Straw-headed bearded bird

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Straw-headed bearded bird
Stactolaema anchietae, Kuito, Birding Weto, a.jpg

Straw-headed bearded bird ( Stactolaema anchietae )

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Woodpecker birds (Piciformes)
Subordination : Specht-like (Picoidea)
Family : African bearded birds (Lybiidae)
Genre : Stactolaema
Type : Straw-headed bearded bird
Scientific name
Stactolaema anchietae
( Bocage , 1869)

The Anchieta's Barbet ( stactolaema anchietae ) is a bird art from the family of the African barbets. The species occurs in Africa south of the equator. Several subspecies are distinguished. The IUCN classifies the straw-headed bearded bird as not endangered ( least concern ).

Appearance

The males of the nominate form reach a wing length of 9.0 to 9.5 centimeters. The beak becomes 1.7 to 2.0 centimeters long. The tail reaches a length of 5.0 to 5.2 centimeters. Females have similar body measurements. As is typical for Stactolaema species, there is no noticeable sexual dimorphism .

In males and females, the forehead is pale yellow up to the middle of the top part of the head, the rest of the top of the head is black-brown, the sides of the neck are brown and have fine white spots. The sides of the face are white up to and including the upper ear covers, the chin is pale yellow to whitish-yellow. The upper side of the body is dark brown, on the rump and the upper tail-coverts the individual feathers have matt white to yellow feather tips. The control feathers are matt brown-black, the spring shafts on the underside of the tail are horn-colored. The throat is yellow and brown with longitudinal stripes, the front breast is brown with yellow feather shafts, the lower breast and the belly up to the under tail-covers are yellowish-white. The sides of the body and thighs are brown. The beak is matt black. The featherless skin around the eyes is black, the eyes dark brown. The legs and feet are slate gray to purple-black. Young birds are more brownish and duller in color than adult birds. With them, the featherless skin around the eyes and the base of the beak is also yellowish.

There is hardly any possibility of confusion between the straw-headed bearded bird and other bird species in its range. In northern Zambia, its distribution area borders on that of the mirror bearded bird . This species has a less yellow face and a showy white wing mirror.

Distribution area and habitat

The range of the straw-headed bearded bird stretches from the DR Congo to Angola and Zambia. The straw-headed bearded bird occurs at altitudes between 900 and 2440 meters. Its habitat are forests and forest edges.

Way of life

The food spectrum of the straw-headed bearded bird consists mainly of fruits. It also eats insects that it picks from branches and tree trunks. Termites, grasshoppers and wasps, among others, are eaten.

Straw-headed bearded birds are cave breeders who chop their nesting holes into dead wood from trees. The nest cavity is usually two to ten meters above the ground. Preferred nesting trees are Brachystegia species . The immediate area around the nest cavity is aggressively defended. One of the bird species that are regularly driven away by the straw-headed bearded bird is the mirrored bearded bird. Smaller bearded bird species such as the miombo bearded bird and the yellow-fronted bearded bird are chased away by the parent birds and one to four helper birds from a radius of forty meters around the nesting cavity. Even the much larger mask oriole , some shrike species and barn swallows are attacked by Strokopf Barbet when they fly near the nest box or to settle nearby. He also shows an intense hatred of predators such as mongooses .

The breeding season falls between July and November. The clutch consists of three to five eggs. The breeding season is unknown, in addition to the parent birds, the helper birds are probably also involved in the breeding. Nestlings are fed by all helpers between three and seventeen times an hour. The duration of the nestling period is also unknown. Presumably, the young birds initially remain in the parent birds' territory after they have fled and help with the rearing of the next brood. One of the breeding parasites of the straw-headed bearded bird is the small honey indicator .

supporting documents

literature

  • Lester L. Short, Jennifer FM Horne: Toucans, Barbets and Honeyguides - Ramphastidae, Capitonidae and Indicatoridae . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001, ISBN 0-19-854666-1

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Short et al., P. 143
  2. ↑ Short et al., P. 145
  3. ↑ Short et al., P. 146

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