Red chalk woodpecker

Red chalk woodpecker
	Red chalk woodpecker ( Micropternus brachyurus )
Systematics
Order :	Woodpecker birds (Piciformes)
Family :	Woodpeckers (Picidae)
Subfamily :	Real woodpeckers (Picinae)
Genre :	Micropternus
Type :	Red chalk woodpecker
Scientific name of the genus
	Micropternus
	Blyth , 1845
Scientific name of the species
	Micropternus brachyurus
	( Vieillot , 1818)

The red chalk woodpecker ( Micropternus brachyurus , Syn . : Celeus brachyurus ) is a species of bird from the family of woodpeckers (Picidae). The genus Micropternus is monotypical with the red chalk woodpecker as the only species. This rather small and overall predominantly red-brown to dark chestnut-brown woodpecker colonizes large parts of South and Southeast Asia. The species inhabits more open forest areas in the primeval forest, secondary forest, forest edges, bushes and bamboo , but also plantations , palm groves and gardens. The food sought in practically all strata of the forest consists primarily of ants and their brood, but also of termites and other insects, fruits, nectar and tree saps.

Red chalk woodpeckers are known for their very unusual breeding biology. The nest caves are often created in the cardboard nests of tree-dwelling, very defensive ants, especially of the Crematogaster genus . The ants then inhabit the nest cavity, even when the woodpeckers are brooding and rearing their young.

In large parts of its large distribution area, the species is considered to be less common and only locally as more common; the population is apparently decreasing. The red chalk woodpecker is still classified by the IUCN as harmless (“least concern”).

Red chalk woodpecker of the subspecies Micropternus b. phaioceps in Calcutta

description

Red chalk woodpeckers are quite small woodpeckers with a short, slightly curved beak at the ridge and relatively narrow beak at the base. The body length is about 25 cm, the weight with great variation depending on the subspecies 55–114 g. This makes them somewhat larger and heavier than a great spotted woodpecker . The species shows a slight sexual dimorphism in terms of coloration .

Overall, the coloring is very variable and is subject to considerable geographical variation in the large distribution area. In the male, the back and rump vary from red-brown or chestnut-brown, usually with black banding, to slate-gray or blackish with narrow red-brown banding. The upper tail-coverts are banded red-brown and black. The upper wing coverts and the upper side of the wings are also banded reddish brown and black, but in individuals with a banded upper side of the trunk the banding of the upper wing coverts and the arm wings are often indistinct. The top of the control springs has narrow or wide black bands on a reddish brown or maroon ground.

The underside of the trunk is reddish brown to dark or blackish maroon from the throat down. For this reason, the lower abdomen and flanks show blackish bands, which can also be indistinct or missing. The upper tail-coverts are banded red-brown and black. The lower wings and the lower tail are red-brown or cinnamon-brown with black banding.

The top of the head and the short bonnet are beige, slate gray or blackish and for this reason are undrawn or dark dashed in variable thicknesses. The base of the beak, the sides of the head and the neck are all in one color beige to chestnut brown, an irregular and little noticeable red field created by red feather tips is located below the eye and on the front ear covers. The throat is beige to light brown with dark lines of variable size, occasionally the feathers are tinged with reddish brown.

The upper bill is black or dark brown, the lower bill lighter and more gray with an occasional whitish tip. Legs and toes are brownish to bluish gray or bluish green. The iris is reddish to brown, the eye ring is gray.

Females do not have the red areas on the sides of the head; like the rest of the head, these areas are monochrome beige to chestnut brown.

Vocalizations

Red chalk woodpeckers are acoustically very present. Individual birds utter short series of nasal calls such as "kiink, kiink, kiink" lasting less than a second . When conspecifics meet, calls such as "kwiiik" and variable calls such as "whii-chi, wi-chee" are repeated four to five times . A long, slightly falling and rising series of up to 16 sounds is sometimes repeated several times and probably serves as a district song and to strengthen the couple bond. Both sexes often drum. The very characteristic drum rolls last 1.5 to 5 seconds, slow down towards the end and then come to a stuttering stop, similar to a dying motorcycle engine; the sound is something like "bddddd-dd - d ---- dt" . The drum rolls are repeated every two to three minutes.

distribution and habitat

This species of woodpecker inhabits large parts of South and Southeast Asia. The one on the Indian subcontinent patchy range extends from west to east direction from the west coast of India to southern and southeastern China, including the province of Hainan , in north-south direction from the southern slopes of the Himalayas in the northern Indian region of Kumaon and western Nepal to Sri Lanka , Java and the south of Borneo . The size of the total distribution area is not exactly known.

Red chalk woodpeckers inhabit more open forest areas in the primeval forest, secondary forest, forest edges, bushes and bamboo , but also plantations , palm groves and gardens. The animals come from the lowlands to the hills and mountains; in Sri Lanka up to 610 m altitude, up to 1530 m in Nepal, up to 920 m on the Southeast Asian mainland and up to 1740 m altitude on Borneo.

Systematics

The systematic classification of the red chalk woodpecker has long been controversial. Until 1982 the species was listed in the monotypic genus Micropternus . LL Short placed them in 1982 in the until then exclusively neotropical , outwardly similar genus Celeus ; this assignment was also retained by Winkler and others. According to a molecular genetic examination of several sections of the DNA , the red chalk woodpecker is not closely related to the species of the genus Celeus . According to this study, the red chalk woodpecker's sister taxon is the brown- rumped woodpecker ( Meiglyptes tristis ); the other two species of the South and Southeast Asian genus Meiglyptes were not included in the study. The authors of the study therefore suggested transferring the species back to the monotypic genus Micropternus , a suggestion that Gill & Donsker have already followed.

Numerous subspecies have been described from the large distribution area, but it is difficult to differentiate them due to the great individual variability of the species. Winkler et al. Recognize 9 subspecies, which are listed here according to their distribution from west to east:

Micropternus brachyurus humei Kloss , 1918 - Northwest India, maybe also in western Nepal. Big and bright, head greyish, throat dotted.
Micropternus b. jerdonii ( Malherbe 1849) - Bombay and Southwest India, Sri Lanka. Smaller and darker with more reddish brown than the previous subspecies, throat scaly.
Micropternus b. phaioceps ( Blyth 1845) - From northern India and central Nepal to the east to Myanmar and Thailand . Large and rather dark red-brown, head brownish.
Micropternus b. squamigularis ( Sundevall 1866) - From the southern peninsula of Thailand south to Sumatra including Bangka , Belitung and Nias . Quite small and brighter than the more northern subspecies. The abdomen is clearly banded, although this banding is less pronounced in animals on Sumatra.
Micropternus b. brachyurus ( Vieillot 1818) - Java . Similar to the previous subspecies, but the belly less intensely banded and the tail slightly longer.
Micropternus b. badiosus ( Bonaparte 1850) - Borneo and northern Natuna Islands . Longer beaked than Micropternus b. squamigularis and Micropternus b. brachyurus . Very dark, black tail with narrow red-brown banding, the upper side is less strongly banded, the banding is only weakly pronounced or missing on the belly. The feathers of the throat are black at the base and have maroon tips and beige-brown edges, which gives the throat a scaly effect.
Micropternus b. Fokiensis ( Swinhoe 1863) - South China and North Vietnam. Underside smoky black with a touch of gray on the chest, throat broadly black and lightly dashed.
Micropternus b. holroydi Swinhoe 1870 - Hainan Island . Much smaller than the previous subspecies, very dark. The underside is more maroon and less gray, the throat is brown and not dashed black. The skull is faintly dashed.
Micropternus b. annamensis ( Delacour & Jabouille 1924) - Laos , Cambodia and North Vietnam. Slightly smaller than Micropternus b. focus , but otherwise very similar; very dark.

Lifestyle and diet

Red woodpeckers are often found in pairs and then near the nests of tree-dwelling ants. They are almost always on the move and usually only stay in one place for a short time. The flight is typically wavy with deep "valleys".

The foraging takes place in practically all strata of the forest from the crown of high trees to the ground, occasionally together with mixed flocks of birds. The animals look for food on lianas, tree trunks, branches and twigs and also on bamboo, as well as on the ground on small termite structures, anthills or lying dead wood . Food objects are obtained primarily by reading and poking around, red chalk woodpeckers only rarely chop and then not very powerfully and barely audible. The main food is ants and their brood, mainly species of the genus Crematogaster , but also the genera Pheidole and Oecophylla . Termites and other insects as well as occasionally fruit, nectar and tree sap are also ingested. To eat tree-dwelling ants, red chalk woodpeckers chop holes in their nests and read the swarming ants, also from their own feet and plumage.

Reproduction

The breeding season in Sri Lanka and southern India extends from February to June; in Nepal, Sikkim and Myanmar from April to June, in Thailand and Malaysia from January to April and in Java from April to September. Red chalk woodpeckers are known for their very unusual breeding biology. The nest caves are often created in the football-sized cardboard nests of tree-dwelling, very defensive ants, especially of the Crematogaster genus ; these nests are high on tree trunks or lower around the branch or trunk fork of a young tree. Both sexes participate in the construction. The ants then inhabit the nest cavity, even when the woodpeckers are brooding and rearing their young. How the woodpeckers protect themselves and their brood from the ants is so far unknown. Winkler et al. Believe that it is possible that the woodpeckers take on the smell of ants during their visits and are then no longer attacked. Red chalk woodpeckers also use the nests of other ant species to create caves, e.g. B. of species of the genus Plagiolepis ; there are also caves in trees and tree stumps.

The clutch usually consists of two to three, maximum up to 7 eggs, the clutch size increases within the distribution area from south to north. The eggs are translucent and often become spotty as the breeding season progresses. Both sexes incubate, the incubation period is 12 to 14 days. Both parents provide the nestlings with choked food.

Existence and endangerment

There is no information on the size of the population. In large parts of its large distribution area, the species is considered to be less common and only locally as more common; the population is apparently decreasing. The red chalk woodpecker is still classified by the IUCN as harmless (“least concern”).

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Individual evidence

↑ BirdLife International (2010) Species factsheet: Celeus brachyurus . ( online , accessed October 11, 2010)

↑ LL Short: Woodpeckers of the World. Delaware Museum of Natural History, Greenville, Delaware 1982.

↑ Hans Winkler, David Christie, David Nurney: Woodpeckers. A Guide to the Woodpeckers, Piculets, and Wrynecks of the World. Pica Press, Robertsbridge 1995, ISBN 0-395-72043-5 , pp. 158-159 and 326-327.

↑ Brett W. Benz, Mark B. Robbins, A. Townsend Peterson: Evolutionary history of woodpeckers and allies (Aves: Picidae): Placing key taxa on the phylogenetic tree. In: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 40, 2006, pp. 389-399.

^ F. Gill, D. Donsker (Eds.): IOC World Bird Names (version 2.5). 2010. ( online ( memento of the original from March 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. , Accessed on October 15, 2010 ) @1@ 2

↑ Hans Winkler, David Christie, David Nurney: Woodpeckers. A Guide to the Woodpeckers, Piculets, and Wrynecks of the World. Pica Press, Robertsbridge 1995, pp. 326-327.

literature

Hans Winkler , David Christie, David Nurney: Woodpeckers. A Guide to the Woodpeckers, Piculets, and Wrynecks of the World. Pica Press, Robertsbridge 1995, ISBN 0-395-72043-5 , pp. 158-159 and 326-327.

Web links

Micropternus brachyurus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2009. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2009. Retrieved on October 11 of 2010.