Smallest pygmy owl

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Smallest pygmy owl
Glaucidium minutissimum 1838.jpg

Small pygmy owl ( Glaucidium minutissimum )

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Owls (Strigiformes)
Family : Real owls (Strigidae)
Genre : Pygmy Owl ( Glaucidium )
Type : Smallest pygmy owl
Scientific name
Glaucidium minutissimum
( Wied-Neuwied , 1830)

The small pygmy owl ( Glaucidium minutissimum ), also known as the pygmy pygmy owl , is a species of pygmy owl . It occurs in Paraguay, Brazil and probably Argentina.

description

The smallest pygmy owl is a small owl that reaches a size of 14 to 15 centimeters. In the adult birds, the face veil is light gray-brown with some indistinct reddish-brown concentric lines. The eyebrows are whitish. The top of the head and the top are dark cinnamon brown to vivid brown. Small whitish spots can be seen on the top of the head. In the nape of the neck there is an occipital face that has fine whitish or light tan spots or speckles. The coat and back are simply bright brown. The elytra show a few bright speckles, but no larger, irregularly shaped whitish spots. The hand and arm wings are dark brown with whitish spots on the inside and outside flags, which form light bands over the open wings. The wings of the hand are whitish on the underside. The tail is dark brown with three to four visible broken whitish bands. A rounded whitish area can be seen around the throat, which is bordered above by a narrow reddish-brown band and on the side by a dense marbling that forms areas with a few spots. The rest of the underside is dirty white with a tan-reddish-brown streak on the flanks. The barrel is feathered, the toes are bristled. The eyes are yellow. The wax skin is yellowish gray. The beak is yellowish horn-colored with a slightly greenish tinge. The toes are yellowish. The claws are horn-colored with dark tips. The wings and tail are quite rounded. The chicks are whitish when they hatch. The nest dunes (mesoptile) look similar in color and structure to the feathers of adult birds. The skull of the juvenile bird is reddish brown without spots. The forehead sometimes shows a few light spots.

Vocalizations

The male's vocalizations consist of a fairly high-pitched, muffled double-tone, which sounds a little overdriven and is repeated at intervals of a few seconds. When the bird is excited, three to four tones are sometimes played in a phrase.

distribution

The distribution area extends in Brazil from southeastern Bahia south to Santa Catarina, east to Minas Gerais, further south to Mato Grosso and Paraná , as well as further into bordering eastern Paraguay and probably to the east of the northeastern Argentine state of Misiones .

habitat

The tiny pygmy owl inhabits evergreen rainforests and forest edges in tropical and subtropical climates, with primary forests apparently preferred. It usually occurs from sea level to altitudes of 500 to 800 m. In southeastern Brazil it can also be found at altitudes of up to 1000 m.

Way of life

The smallest pygmy owl is a bird that is true to its location. It is partially diurnal, but mostly foraging for food at dusk and dawn. Little research has been done into its way of life, but it is probably similar to that of other South American pygmy owls. The diet consists of insects and small vertebrates. Nothing is known about its breeding behavior either. Presumably he builds his nests in abandoned woodpecker holes in tree trunks or larger branches. He is very trusting towards people. It is often attacked by smaller birds.

Systematics

Claus König and Friedhelm Weick rewrote the taxon in 2005 as Sick dwarf owl ( Glaucidium sicki ) (in honor of the German-Brazilian Helmut Sick ). They stated that the type specimen, which Prince Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied described as Strix minutissima in 1830 and is in the Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum in Tring, is almost identical to the Pernambuco pygmy owl ( Glaucidium mooreorum ). Claus König proposed to the South American Classification Committee (SACC) to use the binomial Glaucidium minutissimum for the Pernambuco pygmy owl and to consider the name Glaucidium mooreorum as an invalid synonym. This suggestion was rejected by the SACC in 2008, as König's argumentation only refers to the description of Prince zu Wied-Neuwied, but not to a detailed genetic examination of the type specimen that was collected in Bahia and therefore not from the known distribution area of ​​the Pernambuco- Pygmy owl comes from. In contrast to König & Weick (2008), the most important taxonomic checklists (Howard & Moore, Clements, IOC) continue to use the name Glaucidium minutissimum for the small pygmy owl and Glaucidium mooreorum for the Pernambuco pygmy owl. Occasionally were formerly the Colima Sperlingskauz ( Glaucidium palmarum ), the Yucatan Sperlingskauz ( Glaucidium griseiceps ), the Amazon Sperlingskauz ( Glaucidium hardyi ), the Zamora-Sperlingskauz ( Glaucidium parkeri ), the Tamaulipas-Sperlingskauz ( Glaucidium sanchezi ) and Hoskins Sparrow Owl ( Glaucidium hoskinsii ) considered a subspecies of Glaucidium minutissimum .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ C. König, F. Weick: A new pygmy owl (Aves: Strigidae) from southeastern Brazil In: Stuttgart contributions to natural history. Series A (biology). State Museum for Natural History, Rosenstein, 2005.
  2. ^ SACC: Change the name of Least Pygmy-Owl to Glaucidium sicki. ( Memento from September 19, 2015 in the web archive archive.today )
  3. ↑ SACC: Recognize Glaucidium mooreorum ( Memento of the original from June 28, 2010 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.museum.lsu.edu
  4. ^ A classification of the bird species of South America. ( Memento from April 14, 2004 in the web archive archive.today )

literature

  • Claus König, Friedhelm Weick: Owls of the World . Christopher Helm, London 2008, ISBN 978-0-7136-6548-2 .
  • J. Del Hoyo, A. Elliot, J. Sargatal (Eds.): Handbook of the Birds of the World . Volume 5: Barn-Owls to Hummingbirds. Lynx Edicions 1999, ISBN 84-87334-25-3 .

Web links