Red-faced bearded bird
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Red-faced bearded bird ( Lybius rubrifacies ) |
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| ( Reichenow , 1892) |
The red-faced bearded bird ( Lybius rubrifacies ) is a species from the African bearded bird family . The species occurs in Africa in a relatively small range near the equator. No subspecies are distinguished. The IUCN classifies the red-faced bearded bird as potentially endangered and puts it accordingly in the early warning level “ near threatened ”.
Appearance
The males of the red-faced bearded bird reach a wing length of 8.5 to 9 centimeters. The tail length is 4.8 to 5.6 centimeters. The beak is between 1.9 and 2.4 inches long. Females have similar body measurements. As is characteristic of tooth-bearded birds , there is no conspicuous sexual dimorphism .
Males and females have a predominantly black body plumage, throat, belly and wings are a little more brown. The forehead, the front ear-covers and the cheeks are red, in some individuals also orange-red. Some individuals have reddish dots on the forehead, chin and throat. The wings are also lined with yellow to yellow-white. The beak is horn-colored gray, dark gray or black. The featherless skin around the eyes is brownish, the eyes are reddish brown to dark brown. The legs and feet are gray to slate in color. Young birds are a little more dull in color than the adult birds. Their plumage appears browner or grayer overall.
It can be confused with the collared bearded bird , but the red-faced bearded bird has less red in the face and it has no yellow feathered body parts.
Distribution area
The red-faced bearded bird is found only in eastern Rwanda and Burundi and northwestern Tanzania . In Uganda it occurs in only one region, namely Lake Mburo National Park in southwest Uganda. The distribution area extends over 34,000 square kilometers. In Rwanda, the red-faced bearded bird is common in places, but a population decline has been noted since the mid-1990s. The red-faced bearded bird belongs to the avifauna of the Akagera National Park and the loss of habitat in this park is characteristic of the entire range of the red-faced bearded bird. The park area of the Akagera National Park at an altitude of 1250 to 1825 m originally largely corresponded to the distribution area of the tse-tse fly in Rwanda, so that there was no competition between agricultural use and nature conservation here for many years. The park and adjacent protected areas in Uganda and Tanzania formed a larger protected ecosystem between Lake Victoria and the Central African Rift . Population pressure increased significantly in the late 1980s. In addition to the reduction in the park area, the civil war of the 1990s and the refugee camps built in the park area also had a very negative impact on the ecosystem. Instead of the previous 2,850 square kilometers, the park now covers an area of approx. 900 km².
Population estimates for the red-faced bearded bird are not available.
Way of life
The red-faced bearded bird occurs in open forest areas or on tree-covered grasslands. It lives in pairs or small groups of up to seven individuals. The members of a troop are probably the parent birds and adult but not yet mated offspring from previous clutches. The diet consists mainly of berries and fruits. Insects play a subordinate role in nutrition. Red-faced bearded birds are cave breeders who make their own nesting holes. Otherwise nothing is known about reproductive biology.
supporting documents
literature
- Lester L. Short and Jennifer FM Horne: Toucans, Barbets and Honeyguides - Ramphastidae, Capitonidae and Indicatoridae . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001, ISBN 0-19-854666-1
Web links
- BirdLife factsheet on the red-faced bearded bird
- Lybius rubrifacies inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.2. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
Individual evidence
- ↑ BirdLife factsheet on the red-faced bearded bird , accessed on February 26, 2011
- ↑ Short et al., P. 201
- ↑ Short et al., P. 203