Prairie tyrant
| Prairie tyrant | ||||||||||||
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Prairie Tyrant ( Machetornis rixosa ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Machetornis rixosa | ||||||||||||
| Vieillot , 1819 |
The Prairie bully ( Machetornis rixosa ) or cattle tyrant is a kind of tyrant . It occurs exclusively in South America.
Appearance
The grassland tyrant reaches a body length of 19 centimeters and weighs around 30 grams. In its appearance, it bears a certain resemblance to the royal tyrants , in particular to the mourning tyrant . However, genetic research has confirmed that these species are not closely related.
Like the mourning tyrant, the prairie tyrant has a bright yellow underside. The upper side of the body is predominantly gray-brown. A dark streak of color runs from the base of the beak over the eye. Compared to the tyrant, the wings are shorter and less pointed. His legs are also noticeably longer.
Distribution area and behavior
The grassland tyrant occurs in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. Its habitat are open grasslands. The grassland tyrant is a ground-dwelling species that prefers to stay between grazing cattle. They also sit on these and from there catch insects that have been scared off by the cattle. Since cattle in South America have only been native to South America for a few hundred years, it is assumed that the stilt tyrant was previously bound to capybaras in his way of life .
supporting documents
Individual evidence
- ^ Burnie, p. 348
literature
- David Burnie (Ed.): Vögel , Munich 2008, Dorling Kindersley, ISBN 978-3-8310-1272-5
Web links
- Machetornis rixosa onthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species .
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Machetornis rixosa in the Internet Bird Collection