Opal rack

Opal rack
	Opal peg ( Coracias cyanogaster )
Systematics
Class :	Birds (aves)
Order :	Rockers (Coraciiformes)
Family :	Racken (Coraciidae)
Genre :	Coracias
Type :	Opal rack
Scientific name
	Coracias cyanogaster
	Cuvier , 1816

The Opalracke ( Coracias cyanogaster ), also called blue-bellied raccoon , is a species of bird in the family of the rocket .

features

Opal octopuses are birds about the size of a jackdaw . The length is 28 to 30 cm plus 6 cm long streamer feathers at the tail end, the wing length is 16 to 19 cm. Opal rectangles weigh between 110 and 178 grams. Males are slightly larger than females. The back is dark green, the relatively large head is cream-colored, the neck, chest and most of the other feathers are predominantly ultramarine blue. Adults have 6 cm long stripes on the slightly forked azure tail. The upper beak is slightly bent down at the end. There is no difference in appearance between male and female birds. The colors are stronger in adult birds than in young birds. These can also be recognized by a shorter tail that does not yet have streamer feathers.

A dry, clicking Ga-Ga-Gaa-Ga is emitted for about five seconds at a speed of three to five tones per second . The call is similar to that of the cinnamon roll , but this one is shorter.

Occurrence

The distribution of the Opalracke extends from West to Central Africa. They are found in small groups of two to six birds along forest edges in savannas that of Isoberlinia dominated -Trees and Palmyra palm groves near swamps and watercourses. There are also groups of up to 20 birds. They stay almost exclusively in the lowlands. Their distribution area extends in an easterly direction to South Sudan (there from Kajo Keji to Maridi ).

behavior

Opal racks often sit on trees, occasionally on stakes and overhead lines, from where they look for food in the ground, which mostly consists of insects (mainly short-antennae terrors , but also beetles such as scarab beetles , Curculionoidea , longhorn beetles and winged termites and ants ) and arachnids, but also from small vertebrates such as small skinks . Oil palm fruits are also occasionally eaten. They have a strong territorial behavior. Any bird that comes near the nest will be attacked. The nests are relatively high, about ten meters high, to be found in tree holes. The three to five eggs in a clutch are incubated for an average of 18 days in the rainy season between April and July in Senegal and between February and September in the Ivory Coast. The young birds become sexually mature after about a year.

Subspecies

There are no known subspecies.

Postage stamps

Opal patches can be found on postage stamps from Gambia (1966 and again 2001), Nicaragua (1995), Liberia (2000), Guinea (2001) and Sierra Leone (2016).