Pointed tail amadine
| Pointed tail amadine | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pointed-tailed amadine ( Poephila acuticauda hecki ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Poephila acuticauda | ||||||||||||
| ( Gould , 1839) |
The long-tailed finch ( Poephila acuticauda ), also pointed tail black-throated finch called, is an Australian species in the genus of grass finches . There are two subspecies.
Appearance
Pointed tail amadines have a body length of 17 centimeters. They weigh between 13 and 17.6 grams. The head is feathered silver-gray, the region between eyes and beak - the so-called rein - is feathered black. The eye-catching throat and tail are also black. In addition, a black belt runs across the back of the body. The back and wing covers are brownish to reddish brown. Females are on average slightly smaller than the males and have a less extensive throat and head spot. The young birds are a little more dull in color than the adults and their beak is still black.
The two subspecies differ primarily in their beak color : P. acuticauda hecki has a striking red beak. This subspecies is more intensely colored and the black throat is slightly larger. The nominate form P. acuticauda acuticauda , on the other hand, has a yellow beak.
The moult is very slow and can last up to a year.
Distribution and way of life
Pointed-tailed amadines are among Australia's magnificent finches . Their distribution area extends from the area around Derby and the Fitzroy River in the west over northern western Australia and northern Australia to the Gulf of Carpentaria in western northern Queensland . In the region to the east of it, the pointed tail amadine is represented by the belt amadine , with which it forms a super species .
Pointed-tailed amadines inhabit eucalyptus forests , savannahs and steppes and always stay not too far from water holes. As a pronounced tree-breeder, the pointed tail amadine is tied to the eucalyptus savannah and is absent in pure shrub steppes and grassy areas. Only in the interior of the country, where there is no higher tree vegetation, does it also occur in tree-free biotopes. As it spreads, it benefits from the watering holes created by humans and can be found near cattle troughs, for example. However, she avoids close proximity to people and only occurs as far as the edge of localities. Unusual in the pointed-tailed amadine is a way of moving that is not to be observed in any other species of finch, except for the belted amadine. After each landing, it moves its head vertically up and down, keeping its beak parallel to the ground. Since both species have no tail movements, it is possible that this nod of the head developed out of an equilibrium movement. Today it also plays a role in greeting conspecifics. If a pointed-tailed amadine lands near one of its own species, these nodding movements are particularly pronounced. They are optically supported by the onset of the head plumage and the feathers of the black throat flap.
Pointed-tailed amadines are extremely gregarious birds with highly developed social behavior. In times of drought, they can be observed in swarms of thousands of heads, which also include other species of finch, such as the masked finch , the brown-breasted reed finch and the yellow reed finch . Within the species there is always so-called contact sitting and mutual feathering.
The pointed-tailed amadine finds its food almost exclusively on the ground. Semi-ripe and ripe grass seeds make up most of their diet. During the breeding season it also catches very large numbers of insects and can then be a pure insect eater at times.
Reproduction
Pointed tail amadines breed in large breeding colonies. However, two nests of this type in one tree are rare. Usually there is a nest in every tree. In the courtship dance, the male hops towards the female while constantly nodding his head. The halmbalz, which can be observed in many other magnificent finches, is only rudimentary in the pointed-tailed amadine: the males only occasionally carry a blade of grass in their beak during their courtship dance. Courtship dances without the male taking up any stalks are four to five times more common in the field than those that show this behavior.
The pair cohesion in pointed-tailed amadines is very pronounced. The partners of a couple stay together all year round, often scratch each other's plumage and spend the night together in sleeping nests outside of the breeding season. The brood nests are built from 350 to 500 stalks and padded with plant wool and preferably white feathers. Building material is entered by the male and the female. If only the male brings the nesting material, the female will build it. The clutch consists of five to six eggs.
The breeding season usually falls in the second half of the rainy season and can drag on into the dry season if the environmental conditions are favorable. In good years two to three broods are possible.
attitude
The pointed tail amadine was introduced sporadically in England and the Netherlands as early as the 1880s. Christiane Hagenbeck first imported this species to Germany in 1897. Today it is one of the most popular and most frequently kept Australian finch finches. New imports are no longer taking place due to the Australian export ban on wild species. The species also shows domestication features such as color mutations.
supporting documents
Web links
- Poephila acuticauda inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved September 23, 2013.
literature
- Horst Bielfeld : The finch book. All species, their keeping, care and breeding. Eugen Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-8001-7327-1 .
- Jürgen Nicolai (Ed.), Joachim Steinbacher (Ed.), Renate van den Elzen, Gerhard Hofmann: Prachtfinken - Australia, Oceania, Southeast Asia. Eugen Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3249-4 .
- Peter Clement , Alan Harris, John Davis: Finches and Sparrows. An Identification Guide. Christopher Helm, London 1993, ISBN 0-7136-8017-2 .