Black-capped tit
| Black-capped tit | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Black- capped Chickadee ( Poecile atricapillus ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Poecile atricapillus | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1766) |
The black- capped chickadee ( Poecile atricapillus ) is an American songbird. Since it is still controversial whether Poecile represents its own genus or a subgenus of the genus Parus , Parus atricapillus is often given as the scientific name of the black- capped tit .
features
The 13 cm long black-headed tit is a relatively small songbird with a relatively large head. The plumage is black on the vertex, neck and throat base, white on the cheeks, gray on the back and yellow-brown on the belly. The short black wings and the long tail are colored black with white borders.
The call is a chick-a-dee-dee-dee , performed slowly and in a deep voice , hence the bird's English name (black-capped chickadee).
Occurrence
The black-capped tit lives in forests and in areas with mature trees in southern Canada and the northern United States .
behavior
The black-capped tit looks for insects, seeds and berries in thickets and also builds supplies for the cold season. In winter, the bird is a frequent guest at bird feeders and even flies onto people's hands. Outside the breeding season, black-headed tits form small, noisy groups. As a rule, these flocks contain around ten birds.
Reproduction
The black-capped chickadee builds a shell nest out of plant down, feathers and hair in a tree hole or in a nest box in May or June. The clutch consists of about eight eggs. The influence of social hierarchy on reproductive behavior has been well studied. Due to the small, wintry troops, black-headed tits are very familiar with other black-headed tits in their immediate breeding area and form a social hierarchy. Usually the highest ranking female partners with the highest ranking male. They sometimes stay together for more than one breeding season. However, the females separate from their males when they can partner with a higher-ranking male. This could also be proven in a study in which the females of the seven highest ranking males were removed. Over the next two days, females remaining in the area separated from their males in order to establish relationships with the available, higher-ranking males. After the higher-ranking females were reinstated, they chased the females away. Finally, to complete the study, six low-ranking females that were mated with correspondingly low-ranking males were also removed. These males were left without a partner.
Where the distribution areas overlap, this bird species crosses with the Carolina ant and the Gambelmeise .
supporting documents
literature
- Colin Harrison & Alan Greensmith: Birds. Dorling Kindersley Limited, London 1993, 2000, ISBN 3-831-00785-3 .
- Bryan Richard: Birds. Parragon, Bath, ISBN 1-405-45506-3 .
Web links
- Poecile atricapillus inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
- Black-capped tit feathers
Single receipts
- ^ Joan Roughgarden : Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People. University of California Press, Berkeley 2004, ISBN 0-520-24073-1 , pp. 54 and 55
- ^ Joan Roughgarden: Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People. University of California Press, Berkeley 2004, ISBN 0-520-24073-1 , p. 55