Sangihe spectacle bird

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Sangihe spectacle bird
Zosterops nehrkorni.jpg

Sangihe spectacle bird ( Zosterops nehrkorni )

Systematics
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
Superfamily : Sylvioidea
Family : Spectacled birds (Zosteropidae)
Genre : Zosterops
Type : Sangihe spectacle bird
Scientific name
Zosterops nehrkorni
W. Blasius , 1888

The Sangihe spectacle bird ( Zosterops nehrkorni ), also known as the Nehrkorn spectacle bird , is a rare songbird from the spectacled family . Its distribution is limited to the Sangihe Islands . The type epithet refers to the German ornithologist Adolph Nehrkorn .

description

The Sangihe spectacle bird reaches a length of 12 centimeters. The top is intense olive green. The conspicuous rump is yellowish green and the tail dark green black. The forehead is black. The iris is surrounded by a wide white eye ring. The chin, throat and under tail-coverts are light yellow. The rest of the underside is pearly white. The flanks are gray. The bill and legs are orange.

Way of life

Very little is known about his way of life. Its habitat is primary deciduous forests dominated by screw trees on mountain slopes at altitudes of 750 to 1000 m. He lives in the middle layer of trees and the canopy of leaves. Its diet consists of insects and fruits.

status

For a long time, the Sangihe spectacle bird was only known from the type specimen from 1886 collected by Carl Constantin Platen , until it was rediscovered in 1996. In August 1996 the ornithologist Frank Lambert was able to identify three specimens on the Gunung Sahendaruman. Three more specimens were observed in November 1996 by Jim C. Wardill at Gunung Sahengbalira. The last confirmed sighting was in November 1998 at Tukade Batu on Gunung Sahendaruman. In February 1999 the singing of three spectacle birds could be recorded again. An observation of the birds was unsuccessful. BirdLife International estimates the total population to be less than 50 specimens. Due to the heavy clearing of the forests on Sangihe, the habitat of the Sangihe spectacled bird now only covers an area of ​​8 km². In 1996 the British-Indonesian nature conservation organization "Action Sampiri" set up the Sangihe and Talaud Conversation Project to make the local population aware of the endangerment of the Sangihe spectacled bird and to achieve better protection measures.

Taxonomy

The Sangihe spectacle bird was described by Wilhelm Blasius in 1888 as an independent species, Zosterops nehrkorni . In 1931 Erwin Stresemann classified it as a subspecies of the Wallace glasses bird ( Zosterops atrifrons ). In 2000, the American ornithologist Pamela C. Rasmussen divided both taxa into the separate species Zosterops atrifrons and Zosterops nehrkorni due to morphological differences .

literature

  • Pamela C. Rasmussen et al .: On the specific status of the Sangihe White-eye Zosterops nehrkorni, and the taxonomy of the Black-crowned White-eye Z. atrifrons complex . In: Forktail. 16 (2000): pp. 69-80 PDF, online; 300 kB
  • J. Del Hoyo, A. Elliot, and D. Christie (Eds.): Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 13: Penduline-Tits to Shrikes . Lynx Edicions, 2008. ISBN 9788496553453
  • Wilhelm Blasius (1888): The birds of Gross-Sanghir (with special consideration of the ornithological research carried out in 1886 and 1887 by Dr. Platen and his wife at Manganitu on Gross-Sanghir ) along with an appendix on the birds of Siao . Ornis 4: p. 527-646.
  • Erwin Stresemann (1931) The zosteropids of the Indo-Australian region . Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin 17 (2): p. 201-238.

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