Thuragimpel

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Thuragimpel
Carpodacus thura blythi illustrated by John Gerrard Keulemans

Carpodacus thura blythi illustrated by John Gerrard Keulemans

Systematics
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
Family : Finches (Fringillidae)
Subfamily : Goldfinches (Carduelinae)
Tribe : Carpodacini
Genre : Carrion Pickle ( Carpodacus )
Type : Thuragimpel
Scientific name
Carpodacus thura
Bonaparte & Schlegel , 1850

The Thura pimple ( Carpodacus thura ) or white- browed pimp is a songbird belonging to the finch family . The East Palaeartkian species occurs from northern Afghanistan to northern India and from Tibet to western and northern China . It inhabits forest edges, alpine meadows and dwarf rhododendron , bamboo and juniper trees .

The specific epithet honors Thura Nilsson, the daughter of the Swedish zoologist Sven Nilsson .

description

Appearance

With a body length of 17 cm, the Thura pimple is about the same size as a grosbeak . The rather tame nature is in all the dresses well of others Karmingimpelarten to distinguish. The strong, 14 mm long bill is horn-colored brown, the feet fleshy gray to dark brown. The wing length is between 81 and 87 mm for the male and between 80 and 83 mm for the female. The tail length of the male is 75 mm, that of the female 65 mm.

As with all carmines, the sexes differ significantly in terms of plumage. In the male, the crown, nape and sides of the neck are warm brown with dark stripes. Forehead, reins and throat show a strong dark pink, which merges into a lighter pink in the wide stripe above the eyes. The latter shows more or less clearly white tips ("Weißbrauengimpel") at the upper edge, which become more towards the back and often end the outer eye stripe on the sides of the neck as a clearly separated, white field. The dark brown eye stripe is usually quite wide and delimits the pink area of ​​lower ear covers, cheeks and beard stripe, which is increasingly interspersed with white or light pink tips towards the chest. The lower throat, chest and custom are solid pink, sometimes fine white tips appear on the chest. The flanks have a brownish tinge and are slightly dark dashed, the under tail-coverts white to pinkish-white with dark stripes. The back and shoulder feathers show a warm brown like parting and neck and are roughly dark dashed. The rump and upper tail coverts are pink with darker feather centers on the longest upper tail coverts. The slightly forked tail is black with brown feather edges. The middle arm covers are dark brown with pale or pinkish white tips, the large arm covers are blackish with brown edges and beige tips. The wing, coverts and wings are black-brown with pale pink edges. The hems on the arm wings are paler and on the umbrella feathers pale beige.

In the female, the upper head, neck, back and shoulder feathers are brown with dark stripes. The arched stripe above the eyes is beige with dark dashed lines. The eye stripe that extends to the sides of the neck is dark brown. The rest of the face is beige with dark stripes that become stronger towards the ear covers and cheeks. The chin, throat and front chest are warm yellow-brown - a feature that makes the female of this species easily distinguishable from other carmine races, but is not pronounced in all subspecies. The lower breast and belly are beige to whitish, the under tail-coverts are yellowish white. The flanks are tinted brown and the entire more or less coarse underside is darkly striped. The arm covers are black-brown with brown hems and warm beige tips that form a double wing band. The other wing feathers are also black-brown with fine brown edges, which become lighter to beige towards the umbrella feathers. The rump is pale yellow or warm yellow-brown with dark feather centers. The upper tail covers are nuanced dark brown and golden yellow. The tail is black with fine brown borders.

The youth dress is similar to that of the female. In the first year the males show a warm beige to reddish brown rump. The tips of the large arm covers are pale brown. The chin, throat and chest are more intensely reddish-brown than in the female, sometimes even orange-brown. Young males often reproduce successfully in this dress.

voice

A sharp, humming diep-diep diep-di-di-di or a moaning wieh-wi-wi-wi-wi-wi-wi as well as a loud and quickly whistling papapipipipi are uttered as calls , mainly from the ground. The subspecies C. t. blythi calls loudly and whistling, a pwit-pwit , which is reminiscent of the European nuthatch , and utters a soft wid-wid as a contact call while feeding . The singing, which is rarely heard, is a duckling-like chirping, which is usually performed from the treetops.

Distribution and geographic variation

The Thura pimple populates an area that stretches from northeastern Afghanistan through northern India and the Himalayas to western and northern China. The five subspecies differ mainly in the color intensity of the brown and pink areas and slightly in size. In females, the brownish color of the throat is only seen in the nominate form and in C. t. blythi pronounced, it may be absent in the other subspecies.

The species is relatively common or locally common and according to the IUCN is not threatened in its population.

Way of life

In the breeding season, the Thura pimple lives in the Afghan-Pakistani border area at altitudes between 2400 and 3330 m, in the Himalayas and western China between 3800 and 4600 m above sea level. In winter, many birds migrate to lower altitudes, but mostly not deeper than 2400 m. Many stay at the same altitudes as they did during the breeding season, even in harsh winters. The subspecies C. t. femininus may overwinter in northern Myanmar , but this information is not certain.

The breeding biotopes are open forests, forest edges, alpine meadows and populations of dwarf rhododendrons, bamboo or juniper above the tree line. In winter, the species is found on shrubby slopes, barberries being preferred .

The Thuragimpel can be found in pairs or in small, loose associations of up to 20 individuals. Sometimes it socializes with other species of carmine , especially the Edward's bullfinch , or with juniper grouse . In winter, single-sex groups often form.

The Thura pimple gathers its food mainly on the ground, where it mainly eats small seeds, but also berries such as blackberries, raspberries or juniper berries.

literature

  • P. Clement, A. Harris, J. Davis: Finches and Sparrows , Helm Identification Guides, London 1993/1999, ISBN 0-7136-5203-9

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ James A. Jobling: Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology (2015), in J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, AD Christie, E. de Juana (eds.): Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive , Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2015

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