Blauastrilde
| Blauastrilde | ||||||||||||
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Veilchenastrild ( Uraeginthus ianthinogaster ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Uraeginthus | ||||||||||||
| Cabanis , 1851 |
The Blauastrilde ( Uraeginthus ) are a genus within the family of the finches . The species that are assigned to this genus occur only on the African continent.
The systematic assignment of species to this genus has not yet been conclusively clarified. The IUCN assigns both the Garnet and the Violet to the Blauastrilden ( Uraeginthus ); Jürgen Nicolai and Joachim Steinbacher, on the other hand, place these two species in the genus Granatina . Here the classification of the IUCN followed.
description
The Blauastrilde reach a body length between thirteen and fourteen centimeters. Angola butterfly finch , butterfly finch and blue-headed deer are very similar to one another. All males have blue feathers on their heads, whereas the entire head of the blue-headed deer is blue up to the neck. The males of the butterfly finch also have a noticeable red spot in the ear area on each side of the head. In the case of the pomegranate, the male has a lively cobalt blue forehead, in the case of the violet, the region around the eyes and the front cheek area is blue.
The females have paler plumage than the males and there is less blue in their plumage.
Distribution and way of life
All kinds of Granatastrilde have a range, which in Africa south of the Sahara is. The largest distribution area is the butterfly finch, which has five subspecies in the steppe and savannah area of tropical Africa from Senegal and Guinea via inner West Africa to Eritrea and south to Tanzania , the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia .
The breeding season is different for the individual species and varies depending on the respective distribution area. In Somalia, for example, the violets breed in June, in Tanzania, on the other hand, between December and February. What they all have in common is a relatively elaborate courtship. It is a stalk or feather stud in which the male impresses in front of the female with a stalk or a feather in its beak. In the butterfly finch and the blue-headed butterfly finch, the female also occasionally shows courtship dances. Typically, however, the male is not present.
The food consists of all kinds of small seeds, which are supplemented by insects.
attitude
All species of the blue-winged trilde belong to the ornamental bird species, some of which have been kept for a long time. The first pomegranate to be introduced to Europe was given to Madame de Pompadour in 1754 and cared for by her for over three years. Because of their high-contrast plumage, some of them are very popular birds, but some of them are not easy to keep. All species are sensitive to the cold and only a few specialists succeed in breeding the garnet and violet reef.
species
The following species are counted among the Blauastrilden:
- Angola butterfly finch ( U. angolensis )
- Blue-headed butterfly finch ( U. cyanocephalus )
- Garnet reed ( U. granatina )
- Butterfly finch ( U. bengalus )
- Veilchenastrild ( U. ianthinogaster )
supporting documents
literature
- Jürgen Nicolai (Ed.), Joachim Steinbacher (Ed.), Renate van den Elzen, Gerhard Hofmann, Claudia Mettke-Hofmann: Prachtfinken - Afrika , Series Handbuch der Vogelpflege, Eugen Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-8001- 4964-3
Single receipts
- ↑ Nicolai et al., P. 196 and p. 204
- ↑ BirdLife Factsheet for the Veilchenastrild , accessed June 16, 2006
- ↑ BirdLife Factsheet for the Garnet Fawn , accessed June 16, 2006
- ↑ Nicolai et al., P. 205
- ↑ Nicolai et al., P. 199
