Blue breast magpie
| Blue breast magpie | ||||||||||||
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Splendid paradise of paradise |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Astrapia Rothschildi | ||||||||||||
| Foerster , 1906 |
The blue-breasted paradise magpie ( Astrapia rothschildi ), also called blue-breasted astrapia or Rothschild's magpie , is a species of bird from the family of birds of paradise (Paradisaeidae). It occurs exclusively in a very small mountain area in eastern New Guinea. It is one of the birds of paradise in which both sexes have an elongated middle control spring pair. At the same time, it is one of the species that has so far been little studied.
The IUCN classifies the population of the blue-breasted magpie as safe ( least concern ). No subspecies are distinguished.
description
Body type and measurements
The males of the blue-breasted paradise magpie reach a body length of 69 centimeters, of which the elongated middle control spring pair is 36.7 to 48.6 centimeters long. The remaining control springs reach a length of 27.1 to 38.7 centimeters.
The females also have a long tail plumage with a middle pair of control feathers that protrude over the rest of the tail plumage. They reach a body length of 47 centimeters, of which the elongated middle control spring pair has a length of 24 to 28.3 centimeters. The remaining control springs measure between 20.8 and 23 centimeters. The beak has a length of 3.7 to 4.1 centimeters.
The males weigh between 186 and 225 grams, the females stay a little lighter and reach a weight between 143 and 200 grams.
male
The head, neck and coat are black and have a metallic blue-green sheen. The shine is particularly pronounced on the parting. The feathers on the back of the neck and on the coat are elongated and form a conspicuous head that shimmers intensely dark green and magenta to copper-red on the feathers. The back is blackish with an olive green tinge. The rump is blackish. The wings shimmer deep blue-violet. The top of the tail plumage is velvety black and shimmers blue-violet to pink-violet when exposed to certain light. The chest is colored like the head and is framed by an intense copper-orange band. The rest of the underside of the body is oily dark green, on the sides there are lighter, intensely lime green feathers. The rump, the thighs and the under tail-coverts are matt brown-black. The beak is glossy black, the iris is dark brown, the legs and feet are lead gray.
In their first year of life, the males initially resemble the adult females and then gradually switch to the plumage of the adult males. The intense shine of the plumage initially develops on the head.
female
The female is dark gray-brown on the entire upper side of the body, the head and chest are darker black-brown. Many individuals have a lighter, broad band in the neck. The tail plumage is a little more brownish than the top of the body. The underside of the body is blackish with a fine, whitish transverse banding from the lower breast to the lower tail-covers. The plumage is much less pronounced in the females than in the males. Only the front chest and the head have a light, matt blue sheen.
distribution
The blue-breasted magpie occurs exclusively in eastern New Guinea on the Huon peninsula . The peninsula forms the northern part of the Morobe Province in Papua New Guinea . The Huon Peninsula is dominated by the Saruwaged Range , which, together with other mountains on the peninsula such as the Finisterre Mountains, form the habitat of the blue-breasted paradise. The paradise of paradise inhabits mountain forests in these mountains.
Way of life
The blue-breasted magpie eats mostly fruit. Among other things, the fruits of ray aralia and screw trees are documented .
The reproductive behavior of the blue-breasted magpie has not yet been conclusively investigated. Like other species of Paradise Star , it is believed to be polygynous , meaning that males try to mate with as many females as possible and the females raise the offspring alone. It is possible that the males of the blue-breasted magpie, similar to the males of the Stephanie magpie, gather at Leks for the community balz.
At the height of courtship, the males hang under a branch, keeping the body level while the head and tail are raised to form a semicircle. The plumage on the head, neck and neck as well as the tail plumage are bristled. Similar to the narrow- tailed paradise elster and the Stephanie paradise elster, the blue-breasted paradise elster also displays courtship behavior in which it quickly hops back and forth between two places on branches.
By the end of the 20th century, only two nests were known that a missionary found at the beginning of the 20th century. The smaller of the two nests had a diameter of 15.4 centimeters and was 8.2 centimeters high. It was built from pieces of climbing plants, small roots and large leaves. In particular, the edge of the nest was also lined with moss. The Nokopo, an indigenous people in the distribution area of the blue-breasted paradise magpie, reports that blue-breasted birds of paradise particularly often build parts of an orchid from the genus Bulbophyllum . That is why they also call it the "House of the Blue Breast Paradise Elster".
According to the current state of knowledge, the clutch only consists of a single egg. The incubation period and the time from hatching of the nestling until it flies out are so far unknown.
Blue breast paradise star and human
As with numerous birds of paradise, the hides and feathers of the blue-breasted magpie are made into head and body jewelry by the indigenous population of Papua New Guinea. The feathers of the male are particularly valued by the Nokopo people.
literature
- Bruce M. Beehler , Thane K. Pratt: Birds of New Guinea; Distribution, Taxonomy, and Systematics . Princeton University Press, Princeton 2016, ISBN 978-0-691-16424-3 .
- Clifford B. Frith, Bruce M. Beehler : The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1998, ISBN 0-19-854853-2 .
Single receipts
- ↑ Handbook of the Birds of the World on the Blue Breast Paradise Elster , accessed on July 13, 2017
- ↑ a b c Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 274.
- ↑ a b Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 273.
- ↑ a b Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 276.