Giant ant shrike

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Giant ant shrike
Giant Antshrike - Regua - Brazil S4E1867 (16200751224) .jpg

Giant ant shrike ( Batara cinerea )

Systematics
Subordination : Screeching Birds (Tyranni)
Family : Ant birds (Thamnophilidae)
Subfamily : Thamnophilinae
Tribe : Thamnophilini
Genre : Batara
Type : Giant ant shrike
Scientific name of the  genus
Batara
Lesson , 1831
Scientific name of the  species
Batara cinerea
( Vieillot , 1819)

The Giant Antshrike ( Batara cinerea ), also giant Ameisenwürger , is the largest bird art from the family of ants birds . It is the only species in the genus Batara . Belonging to the ant bird family is suspected on the basis of morphological observations on giant ant stranglers, conformity studies at the molecular level are still pending.

description

The bird is about 34 cm tall and weighs up to 140 grams. Female birds are slightly lighter. The beak is curved like a hook. There are sharp horn teeth on the sheaths of the upper beak. The tail is relatively long. The upper sides of the wings, the back and the tail are cross-striped dark brown-light brown, the body is gray-brown. The male giant ant stranglers have crown-shaped black protruding feathers on their heads. The top of the head in female birds is more hazel brown with a black tip.

Way of life and habitat

The giant ant strangler is found in northern Argentina , Bolivia , southeastern Brazil and Paraguay . In southeastern Brazil you can find the bird in the rainforest near bamboo plants . In the direction of the Andes , giant ant stranglers come up to an altitude of 2600 meters above sea level. NN before. In the Gran Chaco they can be found in the thick undergrowth.

The giant ant strangler feeds on insects , snails and small vertebrates , which it chases after with short flights and hops on the ground. The menu also includes eggs and young animals from other bird species. The singing usually consists of eight flute tones with an upbeat.

Reproduction

The average clutch size in the giant ant choke consists of 2.4 eggs.

Subspecies

This subspecies occurs in Paraguay, mainly in the departments of Boquerón and Presidente Hayes , as well as in northwest Argentina in the provinces of Jujuy , Salta and in the north of the province of Tucumán . The plumage of the subspecies argentina is a little paler than that of the nominate form .

This subspecies occurs in Bolivia, in the west of the Santa Cruz department . The plumage of the subspecies excubitor is a little paler than that of the subspecies argentina .

status

The existence of the species is considered not endangered (least concern), since its range of 600,000 km² is relatively large.

Giant ant stranglers and humans

Surname

The species name of the scientific name, cinerea , is the feminine form of the Latin word cinereus and means "ash gray". This color name can be found, for example , in the gray wagtail ( Motacilla cinerea ), the gray heron ( Ardea cinerea ) and the Terek sandpiper ( Xenus cinereus ). In the distribution area, the Spanish name of the giant ant shrike is "Batará gigante"; the Portuguese name is "Matracão".

Stamp

The giant ant strangler can be found on a stamp from Liberia from 2000 from the Tropical birds of the world series .

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Taxonomic description in the Internet Bird Collection (English)
  2. ↑ Entry on avesdobrasil.com ( memento of the original dated December 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Portuguese) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.avesdobrasil.com.br
  3. ↑ Laura R. Prugh, Karen E. Hodges, Anthony RE Sinclair, Justin S. Brashares: Effect of habitat area and isolation on fragmented animal populations . PNAS 2008 105, p. 12 of the appendix, December 10, 2008
  4. ↑ Joseph Forshaw (editor): Encyclopedia of Birds. Weltbild Verlag, Augsburg 1999, ISBN 3-8289-1557-4 . P. 162.
  5. ^ Walter Jetz , Çağan Hakkı Şekercioğlu , Katrin Böhning-Gaese : The Worldwide Variation in Avian Clutch Size across Species and Space. Appendix S4 p. 42 ( PDF , 575 kB; English), PLOS Biology 6 2008, doi : 10.1371 / journal.pbio.0060303
  6. ↑ Batara cinerea in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.2. Listed by: BirdLife International , 2012. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
  7. ↑ Postage stamp with the motif of the giant ant shrike on birdtheme.org (English)

Web links

Commons : Giant ant shrike ( Batara cinerea )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files