Spatula pad
| Spatula pad | ||||||||||
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Spatula pad |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Coracias spatulatus | ||||||||||
| Trimen , 1880 |
The spatula rack belongs within the family of the Racken (Coraciidae) to the genus of the Coracias ( Coracias ).
features
The spatula is with 20–30 cm (+ outer tail feathers of up to 8 cm) and 88–111 g the lightest and smallest bird of the Coracias genus. It resembles the fork rack . The head is olive on the crown and on the top, white on the forehead and chin with light stripes over the eyes. The ear covers, throat and chest are red-brown with broad dashed lines, and the beak and eyes are dark. The belly is light blue, the shoulder and the underside of the tail dark blue, the rump and the upper side of the tail black with long tail feathers ending in two pennants. The coat is light brown. The young bird is paler with no elongated outer tail feathers.
distribution and habitat
The preferred habitat in tropical Africa includes drier areas south of the Sahara with brachystegia and mopane .
The following subspecies can be distinguished:
- C. s. spatulatus Trimen , 1880, nominate form - in the west of Angola and in the north-east of Namibia ( Zambezi ), in the west and east of Tanzania and in Mozambique south of the Zambezi River.
- C. s. weigalli Dresser , 1890 - in southern Tanzania and in Mozambique north of the Zambezi River.
nutrition
It feeds on insects such as grasshoppers, beetles, maggots, scorpions and small lizards and hunts from perch.
Reproduction
The spatula breed in Zambia and Zimbabwe between February and July, in Malawi between October and November. It occurs in pairs or in smaller groups.
Hazardous situation
The spatula is not considered to be endangered ( least concern ).
Individual evidence
- ^ Avibase Coracias spatulatus
- ^ A b T. Stevenson, J. Fanshawe: Birds of East Africa. Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. Princeton University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-691-12665-8 .
- ↑ a b c d Handbook of the Birds of the World
- ↑ Coracias spatulatus in the IUCN 2016-3 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: BirdLife International, 2016. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
