Black head hen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Black head hen
Black head stone hen small and large Walsrode 2014.jpg

Black head stone hen ( Alectoris melanocephala )

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Chicken birds (Galliformes)
Family : Pheasants (Phasianidae)
Genre : Stone fowl ( Alectoris )
Type : Black head hen
Scientific name
Alectoris melanocephala
( Rüppell , 1835)

The Arabian Partridge ( Alectoris melanocephala ) is a Hühnervogel art from the family of pheasant-like that in the west and south of the Arabian Peninsula is based. It inhabits rocky mountain slopes lined with bushes and feeds mainly on grasses and herbs.

The species is now considered monotypical . The subspecies A. m. Described by Richard Meinertzhagen in 1951 and occurring in southern Yemen . guichardi is generally no longer recognized.

description

With a body length of around 40 cm, the black head stone hen is considerably larger than a partridge . The hen is slightly smaller than the rooster, but there is no sexual dimorphism in terms of plumage. The wing length of the rooster is between 177 and 210 mm, the tail length between 146 and 149 mm, the weight is around 720 g. The wing length of the hen is smaller with 166-181 mm. The tail length is about 140 mm, the weight about 520 g. The iris is reddish brown. The beak, feet and legs are bright red, as is a featherless ring around the eye. The rooster has a spur on its legs that the hen lacks. The elongated chin and crown feathers are unique within the genus Alectoris . In addition, the species is relatively long-tailed.

In adult birds, the black color of the head extends to the nape of the neck and in a central bib to the chest. A broad, bright white stripe over the eyes protrudes from it, which is set off from the beak by a narrow, black band and runs behind the ear covers in a red-brown section that merges into the reddish-isabel-colored sides of the neck. The fletching on the chin and throat is also white and runs radiantly towards the black ear covers. The body plumage is predominantly bluish gray with beige edges. The flanks are conspicuously banded in black and white, with each feather being gray at the base and a white band at the top and bottom with a wide black border. The wing plumage, like the body plumage, is gray with beige to reddish-ocher-colored hems, only the wings are dark brownish with narrow ocher-yellow hems. The outer tips of the blue-gray control feathers bear blackish tips.

The youth dress has so far only been described on the basis of photographs. The beak, like the feet, is evidently blackish, the wax skin gray and the head and flank pattern of adult birds not yet pronounced. The parting is light reddish brown, the upper part is partridge-colored and the lower part is brownish-gray with a fine pattern on the neck, chest and neck.

Downy chicks are yellowish-brown on top with a slate-gray underside. The chin and throat are white, the chest pale brown and the lower back scattered black and white.

voice

The typical call (audio sample) is louder and slightly deeper than that of the chukar chicken . It consists of a series of sounds that get faster and more excited in a crescendo , such as kuk-kuk-kuk-kuk… kouk-kouk-kouk… kruuuk-kruuk-kruuk . A softer variant can be heard as a contact call. The alarm call is a stringed kerkau . When searching for food, chuckling sounds are emitted that end with a high mjau .

Distribution and existence

The black head partridge is native to the west and south of the Arabian Peninsula. Its distribution extends from Jeddah southward to the western highlands of Yemen , from where it extends eastward through the southern coastal mountains to the Dhofar mountains in western Oman . There are disjoint occurrences in Jabal al-Achdar in eastern Oman and possibly in northern Hejaz . It is questionable whether the deposits on the coast of Eritrea that existed until 1890 were autochthonous .

Although nothing is known about the exact population, the species is not considered endangered. According to reports, it is not uncommon, although the occurrences are sometimes very scattered. Hunting and habitat loss are likely to be the main causes of danger.

habitat

Where the species occurs together with the Philby Stone Grouse , it prefers lower-lying, lush areas of the Tihama , which are mostly in the rain shadow . It is commonly found on vegetation-covered, often rocky mountain slopes, deeply buried wadis and sandy and rocky plateaus with scattered bush and tree cover. Also cultivated terraces and juniper stands are accepted. The altitude distribution is between 100 and 2800 m.

Way of life

Black-headed chickens are usually found in pairs, but outside of the breeding season sometimes in groups of up to 15 birds that regularly gather in the morning and evening to drink at watering points. When foraging for food, they usually move under cover of bushes and boulders and rarely appear in open terrain. The diet of hunted birds, the stomach contents of which was examined, consisted predominantly of plant components of the grass species Schismus barbatus and the Ruhr herb Gnaphalium pulvinatum . In some places the birds appear in the fields at harvest time and feed on grain.

The species is believed to be monogamous . The courtship takes place in February and March, the laying time is between March and May. The nest consists of a shallow hollow that is created under bushes. The clutch usually contains 5–8 stone-white, very large-pored eggs with yellowish beige speckles. The dimensions are 46 × 34 mm. Sometimes larger clutches with over 11 eggs were found. The incubation period is between 24 and 25 days.

supporting documents

literature

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dimensions mainly according to Madge, s. literature
  2. ↑ a b Raethel, p. 331, s. literature
  3. ↑ According to Raethel, description consistent with Madge, s. literature
  4. ↑ Herman van Oosten: XC44448 Black-headed Steinhuhn Alectoris melanocephala . xeno-canto.org. January 31, 2010. Retrieved October 25, 2019.