Rust potter
| Rust potter | ||||||||||||
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Rust potter ( Furnarius rufus ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Furnarius rufus | ||||||||||||
| ( JF Gmelin , 1788) |
The Rufous Hornero ( Furnarius rufus ), also pottery bird or Lehmhans called, is a South American species of the family Ovenbirds (Furnariidae).
features
The grate pot is 19–22 cm long and weighs 18–49 g. The appearance is rather simple: both sexes have a brown top and a light brown bottom. With their thin legs and large stride, they are well adapted to foraging on the ground.
The species can enjoy greater popularity among the South American population, as its bright singing is generally perceived as melodic. Often in larger cities you can hear the birds for hours, with the couples mostly singing as a duo. The male begins, shortly afterwards the female comes in, but with a different rhythm. The singing gets faster and faster and reaches rhythmic ratios such as 2: 7 or 3:10 that are hardly playable even for highly musical people. Researchers from the University of Buenos Aires and the University of San Diego found that these rhythms are created by superimposing the vibrations in the birds' vocal organs.
- One oscillation stimulates the other - similar to how two oscillating weights in a mobile influence their movement. With the help of mathematical models, the researchers were able to simulate such an overlay and received similar rhythmic relationships as with the bird duets.
distribution and habitat
The distribution area extends over Brazil , Bolivia , Paraguay , Uruguay and Argentina . They prefer open terrain, swampy landscapes and are also located close to people. According to the current classification, the species is not threatened.
Way of life
The diurnal grate potters live in permanent rows. In general they are very shy, but they have got used to people in settlement areas.
Reproduction
The breeding season of the rust potters begins in the last weeks of winter. They build their 3–5 kg heavy nest either on trees, fence posts or house gables. Both parents help build the nest, with each partner having to fetch around 1500 portions of clay and plant fibers until the nest is completed. The clay becomes rock hard from the sun, so that it lasts for up to three years before it is so softened by the rain that it can no longer be used. Nevertheless, the parents build a new nest every year, sometimes exactly above the old one, which is now inhabited by other birds or insects. The interior of the nest is covered with feathers and grass before the female lays three to five whitish eggs, which are incubated for about 20 days. After a nestling period of 18 days, the young birds fledge, but stay with their parents for another two months.
The clay nests are also used by other bird species. The Brazilian pygmy owl, for example, breeds in the old clay nests of the rust potter.
food
The food of the rust potters consists of worms, insects and larvae. When looking for food, they rummage through the ground under bushes. Overall, one can compare the feeding behavior with that of the native blackbird.
Web links
- Videos, photos and sound recordings on Furnarius rufus in the Internet Bird Collection
- Photos and description
- Furnarius rufus inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wissenschaft.de, article: Alles nur Physik, How pottery birds sing in a duo