Diadem bearded bird
| Diadem bearded bird | ||||||||||
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Diadem Bearded Bird ( Tricholaema lacrymosa ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Tricholaema lacrymosa | ||||||||||
| Cabanis , 1878 |
The diademed bearded bird ( Tricholaema lacrymosa ), also called teardrop bird, is a species of the African bearded bird . The species occurs in western Africa. Several subspecies are distinguished. The IUCN classifies the diademed bearded bird as not endangered ( least concern ).
Appearance
The males of the nominate form have a wing length of 6.6 to 7.2 centimeters. The tail is between 3.8 and 4.7 inches long. The beak length is 1.5 to 1.9 centimeters. Females have similar body measurements. There is no noticeable sexual dimorphism .
Males and females have a glossy blue-black skull. A wide white stripe of eyes runs from the eyes to the nape of the neck. A white streak of beard runs from the sides of the beak to the sides of the chest. The upper back is blue-black, the lower back brownish. The rump is pale yellow on a brown background. The upper tail-coverts are black with pale yellow vertical stripes and white feather tips. The control springs are brown-black. Freshly moulted, the feathers have a yellowish-white border. On the underside, the control springs are gray-brown with white spring shafts.
The throat is black, the black extends shield-like to the front breast and is framed in white. The lower breast is creamy-white to yellow-white up to the under tail-coverts. There are teardrop-shaped spots on the sides of the body. The beak is black, the featherless skin around the eyes is gray, the eyes are yellowish to orange in color. The legs and feet are gray to black. Females have a similar plumage, but brown to reddish brown eyes. Young birds are similar to adult birds, but their plumage is overall duller in color.
The tiara bearded bird can be confused with the tiara hair beardling , but it lacks the shield-shaped black spot on the throat and front chest. It is very similar to the black-headed bearded bird , but it lacks the teardrop-shaped spots on the sides of the body. It also inhabits slightly lower and drier regions than the diademed bearded bird.
Distribution area and habitat
The diademed bearded bird is a locally common bird. It occurs in an area that is bounded by the center and east of the Congo , the south of Sudan , the center of Kenya , the north-east of Burundi , the south-west and center of Tanzania and the north-east of Zambia . The habitat are moist forests and bushes along rivers and gardens. In the regions in which the diademed bearded beard and the black-headed bearded bird also occur, the diademed bearded bird inhabits denser vegetation along rivers.
Way of life
The diademed bearded bird mostly looks for food individually, but stays close to its partner. While foraging for food, it looks for insects between the foliage and along branches. The insects it eats include ladybugs and ants. He also eats fruit. Its nesting and resting caves he successfully defends against the cardinal woodpecker and the black-collared barbet . The Kleine Honiganzeiger is presumably a breeding parasite of the diademed bearded bird.
Diadem bearded birds are territorial. They usually stay mostly in the vicinity of their nesting cavity, the borders of the territory are not very actively defended. Defensive behavior includes setting up the feathers on the flanks and on the top of the head, with the beak pointing in the direction of the opponent. The breeding time varies depending on the geographical latitude. In the northeast of the Congo, for example, it falls in the period from June to July, but in the west of Kenya in the period from October to January. The clutch consists of two to four eggs. These are white-skinned. Both parent birds breed and take turns at intervals of 20 to 110 minutes. Further details of the reproductive behavior are not known.
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 .
Single receipts
Web links
- Tricholaema lacrymosa inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2014.