Red-winged star

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Red-winged star
female red-winged star

female red-winged star

Systematics
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
Family : Starlings (Sturnidae)
Subfamily : Sturninae
Genre : Red-winged Starlings ( Onychognathus )
Type : Red-winged star
Scientific name
Onychognathus morio
( Linnaeus , 1766)

The Rosy starling ( Onychognathus morio ) is an approximately 30-centimeter bird art from the family of starlings . It is distributed south of the Sahara in the eastern countries of Africa, except in their coastal regions and in the south-east and south of Africa, there also along the coasts in mostly mountainous regions. The red-winged star has shiny black plumage and the outer wing area is rust-brown. It feeds on a wide variety of fruits, small reptiles and frogs, insects and other things. It is divided into two subspecies and is considered a non-endangered species.

features

Physique and plumage

The red-winged starfish is about 30 cm in size and has a body weight of 115-155 g. The male has a black, shiny plumage with a slight bluish tinge, except for the striking rust-colored arm wings, which are partially visible even when the wing is closed. It has structural feathers that produce their colors by refraction without pigments. The special shine is caused by the melanosomes embedded in the structure of the feathers in the melanocytes , which are under a keratin film . The red-winged star melanosomes have a basal rod-shaped type that is widespread in the bird world. Interferences of the light on the keratin film create this shine. The beak and legs are black. In contrast to the male, the head, neck, neck and breast of the female are gray and the breast is provided with gray stripes, the rest of the coloration corresponds to that of the male. The subspecies O. m. rüpellii has a significantly longer tail than the nominal species, which is longer than a wing.

a red-winged starfish in flight ( Onychognathus morio )

eyes

The eyes of the red-winged starlings are black and the iris is deep dark red. Like most bird species, except for the nocturnal birds, the red-winged starlings see their environment differently than we humans. In contrast to humans, the star has four and not just three types of photoreceptors (also called photoreceptors ) on the retina for color vision . In addition to the thinner rod-shaped receptors responsible for black and white vision, four cone-shaped receptor types are responsible for perception in starlings (tetrachromatic vision). Three of the four cone-shaped receptor types are responsible for the range of light visible to humans (trichromatic vision): They make the primary colors red, green and blue visible. The fourth receptor is responsible for perceptions in the range of ultraviolet light , which is not visible to humans. The incidence of light stimulates the various types of receptors within the strongly folded membranes, which are provided with different colored oil droplets, with different intensities. The responsible receptors react more or less strongly to the different wavelengths of light, so that different colors and hues are perceived. The additional UV receptor compared to humans allows starlings to perceive our environment in a much more differentiated or different way. With the help of the UV receptors, the star is able to better and more easily recognize differences in other conspecifics, the degree of ripeness of the fruit or traces that we cannot see.

male red-winged starfish in Table Mountain National Park , South Africa

Vocalizations

It emits diverse and complex musical calls, whistling and warbling. Some elements of the calls are gender-specific, others by both sexes and individual elements. When making contact, he often lets out a two-tone "twii-tuu", a harsh "Tscharr" when there is an alarm and a deep "kwok-kwok" when attacking potential nest robbers.

distribution and habitat

This species occurs in sub- Saharan Africa in the eastern continent. Its distribution area extends from Ethiopia and Sudan in the north via northeast Uganda and northern Kenya with the subspecies Onychognathus morio rüpellii (J. Verreaux, 1856) and further with the subspecies Onychognathus morio morio (Linnaeus, 1766) in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, via central Kenya, Tanzania, east and south Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, west Mozambique, east Botswana as well as the east and south of South Africa to the northern Cape region.

The original habitat are rocky and mountainous regions with good vegetation. In Ethiopia this is up to 2,500 m and in Uganda up to 4,000 m. In South Africa it ranges from sea level up to 3,000 m. Red-winged star avoids arid and semi-arid landscapes. The opportunistic red-winged star lives in open hilly landscapes, human cultural landscapes or urban regions.

Distribution area red-winged starfish ( Onychognathus morio ) in Africa

Way of life and behavior

As an opportunistic species, the red-winged starfish prefers to feed on fruits of various kinds that it finds in the regions it inhabits, but also on animal protein such as carrion , small frogs and lizards as well as insects of various colors, which it also hunts at dusk. Also include ectoparasites to diet. The offensive bird also fetches human food from open buildings in order to eat it outside the building.

It occurs both in pairs and in small groups. It is assumed that couples seek their nocturnal resting place in their nests, while there are schools of up to 500 or more individuals who rest together in rock crevices and holes. They also rest on buildings and in tall trees.

A red-winged catfish in a lodge kitchen in the Kruger National Park in South Africa

Reproduction

Birds build their nests from grass and mud, roots and twigs in rock holes, caves or under eaves of human dwellings. The clutch of the female comprises three to five eggs. During the breeding season, this is fed by the male. and the young hatch after 12 to 14 days. They are fed by both parents for 22 to 28 days and occasionally also supported by non-breeding conspecifics, mostly young birds.

The blue-winged cuckoo ( Clamator glandarius ) is considered to be the breeding parasite of the red-winged star . Its nest predators include the tortoiseshell ( Corvus albus ) and the high-altitude harrier ( Polyboroides typus ). Baboons also pose a threat to the brood.

Hazardous situation

There is no reliable information on the size of the world population. However, the species is considered common in most of its range and the population is stable. The red shoulder star is therefore classified by the IUCN as safe ("least concern").

Systematic

The red-winged starfish is one of the early stages of development of the genus Onychognathus and is directly related to its sister species Neumannstar ( Onychognathus neumanni ). In the past, the Neumann star was a subspecies of the red-winged star. However, this was revised on the basis of more recent genetic engineering analyzes and the Neumann star was classified as a separate species.

female red-winged star in Table Mountain National Park
 Onychognathus 

Cinnamon wing star ( Onychognathus tenuirostris )


   

Palewing Star ( Onychognathus nabouroup )


   


Red-winged starfish ( Onychognathus morio )


   

Neumann star ( Onychognathus neumanni )



   


Wallerstar ( Onychognathus walleri )


   

Chestnut wing star ( Onychognathus fulgidus )



   


Tristram star ( Onychognathus tristramii )


   

White-billed starfish ( Onychognathus albirostris )



   

Helmet star ( Onychognathus salvadorii )


   

Socotrastar ( Onychognathus frater )


   

Somalistar ( Onychognathus blythii )









literature

  • AJFK Craig, CJ Feare: Family Sturnidae (Starlings). In: J. del Hoyo, A. Elliot, DA Christie (Eds.): Handbook of the birds of the world. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2009.
  • Rafael Maia, Dustin R. Rubenstein and Matthew D. Shawkey in: "Key ornamental innovations facilitate diversification in an avian radiation"; Biological Sciences - Evolution: PNAS 2013 110 (26) 10687-10692. ( [3] )
  • Frederike Woog Seeing and being seen - color vision of birds in: Der Falke - Journal für Vogelbeobachter 5/2009. ( [4] . Retrieved on July 11, 2015.)
  • GE Hill & KJ McGraw (Eds, 2006): Bird Coloration. Vol. 1: Mechanisms and Measurements; Vol. 2: Function and Evolution .
  • IJ Lovette, DR Rubenstein 2007: A comprehensive molecular phylogeny of the starlings (Aves: Sturnidae) and mockingbirds (Aves: Mimidae): Congruent mtDNA and nuclear trees for a cosmopolitan avian radiation. In: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 44, No. 3, pp. 1031-1056. Elsevier, September 2007, DOI: 10.1016 / j.ympev.2007.03.017 . ( online PDF ( memento of June 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on March 22, 2015.)
  • Philip Whitfield (ed.): The great world empire of the animals. Planet Media AG, Zug 1992, ISBN 3-8247-8614-1 , pp. 392, 393.
  • Onychognathus morio inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015.2. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved September 3, 2015.

Source

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k AJFK Craig, CJ Feare: "Family Sturnidae (Starlings)." In: J. del Hoyo, A. Elliot, DA Christie (Eds.): Handbook of the birds of the world. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2009.
  2. ↑ Rafael Maia, Dustin R. Rubenstein and Matthew D. Shawkey in: "Key ornamental innovations facilitate diversification in an avian radiation"; Biological Sciences - Evolution: PNAS 2013 110 (26) 10687-10692. [1]
  3. ↑ a b c d e Philip Whitfield (ed.): The great world empire of animals. Planet Media AG, Zug 1992, ISBN 3-8247-8614-1 , pp. 392, 393.
  4. ↑ Frederike Woog Seeing and being seen - color vision of birds in: Der Falke - Journal für Vogelbeobachter 5/2009. [2]
  5. ↑ Onychognathus morio in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015.2. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved September 3, 2015.

Web links

Commons : Rotschwingenstar ( Onychognathus morio )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files