Carrot fan tail
| Carrot fan tail | ||||||||||||
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| Rhipidura atra | ||||||||||||
| Salvadori , 1876 |
The moor fan tail ( Rhipidura atra ) is a species of bird from the family of the fan tails (Rhiipiduridae). It occurs exclusively in New Guinea. As is characteristic of fan tails, the black fan tail has long tail plumage that can be fanned out wide.
The IUCN classifies the population of the black fan tail as safe ( least concern ). There are two subspecies.
features
The moors fan tail reaches a body length of 16 to 17 centimeters. They weigh between 11 and 12 grams.
The males have a completely velvety black plumage. Only above the eye is a very narrow, barely discernible white stripe. The females and the young birds are red-brown, only the middle pair of tail feathers is completely black.
The iris is dark brown, the upper bill is black, and the lower bill is yellow.
Possible confusion
The fan- tailed monarch ( Monarcha axillaris ) occurs in the distribution area of the black fan tail . However, this is blue-black and has no white stripe above the eyes. The beak is pearl gray and not black and yellow. The two-phase fan tail ( Rhipidura brachyrhyncha ) is smaller and only black on the upper side of the body.
voice
The call spectrum of the black fan tail is large. The calls consist, among other things, of a series of 10 soft whistles, which rise in pitch and become shorter and shorter. Alternatively, he lets ten whistles circumscribed with tyeek be heard, the pitch of which alternately rise and fall.
Distribution area, subspecies and habitat
The black fan tail occurs in the mountains of New Guinea , the distribution area stretches accordingly disjointly from the eastern tip of this largest island in the world after Greenland to the western tip. It is also found on Waigeo , the largest of the four main islands of the Raja Ampat archipelago off the coast of western New Guinea .
The two subspecies occur in the following regions:
- R. a. atra Salvadori , 1876 - Waigeo and Mountains of New Guinea with the exception of the Cyclops Mountains
- R. a. vulpes Mayr , 1931 - The range is limited to the Cyclops Mountains in northern New Guinea. The subspecies differs from the nominate form by the more intense red-brown plumage of the female.
The habitat are mountain forests, where it usually occurs in the dense undergrowth in the forest interior and on the edge of the forest. The height distribution ranges from 1000 to 2150 meters, it is very rarely observed above 700 meters or at altitudes up to 3200 meters.
Way of life
The black fan tail occurs predominantly in pairs. It is an insect eater who often catches its prey in flight, but also searches the foliage for them. The nest is set up in a fork of branches close to the ground. As characteristic of fan tails, it is cup-shaped, but often has a tail-shaped appendage. The clutch consists of a single egg.
literature
- Bruce M. Beehler , Thane K. Pratt: Birds of New Guinea; Distribution, Taxonomy, and Systematics . Princeton University Press, Princeton 2016, ISBN 978-0-691-16424-3 .
- Thane K. Pratt and Bruce M. Beehler: Birds of New Guinea . Princeton University Press, Princeton 2015, ISBN 978-0-691-09562-2 .
Web links
Single receipts
- ^ Pratt and Beehler: Birds of New Guinea . P. 467.
- ↑ a b c Handbook of the Birds of the World zum Mohrenfächerschwanz , accessed on July 29, 2017
- ^ Pratt and Beehler: Birds of New Guinea . P. 470.
- ↑ a b Beehler & Pratt: Birds of New Guinea; Distribution, Taxonomy, and Systematics . P. 411.
- ^ Pratt and Beehler: Birds of New Guinea . P. 468.