Quail deer
| Quail deer | ||||||||||||
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Quail deer, male |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Ortygospiza atricollis | ||||||||||||
| ( Vieillot , 1817) |
The quail deer ( Ortygospiza atricollis ) is an African species from the finch family (Erstrildidae). It is an outspoken ground bird that seldom sits on twigs or blades of grass like other fine finches. As its name suggests, it usually moves like a quail, and occasionally hopping between tufts of grass.
description
The quail deer grows up to ten centimeters. The sexes are quite similar, but easy to distinguish. The wing length is between 47 and 58 mm, the tail measures 25–31 mm.
The facial region around the eye is black in the male, the chin shows a white spot directly under the beak. This is short but strong and purple in color. The vertex, neck, ear covers and sides of the neck are gray-brown. The back, shoulder feathers, arm covers and rump are brown-gray to chocolate-brown with a gray tinge, especially in the newly moulted plumage. The middle and large arm covers are lined with beige, the wing feathers are dark brown with pale hems. The control feathers are blackish, the outer ones have white end spots of varying extent. The tail looks cut straight at the back. Front chest and flanks are finely banded in black and white. Sometimes there is already a brownish tinge on the chest, the middle of the abdomen is lively chestnut to fox brown. This color runs out towards the abdomen in beige and is also provided with a fine, brown stripe on the under tail coverts. The legs are light brown to flesh colored.
The female is overall paler and lighter, she lacks the black face part - the entire head is gray. The upper bill is dark brown, the lower bill orange to orange-red.
The youth dress is similar to that of the female. Brown tones clearly predominate. The typical transverse ligament is missing in the chest area, but it is blurred towards the rear flanks.
Some subspecies are almost black on top, others have a white “glasses markings” or a more pronounced, white chin patch.
distribution
The black-faced quailfinch is in Africa south of the Sahara at home, where the rain forest region represents an extensive distribution gap. The western sub-area extends from Senegal to the south of Sudan , the East African occurrence extends from central Ethiopia south to South Africa and south of the Congo Basin west to Angola .
habitat
The species mostly inhabits dry, treeless savannah and steppe areas with lush grass growth. But it also occurs on the almost treeless grassy areas of the South African highlands. Where it occurs in wetter terrain, the grass growth must not be too high. It occurs from the lowlands to at altitudes of up to 2,000 meters.
Way of life
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Wachtelastrilde live in pairs or in groups between four and thirty birds. If groups are roused, they do not fly up in a dense flock, but one bird after the other. They can fly up almost vertically and quickly gain height.
The quail deer mainly feeds on seeds and also on insects. Agricultural areas and open grasslands are popular feeding places. Like other quail tribes, they exhibit many behaviors that can be interpreted in terms of adapting to life on the ground. Together with the grasshoppers , they are the only magnificent finches that can run almost like a chicken. All other species show a hopping locomotion. Another special feature is that they first trip back a few steps to discharge their faeces, then deposit their faeces and then run forwards again. This is a behavior found in other species only in young birds. It has not yet been clarified what significance this behavior has in common quail.
The mating season varies depending on the range, but usually falls at the end of the rainy season and the dry season. In South Africa the species breed in the second half of the southern summer and autumn, so that their breeding season falls between December and June. In Kenya , on the other hand, this is between April and August and January.
The male's courtship song is a quiet chat with a lively beak and a strongly moving throat. The spherical nests are built in the middle of the grass. They are often a little hidden in the ground. Often there are nests closer to each other. The nest consists of grass and fibers and is padded with small feathers. Sometimes the disused nests are also used by other bird species. The clutch consists of three to six eggs that are incubated by both parents. The young birds hatch after 12 to 14 days. After 18 to 20 days the young birds are fully feathered and fledged.
attitude
The quail deer was introduced to England in the early 1970s. The first quail trilde came to Germany via the animal importer Fockelmann in 1874. They are now regularly on the market, even if the number is small. The offspring succeeds regularly with a few keepers and breeding successes over several generations have so far been an exception.
Subspecies
- Ortygospiza atricollis atricollis ( Vieillot , 1817)
- O.a. ansorgei Ogilvie-Grant , 1910
- O.a. Ugandae Someren , 1921
- O.a. fuscocrissa Heuglin , 1863 (is sometimes viewed as a separate species O. fuscocrissa )
- O.a. muelleri Zedlitz , 1911
- O.a. smithersi Benson , 1955
- O.a. pallida Roberts , 1932
supporting documents
literature
- Horst Bielfeld : The finch book. All species, their keeping, care and breeding. Eugen Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 1996.
- 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
- Peter Clement , Alan Harris, John Davis: Finches and Sparrows. An Identification Guide. Christopher Helm, London 1993, ISBN 0-7136-8017-2 .
Web links
- Ortygospiza atricollis in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2009. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2009. Retrieved on July 1 of 2010.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Ortygospiza atricollis in the Internet Bird Collection