Black-bellied nun
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Black-bellied nun ( Lonchura malacca ) |
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| Lonchura malacca | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1766) |
The black-bellied nun ( Lonchura malacca , Syn .: Munia malacca ) or three-color nun is a species of bird from the species of the finch family (Estrildidae) that occurs in southern India and Sri Lanka . It is kept relatively often in Europe as an ornamental bird.
The black-bellied nun is monotypical . In the past, the black-headed nun with seven to nine subspecies and the shield nun were also included in this species.
description
With a body length of 11–12.5 cm, the black-bellied nun is one of the medium-sized splendid finches. The sexual dimorphism is not very pronounced. The plumage is very contrasting in both sexes. The beak is relatively large, strong and light gray or blue-gray. The iris is dark brown or dark red-brown, the inconspicuous orbital ring is light to medium gray. In adult birds, the head, chin, throat, neck, and center of the chest are jet black. The rest of the top of the body, including the wings and control feathers, is maroon. The underside of the body is colored white from the breast with a deep black lower abdomen and lower tail-covers . Feet and legs are gray to blue-gray. Females are generally a little more dull in color than males and the beak is a little less strong.
Fledglings are generally yellowish beige-brown with a brown top of the head, darker reins and ear covers. The chin and throat are slightly lightened, the rest of the underside is beige-brown with a warm brownish tint on the chest. The upper side including the wings is beige-brown, the rump and tail-coverts are olive-brown and the tail is a little darker brown. The beak is initially blackish gray and later brightens bluish. The orbital ring is pale yellowish beige.
voice
The contact call is a weak pricks or pie-iet , the Flugruf one of three syllables Chirp . The male's singing begins with a few barely audible snapping sounds. The following part is very high and imperceptible to humans. At the end there are a few weak but drawn out whistling tones.
distribution
The distribution area of the black-bellied nun extends in southern India from the Tapti eastward to Raipur and southward to Sri Lanka.
Way of life
The black-bellied nun lives mainly in areas with grass and reeds. It also occurs on agricultural land and populates rice and sugar cane fields.
The diet consists mainly of rice grains and grass seeds, which are both picked from the ground and picked from the ears. The birds climb up the stalks and bend them down due to their weight in order to get to the grains more easily. Black-bellied nuns are therefore considered a major pest in rice crops .
The breeding season varies depending on the distribution area, but the main breeding season usually falls in the rainy season. The nest can be found in sugar cane or rice fields, in wild grass, in reeds or in bushes. Usually the nest is built low above the ground. More rarely it is also found higher up in the branches of trees. It is a rounded nest that looks untidy to the human observer and is built on the outside from coarse leaves of grass, rice and reeds. Both partners are involved in building the nest.
The clutch usually comprises five eggs. As an exception, eight eggs were found in one nest, but these probably came from two females. The clutch is incubated by both partners for about 15 days. The nestling period is almost three weeks. The young birds are looked after by their parents for a further three weeks.
attitude
The black-bellied nun was introduced to Europe as an ornamental bird at a very early stage and was already available in the mid-19th century. In Germany, however, it was not traded until the 1870s.
supporting documents
literature
- Peter Clement , Alan Harris, John Davis: Finches and Sparrows. Helm Identification Guides, Christopher Helm, London 1993, ISBN 0-7136-8017-2 .
- Jürgen Nicolai (Ed.), Joachim Steinbacher (Ed.), Renate van den Elzen, Gerhard Hofmann: Prachtfinken - Australia, Oceania, Southeast Asia . Eugen Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3249-4 .
- Horst Bielfeld : Knowing and caring for 300 ornamental birds. Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-8001-5737-2 .
Web links
- Birdlife Factsheet , accessed May 30, 2010.
- Lonchura malacca inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
Single receipts
- ↑ IOC World Bird List ( Memento of the original from September 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Version 3.2, accessed February 2, 2012
- ↑ a b Clement et al. (1993), p. 423, see literature
- ↑ a b Clement et al. (1993), p. 424, see literature
- ^ Nicolai et al .: Finches - Australia, Oceania, Southeast Asia . P. 252
- ^ Nicolai et al .: Finches - Australia, Oceania, Southeast Asia . P. 253.
