Senegal amaranth
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Senegalese amaranth ( Lagonosticta senegala ), male |
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| Lagonosticta senegala | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1766) |
The Senegalese amaranth ( Lagonosticta senegala ) is an African species of bird from the finch family (Estrildidae), which colonizes a large part of the Afrotropis. Today the species is divided into six subspecies. More subspecies can be found in older literature.
The Senegalese amaranth is one of the most frequently kept African fine fin cards. Accordingly, a number of German trivial names have become commonplace. It is called, among other things, small amaranth , red amaranth , red astrild and dwarf blood finch . The subspecies Laganosticta senegala brunneiceps has the German name Braunkopfamarant and the subspecies L. s. ruberrima is Prachtamarant called.
description
The Senegalese amaranth is between 9.5 and 11 centimeters long. The males, including the beak, are colored red on the head and trunk, have a black tail and brown wings. The sides of the chest, and in some subspecies also the middle of the chest, have a few to numerous tiny white dots. The eye color is brown to dark red. The edge of the eyelid is strikingly yellow. The beak is pale red with a blackish ridge.
Depending on the subspecies, the females are yellowish, earth-brown to gray-brown. The sides of the head and sometimes the chest and back are washed out reddish in some subspecies. On the underside of the body, the plumage is lighter and in some subspecies more yellow. Just like the males, they have breasts with a variable number of white dots. have a red beak and a reddish chest.
Young birds are pale brownish-gray, the tone being lighter or darker depending on the subspecies.
Distribution, habitat and way of life
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The species occurs in large parts of Africa south of the Sahara as a breeding bird. The area is estimated to be around 10 million square kilometers. Their habitat is predominantly dry savannah and bush landscapes. It occurs here preferentially in dense acacia bushes that are located on the banks of rivers. However, it can also be observed on the edge of the desert and in clearings in the rainforest. In some regions it also occurs at higher altitudes. It can be found in Addis Ababa at an altitude of 2,200 meters and in southern Africa at an altitude of 1,700 meters above sea level. in front. It is also a cultural follower and occurs in villages in the Sahel, an area that it does not otherwise inhabit. It also populates the outskirts of cities. In general, he is very little shy and looks for food among domestic chickens, for example . It lives in pairs and can be seen in small flocks after the breeding season. Occasionally he socializes with rose marants , butterfly astrals , atlas finches and sparrows. Seasonal migration has also been demonstrated for this species.
The Senegalese amaranth feeds mainly on grass seeds and grains. The nest is built in bushes. Three to six eggs are laid.
The call sounds like a rising "chick-pea-pea-pea".
Brood parasitism by the red-footed atlas widow
For the brood parasitic red-footed atlas widow , which belongs to the family of widow birds , the Senegal amaranth is probably the only host bird species. The red-footed atlas widow, which is 11 to 12 centimeters taller than the Senegalese amaranth, occurs in almost the entire range of the Senegalese amaranth. The degree of parasitization is high: In Senegal, 36 percent of all the Seng galaramant nests examined also had eggs from the red-footed atlas widow. In Zambia, the level of parasitization was as high as 42 percent.
Senegalese marants show little defensive behavior against the brood parasitic behavior of the red-footed Atlas widow. The red-footed atlas widow even lays eggs while one of the Senegalese's two parent birds is sitting on the eggs. Unlike many other brood parasitic bird species, the red-footed Alta widow does not remove an egg from the host bird's clutch. Johngard points out, however, that the eggs for the red-footed atlas widow are not visible when they are laying their eggs, since a parent bird of the Senegalese amaranth sits firmly on the nest from the first egg onwards. It happens again and again that several females of the red-footed atlas widow lay eggs in a specific nest. Up to six red-footed atlas widow eggs have been found in a single nest of Senegalese marants. However, more than four eggs from red-footed atlas widows are the exception.
There is evidence that the Senegalese amaranth does not suffer reproductive disadvantages due to the parasitism of the red-footed atlas widow. One study showed that the nests of non-parasitized Senegalese marants contain an average of 3.5 eggs. In parasitized nests, on the other hand, there are only slightly fewer Senegalamarant eggs: on average, the parasitized Neuer had 3.4 Senegalamarant eggs and 2.2 eggs from the red-footed atlas widow. In a study published in 1973, MY Morel came to the conclusion that the higher number of eggs in the nest represented a " super stimulus " for the host bird parents, since parasitized nests are on average less abandoned by the host birds than non-parasitized ones. With parasitized nests, nest abandonment occurs in only 45.7 percent of cases. In the case of non-parasitized nests, brood is broken off in 56.3 percent. The fact that on average only 2.1 nestlings of the host bird fledge in a parasitized nest, while there are 2.8 nestlings in a non-parasitized nest, is compensated for by this lower degree of nest losses. The breeding success measured in terms of fledgling species-specific young per egg laid is the same for the Senegalese amaranth. This also explains why there is no evolutionary pressure for the Senegalese amaranth to develop defense mechanisms against the brood parasitic behavior of the red-footed atlas widow.
attitude
The Senegalese amaranth is one of the most popular African finches. It has therefore been available in the bird trade since the beginning of European finch farming in the 18th century. It was probably the ornithologist Vieillot who succeeded in first breeding before 1790, because in his work Les oiseaux chanteurs he not only mentions courtship and nesting of Senegalese marants, but also reports that higher room temperatures are necessary for the successful rearing of young birds.
supporting documents
literature
- Paul A. Johnsgard: The Avian Brood Parasites - Deception at the Nest . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1997, ISBN 0-19-511042-0 .
- Jürgen Nicolai (Hrsg.), Joachim Steinbacher (Hrsg.), Renate van den Elzen, Gerhard Hofmann, Claudia Mettke-Hofmann: Prachtfinken - Afrika , Series Handbuch der Vogelpflege, Eugen Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-8001- 4964-3
- MY Morel: Contribution á l'etude dynamique de la population de Lagonosticta senegala L. (estrildides) à Richard-Toll (Senegal). Interrelations avec le parasite Hypochera chalybeata (Müller) (viduines). Mem. Mus. Nat. d'Hist. Nat., Ser. A (Zool.) 78: 1-156, 1973.
- Svensson, Grant, Mullarney, Zetterström: Birds of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East . Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co., Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-08401-9
Web links
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Red-billed Firefinch (Lagonosticta senegala) in the Internet Bird Collection
- Lagonosticta senegala inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011.2. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2009. Retrieved November 15, 2011.
- Senegalamarant's feathers
Single receipts
- ↑ Nicolai et al., P. 154
- ↑ Nicolai et al., P. 155
- ↑ Nicolai et al., P. 156
- ↑ Johnsgard: The Avian Brood Parasites . P. 285.
- ^ A b Johnsgard: The Avian Brood Parasites . P. 290.
- ^ A b Johnsgard: The Avian Brood Parasites . P. 289.
- ^ Morel: Contribution á l'etude dynamique de la population de Lagonosticta senegala L. (estrildides) à Richard-Toll (Senegal).
- ↑ Nicolai et al., P. 157