Marble weaver
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Marble weaver ( Pseudonigrita arnaudi ) |
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| ( Bonaparte , 1850) |
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The marble Weber ( Pseudonigrita Arnaudi ), and Gray-capped social weaver or marble black one called, is a bird art from the family of weaver birds (Ploceidae). It occurs in three subspecies in a patchy range in eastern Africa, which stretches from western and southern Sudan, through southern Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya to northern and central Tanzania.
features
The marble weaver is a small gray-brown bird that reaches a length of eleven to twelve centimeters. The wing feathers and the top of most of the short tail are blackish, the tip of the tail pale. The forehead and crown are gray. A white eye ring is noticeable. The beak is blackish, legs and feet brownish-pink. Young birds are more brownish, they still lack the grayish skull and white eye ring. Their beak is also light brown. Young birds can be confused with those of the black cap weaver ( Pseudonigrita cabanisi ), which belongs to the same genus as the marble spätzling. The young birds of the marble weaver, however, are brownish and not white on the underside of their bodies, their beak is smaller and their tail is shorter.
Vocalizations
He has several calls, including a high-pitched “tew tew tew”, “tu-tew tu-tew” or “spik-spik”, “spi-chew-spi-chew” and a squeaky chatter that resembles the sounds of the house sparrow remind. When the marble weavers retire to rest, a high-pitched "che-che sireeee", "rreet-rreee-rreee" or "sreet-sreet-sreet" sounds.
Way of life
Marble weavers live in the lowlands and hills below 1400 meters, in thorn bushes and acacia- lined savannas . They are usually found in areas with higher rainfall than the Schwarzkopfspätzling, but the distribution areas of these two Pseudonigritta species overlap in some regions. Marble weavers can be found in their breeding areas all year round.
The diet of the marble weavers consists of grass seeds and insects. Locusts, beetles, termites and caterpillars, among other things, were found. The nestlings and young birds are fed with soft green grass seeds and insects. They drink regularly and are therefore dependent on open water points in their area of distribution.
Reproduction
Marble weavers are sociable and breed in small, dense colonies in thorn bushes, especially in ant acacias. Up to 157 nests were counted in a single tree, some of the nests merging into one another. The colonies are made up of sub-colonies made up of two to eight birds that vigorously defend their two to eight nests against birds from other sub-colonies. The individual nest is relatively large and is built from blades of grass. It has two entrances on the underside when it is used for resting outside the breeding season. An entrance is closed before the eggs are laid.
Subspecies
The following subspecies are distinguished:
- Pseudonigrita arnaudi arnaudi - in and east of the Rift Valley
- Pseudonigrita arnaudi australoabyssinicus - southern Ethiopia
- Pseudonigrita arnaudi dorsalis - Masai Mara via Serengeti to Lake Eyasi
literature
- C. Hilary Fry and Stuart Keith (Eds.): The Birds of Africa. Volume VII. Christopher Helm, London 2004, ISBN 0-7136-6531-9 .
- Dale A. Zimmerman, Donald A. Turner, David J. Pearson: Birds of Kenya & Northern Tanzania. A & C Black Publisher, 1996, ISBN 0713639687
- JG Williams, N. Arlott: Birds of East Africa. Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 0-00-219179-2
Web links
- Avibase: marble weaver ( Pseudonigrita arnaudi )
- Pseudonigrita arnaudi in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2013.2. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2014.