Soot-head
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Soothead ( Agapornis nigrigenis ) |
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| WL Sclater , 1906 |
The black-cheeked lovebird ( -Agapornis nigrigenis ) is a kind of the genus of Unzertrennlichen . Together with the other species of this genus, as well as the gray parrot , the long wing parrots , the Rose-ringed Parakeet and Madagascar endemic Vasa Parrots this type is a typical parrot species of Afrotropical .
description
Sootheads have long been considered a subspecies of the blackheaded . At 14 centimeters, they are slightly smaller than this species, but resemble it in other respects. The body plumage and the tail are green, the face is dark gray and becomes olive colored towards the neck. The forehead is slightly reddish brown and the chest is slightly pink. The chin, throat, cheeks and wings are dark brown. The eyes are dark with a white eye ring. The beak is bright red. There is no difference between males and females.
They live to be up to 20 years old.
distribution and habitat
The area of distribution of the soot head is very limited. There are only populations in southern Kafue National Park , in southwest Zambia along the Zambezi to Victoria Falls and in Zimbabwe . They may already be extinct in Zimbabwe.
They inhabit open woodlands, mainly acacia forests . They are often found in warm, humid, wooded river valleys and alluvial forests and in areas with fig trees . They rely on open water holes in their habitat. In dry seasons, when these water points dry out, the birds migrate in large flocks. They occur at altitudes of 600 to 1000 meters.
Lifestyle and diet
They live in groups or in small flocks of a few dozen animals.
Mainly grass seeds and the small seeds of other plants serve as food. During the ripening period of corn , grain and millet , they also invade agricultural areas, which is why they are also considered pests.
Reproduction
The female builds the nest from bark and leaves that it transports in its beak. The nest will continue to be built even after the young have hatched.
The breeding season is November to December, when three to five eggs are laid, which are then incubated for about 24 days. The young are fully fledged after about six weeks.
Utterance
Their screams sound high pitched and follow one another quickly.
Danger
They are considered an endangered species because their populations are low and they are threatened by habitat destruction. The decline of surface water has a particularly detrimental effect on this type. Apparently the stocks never really recovered after massive wild catches at the beginning of the 20th century.
Sources and References
literature
- Georg A. Radtke : Inseparable (agapornids): keeping, breeding and color variations. Franckh, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-440-04947-7 , pp. 33-34.
- Dirk Van den Abeele: Agapornids. Volume 1: species, husbandry, nutrition, breeding. Arndt-Verlag , Bretten 2010, ISBN 978-3-9813383-1-7 .
- Dirk Van den Abeele: Agapornids. Volume 2: Mutations, color variations, exhibitions. Arndt-Verlag, Bretten 2010, ISBN 978-3-9813383-3-1 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Agapornis nigrigenis in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2011. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed November 17, 2011th
Web links
- Videos, photos and sound recordings on Agapornis nigrigenis in the Internet Bird Collection
- World Parrot Trust , accessed May 3, 2010
- Black-headed (Agapornis nigrigenis). ( Memento from January 13, 2013 in the archive.today web archive) on: agapornis.ch , accessed on May 3, 2010.