Spitware

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Spitware
This bird, which was photographed in Thailand, could be a pike cassin as well as a forest cassin. Since the tail is not spread open, a determination based on the photo is not possible with certainty.

This bird, which was photographed in Thailand , could be a pike cassin as well as a forest cassin . Since the tail is not spread open, a determination based on the photo is not possible with certainty.

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Plover-like (Charadriiformes)
Family : Snipe birds (Scolopacidae)
Genre : Common Common Snipe ( Gallinago )
Type : Spitware
Scientific name
Gallinago stenura
( Bonaparte , 1831)
The only definite distinguishing feature from the forest cassin (left) are the outer control feathers , which are narrow like a pin on the spit cassin (right) and are at most 2 mm wide 20 mm from the tip.

The Spießbekassine ( Gallinago stenura ), also called Stiftbekassine , is a Siberian species from the family of snipe birds . No subspecies are distinguished.

description

The Spießbekassine reaches a body length of 25 to 27 centimeters. In terms of size, it corresponds to that of the common snipe in Europe , but compared to this it has a slightly shorter beak with a narrower tip. The wingspan of the Spießbekassine is 44 to 48 centimeters. The weight varies between 85 and 125 grams. The underside of the body is darker and the tail is shorter.

The upper side of the body of the spit casin is brown with fine, wavy markings and pale cream-colored vertical stripes. The elytra are dark brown with beige tip spots. Most individuals have 26 control springs , of which the outer eight pairs are pin-shaped or spear-shaped with a width of only one to two millimeters.

Frightened birds call softly and abruptly, rattling or rough, squik or squok . During the dive, which is part of the courtship repertoire, the males shout briefly and metallicly Cheka Cheka Cheka .

Distribution and existence

The Spießbekassine is a predominantly Asian species that breeds in Siberia east of the Kolyma Delta and occurs as far as the Lena Delta . In the southern direction of distribution, it still occurs in northern Mongolia . In a westerly direction it reaches the extreme northeast of Europe and breeds west of the Pechora in the forest zone. The wintering areas include the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia from southern China and from the Philippines to Sumatra and Java . A small number of the Spießbekassinen also overwinter on the Arabian Peninsula and in Northeast Africa. Wetlands International divides the total populations into two groups. The western group breeds from northeast Europe to central Siberia and winters in South Asia and, to a lesser extent, on the Arabian Peninsula and northeast Africa. The second group, which breeds from central Siberia to the Sea of ​​Okhotsk , overwinters predominantly in Southeast Asia. As for all snipe birds, population numbers are very difficult to determine. The western population group is estimated by Wetlands International to be between 25,000 and 1,000,000 individuals. Of these, about 1,510 to 6,600 breeding pairs occur in northeastern Europe. In the wintering areas in southern Asia, spit-kassins are very common, but the population trends have not been adequately investigated.

habitat

The habitat of the Spießbekassins are the forested regions of Siberia. The species breeds in grassy swamps, moist meadows in river valleys, as well as peat bogs and in mountain tundra with its dwarf birch bushes . The Spießbekassine differs from the common snipe in its preference for drier habitats. In the wintering quarters and on the migration, the pike-snipe can be found in swampy ponds and in rice fields, but also prefers less humid habitats than the snipe during this time.

Way of life

The food of the Spießbekassine consists mainly of invertebrates . Insects and their larvae, molluscs and earthworms play a special role here. It also eats seeds and other vegetable foods. It picks its food mainly from the surface of the ground, but also finds it poking, locating and grasping prey in the soft silt with its sensitive and flexible beak tip.

Immediately after arriving in the breeding areas, the males show a communal pool in which up to 15 males can participate. The nest is on the ground and is usually built in thick vegetation. The shallow nest hollow is padded with grass. The clutch usually consists of four eggs. These are incubated for twenty days.

supporting documents

literature

  • Peter Colston , Philip Burton: Limicolen - All European wader species, identifiers, flight images, biology, distribution. BlV Verlagsgesellschaft, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-405-13647-4 .
  • Simon Delany, Derek Scott, Tim Dodman, David Stroud (Eds.): An Atlas of Wader Populations in Africa and Western Eurasia. Wetlands International , Wageningen 2009, ISBN 978-90-5882-047-1 .
  • Richard Sale: A Complete Guide to Arctic Wildlife. Christopher Helm, London 2006, ISBN 0-7136-7039-8 .
  • Paul J. Leader, Geoff J. Carey: Identification of Pintail Snipe and Swinhoe's Snipe , British Birds 96, April 2003, pp. 178-198

Single receipts

  1. ↑ Sale, p. 207
  • Peter Colston, Philip Burton: Limicolen - All European wader species, identifiers, flight images, biology, distribution. BlV Verlagsgesellschaft, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-405-13647-4 .
  1. ↑ a b c p. 166.
  2. ↑ p. 167.
  1. ↑ p. 263.
  2. ↑ a b p. 265.

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