Guinea fowl
Guinea fowl | ||||||||||
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![]() Helmeted guinea fowl ( Numida meleagris ) with young animals |
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Systematics | ||||||||||
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Scientific name | ||||||||||
Numididae | ||||||||||
de Sélys Longchamps , 1842 |
The guinea fowl (Numididae) are a family of fowl birds (Galliformes), which includes four genera with a total of six species. These are birds that are found exclusively in Africa and live in both savannahs and forests. One of their species, the helmeted guinea fowl , was domesticated by humans and made pets.
features
Guinea fowl are of the typical shape that all chicken birds have in common: They have a stocky body, short wings, strong legs and a small head. The tail is usually short for chickens (exception: vulture guinea fowl ). The size ranges from 40 cm (genus Agelastes ) to 72 cm (vulture guinea fowl), the weight from 700 to 1650 g.
The plumage of the guinea fowl has a black or gray basic color. Only the vulture guinea fowl has a blue underside, the white-breasted guinea fowl a pure white breast. The name is derived from the drawing of the plumage, which, except for the genus Agelastes, is covered with fine, white dots. The head and neck are always feathered, the bare skin of these areas is often very colorful and can be covered with throat sacs, warts, bone crests or scoops.
The guinea fowl's beak is short and curved downwards. Sometimes it has a distant resemblance to a bird of prey's beak, especially the vulture guinea fowl. The strong beak is used to dig in the earth. The clawed feet serve the same purpose. The guinea fowl's foot is anisodactyl . Like the pheasant-like species , the species of the genus Agelastes also have spores on their legs, one or two per leg in the male, and zero to one in the female. The vulture guinea fowl has bumps that are likely to be spores that have regressed.
There is no gender dimorphism visible in the field , at most males are slightly larger than females.
distribution and habitat
The natural range of the guinea fowl includes Africa south of the Sahara, with the exception of completely vegetationless deserts. North of the Sahara there is an isolated occurrence of the helmeted guinea fowl in northwest Morocco . During early antiquity, guinea fowls were also found in Egypt .
Today, guinea fowl have become native to numerous other regions of the world through humans. These are mainly feral domestic guinea fowl, which are found on many Caribbean islands, on the Arabian Peninsula and on Madagascar .
Depending on the species, guinea fowl are native to very different habitats:
- The species of the genus Agelastes and the plain hooded guinea fowl live in tropical rainforests . They depend on primary forests and shy away from being close to humans. As a result, little is known about them.
- The crested guinea fowl is also a forest dweller, but also tolerates secondary forests and can also be found on the edges of forests .
- The helmeted guinea fowl is a pure inhabitant of open landscapes, especially the African savannah . The prerequisite for this species is the presence of water, as it has to drink regularly.
- The vulture guinea fowl, on the other hand, usually does not have to drink, as the need for fluids is covered by moisture in the food. It can therefore also be found in arid areas (semi-deserts) far away from the water. However, there must be at least a few trees that can serve as sleeping places. Vulture guinea fowl also live in savannahs and forests as the least fussy species.
Although most of the guinea fowl can be found in the plains, helmet guinea fowl can be found in mountainous regions up to an altitude of 3000 m.
Way of life
activity
Guinea fowl are diurnal ground dwellers that show the greatest activity in the early morning hours and late evening while resting at night and during the midday heat. Trees serve as sleeping places.
Outside the breeding season, guinea fowl live in social groups. These groups are quite stable in their composition. Although they dissolve each year during the breeding season, the same individuals find themselves together again after the breeding season has ended. The size of the associations for forest-dwelling species is usually less than 10 birds per group, for savannah dwellers up to 40, in exceptional cases even up to 200.
The associations do not defend any fixed territories . In the case of the white-breasted guinea fowl, however, the clash of two associations can trigger aggressive behavior or even fights. On the other hand, different groups of the helmet guinea fowl can also be found at the same waterhole and remain compatible with one another.
food
As omnivores , guinea fowl feed on both vegetable and animal material. The parts of the plant that are eaten include roots, seeds, fruits, leaves and flowers; insects, arachnids and millipedes in particular are eaten on animals. Small vertebrates are only exceptionally prey. Which food predominates differs from species to species. In the forest-dwelling species, insects clearly predominate, in the helmeted guinea fowl the vegetable diet is just as evident.
Guinea fowls seek their food by running around picking what they find on their way. Occasionally they dig into the earth to get to roots. Both their feet and their beak help them with this.
Several species of guinea fowl are known to follow monkeys to eat away the scraps of food that they have dropped. The Ruffled Guinea Fowl stays in the vicinity of various tree-dwelling monkeys, while helmet guinea fowl often stick to groups of baboons . Guinea fowl also occasionally follow other mammals to catch frightened insects or spurned food.
Reproduction
During the breeding season, the pairs separate from the groups. Sometimes pairing is preceded by fights between rival males. The couples are seasonally monogamous .
A hollow in the ground serves as a nest, which is possibly padded with leaves or grass. A clutch consists of 4 to 19 eggs. The female alone breeds, but the male stays near the nest. The brood lasts 23 to 28 days. The young, like all chickens, flee the nest . They eat themselves immediately, but are still dependent on the company of their parents. Both parents guard and defend the young - the participation of the male in this task is a rare exception among chickens. The predators of young guinea fowl are mainly monkeys, gorse cats , crows and hawks.
Systematics
External system
Traditionally, guinea fowl were viewed as a subfamily of the pheasant-like . According to current knowledge, however, they were created independently of these. The separation of the two groups took place about 38 million years ago. Pheasant and guinea fowl are sometimes united with the toothed quail to form a suborder Galli. The relative position of the guinea fowl to these two groups remains unclear.
Internal system
The following genera and species are included in the guinea fowl:
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Agelastes
- White-breasted guinea fowl ( Agelastes meleagrides )
- Black guinea fowl ( Agelastes niger )
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Numida
- Helmet guinea fowl ( Numida meleagris )
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Crested guinea fowl ( Guttera )
- Plain-crested guinea fowl ( Guttera plumifera )
- Ruffled guinea fowl ( Guttera pucherani )
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Acryllium
- Vulture guinea fowl ( Acryllium vulturinum )
The black guinea fowl was occasionally listed in its own genus Phasidus .
Humans and guinea fowl
Guinea fowl have always served as meat suppliers all over Africa, and their feathers are sometimes used as ornaments. Most importantly, guinea fowl were among the first birds to be domesticated by humans. The first took domestication probably in Egypt , where the Helmperlhuhn apparently still wild occurred during the early antiquity. In the Old Kingdom , it seems to have already given Hausperlhühner. The Phoenicians and Greeks also kept guinea fowl before the domestic fowl became known in Europe. Guinea fowl were a popular delicacy in the Roman Empire, but domesticated guinea fowl disappeared after the end of Roman times.
After the Portuguese brought guinea fowl with them from West Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries, domestication took place a second time. Today guinea fowl are bred all over the world, but their importance is far below that of the domestic fowl or the turkey .
Especially in South Africa, the helmeted guinea fowl is feared and hunted as an agricultural pest. However, the relationship between harm and benefit remains unclear, i.e. whether killing insects in the fields is not more beneficial than eating parts of plants at the same time.
The scientific name Numididae is derived from Numidia , which the Romans believed to be the region of origin of the guinea fowl. The original name among the Greeks was Meleagris . This name is derived from the Greek legendary hero Meleagros . After his death, his sisters were turned into guinea fowl by the gods. The dots on the plumage are the tears they wept from grief for their deceased brother. The word is still used in the scientific names of the helmet guinea fowl ( Numida meleagris ) and the white breasted guinea fowl ( Agelastes meleagrides ). As a generic name, Meleagris was inappropriately applied to the turkey by Carl von Linné .
Sources and further information
literature
- Josep del Hoyo et al .: Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: New World Vultures to Guinea Fowl. Lynx Edicions, 1994, ISBN 84-87334-15-6 .