

features

In contrast to all other types of cuckoo, the maggot only have eight instead of ten control springs . The aniseed within this subfamily are uniformly black, long-tailed birds with a powerful beak. The upper beak is raised like a comb in the smooth-beaked ani, grooved several times along the length of the deep-billed ani and has a prominent hump in the giant ani. The giant ani is easily identifiable due to its size of up to 46 centimeters, while the smooth-billed ani (35 centimeters) and the Rief-beaked ani (32 centimeters) are about the same size.

The Guirakuckuck, which is assigned to the genus Guira , reaches a body length between 36 and 42 centimeters, of which an average of 20 centimeters is on the tail. His body weight averages 140 grams. The wings are short and rounded. The top of the body is dark brown with white dots, the underside of the bait is whitish beige and has very fine black dots on the throat and chest.

Reproduction

Maggot cuckoos live together in groups and are not obligatory breeding parasites . They live together mainly in groups of several largely monogamous pairs, which also include unpaired adult birds and the young of a breeding season. The group size is variable, usually it is less than 10 individuals, but at the end of a breeding season it can also include 20 or more birds. Almost all activities such as foraging, plumage care, brood care and defense against enemies take place in groups with the anise. They also spend their rest times together, often in close physical contact. With the Rief-beaked anise and the smooth-beaked ani there are also single breeding pairs, single pairs of the giant anise apparently do not brood. Stomach cuckoos build a community nest in which all mated females lay their eggs. Nevertheless, the breeding competition between the individual pairs or among the individual females is great: Eggs that have already been laid are removed from other females or, as with the smooth-billed ani, older clutches are covered with leaves so that the eggs cannot hatch.

In the guirakuckuck, an average of about half of the eggs in these clutches are lost. This loss of eggs is partly brought about in a targeted manner: adult guira-chucks take individual eggs in their beak and throw them directly out of the nest or take an egg in their beak, move away from the nest a few meters away and drop it there. This behavior can be observed especially at the beginning of the egg-laying, but can also occur when the eggs are already incubated. There is evidence that this behavior occurs mainly in females who have not yet begun to lay eggs. Basically, the eggs of an individual female vary so much in size, shape, color and pattern from each other that she is not able to identify her own eggs within a clutch.

Systematics

The subfamily includes two genera with four species . The German names follow Avibase.

• Anise ( Crotophaga )
  • Smooth-billed ani ( Crotophaga ani )
  • Groove-billed ani ( Crotophaga sulcirostris )
  • Giant ani ( Crotophaga major )
• Guira
  • Guirakuckuck ( Guira guira )

The maggot cuckoos were run together with the hoatzin by Sibley and Ahlquist as a separate family under the name Crotophagidae. This classification has been refuted by genetic studies.

literature

• Johannes Erritzøe , Clive F. Mann, Frederik Brammer, Richard A. Fuller: Cuckoos of the World (Helm Identification Guides) . Christopher Helm Publishers Ltd, London 2012, ISBN 978-071-366-034-0 .
• Robert B. Payne: The Cuckoos (Bird Families of the World No. 15). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2005, ISBN 0-19-850213-3 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Payne p. 6
2. ↑ Erhitzøe, Mann, Brammer, Fuller: Cuckoos of the World . P. 101.
3. ↑ Erhitzøe, Mann, Brammer, Fuller: Cuckoos of the World . P. 102.
4. ↑ Crotophaginae in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) accessed on November 28, 2013
5. ↑ Payne p. 112