Reinward chicken
| Reinward chicken | ||||||||
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Reinward grouse ( Megapodius reinwardt ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||
| Megapodius reinwardt | ||||||||
| Dumont , 1823 |
The Reinward Grouse ( Megapodius reinwardt ) is a medium-sized species from the large foot fowl family , which occurs on numerous islands in the area of the Flores and Banda Sea , on New Guinea and in northern Australia .
The Reinward grouse inhabits tropical forests and dense shrubbery, where, like many big foot fowl, it creates nesting mounds in which the eggs are hatched using the heat generated by rotting plant material or the heat of the sun. These mounds are used for years and can be quite large. On average, they are about one meter high and between five and ten meters in diameter.
description
With a length of 37–45 cm, the Reinward chicken is about the same size as a domestic chicken . Like all species of the genus Megapodius , it has a small head, a rather inconspicuous, monotonous brown-gray plumage, very strong feet and a short tail. A characteristic feature of the species, which gave it the English name Orange-footed Megapode , is the orange coloring of the legs and feet. The color of the iris varies from gray-brown to warm brown to dark red. The base of the beak is usually brownish horn-colored or dark, the tip and the edges are yellowish brown to orange. The sexes do not differ.
In adult birds of the nominate form , the forehead, crown and upper neck are colored cinnamon brown, and the curvy, elongated feathers at the back of the head are shaped into a short, pointed hood. Rein and eye regions are almost featherless, the rest of the face is only sparsely covered with dark gray feathers, so that the dark reddish skin shines through. The neck, chest and front back are feathered in lead gray. Back, shoulder feathers, upper wing covers and umbrella feathers are cinnamon to olive brown. The lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts are vividly maroon. The plumage on the belly, flanks and thighs is brown-gray and changes to the lead-gray color of the breast towards the chest. The rear belly is light gray, the under tail coverts chestnut brown and the control feathers brown-black with a chestnut brown tint. The wing feathers are blackish gray or brown with cinnamon to maroon tinted outer flags. The under wing-coverts are medium gray, the axillary feathers reddish brown.
distribution
The distribution of the Reinward chicken extends over the north of Australasia . It includes parts of western Indonesia and Papua New Guinea as well as the tropical coastal regions of northern Australia .
In the far east of the Java Sea, the Reinward chicken settles on the Kangean Islands , the Laut-Kecil Islands and Keramian . South of Sulawesi on Salajar , the Tukangbesi and the Lucipara Islands . On the Lesser Sunda Islands, the distribution on the Inner Banda extends from Nusa Penida and Lombok , via Atauro , eastwards to Damar . The only thing missing here is the chicken on the island of Adonara . The occurrence on the Outer Bandabogen is limited to Sumba , Semau , the Sermata and Babar Islands . The species is absent on the largest island of Timor and, for example, also on the Tanimbar Islands , but lives on the northeastern Banda , Watubela and Kei Islands .
In New Guinea , the breeding area extends eastward over the Vogelkop to the south of the Cenderawasih Bay and south of the central mountain range to the southeastern tip, where the species also occurs north of the Owen Stanley Mountains . The Reinward grouse breeds on many surrounding islands such as Adi , Aru , numerous Torres Strait Islands and the islands of the Milne Bay Province ( Trobriand Islands , Marshall Bennett Islands , Woodlark , D'Entrecasteaux Islands and Louisiade Archipelago ).
In Australia, the species inhabits the far north of Western Australia and in the Northern Territory the coastal region from York Sound to Cape Arnhem , Melville Island and Groote Eylandt . It also breeds along the western coast of the Cape York Peninsula south to the mouth of the Mitchell River , on the east coast south to Livingstone Shire . Here, too, it occurs on many offshore islands.
Geographic variation
The geographical variation is low in terms of the size of the distribution area and the numerous island occurrences. This could indicate, on the one hand, a rapid spread in recent times or that there is a more pronounced gene flow between the island occurrences than in other Megapodius species. The Nominatform is about 37 cm of length and average wing lengths to 236 mm with relatively small relatively bright gray plumage-parts and rather olive brown colored top. With a body length of 40–45 cm and average wing lengths, the Australian subspecies are 263 mm larger than the nominate form and relatively dark with regard to the gray plumage, whereby M. r. castanonotus is darkest. The color of the upper side varies between cinnamon colors in M. r. yorki , dark reddish brown in M. r. tumulus and maroon in M. r. castanonotus . M. r. macgillivrayi from the islands east of New Guinea differs significantly. Head, neck and underside are dark slate gray, the upper side is olive brown, rump and upper tail-coverts are dark brown. The hood is shorter and not very pointed. The subspecies resembles the Bismarck grouse ( Megapodius eremita ) in several ways , so that Ernst Mayr assumed that it was a hybrid population between the two species. On the southeastern tip of New Guinea there are local populations that include M. r. strongly resemble macgillivrayi . The systematic classification of these birds is still unclear. Possibly they are hybrids between Reinwardt and New Guinea fowl ( Megapodius decollatus ).
There are some local deviations within the nominate form, so that up to eight subspecies are sometimes described. Jones et al. (1995) put three of them in the nominate form due to the ambiguous findings and only recognize five subspecies:
- M. r. reinwardt Dumont 1823 - Lesser Sunda Islands, southeastern Moluccas, Papua New Guinea to the southeastern tip, northern islands of the Torres Strait
- M. r. macgillivrayi Gray 1862 - Islands east of New Guinea and possibly populations in southeast New Guinea
- M. r. tumulus Gould 1842 - northern Western Australia and Northern Territory
- M. r. yorki Mathews 1929 - Cape York Peninsula and the northeast coast of Australia to south of Cooktown
- M. r. castanonotus Mayr 1938 - Northeast coast of Australia from Cape Tribulation to Yeppoon
habitat
The Reinward grouse inhabits wooded or dense shrubbery habitats. In southeastern New Guinea, for example, it occurs in monsoon and swamp forests, in secondary vegetation , bushes and mangroves . It is quite adaptable in terms of secondary vegetation and is sometimes more common here than in primary forests. Areas from which the species has been driven out due to habitat changes will certainly be repopulated when suitable vegetation is available again. Deposits are concentrated in many places along the coast. In Australia, however, the species also occurs far inland, and mountain regions are also colonized in, for example, southeast New Guinea. The altitude distribution extends to about 1800 m.
nutrition
The studies of stomach contents showed that the food consists of both animal and vegetable food. Animal food mainly includes insects and their larvae, other arthropods such as millipedes or scorpions , worms , snails and small snakes . Various fruits and tamarind kernels were found in vegetable foods . In addition, gastroliths and sand were found in the stomachs to aid digestion in the gizzard .
Reproduction
Since Reinward chickens are mostly found in pairs, the species probably lives monogamous. Couples occupy an area of around 1–4 hectares that is defended all year round. Boundaries are often defined by streams or the like. In the center is the nesting mound, which in this species can reach a height of 4.5 m and a diameter of up to 20 m. Most of the time, however, it stays smaller. On Komodo , the average values were a height of 90 cm and a diameter of 7.15 m. The range of values there was between 30 cm and 3 m for the height and between 2.20 m and 11.30 m for the diameter. The shape is reminiscent of a volcanic cone. The nesting mound consists of sand, leaf litter and rubble. The amount of rotting material can vary locally. On the coast there are some hills that consist almost entirely of sand and are only heated by the heat of the sun. Nesting mounds that are currently in use are at least 100 m away from each other, while abandoned mounds can be less than 15 m away.
A mound is often used and maintained by a couple for several years. The birds visit the hill every 4–7 days at the most. They collect material from around 25 m in a radius, pile it up or bury it in the mound. If both partners participate in the digging activity, the male seems to take on the more active part. Usually the work takes place in the early morning hours; however, birds were observed on used hills at all times of the day. After 2–3 days of digging, a break is taken again. Sometimes a hill is used by two couples at the same time or by several couples in a row over the years.
Eggs laid on Flores , for example, have been found almost all year round, but there seem to be locally varying times when a particularly large number of couples lay eggs . The digging activity increases shortly before the eggs are laid. Both partners dig test holes or holes that are then actually used to lay eggs. To do this, the female goes into the dug hole, lowers her rear end and spreads her left wing. The male remains watching at the edge of the hole. After 4–8 minutes, the female leaves the hole again, slowly flocking it, with the male assisting. The next day the male returns and layers more material on the mound. In Queensland , a hen laid 12–13 eggs with an average of 13 (± 4) days apart. The eggs are elongated oval and about 85 x 55 mm in size. They are dull and brown-beige to reddish-beige in color. If they lie in the hill for some time, the top layer flakes off and the white underneath emerges in patches. As with all large foot fowl, no further brood care takes place. The boys break free from the hill and are completely on their own.
etymology
The term Megapodius comes from the Greek and is made up of the words megas ( μέγας ) for "large" and pous, podos ( πούς, ποδός ) for "foot". The specific epithet was awarded in honor of the natural scientist and botanist Kaspar Georg Karl Reinwardt (1773-1854), who had collected the type specimen on the Moluccas and made it available to Coenraad Jacob Temminck (1778-1858) for his natural history cabinet.
literature
- Darryl N. Jones, René Dekker & Cees S. Roselaar: The Megapodes . Oxford University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-19-854651-3 , pp. 213-227
Individual evidence
- ^ Colin R. Trainor and Thomas Soares: Birds of Atauro Island, Timor-Leste (East Timor) In: Forktail. 20 (2004), pp. 41-48.
- ↑ Jones et al. (1995), p. 220f, see literature
- ↑ a b c Jones et al. (1995), p. 224, see literature
- ↑ a b c Lincoln (1974), cited in Jones et al. (1995), p. 225, see literature
- ↑ a b Jones et al. (1995), p. 225
- ↑ FHJ Crome, HE Brown: Notes on Social Organization and Breeding of the Orange-footed Scrubfowl Megapodius reinwardt , Emu, 1979 (3), pp. 111-119, cited in Jones et al. (1995), p. 225, see literature
- ↑ Jones et al. (1995), pp. 226 and 151, see literature
- ↑ James A. Jobling: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 . , P. 245
- ^ Charles Dumont de Sainte Croix: Dictionnaire des sciences naturelles . tape 29 . FG Levrault, Strasbourg 1823 ( online [accessed 5 May 2012]). , P. 416
Web links
- Megapodius reinwardt in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2009. Accessed April 22, 2012th
- Videos, photos and sound recordings for Megapodius reinwardt in the Internet Bird Collection
- BirdLife Species Factsheet