Tanazist singer

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tanazist singer
Systematics
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
Family : Cisticolidae (Cisticolidae)
Subfamily : Cisticolinae
Genre : Cisticola
Type : Tanazist singer
Scientific name
Cisticola restrictus
Traylor , 1967

The Tanazistensänger ( Cisticola restrictus ) is a songbird species from the family of the stalk warbler . It is endemic to western Kenya .

description

The Tanazist singer reaches a length of 13 centimeters and a weight of 12 to 15 grams. The face is cream colored. The cheeks are gray-brown. The top of the head is russet with dark brown streaks. The top is gray-brown. The back and coat show strong dark brown dots. The arm and hand wings as well as the under wing coverts are dark brown with ash gray edges. The tail is brown with a darker subterminal band. Except for the middle pair of feathers, all tail feathers have leather-brown tips. The underside is cream colored. The flanks and the chest are washed leather gray. The throat and middle of the abdomen are lighter in color. The iris is bright brown. The beak is dark brown with a light base. The legs are dull pink. The female is slightly smaller than the male. The young birds are undescribed.

Habitat and way of life

Very little is known about his way of life. The habitat is semi-arid acacia shrubland at altitudes of up to 500 m. Its diet consists mainly of insects, including grasshoppers.

status

The Tanazist sawmill was described in 1967 by Melvin Alvah Traylor junior on the basis of six museum specimens, which were collected in 1931–1932, 1961–1962 and 1967 on the lower reaches of the Tana River near Karawa, Garsen, Ijole, Mnazini and Sango and initially for gray Cistus singers ( Cisticola cinereolus ) were held. A seventh specimen is said to have been sighted in 1972 and an unconfirmed observation was made in 2007 in the Tana River Delta.

To this day, the status of the Tanazist singer is considered controversial. According to the ornithologists David J. Pearson and Adrian Lewis, the Tanazist singer is probably an anomalous specimen of the Gray Cistus singer or a hybrid of the Gray Cistus singer and the Red-headed Cistus singer ( Cisticola chiniana ). Should this assumption be confirmed by a DNA analysis of the museum specimens, it would be Tanazist singer an invalid taxon . Until the final clarification of the species status, the Tanazist singer is listed by BirdLife International in the category DD (data deficient = insufficient data).

literature

  • Melvin A. Traylor, Jr .: A new species of Cisticola. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club, Vol 87, 1967: 45-48.
  • Adrian Lewis, Derek Pomeroy: A Bird Atlas of Kenya , CRC Press, 1989. ISBN 9061917166
  • Emil K. Urban , C. Hilary Fry and Stuart Keith : The Birds of Africa. Volume 5: Thrushes to Puffback Flycatchers. Academic Press, 1997, ISBN 0121373053 .
  • Ryan, Peter (2006). Family Cisticolidae (Cisticolas and allies). In: del Hoyo J., Elliott A. & Christie DA (2006) Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 11. Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers Lynx Edicions, Barcelona ISBN 978-84-96553-06-4 , pp. 378-492

Web links