Nipponibis

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Nipponibis
Nipponibis in human care

Nipponibis in human care

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Pelecaniformes
Family : Ibises and spoonbills (Threskiornithidae)
Genre : Nipponia
Type : Nipponibis
Scientific name of the  genus
Nipponia
Reichenbach , 1852
Scientific name of the  species
Nipponia nippon
( Temminck , 1835)
Nipponibis in flight
Nipponibis

The Nipponibis ( Nipponia nippon ; Japanese ト キ , 鴇 , 鵇 , 朱 鷺 or 桃花 鳥 , each toki ; Chinese  朱 鷺  /  朱 鹭 , Pinyin zhūlù , 朱 鹮 , zhūhuán ), also known as the Japanese ibis or Japanese crested ibis , belongs to the ibis family and spoonbill (Threskiornithidae) and lives in East Asia.

features

The Nipponibis reaches a height of 55 to 84 cm and a wingspan of 140 cm. His bushy forelock as well as his red facial skin and legs are unmistakable. Non-breeding adult birds are white with an orange-cinnamon tint on the tail and on the wing feathers. In breeding adult birds, the head, neck, coat and shoulder feathers are gray. A salmon-colored reddening of the hand and arm wings can be seen all year round. The beak is black with a red tip and base. The eyes, skin of the face, and legs are red all year round in both sexes. The juvenile birds are mainly gray with a dark iris. Their facial skin and legs are deep yellow. The dark color of the breeding plumage is caused by a black, tar-like substance that is secreted by a well-defined patch of skin in the throat and neck area. During the first moult in November, special down develops in this area, while January to February secretes the tar-like substance with which the ibises smear their head, neck and upper body. Bright morphs have also been observed in human care. Its reputation consists of a taaa or aaa .

Habitat and way of life

It lives in swamp forests at an altitude of 470 to 1300 m. Its diet consists of small fish, frogs, river snails and other mollusks, as well as beetles.

Distribution, population and endangerment

The Japanese ibis used to be found in Russia , Korea , northern China, Taiwan , Manchuria, and Japan and preferred to breed in old forests near wetlands or rice fields. Some of the populations stayed true to their location, others moved to southern China to hibernate. The nipponibis was still relatively common at the beginning of the 20th century, after which it began to decline steadily, bringing the birds to the verge of extinction. As early as the end of the 19th century, the Nipponibis was increasingly hunted because of its long white head of feathers. Feathers like those of the nipponibi were mainly used in the fashion industry to make hats, and hunting for decorative feathers affected a number of bird species. The hunting distance of the Nipponibis was particularly high because it not only produced particularly beautiful feathers, but also moved relatively slowly on the ground and in the air, making it an easy target for hunters.

In large parts of the range of the Nipponibi there was a human population explosion in the course of the 20th century, which led to an increased use of the Nipponibi habitats as agricultural cultivation areas and settlement areas. The bird was placed under protection in Japan as early as 1934, but this remained largely ineffective as its habitat was not equally protected. Political upheavals such as that of the Chinese Great Leap forward also led to extensive habitat losses on the Asian mainland.

Due to the destruction of its habitat through deforestation , draining of swamps and the creation of rice terraces, the population decreased so drastically that in the early 1970s there were only 8 specimens left on the Japanese island of Sado and some in the demilitarized zone in Korea. In order to save the species from the ultimate extinction, a protection and rearing center was built on Sado, where one could research the habits of the ibis. However, the first breeding program proved to be a failure. All but one bird died within a few weeks, presumably because they were fed improperly.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Academy of Sciences conducted a search in China for possibly still existing nipponi bites. The search lasted over three years, and the researchers covered a distance of 50,000 kilometers. In 1981 two breeding pairs with a total of three chicks were discovered on a mountain slope in the remote Shaanxi province . A few more pairs were found in the area a little later. The Chinese Ministry of Forestry immediately set up a protection station in the vicinity, in the immediate vicinity of the hatchery the felling of trees, the use of firearms and in the feeding area the use of fertilizers and pesticides was prohibited. In 1987, 51 nesting trees were declared state property and placed under strict protection. Under the auspices of the Beijing Zoo, nipponibites were then successfully bred in human care. In 2002, the Chinese population in the wild was estimated to be 140. In Japan, the last crested ibis to hatch in the wild died in 2003 on the island of Sado . In 2008, 10 nipponibites hatched into human care were released on Sado.

Parasites

In 1983 the suction worm Patagifer toki was described. This species has only been found in the Japanese ibis population. Since this was almost extinct once, Patagifer toki is considered to be threatened with extinction.

Others

  • The Nipponibis was declared a Japanese natural monument in 1934 . He is the prefecture bird of Niigata and the city bird of Sado and Wajima .
  • In 2005 the Japanese pop group Dohatsuten named one of their albums Nipponia Nippon with a Tokyo symbol on the record logo.
  • Since 1982 the Nipponibis coat of arms bird of the German bird protection association Brehm Fund for international bird protection eV

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Couzens, 2011, p. 32.
  2. ↑ Couzens, 2011, pp. 32–33.
  3. ↑ a b Couzens, 2011, p. 34.
  4. ↑ Couzens, 2011, p. 35.
  5. ^ Rudolf L. Schreiber, Anthony W. Diamond, Horst Stern, Gerhard Thielcke: Rettet die Vogelwelt. Ravensburger Verlag, 1987, ISBN 3-473-46160-1 .
  6. ↑ ト キ の 日本 保護 と 野生 復 帰 / Conservation and Reintroduction of Crested Ibis in Japan . (PDF; 346 kB) Ministry of the Environment , 2008, accessed on February 4, 2012 (Japanese, Chinese, English).

Web links

Commons : Nipponibis  - collection of images, videos and audio files