Crested cuckoo

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Crested cuckoo
Jacobin cuckoo (Clamator jacobinus)

Jacobin cuckoo ( Clamator jacobinus )

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Cuckoo birds (Cuculiformes)
Family : Cuckoos (Cuculidae)
Subfamily : Old World Cuckoos (Cuculinae)
Genre : Crested cuckoo
Scientific name
Clamator
Kaup , 1829
Jay cuckoo
Cuckoo
Coromandel cuckoo

The Schopfkucke ( Clamator ) are a genus of large cuckoos, all of which have a feather hood and stepped tail feathers. The jay cuckoo belongs to them , besides the cuckoo the only other breeding cuckoo in Europe . The genus name clamator is derived from the Latin word clamare ("to scream") and is a reference to the loud voices of the species of this genus.

features

The crested cuckoos are medium-sized to large cuckoos, in which the sexes hardly differ. They are basically long-tailed, slender cuckoos, all of which have a conspicuous bucky bonnet. The largest species is the coromandel cuckoo, which can reach a body length of up to 46 centimeters.

Apart from a dark color morph of the Jacobin cuckoo, all four species are light on the underside of the body, the upper side of the body is predominantly gray, brown or black. With its striking auburn wings, the coromandel cuckoo is the most colorful species.

Brood Parasitism

All four species of the genus are mandatory parasites . Their breeding behavior has been known to man for a long time: Jahangir , a ruler of the Mughal Empire (1605–1627), already stated that the Jacobin cuckoo uses timalia as host birds. After the Indian Koel and the Eurasian cuckoo, the Jacobin cuckoo is historically the third species for which humans recorded it. For the jay cuckoo, which occurs among other things in the south of Europe, this was not established until 1853 by Alfred Brehm .

In contrast to the cuckoo, young birds of the host bird also hatch in the crested cuckoo, albeit a smaller number than in nests that have not been parasitized by the crested cuckoo. Due to the greater assertiveness of the crested cuckoo nestlings, the host bird cubs stay behind in growth and some of them starve to death. The jay cuckoo prefers to parasitize magpies and carrion crows and thus birds that are larger than it. The other species parasitize smaller birds.

Distribution area

The jay cuckoo is the only species from the genus Clamator that also occurs in Europe. Its distribution area includes southwest and southern Europe , Asia Minor to western Iran and to Upper Egypt and parts of Africa south of the Sahara . Over the past 50 years it has expanded its range in southern Europe somewhat and has become more common in Spain, France and Italy. In Central Europe he is a seldom proven errant . The wandering guests are mainly migrating young birds. Up until 2007 it was observed 20 times in Germany, nine times in Switzerland and at least five times in Austria.

The coromandel cuckoo is a species of the Orientalis found in Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma and Thailand, among others. During the winter half-year it is represented in southern India and up to the Philippine islands. The cape cuckoo, on the other hand, is an African species that occurs from Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia to Ethiopia and Somalia. Its southern distribution area extends to the Transvaal, Natal and the east of the Cape region. The Jacobin cuckoo, finally, has the largest range of the species. It occurs in the Afrotropic to the Oriental: Its range extends from sub-Saharan Africa via Iran to Sri Lanka and Burma. Occasionally it even occurs in Tibet.

species

There are four types:

literature

  • NB Davies: Cuckoos, Cowbirds and Other Cheats . T & AD Poyser, London 2000, ISBN 0-85661-135-2 .
  • Johannes Erhitzøe, Clive F. Mann, Frederik P. Brammer, Richard A. Fuller: Cuckoos of the World . Christopher Helm, London 2012, ISBN 978-0-7136-6034-0 .

Web links

Commons : Schopfkucke  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Single receipts

  1. ↑ James A Jobling: The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 .
  2. ↑ Erhitzøe, Mann, Brammer, Fuller: Cuckoos of the World . P. 260.
  3. ↑ Davies: Cuckoos, Cowbirds and Other Cheats . P. 3
  4. ↑ Davies: Cuckoos, Cowbirds and Other Cheats . P. 19.
  5. ↑ Erhitzøe, Mann, Brammer, Fuller: Cuckoos of the World . P. 260 to p. 273.
  6. ↑ Davies: Cuckoos, Cowbirds and Other Cheats. P. 99.
  7. ↑ Erhitzøe, Mann, Brammer, Fuller: Cuckoos of the World . P. 264.
  8. ↑ Erhitzøe, Mann, Brammer, Fuller: Cuckoos of the World . P. 268.
  9. ↑ Erhitzøe, Mann, Brammer, Fuller: Cuckoos of the World . P. 271.