Polka dot beard bird
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Polka dot beard bird ( Capito niger ) |
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| ( Statius Müller , 1776) |
The black-spotted barbet ( Capito niger ) is a bird art from the family of American barbets. The species is widespread in South America and several subspecies are described, some of which differ significantly in their plumage. Capito auratus was originally also considered to be a subspecies of the polka dot bird, this species, which is also called the polka dot bird in German usage, is now predominantly regarded as independent.
The IUCN classifies the whiskered bird as not endangered ( least concern ).
Appearance
The males of the nominate form reach a wing length between 7.5 and 8.7 centimeters. The tail length is 4.5 to 5.7 centimeters and the beak measures between 2.0 and 2.5 centimeters. Females have similar body measurements.
The males of the nominate form have a bright red forehead that is set off from the beak by a fine black line. The top of the head is indistinctly yellow and gray longitudinally striped, on the coat they have a yellow V-shaped mark. A black band runs from the beak over the eyes to the neck. The top of the body is otherwise black with individual yellow markings. The tail feathers are black-brown, the two outer tail feathers have a white border, freshly moulted. The chest and abdomen are yellowish white, on the sides of the body there are large, fuzzy gray spots that are teardrop-shaped in some individuals. The beak is short and strong. The beak color is very variable and can range from a silvery blue to gray and blue-green to a horn-colored tone. The eyes are brown to red, the featherless region around the eye is slate blue. The females of the nominate form have a plumage that is very similar to that of the males. However, they are a bit browner on the sides of the body and also have gray spots on the chest.
The subspecies differ from the nominate form by a different head and partly also a different breast color. In the subspecies C. n. Hypochondriacus , for example, the forehead and throat are orange, the flanks are overlaid orange and in the female the elytra are lined with orange. In the subspecies C. n. Nitidor the throat is red-orange, otherwise it resembles the subspecies C. n. Hypochondriacus .
Due to the wide black band that runs from the base of the beak to the neck, the polka dot bearded bird can be easily distinguished from the dwarf bearded beard . The cinnamon-breasted bearded bird , in which the northern edge of the distribution area borders on that of the polka-dot beard bird, has a cinnamon-brown chest band. The throat-banded bearded bird has an equally colored chest band and is black and white on the top of the body. The olive-backed bearded bird has a yellow-orange chest and has no spots on the upper side of the body. The Loreto bearded bird , which occurs only in a very small area in Peru, has a white throat and a striking red chest band, making it easy to distinguish from the polka dot bearded bird .
Distribution area
The distribution area of the polka dot bird stretches from eastern Colombia and Peru via Brazil to Guyana , Suriname , French Guiana and Venezuela. In Brazil, the species is limited to the north-eastern Amazon basin and occurs here in the states of Roraima , Pará and Amapá .
Habitat and way of life
The polka dot whisker is a common bird of older forests of the lowlands. It also colonizes adjacent, older secondary forests, forest edges, gardens, orchards and, regionally, also moist mountain forests. In Peru it still occurs at 820 meters above sea level. It is relatively rare in the Varzea . Its ecological niche is predominantly occupied by the olive-backed bearded bird. In Venezuela it is occasionally found in subtropical forests.
When searching for food, it can be observed predominantly individually or in pairs. It can happen that in large, fruit-bearing trees, several polka-whiskered birds search for food at the same time. Up to 15 specimens were observed at the same time. Occasionally they also join flocks made up of other species of birds. Most of them are purrbirds , tyrants , tree climbers and tanagers . The polka dot whiskers usually look for food in the upper canopy regions. In addition to fruits, which make up around 80% of its diet, it also eats insects. For example, it searches foliage for insects. He also drinks nectar. The stand density varies with the age of the forest; it is particularly high in forests in the transition to the final forest phase and can then be up to 20 pairs per 100 hectares.
Both parent birds are involved in the construction of the nest box. It is usually at a height of between 4.8 and 12.0 meters above the ground. However, reproductive biology has not yet been studied in detail. The clutch size is three to four eggs. The breeding period is unknown, the nestling period is 34 days and the young birds are cared for by the parent birds for about three more weeks.
Subspecies
Because of its great geographic variability, numerous subspecies have been described of the whiskered bird. Capito auratus used to be considered a subspecies of Capito niger . Today, most authors recognize the following six subspecies:
- Capito niger niger Statius Müller , 1776
- Capito niger aurantiicinctus Dalmas , 1900
- Capito niger orosae Chapman , 1928
- Capito niger amazonicus Deville & Des Murs , 1849
- Capito niger nitidior Chapman , 1928
- Capito niger hypochondriacus Chapman , 1928
supporting documents
literature
- Lester L. Short and Jennifer FM Horne: Toucans, Barbets and Honeyguides - Ramphastidae, Capitonidae and Indicatoridae. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001, ISBN 0-19-854666-1 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Avibase on Capito auratus , accessed January 30, 2011
- ↑ BirdLife Factsheet on Capito auratus and the separation from Capito niger , accessed on January 30, 2011
- ↑ BirdLife factsheet on Capito niger , accessed January 30, 2011
- ↑ Short et al., P. 299
- ↑ Short et al., P. 301
- ↑ Short et al., P. 300
- ↑ Short et al., P. 303
- ↑ Short et al., P. 304
- ↑ Short et al., P. 304
- ↑ Short et al., P. 304
- ↑ Short et al., P. 304
- ↑ Short et al., P. 305
- ↑ Avibase on Capito niger , accessed January 30, 2011
Web links
- Capito niger inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2013. Retrieved February 2, 2014.