Mauritius falcon
| Mauritius falcon | ||||||||||||
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Mauritius falcon ( Falco punctatus ) |
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| Falco punctatus | ||||||||||||
| Temminck , 1821 |
The Mauritius falcon ( Falco punctatus ) is a rare, wild live only on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean occurring hawk art . The species was almost extinct in 1974 , but has since recovered and is (status?) Classified as critically endangered by the IUCN .
features
The Mauritius falcon reaches a length of 20 to 26 centimeters. This makes it a little hawk, said male specimens are remarkably smaller than female. Its weight is between 200 and 250 grams . The upper side of adult Mauritius falcons is light cinnamon brown, the top of the head to the neck and the sides of the neck are thinly dashed blackish. From the coat (area between the neck and shoulder feathers) to the shoulder feathers and upper tail-coverts it is broadly banded blackish. Reins , cheeks and ear covers are gray-yellow-brown, mottled with cinnamon and dark brown dashed with an indistinct, narrow dark stripe. The chin and throat are pale sandy gray. The rest of the underside is creamy white, speckled with black, heart-shaped spots that are rounder and smaller on the chest, more oval on the belly and broad arrowhead-shaped on the flanks and sometimes make the Mauritius falcon appear almost banded on the underside.
The wings of the hand and arm are blackish brown with deeply grooved inner flags , the wings are banded with cinnamon brown. Hand covers and alula are also blackish brown, umbrella feathers and large, medium and small arm covers are banded blackish brown and cinnamon brown. The yellowish-brown-white under wing-coverts and axillary feathers are spotted blackish-brown. The whitish underside of the wings shows a dark brown banding. The tail is cinnamon brown, banded with seven or eight black bands, the subterminal band being the widest band. The rudder feathers show a cream-colored end band , the underside of the rudder feathers is banded dark brown and greyish.
The beak is blue-black, merging into blue-gray at the base. The eyes are brown. The legs, feet and toes are pale yellow-gray or yellow-green with black claws .
Females are similar to males, but the males are more spotted. The drawing of the females is rather arrowhead-shaped on the belly and on the flanks, and the region around the eye socket (periorbital) can be colored cobalt blue . Young birds have a bluish-gray facial skin that changes to the yellow of the adults after a year . Otherwise the young birds are similar to the adult birds, only the banding on the tail is slightly narrower and the cinnamon color on the neck is lighter. The banding on the flanks is less well developed in them.
In flight, the wings are round and elongated, the tail is narrow. The reputation of the Mauritius falcon is toee tooee or, for short, tooit tooit .
distribution
The Mauritius falcon is endemic to Mauritius . The distribution is currently limited to two populations: a southwest in and around the Black River George National Park and an eastern in the Bambou Mountains. A small sub-population in the Moka Range in the north of the island appears to be extinct. The species colonized Mauritius 1.9-2.6 million years ago, towards the end of the middle volcanic phase Mauritius .
Habitat and way of life
The falcon originally lived in an evergreen, subtropical primary forest . In captivity it turned out that the falcons can survive in light forest and open areas. They are no longer categorized as pure forest dwellers, but can also hunt successfully in grasslands . They seem to avoid areas used for agriculture, however; the reason for this is assumed to be the lack of larger trees as a lookout point .
The prey animals are mainly reptiles (90%), divided between the endemic day geckos (82%) and agamas (8%). Smaller birds and insects are also caught. Since their invasion , mice and shrews have also been part of the food supply. The prey is often only grabbed after a short pursuit. The Mauritius falcon flies, hops and walks between the branches. Geckos then try to escape in a zigzag or flee to the other side of the branch, but the bird can maneuver very well and fly tight circles less than a meter in diameter. Prey on the ground is beaten by diving from a vantage point or while gliding or in flight. Chased birds can usually escape the falcon and are captured by surprise attacks and short hunts.
The hawks usually build their nests in volcanic stone caves, probably also in tree holes. Nowadays, however, there are also nests in the suburbs of human settlement. and provided nest boxes . The breeding pairs are monogamous during the breeding season, breeding rarely, with less success, one male and two females. They are strictly territorial, the territory is defended all year round. The normally four to five brown-speckled, oval eggs are laid in November or December and hatched in 28 to 35 days, mainly by the female . The parental care can take up to 35 days.
The species shows a low tendency to migrate . After their release, 89% of the nesting, ringed birds were discovered within less than 5 km of the place where they were released or fledged.
Protection and continuance
The main threats are the clearing of the forests since the island was settled by humans . Now only 3% of the original forest area is left. Another decline in population occurred in the 1950s to 1960s due to the use of pesticides in agriculture and to combat malaria . In 1974 there were only four animals left in the wild, including one breeding pair. Two birds lived in captivity; with only six individuals left , the species was considered to be the most critically endangered bird of prey in the world.
The wild population was able to recover through an intensive conservation breeding and release program . This was supported by the government of Mauritius, the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust International (today: Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust , operator of the Durrell Wildlife Park ), the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation and The Peregrine Fund . Through these actions, carried out up to 1994, 331 birds were released into the wild. After that, the release was stopped and the population continued to be observed as the population stabilized. The species was then considered endangered and is considered an example of the successful recovery of a nearly extinct species.
In 2000 the population was estimated at 500–800 animals, including 145–200 breeding pairs. They lived in three populations in the mountain ranges in the north, east and south-west of Mauritius. By 2012, the population then shrank to 300–400 falcons in the wild. Further studies published in 2013 showed that the population in the southwestern habitat has continued to decline, there are now 120–150 birds in 40–50 breeding pairs. In that area it seems to be problematic to find suitable nesting sites so that the falcon species cannot integrate enough into the existing environment to secure the population. The number of animals in the east is stable at 130–150 falcons, of which 40–50 breeding pairs. The northern population appears to have become extinct again.
Currently, the species introduced by humans, such as the black rat , crab monkey , small mongoose and house cat, are problematic for the conservation of the species . In addition, damage imported plant species such as traveler's tree , strawberry guava , Ligustrum robustum and Hiptage benghalensis the habitat of hawks, as they are likely interfere with their hunting.
In the longer term, the genetic bottleneck from which the species has been suffering since 1974 is critical .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Mauritius kestrel (Falco punctatus). BirdLife International , accessed January 17, 2016 .
- ↑ a b c Falco punctatus / Mauritius kestrel. University of Michigan , accessed January 19, 2016 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Roger Safford, Frank Hawkins: The Birds of Africa: Volume VIII: The Malagasy Region: Madagascar, Seychelles, Comoros, Mascarenes. 2013, ISBN 978-0713665321 , p. 300.
- ↑ a b c d Mauritius kestrel (Falco punctatus). (No longer available online.) Wildscreen ARKive, archived from the original on January 18, 2016 ; accessed on January 19, 2016 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ IUCN
- ↑ a b c Falco punctatus. The Peregrine Fund , accessed January 10, 2016 .
- ↑ Falco punctatus (Mauritius Kestrel). IUCN , accessed January 17, 2016 .
literature
- Francesco Baschieri Salvadori, Pier L. Florio, Piero Cozzaglio: Rare and Beautiful Animals. , Newsweek Books, 1978, ISBN 978-0-8822526-0-5
Web links
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Falco punctatus in the Internet Bird Collection
- Birdlife international
- Avibase
- Falco punctatus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2014 Posted by: BirdLife International, 2014. Accessed January 16, 2016th